Ben is 4

Ben just celebrated his 4th birthday! It hardly seems possible that our baby is 4 already. I know it will just keep going fast and I'll be saying the same thing every year, but still… Wow!

Ben has grown into such a fun boy. He warms our hearts and makes us want to scream all at the same time. He is a wonderful big brother and can often be caught jumping up from his seat at the table to pick something up that Kyle has dropped, whether Kyle should have it back or not. Last Sunday, Kyle dropped a piece of banana on the floor and before we could say anything Ben had run over to pick it up. We thought he'd just take it to the garbage for us, but he very carefully blew all the dirt off of it. He was so sweet we didn't have the heart to tell him he should throw it away.

He's also very much his own boy. He knows what he wants and he can be very persistent in asking for it sometimes. He also surprises us at how much he likes routine. Last night, we kept giving him ideas about what he might want to do for his birthday... did he want to go to a movie? eat at a restaurant? Nope, he wanted to play at home and go get a happy meal and bring it home to eat. I even tried to talk him into watching his new Veggie Tales DVD while he ate dinner, but he told me very plainly that he wanted to eat at the table and THEN watch Veggie Tales.

Ben is also still a source of great stories. One of Ben's birthday gifts was a plastic suit of armor complete with sword, shield, breastplate and helmet. We told him it was his knight in shining armor costume. He's really a fan of it and has taken the sword to bed with him at least two or three times in the three days since he got it.

The other night as I was putting him to bed he lobbied for me to help him get his armor on and I told him we didn't have time.

He pleaded with me saying, "Daddy, I want to have a night in shining armor."

Did he just say what I thought he said? We had a short conversation and I confirmed that he indeed thought the armor was for night time, not for a knight. How would he know, he's never seen a knight before. I tried to explain it and I think he understood a little, but it was pretty darn sweet that he wanted to have a "night in shining armor."

Ben's Song about Jesus and the Fishermen

After a recent devotion, Ben again graced us with a Benjamin Isom original song. This one was particularly memorable so I thought I should share:

Jesus told the followers to come follow me,
They were fishermen and they loved to fish with Jesus
And Jesus ran to his boat,
Shaa!

Really, Really, Really

I guess it's inevitable that all kids will start with the hyperbole eventually, but the question is when will it end...

This evening we were dropping our van off at the mechanic's so Ben and Kyle got to ride in my little blue car. It's a 1989 Chevy Cavalier to be exact. Or if the label on the trunk is to be believed, a Chevrol Cavalier. It lost the "et" who know when... The head liner is also held up by 100 thumb tacks. The glue has long since disintegrated and for quite awhile the fabric was only being held to the roof by the dome light in the middle and the molding around the edges.

The point being, this is a car that has seen better days and is mainly to get me the two miles or so to the train station and back, but in Ben's mind it's the best thing since sliced bread. He just loves to ride in it and was so excited tonight. I asked him why he liked my car so much and he responded with the standard 3-yr old "I don't know." So I pushed a little.

"If you like it so much, there must be a reason," I said. "What is it about my car that you like so much?"

"Well Dad," he said very matter of factly, "I really, really, really, reaaalllly like it."

Well of course, that explains everything.

Kyle started walking!

Well it finally happened last Friday. And I got to be home to see it. I think it kind of took all of us by surprise. I was home early so we could go to Ben's first Parent-Teacher conference. I had been holding Kyle and he wanted down so I set him down on his feet. He just stood there for a moment (which he does quite often) and then instead of plopping down onto his knees he picked up a foot and started stepping.

He took about three steps and then went to his knees. I could barely get the words out to get Mindy's attention because Kyle and I were both so excited. For about 5 minutes I just kept setting him back up on his feet and he kept trying. It was such an exciting few minutes. Kyle was even clapping for himself, he was so excited.

What a privilege it is to be a witness to all this growing up that my boys are doing.

Shaw!

As I've probably mentioned before, Ben really likes to sing a song after devotions that is about the story we just read.

Sometimes, there is a song that can be sung, but most of the time Mindy and I don't know a song that we can sing. Ben quickly informs us that he will teach us the song. It usually has the same sing-song melody and just sort of tells the story in two or three lines, sometimes more if Ben can't find a good place to end it.

But without fail the song always ends with an enthusiastic "Shaw!" accompanied by a fist thrust into the air jubilantly.