It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's Benji Man!

While searching for something the other day on this blog, I found myself reading a bunch of posts from when our oldest son Danny (now 5) was Benjamin's age (now 2). I was really struck by how much more I talked about Danny than I ever do about Benji. Maybe it's just that curse of not being the firstborn or something, but I've decided to remedy the situation by taking a moment to say a few words about our dear Benji.

First of all, sometimes it's hard to believe he is only 2 years old. He won't even be three until December, but at his tender age he runs, jumps, and chatters with the best of them. The "best of them" being his older brother and much adored neighbors Callagh and Josie (who are 5 and 7 respectively.)

Benji can talk! And argue and even reason sometimes. I find it quite remarkable. The other day we drove past an intersection and he told Susanne he had been there with Patty. He had indeed been there with her for a graduation luncheon--when he was only 28 months old. He LOVES Bryce Harper of the Nationals. "Bryce Harper, where's Bryce Harper?" he'll ask whenever the game is on TV or as you can see when he gets to go to games from the picture above.

He'll say things like "the catepillars are butterflies now. They don't live in the trees, they live in the flowers on the circle". (Which is just what we'd told him when he spotted butterflies out there.) He's truly amazing. And can I tell you that he's actually really, really good at any matching game? His memory puts mine to shame (but that's not saying much.)

And in terms of strength, he is kind of "Bam Bam" strong. Ask  his brother who gets tackled regularly. They love to yell "AAAARRRRGGGG" and run towards each other to "play football". They both land on the ground--almost always with Benji on top--and then they start doing this weird "whistle" sound and both jump up. It's always fun until somebody gets hurt ;-)

Did I mention he can be stubborn? He can be stubborn ;-) Just how many times can a boy request "I want milk! I want milk! I want milk!"? Don't ask. And I almost forgot to mention how stealthy he can be. When he wants to he can be quiet as a mouse and sneak up on you (particularly when he is trying to escape from his bedroom right after being put down..

Anyway, we love both our boys so much and I'm glad I got a chance to share a little bit more about this clever, funny boy. Our Benji Man!