Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Hey Dad!
If we're all outside and one of us walks away from Ben, he yells, "Hey Dad!" or "Hey Mom!" It sounds so funny coming from a 2-year-old. When I brought Ben to the library last week to try to get some more work done while he played with the new library "toys," he said, "Hey!" to Paul who was on a ladder hanging signs.
A visit to the library
My library has been closed for 10 weeks for a remodel and only a few of us stayed there to work, so only those staff members have seen Ben in 10 weeks. All staff came back this last week to get ready for opening and we had an all-day training/meeting on Tuesday. I asked Tim to bring Ben down so everyone could see Ben, and so Tim could see the new library. We finished the meeting and our library manager was saying "And now our bonus or reward for the day (for some of you) is that Ben, Delaney, and Samantha are coming to visit!" Delaney and Samantha are the other library kids. As soon as the manager said that, Ben came running into the room with Tim tagging along. Perfect timing! Everyone yelled "Hi Ben!" and he did the funniest thing: he stood and swayed back and forth and eyed everyone in the room through his eyebrows, like he was sizing us all up and finding us suspicious. Everyone just laughed and laughed. I was so glad to see him and he was so funny. He had a great time playing with Delaney and "baby" Samantha, except when Samantha tried to play with HIS hammer. It was fun to see the kids together.
More Benglish
marshmallow = mallow
spoon = poon
fix it = wickit
fix them = wickam
burrito = rito
cantaloupe = cope
tractor = ractor
please = weese
computer = purter
one, two, three = two, one, two
pizza = pita
lotion = newone
other one = something very garbled that I understand
spoon = poon
fix it = wickit
fix them = wickam
burrito = rito
cantaloupe = cope
tractor = ractor
please = weese
computer = purter
one, two, three = two, one, two
pizza = pita
lotion = newone
other one = something very garbled that I understand
Monday, March 16, 2009
Benglish
I have to record some of Ben's pronunciations while they are so cute and sweet. Many are repeats from previous posts.
pillow = pullow
grapefruit = root
pine cone = co-cone
all gone = go-gone
snake = ssssssssssnake (perhaps because I've been emphasizing the s to get him to say it. I'll have to emphasize the s in other words too)
batteries = bowies
movie = moony
dinosaurs = yours
juice = joo-is
tunnel = meeno (we think?)
blankie = bakie
strawberry/grape = baybay
watermelon = melon
puzzle = pull
I'll add more as I remember...
pillow = pullow
grapefruit = root
pine cone = co-cone
all gone = go-gone
snake = ssssssssssnake (perhaps because I've been emphasizing the s to get him to say it. I'll have to emphasize the s in other words too)
batteries = bowies
movie = moony
dinosaurs = yours
juice = joo-is
tunnel = meeno (we think?)
blankie = bakie
strawberry/grape = baybay
watermelon = melon
puzzle = pull
I'll add more as I remember...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A couple of photos
Ben helping stir on pancake night
Ben and Tim on our picnic/hike
If the fork doesn't work right, you can always pick up the food and put it on the fork.
What a sneaky-looking smile!
Ben loves to feed everyone else.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ben the Builder
Benny LOVES helping Daddy with construction and house repair. In addition to "turning" things with his pliers, he loves using screwdrivers and hammers too. He took a nail out of a pile and stuck it in an existing hole in the shed wall and with three accurate hits of the hammer, had it completely in the hole. He really understands how screws work, too. Last night he was helping Daddy put bathroom cabinets back on and he wanted me to help too. He said "Mon, Mama, yew" and opened and closed all the bottom card cabinet drawers looking for a screwdriver for Mommy. He opened one drawer and didn't see one and said, "Nope!" and continued until he found one for me.
Ben continues to tell us when something is yucky. For a while he said "ooku" and held out his hand for us to clean it. I'm not sure where he got "ooku" but we've modified it to icky and tried to teach him the difference between owie and icky and itchy, since he seems to get them all mixed up. In the car the other day, he even asked for a kleenex to wipe his own nose! Wow!
This week we've been coloring, using cookie cutters with Play-doh, and we tried watercolor paints. Ben liked painting with the plain water best!
Ben continues to tell us when something is yucky. For a while he said "ooku" and held out his hand for us to clean it. I'm not sure where he got "ooku" but we've modified it to icky and tried to teach him the difference between owie and icky and itchy, since he seems to get them all mixed up. In the car the other day, he even asked for a kleenex to wipe his own nose! Wow!
This week we've been coloring, using cookie cutters with Play-doh, and we tried watercolor paints. Ben liked painting with the plain water best!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Grammy came to visit
Grammy Pat came to visit and brought a window shade that actually stays on the window. Every day this week, Ben has said "Winnow, yun, berder!" meaning "The window shade Grammy brought makes the sun from the window much better. Thank you!"
