Ben is Three!

You are three years old today! Actually, you think you should be four, just like Tommy. It took quite a bit of convincing to make you believe you're not the same age as your brother. This is probably due to the fifteen-month gap between you and your brother; you are so close in age to Tommy and your abilities are so similar, not to mention the fact that neither of you remember life without the other - that you probably think you're Tommy's twin brother rather than "little" brother.


All about you:

• You love to tell stories. Sometimes your stories are imaginative, about you flying around, or sleeping in a tree. But often they are mundane: "So, I turned off the light, and then Tommy turned on the light. And then I said, 'Tommy, don't do that!' And then he said, 'Okay'. And then we played!"
• You get very annoyed when you are interrupted. 
• You enjoy meeting new people and talking to them - kids and grownups alike. When we're out shopping, you'll often try to talk to grownups we pass. The younger ones usually just look uncomfortable, but the older, grandparent-types seem to enjoy talking to you.
• You do NOT like it when we laugh at you when you're being cutely defiant. 
• You like to ask people, "What's in your mouf?" when you see them eating something. 
• You have a sonar for food. You could be three rooms away and hear me opening a bag of pretzels, and you'll come running asking, "Is that a snack? Can I have some?"
• You have a heart that enjoys sharing. I've caught you spontaneously sharing snacks and toys with  your brother. 
• You do not like having your picture taken (much to my dismay).
• You like to match things that you see, only you say they "rhyme" instead of "match". We often hear, "Blue cup...blue fork...that rhymes!"
• You love to sing and make up songs. One common song we hear might go something like this: "God is.....so great....and....so niiiiiiice! God is nice, is nice, is niiiiiiice!" You also make up songs about what's going on around you: "I see a truck....it's a nice truck....it driiiiiiives...truuuuuuck, truuuuuuck, truuuuuuck!"
• You think "VeggieTales" is actually called "Benji Tales".
• You love to have an audience. If you realize that people are watching, you'll start making funny faces, doing a funny dance, and basically doing whatever it takes to make people laugh.
• You spontaneously say "Mommy, I love you" many times throughout the day, in a very sweet way. Melts my heart!

Some of your favorites:

Books: Your favorite books are anything by Mo Willems, like the Knuffle Bunny series and the Pigeon series.

Shows: Bob the Builder is your current favorite show. 

Food: PeanutButterJellySammich. Which is really a peanut butter and honey sandwich. That's what you say whenever I ask you what you want to eat. You would eat PB&Hs for every meal of every day if you had your way. You're warming up to veggies, but still don't like to eat anything green. You like carrots, but only raw, not cooked. You love bell peppers strips, raw. You eat slowly, and you're often the last person left at the table after meals, which everyone involved is perfectly fine with (we try not to make a big deal about eating quickly). 

Toys: Tools, or anything that can be made into a tool. Drums, and anything that can be made into a drum. Also, a bungie cord. It's amazing all the different ways you boys can play with a bungie cord.


New things: You are becoming very expressive when you talk - complete with perfectly timed breath-intakes and "Wow!"s. You can almost independently use the potty now. We just send you off in the direction of the bathroom and you (usually) do the rest. 

Other: You're proficient at riding your two-wheeler bike, but you still need help getting started. Your behavior has been, overall, very good in the past six months. You used to be very stubborn about some things and we'd have frequent battles over what seemed to me to be a very small issue (like cleaning up a spill). Nowadays, you clean up after yourself without prompting.