Jive Talkin'

The other day Mom and I were interviewed by a girl from church.  My fame is growing!  Today a 4-H cub reporter, tomorrow the Wall Street Journal!


In any event, Dad got word of this and inquired after the questions which were posed.  One in particular inspired his curiosity, "How many words does Benjamin know?"  Heh.  Thing is Mom and Dad don't know the full extent of my wording skills.  I've been feeding them some words here and there and so they started counting those.  Goodness if they weren't pleased as punch as the list grew.  So this is the list they came up.  (Please bear in mind that my vocabulary is actually much larger, but I I'm reticent with my rhetoric.)

Table: Fork, plate, spoon, water, napkin, mustard, ketchup, pickle, corn, table, chair, chips, flower, coffee, milk, Grape Nuts, granola, nana, mango, apricot, raisin, nuts, prunes, meat, cheese, bread, apple, juice, cookie, pumpkin, eggie, brockie (broccoli), yogurt, donut, ice cream, orange, sauce, soy sauce, rice, hotdog, avacado, salt, soup, bowl [45]

Body Parts: Nose, mouth, eyes, eyebrows, ears, head, cheeks, tummy, belly button, shoulder, arm, leg, foot, feet, toes, tongue, knee, butt, back, bits, hand [21]

Clothing: shirt, shorts, jammies, sandals, shoes, hat, sunglasses, diaper, wipes, (take sandal off) [10]

Colors: green, blue, yellow, red [4]

Numbers: one, two, three, four, five [5]

Bedroom: good, nap, blanket, toys, spanking, disobedient, Dog (God), makeup, mirror, big, boy, bed, wall, clothes, [14]

Verbs: See, making, jump, run, brush, comb, do, play, throw, talking, tuck in, sing, climb up, hiding, pick up, go home, read, dance, shout, sitting, like, hug, kiss, snuggle, wash hands, [25]

Bathroom: tinkle, poop, toilet, shower, bath, bubbles, "pooped again", "bye, bye poop", [8]

Misc: fun, Minnesota, phone, that, Iowa, moosic (music), hi, hello, out, dookbye (goodbye), pool, cool, hallelujah, amen, too, wow [15]

Requests/Demands: More, come, all done, gick doon (get down), have it, pick up, cuddle, please, thank you, stuck (get me out!), help [11]

Outside: mailbox, sidewalk, car, ga-go (tractor), game, kids, baseball, dirt, tree, wing, swingset, slide, fireworks, football, pool, boom, bang, farmer market, sun, moon, house, train, ball, snow, barn, crane [26]

Adjectives: big, pretty, little, hot, cold, small, preposterous, outside, all done, dry, tasty, sleepy, icky, clean [13]

People: Mim, mommy, daddy, baby, Abby, Jenjen (Benjamin), Judy, Darwin, Wayne, auntie, uncle, Ralph, Rosanne, Bill, Poppi, manga-manga (grandma/grandpa), Andrew, Denali, cousin, Sean, Miles, Amos, Jack, Tanya, Julie, Ellie, Mitch, Lane, Lindi, boy, girl, sister, brother, Jesus [35]

Animals: puppy, dickey (kitty), critters, giraffe, moose, bear, cow, bug, buggerfly (butterfly), ladybug, chicken, goat, sheep, toad, pig, frog, snake, turtle, monkey, zebra, hippo, lion, horse, gorilla, eagle, bird, gecko, dolphin, elephant, panda, seahorse, owl, bunny, [33]

Technology: Bebot, bubble pop, doodle buddy, loading, push button, beep, [6]

Car: Wheel, buckle, car wash, [2]

Living Room: bookshelf, lamp, exersaucer, toybox, ramp, Bible, book, clock, window, tummy time  [10]

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I publicly employ small sentences like the following:

• Read it!
• More Grape Nuts please ask.
• Cuddle Mommy.
• Owie, Band-Aid on.
• Where Benjamin go?  Peek a boo!
• Ready, set, go!
• See kids play baseball please.

