I finally convinced Mommy fork over the, uh, fork, and let me try eating with it.  Oh, and did you know that parents hoard the best food for themselves?  I’ve discovered that the best things to eat are right there on their plates.  Now that I’ve go the fork, I can reach those plates, too!

Not bad, eh?  Never mind the collateral damage…

Here I am, once again making my contribution to the world of fashion.

Today’s tots yearn for simple lines and bold colors, but with a tie back to their parents’ and heritage.  Thus, I present the amazing featherless feather boa!

Bold, masculine colors, yet soft feminine curves!  Austere, but cute!

No child should be without this must-have go-anywhere accessory!

Lately, I’ve been enjoying just walking out the front door and exploring the neighborhood – with Mommy around to make sure nothing is too scary, of course.

There’s all kinds of really neat stuff outside, like grass, trees, bushes, rocks, and bugs!

It seems that gone are the days of cold and rain, and it actually gets quite hot here in the backyard!  I’ve not experienced this before.  How hot does it get, anyway?

To help beat the heat, Mommy put me in my nice light Hawaiian shorts and my nice shady hat.

Also, Daddy put up the gate to make a safe place for me to play on the back deck.

Mommy also broke out my sandals, which I’m modeling here, for your viewing pleasure.

Very cool!

(Ed. Note: Thanks, Luciana, for the Brazillian sandals (complete with national flags!))

I’m thinking of starting a self help series for other kids.  To that end, I’ve developed some sample curricula to beta test the idea.  This lesson is a mid-level lesson on “Pulling Up”.

Try it out, and tell me what you think!

Step 1: Get up on your knees, and look around to see if this is your best option for pulling up.

Step 2: If you locate a better option, get down and start making your way for it immediately.  The best options are Mommies and Daddies, and they’re mobile, so move quickly!

Notice that I maintain eye contact in order to “stun” my target and keep them from moving away while I’m approaching.

Step 3: Final Approach.  This is the part where you give your victim target one last look to assess good grab-on points.  Also, it is good to ensure that your target is not moving, or you could be in for a bumpy ride.

Step 4: Pull Up!  Grab, pull, and step.  Making entertaining buzzing noises earns you bonus points!

Step 5: Smile!  This step is often overlooked by amateurs, but I’ve found that it pays back over the long term by helping you to acquire Mommy and Daddy targets in the future.

Today, I met Nicholas Pieper.  Right when we laid eyes on each other, we knew that there was going to be stiff competition for attention given to the cutest baby…  You can really sense the oncoming smackdown here:

And then the words came: “Ben, Nicholas!  Look over here!”, and the race was on!

Who’s cuter?

Yesterday, M&D gave me a bag of M&Ms to play with while they were putting the groceries away.

Unbeknownst to them, the plastic bag was no match for my my brand new super sharp teeth!

I went to work immediately!

When I saw them looking, I was careful to look like I was only casually gnawing…

… and to give them waves and big smiles to throw them off…

That should be enough cute distraction!

And when M&D finally figured out that I’d been tasting the M&Ms, this is what they were left with:

I thought if I drooled on every one, that this established my claim on them, but M&D thought differently.  No fair!

After my sugar rush, I crashed to sleep rather suddenly…

What a great day!

(Ed. Note: Now we know how sharp those teeth are!)

Here I am, working tirelessly to improve human-feline relations.  Actually, it’s not bad work if you can get it!

This session is helping Atlas appreciate all the more those times when I’m not around to pet him, and he can just sleep peacefully.

(Ed. Note: Atlas seems to be putting up with Ben better as time goes on.)

Ben 1, Dirt 0.  Yeee haaa!  Take that, dirt!

Ben 1, Dirt 1.  “The Dirt Strikes Back”

(Ed. Note – in case you can’t see it, Ben’s right eye and temple had a run-in with the dirt.)

There’s a race that’s run every year in San Francisco called ‘Bay to Breakers‘, where contestants run across the city from the Bay side to the ocean (Breakers) side.  M&D shot this training video of me:

(Ed. Note:  If this video doesn’t make sense, please visit the Bay to Breakers link.)