My Boy Beenie

Beenie is five months old today.  At this stop-and-take-stock moment, he is a cuddly chunk of baby boy with fat little thighs, dark hair that sticks straight up (and that I have threatened to help along with a little gel), and a ready supply of the cutest little smiley faces you have ever seen.  Appearance-wise, he is a perfect cross of both his parents, and he is a joy to have around.

The best thing is, he is going to get to be around a lot.  His mama officially started her teaching year today, so Beenie was at my house for the first of three consecutive days we will spend together this week and every week of this new school year.  Beenie is the only grandkid I have who lives in the same town as I do.  I look forward to seeing him often and watching him reach the many milestones of this all-important first year.

He has already reached one of those, his first word--a sort of gurgling vocalization that sounds amazingly like "Googie."  Of course, I know this is probably just an accident, but I am doing all I can to reinforce it anyway.  He can almost sit up if I set him on the floor in front of my chair and support him with both legs.  He loves having little rattlers and teething toys on the floor around him.  His favorite is a little red, plastic, liquid-filled teether shaped like a purse, but don't tell his daddy about that.

Today I got an inkling of how our daily routine might develop.  He will get here early and finish out his night's sleep, maybe while I hold him and maybe in the playpen that will remain at the ready down in the family room.  This gives me a chance to eat breakfast and have a second cup of coffee.

Today, after he woke up and was fed and changed, we broke out the umbrella stroller, put on his sun hat, and took a gorgeous mile-and-a-half stroll through the impending-autumn beauty of our neighborhood.  Doing this regularly should help me take off the six or seven extra pounds that took up residence in my mid-section over the summer.

We will come home to some vintage TV shows that I will enjoy seeing or seeing again.  Today we saw snippets of Andy and Barney, Lucy and Ethel, Rob and Laura, and the Cartwright brothers down on the Ponderosa.  By winter, Beenie should take an interest in Sesame Street, which will probably replace our walks during the colder weather.

For the rest of the day, in no particular order, we will play with toys, read board books, eat, and nap.  At least one day a week we may venture to the grocery store or to town to visit my mom.  There, Beenie will find a loving great-grandma and a whole new set of toys to investigate.  By late next spring, maybe we can go to the park. 

If I should accidentally be able to get something done around the house during one of Beenie's longer naps, that will be nice.  But I'm not counting on it.  I love the lazy, carefree nature of these days with the baby.  He is a perfect excuse for me to kick back, relax, and not worry about what's clean and what isn't.  I figure, if I really want to, I can always get something done on the days he's not here.

Here's to a Happy New School Year to everyone.  As for me, I am entering my ninth year of retirement from teaching.  With Beenie around, this is the first new school year I have looked forward to for a long time.