Big Brother Ben (week 209)

One of my favorite things to do each week is to go to the pancake store with the family. Usually, we take a walk on Saturday or Sunday morning when it the sun has just come-up and it is still cold outside. We look at the houses (particularly their lawns), and I point out every basketball hoop (particularly those with glass backboards) along the way. When we get to John's--the pancake store--we park our stroller and my bike on the bike rack outside and get pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage patties at our same table. On the way back, we talk about all the things that we are going to do that day.

This week, Christopher really developed his vocabulary. Mostly, it sounds like a lot of gibberish but he also whips out a lot of uh-ohs along the way. He will typically throw something on the ground just for the excuse to say uh-oh but he also uses it when he falls, someone else falls, or he genuinely drops something. He begins each day by standing in his crib (at 6:24 AM every morning) and talking gibberish to me while I am still in bed. We are not sure about what exactly he is saying, but it is clear that he has something to express and that he is becoming one of the prolific speakers in the family.

Also, I bought my first basketball this week. Actually, I have owned many basketballs but this was the first that I used money from my own piggy bank to purchase. We had to go to the sporting goods store to get new baseball pants and socks anyway, so I counted-out $20 and gave the money to the woman at the front counter. The new basketball is everything one could dream of. It feels like real brown leather and looks just like the balls that they use on tv. I am not supposed to bounce it on the grass this week because the baby grass is just starting to grow (we had a lot of rain the other night), so I have just been doing a lot of shooting in the backyard.

Other than that, we have been practicing with the Dodgers, Cal Ripkin T-Ball team and are getting close to Opening Day. Next weekend, we will kick-things-off and have our first games. Last Saturday, only three of us showed-up for practice since it rained pretty hard the day before and there was supposed to be a 100 percent chance of rain...go figure. It worked out well for me because I got a lot of extra batting practice and drills in the field. I will keep you posted, but the Dodgers look like they might have a good chance of breaking .500 this year.