The Benich Bunch: Wade is 15 months old

My baby is quickly slipping away from me and being replaced with a rough and tough little boy. I do get fleeting moments with my "baby"......he still reaches for my hand when he knows he can't do something by himself. but most of our days are full of playing, wrestling, exploring, dirt digging, and BALLS. Every round shaped object must be a ball and must be played with. We were in CVS and they had all these beach balls hanging from the ceiling. Wade could not understand WHY he couldn't play with each and every one. It didn't go over well.

(My little Swiffer helper. He always likes to carry around the Swiffer, so I've started just keeping a pad on it so he can "earn his keep"...like Annie)

(Orwell, such a good sport)

(Orwell: "Mom, seriously? put down the camera and GET THIS KID OFF OF ME!!!")

(The ice cream truck came by, so we had to get a tasty treat. Wade preferred daddy's ice cream sandwich to his boring popsicle. )

The pool is definitely his favorite place to be. He's mastered the baby pool and he now struts/swims around playing with bigger kids acting so cool! He's become so independent and luckily the baby pool is safe enough that he can really enjoy himself.

(He REALLY had to pee. :) Actually, he's just sitting on the fountain. This reminds me of the Huggies commercial where the dad take off the diaper and his son is spraying the walls like a fire hose. Anyone seen it??)

(Wade isn't complaining to be in a pool full of blondes!)

He's still an eating machine. He's taken an interest in anything we eat and last week he fell in love with bruschetta. Go figure. He dips, spoons, and slurps down and entire bowl in one sitting. I guess he likes the salty flavor? At least he seems to like tomatoes unlike his daddy. Spoons and forks are a must at every meal, even if he never uses them on his food. They're more like weapons to throw at the dogs. Watch out Cali! That will teach you to stand so close to the highchair. He loves to dip everything he eats too. I'm not surprised because I'm the same way, but I can actually say this habit is not my fault. I purposely did not give him ketchup with his fries, but the first time daddy did....Wade was hooked. Now we're lucky if he eats some fries WITH his ketchup. Heinz and Hunts, if you're reading....create a healthy vitamin enriched ketchup for kids. I'll buy it. I promise.

(Notice ketchup all over his face. This is a new trick daddy taught him: "earmuffs")

We're definitely down to 1 nap a day. It's still questionable if it's going to be enough to make it through the day, but that's all he'll take so it doesn't really matter. He has been going to bed WAY too late, but we're just having too much fun! When the sun finally sets, that's the only time we can play outside and not die of heatstroke (unless we're at the pool of course, see above). I'll have to him back on schedule in the fall. :)

Still no definitive "Mama". He can make the "M" sounds and definitely mumbles jibberish to me, but I'm holding out for the look you in the eye and call you mama experience. Good things come to those who wait. On the other hand, he can say dada and "Bohw" for Beau. Totally not fair. We thought he was just saying ball every time but recently he'll say "dada....bohw...." when he's looking for Beau. But his favorite new word this month is "duck". He love to see ducks, say duck, and quack like a duck. It's a ducky world these days. Our night time routine now must include at least one book with a duck in it.

Wade has officially mastered the temper tantrum (cousin Ellis thinks he sounds like a dinosaur when he screams). He knows just how to thrash around enough to make you do whatever he wants (or at least dad anyway) and has even perfected the pouty-lip-i'm not happy-threat of a temper tantrum. This boy is stubborn and he wants what he wants when he wants it.We're in big trouble.

(His favorite spot in the whole house....cuddly with daddy on the couch)

As you can probably tell in all the pictures, his hair is practically blonde. It's been a gradual yet drastic change from the almost black hair he was born with. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm using Sun IN to bleach it, and the answer is yes. :) just kidding. Beau noticed he's getting taller and losing a little of his chubby leg look. NOOOOOOOO! I love the chubby baby legs, but I guess all the running around will thin them out, huh. Wish that trick worked for me. We did just go for his 15 month check-up and he's in the 75th percentile for height and only 25th percentile for weight. Who would've thought Beau and I would have a tall skinny child?