Something other than Hanukkah - what Bennett is up to

Bennett is starting to do some very cool things. His fine motor and verbal skills are really picking up, and his gross motor is still definitely advancing....but not quite as quickly as before, which is a RELIEF! I don't believe I wrote about this on here (and if I did, I blame sleep deprivation for my non-existant memory), but we think Bennett is going to be a sleep walker.

I was a sleep walker to some extent as a child, and Bennett is showing signs of doing the same thing (according to the pediatrician, it does run in families and Bennett's "practicing" of these skills in his sleep does indicate he might sleep walk as a child.). When he learned to sit up, he did it in his sleep - which was SO strange. He would sit up and not be awake, and suddenly wake up and start screaming. And then there was the sleep crawling - he would get up on all fours and crawl into the wall, repeatedly hitting his head until he woke up! It was funny and sad and made for some very restless sleep for the Little Goo.

Anyhow, he is now cruising all over the place. He cruises up to stand on toys, he tries to pull up on the dogs, he often cruises with one hand -- and a few times has picked up both hands and stood for a few seconds!

He will also take a few steps if you hold his hands and stand behind him - but only if he REALLY wants to get somewhere. Like to Mom. And then he BEAMS at me like it's the best thing ever!

The Goo is starting to eat more solids. We give him anything he can feed himself that I'm not worried he'll choke on. This means puffed rice, toasted oats (Cheerios), grated sharp cheddar cheese, apple sauce (by the handful! He LOVES it!), mango cheeks (though I have to watch because he has been known to stuff the entire thing in his mouth), squash, carrots, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin. His pincer grasp is quite good now.

Over the last week or so Bennett has clearly started pointing. He mainly just points at us as if to say, "YOU! I see you!" Sometimes he sticks out that finger to touch it to a page of a book. We also think he *might* be saying "mama" and meaning me. It's unclear. And today he babbled a WHOLE lot of "dada." He also screaches and does this throaty gutteral thing that sounds like he's possessed. But I swear! He's not!

The other funny thing he does is feed his mother. He thinks it's hilarious to put food in my mouth. In fact, today I gave him a frozen bagel to help with his teething (that's what the pediatrician recommended) and, once he figured out it was food (because I kept putting it in my mouth trying to convince him to put it in his) he shoved it in my mouth with gusto. While he screamed. It didn't do a damned thing for his teething pain to have it in MY mouth!

He continues to be a very happy, busy, vocal, and social baby. When we go to the grocery store, he screaches until people look at him, and then he flashes them his big grin....before screaching some more.

Alright. I should go. He's found the envelope from a Netlix movie and I cannot for the life of me convince him not to eat paper....