Ben finally started calling Grammy Pat a name, but we couldn't really tell what it was. It sounded like "Nana" sometimes and maybe "Gammy" sometimes.
I decided maybe singing might help make diaper changes more pleasant for Ben, but instead of "No Mama No Mama No Mama!" my singing garnered just a shrieked "No! No! No!"
Ben said "cue me" (excuse me) to a lady when he almost ran into her. And Ben said "tank you" a lot to Grammy.
Grammy brought Ben a little watermelon and he devoured it. After one bowl, he would say "More melon?" and eat usually 4 bowls each morning while it lasted. When he was eating his very last bowl, we were running late, so we planned to take the bowl to go in the car. The bowl spilled when Tim was putting him in the car and he just melted down, totally heartbroken. Tim tried to console him by telling him there was just one more bite and a little juice in the bowl, but Ben tried to tell us the juice was his favorite part. Cry, "melon," cry, "juice," cry, "Daddy," cry, "melon." It was just so sad. Fortunately he didn't cry that long, but he kept talking about it on the way to daycare. The way he talked, I thought he meant "Daddy didn't mean to spill my watermelon. It was an accident and it's ok."
A telescoping magnetic thingie (a metal stick that gets longer, with a magnet on the end, I guess to reach metal things in hard to reach places) was Ben's favorite toy for several days. Tim taught him how to see if it would stick to different things, and Ben went around the house saying "Nope" when he touched it to something nonmetal. He still says "Nope" when we are looking for something and don't find it.
He suddenly likes the outdoors again, thank goodness, and seems impervious to the cold. He'll refuse to put on a coat and hat (and then later refuse to take them off) and play outside until his hands are frozen. He still loves going up and down hills ("heels") and loves it when we do it with him.
An elderly neighbor has visited several times and Ben just loves her. He says "'mon" and asks her to sit down and color with him, or play ball with him.
We were pulling out of a parking spot they other day and Ben calmly said "money." I thought maybe he wanted a toy bunny from the car floor or some of his bunny crackers, but I looked where he was pointing and there indeed was a live rabbit.
I can't remember what else I was going to say, so I'll have to post again soon!
Ben finally started calling Grammy Pat a name, but we couldn't really tell what it was. It sounded like "Nana" sometimes and maybe "Gammy" sometimes.
I decided maybe singing might help make diaper changes more pleasant for Ben, but instead of "No Mama No Mama No Mama!" my singing garnered just a shrieked "No! No! No!"
Ben said "cue me" (excuse me) to a lady when he almost ran into her. And Ben said "tank you" a lot to Grammy.
Grammy brought Ben a little watermelon and he devoured it. After one bowl, he would say "More melon?" and eat usually 4 bowls each morning while it lasted. When he was eating his very last bowl, we were running late, so we planned to take the bowl to go in the car. The bowl spilled when Tim was putting him in the car and he just melted down, totally heartbroken. Tim tried to console him by telling him there was just one more bite and a little juice in the bowl, but Ben tried to tell us the juice was his favorite part. Cry, "melon," cry, "juice," cry, "Daddy," cry, "melon." It was just so sad. Fortunately he didn't cry that long, but he kept talking about it on the way to daycare. The way he talked, I thought he meant "Daddy didn't mean to spill my watermelon. It was an accident and it's ok."
A telescoping magnetic thingie (a metal stick that gets longer, with a magnet on the end, I guess to reach metal things in hard to reach places) was Ben's favorite toy for several days. Tim taught him how to see if it would stick to different things, and Ben went around the house saying "Nope" when he touched it to something nonmetal. He still says "Nope" when we are looking for something and don't find it.
He suddenly likes the outdoors again, thank goodness, and seems impervious to the cold. He'll refuse to put on a coat and hat (and then later refuse to take them off) and play outside until his hands are frozen. He still loves going up and down hills ("heels") and loves it when we do it with him.
An elderly neighbor has visited several times and Ben just loves her. He says "'mon" and asks her to sit down and color with him, or play ball with him.
We were pulling out of a parking spot they other day and Ben calmly said "money." I thought maybe he wanted a toy bunny from the car floor or some of his bunny crackers, but I looked where he was pointing and there indeed was a live rabbit.
I can't remember what else I was going to say, so I'll have to post again soon!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Big little boy
Benny's jeans are too short today and his legs seem so long and skinny. When he's in a good mood, he tries so hard to be grown up and helpful. He walks around so confident and could pass for a 6-year-old.
"Da-ee" turned back in to "Daddy" this week. I wonder why.
