Ben the Bull

Now a word about Ben....or should I say Ben the Bull. Because according to Ben, that is his name. He is not Ben Pilling or any other name. He is simply Ben the Bull. If you call our house and Ben answers, he will tell you so.

Ben is my energetic, determined, do-it-yourself 3 year old. He is full of mischief, and definitely believes in the motto "Where there's a will, there's a way". If Ben wants something, he doesn't ask. He simply figures out a way to get it himself. If Ben wants to open a package, he will retrieve the biggest, sharpest knife he can find to do so. If he wants something to eat, he helps himself, even if that means scaling the pantry shelves to get what he wants most. If he wants to listen to music or play a game, he will find somebody's iPod or his dad's iPad and find some secret hiding place to try and decipher the password.

I know Ben is guilty when I walk into a room and he immediately jumps down and runs for cover. Or sometimes he will drop whatever pilfered object he has and cover his eyes with his hands. He thinks if he can't see me, I can't see him.

You know how kids say things in their own funny way? Here is one of my "Ben" faves.

Be-see-cause. As in....

Ben: Why mom?

Mom: Just because...

Ben: But why be-see-cause?

If you do something that upsets Ben, he will look at you with his bottom lip poking out, on the brink of tears, and exclaim, "I not your buddy anymore!"

Ben loves to take baths, and will take it upon himself to add bubbles, which can be disastrous. Yesterday it took me forever to clean up all the bubbles after his bath! Today he came running in and asked me for bubbles right before he and Luke got in the tub. I told him No, not today. He turned and ran to the bathroom, calling out, "Hey Lukey! Mom said we could have bubbles!"

Typical.

He usually looks at me when I tell him no with his little look that says....Sure mom (wink wink). Whatever you say. He then waits until I turn the other direction and does whatever he darn well pleases.

The other day I was telling one of the other kids something when all of a sudden Ben jumped into the conversation, saying, "Yeah wight mom!"

Every night he likes to go through the same ritual. Prayers first, and then he says, "Hugs at the same time!" He squeezes me as hard as he can. Then he cries out, "Kisses at the same time!" He plants a HUGE kiss right on my lips. If I try to turn and catch the kiss on my cheek (you know, to escape the slobber), he will come at me again until he gets me right where he wants me. Then he calls out as I am leaving the bedroom, "I love you mostest and I love you both of us!" I'm pretty sure those two things mean the same thing, but who knows?!

One thing about Ben. He sure knows how to put a smile on your face!