play.

It seems that Bennet is learning several new words a day. It's hard to keep up with his growing vocabulary! A few days ago, I was driving to drop him off at my friend's house while I went to a doctor's appointment and, when I told him we were going to Ms. Jaci's house to "play," he started saying "PLAY! PLAY!" The rest of the day, everything was "play."

We went to dinner that night, and were coloring and playing with him at the dinner table. When we left the restaurant to walk home, he cried the whole way home, sobbing and saying, "Play, play, play." When we got to our house, he stood on the street outside the door with big tears pouring down his face saying, "Play, play, play." I took him upstairs to give him his bath and the tears continued throughout bath time - "Play, play, play." It was heartbreaking, and we're still not sure what exactly "play" meant to him at that time to make him cry so much.

I've been trying to teach him what the word means, explaining to him yesterday that I was going to the chiropractor and he was going to "play" with the girls there while I saw the doctor. Then, when we had to go to the grocery store afterward, I told him that playtime was over, and we had to get some groceries, but that if he was a good boy, we'd go home and play when we were finished. I'm hoping if I keep using the word in context, we'll avoid any additional heartbreak when his expectations are not met.

This morning, I woke up to Bennet shouting from his crib, "Momma! Momma, PLAY! 1...2...3...PLAY!"

There is never, ever a dull moment with a toddler in the house.