Today's Cute Photo . . .

. . . and, yes, I promise to cut his hair soon.

Grandparent Photos

Grandma Beeson and the Bug

The Bug with his Grandfather Fox

Ch-ch-changes. . .

I have no great excuse for not posting here in awhile. . . but I must say that the baby's big growth spurt (read: sudden increase in neediness) has certainly taken its toll on my productivity. The last few weeks have been an interesting mix ranging from -- at one extreme -- the desire to sell my child on e-bay, to the other extreme of being impressed that he is the smartest child in the world since he can wave bye bye. And maybe if I strain my ears, that "ba ba ba ba ba" babble might just be saying "bye bye" too. Maybe.

He's made this real switch in terms of communication and memory -- and again this has its ups and downs. It's charming that he remembers his grandparents and gets excited every time he sees them; it's less charming that he remembers exactly where the cat food bowl is and sets straight off to go play with it, even when you put him down on the floor somewhere where he can't see it.

He's moving everywhere -- still dragging himself along commando style, as opposed to a true crawl, but he can get anywhere. He has mastered the art of feeding himself cheerios. He has mastered the art of playing the music box in his crib over and over and over. He has mastered the art -- ok, he's learning the art -- of singing/shouting along to the music.

And, magically, wonderfully, he started clapping his hands yesterday in imitation of the sign language sign for "more" to let me know when he wants more food. Unfortunately this has not completely stopped him from whining for more food if he still thinks I'm taking too long, but communication has begun!

Throughout all of this, however, it's nice to know that some things stay the same. We take a "Music Together" class every Wednesday morning, which is one of those classes that if you aren't a parent would drive you insane with its cacaphony (the teacher, Miss Amy, literally dumps a pile of tambourines and maracas in the middle of the room and lets all the kids grab one to bang away on) but that is somehow (slightly) more tolerable when one of those spastic children is your own. Of course, the Bug -- his new singing skills not withstanding -- has his own unchanged priorities. . .

California!

We went to California in March to visit Rebecka, Todd and Annika, and Tyler and Nathalie. It was a 4-day trip which accomplished several crucial goals:

-- We emptied the storage bin that Steve has had in San Francisco since 2001. We steeled ourselves for a day of misery, unloading the bin, packing up post office boxes, sending the stuff home . . . and then it only took 2 hours start to finish. Steve had the happiest look on his face when seven years of worrying about it was over!

--We initiated our plan of doing U.S., 3-day weekend travel while the baby is young, since it's a good opportunity to take shorter trips and really explore locally. (Ok, California isn't exactly local, but the rest applies. . . )

--We spent really wonderful time with friends, eating good food, drinking good wine and generally enjoying ourselves. Even the bug got in on the action, as you can see here!

(Somehow, tragically, there are no photos of us with Rebecka, Todd, or Annika, which is a shame since Annika was incredibly sweet with Ben, holding his hand in the car when they were both in car seats and singing songs to him. . . )

Here are photos of Tyler and Nathalie with Ben, and a pic of Steve and the Bug, with Scott and Calista. Calista had learned to walk just a few days earlier and you can see Ben, below, worshipping at the older woman's feet. . .

Update for the Grandparents

We had our 8 month doctor's checkup this past weekend (can you believe he's already 8 months?) and the current stats are:

Head: 44 cm
Weight: 18.03 lbs
Length: 29.25 inches

I know I am woefully behind on photos . . .I am hoping they'll get up this week.