Butterflies and Trucks

Can I just gush about Benjamin for a minute? I have to say, I am in love with this kid, and especially this age. He is so fun these days. His vocabulary continues to grow every day, and now he's entirely beyond the stage where anything and everything was "DA!" He uses words to tell me about his memories, his feelings, and of course what he wants. The other day, he looked at me while we were eating lunch, and said, "Daddy. Work. Miss." Then this morning, as he was waking up around 7, we heard from his room, "Weekend!" (which apparently means a trip to Home Depot with Daddy.
So it was admittedly kind of a rough day for him. A few days ago, he came running to me, and said, "Ow! Feet." I took his shoes off and checked for prickles or sticks, and couldn't find any, so I asked if his shoes were too small. He said, "Yes." I asked if he needed some new bigger shoes. Again, he said, "Yes." He wears the same pair of navy blue Croc shoes every day, preferably with bright blue pants and his truck shirt if they're clean. Well, I assumed he wanted a new pair of shoes (or at least needed some) and so today we took him to the store to find some big boy shoes. The Croc stand at the mall didn't have his size in the right color, so we decided to check out Payless on our way to the Home Depot. Well, he heard Home Depot, and threw a fit when we parked in front of a shoe store. We dragged him in anyway, and had him look at a few different Croc knock-offs. He wouldn't even try them on. He kept putting his old shoes back on and saying, "Depot!" So we went home, and told him we couldn't go to the Home Depot if he was acting like this. During his nap, I ordered a pair online. He is funny about change (at least when it comes to his wardrobe). I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering his dad, who pretty much wears the same stuff he did in high school.
It is usually a delight to take Benjamin anywhere. He likes to talk about what we're doing, who we're going to go see, dandelion puffs, hoops, bikes and diggers he spots along the road, and sometimes he'll sing little songs to himself. We went to the Butterfly House with our Ward Play Group earlier this week. On the way, he was saying, "Dai (Saida). Megan. Fly (Butterfly House). TICKLE!" (accompanied by a scrunched smile and his hands brushing his cheeks) Translated, he was talking about the friends he would see at the Butterfly House, and about the butterflies that "tickle" when they touch you. Benjamin was really excited to go, but once we got there, he was clutching onto my hand with a firm grip. That is until he spotted a cherry-picker truck that was hanging out along the trail. That was probably the highlight. He was actually kind of afraid of the butterflies. But he was excited to see his friends from nursery, and played with them on the playground outside afterwards.

On Thursday evening, we braved the chilly weather (it had been raining all day, and finally let up) and took Benjamin to the Vehicle Fair that the Kirkwood Parents as Teachers put on every year. It was sure to be a hit, as Benjamin spots diggers, cranes, ambulances, garbage trucks, etc. everywhere he goes. He loves trucks. As we got there, he started shaking. I thought it might be because it was cold, but he was actually terrified of all the honking. We decided to stay for a few minutes anyway, and stood in line to "ride" the backhoe loader. We explained to him that the kids were just being silly and honking the horns on the big trucks. He became a little less tense, and started imitating the kids honking horns. Then he got his moment in the backhoe. It was pure joy.

Here he is in the beloved Garbage Truck! He loves watching the "Man" come and take our "Garb" (garbage) and see as the truck "Guish" (squishes) it into the main compartment. It's a real show, the few times we see it each week!

We got to see this helicopter land. Benjamin could hardly find enough words to describe to us how exciting this was. "Sky. (pointing to the sky) Hoc. (Helicopter) Land. (it landed on the ground)..." I know he said more, but I don't think we could translate it all. He was so excited to touch it and look inside. It was equally exciting to watch it go back up into the sky!

I think he calls any truck with lights on top "Ambi" (as in ambulance, though it could be a police car, a fire engine, or even a van with a small cone light) so that's what he's sitting on here. He especially likes to pretend the house is burning, and that a fire engine needs to come and put it out.

The mini excavator, or "Dig" as he calls them, was pretty exciting to see up close. I think he came home with a new appreciation for all of his toy diggers, and wanted to examine them all up close as well.

And last, but certainly not least, was the school bus, which he needed to "ride" twice. You can kind of see the reflection of the cherry picker that took a man way up in the sky for all of the kids to see. We had a great time! It was a late night for him though, so I think we're paying for it today!