My new top teeth are rapidly making their appearance.  I’ve got a new skill now: flashing the toothy grin!  (Oh, and having enough hair so that it sticks up is good, too.)

You can see in these pictures the top teeth that I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks.

While I’ve been getting along quite well lately with my finger foods, I can see the benefit of some top teeth go with my bottom ones.  But getting these babies installed has been a real pain!  I’ve heard of this thing called ‘outsourcing’.  Maybe I could hire out this unpleasant job?  Can any of my readers provide references?

(Ed. Note:  In light of the last couple weeks’ painful developments, Ben’s new best friends (after M&D, of course) are Mr. Motrin, Mr. Acetaminophen, and Mr. Orajel.)

Just checking things out under this here swing… now that I can crawl under it all by my myself…

It looks like it’s still in good working order.

Boy did I have a good time today!  Not only was Daddy home from work today, but Mommy did a great job of capturing my latest and greatest for the ages.  World, here I come!

Really, Dad, right in the middle of my diaper change?

(Ed. Note: Sorry, couldn’t resist.  Too cute!)

Like the Loch Ness Monster, my second tooth is seldom seen and even more rarely photographed.  But I slipped up and Daddy got one.  He and Mommy were just making me laugh too much!

Here you can see Daddy doing my 6 month / 2000 hour crib maintenance work.

As you can see he’s lowering the suspension for that cool ‘older kid’ look.

I’m told the work also includes ‘checking the fluids’ (perhaps he meant ‘absence of fluids’?), lubing the drawer bearings, and torquing the fasteners.

That all sounds great, but I decided to decline the optional bumper pad rotation and mattress pad de-pilling, which really sounded unnecessary and even a little suspicious!

And I have to say, are the air tools from Grandpa really necessary for this job?  Well, I’m sure Daddy knows what he’s doing!  Tonight I’m gonna sleep really well!

My new year’s resolutions:

1. Learn to crawl.
2. Learn to walk.
3. Learn to sign a few words (I’m working on ‘Eat’, ‘Milk’, ‘More’, and ‘All Done’), and maybe say a few words.
4. Try more solid foods.  I know there’s more than just rice cereal and broccoli to be had around here!  Maybe birthday cake?
5. Gain weight. (Goes with #4.)
6. Grow some more hair.
7. Play more.  (The great Christmas gifts will really help with this!)

As you can see, my list is somewhat non-traditional.  But that’s just me!

(Ed. Note: It appears that in this photo Ben is hard at work on resolution #7.)

Boy, this all anatomical Christmas wish is really paying off!  Just the other day, I discovered my feet!  Now all this standing is starting to make some sense.  And all those stories about ‘little piggies’… There they are!

Oh, and they taste good, too.

Also, it seems I’ve finally found something I can do that M&D can’t!

A study in contrasts, Princess Valentine’s ‘Opposites’ compares nominal opposing entities, but in doing so, exposes the subtle complexities and hidden beauty of the English language.

This master work conveys its greatness with its mere 20 words of literary content and as many carefully rendered images – a model of efficiency.

Take, for example, the nominal opposites, “Cold”, and “Hot”.

An educated person knows that these starkly juxtaposed notions are not true opposites, but rather subjective measures that reflect the experience of those using the words.  But by making this cunning simplification – and through the use of dissimilar pictorial representations – the author cuts through the complex metaphysical issues and connects with her audience in a way that is compatible with the limited attention span of her pre-bedtime readers.  Brilliant!

Yours truly, Voracious Reader, Ben.