into the mouths of babes

This is Ben. He is my friend and (after a misunderstanding during a Christmas shopping trip years ago) my little brother. He flies planes in Australia and I miss him so much I just don't think about it most days.

When we were trying to get pregnant with Eleanor, he left Canada and before we even knew she would exist, we asked Ben to be one of her godfathers. He has still never seen her in the flesh, but she is learning about him.

We have been paying the "airplane" game when we feed the girls since Sophia was a baby, zooming spoonfuls of food into their mouths under the guise of it being Uncle Ben flying in his airplane. I guess you never know what your kids pick up, because today I asked Sophia to try and feed Eleanor a little avocado. She was doing great with her and in the brief moment of peace I went to check my email and instead wound up composing one to Ben. I had to tell him that over my shoulder I heard Sophia in a sing-song voice say to Ella, word-for-word:

"Here comes Uncle Ben, flying in his airplane, over the koala bears, over Australia, over the Wiggles, into Eleanor's mouth! Good job, Eleanor!"

Love you, Ben.