One of those moments

It was one of those moments when the kids were a little too quiet for a little too long. I was upstairs cleaning out the dishwasher and the kids were playing downstairs. But then it got quiet. I told myself I should check, but I mistakenly thought it could wait until I finished with the dishes. Then I heard Benjamin exclaim, "Me funny face! Me go see!" He came running up the stairs and darted to the mirror in the hallway. That's when I got very suspicious. As I went to find him, this is what I saw:


Not as bad as it could be, I guess, but then I heard Bella cry for me and I found this:


Apparently just drawing on his own face wasn't interesting enough. Ah, my budding Picasso. I guess it's time the markers become a 'with adult supervision only' toy. Especially because there was absolutely no remorse. "Me funny, mama!" he declared, triumphantly. I have to admit, this is pretty funny.


Despite Benjamin's pension for art and photography, my attempt to mix it with a language lesson failed miserably. I wanted to make our own alphabet book. I thought he'd love it - get the camera and take pictures of various things around the house that begin with specific letters. Apple for A, etc. Guess how long that lasted? To D - his rubber duck. Then he handed me back the camera and informed me that he was "all done." What!?! I'd planned on this taking most of the afternoon? Now what am I supposed to do with you guys?


I have such a love for languages, but Benjamin most definitely does not. Not only is he way behind most kids his age verbally, but I can't get him interested in anything to do with letters or words. He'll even purposely answer me wrong, even if he knows the right answer, to such simple questions as, "Which letter is this?" He'll get a smirk on his face and I know he's about to pull something random out of the air.

I found a blog the other day written by a woman with twin 3 year old girls. They play a game (which the girls love) where she says phrases and they tell her how many syllables are in the phrase! Syllables!? Are you kidding me?! I don't think Benjamin could tell me how many words I'd just said. Even if he could, he wouldn't care enough to do it. On the other hand, I took the kids to open gym time at the rec center today and he's bouncing 5 feet in the air on the trampoline, swinging on the rope, and running along the balance beam. People kept guessing he was between 3 and 4 years old. They almost didn't believe me when I would say he's 2 and 1/2. He knows what he likes and you just can't force him into anything. Maybe Isabella will find a love for languages. She and I can take Spanish classes together or something. I just need to get her to stop eating the books.