Big Mosh

Ben is talking more and more. Everyday we hear him using a word we didn't think he knew. He has known the word big for a long time, but recently added the word small to his vocabulary. Like any good language student he concientiously practices his new words. We often hear him repeating to himself, "Big, small." Then he uses his words in context. I first heard him making this comparison and holding up two blocks: "Big, small." Then he moved on to more complex items - he compared two chairs of various sizes. A few days ago he was in the kitchen and pointed to the doorknob of our cleaning closet and declared it to be big. Then he pointed to the handle on our cupboards and informed me that it was small. Unforunately he doesn't quite have the pronunciation of small down yet, so it alternately sounds like he is saying "big mosh," "big malls," or big moss!"
Ben's favorite thing to ask is, "What's that?" We answer that question seemingly hundreds of times each day, particularly when Ben is looking at books. I don't think it's a coincidence that his vocabulary explosion came after he learned that particular phrase - although for him it's all one word. We respond in our ever-so- tolerant-and-patient parental voices, "That's a wrench, that's a hammer, that's a blue furry monster, I have no idea what that is..." We failed to prepare a response for the day when Ben let forth a blast of air from his hind quarters and then pointed to his offending body parts and asked in a surprised voice, "What's that?"