Courvoisier 4

Every Friday afternoon, Benjamin and I go to the Emerson Adult School for our weekly parent education class where Benjamin loves hanging with the lads, among them CJ, Avery, and Luc.

Recently, Benjamin's homeslice Nolan also joined the class.

All the little lads love hanging out and doing lad-like things like playing in the sandbox, climbing the jungle gym, or piling on to the see-saw. By the time class is over, their clothes are filthy, they have dirt beneath they're fingernails, and they're often sporting a fresh bruise or scrape. As they say, boys will be boys!

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At the last class, however, Benjamin seemed distracted by another classmate who was not just another one of the boys.

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Her name was Olive, she was new in class, and she had pigtails and beautiful blue eyes. It's no wonder that Benjamin was smitten!

Benjamin was so smitten by Olive that he had trouble finishing his snack because he couldn't stop staring at her. At the time I thought it was really cute, but now that I'm looking at the pictures, he seems like a bit of a baby stalker.

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Thankfully, Olive wasn't put-off by the little dude making goo-goo eyes at her. She even offered Benjamin a drink from her cup. If Benjamin has any chance of developing a friendship, though, he'd be wise to get acquainted with another lady - Miss Emily Post. The Boo's table manners leave something to be desired.

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I wonder where he learned them from?

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Courvoisier 3

This past week, Benjamin's continued to display his growing fondness of the fairer sex. A quick lunch at the local crepe place presented a shot at love when Benjamin met Ava, Andrea's daughter. It didn't matter that Ava was older than Benjamin, either. One look and he was smitten.

The pint-sized paramour also got busy at my recent reunion with some high school friends. Below on the left, he makes eyes at Isabella, who in turn seems to be looking askance at his onesie. You can't see it, but the front reads "Boob Man." Nice one, Benjamin. Below on the right, you can see Benjamin living up to the onesie as he embraces Sydney. Oh, well... At least he came with a warning label!

L to R: Katherine, Isabella, Benjamin, and Stacy; Jen, Katherine, Isabella, me, B, Dylan, Stacy, Sydney, and Nataline; Sydney and Benjamin

Even Mommy's friends aren't safe from Benjamin's wiles. At a concert in the park yesterday, he tried to shake his money-maker for my neighbor Justine.

Unfortunately, I got no such love when it was just the two of us. Check out that look on his face! What am I - chopped liver?

Well, a little Photoshopping can turn that frown upside down. There, that's better!

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Courvoisier II

We established in a previous post that Benjamin is becoming quite a ladies' man. Being a lady myself (and yes, I just typed that with a straight face), I've learned there is a difference between a ladies' man and a straight-up gigolo. That difference starts with the hands, or more specifically, where the hands are. If you're a ladies' man, the hands won't be on the ladies, and this is why I fear that Benjamin may be on the fast train to Gigoloville.

The first sign of trouble appeared at a recent playdate. After months of gentlemanly behavior, Benjamin made a pass at his longtime love Lucy. As I extricated his fingers from her hair, I berated myself for allowing him to watch all that trash TV with me. But then I thought, "Benjamin and Lucy are best buds," and I wrote off his grabby hands as a function of their familiarity.

What happened a week later in Atlanta at my brother's wedding disproved that theory. In keeping with Chinese tradition, I had placed Benjamin on the bridal bed next to baby Chloe, whom he met just moments before. Suddenly, Benjamin was grabbing at Chloe! Apparently it didn't matter how well he knew the girl - his hands had a life of their own. Then again, they were on a bed. I couldn't blame him, so instead, I blamed his circumstances.

Then came his third incident of bad boy behavior, which really threw me for a loop. This time, we were visiting Sydney, the new daughter of friends Kelly and Mike. Benjamin and Sydney were virtual strangers, and they were on the floor - not on a bed - so I figured there would be no hanky-panky. WRONG! I caught Benjamin trying to grab Sydney's hair.

What was going on? I showered this child with love and attention, I tried not to be overindulgent, and I got drunk only twice a week so as not to pollute my milk. What had I done to create this Casanova? As I drowned my sorrows in a cup of decaf, I glanced up to see this scene unfolding before me:

So it seemed that I'd been misreading Benjamin's intentions all along. He wasn't trying to be frisky - just friendly. And I guess that means that the cynic inside me needs to take a backseat and let the mom in me do the driving.

Courvoisier, Anyone?

We discovered this weekend that Benjamin has a thing for the ladies. Vince's cousin Ed, his wife Grace, and their kids Hana and Jet were in town, so they dropped by to visit. As you can see from the images above, Benjamin was perfectly happy to pose for pictures next to Hana. The smile doesn't even leave his face when he loses balance and starts tipping over. But it's a different story when we try to get him to take a picture with Hana's brother Jet. Man, it was like pulling teeth. Or it would have been if he'd had any teeth to pull.

Even newlywed Lisa wasn't safe from Benjamin's advances. Look at him shamelessly flash his flirty eyes and then resort to stripping off his clothes to win her affections. It's a good thing Lisa's husband doesn't know what a little lothario my son is, because otherwise she wouldn't be allowed to visit us anymore.

Lest Benjamin grow up to rely on his brawn and not his brains, I purchased an educational book for him at the neighborhood library book fair. The book was appropriately entitled "Dinosaur Ben." I'm referring to the "Ben" part, of course, and not the "Dinosaur." Anyhow, Benjamin's reaction to the book was startlingly similar to his reaction to baby Jet. Could it be that he didn't inherit my love of books? Banish the thought! I think the solution is to invite one of his pretty aunties over to read to him. Maybe if he can keep his clothes on long enough, he'll learn something!