A Boy and His Big Boy Toys

This past Sunday a friend from church came over with a treasure of "boy toys" found within the confines of a very large plastic container. She had been cleaning out everything her 14-year-old son had outgrown, and came to church with the mission of sharing the love. She announced in our Relief Society meeting that she had some clothes as well as some transformer-type toys, Legos, and other toys that a 14-year-old no longer needs or wants and wondered if anyone was interested. My ears perked up when I heard "transformer" because Ben has been talking about Transformers for weeks. I told her we'd take a few. Well, she came over to the house when I was at choir practice and brought her son's treasures for Brad and Ben to see. Wouldn't you know it, we ended up with the entire container! Ben was ecstatic.

There were so many toys that I said, "Hey Ben, now you don't need any birthday presents." I full expected him to disagree, but he didn't. He enthusiastically said, "I know!" He is also blessing his Transformers in his prayers - guess he is exceptionally thankful for this little gift from Heaven!

Ben has spent hours playing with the transformers and other goodies found in the box. The bonus goodies included a container full of little cars and a bunch of "guys". A few months ago Grandma Judy bought Ben some "guys" with little guy guns, and Ben has loved laying with them. He was very excited to get some new guys to add to his collection - especially the Star Wars guys - I guess because we have nothing Star Wars in this house.

I find it fascinating that Ben knows all about Transformers and Star Wars and other "big boy" toys when these are never a topic of discussion in our house. Somehow he is getting his boy education despite being surrounded by girls every day of his life. He did mention that he needed to show Jack and Morgan (boys of dear friends Rod & Lesli) his Transformers and Star Wars guys. In fact, he has mentioned it multiple times, so I am quite certain that he can't wait for Jack & Morgan to see his new collection of big boy toys. In the eyes of this almost four-year-old those two big six-year-olds know all the ins and outs of the world of big boy toys.

And just a side note about the life of Ben these days . . . this post could have also been titled "Pajama Boy" because he refuses to put on clothes! He wants to wear pajamas all. day. long. - thus all these pictures in pjs. If I ask him to get dressed because we are leaving the house, he grudgingly will do so (usually), but the minute we are home he runs upstairs and puts his pajamas back on. I'm hoping it's just a stage . . .

A funny thing happened in the church nursery

On Monday night we paid a visit to one of Ben's church nursery teachers with a peace offering, so to speak. She would have never asked for such an offering. In fact, when we went to see her, she said "I know what you're doing, and you don't have to." But, really we did.

Ben has 4 lovely women who are all teachers in his nursery class. 3 of them are young grandmas who all still have at least one teenager living at home. They love little children and love being with them each week - especially since they all have grandchildren of nursery age. We feel blessed that he is so happy during nursery Sunday after Sunday. Each week he plays, he snacks (though he usually eats only the goldfish and water, while ignoring fruit and cheese or other such offerings), he prays, he sings, he listens to a lesson. And always, he comes home with a picture that he has colored and on it, a little bug that he has requested that his teacher draw on his paper. I am not sure why he requests a bug, because he doesn't really like bugs all that much, but he requests, and his request is always granted.

So, anyway, there we were, at her front door, ready to make amends. I held a plate of cookies and Ben held a bottle of lemonade with a card attached that read, "In memory of that fateful question, 'do you sit or stand?,'" which Ben then handed to her while delivering his prepared speech, "thank you for being a great nursery teacher." Sister Lee laughed. He husband laughed. We all laughed as we reminisced about the experience the day before. I commented that I was sure that a nursery teacher could write a book about all the experiences in nursery and the Lees agreed. Can you guess the experience? The lemonade with the card attached are both telling clues.