I recite parts of certain books.  Mom reads the first part of a sentence and I'll finish it.  Also, I spout off with things like the following:

• "wiggle, wiggle, yeah"
• "shake, shake booty"
•  "Oh me oh my"

Baby Slang

As has become abundantly clear, I trust, erudition is not lacking in my noggin'.  But even a young scholar needs a bit of slang.  Drumroll please:....  ..... .. ... ....... ..

Butterfly = buggerfy
Car = ga
Truck/tractor = GA-go
Down "Let me down!" = Dune

Smells like baby spirit!

So mom weighed me the other day. 28 pounds. She says I'm a big boy, and it must be true, because I've been sleeping in a big boy bed for a few weeks now. I also have a big boy bike; I even went potty in the toilet once! No, going in the toilet isn't a normal thing yet, but cut me some slack; I'm not even 2 yet! Dad built me my own bookcase a couple weeks ago. It's so great, all my books are in it, and I have a couple of chairs my size where I sit and read, just like dad does. Another new thing happened this past week: I fell down and scraped my knee, and mom put a bandaid on it. It felt weird, but she said it would help my owie get better. It seems to have worked.

You know what I love? Tractors. Tractors are so awesome. I've been seeing them everywhere! I wish I had one. Well, I have a little John Deere tractor that Grandma and Grandpa gave me, but it doesn't move by itself, and mom won't let me sit on it anyway. I also love being outside. I've been practicing my climbing skills, and I'm pretty good at getting up and down the ladders on the swing set. Abby doesn't get to play outside like I do, because she's only a little baby. Mom said she weighs 15 pounds, and that that's quite a bit for a 3 month old, but I'm still bigger than her. I can almost go down the slide by myself! And Abby does things like drool and cry if she's been lying on her tummy too long. Mom puts her in my exer-saucer to play sometimes, but she won't put me in there! If I want to play in it, I have to climb in myself! Otherwise, Abby's alright. She's pretty cute when she bounces in the johnny jump up. She likes to make noises. She can't say words like I can, but she talks quite a bit. She likes it when I give her a kiss before she goes to bed. I think it will be fun someday when she can run around like me.

I'm still here!

Hello! Long time, no see! We've been a little preoccupied around here lately, because there's another baby living in our house! She was born on January 14th; Mom tells me that makes her 6 1/2 weeks old now. She's littler than me, and she can't talk or walk or do anything very interesting. She cries sometimes, so I say "Abby, Abby" in my sweet voice so she won't be sad. When she's awake she likes to stare at me, and I give her kisses. I could show you where her nose is, too.

Lots of things have been happening since Abby first came here. People have come to visit us almost every weekend, and that is so much fun! My cousin Sean came over with my Auntie Beth and Uncle Chris, and he's my size! We had a good time playing.

You know what I've been doing lately? Learning letters! Mom draws them on my magna-doodle and I tell her what they are. I know almost all of them, but sometimes I get a couple confused with other letters. I love to look at a book or magazine and tell Mom which ones I see. Right now the big letters are easier to recognize than the little ones, but I'm working on it.

I experience something new last week, but it wasn't fun at all. I got sick. Mom and Dad found out that I had the stomach flu. It hurt and it wasn't pretty, but Mom and Dad and I all slept in the living room that night, which I thought was cool. The next morning I felt way better, and I even had breakfast. Now I'm fine, so don't worry. You won't catch anything from me!

Well, I need to go take a nap now. You know what they say- sleep when the baby sleeps!

Thoughts on Growing Up

The BabyMoose is back! Except I'm not really much of a baby any more. I'm a toddler! Does that make me the ToddlerMoose? Mom still calls me "baby", though. I try to make her see that I'm a big boy with all the things I can do, but she says I'll always be her baby. How embarrassing.

You're wondering about the things I can do? Well, I've been walking and running for quite a while now, and I've also taken up dancing. When I'd like to hear some music, I point at the remote control for the stereo and wave my arms around above my head so mom and dad get the idea. I love to dance with dad, I think he's better than rides at an amusement park (which, I admit, I've only heard about)! He swings me and spins me and throws me, and hasn't dropped me yet! I try to dance with mom so she'll feel included, too, but it's not nearly as fun. She won't spin very fast, or for very long, and she definitely doesn't jump! Plus, her belly is in the way! I'm still not quite sure what's up with that. She still points at it and says "there's a baby in there, Benjamin". I just nod, pat her belly and say "baby", too; but I secretly wonder if she's off her rocker.

