Fraunt, Fruncle, Franikamin

Little B. has his shy moments when he initially meets someone but will come out of his shell eventually. There is one person who Benjamin is not shy around and well, this sort of relates to the topic about to be discussed....

As in our nature, we like to combine words to make a new word, also known as a portmanteau (Example of such a word is "brunch" which equals breakfast + lunch).
Of course, the most common portmanteau we use is "Franikamin". We will let you figure out that one on your own. ;) We were given the moniker, "Franika" from a friend before Benjamin days and it has stuck for many years.

Well, perhaps we could be considered "crazy" parents because we are teaching our son words that are not in the dictionary but to us they are "punny" words. Specifically, "Fruncle" or "Fraunt". What is a "fruncle" or a "fraunt"? They are friends of Frank/Anika (Franika) who are the "friend uncle" or "friend aunt" of Benjamin. Well, we have one particular friend who is constantly beckoned by our child: Fruncle Chris. Benjamin wants to know if he is "night, night", "working", or "hiding". Fruncle Chris chases Ben. around the house and causes giggle fever. Our child wants "mas", "mas" running and mas Fruncle.

Perhaps, we aren't too "bad" of parents because the word "frenemy" has made it's way into the dictionary....so, maybe we are on to something. Trend setting in the making. We will patiently wait for "Franikamin" to make the dictionary. ;)

So, we are still on repeat mode in our house (not that we thought that was going to end anytime soon). But, we do constantly ask Benjamin to say [insert whatever-word-sounds-funny-from-a-2-year-old-who-has-never-said-the-word here]. Most of the time he humors us BUT sometimes, he just ignores us (he won't say Sarah). He won't even acknowledge us. But, although he was a bit reserved in the beginning, he did warm up to his "Fraunt Sarah" because she read a million books to him. So, you are in now, Sarah.
Thanks to reading to our little monkey.

We recently thought he would enjoy the Cars movie because well it has everything that Benjamin says a million times a day: Trucks, Firetrucks, Cars, Police Cars - you name it. But, after 5 minutes, he told Mami to, "turn it off" then grabbed the remote control and pushed that red button of darkness. Hmmm.....update on this....he does ask for this movie to be played over and over but likes to turn it off as much as he likes to watch it.

Our favorite phrase of the week: "Mami/Papi hold" [me]. You bet we are going to drop everything we have in our hands or on our minds and pick him up because we know he will not want for us to hold him forever, nor will we always be able to pick him up with 28-pound "ease".

Benjamin has taught us to live in the moment, stop, listen, and love. We are convinced when he naps that he wakes up taller and his legs dangle longer. We realize that one day we will wake up and he will be 16 and driving...

We had a rough week of sleepless nights with our little guy. One of the hard parts of parenting is the detective part. Why? Benjamin never told us anything hurt, etc...so, we have concluded that he just was dealing with some changes in his life. Nightmares? Maybe. Growing "Pains"? Possibly. Missing His Parents? Could be. Whatever it was - he reminded us of the sleepless nights of his infancy. What a good shock to the system. Thank you Benjamin for going back to sleep.

We leave you with photos from the yard of our constantly growing boy. He is absolutely fascinating as he molds his world with new words, sights, and sounds. The world is an open basket for him to grasp. What fun it is for us to experience this with him. We get to be children again, too.