Ben's personality is really starting to assert itself in full force, and it's especially evident since I have his sister to compare him with. One major difference is that Ben displays the full range of his emotions right out in the open for all to see. He does things BIG: big smiles, big laughs, big hugs (and kisses now too), big hand gestures, big cries. When he's upset (usually as a result of being denied something he wants), he throws himself backward until his head hits something. (I hate when he does that on our tile kitchen floor -- he's going to crack his head open!) He RUNS everywhere, so he always seems to be excited. He loves to wrestle and roughhouse, but he's also very capable of quiet playing and reading, too.
He's definitely a bit of a daredevil. He knows he has physical limitations, but he wants to master them. If there's something he has trouble with, like a big stair or something tall he wants to climb up, he'll try it over and over again until he's done it easily by himself. I love that quality in him, but sometimes it leads to frustration because there is still so much he isn't ready for. Whereas Sophie has always seemed to have a sense of what she can't do yet and doesn't even try, Ben wants to do those things in particular! As the person who's supposed to make sure the kids don't injure themselves, I've had to get used to that tendency of his in a hurry.
I think his attraction to challenges is what drives his constant desire to go outside! We can't say that word in the house, and it's always a risk to step out the door even for a moment without him. It doesn't take long each morning before he's communicating quite clearly that that's what he wants to do. But he's very smart about it, too: he knows you have to get all dressed before you go outside. So when he wants to go out, he goes and finds a shirt, some pants, socks, and his shoes and brings them to me, then he sits down on my lap so I can put them on him. If he's already wearing a shirt, he'll just open his drawer and get some bottoms. And since he's so smart and cute about it, it's very hard to resist. I wonder if he'll want to go outside less as the weather is consistently colder.
He has, unfortunately, begun the phase of strong attachment to Mama that is typical for this age. I say "unfortunately" mostly because I think it limits him. For example, he has started to get sad in the church nursery after I leave, when he didn't before. He basically becomes inconsolable until I come back. I don't really mind having him be this attached to me for a little while. I know it will end, he's my last baby, and he's just so snuggly and soft... even by baby standards.
He's still eating and sleeping very well. He's been experimenting a lot vocally. Not many actual words yet. He says "uh-kuh" for Orca (his friend on car rides) and outside. He says "muh" for milk. He also says "dada" a lot, but I'm not sure if it's really in reference to John. He still mostly just communicates physically: by bringing us things, making gestures, and of course crying and whining. :)
His relationship with Sophie is getting more complex. They are definitely "fighting" over more things now. They have an instinct to push each other away when there is conflict over a toy or book. Then I tell them to take turns ("first it's Sophie's turn! OK, now it's Ben's turn!"), and they love to give it back and forth in that context, even though at that point nobody is really using the item anymore! But they are also just starting to play together. Ben LOVES it when Sophie touches him or makes eye contact with him; he gets downright giddy about it. Just today I saw them playing peekaboo together. So cute. And they both run around in circles to music.
Speaking of music, Ben is finally showing some interest. He has had his favorite songs that John or I play on the piano for a while, but I think a lot of that is just that he likes following Sophie as she does her running-in-circles-to-music thing. But in the past week, I've seen him really start to pay attention to some of the songs on the kids' albums we have. And last night, we saw him really dance for the first time.
Here are some pictures from the last two months. I don't have time to do captions, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. :) Most of them were taken by Grammy Sue, as usual!
