Moments with Benjamin

The other morning Benjamin and I were naming people in the pictures on our fridge. "Yes, there's Ya-ya and Jesse and baby Jonathan.... And who's this? That's right, Mima!...and Papa!...and G.G.! Good job." He was naming friends and family like a pro.

I decided it was time to introduce a new face so I pointed to my grandpa in a picture with several extended family members in it. "This is Great Grandpa. Can you say that?" He looked at me blankly.

I said it again, more slowly this time. "Great. Grand-pa."

"Papa?," he said dubiously.

"Well, it's like Papa, but it's Great Papa," I coached him.

He thought for a minute, then comprehension dawned on his small face. He grinned. "Biiiiiig Papa!"
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Breakfast at our house has a script. Benjamin recites the same lines, in the same order, to the rhythm of the same breakfast-related events morning after morning. "Eat!" "Up. Chair. Seat. Bih (bib). Bowl. 'Poon." These narrate the placing of necessary breakfast elements at or around the table. Once situated in his seat with all the proper tools, he notices Talia. "Cereal, Ya Ya," he tells her sagely. "Ya Ya eat. Cereal. Baby cereal," he tells me. And as I remove his bowl from the microwave, "Hot! Muh-meal [oatmeal] --mmmm. T'ank tu, Mama." And so on.

Saturday morning Seth took over kid duty as I stayed in bed due to a nasty cold. Apparently this change in routine exceeded Benjamin's ability to "improv." As Seth gave him his cereal Benjamin parroted, "T'ank tu Ma...." He paused and tried again, "T'ank tu Mm-Dada."