First Steps

Ethan is well on his way to becoming the fourth bipedal member of our family. Recently he has begun standing on his own without holding onto anything. Then last week, a few days before his 11-month birthday, he began taking one little step, which was always followed by immediately collapsing to the floor.

In any case, he is very excited and proud of himself for his new skill. The first time he stood on his own, we all started clapping and congratulating him. Since then, about every time he does it -- even if we aren't paying him any attention -- he begins beaming with a huge smile and making little exclamatory noises.

He thinks that he is pretty hot stuff.

My BFF

Rian and I were sitting on the couch yesterday talking, when I said something that made us both smile. I don't remember what it was, but it wasn't anything terribly special. The funny thing was how he responded.

"Daddy, you're my BFF!"

And then, only a second later, "That means you're my friend!"

I was shocked to hear this acronym come out of my 5-year-old's mouth. It's one of those acronyms that I missed out on because most of those Internet words hadn't evolved yet when I was a 14-year-old girl. I was so surprised to hear him say those three letters, I responded with three letters of my own:

"WTF?!"

Okay, so I didn't really say that, but I might as well have because that's what I was thinking.

(If you're lost, here are some definitions: BFF, WTF.)