easterrrrrrrrrr... Part II!

since the first easter post was so big, i thought i'd give you an extra day to recover. how'd that work out for you? well, ready or not, here we go with part two:

even though they appeared in some of the pics, i think i failed to mention that uncle ben's family (minus brother zack) were visiting for the holiday. and as he pointed out with his toast at dinner, it was our (liza, me, and bebe in utero) one year anniversary with uncle ben. time flies, holy crap.

bebe, joe, and eli hanging out in the kitchen

i never tire of the 'sitting alone in the middle of a big floor' shots of beatrix. she just looks so completely unto herself, playing and thinking about things, talking and eating things off of the floor...

her fat little back just kills us. i know i'm biased and all, but there isn't one little part of her that i don't adore. ok, that part of her that's occasionally up five times in one night then awake for the day at four-thirty, am? that part- not so much. but really, everything else.

"i heard that, daddy. see you tonight. around two-thirty. and three. and four-fifteen..."

"five, five thirty..."

"i'll see if i can work a really messy poop in there somewhere..."

it seems like each time we hang out with family, beatrix gravitates toward a different family member. for a while it was mems, then teed, and now, aunt marge (who has been waiting patiently) finally gets her place in the sun. it's also funny to note the different approaches each side of the family takes when it comes to bebe. mommy's side of the family tends to hold back a little, waiting for the right opportunity. my side of the family is, well, less reserved. when grammie knows we're coming she's practically jumping onto the hood of the car before we've even made the turn into the driveway. then, bebe spends the next few hours being stripped from the arms of one aunt or uncle by the next one waiting in the wings. i wouldn't say they necessarily fight over her, but... well, yes i would. they fight over her.

aunt marge and bebe played on the floor for a long time:

"let me just stick that in there like that..."

"then, in the eye..."

"and right back in there..."

"wait..."

"wait..."

"i bet i can get her to do this all day!"

"hey, i'm not done yet..."

"is anybody timing this?"

"it's been so long i'm actually getting bored. how long has it been?"
mmm... about six seconds.

"yeah, i'm over it."

back to picking stuff up off of the floor

aunt marge's deniro impersonation. pretty good.

bebe is just old enough to really be into animals, and when we first got to the house and ramona the big black dog appeared, bebe kind of freaked. i think she was wondering what the hell we had done to tiny, the little black cat she lives with.

eventually though she overcame her apprehension and spent lots of time yelling and squealing at ramona.

which, as it is with tiny, often drove her away.

"and i thought i was the baby."

after all that time on the floor, it seemed as though bebe and aunt marge were just warming up.

they took it to the counter top

where they laughed

and played

went back to that weird game that beebs likes to play with her finger...

sweatshirt strings are always fun.

"...the little bunny goes around the tree, through the hole, and that's how you tie a tie."

"hmm. something's not right here."

"i'm gonna have to start all over."

"i guess there's more than one way to do it."

"maybe i'll never figure it out. maybe i'll just always be a dumb baby who can't tie ties? what then? what place will i have in this world? why, gods, why?"

"ha ha, just kidding. i'm brilliant. wait till the end of this post, you'll see."

"in the mean time..."

"the bunny goes in the ear..."

"out of the mouth..."

"just kidding, just kidding!"

oooh, neckles.

"you smell! ha ha ha!"

it didn't take long for bebe to find the fruit bowl.

and not long after that, eli came to play!

that looks like a dangerous combination.

right for the fruit basket!

eli scrambles the boiler.

one of bebe's new tricks was to clap her hands and smile or cheer. by sunday she was combining this with a little dance routine:

as her great nana clapped from the other side of the counter, bebe bounced and kicked herself silly.

then it was time for a break.

bebe likes to relax with a little light reading.

the smile on steroids, aka "the sparkle."

uh oh. she "sparkled" so hard she put herself instantly to sleep. good thing eli was there!

great nana went back to the clapping and got bebe awake and dancing again in no time.

as the day went on, we got closer and closer to easter dinner.

i'm pretty sure these fuzzy guys were not edible, and i'm pretty sure bebe tried anyway.

pre-game show

eli, joe, and aunt marge

teed and uncle ben

surrounded. this little guy didn't stand a chance.

bebe had a little dinner and went straight for dessert. mommy brought some yummy cookies that are just small enough to fit into bebe's mouth. whole.

this kid doesn't take "bites."

clear. next cookie.

or perhaps some tickles. kind of a baby "change-up." cookie, tickles, cookie, scolding... keeps em' guessing.

ooh.

doo.

doo.

some clapping.

some smiling.

some diabolical plotting.

followed by more clapping.

"hey aunt marge."

"love her!"

did someone say...

CHOOBIES!?!

choobies?

choobies.

jungle choobs.

a little post-meal head scratch.

uncle ben, alice, joe, great nana, and eli. if i had asked you "guess who's coming to dinner," that would have been your answer.

aunt marge made some yummy desserts.

and bebe, the baby genius, wowed us all after dinner. mommy posted a video of this, and here are my pics:

i watched her do this a few times before i mentioned it to liza, because i wanted to be sure of what i was seeing. bebe is nine months old so sometimes you think she's doing something really smart and intentional, and it turns out to be some random developmental thing that doesn't really mean anything, even though you think it signifies how smart your baby is. in the end, she's just as baby-dumb as all of the other babies. but in this instance, she was clearly doing something amazing for someone her age. she sat looking at her lego cat, saying her version of "cat" which comes out something like "caaaa" or "tak."

and then she would identify the picture of the cat on the outside of the box, point to it, and again say her version of "cat."

looks at the cat...

and points to the cat on the box! crazy. she's going to be the smartest, and only, twelve year old at auto mechanic school. that's my girl!


after that, she went back to being a "regular" baby, playing with her toys in some totally unenlightened and non-sensical way. keeping it real, folks. nobody likes an uppity baby.

aunt marge gets one last play date in before we all head back to our homes. the only thing better than having a baby you love is watching her spend time with all of the other people you love...