Ben's Birthday

For Ben's second birthday we celebrated with the full cadre of nannies and their charges whom Ben plays with on a regular basis (he has this whole social life that his parents know nothing about...) He wasn't sure quite what to make of the party itself, but he seems to have gotten the concept down since. I catch him singing to himself: "Happy buhday you! Happy buhday you! Happy buhday you!" Pause. "Whoo hoo!!!"

 

Party Tricks: By the Powers of Greyskull!

This is a video from a few months ago, when the Bug was a year old. It was the start of a variety of tricks he could pull off . . . of course he didn't necessarily perform them ALL that well, since he was on film. . . but it's still fun. These days we have lots more party tricks. Indeed, I think he even learned how to walk finally today!

On the Perils of Learning Sign Language

Well, I am very very excited because -- after a brief two weeks of his clapping in order to get food from us back when he was 9 months old, and not another bit of sign language since -- the Bug has officially learned the hand sign for "more." He got it down pat 2 weeks ago, and now signs it at me mostly when he wants food, but sometimes for an encore reading of a book as well.

It doesn't always mean things are easier, however. When I was driving along a few days ago, every time I turned around to check on him, he lifted up his hands and signed "more" and I basically just kept throwing Cookie Monster cookies back at him for the whole drive. This morning, I made the mistake of eating some left over Pad Thai and feeding him some of it. Afterwards, he kept spotting the takeout carton in the trash, lifting it up, handing it to me, and signing "more" at me. I kept having to open the carton and show him that there wasn't any left.

This went on for 3 hours.

But there are advantages to his actually communicating his needs, right? No matter how, well, needy they seem to be. . .

The First Hair Cut

So, I finally agreed to let Steve let Micki cut the Bug's hair, but I made the mistake of letting them go off alone on the big adventure. Steve came home really excited about how well Ben had behaved, how happy he'd been sitting in his green Bumbo chair, chewing on a bottle top while Micki's scissors flashed around his head.

Steve came home excited; I practically cried.

I mean, they cut off all his hair!! I was totally unprepared. I figured a little trim to let his ears show. . . but no. All hair, gone.

Steve keeps trying to point out to me that it will grow back, but my heart is still broken.

But I guess the Bug is still kinda cute. And now that he has gotten his hair cut by his dad's stylist and they have the exact same do, they look totally identical, which is kinda cute too. . .

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The Bug vs. The Avocado

The baby has taken incredibly well to eating. . . In fact he gets all squirmy and happy and kicky while waiting for his next bite.  We are -- per doctor's orders -- waiting about three days between introducing each new food to make sure he's not allergic to it.  He now eats rice, oatmeal, mangos, apples, butternut squash, sweet potato, and -- to my utter horror -- bananas.  I really don't even like to be near bananas, but Steve loves them, and apparently it's sort of a de rigeuer baby food, so we diligently mashed them up and, of course, he adores them.  

On the other hand, I couldn't wait to give him avocado.  Now THERE is a food that's fantastic.  And it's mushy and yummy and looks like the perfect baby food as well.  Avocados were going to be the new banana, baby.  

The Bug had other ideas. 

Eating!

Today the Bug tried solids for the very first time (not counting the various tickets, immigration documents, and napkins he gnawed on while on the plane). We mixed rice cereal with some milk, put it into a Petit Prince bowl, and served it up with bright red, baby-sized spoons.

He got the idea that there was food on the spoon pretty quickly; he was not as quick to catch on that -- unlike a bottle -- it wouldn't keep providing him with nourishment no matter how ferociously he slurped at it.

The only way to work it was to use two spoons. He'd grab at one, stick it in his mouth and suck away. But he wouldn't let it go -- and he's surprisingly strong. So I'd scoop up another bite with the other spoon, and like a dog with a bone who sees another bone, he'd throw his spoon to the floor and grab for the new one. We did this over and over and over . . . until he'd eaten like two whole teaspoons.

This is clearly going to be a slow process. . .



(Photo: Note sushi bib. Also -- this is the first pic I've seen where I have to admit I can't blame those people who think he's a girl.)

