Baby Ben's moment in the sun...

It may very well be that the best measure of how quiet, gentle, and altogether placid a baby Benjamin has turned out to be is simply how thoroughly he's managed to fly under the radar - on this blog, as in the Real World (TM). So, with a little prodding from Auntie Tee-Tee (in the form of a gentle complaint that she has 64,392 photos of Josh, but about, oh, three of Ben), I thought I'd start trying to rectify that, in a small way. (Given that the momma and both little boys have been at a friend's house all morning, making Josh's Halloween costume, I have the luxury of a few hours to putz about with stuff like this.)

You can see for yourself that Ben is a thumb-sucker - something Josh never showed any interest in, along with pacifiers (he would never settle for anything less than the genuine article, i.e., 100% certified Grade A Momma Boobie). You'll also note that Josh continues to be very generous with his toys, up to and including his "babies" - namely, Boo Elephants. Ben, for his part, is just starting to realize that he has a brother, mostly because he wakes up to find some creature bigger than he is but smaller than Mommy or Daddy stroking his head or putting Matchbox cars on his chest or crawling into the play gym with him or cooing at him over the side of the crib. Eventually he'll figure out what Josh is good for - things like teaching him how to throw and jump and tell the difference between rocks (good) and dog poop (yucky) - but for now, he's mostly just bemused.

There's nothing ambiguous about his reaction to his parents, however. Whenever he sees one of our faces float into his view, his whole face lights up in this beautiful little-baby open-mouthed smile, and he starts cooing. Even on the hardest days, when Josh is being very, well, two - and there have been a string of those lately, days when I just feel like he and I are locked in a clash of wills to see who's the more stubborn - a few minutes with Ben, watching him smile at me and do his little baby "oohs" and "aahs" while he waves his arms and legs in excitement, are enough to brighten my mood. It doesn't take much attention to get him going, either. He's more than happy to get a few "boops" with a fingertip on the nose, or a pinched cheek or two, and that seems to be enough to be the high point of his whole day.

He's just starting to become aware enough, and in control of his body (particularly his head) enough, to make good use of the old stand-by entertainments, like the play mat, and the exersaucer, and the mobile in his crib (which has become a source of endless fascination for him lately). He watches the fish go round and round on the little mobile over his swing, and finds ceiling fans simply entrancing. But none of that will hold a candle to a human face whenever one pops into view.

I'll be sure to get some more pictures of him up very soon - in particular, I have something like 10 CDs of photos from Mom's last visit out here that I need to process and get up on the blog, including a lot of Ben (admittedly, they're getting increasingly out of date, even as I type). I've also been working on the videos - stay tuned!

Comments

[Auntie Tee Tee]

YAY!!!! Miss you guys! Thanks for the update...how's Josh doing as the big brother? How's Ben doing with Josh?

[grammakay]

Nice to know that Ben is still part of the household. Can't wait to see all 5 of you again in a few weeks. We'll get those photos updated. Maybe then you can get some updated photos on the blog. Thanks for the update. Mom