bennett updates

just a quick list of things going on in bennett world:

• our "human garbage disposal" {as his MDO teachers have lovingly nicknamed him} is now a picky eater.  it started this weekend.  he wants grapes and bananas and not much else.  of course he will eat anything sugary or salty (like granola bars, crackers, ice cream) but literally will not let us shove anything else into his mouth.  he is spitting out all his veggies that he once loved: peas, carrots, green beans, etc.  he will still eat anything casserole-ish, but not without giving it a once-over by sniffing and fake-tasting it (imagine what your mouth looks like if you eat a lemon - he does this to everything now before tasting it...everything except bananas and grapes of course.)  he still loves fruit too, but i am starting to get a little stressed out about this.  he wont eat meat so i have been trying to get him protein through cheese.  ugh!  parents of picky babies - i feel your pain!  what to do??  any suggestions?  i am a big supporter of:  "if they wont eat what they are served, they will eventually get hungry enough to eat it" vs. "fill them up with empty calories bc they will at least eat that."  but bennett wont eat it.  no matter how hungry we know he is.  help! {updated:  i think maybe its because of his teeth? one of his bottom teeth is pushed through, and i know the opposite one is right there waiting to pop through any day now...}
• bennett is paying closer attention to our words now, and is trying to repeat us, but still spurts out only mama and dada and nana and such.  no new sounds as of yet, even though i can see those gears turning and know that he is trying.  he is making different vowel sounds after those few consonants though - like the difference between "bath" and "ball" sounds like "ba" and "bah"; or "dog" and "drive" and "duck" are "doh" and "die" and "duh.".  he's getting close, but also hasn't answered the "who is that" question with the word yet.  he knows where we are and will point or look when asked, but can't call us the words yet.  such a fun thing, to watch these kiddos learn!
• he is obsessed with driving.  if we walk past the laundry room (where our keys are) he will immediately start pointing and kicking and grunting.  then whenever we see a car he freaks out and tries to squirm to the drivers seat.  he gets his fill after a couple minutes and will then let me put him in his seat, but if he goes immediately to his seat about 3/4 times he will scream and protest.  i think i have created a monster.  this is one of those things i look back on and think:  why did i even introduce this to him?
• about a week and a half ago he started pulling up to standing without the aid of anything.  just wanted to get that documented! :)
• he stood on our scale in the bathroom last week and i glanced down to see "26.0" glaring back at me.  maybe he could afford to skip a couple meals.  only kidding of course.  im not putting my one year old on a diet any time soon...
• teeth count: 7
• he will laugh with you when you tell him to laugh.
• he can point to the following in a book when asked to: duck, shoes, hat, socks, clock, tv, baby, dog, puppy, fish (today he mastered that! thanks to the trip i imagine!), wheels, ball, sun, and thats all i can think of right now.
• he is pointing and staring at EVERYTHING
• he is starting to figure out how to put things back together/stack things/etc instead of just undoing or taking everything apart
• he could play with keys all day
• he has no interest whatsoever in the tv.  no elmo, baby einstein, barney, backyardigans, etc can hold this boy's attention.
• he has a bit of a little attitude.  if we tell him "no" (as in dont touch that) he will either pretend to hit it, or touch it really fast and then look back at us.  he will keep doing this ad nauseum, so when i finally smacked his little hand today, he cried huge crocodile tears for a brief moment, then proceeded to play the "pretend touch" game again before i could blink my eyes twice.  when i picked him up, he also started hitting me in a similar manner that i smacked him on his hand.  he does it then looks up at me and knows good and well he did something wrong.  but he keeps doing it.  not only did it hurt my mama feelings to have him smack me, but it makes me think twice about the smacking him thing.  i believe in spanking to some extent, when the child understands what is going on, but i dont know what kind of example it sets when you tell your children not to hit but then you hit them.  i dont know it just threw me off and made me realize that this is NOT the way to discipline a one year old.  i didnt think we were here yet, but i may be visting the "time out" method.  we seem to have one seriously head strong boy on our hands. 
• he points to everything and wants you to name it.  he loves pointing to lights and it is the first thing he will point to when entering a room
• he finally drinks cold milk!  i just made him quit cold turkey and after a couple days he was back to normal
• he will hold up one finger when you ask him how old he is
• he is a snuggly little hugger and loves to kiss and be kissed.  he makes everyone around him smile and lights up the room when he is in it. {of course im not biased or anything...}
• he is a mama's boy, that is unless daddy comes home :)