Ben-isms

I had almost no experience with babies or little kids before having my own, so it's been so much fun experiencing their stages of development. Speech in particular has been particularly fascinating. One word at a time, then a few strung together, some phrases and sentences, and now for Ben, long stories and endless questions. He can recite entire books and recount situations that happened months or years ago. At nearly 4, his vocabulary is enormous but if he doesn't know a specific word or tense he'll just make something up so it's led to some interesting conversations. And of course you never know what's going to come out of his mouth in any situation. Here are a few of my favorites from the past couple of days:
-The boys were both running up the stairs and then Ben arrived at the top and Alex was a few steps below crying. I asked what happened and Ben said, "I winned!". I assume that means he pushed by Alex to get to the top first.
-We've all had some allergy problems the past few weeks and Ben has been waking up coughing several nights in a row. I tried to explain that he could drink the water by his bed to make the cough go away and he said "I like my cough. I want to keep it."
-I have moved their carseats several times lately and don't really care which side each boy has in the car when I put them back. Ben now has a preference for the left side and asked me to move his seat back. I asked him why he liked that side better and he said, "I want to sit on that side because it makes me a better person." If that's all it takes, maybe I should be sitting on that side too!
-The boys love, love, love running around naked after bathtime. It looks like their favorite time of the day. I always laugh at my "naked bottom boys" while they're doing it. Ben walked in the other day while I was changing my pants and called me a "naked Mama boy". We're still trying to teach the difference between boys and girls and he/she since he seems to get them backward all the time.
-Last night Ben cut his toe and was bleeding quite a bit on the floor. It must not have hurt because he didn't notice until I saw the blood, then he started screaming, "my toe is leaking!!".

I think he really talks all day unless he's sleeping or watching TV. It's really entertaining but the questions do get exhausting sometimes. Lots of why's and why did you say (blank). But I love that he's so interested in the world and learning so much about everything so quickly.

Alex is talking more each day but still gets so frustrated when he can't communicate what he wants and I can't guess it. Lots of screaming and throwing himself on the floor so I'm looking forward to him growing past that stage but can't imagine what it will be like with two little boys talking all the time! Alex did say his first real phrase (putting together his own words, not just repeating a phrase we say) when he climbed in my bed at 6am and said "play cookie". He wanted a toy that had been in our bedroom for several days and had been moved. I love these little guys!