The Bug Hits the Slopes

We just got back from a week in France. . . so there are many, many firsts to record.

1) He flew on a really long flight (Ok, so he's been on a plane before, but an hour and a half compared to 8 hours is nothing.)

2) It was his first time in Europe. (Which, as Dad pointed out, is interesting in a generational trends sort of way. My grandfather went to Europe for the first time when he was 42. My dad was 14. I was 2. The Bug was six months.)

3) It was his first time in snow. Frankly, he didn't really seem to notice it much. Even when we did things like sit him down in it and try to make him slide down the hill. He was, apparently, too busy thinking about how good he looked in his new snow suits.

4)This isn't really a "first" but he has started to associate all long, skinny containers with bottles -- thus he did a lot of grabbing for champagne flutes while there.

5) He turned six months old!

Party Tricks: Bottle-holding

I know it doesn't look like much -- but this is the first time the Bug held his own bottle to feed himself. He still can't quite pull off holding those awfully heavy 8-ounce bottles, but the 4-ouncers he has down!
(He's sitting on his Aunt Jen's lap. . . )

Firsts

Two weekends ago we took Ben to New York . . . where he had numerous firsts. First trip to Manhattan, of course (and Brooklyn, as it happens). First time in an elevator so long it made his ears pop. First time on the 47th floor. First long car trip. First snowfall.

Unfortunately I also lost my camera while in New York, so we have no pictures from all of this. And this explains why there have been no photo updates recently. (Though it doesn't really excuse me from all the not-writing I've been doing.)

I wish I could say this was the first time I've lost my camera. Or even that it was the first time I've lost my camera in New York City. But Steve and I have just bought ourselves a new super-duper SLR Nikon that should show up in the mail any day now. And since Steve is surely never ever going to let me touch the thing, I can say pretty confidently that this most recent time will be the last.

First Thanksgiving!

All dressed up for Thanksgiving. . . cute outfit courtesy of his Great-Uncle Steven. Look! His hair is kind of staying down. I am embarrassed to say that this is partly because I actually spit on my fingers and smoothed it down for the occasion. Apparently, I am officially a Mom.

First Halloween!

Here is the Bug dressed up as a pea pod. We took him to a Halloween parade on Sunday. Which -- as Steve and I compromised our own Mobster and Gun Moll costumes to carry a baby, all while oohing and aahing over all the cute kids and thinking up how we would celebrate Halloween NEXT year -- made me realize that I have made the transition to Mom with a capital "M."

Which is appropriate, I suppose, since Monday marked the two-year anniversary of when I met Steve. Who knew how much could change in two years?

Except that I did still show up at the High Heel Race
dressed as a drag queen as I did two years ago. I have never once succeeded in convincing anyone that I am really a man dressed as a woman, but I think I would have nailed it this year since, in addition to my sequined, black dress, I wore a wig to cover my hair, a boa to cover my "adam's apple", boots to cover my calves, and gloves to cover my hands. I'm sure it would have worked this year -- if it weren't for the Bug sitting in a bright-blue sling wrapped around my chest. . .

First Airplane Ride!

Ben on his father's lap, with my Mom watching, on the Bug's first plane ride. We went to Iowa last weekend so he could meet his great-grandmother (my grandmother) and his great-grandfather (Steve's grandfather) who live 45 minutes away from each other in central Iowa. Ben was amazingly good on the plane both going out and coming back, which kind of made up for the fact that -- after having his sleep schedule totally disrupted by the trip -- he cried inconsolably for hours and hours the night before we left for home. But, I have to say, he's even cute when he screams. . .

Baby's First Calder

Yep. We got a Calder mobile for the kid. Did you even know Calder made baby mobiles? Well, he does. They cost about $5000.
(So,um, we got ourselves a knock off instead . . . )

You may also notice that we seem to have an abundance of themes going on around the crib: there's the underwater motif, the planet and moon motif, the how-many-stuffed-animals-can-you-have motif, and now the art motif. Apparently we're trying to have a schizophrenic baby.

Baby's First Ninja Outfit

This is the first time that the baby has worn pants. Woo hoo!

Ben's first baseball game

Ben's first bath