Fourteen months old!

Ben really is...

...so big!

Apparently Ben decided to close out his fourteenth month with a bang. He showed off all kinds of skillz this weekend that we just didn't know he had.

Skill #1. Feeding himself with a spoon!

Ok, so he took 3 bites in a 2.09 minute video and got half of it on his face. A messy and time consuming talent, but impressive nonetheless.

By the end of the weekend, his mobile dexterity combined with his newfound love for ketchup deteriorated into this:

Does ketchup count as a vegetable?!

How about a deep-fried potato?

I think next time he sees his cousins, he'll join in on their relenting requests for "more dip please!" at the dinner table. Whatever works kiddo!

Skill #2: Using a toothbrush!

I'm embarrassed to say that while he has 4.5 teeth, this was the first time we'd attempted to clean them. In our defense, Tyler prefers that oral hygiene be a pleasant experience for Ben and not one that we force on him prematurely. I defer to the DMD in this situation...he seems pleased with the progress.

Looks like we've got a compliant patient so far!

(especially when it comes to sucking the toothpaste off the brush)

Skill #3: Doing the laundry!

His obsession with the washing machine is nothing new.

But carrying his laundry basket to me and inserting the clothes into the machine, definitely is!

After we started that load, he took it upon himself to put all the clothes (including underwear, my apologies) that were sorted in piles on the floor, back into the hamper.

So that was more backwards than helpful, but he gets the concept, right?!

Other tricks I really regret not catching on camera yet include:

• blowing kisses
• signing "more", "please", "eat", "all done"
• dancing
• saying "uh ohhhhhh"
• making the cow, doggie AND lion noise of "oooo" and "fruuu" for cars (voom voom, I believe)

So it's been an action packed month of development! He's been waking up during the night for a couple weeks now, so we assume he's either working on some new teeth or hitting a growth spurt? Speaking of growth spurt, here are the foods that he will eat - shorter list than what he won't - but when he sets his mind to it, he can throw down some grub!

• black bean burgers
• bananas
• yogurt
• Cheerios/crackers/bread
• peanut butter
• jars of sweet potatoes and carrots, any fruit
• pizza
• fries and ketchup
• pears
• waffles
  

He's wearing 12 - 18 month clothes, size 5 shoes, and still size 3 diapers. He's doing really well with his sippy cup now, but when he first wakes up and points to the kitchen, I know it's a bottle of milk he's after and no sippy cup will do. So he usually gears up for the day laying in his chair with his bottle and the Mickey Mouse clubhouse (shudder) while we run around getting ready.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but he's growing and changing so fast, it's hard to keep up! We've had a really fun month with the warm weather and are so looking foward to Spring and Summer with this little boy!

"How you doin'?"