Here's the story with all the ugly details . . . Ben had been in class for a while and realized he needed to head to the potty and fast! They have a little bathroom right in the nursery classroom with a toilet seat that is literally 6 inches from the ground. It's the cutest little toilet - as far as toilets go. Sister Lee went to assist Ben and asked him, "do you sit or stand?," to which Ben replied, "I sit." So he sat, and in a split second, let's just say, Sister Lee didn't know what hit her, but it was as if there was a hose gone wild in that little bathroom and no one could bring it back in control. Then Ben declared in frustration, "oh man, I forgot to point it down." and then, "it's in my hair!" Sadly, Ben's pants and underwear got drenched and the bathroom floor was wet, wet, wet. Sister Lee's skirt was wet, but not wet enough to send her home :)! Luckily it all happened when one meeting was ending and another beginning so Brad was able to take Ben home to change.

Considering that Sister Lee had to wear Ben's pee for the afternoon, we thought the least we could do is take her some cookies and a little lemonade to remind her of the things nursery teachers are willing to do for their students. And next week . . . we will make sure Ben visits the potty before going to class so that he isn't full to the brim right in the middle of class.

Ben's Celebration

We celebrated Ben's 3rd birthday all weekend, starting on his actual birthday - Saturday - opening gifts from mom & dad.

Ben is at a stage in life where he is very easy to buy for. He loves trains, trucks, tools, firefighters, and sports! One of his favorite TV shows is "Fireman Sam" (an older, 15-minute animated show - kind of like Bob the Builder - on PBS Sprout), so a firefighter dress-up costume was a no-brainer! Each of Ben's big sisters found an opportunity to help out the birthday boy.





Ben is also a big fan of trains and especially Thomas (as I am finding out is the case with many little boys in this age group.) Ben also loves helmets and is getting quite proficient at pedaling his tricycle - so a Thomas bike with matching helmet made Ben a very happy 3-year-old. Truth be told, I was happy for an excuse to get him his own helmet because he is often seen by our neighbors sporting his sister's much-too-big-for-him, purple and pink bike helmet.

Ben also opened a special package that arrived in the mail from Grandma Judy & Granddaddy Ken - a train t-shirt - fitting right in with the train theme we had going on!


The birthday celebration ended on Sunday with a Thomas the Train cake and presents from Mammy & Poppy. Our friends the Gallaghers came to celebrate with us along with Uncle Mike & Aunt Karla and cousin Ryan. Sadly, I slacked off a bit in the photo-taking department and did not get pictures with Mammy & Poppy, Brad & I, Kim & Jeff, or Mike & Karla! Bummer!

Mammy and Poppy gave Ben some spring outfits and fun toys! His favorites were the wooden fire engine, little wooden alphabet train set, and a construction magnet book. Feeding Ben's sports love, The Gallagher's gave him a cool light-up football and a plastic baseball and bat. Uncle Mike & Aunt Karla were hoping to match the excitement of last year's lawn mower gift with a very real-looking toy deer and bear. Considering Ben's recent story about shooting a bear, this would be a logical gift. However, it appears that Ben is much better at fending off live bear than the plastic variety. He was terrified of his new bear and deer. Sorry Mike & Karla - he will get over it! :)

And finally - the cake! It was quite a process to create this cake! I found an inspiration cake online then altered it to meet Ben's request of a "Thomas" train. I worked several hours on Saturday evening and Sunday morning & finally finished the cake about 15 minutes before everyone came over on Sunday evening - just in time for a few pictures & then we took a knife to my creation. I can't even tell you how much frosting I ended up using - but it was A LOT! By the time I was done, it all seemed kind of crazy, but Ben loved his cake, so I guess it was worth it.





Here is Ben with all the kids who came to his "party" - Ryan, Lacey, Madi, Allison, Meredith, & Katie. I can't believe he's 3! Neither can he. Ben is already lying about his age. When you ask him how old he is, he claims to be 2, and gets rather angry when you remind him that he is 3. It's time to face the truth, Mr. Ben, like it or not, you ARE a year older!

Guess Who's Three?

Happy birthday 3-year-old!
Ben's nursery teachers at church gave him this golden crown in recognition of his birthday this week. He wore it all evening last past Sunday after church. However, by the end of the evening he tired of his crown and said, "Mom, I don't want to be King Benjamin anymore". Happy birthday to the Wallace family's King Benjamin! We love our little 3-year-old. May he stay 3 for at least a year!

