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.