Fallen Star

The talent agency that held the screen tests last Thursday called me yesterday. They would LOVE to work with Ben. I was excited for about 2 minutes and then decided against pursuing it any further. The owner of the agency had called and was shocked at my answer. He only currently represents 2 other babies so to accept Ben is a big deal. My refusal was a bit of a slap in the face evidently. He would not accept my answer and was telling me about all the money he could make with various work. I immediately moved out of star struck mode into protective mother mode and thought of the environment that Ben would be exposed to from my experience( my small brush with celebrity happened on the set of a large shoot for a boxing movie with Meg Ryan called Against the Ropes that I was an extra in). It is loud, chaotic and demanding. Time is money as they say and they will do just about anything to get the children to do what they need for any given shot ( I wittnessed that just at the screen tests). I also don't think that I would handle rejection with him very well at all. I would like to think that if it stopped being fun we would just stop however I think you get into that "big break" mentality and think after the next one we'll stop... 2 words- Britney Spears.

When Ben was a few weeks old Jon asked when he could get a job... I am pretty sure he was kidding. Ben won't be working for sometime, in or out of the limelight. I am sorry If I have shattered all hopes of his fame and fortune but I think that his time can better be devoted to things like banging blocks, mastering the crawl and trying green beans.

Family Room Reno

The family room after lots our (Jon's...) hardwork is finally complete! It is a great room over the garage and we spend most of our time up here. Jon ripped up the blue carpets, put down lamanate and we hired painters over Christmas. I am very happy with the results, especially after looking at the before pictures....how soon we forget, blech!

Dancing Feet

Ben loves his bare feet. I have kept socks and shoes on him most of his life and now as spring begins they are free again! I LOVE the baby feet!!!

And Even MORE Easter!

The Easter Bunny did come to our house as well and brought Ben a bath ring so he can have baths in the regular tub now, a book and a teething toy.

Thanks Easter Bunny :)

...More Easter

Ben's gramma sent home an easter basket with Jon today and it too was filled with lots of great presents (he was again enthralled mostly with the tags, packaging and basket). He got a toy that barks, pajamas, and egg snow globe with pictures in it and a book. Thanks Gramma!

More Easter for Ben...

Ben's Grammie came over to drop off some easter baskets today. Ben got a beautiful summer Mexx baseball hat. It is SO cute and I can only hope he agrees enough to keep on his head! He also got a bottle holder (so he can succeed in holding it himself!). He got a garden blower (this tied for favorite as well as the plastic wrapping that came in the bottom of his basket!). J and I also got an easter basket which was nice since we didn't do any for each other. I got a gift certificate for Canadian tire for a storage unit I wanted (the easter bunny must have told her). Jon got a gift card for Athlete's world for new shoes that he desperatly needs! Thanks Grammie and Grandad!

Stage Mom

I have heard a few times that Ben could/should be a model. He LOVES the camera and the reason so many of his pictures are smiling ones is because he starts smiling on cue when he sees the red light for the flash come on! I mentioned this to my mom and she gave me an ad from the newspaper advertising for screen tests to be done on babies and children for a talent agency in Toronto. (I looked into the agency, not only are they legitimate but quite big- they do the casting for many movies filmed in Toronto). I thought this could be a fun experience. I didn't really know what to expect but Ben seemed in a good mood that evening so we went for it. I was amazed at the stereotypes that we encountered. There were parents there who were true stage parents- coaching thier children with a kind of desperation that cannot be healthy! I really didn't care either way if Ben got accepted or not however I did talk to the agency owner while people where coming in and found out he is specifically looking for children under 14 months. Ben was grinning at him the whole time. After the owner talked a little while about the industry he conducted screen tests. The older children had memorized commerial lines " All the screen test consisted of for Ben was we stood on the "mark" (industry talk for a big X on the floor in front of a camera) and I said his name, age, hair and eye colour and reason for wanting to break into the biz. He clapped his hands really loudly and talked loudly, I am guessing to see if he startled and cried easily (he did not). They will call on Tuesday to tell me if Ben was what they were looking for. I was glad we went for the experiance but I'm not sure it's really the people or environment I want Ben in!