Ben Speaks

Well, Ben doesn't speak that much. He babbles plenty and I am sure it all makes sense to him, but he doesn't have many words. In fact, at his 18 month doctor's appointment, he only had 4-5 words when he should have 12-15. Which is fine. Much like my feelings about mobility in small children, I am not overly anxious to have Ben talking early. He understands a lot and has four people trying to decipher his desires (admittedly some for evil, some for good) so he doesn't really need to talk. So although he is a fairly good mimic, he has few words that he uses spontaneously.

That being said, he has acquired two full phrases since we saw the ped.

"Ready, set, GO!" Not shocking in a physically competitive house like ours (clarification: the children are competitive, Jason and I are just innocent bystanders).

And my new favorite that sends the rest of us into fits of laughter: "NO! DON'T DO DAT!" complete with pointing finger and hand on hip. It definitely makes time out less effective when Ben comes over to lecture the offending child like this.

How different the first and last children are. After "daddy" and "Spencer" (don't ask), Josh's words were toys and animals like "ball" and "doggie." Ben's are about competition and control. I think we are in for an interesting ride with this one.