Little blue boy

Doesn't he look like such a little boy?  Benjamin (about 7 months) is chasing the dog around the rug in this picture.  Poor Brazos is surprisingly patient with a baby grabbing her feet and pulling her hair.  She doesn't really like it, per se, but she seems to have decided that she would prefer the attention to escaping entirely, which she could easily do.

Every day B gets closer fully crawling--right now it's an army crawl with some knee action mixed in.  He got all the way across the living room yesterday, exploring everything as he went, and I followed him around, discovering that things like guitar stands and fire-place pokers should no longer be on the floor.

I cared for a one-year old baby with Benjamin a few days last week, and while it was hard for me minding two babies at times, Benjamin seemed to love it.  The one-year old taught him to clap and hit blocks together in his hands.  And Benjamin was studying his friend's standing and cruising action with great interest.   I think B was even imitating the sounds E was making.

We had a little music gathering in the backyard before the M-Rs when back to Oaxaca for the summer, and we were having so much fun that I neglected to see that Benjamin was really really tired.  He was loving all of the friends to play with for a while, and then I realized I was taking pictures of my baby looking up at me with very tired eyes.  This is the kind of voyeuristic approach to suffering that photographers in war zones sometimes get criticized for.  Oops. I think you can see the tiredness in his eyes in the picture below. 

So the musicians played a lullaby to say goodnight and off he went.  

Thou wast the prettiest babe...

Our budding dramatist 

I don't have many particular aspirations of my own for young Ben; I am content that he has a good home from which to follow his own interests and dreams. With that said, I think it would be ok if Benjamin were interested in books and music.  We are trying to encourage the interest in books with Shakespeare onesies and visiting English professors.  

As if we didn't have enough English majors around the house already, Stephanie came for a visit in April.  And I have to say--her professorial skills were not really all that helpful.  Benjamin just isn't ready apparently.  Good thing she has other good qualities as a friend and baby-holder extraordinaire.  Yes, the Smith kitchen was deliciously productive with a live-in baby-holder around.  And you don't have to have a Phd to read "Are you my mother?" to a six-month old.  Thank goodness. 

So friends, baby-holders, come one, come all!  You will not go hungry.  

In other news, Benjamin is talking like crazy these days and has even had his first serious conversation with his father.  After he finished eating sweet potatoes one day, and JB and I were sitting with him eating our dinner, Benjamin started speaking his bah-bah-bahs directly to JB, who responded in kind, and the conversation went on for about ten minutes. They really took turns talking, and you could tell Benjamin was really listening to JB talk.  Benjamin was amused with himself and his sounds sometimes even took on the inflections of adult speech patterns.  I know this is just a normal stage in development, but it was truly amazing to watch.