Recent Conversations, Benji's Hobbies

Earlier today, while we were all in the car, Chad and I briefly talked about if/when to plan a third child. (NOTHING was decided, so don't get your hopes up). This evening, this ensued:

Ethan (poking my breast): There's a little baby in there.

Hope: No, that's my breast. There's no baby in there!

Ethan: I wish there was a baby in your tummy. That would be cool!

Chad didn't say anything but I saw a pained look on his face.

A few days ago, this conversation happened:

Ethan: Mommy, spies are bad!

Hope: Well, some spies are bad guys, and some spies are good guys.

Ethan: I'm a good spy. You be a bad spy.

Hope: I don't want to be a bad guy. I'll be a good guy spy. Here, why don't you hide under this laundry basket and spy on the bad guys.

Ethan (under the laundry basket): This is my spy lab! I'm in a spy lab.

Hope (laughing): Oh, what do you do in your spy lab?

Ethan: I look for bad guys, because they are bad guys.

After church today, when Ethan was picked up from the 3-year old room, I asked him if he had fun in there. He said, "Yeah, it was awesome."

Benji has a new hobby. He likes to drop things into the toilet ... yes, even when the lid is down. He knows how to open it up. If we forget to close the door to the bathroom, we might find him either playing in the toilet water, or dropping things in there. Once I found a collection of bathtub toys in there. Another time, I found four baby wash cloths mixed up with toilet paper in the bowl.

His other hobby is putting things that are not trash in the trashcan and taking trash out of the trashcan. I mean, I guess I can see how this would be really fun. He's put a pair of shoes in the trash, a new tube of mascara, and one of Ethan's toys. I wonder if some day we'll wonder where something is, can't find it anywhere, and realize that it must have gone out with the trash weeks ago.

Benji also can now say "No," although he doesn't understand the meaning yet. He just copies me when I say it. He once said "turkey" when Chad was giving him turkey. And once he copied me say "Woof woof" when I showed him a picture of a dog. He can also say, "Hi," and he does actually understand the meaning of that word.