Benjamin 1.5

This baby.  This high maintenance baby who I think may want to nurse forever and I'm almost certain will never sleep through the night.

This sweet, short-tempered, curious baby.  What are you to up to, Benja bear, as you approach 18 months?
CLIMBING.  For the love, does this baby climb.  So much so that we converted the dining room into a temporary playroom with one of those plastic toddler climber/slide Little Tikes numbers.  It is just about the best decision we've made to date.  Now they can all climb and slide - and Andy can jump off the side practicing his ninja moves - as much as they want.  Sure beats Benjamin climbing the side of the cabinets.  Or onto a bed.  Or the kitchen table.

Second to his love of climbing is his love of the great outdoors.  I'm pretty sure he's the only baby to teach himself how to climb up the 6 foot ladder of the playset and then go down the slide - either head first on his belly or backwards.  He's a maniac, afraid of nothing.  He loves the thrill of shooting down the slide.  Mama is terrified by all of this.

He's talking up a storm.  Its totally baby jibber jabber but he thinks he's saying something.  He points and jabbers.  His next word will either be light or fan as intrigued as he is by them.  Speaking of, he's obsessed with light switches.  He loves to turn them on and what the lights come on.  Flip the switch and the fan starts spinning.  He's known to push kitchen chairs over to the switches so he can climb up and flip them on and off, on and off.

He's crossed the threshold into toddlerhood, leaving babyhood behind.  Oh sure, there's still glimmers of babyness, but he's a big boy now. Completely aware of his wants and that he can manipulate the circumstances and people to get them.  I watch him and I can see the gears turning in his little brain.  He observes, he considers and he acts.  His personality will start coming out in the next months.  Watching his development will ease the sorrow about my last baby growing up before my eyes.  My precious baby, who may be the death of me!