Amazed. Yes, I am amazed just about everyday at the things Bentley says. The funniest part of what he says is that he just says things as though it is completely normal and a part of everyday life (which it is to him), but I seriously contemplate E-VER-Y-THING he says.
Now, as a precursor to all of this, you must understand where I am coming from. I have been teaching for 8 years, in which I have taught everything from preschool, elementary, middle school, to high school, but all classes have been in special education. I have had students that are very high functioning that required very little support, to other students that require support for the smallest tasks that we all take for granted. So, when Bentley learns a new skill or says something new, I see it in a different light. For example, when I taught students with autism in Huntsville, I helped potty train about ten students throughout my four years in the class, but you must take into account that those students were between the ages of 5-8. Now, Bentley started potty-training about three weeks before his second birthday. Seeing both sides of this (from a teacher's point-of-view as compared to a parent's point-of-view), I can appreciate our day-to-day activities even more.
Other activities that we tend to take for granted on day-to-day tasks are things like cleaning up toys, requesting simple wants and needs, using fine motor skills (coloring, snapping, painting, gluing), and simply following directions. Pretend play and mimicking are amazing skills and so useful for teaching little ones, but students with special needs often have a difficult time pretending and copying tasks and skills. Can you imagine? Here is where my daily amazement comes into play...
Pretending...here's how this goes.
Cooking...
B: "My need somepin' to eat in my titchen."
M: "You do?"
B: "Yeah, Mommy need somepin' to eat?"
M: "Sure. What are you going to cook?"
***This is where there are some alterations. Our options are limited, as Bentley only cooks a few things: "wacaroni," "chicken," "pie," and "pizza."
B: "Wacaroni."
M: "That sounds good."
***He goes to his kitchen and finds the box of macaroni, pours it into the stainless steel bowl that he stole from my kitchen, and stirs with his spoon or whisk, which he also stole from my kitchen. As he cooks, he talks himself through the process.
B: "My stirrin' it up. My need a bowl."
***Bentley then pours the macaroni into a bowl.
B: "Mama need a 'poon? My need a 'poon."
***He looks around until he finds two spoons, brings me my bowl of macaroni, gets his bowl of macaroni, and we both take ONE bite.
M: "Mmmm...that's good."
B: "Mama need more?"
***He takes my bowl, goes back to his kitchen and pours more macaroni into my bowl. This takes place until he decides we have eaten enough.
If Bentley chooses to make pie, he gets the piece of pie from his food collection, places it in the pot (that goes on the stove) and cooks it in the microwave or oven, depending on his mood.
One of our (Daddy and Mommy) favorite things to have is our morning coffee. Bentley has picked up on this. Almost every morning, Bentley will use his coffee pot, one cup, and the salt and pepper shakers to make us all coffee. Daniel gets the cup, I get the pepper shaker, and Bentley gets the salt shaker. He pours us all coffee and places a spoon in it (so we can stir in our creamer and sugar), and we all take a drink. Then, quick to please, Bentley will either bring the coffee pot to refill our cups or he will take our cups to his kitchen for refill. Disclaimer...there is a chance he could refill your coffee with water, which is just as cute because he makes the sound of water running as he pretends to turn it on.
He will also wash his hands and dishes in his kitchen. I literally cannot get enough of watching him. I could watch him play in his kitchen ALL DAY LONG!
Shopping...
I don't mean shopping out and about. I mean shopping in my pantry. One day last week he got his shopping cart, pushed it into the kitchen and said, "Mama, my need to go to da 'tore." He opened the pantry door, and said, "HELP!" I walked in there as he was saying "Ummm, ummmm, my need muppins." He got a pack of blueberry muffins off the bottom shelf. "My need cookies." He got a pack of cookies off the bottom shelf. He proceeded to tell me everything else he needed from my pantry and I would hand it to him to place in his "buggy." He ended up with mayonnaise, brownies, muffins, cookies, an applesauce pouch, fruit snacks, and oatmeal. He pushed his buggy back into the living room and left all of his "stuff" in his kitchen, and it still there as I type. :)
Driving...
