tuesday photos.

Above: Ben snacking on an apple in the car this afternoon. He was watching a bus on the other side of the intersection.

Ben's very particular. Everything must be just-so. He has a box of big puzzle pieces - opposites - that fit together in pairs: big and small, young and old, etc. According to Ben's rules, one must not put together any of the puzzle pieces until all of the pieces are out of the box. One also must not put the pieces back into the box prematurely. There is much gnashing of the teeth for even the most minor infraction that his father and I commit these days. He's the boss, applesauce.


So today before dinner, we were in the kitchen. I was unloading the dishwasher and straightening up. Ben had been quiet for a bit, but because he was in the kitchen with me I thought I'd been paying attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned around to see this:


He's fascinating to me. He likes going through the drawers in the kitchen, and I've made sure that they store only his plates and the safer kitchen utensils. He took the utensils, one by one, and put them into his booster seat.



I know everyone's fascinated by their own kids. Chris and I are no different.

Fun things Ben does lately:

• shouts at buses and trucks

• says 'rain rain' when we read his current favorite book to him. There's a line in the song that says, 'He's got the sun and the rain in His hands...' And the other day at Mom-Mom's house, she sang 'Rain, Rain Go Away' to him.... So now whenever he hears the word he says, 'rain rain'

• really loves on Sophie. Tonight before bed, I'd read him his book, and Sophie was sleeping on the floor in his room. I told him to go say goodnight to Sophie, and he went and hugged her, and rested his head on her.
  

• tries to put keys in keyholes, or anything on a door or doorknob that remotely resembles a place where a key could fit

• he puts things in the trash

• hums the notes to the songs on his lullaby cd. We play it every night for him to fall asleep and tonight I stood with him and listened to the first song. He rested his head on my shoulder (heaven) and hummed along with the song.