One time he gave something to Tim and said "There you go, Da-ee." We haven't heard it again, so we wonder if we heard right.
His thank yous are so sweet and cute, and occurring more often. When he wants us to get something, he says something that sounds like "Geetle it."
Tim came home with a slinky for Ben and they had a blast trying to get it to walk down the stairs. When it worked right, Ben screeched with laughter.
Ben's favorite movie this week is one of the Jurassic Park movies and I think he is saying "dinosaurs" when he says "raars." I can't really tell the difference between his word for scissors, dinosaurs, and stairs. He has one more word he uses every day but we can't figure out what it is.
At our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Ben ate a spoonful of salsa despite our warnings. We watched his face turn red, he started to cough, and he said "owie!" He reached for his milk at the same time we pushed it towards him. He took a long drink and then smiled and said "Berder!"
He's doing the thing I think most children do: saying "Hold you" instead of "Hold me" because parents say "you want me to hold you." I love it and he sounds so sweet while he stands with his arms stretched up towards me. He does seem to be getting "you" and "me" a little bit, but he gets them mixed up, which is cute.
I'm sure I've said before that one of his standard greetings is a lion's roar. We've been pointing out babies a lot to try to get him used to the concept and the last baby we saw got a nice loud lion's roar from Ben. Poor thing.
Have I said before that he refers to himself as Minnie? I guess it's similar to the way bunny comes out "money" even though he says B just fine with other words. He likes to inventory the family a lot: Mommy, Daddy, Minnie, sometimes Pippi and Yinn. And if the three of us have something, like a drink, he'll point out that we all have one: Daddy, Mommy, Minnie, pointing to each.
One late afternoon I walked in the door from a walk and thought Ben was still asleep, but he turned around the corner of his recliner and said "Hi Mom!" like a teenager!
He loves trying to screw, but instead of a screwdriver, he likes to use his pliers, and he calls it "turning." We should make a little board with some big screws in loose holes and let him have at it.
I'm ashamed to say he knows how to load DVDs in the machine. When one of our movies was finished last week, he took it out, put it carefully away in a case, and put Madagascar in the machine.
Several times now Tim has said "Hey Ben, let's go outside!" and five minutes later Ben comes back with his shoes on and says "'mon Da-ee." We're glad he seems to like the outdoors again.
More later!
"Da-ee" turned back in to "Daddy" this week. I wonder why.
One time he gave something to Tim and said "There you go, Da-ee." We haven't heard it again, so we wonder if we heard right.
His thank yous are so sweet and cute, and occurring more often. When he wants us to get something, he says something that sounds like "Geetle it."
Tim came home with a slinky for Ben and they had a blast trying to get it to walk down the stairs. When it worked right, Ben screeched with laughter.
Ben's favorite movie this week is one of the Jurassic Park movies and I think he is saying "dinosaurs" when he says "raars." I can't really tell the difference between his word for scissors, dinosaurs, and stairs. He has one more word he uses every day but we can't figure out what it is.
At our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Ben ate a spoonful of salsa despite our warnings. We watched his face turn red, he started to cough, and he said "owie!" He reached for his milk at the same time we pushed it towards him. He took a long drink and then smiled and said "Berder!"
He's doing the thing I think most children do: saying "Hold you" instead of "Hold me" because parents say "you want me to hold you." I love it and he sounds so sweet while he stands with his arms stretched up towards me. He does seem to be getting "you" and "me" a little bit, but he gets them mixed up, which is cute.
I'm sure I've said before that one of his standard greetings is a lion's roar. We've been pointing out babies a lot to try to get him used to the concept and the last baby we saw got a nice loud lion's roar from Ben. Poor thing.
Have I said before that he refers to himself as Minnie? I guess it's similar to the way bunny comes out "money" even though he says B just fine with other words. He likes to inventory the family a lot: Mommy, Daddy, Minnie, sometimes Pippi and Yinn. And if the three of us have something, like a drink, he'll point out that we all have one: Daddy, Mommy, Minnie, pointing to each.
One late afternoon I walked in the door from a walk and thought Ben was still asleep, but he turned around the corner of his recliner and said "Hi Mom!" like a teenager!
He loves trying to screw, but instead of a screwdriver, he likes to use his pliers, and he calls it "turning." We should make a little board with some big screws in loose holes and let him have at it.
I'm ashamed to say he knows how to load DVDs in the machine. When one of our movies was finished last week, he took it out, put it carefully away in a case, and put Madagascar in the machine.
Several times now Tim has said "Hey Ben, let's go outside!" and five minutes later Ben comes back with his shoes on and says "'mon Da-ee." We're glad he seems to like the outdoors again.
More later!
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