Benjamin Buck

Wow.  How do I fall so far behind and think that I will EVER be able to catch up? 

Benjamin is now 4 and starting pre-school.  He is so excited to learn and mommy is so excited to have him LEARN to focus! ;-)  He is quite active and has become quick with his sassy responses to almost anything his mommy says. 

Things he loves (in no particular order)

Baseball, Climbing up slides backwards, Grandma and Grandpa, Spiderman, Horses, BATMAN, Old Super Heros cartoons, Sonic the Hedgehog, “meat and cheese rolls”, chocolate cookies, CLIMBING on cupboards and helping himself to whatever he wants, pink chocolate milk, monkey milk, Woody and Buzz, paper airplanes, fishing, his truck (which btw, has let mommy know why 4 year olds don’t have drivers licenses), showering instead of bathing, Jonah and the Whale, singing, baking - especially cracking the eggs - running, his remote control cars, swords, asking questions, reading books, night time snuggles.

I’m sure there’s more - lots more, but for now that’s a brief “catch up”.

Hopefully his mommy will do better at “keeping up”.

This time of year is soooo much better with the excitement of a child. 

Ben has been sooo excited for every aspect of Christmas this year, and it thrills me!  It has brought so much more meaning for me, It hasn’t been this great since Aubree & Lindsey were tiny! 

He loved decorating the tree, putting up lights on the mantle and staircase, he even found a beensy Nativity that he put in his room.  We read the same 3 Christmas books EVERY NIGHT!  Our favorite is Jingle Bugs.  He would read that one 25 times if I’d let him. 

He helped aunt Jenny “build a cookie house”.  

Cookie House

He has viewed his picture with Santa last year and says “He doesn’t like Ho Ho”.  (Interesting because that is what he called Santa LAST year when the picture was taken, but this year he calls him Santa - I find it charming that he knows the difference.)  I asked him why he didn’t like Ho Ho, but he didnt’ have an answer.  I told him “Mommy likes Santa, and I am going to sit on his lap and tell him what I want for Christmas.”  His reply - “You’re too big!”  I promptly informed him that you are never “too big for Santa”. 

We went caroling at the care center on Monday with some friends, he sang Jingle Bells with all of his heart and tried to sing the other songs (mouthed pretend words)  but he was getting  in to it.  After being prompted on the first one, he gave each indiviual a sweet hug without any encouragement.  It was an extremely rewarding night. 

We also went with his sisters to see the lights at Temple Square.  He *loved* each nativity and was concerned when Baby Jesus didn’t have a “nest”.  Our nightly song has been replaced with a Christmas lullaby, which is usually Silent Night, but somehow he talks me into singing more… He blesses me everyday.

This weekend we spent a majority of our time at Grandma & Grandpa’s house.  We put together a little nativity.  It’s plastic and has fun items for playing, intended for the grandchildren to use.  While I was working on some of the other peices, Ben was playing with the baby Jesus and said in his sweetest little voice “Okay baby Jesus, it’s time to go back to your nest.”  I just about fell off of my chair laughing, apparently that manger resembles a nest.

Saturday night I was going to a movie, so began packing up the car with all of our dirty clothes and the things that I needed to get ready for the evening.  Ben asked what I was doing, I replied that I was going home for a bit and he said “You’re not going with ME!” (and he meant, he wasn’t going with me.)

I was reading a blog a few days ago… the way I happened upon it was strange.  He was a stranger… and I felt completely voyueristic, but I learned SO MUCH that I have revisited the blog for the last few days reading more, and more.  I have a lot to learn about being a *better* person on so many different levels. 

One of my goals after reading the blog was to update Ben’s more often.  He does and says so many cute, funny and enlightening things each day, they should certainly be “recorded”.

So…

a few months ago we went to dinner with Val while she was in town.  She and I sat talking for about 30 minutes and he kept saying “let’s go mom”.  I replied with, “in a minute when I am done talking to Val.”  He pointed to her and then to the car door and said “You, get out.” 

Well, at least I know he really understands what I am saying.

I always ask Ben who loves him and he replies with “Mommy” and I ask him who he loves and he says “Mommy”. (Occasionally I get Grandma or Grandpa as a response)  A few months ago I asked him who he loved and he said “Peter”.  Seriously?  You haven’t seen Peter in MONTHS.  I change your bum, I feed and bathe you, I read to you, sing to you, pray with you and snuggle you.  And you love Peter?  Wow.  It has become his standard response to both questions.  *I* personally feel like something in Ben knows that Peter needs his love.  I have learned to accept it for that! ;-)  (ftr, Peter is a friend of mine and has been for the past 4 years, he recently was diagnosed with an illness from which he may not recover)

We’ve been trying *unsuccessfully* to potty train.  He has been really, really good about doing the brintzle in the potty, but he is having a hard time completing the BM’s.  I have been told, and I have read that this is obviously the harder of the two to master.  So I have been trying to be extra supportive of his “accidents” with regards to the BM’s.  And I say.. “It’s okay, it was just an accident”.  The potty training went on for about a month and I knew it was time to give up for a bit when he started to regress.  When he wouldn’t have his “checkered flags” or “piston cups” (the markers on pull ups that tell you if they have remained dry) he would use my own words against me and say “It was just a accident mom”. ( I need to get this on video and add a link)   In all seriousness, when he said this, I felt like *I* was the kook for him having an accident.  This child is just WAY too smart for his own good. 

