Big Brother Ben

I've been trying to explain to Ben that Daddy and I are the bosses in the house, and that we decide many things, such as whether Oliver can play with a toy that Ben thinks is unsafe or a toy that he suddenly is dying to play with, etc. Ben tells me no, I'm not the "bus" and then later he'll bring it up and say he is the "bus." I guess he doesn't really understand, so we'll have to work on that more. He is constantly telling Oliver he can't play with something and ripping it out of his hands, causing a previously content baby to cry and scream. He also tells Oliver "No!" with his finger wagging back and forth. And, he warns Oliver not to use things as weapons (sounds like they've learned about that at Wee Creekers).  One day Oliver was flinging a shirt around and Ben told him "Don't use that as a weapon, Liv!"


Yesterday morning all four of us piled in Ben's bed to wake up and Ben gave me a hug and said "I'm here for you Mama, I'll keep you safe.  I'll keep your heart safe and happy."  Where does he get such sweet sayings?

Ben loves to say "Hey you guys!  Watch this..."  Tim and neighbor Todd have an agreement that Ben can go over there and Mattux can come over to our house without formal arrangement, so Ben is always watching to see Mattux outside.  When he sees him he yells, "Hey you guys!  I come play?"  I watched Tim take him across yesterday and then we could see a little bit of their playing when they were outside.  Ben was having a blast doing who knows what with Mattux and Alta and Boo.

I'm so glad he is outgoing and confident.  I've said it before, but it seems he can enjoy life more than I did at his age because of my shyness.  At the Wee Creekers picnic, which I couldn't attend, Tim says Zachary and Maya (best friends) went off to play together and didn't invite him, and his feelings were hurt.  How sad!  Tim said Linda went to talk to him and then he went to talk to him, so hopefully it was a learning moment instead of a sad moment.

If you hand Oliver a bottle of lotion or shampoo or something similar, he pretends to get some on his hands from the top and then rubs it on his head.

Words Ben still says cute:  "Mingo" for mango, "crayground" for playground.  There were a couple more but I forget.

Ben suddenly loves Flynn again and has been giving him lots of attention.  One day he asked Flynn to follow him around everywhere and Flynn did.  Tim found an old can of cat treats and Ben has enjoyed giving Flynn treats.  Ben also said that Flynn could jump in the air and catch, kill, and eat a crow.  Flynn has been killing lots of mice and gophers, so Ben thinks a crow is up next, I guess.