In honor of Thanksgiving...

Today and always, I am thankful for my son's laughter, and for the joy that he so freely shares with others. I am thankful for the warmth in our home, and for the love our family shares... as well as the love we share with friends. I am thankful for days to express being thankful.

I'd also like to share some special moments of the last couple of months since my joy of a little boy turned two years old!

August 13 at 7:10pm
Our little eco-child just said, "YAY, RECYCLE!" Hahhha, starting him early! :)

August 15 at 9:37am
When Beni wants to play "chase" he says, "More gotchu?" ♥

August 19 at 8:48pm
I am now officially "Mommy," and no longer "Mama" according to Beni. His "baby-ish" words are few and far anymore... bittersweet, with a little more bitter than sweet, I think. He's growing up so much quicker than I could have ever imagined!

September 1 at 8:04pm
As I was boiling water, I walked away briefly to talk to Angelo... a minute passed and I said "Oh! I think my pot is boiling over!" to which Beni responds, "Bubbles! Hurray!" He's such a goofball and I love him so very much!

September 1 at 9:26pm
Angelo picked some mini pots and pans for Beni this afternoon, and just a moment ago Beni was intently stirring away, so I asked what he was preparing for us and he said, "I'm making food... pasta!" and grinned like a goon in delight. :)

September 2 at 8:58am
I wonder how I'm going to go about explaining to my little boy that he can't cook an egg all on his own just yet. He's been begging since he woke up, and at one point even dragged me to the fridge saying "Mommy, open door, PLEEEAAA...SSSEEE? I cook egg, PLEEEAAASSSEEE MOMMY?" I handed him cheese instead, and I'm pretty sure that he scoffed at me. Hahha!

9:00am
Okay... giving in... I'm weak, I admit it! Egg cooking lesson with my baby in T-Minus 2 seconds...

September 5 at 9:29pm
Dinner of the champions! Beni devoured MAMMOTH portions of cheese pasta, potatoes, broccoli, spinach, and carrots... as if that wasn't enough, he then managed to gobble down some apple cobbler bites for dessert! Where on earth does it all go?! :)

September 7 at 2:12pm
I am in constant awe of my little boy! A moment ago I asked if he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and he replied "No, THANK YOU!" (This is usually just a "nope", and we've never corrected him to say otherwise. So funny!) I love him so much! Now he is happily reciting the alphabet with Super Why... hahhah.

September 15 at 8:36pm
Who needs a doctor when you have a 2-year-old who makes house calls? Beni climbed into my lap and asked me to open my mouth, and after several seconds of an "examination," he announced confidently, "Yep, I SEE sick!" ♥!

September 21 at 2:07pm
This just in: Beni wants to be a "lawn mower" for Halloween. :)

September 23 at 3:59pm
I love my boys more than anything in this world. ♥

September 28 at 9:30pm
Funnies of the evening... Angelo brought home a "slimcado," which is, apparently, an avocado with "30% less fat." What?! Then, Beni ran off with the package of strawberries, only to be discovered in the trunk of his bike... silly boys.

September 30 at 10:17pm
More funnies tonight... Cookie was barking and Beni said, "Cookie, relax!" Hah! Earlier, I was showing him a video of an Elasmosaurus on youtube while he was holding his Elasmosaurus figurine, and when the clip ended he said, "Oh no! Where his friend go? Gone?! Oh no!" I am SO in love with this stage of language acquisition!

October 2 at 2:01pm
Beni wants to "drive car into bright sunlight," and here I'm left wondering where these funny little requests come from!

October 10 at 9:44am
So funny! Beni was sitting in the office on Angelo's computer and I asked him to come out and be social with us... he replied, "No Mommy, I'm working right now." Hahahahha! Okay, baby... you win this one. ♥

October 10 at 4:44pm
Beni has a mohawk!!!

October 14 at 4:33pm
Just measured Beni's height: 34" tall! That's well over half my height. My little boy is turning into a giant! Now if only I knew how much he weighed... hmm...

October 27 at 7:50pm
I am so amazed at the conversations I have with my little boy. I can't get over how vocal he has become about... everything! I'm so VERY blessed. ♥

October 28 at 2:49pm
Beni's word of the day: "guys." "What are you doing, guys?" "I'm ready, guys!" "Let's go, guys!" Hahha!

October 30 at 9:03am
We're getting ready to go to a Halloween themed playdate for a few, then run some errands and hopefully pick up a pumpkin to carve at around noon-ish. So excited about Beni trick-or-treating with his friends tomorrow!

November 2 at 4:09pm
Beni's first imaginary friend... a friendly ghost. He has been having conversations with him/her on and off for the last few hours, "Hi, friendly ghost!" ... "How are you doing?" ... "Oh okay! I'm doing fine, thank you!" ... "Read me book friendly ghost, please?" He leaves just enough silence for a response, and then replies with his own. I asked if he would like for me to read him a book instead and he replied, "No, thank you! Friendly ghost reads me book." Hand in hand with the time of year, I suppose! I'm just thankful it is, in fact, a "friendly" ghost!

November 7 at 8:25am
Just as we finished dressing Beni (he picked out his own clothing this morning) he trotted out of the room saying, "I'm handsome now!" Hahha!

November 12 at 8:36am
I'm laughing at my Beni for the umpteenth time. I walked into his playroom to find him trying to lasso his rocking horse with my belt while saying,"I'm a cowboy! Where's my cowboy hat?" He's my little goonlove. ♥

November 16 at 10:44am
I am yet again laughing at my little nugget of a boy. ♥ We were drinking chocolate almond milk this morning, and his cup was near empty while mine was full to the brim... he looked into my cup and said that my chocolate milk was "SO big...... giant!" and looked into his and said "my milk is soooo little."

November 18 at 10:26am
Completely out of the blue while eating breakfast this morning, Beni started singing Queen's "We Will Rock You," so, in complete and utter support of his little outburst I played the music video on YouTube and my little lovebug went totally NUTS headbanging and shouting those trademark lyrics, "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU" and then looked at me in total bliss and shouted "I LOVE THAT SONG!" I'm dying in laughter!

November 21 at 9:19am
Beni just farted and blamed it on Batman... bwahahha. Definitely Angelo's boy. ♥

November 23 at 9:13am
Despite being sick, my little munchkin is just as charming as ever. I grabbed a chocolate wafer and tried to gobble it as quickly and inconspicuously as possible, alas I was caught by a pair of longing eyes... Beni asked, "May I have some, Mommy?" As I looked over at his plate, filled with strawberries, apples, and french toast, I knew he probably should steer clear of my dirty little morning chocolate cravings, so I asked him to eat his yummy breakfast instead...he added, "Please Mommy, a little bit, please?" Hahhah. My sweetheart. ♥