Over the last 6 months he has had a few bad experiences I feel have traumatized him to a degree.  They have revisited him occasionally and he woke one night scared and saying there were “bad men” in his room. (all the while he is frantically pointing in the air which pretty much freaked me out)  I told him that Mommy and Jesus would not let the bad guys get him.  I taught him to say “Jesus said go away bad guys”  but it comes out as “Jesus said goway badguys”  Cute, and hopefully effective.

The other day we were driving home and I was chanting “Benja-Benja, Benjamin - Benja-Benja-MIN”  He started calling himself Benja.  I would call him by name and he said “I Ben-ja”.   We called Grandma during this time so that he could leave her a message.  He said “Hi Grandma, disa Benja”.  Poor Grandma, she has to get all those calls.  :-)  Somedays, out of the blue he just wants to call her, and we do.  They have a 2 minute conversation about whoknowswhat, and the bond is strengthened for him.  He adores her.

I love this child with every fiber of my being.  He has been, and continues to be a great blessing in my life.  I am so blessed to have been entrusted with his sweet little soul, I only hope I can fulfill this calling to the potential that a valiant Daughter of God should.

Lately, in the car, Ben thinks he needs to decide *who* sings to us from the car.  It used to be “ZHohnny Cash” or a CD that my family made with all of our favorite childhood songs… Unfortunately, I let him listen to Will Smith one day and he said “WHOZDAT MOM?”  I said Will Smith.  Now, we listen to Will Smith.  Don’t get me wrong, I like him - otherwise I wouldn’t be purchasing his CD’s.  However, I never thought my 2 year old son would want to listen to him ALL. THE. TIME.

Last night was a BIG night for Ben.  He slept in his big boy bed and made it the entire night without getting out or falling out of bed.  YAY!!! 

 Backup to the previous evening.  I took him to the store with me and I let him choose a comforter (from several that I approved of (-; ) and I let him choose sheets, though he found a pair that I wouldn’t have chosen, they were 400 thread count and you can’t deny him his ability to find comfort!  I laundered the sheets and then I steamed the bedcover (to appease my germaphob side) and after he was asleep I made up his bed.  Yesterday morning I woke him up and said “look Ben…you’re big boy bed is all ready for you to sleep in it tonight.”  HE WAS SOOOOO EXCITED. He wanted to lay on it right then, and did.  

I continued to make a ‘big’ deal out of it all morning at home and again on the way to his sitter’s house.  Last night I made a big deal out of it again all the way home.  I played trucks with him in his room, read LOTS of books in his room and finally when it was time for bed, I went through our routine as normal (nighttime books, prayer and song) put him in his bed as if it were his crib and left the room.  About 5 minutes later I heard him out of bed so I went in and he was back *in* bed by the time I opened the door.  He wanted a flower???  So I kissed and tucked him in, and said “If you get out of bed again, you’ll have to go back into your crib.”  Over the course of the next 50 minutes, I peeked in twice and he was laying there…bored, but not getting out of bed.  By 9:15 he was asleep, it was all I could do to refrain from snuggling in with him.

Bless his sweet little heart.

Ben

Okay, not really.  But when we go to Grandma’s house, he has been sleeping in a port-a-crib.  But the bigger he gets, I just can’t imagine that it is comfortable, so I have him sleep with me.  This past weekend, we were laying there at 6:00am and he said in his little half asleep voice “My neck mom…down nere.” (down there)  So I sat up to see what he was talking about and his head was literally wedged between two pillows and he apparently didn’t feel like he could move with out assistance. To be honest, I am not sure he could have.  It was pretty funny, so I scooched him down and he said, “go back to sleep”.

 And we did.

I’m actually pretty disgusted with myself that I would let so many months go by and not post on here.  I have this beautiful little boy who is now 2 years old (as of May 16th).  He is bright, charming, fun, funny and I am amazed more and more at his level of comprehension.  

 His favorite things right now are, in no particular order,

• BEES Baseball
• PINK “Choc” Milk (Strawberry Milk)
• Grandma’s house
• Cars, the movie and his *Wightening MyQueen” matchbox cars
• Camping (thanks Dave&Kim, 4th of July gang, and Peter)
• shooting paintball guns with Peter
• being one of the “big people”
• “hiding” (thanks grandma ;-)  )
• hiking
• his new baseball glove from auntie valerie
• “Jennnnnnnyy”

and so much more…

I’ll write more later.  I just wanted to get a start. 

He truly is such a beautiful child and I question every day how it is that *I* was blessed with this amazing little spirit!

Christmas Eve, Ben says “Poopie”.  My mom attempts to change his pants, but he is not poopie…so she asks if he needs to “go poopie” and replies “Yes.”  My sister takes him in and sits him down and he, in fact, does go poopie in the potty!  (Now, he has been saying potty for about 2 weeks prior to this, and each time I would go and sit him on the potty until he decided he was done, although he never did the “job”. )

I have continued to put him on the potty each time he has expressed a desire, with no completion of the attempt.  Of course, this is I just assumed that Christmas Eve was a fluke.

Skip to last night.  I gather him from the tub, dry him off and I am applying ointment to his (cute) little bum.  He says… “Mom, potty… caca (sp?)”  I said “Do you need to go potty?” He says “yeah”  I put him on the potty and he goes poopie! YAY!!!

Tonight, I am putting him his Jammies and he says “Mom… potty”  I said “okay, go”.  He runs in and sits down and when I get there, he is draining the main vein.  YEP… then he has to stand up to look at the yellow liquid in the potty.   Then he says poopie and sits back down.  Almost immediately he attempts to stand up and I sit him back down and say “No, go poopie”  he says “poopie mom” and stands up… and yes, you guessed it.  He has already completed the job.

 I have an amazing little man.  I hope I can keep up with this fast pace of learning!