More "Benisms"

Here were a couple of my laughs of the day from Benny Boy -

Laugh One -
The scene: Still in the car after just driving into the garage upon our return from picking the girls up from school. Ben said -

"Mom did you remember yesterday I shot a bear?"

"you shot a bear, Ben? I don't remember that."

"yeah, I did!"

"where were you when you shot the bear?"

"I was really closer."

"and where was the bear?"

"He was hiding in the leaves. He was at Merrill's house (that's our neighbor who lives directly across the street."

Very impressive - don't you think? I am rather certain that Ben is the youngest bear killer in the state of Nevada. And, the fact that he discovered a bear in the desert southwest is even more amazing, I do believe!


Laugh Two -
The scene: In Ben's room right before I put him down to bed tonight. Lacey came in the room and I was reminded that we needed to review her spelling words. So, with Ben listening, I told her to go get her words so we could practice them before she went to bed."

Ben quipped - "oh yeah, mom - I need to do my homework."

Nice try buddy - off to bed you go!

Tech Savvy at (almost) Three

Last night Ben came up to me with Brad's Blackberry in hand and stated, quite matter-of-factly -
"Mom, I'm texting someone."

Hmmmm - I wonder who it could be?
I can honestly say that "texting" was not part of the vocabularies of my other children at almost 3! I don't know if that's good or bad!

"Upon a Time" - by Benjamin Wallace

[Note: please read with scariest, meanest, gruffest voice to get the author's intended effect of the story!]

Upon a time there was a helmet.

Upon a time there was a helmet and a sword.

Upon a time there was a scary monster.

Upon a time there was a scary guy.

Upon a time the monster was going to get mommy with his sword.

The mommy, while protecting herself from the sword, thought . . .

. . . if only an empty container and a ruler could bring out the imagination in all of us!

Speaking of Pruning . . .

Just like the tree in my back yard (see my last post), Ben's hair got a little pruning as well this week, with emphasis on little. I am not ready to part with the curls, so to those who are pressuring me to do so - it's not gonna happen, yet! You'll just have to be happy with a little pruning (even though the lady at the deli counter at Vons thought he was a girl today.)

He is so NOT a girl. When the tree in the backyard was getting it's major pruning job, Ben ran to the window in my room to see what was happening because he heard the chainsaw. He said, "look mom, those guys have a chainsaw just like me." Yea - my girls never wanted a chainsaw or even knew what a chainsaw was at this age - so there!

Ben says . . .

I didn't expect Ben to be so verbal, and I certainly didn't expect him to talk non-stop as he often does. There are times when I wish he were a little less verbal. He has 3 very verbal big sisters, and with so much verbosity in the house, sometimes, my brain just wants a break from conversation. When we are in the car, Ben talks almost incessantly, and he demands that I be part of the chit chat. If I allow my mind to wonder and don't answer one of his endless questions or don't recognize the very cool truck that he tells me about as we pass it, I am reprimanded. So - we converse (a lot), and Ben frequently ends up saying something that makes me smile or laugh out loud.

[Now - this really isn't the Ben blog even though I do a lot of Ben posts - but I want to remember his words years from now. If I don't record these moments, I will forget them. I know this, for sure. I have not been a proficient record keeper in the past, and though I know my girls have all said things at this age that made me smile or laugh out loud, I cannot reach into the far corners of my mind to remember the details. It makes me sad that I have forgotten, and I wish I would have written them down, but I didn't. And because I didn't write the details, I remember only a few of the things my little girls used to say. I remember that Madi could sing the ABC's before she was two - and that she loved to sing - a lot. I remember that she was the one who nicknamed my mom "Mammy" because she couldn't say "Grammy" and that she asked her dad for cinnamon toast and chocolate milk for breakfast every morning. When Katie was little I loved hearing her call her cousin Jacob, bup-bup, and loved listening to her say good night to Brad every night, saying "see you in the morning, daddy" in only the way an adorable, blued-eyed-brunette, 3-year-old can say it. And, I remember how she asked for "pampakes and syriup" or chocolate milk and milky for breakfast. I remember how Lacey couldn't say her "r's" and would call Brad's mom "gwamma Judy." I remember that she did a mean dance to Hokey Pokey Elmo and that she would always talk about our "baby" and would want to buy things for our "baby" long before Benjamin was a reality. I wish with all my heart that I could remember all of the details of what my little girls had to say, because they definitely had plenty to say! Sadly, the details fade from memory, and 13 years of parenting become a convoluted blur.]