Out of the blue, here is what you will hear on any given day.
B: "My need my keys. My going bye bye. Bye bye, Mama."
M: "Bye Bentley. Where are you going?"
B: "My going a da 'tore."
M: "What are you going to get?"
B: "A sucker."
M: "Okay, be careful."
B: "K. Lud you, Mama."
M: "Love you too, Bentley."
B: "My comin' back, k?
M: "Okay."
B: "Lud you, too Mama. Be tareful."
***A few seconds or minutes pass.
B: "I'm back." (as he walks up to me)
Sometimes Bentley goes to the store to get a sucker, but he has also gone to Home Depot to ride the "malowers," and he goes to Mickey Mouse's house to play.
Boo Boos...
Bentley's first bleeding boo boo happened a few weeks ago and you would have thought that I ripped his leg off and beat him with it. He was afraid of band-aids, and would cry if I even looked at it. Finally, after holding him down to get Band-Aid on, he realized they weren't so bad. Now, if he even bumps something he thinks he needs a Band-Aid. Thankfully, kisses and band-aids can fix most any boo boo.
Amen...
While eating, Bentley often puts his hands in front of his mouth and says, "AAAA-MEN!" So funny. My grandfather passed away this weekend, and I was explaining to Bentley that we will go to the funeral home to tell Papaw "bye bye." I told him that Papaw went to live in Heaven with Jesus. As we've done before, we had the conversation about Bentley going to Heaven and Mommy going to Heaven. Then, for his bedtime story, we read
Heaven is for Real, for kids, by Colton Burpo. It is a story of a 4-year-old boy that was in surgery for appendicitis when he went to Heaven to meet Jesus, but came back to Earth to live. There is an adult version, too, but the kid version is so good for telling children about Heaven. While reading it, Bentley asked questions about every page, like he does with every book. I showed him who Jesus is and said, "Jesus loves you." On the next page, Bentley said, "Is Jesus," as he pointed to a picture of Jesus. "That my friend." I said, "Is Jesus your friend?" He replied, "Yea, Jesus love me!" Here we go again...the sweet innocence of a child. Why can't we all see it so simply? I wanted to say, "AAAA-MEN!"
Bentley is such a helper. He helps me water the plants everyday. We put a few gallons of water into a bucket with the waterhose and we use a cup and watering can to water the plants.
He also plays with all of his outdoor toys (shovel, rake, blower, weed eater, truck, wagon, bicycle) almost every day. We usually play inside in the morning (or go to the pool), then he takes nap after lunch. Then., when he wakes up, we head outside until bedtime. I am SOOOOO thankful that he wants to play outside. He is the product of his Mommy and Daddy! Bentley is getting better and better with driving his truck. He usually drives from our back yard into the empty lot behind our house. We don't have a fence so there's no barrier. He LOVES his truck , and I LOVE watching him ride.
I went this weekend and got him some "learning stuff." The teacher in me decided we can play school this summer while I'm home. This morning we sorted all of the pom pom balls by color then learned the rainbow song and made a rainbow craft. He
loved picking up the pom poms with his tongs and he
LOVED (even more) using the glue. "Just a dot, not a lot." Ha ha ha! I'm still a teacher...even when I'm not at school!
Nana Kay came over to let us see her new puppy, a Chihuahua named Skippy. She got to ride with Bentley on his truck.
Here are some more pictures of my handsome little fella. Enjoy! (I must say...Target, you got the seasonal colors goin' on! I LOVE the neon shorts on Bentley. Also, thanks Nana Kay for some of Bentley's summer clothes!)
Overall, we are having a wonderful summer, and I am loving each day. I cannot believe that this sweet and smart little boy is mine. I am absolutely in love with him and I live for each day I get to watch him learn and grow. I am trying really hard not to take all our "little moments" for granted.
