Benito at one year

Okay, I've been asked by a few people now about my Benito's growth, development, etc., so here it is:

Verbal -- Bennett talks ALL the time. He tells me things, asks questions, makes observations, etc. Unfortunately, I only understand him when he uses the words I recognize! Here are the words I've officially recognized that I know he understands, that are pronounced pretty well, and are used in proper context: bye, hi, duck, dog, outside, what's that?, there, up, close door, ball, socks, hungry, Elmo, Joseph (his uncle - yes, of all names he chose the most difficult of all to say first!). He's not saying dad or mom yet :( but I'm hopeful and can't wait till he does!
--He mimicks words and sounds he hears other people make.
--He also makes animal noises: duck (he also quacks at penguins, grackles, and a few other birds), cow, and lion/tiger. He has a DVD he loves to watch (Baby Praise) and he starts quacking right before the ducks come on the screen. It's pretty cute.

Physical -- He started walking on his first birthday, which was pretty special. He doesn't walk all the time, but numerous times a day will take anywhere from 5-10 steps. He seems to only do it when necessary, like when he wants something up high or at his eye level. He got a ride and walk lion (Fisher Price) for his birthday that he LOVES, and he walks all over the house with it. --He also dances to his favorite songs.
--Over the past month he's started cuddling with me during his Praise Baby DVDs for about 15-20 min., which is WONDERFUL because he's not really a cuddler by nature. So I get my daily fix :) This happens during his "witching" hour, usually around 4-5pm when he's kinda cranky.
--Things he really enjoys doing these days: going for walks in the stroller, taking baths and playing with his toys in the bathtub, reading books, opening and closing cabinets, doors and drawers, going to the park, playing with his toys, playing with Sophie and Dolly (his dogs), and playing with his little friends during play dates.

Learning -- Bennett has books that are his favorites and has favorite pages within those books. --As I said before, he's fascinated by animal sounds, so we get out his Noah's Ark and go through the animals a lot. For Christmas he's getting one of those wheel-spinny things that makes the animal noises, and also a Fridge Farm, so he'll definitely be set!
--I was really surprised when I started a new game with Bennett. I got three cups and placed an object under one of the cups. I moved and scrambled the cups and Bennett still knew where the object was EVERY time! This is supposed to take kids a while to get the hang of, so I was pretty proud that he caught on right away.
--He's also started trying to put things together rather than just take them apart and knock them down (i.e. he likes to put the cap back on water bottles for me and nests his stacking cups he just got for his birthday from Grandma).
--We're also working on getting rid of his bottle once and for all and drinking our milk in a sippy cup like a big boy :)


Fun stuff -- Bennett loves to take his socks off. One time when I came in to get him from his nap, he'd taken off his socks AND his pants and thrown both onto the floor.
--He also loves to press the buttons on the TV, but gets in trouble for it. When he's doing something he knows he's not supposed to, I can almost hear him thinking and weighing his options - whether or not it's worth a swat.
--Bennett loves to help load the dishwasher, to throw clothes in the dryer, and take his diapers out of the diaper drawer and talk about the Sesame Street characters on them, and then put them back in the drawer again.
--He can't stand wearing hats or shoes either, so I wait until the last minute to put on either one.
--He also loves "escaping" when he's still naked after a bath. He crawls SO fast, which is hilarious because he has a total ghetto booty (I should print this off and use it as blackmail when he grows up).
--When we go on play dates Bennett almost always smacks the other kids he's playing with on the head. I don't think it's an "I don't like you" kind of thing. It seems like he's excited or wants to play with them but doesn't really know how.
--He got his first haircut today. I pretty much just cut off a bunch of his curls because it was starting to look like a mullet and people were mistaking him for a girl all the time.
--Last thing: Bennett will beg food off of ANYbody ANYtime, even if he's just eaten and there's no way he's hungry. He makes the funniest begging sounds. It's cute now, but I know sometime soon I'm going to have to nip it in the bud.

Okay, so that should do it for a while. My Benito in a nutshell.