Ben's Second and Third Jokes

As you know, Ben has a minor Beatles obsession. A current favorite is "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da." At some point, he seems to have decided (of his own volition) that "ob-la-di ob-la-da" refers to anything that brings happiness or pleasure. At least, that's the best theory I can come up with for how he uses it. He started by saying things like, "Ob-la-di ob-la-da in noodles," or "... in honeydew." After doing this sporadically for a few days, it suddenly occurred to him that it was funny, and that the possibilities for humorous adaptation were endless. Now we get, "Ob-la-di ob-la-da in ... [looks around the room] in the TV!" [peals of laughter] He has identified ob-la-di ob-la-da in the gazebo, on the ceiling, in the crib, in Mommy's nose, on Daddy's elbow, buried in a variety of foodstuffs, and indeed in, on, or around every item within his gaze. Every instantiation is even more hilarious than the previous.

This evening, while on a walk to the "way way back" (as Ben describes the furthest portion of our backyard), Neil happened to tickle Ben's face with a small stalk of wild "bamboo." [This is a rapacious weed around here that probably bears no botanical resemblance or relation to real bamboo.] I was not there at the time, so I don't know the details, but apparently the suggestion was made by one or both parties that Ben eats baby bamboo. He thinks this is even funnier than the Ob-la-di joke. He spent the rest of the evening squealing "Benny eats baby bamboo!" and "Mommy eats baby bamboo!" and more generally "X eats baby bamboo!" for an enormous variety of X, in between showers of giggles.