Yep, our little guy is just 1 month from being a year old. We've had an eventful month. Benji cut 2 new teeth (top two) within a day of each other. He has become more and more inquisitive about his surroundings, exploring everywhere and trying to pull everything off of shelves and any flat surface. He is also VERY close to walking. He uses furniture, walls, people, toys, etc to barely keep his balance. He often walks with us holding just one hand. We got Benji a push and ride toy and a short 2 weeks ago he wasn't able to walk behind it (it moved too fast). We got home from 10 days away and off he went. He is independently taking steps on a regular basis but gets very excited and falls down.
We had a great trip visiting Grandma Wendy and Zayde Mike while they were in Tuscon. Jeff stayed for a few days and then went off to an SCA war (Estrella) for 5 days. While there, Benji was his usual happy self for most of the time. Enjoying being around people. Benji missed his Papa while he was gone, becoming increasingly fussy and unconsoalable the last 2 days and was very happy to see Papa return (after being angry for a few seconds). He did really well during our 8 hour car rides, needing to stop only 3 times each way. We celebrated Benji's 11 month birthday with a cupcake, since Grandma and Zayde won't be able to be at Benji's 1 year birthday. Benji enjoyed the cake quite a bit. Pictures will follow soon, but have to wait since our camera got left in Tuscon.
As far as other things, sleep is going well. I feared we were slipping back into old habits in Tucson with tears at nap time and many waking at night and refusing to go back to sleep. Once we got home, Benji slept very well through the night (waking our usual 2 times) and had just gone down for a nap with no tears. Benji is a very good, big eater and has started to feed himself with a spoon. At breakfast this morning, Benji fed himself after I filled the spoon with cereal. Grandma and Zayde were very impressed with Benji's ability and joy in eating table foods.
So, Benji is growing, thriving, changing, smiling, giggling, amazing.
