because

on mother's day, katie's brother stopped by my parents' house to say hi since his own mother wasn't in town that day.  he was asking me if ben has entered the "why?" phase.  i laughed and said no.  two days later, ben began asking why.  to e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!  at first, i answered every why as best i could.  i thought, "look at me - super mom.  my kid is going to be so smart because i'm a wonderful and patient mother who takes the time to explain things..." after a thousand "why?"s later (a period of maybe 3 days), i was like, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  QUIT ASKING WHY!!!"  haha.  while i'm still trying to answer the whys some of the time, i have resorted to responding with, "Because," once in awhile.  the first time i said it, ben said, "because?"  and i replied "yes."  you could see the wheels turning in his little 2.97 year old brain.

very quickly, ben has taken the word "because" and started using it to his advantage.  yesterday, he opened the container of chips on the counter even though i'd said no and ate some.  when i realized this, i said, "why did you do that, ben?"  "because!"  the last two mornings, he's been awake SO early.  grumpy me asked him this morning, "why are you waking up so early?"  he replied, "because!"  sigh.  i guess i should go back to trying to answer his whys and maybe he'll start answering mine.  ;)

a serious fireman

i have lots of things that i should be posting about - ben's birthday, ben giving up his soother, avery saying her first words (just kidding!), but those other ones take time and sometimes i just want to jot something down.  so here's a jot for you...

a friend told us about Fireman Sam - a british kid's show that started out as claymation (like Thomas) and now is animated - and i found some episodes on youtube.  once in awhile ben will watch them on my laptop and he's been watching one this morning.  he gets so excited when sam is coming to the rescue that he keeps hopping down off his chair with his eyebrows furrowed and running into the kitchen then back to the computer.  i asked him what he was doing and he said, "i'm a tire tighter!" (firefighter)  he can't bare to just WATCH a fireman without acting it out himself.  right now, he's clapping for sam getting a medal.  too funny.  i think we've found a new show!  i just need to find it on DVD since we don't have the right channel to watch it.

birthday fever

ben loves birthday parties and reminisces about his 2nd birthday often - usually remembering the bouncy castle.  he also talks about our friend, Kai's first birthday where he ate the plentiful candy off of all the tables while mommy wasn't looking.  for MY birthday, i kept telling him that we were having a birthday dinner and he'd ask, "will there be a bouncy castle and candy?" and i kept saying, "no, grown ups don't have parties with candy and bouncy castles."  then i showed up to a surprise birthday party with tons of candy and a bouncy castle.  ben must have wondered why mommy had been lying to him!  but he's happily eaten birthday cake for daddy's birthday, uncle matt's birthday, and this past weekend, Kai's 2nd birthday.  all the while, he's anxiously awaiting his own party.

i told him that it was going to be a firefighter birthday (i've been busily pinning firefighter birthday parties to my pinterest boards) so he likes to talk about having a fire truck cake (i hope it works out!).  he's been practicing holding up three fingers instead of two.  but last night was the cutest: he prayed, "thank you that i am almost 3 and thank you that my birthday party is coming."

caught

last night, tim went mountain biking with a buddy which triggered in ben the desire to also ride bikes so i told him that we could go for a walk around the neighbourhood before bedtime.  as we went around the streets by our house, ben was pointing out trees that were rough.  it took him saying this a couple time for me to clue in that all the rough trees were evergreens.  i remembered an episode of Calliou where they talk about rough leaves and smooth leaves so i pointed out some smooth leaf trees while we walked.  he got off and on his bike many times to feel the trees which was funny to watch.  we got to one spiny looking tree and i pointed out that there were pinecones growing on it.  he asked if i could lift him up to see them so i figured, "why not?"  as i lifted him up, the couple who lived in the house walked out and caught us in the act.  it totally looked like we were pulling the pinecones off.  i was somewhat embarrassed as they stared at us.  i called out, "we're just feeling your tree..."  the woman seemed to get it and asked ben if he liked their tree to which he answered, "yes!"  it all seemed fine but funny nonetheless.