Since I want to remember the details of the early years of at least one of my children, I come to my blog to record the profound sayings of Benjamin Bradley Wallace. Here are sample conversations from the past week or so -

"Mommy, when you grow up, you can be a worker man, and when I grow up, I am going to be a first grader and then I am going to be a garbage man."

"Mommy - how do firefighters fight?"

Ben - "Mommy, when I get older, I am going to have a blow dryer."
Mom - "What are you going to with a blow dryer?"
Ben - "I am going to blow some trees."

Lacey - (on the ride home from school with just Lacey & Ben in the car - the big girls stayed late) "I am so hungry. I want something really good to eat when I get home. What can I have for a snack, mom?"
Ben - "Lacey, what would you like? We have steak or pasta."

Ben - "When I grow up I'm going to be a daddy and drive in a truck."
Mommy - "And will you have a little boy?"
Ben - "No, I'm going to have a little mommy."

Here's to remembering the details of our lives and the lives of our children. I want to remember when my life was filled with details like firefighters and garbage men and trucks and little boy questions and endless conversations . . .

A Milestone Accomplishment for Ben - my little man in embryo

Considering that Ben has now been potty-trained for almost 2 weeks, it only seems fitting that he get a blog post in honor of his great accomplishment! I was dreading the potty-training process, because I have not had experience doing this with a little boy. But, as is usually the case with me, things end up being much harder in my mind then they are in reality. Ben has been an amazing student, and he is even waking up in the night if he has to go potty. I would say he is just about a potty pro. All it took was a day of running naked (Ben, not me), drinking lots of Sprite and a handful of Poppy's cinnamon bears and gummy raspberry candies.

Whether I like it or not, Ben's 3rd birthday is looming, and my baby boy is emerging from the toddler phase and entering the preschool phase of life. As much as I am sad to see the baby boy leave, I love every minute of watching the "big boy" personality emerge. He is developing a manly, take-charge attitude, and wants to help take care of "things". He is very sure of himself and thinks he can do more than his little body is capable of doing. Today I went to get a new jug of milk out of the overflow refrigerator in the garage. Ben quickly told me that he could do it, and was rather insulted when I wouldn't allow him to carry a full jug of milk from the garage to the kitchen. As this little experience illustrates, Ben tries to help carry things that are way too big for him, a behavior that was also manifested as he attempted to help stack chairs after a school event in December. Surprisingly enough, he did a pretty good job of taking down chairs that were twice his size. Ben's self-confidence astoundss me, and yes, at nearly three, he is well on his way to manhood.

Ben keeps me entertained all day with his manly sayings, and I can't help but shake my head in wonder. For example, here a few things he had to say over the past few days -

"Mom - I need to go in the back yard and cut down some trees."
(wanting to get some use out of his chain saw that Katie gave him for Christmas)

"When I get bigger I am going to go in a garbage truck, and Lacey is going to go with me."
(said after watching the garbage truck pick up our trash)

"Mom, you need to go to the store and buy me a sword and a gun and a monster helmet."
(I am not sure what prompted this thought, and I am definitely not sure of what a monster helmet may be, but I do know Ben loves helmets! In this picture he is wearing a little helmet my mom bought to keep at the cabin. When we left the cabin after New Year's, Ben threw a tantrum because he wanted to take the helmet home and didn't want to leave it at the cabin.)

