While in China, I wasn't terribly surprised that Ben was already able to recognize the McDonald's and KFC logos, crying out that he was hungry whenever we passed by one of these establishments. I chalked it up to the global marketing efforts of these leading exporters of American culture, but perhaps I should have allowed for the powerful pull of branding and image recognition in general.

A couple of months ago, we bought a new car for Kari, a 2001 Volvo station wagon. Yes, yes, I know we are yuppies. We've more or less given up trying to disguise it. Anyway, Ben had accompanied us on our car-buying excursion and the new car obviously made a great impression on him. We weren't surprised when he began recognizing other Volvo station wagons by the shape; nor did we think much of it when he noticed the logo on the grill of a car parked at a friends house.

Then, last weekend while on a road trip, Ben began noting the large number of Volvo semi trucks that ply the interstates. Once, while passing an otherwise nondescript billboard, he pointed at the large logo and called out, "Volvo!" Thanks to the power of marketing (and his parents' yuppie-ish tendencies), the name of a Swedish car manufacturer has become one of the first half-dozen or so English words the Ben has learned to read.

Posted by ksmoker at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last weekend we took a little road trip to Ann Arbor, MI to see friends Doug and Julie. We try to get together with them at least a couple times every year and, of course, this trip was extra-special as it was our first visit with Ben. It was almost exactly a year ago that we decided we wanted to adopt Ben and it was on the way to Doug and Julie's house that we spent the entire car ride deciding on Ben's name.

Leaving such reminisces aside, the real attractions were 4-yr-old Audrey and 2-yr-old Will. Ben had a lot of fun playing with them. We also got to spend some time with Jackie and Dave, along with their lovely daughters Emmaline and Caroline, whom we had met last year. We had ample opportunity to teach Ben the value of sharing (even though the message did not always get through). Ben's been talking all week about "his friend" Audrey and "funny" Will. When they come to visit us later this summer, let's hope that Ben can be as gracious a host as Audrey was this weekend.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This year I'm getting a jump on planning for the RIJF by sifting through most of the acts on the RIJF website and entering them into my calendar. This has thrown a major prioritization problem into sharp relief. Not only do I have a couple of major milestones for a work project landing during jazz fest week, but the 2006 World Cup happens to open on the same day as the festival.

I had planned on recording the World Cup games anyway, but the problem is going to be finding viewing time. Not that I care all that much about Poland vs. Ecuador, but still, I'm in a bit of a panic. And then what if the Sabres advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals?

Oh yeah, plus, I have my family to think about.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Ben helped me pick out some earrings for Kari and then Saturday blew our big secret, so she got those a day early. On the day itself, Ben seemed to get the concept and we did our best to be extra-nice to mama. We prepared some strawberries and yogurt for breakfast in bed, but Kari got up early and we missed our opportunity (plus we wanted to wait until Little Einsteins was over).

We spent the afternoon at Baby Julia's baptism party where Ben froliced with a yardful of kids. The parents mostly left the kids to their own devices, carefully managing the adult/child ratio. Adults rotated in and out of the play zone in the same way that control rods in a nuclear reactor are inserted and removed to maintain a chain reaction while preventing a meltdown.

The weekend began with similar romping as Kari and Ben travelled to PA on Friday to visit the cousins (which is always a blast). There are rumors that a picture exists showing Grandpa on the see-saw holding a half-dozen or so grandkids in the balance, but I haven't seen it yet.

UPDATE: In the comments, Julie informs us that the rumored pictures have been uploaded. Included is a bonus picture of a young Elton John impersonator.

Posted by ksmoker at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our friends warned us that the musical landscape of our house would be altered after Ben's arrival. They were right. Although it is at times annoying to be stuck with the Bob the Builder theme song running around in your head, luckily for us, much of the change hasn't been so bad.

Take, for example, this cd by They Might Be Giants. It's goofy in a way that four-year-olds and adults can both appreciate. I got the bright idea to put this cd in when we were on our way to see the UR Philharmonic in which our friend Jane plays the violin. One of the songs on the cd is entitled, simply, "Violin." Boy, were we sick of that song by the end of the night after Ben insisted that we play it over and over.

Frankly, some of the cd is over Ben's head, especially when you factor in his still incomplete command of the English language. For example, I'm not sure he "gets" the joke in "Four Minutes of Two" in which a man waiting for a two o'clock date falls asleep and wakes up, Rumplestilskin-like, to a futuristic world but is reassured by the clock on the wall that still says four minutes of two. Even though he might not get the joke, Ben still likes to sing along with the "four minutes of two" refrain.

We're going to have to look for other kid cd alternatives, though, as this one is starting to grow old. This isn't really a criticism. It's been in the cd player for three weeks now.

Posted by ksmoker at 6:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)