Freedom!!

A couple days ago, Mom and Dad were making a big deal about the date for some reason... the 4th of July? Why would that be so exciting? Come on, parents, pull it together! It's just another day on the calendar! But then I started to catch the bug, too. After all, they let me stay up late when I should have been having my morning nap, and we went into town and sat by the street and watched the decorated cars, trucks, motorcycles, horses, and puppies go by. That was fun, but it really took it out of me. I fell asleep when we got back in the car. When I woke up, we were at this amazing place called an ice cream parlor! Was I really awake? Or dreaming? Mom and Dad both got ice cream cones, and they shared with me! Man, was that cold!! After our treat we hurried home, because someone was starting to get cranky (ahem).

A couple of naps later, the parental units and I drove back into town. Dad put a big blanket on the grass, and we sat (well, Mom and Dad sat... I was busy moving around and looking at stuff) and listened to a big band play all of these songs they said were patriotic. Not sure what that is, but I liked the music, and even busted a move once in a while when I thought no one was looking. This guy would stand up and talk between the songs. Apparently, it was Independence Day. Independence? I can relate! This past week I really started walking, and man, is that a freeing experience!

When the music was over, it was starting to get dark. Mom pointed out these things to me- they were low to the ground (like me!), and every so often they would shine! It was amazing! She called them fireflies. We got back in the car and Dad drove us somewhere else, but we didn't go home. I was confounded. Seriously? It's already dark out and you're not putting me to bed??? Well, I'm not gonna argue! We stopped, and Dad got me and brought me up to sit in front with them. Holy cow, I have never seen so many buttons in one place! And this is a steering wheel, you say? Can I drive???

Finally, it was really dark. We got out and sat on the curb (again!), and Mom pointed at the sky. What the heck was going on over there? Big sparkly things would flash, and then I heard a boom! Whoa! I liked that quite a bit. After a while, though, the big day started to get to me. I let Mommy and Daddy know that I was ready to go home. The sky stopped flashing, and I was buckled into my seat. Mom let me hold her hand, and I don't remember the rest.

Time flies when you're having fun! (And boy do I have a lot to tell you!)

Seriously!

People always talk about how time goes fast when you get older. Well, I may be just a baby, but my days haven't been exactly dragging. And you know what? I'm not going to be a baby for much longer- I'm almost 10 1/2 months old, thank you very much! I get to eat all kinds of yummy things now, like something dad says is his favorite- he calls it steak. Since I have four teeth, it's a little bit easier to chew. What's weird though, is when we're out driving past fields and dad points and says "Look, Benjamin! Steak!" I never see any. All I see are cows!

Now that it's warm out, mom takes me outside, which is one of my favorite things. Sometimes I'll check out the bugs in the grass, and even pick the yellow flowers I see for her, and sometimes she'll push me in a swing. I love feeling the breeze in my hair. When we're tired of that we'll go and look at these rows and rows of little green plants. Mom calls them corn, and says they grow so fast they'll be taller than me soon; and then after a while we can eat them! Not quite sure how that works when she won't let me eat grass, but I'll keep you posted.

This is me, watching for Dad to come home from work!

I have to tell you about my latest trick! I like to pull myself up on the couch, on chairs, on kitchen cabinets, on mommy and daddy, etc... but lately I've started letting go once I'm upright. Then mom and dad get all excited. They try to get me to take steps from one of them to the other- without holding onto anything! Are they nuts?? Besides, it's faster to crawl. I've got super-speed. I'll probably look into this walking thing a little bit though, just to keep my options open.

So mom and dad tell me that we have a busy week coming up. Dad talks about doing a wedding (um, aren't he and mommy already married??), and then we get to see my cousin Sean get baptized! I'm looking forward to seeing him and my aunties and uncles, and also to some good, quality Mim and Poppi and Grandma and Grandpa time. Then after that, mom and dad say we have to go down to Great Grandma's house for a funeral. They tell me my Great-great Grammy went away to be with Jesus. They sounded a little sad about it, but I don't know why. Isn't that a good thing? Say hi to Him for me, Grammy!

Oh, one more thing before I sign out! My Auntie Rachel and my cousins came to visit me! Christopher and Andrew and I had such a good time doing boy stuff! They brought me an early birthday present, and I got to open it. It's a cool box that stands up tall, and I can see inside it. Four balls sit on the top, and when I hit them with the hammer (which I've been working hard on), they roll down the ramps inside the box to the bottom. It's so cool!

Anyway, apparently it's time for me to go to bed, but as I'm sure you can see, I've been keeping mom busy.

Happy Cinqo de Miracle Whip!!!

Hey, that's me in the picture there.  It looks like I am upside down.  But in fact, everything else was upside down.  I'm not really sure how it happened or why, but it were so.  And then Mom fixed it.  Here's a poem.

I like to laugh
And crawl about.
I like to giggle
And to shout.
They call me fat,
But I'm just stout
Hey, ho, hey!

A Father Son Conversation

Baby Moose:  I'm a little baby, short and stout
Fiftieth percentile just about.
When I drink my bottle I just shout,
"Wait, fiftieth percentile?  You've got to be kidding me.  I thought I was ninety-fifth percentile.  What happened?

Dad:  You probably cry off a lot of calories when we put you down for naps.

Baby Moose:  Just so that we're clear, I will not sacrifice justice just to gain a few pounds.

Dad:  Right.  Justice.

Baby Moose:  I heard sarcasm in your voice.

Dad:  You pipe down with the justice and I'll keep the sarcasm to a minimum.

I don't think we're in Iowa anymore

We drove to Minneapolis so I could visit the Sem and so we could catch a flight to Arizona. The plane left a few hours ahead of yet another ice and snow storm, but we made it to the land of sunshine, sand and saguaros.

My shades? Well, in the immortal words of Timbuk 3:

Well I'm heavenly blessed and worldly wise

I'm a peeping-tom techie with x-ray eyes
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades

In the Immortal Word of REM, "Stand"

Guess what I did yesterday!

When Daddy put me down for a nap I eschewed his admonition to "sleep sweetly" and yelled my head off.  But fear not, it was not a simple fit of pique that caused my cries to so reverberate through the house.  No, it was the effort of...

wait for it...

STANDING!!!!!  that cause me to yell.  Yes, I yelled.  Baby overcoming his leaden constrictions is worth a howl.  And so is victory!!

Of course, once I stood up I hadn't the foggiest idea what to do.  Hitherto, I've never paid much attention to such things.  Clearly this will change.

[Picture is a bit dark.  Mommy was being sneaky.]

Baby on the Move

Look!  On the ground.
It's a race car!
It's an intercontinental ballistic missile!
No, it's Benjamin!!!

I am a baby on the move.
I move so fast the camera can hardly catch me.
Yes, I am crawling.

There are certain advantages to crawling.  I get to explore, exercise, touch new stuff, and impress the ladies.  On the downside, I have, on occasion, touched the wrong stuff.  At least, I presume it was the wrong stuff because Mom and Dad say, "No Benjamin.  Don't touch that."  And then they flick my fingers, which truth be told is a little unpleasant.  But I've found that I can avoid this by NOT touching the item in question.  It seems like a pretty simple set up.  I plan to master it.