'You Got The Love'

Eddie often plays music to Benjy, usually a song he thinks Benjy will like joining in with. Queen's 'We Will Rock You' has been a favourite for a while now, and Florence and the Machine's 'You've Got The Love' is a recent addition to their repertoire. Benjy can often be found running round the house, or anywhere at all actually, singing 'You Got The Love' and holding his hands up in the air. At the weekend, I came downstairs to the song blaring out and Eddie holding Benjy and the two of them dancing around the kitchen singing it, with their hands in their air, at the top of their voices, having the time of their lives. It was a great moment. We followed it a while later by Eddie and I demonstrating the moves to 'Time Warp' for Benjy, and him copying. That little chopsicles is so much fun.

Reading

I recently remembered something that happened months and months ago that I wanted to make a note of here. I put Benjy in the car, and he saw a book on the seat next to him that we hadn't read together for ages. He asked me to read it to him, but of course I was driving, so I told him he could read it himself until he got there - a reasonable suggestion, I thought, as I'd often find him sitting reading his books. He burst into tears and said 'I don't remember the words!'. I felt so sorry for him that I immediately pulled over and read it to him - but I thought it was quite an eye opener into his world, and the realisation that when he sits quietly looking at a book, he must know the words because we've read them so often, and be 'reading' them to himself. So sweet!

Food

Benjy's absolute favourite toy is his food. He has a very large selection of plastic foods, and since his birthday, a wooden birthday cake (which he calls chocolate cake despite it not looking at all like chocolate). It's always, without fail, the first thing he plays with every morning when he comes downstairs, and whenever he's been out and comes back in the house - 'let's have a picnic!'. At least two items of food go out with us wherever we go, and about eight items come with us when we go either upstairs or downstairs. And there are always several in his bed with him, that we then have to take downstairs again in the morning and put them on the sofa or tray - 'not upside down!' - so we can have our picnic. This photo is a mere selection.

Asleep

Managed to get one of him asleep. We covered him up and he stayed like that with his little bottom in the air for ages. Note the chocolate cake, pink bun and bar of chocolate in the cot - see the next post for more about that.