alliteration

Benjamin's new made-up word is "fwafwa," which means ice.

He had already been pointing to my ice-filled beverages and saying fwa (his pronunciation of the French word froid, meaning "cold"), but now he's decided that individual ice cubes are called fwafwa.

He's enjoying playing with repetition and alliteration in general.

The books say you shouldn't call your baby "baby" — you should always use his proper name. But while I mostly say "Benjamin," I also call him benben, bubba, bb, and baby. His mother doesn't like that I sometimes say baby. (He's a toddler now, after all.) I said, "'Baby' isn't just for babies. It's affectionate. If you call me 'baby' I promise I won't be insulted."

So I just went upstairs to gripe about something work-related, to pause a moment, and then return to work. As I left, Benjamin was repeating bye bye bye bye bye…

In response to my gripes, Nathalie said in a sympathetic voice, "I'm sorry, baby."

At which point Benjamin said BYE BYE BAY BEE! BYE BYE BAY BEE!

- papa, a.k.a. "baby"