Meet Benny

"Bennyyyy, if you still have energy, why don't you run around the house a hundred times?!" I say that almost everyday. That kid has a lot of energy. Even after doing a bunch of activities in one day, he almost never tired. And when he gets home he still jumps around like crazy!

I still remember when I gave birth to Benny on October 8, 2oo1, in Pondok Indah Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia, after a long labor (1 1/2 days). Ouch! We named him Benjamin. My mom suggested 'rizki' for a middle name. Rizki means lucky or fortunate in Indonesian. So his middle name is Rezky, modified from rizki. We taught Benny to call me Ibu and call his father Daddy. But now he calls me Ibu, Mommy or Mama (it must be something he picked up from his friends or tv).

We moved to the US after Benny was one month old. He was circumcised right away. It was actually a little bit late because here, baby boys are circumcised when they are 2 days old. My family thought it was mean to circumcise a baby. In Indonesia, boys are normally circumcised when they are in elementary school. People in the US think that circumcision when the kid is in elementary school is mean. Well ... calm down guys! Do what you feel is right! ;)

When Benny was little, he never liked to eat, so of course he was a little bit skinny. Every time I took him to his doctor, the doctor said that Benny's weight was okay, no problem, as long he looked healthy. But every time we went to Indonesia to visit my family, my family said that Benny was way too skinny and I had to do something about it. O boy ... :)


But now, he likes to eat. He is still a picky eater though, but not too bad. His favorite is: "chicken and nasi!" Yay!

Anyway, because he has a lot of energy, he does a lot of activities. Right now, he is doing soccer, hockey, and taekwondo. In summer, he does those plus swimming, golf, football and baseball. Sometimes, I think that these activities are too much for him. But my husband always reminds me: "Benny loves what he does. Any day where he doesn't have some activities, he goes nuts!"

My husband is right. After Benny gets home, he still does other activities like riding his bike, playing wiffle ball, practicing soccer, or playing in the sand box. I try to play with him everyday, at least once a day. But he always wants more and says: " Want to play with me, Ibu?" a hundred times.



Benny loves Transformers. Have you seen the movie yet? It was awesome, wasn't it?! He also loves Bionicles, Legos, Pirates, Boats, Ships, Trains, and costumes. Yup, costumes! Everyday is Halloween for him. He has a cowboy hat, a cape, a Darth Vader mask, a Blue Power Ranger costume, and a Superman costume. He used to have skeleton and Emergency Room costumes, but those don't fit anymore.


Halloween is coming, and Benny keeps changing his mind about what he wants to be. He said he wanted to be a vampire. Another day he said he wanted to be a pirate or Optimus Prime from Transformers or a knight. And then he changed his mind again. He said he wanted to be a vampire. I asked him why not be Optimus Prime because it is more current. He said, "Optimus Prime is not scary. Halloween is suppose to be scary and that would be a vampire!"

Benny is in kindergarten and can read a little. He needs to practice reading. Every time we ask him to read, he is nervous and asks us if he can read only a half page. Ayayay! Fortunately, he likes to do homework (so far ... few!).

Benny's gets naughty when he watches too much tv. That's why he is only allowed to watch a little tv, and only after he has done his homework. We don't have any video games either.

Benny likes to play with his sister, Thia. They have fun playing together, but sometimes they don't want to share toys. Sometimes Benny teases Thia. Sometimes Thia teases Benny. When they both scream, my husband and I get a headache.

Benny loves doing silly things. One night, he put a lot of pillows in his shirts and shorts. He looked like he was ready to play 'sumo'... haaaaa. He also thinks the words 'butt' and 'poop' are really funny (I know ... weird!).

I wouldn't know how to live without Benny. He has been helping me with a lot of things. He even likes to help me to cook too. I often ask him to watch Thia. I have a funny story about it. One day, I asked him to watch Thia while I was busy cooking for dinner. They played nicely together in our living room. But after a while, I didn't hear any noises. It was silence. I checked in the living room, they weren't there. I checked up stairs. I found them! O mi gosh, they both in the bath tub, naked. My heart was pounding hard. I said "Benny, what are you doing? It is dangerous for you and your sister in bath tub without adult supervision. It is dangerous for you to lift up your sister into the bath tub by your self!" I checked the water, and it was warm. Few! Benny apologized and he promised he would never do it again. Although it was scary, they seemed very happy playing in the bath tub. I thought they were so cute, so I took some pictures of them. You can see their picture above.