Did you see me!? Did you see what I did!?

The Ben has been busy learning a slew of new tricks, most of which involve a refinement of his motor skills and hand-eye coordination, none of which include successfully spoon-feeding himself, changing his own diaper, or washing his own hair. No, his new maneuvers are far less useful even if they are amusing: waving bye-bye, slapping “fives”, clapping, and playing peek-a-boo. The waving and clapping are pretty solid at this point but the other two, well, let’s just say they need some work. Peek-a-boo looks a little more like a developing masochistic habit where Ben slaps himself in the face with both hands then opens his fingers to reveal his grinning eyes peeking at you while you squeal “peek-a-boo!”, at which point Ben giggles and slaps himself in the face again. Ben will also give you a “five” if you ask him enough times but only if you demonstrate the action with another person’s hand, which after twenty or so tries, looks as red as Ben’s forehead after playing peek-a-boo.

Ahhhhh, children. The way I see it, these developing motor skills are just simple precursors to throwing a baseball and perfecting an NFL-caliber spiral. You have to start small and early. I think we’ll try simultaneously patting our heads and rubbing our bellies next week. Then maybe he’ll learn to guide a spoonful of carrots to his mouth before losing half of them to the floor. Ah, shit - I can’t even do that. . .

So Mormor (that’s Danish for “Grandmother from Wisconsin With Ability to Wash Clothes and Team-Up With Condescending Son-in-Law to Disparage Undeserving Daughter”) made a trip into town this past weekend to visit with her grandson, and to a lesser extent, her own children. The Ben also got to meet his Uncle and Grandfather for the first time this weekend (long story – abridged edition not yet available). Then on Sunday, Ben’s pseudo-Uncle Adam from Virginia came to visit and marvel at the size of our family members. And on top of that, Grandpa Bonick graciously visited all day on Friday to keep The Ben company while mommy stayed in bed to battle her archenemy, the stomach flu. The house was practically bursting at the seams! But having so many out-of-towners around was the perfect excuse to order some world-class Chicago pizza almost every night (which might have something to do with the hissing and growling happening in my bowels today). Ben really liked the extra company, and it’s hard to blame him with the list of characters on hand. Grandpa Bonick practically gave Ben a hernia they were laughing so hard on Friday, and Mormor made Ben’s bedtime considerably more pleasant as she demonstrated that she hasn’t lost that warm motherly touch one bit at all. I missed the morning encounter with Adam and Ben (some of us don’t merely pretend to work – c’mon, Adam, there’s no way we believe you’re spending the week at the Ritz-Carlton and you’re actually going to perform any acts that could be misconstrued as “work”), though the pictures I saw made it look like they enjoyed their time together. Uncle Jonathan got to laugh with his nephew while they chatted about lord-knows-what, and Ben provided his uncle with what might just be the most powerful form of contraceptive available: the thought of someday having to change a stanky-diaper.

Ahhhhh, visitors. Ben got to wave goodbye to all of them, except for the times when he confused the hand gesture for bye-bye with peek-a-boo [SLAP!]

‘Till next time, we’ll be missing you all. I know I speak for Ben when I say we’re looking forward to laughing with you again. And Mormor, we’ll be saving our laundry for your return.