Conversations the Bug has with his pretend cell phone

"Hi! How'er you? Yeah. Yeah. Ha ha ha! ABCD. Yeah. Yeah. Miss Amy. Doggy. Yeah. Yeah. Bye bye!"

Party Tricks: Animal Noises

Here are three animals in the Bug's repertoire: the snake, the hippo (which are kinda smushed together in this video) and the coup de grace -- the monkey. He has recently started doing dinosaurs too. . .

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!

Party Tricks: Patty Cake, Patty Cake. . .

One of the things Ben learned to do while we were on vacation is throw up his hands at the "Baby and Me!" section of Patty Cake. . . this never ever seems to get old for him.

Party Tricks: Fish Face!

We are just back from a glorious, two-week trip to France, and I will put up more photos soon. Besides eating just a whole bunch of bread, bread, and more bread, the Bug learned a lot of new tricks this trip. Here's his fish face!

New Toys

Steve has been muttering around for weeks about how the Bug needs blocks, and balls, and big boy toys. So he finally got online last week and got him some. Ben loves them. . . and, of course, you know exactly what he thinks is the best way to play with them -- into the mouth!

The Bug and Water

Pacifiers are out. Water is in. He has discovered water. Banging it in the bathtub, on the shower floor, in the pool, in the cat's bowl (we try not to think about that time we caught him lowering his mouth to the bowl and drinking), and in this fountain last weekend at Elizabeth's Memorial Day party.

The Cheerios Stage

We have entered the Cheerios stage. Cheerios for snacks. Cheerios to stop the crying. Cheerios to keep him from getting bored. Ten Cheerios stuffed into his chipmunk cheeks at once. Cheerios stuck up and down his arms (which we call the "Cheerios Pox"). Cheerios all over his high chair. Cheerios attached to his backside when you pick him up out of his high chair. Cheerios melting on the floor. Cheerios at the bottom of my purse. Cheerios in his bed. Cheerios in our bed. Cheerios in the car. Cheerios mixed in with the cat food. Cheerios, Cheerios, Cheerios.

Party Tricks: Getting Smarter

It's sort of odd, after the first few months of imprinting on this kid as a being which cannot communicate and which doesn't have a lot of opinions on how is world is run, to register that his current babble, current movements, current actions actually have a lot more purpose to them. Especially since there's no big sign from on high, or even from the little creature down low to acknowledge that whatever the Bug has just done is really the conscious action of an aware human.

He has twice now -- a month ago and two weeks ago -- waved and said quite clearly, "bye bye." Twice in a month. At neither time did he look at me and smile like he knew he'd just accomplished a big thing. And he's never repeated the action when I try to get him to.

It's enough to make you think it was a coincidence.

But there are signs that there's really stuff going on in his head beyond being excited to pet kitties or being sad when he hits his head. (Which he has done three times today already. Learning to stand is HARD, I tell you.)

There is a turtle music box in his crib, which has three buttons. One to turn on the lights and make little fishies dance around. One to make ocean noises. One to play a variety of songs. He bangs and bangs away on that song button, changing the song every few moments between "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and others that are more classical. Unlike every other kids' music toy I have ever heard, the turtle sounds pleasant, almost like an organ playing.

This morning -- as he banged away after he woke up, and I lay in bed with the pillow over my head, hoping that the music would keep him entertained until a suitable hour -- I realized that he wasn't just hitting the button randomly. He'd hit it to switch over from "Baa Baa Black Sheep." He'd hit it to switch over from "Fur Elise." But he'd stop every time when he got to one particular song, which he listened to in its entirety.

He wasn't just banging. He was fast-forwarding to his favorite tune. Over and over.

I said to Steve: "I think he's actually hitting the button until he finds the one song he likes."

"Of course," said Steve. "He always stops on Blue Danube. That's my favorite, too."

Of course, my husband says. I mean, PLEASE. I was supposed to figure this out? The kid doesn't know to be excited when he says "bye bye," but he knows what he likes in music?

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. . . )

Ben's Party Tricks: Squealing

Last Saturday night, Steve and I went to his 20th high school reunion. It was too good for words. It was very fun to be an outsider just watching the scene: the artsy boy who wanted to prove he was now cool, the cheerleader who wanted to prove with her sexy dance moves that she was just as attractive as she was in high school, the charming quarterback-turned-school-principal who did a reprise of his high school singing routine by grabbing the microphone and crooning "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." I loved watching people's outfits to figure out just what they thought was the best thing to wear to their reunion (it ranged from white rabbit boas to tight jeans to cocktail dresses). I was the only woman in the room who hadn't had her hair dyed within the previous 48 hours. And I can't pretend that it wasn't fun to dance with Steve and help him show off in front of everyone too. (The word in the ladies' room was that he was "lookin' good. . . ")

But really the best part was that not only did we have a fun date, but it was our first time leaving Ben to spend the night somewhere. He's fallen asleep elsewhere before, but we've always gone to collect him and take him home -- which means we don't want to do it too late, lest we disturb him or that he not sleep well outside of his crib. In this case, Ben was going to sleep at Steve's parents in the Cadillac of Pack 'n' Plays that they bought him (complete with spinning mobile and nature sounds) and we spent the night there in the guest room when we came home. We stayed out until the mind-bogglingly, partying-it-up-late hour of 1 AM. Quite unprecedented.

All of which is the preamble to the fact that the whole thing was clearly a success, as Ben had a great time with his grandparents as can be seen on this video in which he squeals up a storm.

Ben's Party Tricks: Kicking AND Holding

Steve and I visited with his friend Lisa yesterday and she laughed as she told us that we were falling into the classic parent-trap of videoing our child when really he wasn't doing anything whatsoever. I don't know WHAT she is talking about. The fact that Ben can now kick AND hold something at the same time (he just started holding things this week) clearly means he is the smartest baby in the whole world. I could watch it forever. . .

Ben's Party Tricks

You might think that the fact that Ben can kick up a storm isn't so interesting. . . but actually I could watch it forever. Watching him stare at his hands is also very good stuff.