"I'm Okay!"

This is Benjamin's new favorite phrase. He bumps into something: "I'm okay!" He trips and falls on the carpet: "I'm okay!" He drops something on the floor: "I'm okay!" It's quite comical on the one hand, and mildly annoying on the other.

In the spirit of consistency, he's still repeating things over and over again.
"We're going to Target."
"Yes, Benjamin."
We're going to Target."
"Yes."
We're going to Target."
"That's right."
"We're going to Target."
I try not to let this get to me. I just wonder aloud how many times I have to confirm things for him. If I knew the magic number, maybe that would help. I have to confirm things three times, or ten times; knowing that might make a difference in how long or short my patience is with this little quirk. But what else can I do at this point?

We did have a great time coloring together yesterday. Benjamin picked out the crayons and I colored the sections he suggested. He has an affinity for all shades of brown right now, but does a good job of identifying all of the colors. I did get to use some yellow, blue and green, but my snowman had a tan and gold (close to brown) scarf, brown mittens, and tan nose. He got a blue hat, and I insisted on at least coloring the holly on his hat green and red. It's these moments that I really enjoy--we didn't go to a theme park, and I didn't spend any money, but just getting to spend time together like that was truly wonderful. We should do this more often...

Being Afraid of Santa

Benjamin is not too keen on Santa. He knows who he is, and he knows what he does, but he is not at all concerned with sitting on Santa's lap to tell him what he wants for Christmas. Now I've heard people say that kids are afraid of the big beard, but I'm not sure that is the problem here. Benjamin has his own agenda, and it apparently does not include Santa. In fact, during his first year of life, he was cared for during the day by an older woman in her home. Her husband had a big, full gray beard, and he wore glasses, so Ben was extremely used to seeing someone with this type of appearance on a daily basis.

Benjamin is not an overly expressive child, so I am often left wondering what he is thinking. Maybe someday he will let me know what he really thinks of Santa. For now I have to be content with him flat-out ignoring him. I guess that's better than him bursting into tears and running away.

The Wonder of Christmas Trees

This year it's all about the Christmas trees. Benjamin is fascinated with them. Well, what's not to like: the twinkling lights, the colorful ornaments, the huge star at the top of the tree? I made sure to put the vehicle ornaments (we LOVE Hallmark ornaments) near the top of the tree so I don't have to go looking for them among the piles of Matchbox cars in January. And while most of the ornaments look like toys to play with, Ben has done a pretty good job of keeping his hands to himself.

Sawyer, on the other hand, is all about the lights. Since he is not yet mobile, I can keep his activity center a good foot or two out of reach of grabby little hands. I suppose I should let him get close enough to touch it, but if you saw how high he can bounce in his activity center, you might understand why I err on the side of caution. Next year I may have to put the baby gate around the tree instead of around the baby.

I hope that I can relax and enjoy this time of wonderment and innocence with them. It goes by in the blink of an eye.

Funny sayings

Every parent can recall with fondness at least one funny expression or mispronunciation that their child had when they were little. Benjamin had several that were particularly humorous and made me smile every time he said them.

Some animal names are a lot easier to say than others. Dog, no problem. Cat, that's a cinch. Chipmunk is another story altogether. Ben called them "chik-munks." I think the "p" made it more difficult, but it sure sounded cute whenever he said it. And I didn't have the heart to tell him that not all "chik-munks" are girls.

"Quick like a bunny" also got it's very own Benjamin treatment. I would ask him to do something (usually go up the stairs) "quick like a bunny." To that, Benjamin would reply "quicky-bunny, quicky bunny." Although it never really made him go any faster, it was still adorable to hear him say.

You never know what words will strike a child's fancy where they will repeat it over and over again. One day, I put a new pair of pants on Benjamin. They were a little too big and kept sliding down. My husband asked him, "Where are you going, droopy-drawers?" The rest of the day, all Benjamin said over and over was "droopy-drawers, droopy-drawers." I waited another month before trying those pants on him again.

The last one I will mention is probably the most endearing to me. His daddy is a HUGE Steelers fan, and really hopes that Benjamin will follow in his footsteps so that they have something in common. All last football season, he kept trying to get Benjamin to say "GO STEELERS!" But when Ben said it, it always came out "GO EESERS!" It was too cute for words! He finally got it right just in time for them to win the Superbowl, but in my heart I will always hear that little boy saying "GO EESERS!"