Ben Says

Sorry it's so lengthy. I've been collecting these for awhile.

*The other day, Ben and I were romping around on the floor when he came over and knocked me down. I was taking a little breather, apparently, because he said, "Can you sit up? I want to tackle you again." Ha. Another favorite: "Let's lay down and try to tickle me so I can escape!"

*Ben likens things in his life to things in the lives of characters in his favorite books. We got a Happy Meal toy with a penguin holding some sort of clipboard. I told Ben he was reading a map. He said, "Oh! Like the Man in the Yellow Hat does!"

*"Usually." This is one of Ben's favorite new things to say. Loosely translated, it means, "I want to." As in, "I usually eat cookies for breakfast." Or, "I usually don't sit on the potty." Sometimes he will point things out in a book, and say, "I usually climb that tree," or something. It's funny.

*This one is from way back when. You remember that Ben LOVES to hold Matt. I told him, once upon a time, that he can hold Matt unless Matt is crying, and then Mommy has to hold him. He asked to hold Matt right before I was going to feed him once, and so of course Matt wasn't very happy. He started to cry, and I said, "OK, Ben, Mommy needs to take Matt because he is hungry. It's time to feed him." I started to take Matt away, and Ben burst into tears and lifted up his shirt, saying, "I feed Matty! I feed him!" Let's all please remember that there was a day when Ben wanted to breastfeed his brother. Sheesh. (I actually think it's very sweet.)

*Completely random: "SNIFF COCOA!" I have no explanation. He yells it repeatedly, though.

*Ben was sitting on a stool and wanted to get down. I said, "Do you want me to help you?" I was holding Matt in my other arm, so in reality it was more like a controlled fall than a lift down. He looked up at me and said, "That help wasn't very helpful." HA!

*One of my very favorites: "I cried." It's so sad and sweet. He'll tell a story about going to the doctor, or the barber, or falling down, and then he'll get very quiet and say, very sadly or alternately very matter-of-factly, "I cried."

*Related: "Sometimes kids cry at __________." He was very disturbed after his recent visit to the doctor, so I kept saying, "It's OK. Sometimes kids cry at the doctor. It's alright." So now, sometimes kids cry at the doctor. And sometimes kids cry at the barber. And sometimes people "bump their head on the side of the treadmill." But, never fear, because "it's OK."

*After recovering from the harrowing trip to the doctor for a well-child visit, we got the paperwork to take Ben for his two-year bloodwork. Just a lead level. This time, instead of building him up like crazy, like I did with the doctor, I just started right before we got in the car. I said, "Hey Ben! We're going to go to the lab. They are going to put something tight around your arm and then you'll feel a little pinch, and it will hurt for a minute, but then we will get a DONUT!" So now he tells everyone that we went to the lab and the woman pinched him, and then he got a donut. It's awesome. Especially the part about the sprinkles. I was SO proud of him, though. He cried when the girl touched him to put the tourniquet on, and then he was fine when they put the needle in. It was nuts. He basically bounced out of there, showing off his Band-Aid.

*Same trip, we were standing in line at the check-in, and a very nice older gentleman came over to talk to Ben. He said, "Hey! Those are nice shoes. I like them!" And Ben looked him RIGHT in the eye and said, "GO AWAY!" We chatted about this in the car. Now Ben tells everyone, "When we were at the lab, and a nice man comes over to tell me nice shoes, I should NOT say GO AWAY! What should I say instead? I should say SANK-YOOOOOOOOOU!"

*Josh had planned a little family dinner out at Tully's. (We figured it's loud enough in there, and there are TVs everywhere, so it would be fine. It was.) Josh told Ben about it, and Ben was very excited. He came to me and told me, "Me and Daddy are going to Tully's and I will order my OWN FOOD and when it comes there will be a BASEball card on my pwate!"

*After his nap, I went in to get him out of his bed. He was engrossed in some book or something, so I caught him off guard. He stared me down and said, "You scared me." I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I startled you?" and he said, "NO, you wasn't ... didn't ... startle me, you SCARED me!" Oops.

*Trying to get him to talk to Mom and Dad Austin on the (speaker) phone, when he didn't want to, earned this gem: "Just put it up to your ear." Meaning, I don't feel like talking, you keep the phone. Also, with regards to phone conversation, when Ben pretends to talk to someone, anyone, on the phone, he says, "I can show you when you get home. Bye." And slams the phone shut.

*"There's my Matty!"

*Ben has a cool firetruck bed that was a hand-me-down from a good friend of mine. Its brand name is Step 2. It is imprinted on the side of the truck. I was getting Ben dressed one morning, and he pointed it out, saying, "There's a 2!" And then, "Where is there another 2, Mommy?" (He often does this when he wants me to ask him something, he'll ask ME the question, and then I repeat it for him.) I said, "I don't know, Ben, where is there another 2?" and he climbed up on the bed, laid down on his pillow, and pointed at the underside of the little plastic key. "THERE is a 2, Mommy!" Um, yes. Indeed there was ...a minute little imprint of the brand symbol Step 2. Wow.