great new playground

His shirt says "Monkeying Around":




Leaving the playground, Benjamin spots graffiti on a rock.

"Why someone wrote on that rock?"

I don't know, but it's a bad thing to do. Still, can you tell me what it says?

"It says 'Grandma'!"



No, sound it out. What's this letter say?

"Tuh"

Yes, and this one?

"Vuh"

Well, yes, it looks like a V, but it's a U. It says "Uh"

"Uh"

Yes, and what's this last one say?

"Cuh"

Right, so you put them together, Tuh Uh Cuh, and it says "Tuc"

"Like Benjamin TUCker Marcus?!"

Yes, just like Benjamin TUCker Marcus.

turtle standard, early '09

12 months old


21 months old


31 months old

the turtle standard

The giant wooden turtle at Cville Coffee will probably remain a good place to take Benjamin's picture, so it may well become our standard for showing his growth over time. Here are a couple of photos of the boy and the turtle, one taken when he (the boy, not the turtle) was around 12 months old, and one taken when he was closer to 21 months (which, by the way, he turned today).

- papa

climbing and waving

The latest photos from Miss Angel:

Benjamin loves the kitchen sink

A devilish look as he discovers a new use for his high chair:
A less devilish look:
Compare with his first bath in that same sink:
(posted December 31, 2006)

(posted for sixième moisniversaire)

-proud papa

fun milestone

If we didn't have friends with older toddlers, I wouldn't have even known to look for this milestone:

As of this weekend, Benjamin can climb, unassisted, into his high chair. It's really amazing to watch, and the kid looks good with a beaming smile of pride once he's done.

- papa

what are you doing, papa?

ben with book

This is the chair where Nathalie reads Benjamin his stories before his afternoon nap. Usually the books are on the stool and the cushion is on the chair.Benjamin has recently taken to removing the seat cushion, climbing up into the chair and taking the books down from the stool. (His mother tells me he puts the cushion back on the chair when he's done.)

- papa

little monkey

From sitting to crawling to pulling up to cruising to walking to … climbing!

Some of our furniture is too high for Benjamin to climb onto, like our sofa, for example. But he has figured out how to ascend in stages. If he moves a box over to the sofa, he can climb onto the box first, then proceed higher.

This evening, he climbed, unassisted, onto the top of the picnic table on our deck. The photograph to the upper right is not of our table, nor our deck, nor our trees in the background. But they're all close enough for you to picture the little guy, not quite 14 months old yet, pulling himself up onto the bench seat first, then up onto the surface of the table itself. For me to provide photographic evidence, I'd have to have been doing something other than hovering nervously during his feat.

This one has me proud and scared.

- papa

Benjamin conquers the playground