My Cousin Kellen

The day his cousin Kellen was born, Wally Ben was playing with his Bs. Ba ba be be ba ba ba be.

Me: Wally, you said “baby!”

WV: Ba ba be be ba be.

Me: Yes, “Baby!”

WV: Bay be.

After much encouragement, that became one of his new favorite words. A few days later, we put the word into practice. When we met Cousin Kellen, we said “Baby!” enough times to hammer it into his head. We Facetimed (video chatted) with Liz and Kellen, and every time said, “Wally, look at the baby!” He was intrigued.

Fast forward a few weeks. WV was in nursery at church, and W4 was in there with him. (He has developed a new deep attachment to Wally and I…especially me. We can’t leave him anywhere without major tears. Even if W4 is playing with him on the 2nd level and I go downstairs, WV will sometimes stand at the top of the stairs and cry and cry until I reappear. It’s nice that he sees us as two peas in a pod, but come on, kiddo! Don’t be such a baby! So most church services, Wally 4 or I have to stay in the room with him.)

WV ran to the baby dolls, yelled “Baby!” and proceeded to rock the babies in the rocking chair, and then toss them into the cradle and cover them with blankets.

Now if he hears a whimper, he yells “Baby!” If he sees a child any younger than him–even just a month younger–he says “Baby!” His favorite books are lift-the-flap books that end up on the last page revealing a “Baby!” (Karen Katz…Love her!) One of his favorite toys in the library class selection is the baby doll, and darn it if he doesn’t hold that baby on his shoulder and burp it like a pro! The other moms ask me if I have a baby at home, since he clearly is trying to care for that baby. I tell them no, that we have decided he should earn his keep so he has started his own service babysitting newborns a few hours a week.

We decided he was ready to hold Kellen. Our little Tazmanian Devil. Our little, ants-in-the-pants, busy, running fool who can’t sit on your lap longer than the intro song to “Elmo’s World!” (Sing it with me parents: La la la la, la la la la…) And he has never sat more still for longer. I guess we know what to do if the doctor ever prescribes rest. I tried to get him to say Baby the whole video, to no avail. Still cute, though. Obviously, we took a lot of pictures!