The HALLway: Life. Love. Simply Creative: Crew Benjamin: 18 Month Update:

Happy Half Birthday to the sweetest little {sick} boy in all the land! How is he this close the being TWO... It has been a rough week watching both our babies so sick with this nastiness. I would not wish Hand Foot Mouth on anyone. This virus falls into the category of Measles and unfortunately there is no treatment or medication to help get rid of it or prevent it. Just one of those things that has to work its way through their little systems. We are so thankful that the worst is behind us and we are on the road to recovery and being healthy again {but that face... Ugh, says it all. As he is itching his rash}.

Well it has been a fun and busy few months since his Last Update. He has already had his second hair cut and looks more and more like such a big boy every day. We celebrated his second Thanksgiving, made his first trip out to Gig Harbor and met his Great Grandparents and so many family members, we moved into his third Home {yes, 3 homes in his short little life... gotta love the military life!}, celebrated his second Christmas, and have made more memories with his Nana, Papa, and Aunties and Uncles than I could ever have dreamed of. We are so happy to be back in Jacksonville and couldn't imagine being anywhere else!

Crew is seriously the sweetest most lovable little boy. He truly melts our heart every day. Even when he is getting in trouble he is so gosh darn cute that I can't stand it. He has had his first couple of Timeouts recently. Crew is going to be our biter/hitter I'm afraid. We never once had an issue with Charli biting or hitting anyone {still haven't}, but Crew seems to enjoy bitting... And the thing is, he does it when he is happy and excited, not when he is trying to be mean. I think we are going to have our work cut out for us! haha. But even through all of that, the amount of love that little boy has for his family is so incredible and contagious. He loves SO fiercely! We love you so much Crew Benjamin and cannot believe you are already 1 and a half years old!

Crew's Stats:

*Weight: 30LBS

*Height: 33.5 INCHES

*Diaper Size: Pampers Swaddlers Size 5

*Clothes: Anywhere between 18 months and 2T

*Teeth: 12 teeth. He is currently cutting all 4 canines.

*Sleep: We feel truly blessed to have two amazing sleepers {seriously, how did we get so lucky}. He still naps so incredibly well and sleeps through the night and is so easy going down.

morning nap: We are basically over morning nap, except for school days for Charli. He will usually fall asleep at some point in the car ride to/from taking her to school in the morning.

afternoon nap: Nap time is between 12:30 PM and 1 PM, after lunch, and he sleeps 3 hours every day if not more.

bedtime: He goes down at 7 PM and wakes up between 7:30 AM and 8 AM.

*Food: breakfast: He will typically eat a bowl of cereal because big sis does and he wants to be just like her. But he LOVES when we make bacon & eggs and waffles

lunch: A typical day consists of a slice of turkey and string cheese {though I think he is getting tired of this, because he wants my full on BLT if I make one}, or a PB&J, grapes, strawberries, veggie sticks.

dinner: Whatever I cook. Some of his favorites are still Taco Tuesday, pasta, pizza, chicken, and he even loves my Thai Peanut Chicken I make.

snacks: Yogurt, Applesauce, fruit, goldfish, veggie sticks, and we have started giving him fruit snacks here and there and he is just like his momma {it's my guilty pleasure}!!!!

milk: This kid is still all about his milk. We go through 4 gallons a week {A WEEK!!}

*Words: It has been a huge couple of months for words for this boy!! YAY! {Charli knew 60 words, 12 animal sounds, 12 body parts, knew some of her ABC's, and could say several phrases} So yeah, it has been SO hard for us not to compare but we are really focusing on our sweet boy and the way HE is learning. And at the end of the day he is doing great and is probably more on the "normal" track... Charli was just so above average. Crew's words consist of: Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, Yaya {uncle yaya}, Bo {Bogey}, Bay-Boo {Bailey boo}, Hi, Bye, Bowl, Baba {bottle}, Wawa {water}, Tick Tick {when he is trying to tickle you}, Uh Oh, and the amount of jabbering he does because he is legit trying to have a conversation with you. He can show you where is head is, nose, mouth, eyes, cheeks, belly, hands, and yes his pee pee {hahaha}. He can do a few animal sounds: dog, owl, monkey, he knows what a fishy does and what a giraffe does {we are getting there, haha}. And a big one is even though he can't say "A" or "B" {although he probably can}, if you ask him to go get you the "A" block or the "B" block, he can.

*Social: His social calendar has been pretty packed since being back in Jax! He gets to spend so much time with all of his family and loves when his Great Grandma Boo Boo and Aunt Shay babysit! He has made so many new friends and we feel so blessed to have not only our best friends and friends we have known for so long but to have a truly wonderful group of military friends with little ones who we have become so incredibly close with in such a short time! I see a lot of little girlfriends for this little hunk! ;) A big thing that just happened was he {and Charli} were just noticed and I was contacted about them being models! Yes, baby models. I can't even! I have a feeling his "social calendar" is about to grow!! ;)

*Other: Crew still loves bath and loves to brush his teeth, he is still incredibly ticklish, and really just loves to play, follow, and do whatever Charli is doing. Crew has a new bruise basically every other day from running into walls, chairs, falling off couches, tripping and falling into corners of just about anything {seriously, moms with multiple boys, I don't know how you do it. I have so much anxiety with him}.