Ben - the funniest of late

Here are the cutest things Ben has been saying/doing lately... I want to capture his thoughts, imagination and grasp of the English or rather Benglish language at 2yr and 4 mos!

1. He has really good pronunciation and wants to call things by the right name, which I think is great. He even knows and properly uses the words "these" and "those"! But, I do enjoy the few words he has made his very own in true toddler style.
-The first is the way he calls McDonalds: Mick O Donnels
-He says, "Mom, what did we get for?" Which means, what did we forget.
-He says "Ready for Rift Off!" Instead of 'lift off' when we're playing rockets.

2. Many conversations begin and end with wanting to know what different animals and dinosaurs and sharks eat. I started by just saying food, which quickly became not good enough of an answer. He wanted to know what kind. So I made everything a vegetarian for a while, but started to feel dishonest and knew he would hear the truth soon enough. So I told him. It did lead to some deep discussions, a lot of "he's going to EAT YOU/ME" play, and a little healthy fear... but we've pretty much established a good grasp of it all now :)

3. He wants to know what EVERY ONE'S name is. Everyone we see when we're walking around the neighborhood, at the store, in the car... etc. And "I don't know honey" is NOT an acceptable answer. I do enjoy that he thinks I'm so knowledgeable, or at least so popular... and maybe he has a point that I should know more of our neighbors... but as much as I don't want to admit - mommy does not know everything :)

4. The time is still always 46. As in, "What time is it?"..."It's 46 mom!"

5. Immediately upon wake up, any change of scenery, or the addition or subtraction to people to our game - Ben must hand out the character assignments for the day (or at least until he decides we're going to be other characters). The most common ones lately are the characters from Super Why Super Readers, Boz, Mickey Mouse or the Cars movie. However, he did surprise me with a new character today. He asked for a nilla wafer. I told him he could have one. Then he asked for another one. I told him I was almost finished making lunch and that we were going to eat that first. To which Ben replied, "Mom, I'm Jesus and I need another nilla wafer!" Ohhhhhhh, the Jesus card!?! I'd better get you a nilla wafer then :)

6. He has a new irrational fear, the wind. I guess it's not that irrational, as the wind can cause problems if it's strong enough... i.e. hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. And it can blow strong here. But it really hasn't been bad. Not bad enough to avoid going outside. And I'm so excited to have nice weather to be outside in. But every time the wind blows Ben asks to go back inside. If he's up high, like at the playground on a slide or in the castle structure, he gets near panic! He's worried that he'll blow away. He's even worried that I'll blow away and will tackle my head and hold me in a bear hug if my hair starts to blow in the wind. He'll yell, "I got you mom! Don't worry! I won't let you blow away!" Which is sweet that he wants to take care of me, but doesn't make walking through the Walmart parking lot and finding my minivan easy when I can't see anything except his tummy pressed into my nose :)