Guess what we have in our house? A tree! I know, isn't that weird?? I thought trees belonged outside! But I'm glad this one is on the house, it's beautiful. Mom says it's a Christmas tree. It twinkles with lights and is sparkly and has all kinds of things on it! Also underneath, there are presents!!! Now, I've had some experience with presents, and I know what to do with them, but mom and dad won't let me touch them. At first I was miffed; but they said I would be able to touch them someday soon, so I content myself with staring, pointing, and exclaiming. I also do this when we're driving around after dark and I see houses that have lights on them. It's amazing! Have you seen it?

Another thing I'm into these days are tractors, trucks, cars... pretty much anything with an engine and wheels. Vacuum cleaners fit into that category. Oh, and trains, too! Choo-chooooo! I'm pretty good at that noise. I've also got a bunch of animal noises figured out- horses, cows, pigs, kitties, birds, even camels! Dad taught me that one. Mom says he's a pro.

Oh, here's some evidence of how grown up I am: I only take one nap a day, now! I stay up and play all morning, I have such a good time hanging out in my room with my toys and books. When it's time to eat, I can feed myself, and pretty darn effectively, too; the last time I was at the doctor, they said I had grown two whole inches in one month! Feeding myself was pretty hard at first, but I'm finally getting the hang of it. When I eat yogurt with my spoon, I can clean that bowl right out!

I've got to go now, but like they say, Merry Christmas!

News from the 'hood

Hey peeps! Man, it's been a long time since I last posted. I promise, it hasn't been all laziness on my part; in fact, I've been busy doing some important stuff! I helped Mom rearrange the living room, and put a chair in my room. I even helped her hang curtains.

Yep, I'm a pretty big boy now. I'm learning how to eat with a fork, which is definitely harder than it looks! I use sign language to say important stuff like "more", "all done", "please", and "thank you", but I'm also working on saying words like Mom and Dad do. I especially like to say "water", and today I said a new one- "baby"! Mom heard that and pointed at her tummy. "Baby!", she said. I poked her tummy. It still doesn't look like a baby to me, but she told me I'm going to have a little sister. What is that?

Here's something exciting! You'll never guess what we have living under our deck! A kitten!!! He's a baby like me, but I'm a lot bigger than he is. I love to visit him, I run to the deck door and look out the window and call until he comes. Sometimes he eats his food, sometimes he plays with leaves or bugs; and sometimes he just sits by the door and talks to me. I can't understand what he's saying, but I wish I could open that door and play with him, too!

Well, I've got to go. I'm feelin' sleepy, and Rafters (my giraffe) is calling my name.

The Definition of a Birthday

Just recently, I experienced something quite different... I spent the whole weekend with just Dad! Mom wasn't there at all! Needless to say, lots of guy stuff went on- burping, scratching, wrestling, etc. (Just kidding, Mom!) Really, though, we made it through and had a good time; but boy were we excited to see her pull into the driveway yesterday!

Mom wasn't home too long before we all jumped back in the car. Where could we be going? When I found out, I wasn't too pleased. We were going to see the doctor. They weighed me and measured me and stuck me with needles!!! Awful people, why would they do that to me? Especially on my birthday?? Cuz yeah, it was my birthday yesterday! I knew that because people have been talking about it for weeks, and how exciting it was. I was looking forward to it, too, but this is not what I had in mind! After the doctor episode, Mom and Dad took me to the coffee shop where I got to have a monster cookie! That made me feel better.

That night, something really cool happened!! My new Auntie Julie (who we adopted) came over. I always like to see her, but this time, she brought me a huge chocolate cake and presents!! This must be what people meant by birthdays being exciting! I had some cake, and mom helped me open my presents- cool new clothes,  and a couple of toys! They should keep me busy for a while! Thank you, Auntie Julie and Uncle Wayne!

Now for something completely different... Mom and Dad like to talk about babies. That's all well and good, because I'm their baby, but they sound like they're talking about more than one! Then today, Mom points at her tummy and says "there's a baby in there, Benjamin." I checked, but all I saw was her bellybutton. She must be mistaken.