Ben Says

*Whenever he's looking for something, he calls out ever so sweetly, "[Lost Item], where are you? [Lost Item], where aaarrrreee you?" until he finds it. Or until I find it. :)

*He quotes books a lot. At the end of Robin Hood, for example, when Robin jumps into the moat to escape the evil Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Little John is convinced that Robin is dead, Little John says, "Poor Robin. Never had a chance." (Not to worry; Robin Hood escapes. Hope I didn't spoil it for you.) Ben likes to apply this phrase to various circumstances, my favorite of which is after killing a bug: "Poor buggy. Never had chance."

*Ben almost always wakes up from his nap remembering some part or other of a book. He's big on sneezes. Like when Monstro the whale sneezes in Pinocchio. Or when Mr. Noisy sneezes in his self-titled book. (You can hear it in the "NEX' CUN-RY!" by the way.)

*Another of my favorite things that Ben does is parrot back things we've said to him. In the morning, I go in and say, "Hey, Buddy! How are you?" and then he says, "Hey. Bud-dee. How ow you?" with a big smile. Love him! He sometimes parrots things we've said over and over, too. When I wash his hair, and dump the water over his head, he says, "I'm. Alright. I'm. Alright." prooooobably because I have said over and over again, "It's OK. You're alright. You're alright..."

*Sometimes when I can't understand what Ben is trying to tell me or what he's asking for, I'll say, "Can you show me?" Now that he's picked up on the concept, he will initiate it himself. I'll say, "I don't know what you mean, can you say it again?" and he'll stick out his hand and tug on mine, saying, "Show me, Mommy. Show me." And then he'll show me. :)

*Manners. Manners are hilarious. Ben often remembers to say please, and he's learning to remember 'thank you' as well. But occasionally I will prompt him with, "What do you say?" ...and I think he figures he may as well cover all the bases. I'll give him something, and say, "What do you say?" and Ben will answer, "Thank you're welcome. Nice manners!" It's so funny!

*And finally, the endearing but annoying/frustrating 'like.' As in, "Like that," or "Like him!" The dangerous part is "Don't LIKE that!" or "Don't WANT that!" or, sadly, "Don't like him!" So far the 'don't likes' and 'don't wants' have almost always referred to food, and generally 'don't like him' applies to something I am trying to substitute for something else. Like when I give him his Elmo and he wants his monkey, etc. (A very poor substitute, evidently.)

*Oh! I forgot one. Sometimes, when Ben asks for something, he'll add a little extra onto the end. For example: "Need Slinky, Mommy. Wish come true!" Ha ha ha! I can only imagine this little gem came from Pinocchio as well, where Jiminy Cricket says something like, "So you see, wishes really do come true," at the end.