Holiday no 2 - across the pond

Benjy has gone transatlantic. We took him to Washington DC (actually, Virginia) to stay with Uncle Joel and Auntie Ann. He was as good as gold on the flight, although constantly on the go. And as expected, he was brilliant in Washington too, but boy did he suffer with jetlag. We were there for five nights: he finally got over his jetlag on the fourth. And then we had to do it all over again once we got back! Despite that, though, it was such a treat being able to spend so long with Benjy, and it was wonderful seeing him with Joel and Ann, it was almost as though he knew they were family, as he was instantly happy in their company. There must have been more intellect in the air over there than Benjy is used to at home, because in those five days he came on in leaps and bounds. He perfected clapping hands, started doing actions to two little dickie birds, learnt where his tongue is, and, a milestone event, said his first word! He was just under ten months. The word was 'ball'. I always thought the first word would be a momentous occasion, but actually it was a few days of ignoring it as coincidence, then gradually acknowledging that he really was saying it. At first it sounded like a very pronounced 'boh' - the hard consonant followed by a loud, short, exhalation - very sweet, watching how proud he was of himself, communicating with us.

The photos are ones which Joel took capturing some of these new actions, and a classic Washington shot.