"My daddy needs to go out there and fix that bunny
(in reference to the flat-as-a-pancake, dead rabbit in the middle of the road in front of our house. Ben obviously thinks his dad is one powerful dude!)

"I can fix it mom"
(Ben loves his tools, and is eager to fix whatever needs fixing around the house.)

And finally - just to add to his manly attitudes, my mom bought Ben this pint-sized lazyboy chair for Christmas.
(I wanted Ben to pose for a picture, but he wasn't interested in the least!)

I love my little man, but I am really glad that when he's feeling a little tired he still sucks his fingers and holds his blankie up to his face and rubs against me until I pick him up and give him a little snuggle. Thankfully, we still have a few years before that man in embryo actually emerges!

He's always watching

Some blog posts are for me - just because I want to remember. This is such a post. This is about an experience from a little over a week ago. I am finally finishing what I started then -

When you have a 2-year-old, you realize that this little person constantly emulates everyone in your household. This is particularly obvious when he mirrors the somewhat obnoxious philosophies of those you live with such as - yell when you're mad, say naughty things like "you're stupid", scream and throw a fit when you get put in time out, yell when your hair gets brushed, even if it doesn't hurt, and so the list goes. Thankfully, the good is emulated as well, and he demonstrates daily that he knows when to say "thank you", when to say "I love you" and "I'm sorry", how to carry on a phone conversation, how to clean up his toys, and more. Eventually, Ben will learn to sort out the good from the bad and form his own thoughts and feelings about how to handle his life and the world around him. In the mean time, he watches and listens and learns and emulates.

Ben has observed the prayers of his family members during these past 2 years, and he has learned the fundamental elements of praying and is ready to branch out on his own. He has started expressing the desire to pray aloud and to take his turn at the dinner table or during family prayer. The girls all want Ben to pray every time because his prayers are quick & cute and not long & boring like mom & dad's. Tonight, 2 1/2-year-old Ben said the sweetest prayer, without the help of anyone. He is learning and listening, and capable of verbalizing his own ideas - as he illustrated in his simple prayer tonight:

He folded his arms, bowed his head (eyes open, however) then started, "Dear Heavenly Father" - in his high pitched, yet quiet prayer tone.
He then said, "thank you Lacey go night night. Thank you Katie go night night."
"Thank you Madi go to dance."
"Thank you for Jesus and thank you for pictures" (you may remember from a previous post that this means scriptures).
Then he ended with, "Amen" in a louder, less high-pitched, proud tone.

He waited for his praises, smiling his proudest smile. He knew he had accomplished something grand. When he & I pray together before he goes to bed, he usually wants me to say his prayer for him. But, when the family is gathered together, as of late, he is eager and hopeful that it is his turn to pray. I have a feeling it will be Ben's turn any time he wants it to be.

As I think about all Ben has learned in these 2 years of life, I can't help but think about all those who influence his life for good - the people he emulates - the people who are part of him. He loves his family and talks about everyone frequently, as demonstrated by these remarks he often makes -

Granddaddy catch a fish.

Poppy takes me for a four-ride (four-wheeler ride at the cabin).

I want to talk to Mammy.

I want to go to Grandma Judy's house.

Aunt Kimmy bring me my Thomas puzzle and my turtle deetee from Grandma Judy.

Where's Uncle Mike & Aunt Karla?
The goats are at Aunt Aimee's and Uncle Casey's.

I want to see Ava and Vivi.

Where my Lacey go?

I love Ry and Ella Bean.

Daddy, can you play with me?

Can we see Abby J?

And - a few photos of Ben - observing the people he loves - remember that he is always watching -

Big sister Katie shares her DS with Ben

Jeffrey & Clark - "Boy" cousins - something he doesn't have much of on the Zobrist side of the family!

Jamison - the Wallace "boy" cousin who is closest to Ben's age & Ben knows it!

Watching big sis Lacey, quite possibly his greatest hero & grandest nemesis at the same time

Watching cousin Vivi

Helping granddaddy catch a fish

Helping daddy catch a fish

Big sister Madi - leads the way