Knock, knock!

Benjamin loves telling jokes. Today, he said, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" I don't know, I said. Why? "Because the tape had legs!" He laughed. I didn't. Does that make sense? "No." he said indignantly. "It's a joke."

Hey, Benjamin! I heard a joke on the radio (we can thank Lynne Rossetto Kasper for this one): what's the difference between a chilly bean and a regular bean? The chilly bean wears a jacket! I think that this is the first joke that Benjamin actually got. Of course he tells it often, and of course Stuart tells his own version. He says, "Bean!" "Jacket!" "Joke!" 

Benjamin also enjoys knock-knock jokes. I taught him the one that ends, "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?!" He told it repeatedly for days:

"Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana banana. Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana banana. Knock knock!
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Good I didn't say banana!"

Then he laughs, and there's a pause, and then, "Knock, knock!" What was I thinking?

With all that knock knocking, Stuart picked up on it. One evening on the way to bed, Benny was having a horsey ride on Steve's back, and resting his chin painfully in Steve's shoulder. After asking him to shift his chin a few times to no avail, Steve got irritated, and made Benny walk. Benny threw a short but pointed tantrum, as Stuart and I looked on. As I lay down with Stuart to try to get him to go to sleep, he said, "Daddy." "Neck." "Benny." "Crying." And then, after a pause, "Benny happy." You want him to be happy, Stu? "Happy!" "Knock knock banana!" Good night Stuart.