Bennett Boo

Today I thought I would write about Bennett. I want to have some sort of documentation as to what he is doing at this age, and I have yet to formally start a baby book for him. I also thought I would write it for our out-of-town family members (especially those grandparents) who are curious as to what he is doing these days.

Bennett Boo, in case you didn't know, is Bennett's nickname. I am not sure of its origin. I just know that it seems that we started calling him this the day he was born. Our three year-old nephew, Andrew, never calls him Bennett--he is always "Bennett Boo". Sometimes, this nickname gets shortened, thus forming a second nickname--"Boo Boo". (Why we want to call people we love something other than their given names, I do not know. Sometimes I shorten Anderson's name to "Ander". He hates it. Last week he said to me, "My name is Anderson. You gave me that name, so why don't you use it?" He had a point. Never call him "Andy", by the way. He will wonder who in the world you are talking to.)

Anyway, about Bennett--he is a sweetheart. He loves to snuggle and sit in your lap. If you ask him to snuggle, he will usually lay his head on your chest. So precious! In the evenings, before bedtime, he will lay with me in Anderson's bean bag and watch Wheel of Fortune for an entire thirty minutes. I think the spinning wheel, the flashing letters, and of course the audience applause keeps him entertained.

While he is one of the sweetest children I've ever been around, he has some of his mother's determination. I prefer to say that he is more "assertive" than Anderson was at this age, but the sweetness seems to balance him out a bit. So, even though he doesn't like for me to correct him, he has a teachable spirit. My latest ordeal with Bennett is the fact that he bit me on the leg while playing yesterday, and I, of course, exclaimed, "Ouch!" He just thought that was hysterical and thought he should do it again. No matter how much I tried to communicate in a very firm tone, "No!", he laughed. I finally determined that the best way to relay my displeasure with his behavior is to simply put him in his crib and walk out of the room. He doesn't like this at all.

Today, for the first time, he fell asleep in his high chair while eating a graham cracker. He was still chewing, but his eyes were closed and his head was starting to fall forward. Finally, when his chin came close to hitting his chest, he opened his eyes up briefly, only to have them roll back in his head again. It was quite pitiful--it made me sleepy just watching him, so I took him upstairs and put him in the bed for his nap.

Bennett is learning to talk. He jabbers a lot, knowing exactly what he means but puzzling the rest of us. It is adorable. Words that we do understand is the typical Mama, Dada, Bubba (brother), Boo Boo (himself), wawa (water), ball, ba-ball (basketball), ow-tie (outside), peep-eye (a peek-a-boo game we play), hot, wack-wack (quack-quack), etc.

Bennett can whistle. Crazy, huh? But he can do it, sometimes even on cue. He doesn't change his tune. It is the same note being blown in and out, but it is a definite whistle. Our nephew, Jackson, doesn't believe that this is true, so I am going to have to videotape it one day as proof.

I think Bennett may possibly be musically inclined. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part, but he loves to hear music, and generally stops to dance when he does hear it, but he hums a whole lot. He usually hums himself to sleep. And it isn't just a one-note hum. One night I would have sworn he was humming "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". He wasn't, I'm sure, but it did sound like it.

My dad says that Bennett is creative. He will stare at a picture for a long time. He climbs on the backs of sofas in the house so that he can look directly at a photograph or painting. He seems a bit mesmerized by them. It will be interesting to see if he inherits any of his Aunt Anna and Aunt Penelope's artistic abilities. He sure won't get them from his parents!

Bennett likes to watch Anderson play sports, and he certainly likes to join in. He is already trying to reach the rim on the Fisher Price basketball goal. It will be awhile before he can do that. He loves to run around the room with a football and to hit golf balls with any kind of stick, whether it is a golf club or not. I'm not sure if he is really playing golf or some form of hockey.

Obviously, Bennett is a typical 17 month old little boy. We are so thankful that God sent Him to us. Before he was born, it was hard to imagine what life would be like with a baby in the house again. Now, we can't imagine life without him.