Lessons from One

Benjamin is officially in his 13th month, which is crazy, and I'm learning also means that he's growing and changing every single day at a rapid rate.  His brain must seriously be working in overdrive all the time the way we see him learning new things.  This is awesome, of course, but also very very interesting/trying/funny/tiring/etc for us. 

 

Things I'm learning with 1 year old:

* they are way smarter than they appear.  All of a sudden Benjamin seems able to follow instructions (well, pretty basic ones), put away all the socks he's so casually strewn around the room, bring us his favorite book when it's time to read, put the correct ball in the correct toy, press on/off switches to his favorite gadgets, tell us what a monkey says ("ah, ah, ah" in case you were wondering), point to his nose (70% of the time), and occasionally use a few signs we've been teaching him (eat, more, all done).  I mean, are babies just geniuses in disguise, secretly laughing at all the stupid things we say/do because we think they don't understand?  I know, for now, I'll be toning down all the ridiculous nonsense I say/do around the house just in case :)

{here's a little video of him telling me what a duck says during bathtime last night, you know, "caow, caow" does sound a lot like "quack, quack"}

* bruises are a new part of life. Now that Benjamin is on cruise control most of the day, he takes some nice face plants here and there after tripping on books, toys, clothes, air... I think he had four separate ones appear in one day last week.  I promise it's not from abuse, just a lack of picking up his feet to actually cross over items on the floor.  He instead chooses to power through hoping he'll make it to the other side.  Thankfully, we only get the screams/cries from falls if he's super tired.  Otherwise, he usually just picks himself back up and carries on.

* my life revolves around nap time.  When did I become this person?  Every single thing I do involves trying to calculate when the beast will be awake, asleep, or needing to be one of those things... Hmm, should I shower today?  Well, it depends on what else I have to get done during my two very precious nap-times of quiet.  (Yes, that's right, finally down to only two naps and I already miss that third one) Can I run to the store today?  Well, if I don't want to be that mom with a screaming child in the cart, then I have to perfectly plan a time to go between naps to maximize my "happy benjamin" time.  A friend wants to meet for lunch?  Well, let me see what time Benjamin actually wakes up from his first nap to see if I can make it anywhere at a reasonable lunch hour.  And lest you think I should just skip a nap to go to lunch, I dare you to be stuck with an almost-13 month old who hasn't taken his nap... May God be with you.

* teething and sickness change everything.  Just when you think the routine is down cold, naps are running smoothly at about the same time every day, the beast is sleeping 11-12 hours per night without so much as making a peep, and he's as social and happy as can be during the day.... in comes the movement of 1 year molars or a not-so-fun new cold to turn life upside down.  This happened to us in the last few weeks.  First, molars... and let me say that I hate you molars.  HATE.  Those molars (which aren't even through yet) turned the poor little guy into a miserably sad, cranky, and no-sleeping wild man.  And to top it off, he got a nasty cold making him extra sad, cranky and sleep-averse AND super clingy to his mom.  No, not clingy to his parents... just ME.  Needless to say, things have been rough!

* big boys eat a lot!  Aside from dairy, Benjamin loves just about everything.  He is almost always willing to try something new and generally eats a pretty large dinner.  **and of course we have edits to this discovery since being sick - now Benjamin is picky and likes to throw things on the floor.  Dinner is no longer easy but more a prolonged task and adventure in cleaning.  Seriously, we are tired of picking up food he's thrown angrily on the ground.  Hopefully this changes!**

* toys are so much more fun.  No longer is Benjamin just carrying toys from one part of the house to another or merely using them as chew toys... we now have a little man who actually tries to use toys appropriately.  Well, he tries.  It's so fun watching him figure things out and understand which pieces go where... though it makes me think he'll be doing math and writing book reports all too soon!  Certainly not ready for that. :)

At any rate, these are a few of my random observations and thoughts about life with our 13 months old these days.  He's a wild boy, but we love him!