Béla playing (with) Béla Bartók

This was really not posed - the book of music was on the shelf under our coffee table, which is now within his reach, and he pulled it out all by himself. I turned to find him lying on the wooden floor, looking mischievous under the book, so I decided to take a picture.


At which point he began to pose...Doesn't he look like he's reading it?




And doesn't he look smug!
This last picture is from much later in the day, when he passed out on Jeremi while he walked around with him. He's wearing the same clothes though, so I like the thought that he studied Bartók until he passed out from exhaustion.

I also love that he's looking at the music while wearing this ridiculous (Mike Myers character) Dieter-like outfit of navy beatnik turtleneck and tights. In my defence, he was wearing overalls when we went out. Another note about the tights - they're called Strumpfhosen in German, and are totally standard kids' clothing here, for boys as well as girls. Not just for babies either, for kids up to about 10 years old, it's totally normal for them to wear nothing but Strumpfhosen around the house. I used to think that they wore them under their pants in the winter, and then just took off their pants when they got home, but now that I've had more contact with kids (like at the paediatrician, and while visiting daycares), I suspect that they often wear them directly under snowpants (which must be worn by German children if it's under 5 C at all times, and under 10 C most of the time), and then are in tights all day. For babies I get it, it's nice that when the pants ride up there's no bare leg hanging out above the socks, but it's sort of ridiculous sometimes, with people putting up to three pairs on their baby when it's below zero. (I'm sure people put more, this is just what I've seen.) Still, I'm finding them somewhat practical, as they give him lots of freedom when crawling around, and we even have a pair with traction pads on the knees as well as the feet, which is pretty cool. Still, if we end up staying here longer, you'll have to remind me when we visit Canada that it's sort of not cool for little 8 year-old boys to hang out wearing nothing but tights, especially if his parents already gave him a fruity name like Béla. (Bella? No, Bay-la. Rhymes with Layla. Maybe that doesn't help...)