Welcome to Toddlerhood!

My little Benjamin is indeed still very little!  We took him to the pediatrician for his 18-month check up last week and his height and weight are off the charts!!  Actually, they are under the charts...as in he doesn't even reach the 5th percentile range!  Not that I thought any of my children would be linebackers, but I would like to see him at least make it on to the chart.
Benjamin is not talking very much yet. He says a word that sounds like a combination of "momma" and "more" pretty frequently, but apparently some combination of Mommy and more is what makes him happy.  He has a very quiet "jewsh" when he is thirsty (which is often).  And his newest favorite word: NO!  He answers "no" to everything.  I picked the boys up at day care yesterday and Benjamin was hanging out in the infant room in an exersaucer (they were vacuuming).  I knelt down in front of him and asked him if he was ready to go home.  "Noooooooooo!"  I really wish I had a picture of the face he makes when he says it!  Then he swirled around in the exersaucer so he wasn't facing me. Stinker!!  I asked him if he was hungry and he shook his head and said "nooooooo" again.  So I said, "Do you want to just stay here tonight?"  And that turkey looked over his shoulder and nodded his head!!!
Needless to say I did not leave him there.  He yelled at me when I picked him up and was a grouch until I put him in his car seat and gave him his sippy cup.
In related news, Benjamin now likes to make animal noises. He knows what a cow says and what a dog says. He makes some different responses with other animals, but they are not recognizable to me.  He also knows where his nose is and where his ears are.  I love this stage, where it seems like they pick things up so quickly and like to show off!!