Dimple + Pout = Get out Jail Free Card

Lautje long ago discovered his pouting face: sticking out his bottom lip as far as possible, frowning, and possibly even crying. It's so obviously fake that the Mommy and Daddy can't help but laugh (which, naturally, induces Lautje - normally- to graduate from pouting to definite crying). But recently Lautje discovered another, somewhat related, facial express: the bottom lip and the dimple, together!
Now, instead of progressing from a pouting face to full-blown crying when the Mommy and Daddy laugh at his manipulative pout, Lautje has started to laugh along with the joke, as if to say "Yes, you caught me trying to guilt-trip you, but remember, I'm cute!" Generally, Lautje recovers very quickly and transfers his pout from crying to laughing with a flash of the dimple, but alway with the bottom lip out. This, of course, only causes the Mommy and Daddy to laugh even harder. Thus, Lautje's dimply-pouty face has in recent months become a standard face, brought out whenever he wants to amuse his parents (because it rarely fails...).

Lautje and Toys

Like any child, Lautje loves toys. And thanks to the generosity of so many of his friends and relatives, he has alot of them. From the plastic stacking cups that he scatters around the apartment to the wooden picture puzzles that he ingeniously plants under the Mommy's feet as she's trying to walk through the living room (the nerve of that Mommy...), Lautje has many toys and he enjoys all of them. But toys come in different shapes and sizes, such as the massive kitchen set at the Oma's house (that all of the grandchildren play with) that Lautje can spend hours trying to destroy.
Lautje also enjoys the simple things in life, such as a small soccer ball. And, of course, plastic spoons are always welcome...
But perhaps Lautje's favorite toys are not really toys at all, but rather things that he sees the Mommy and Daddy using often. As several blog entries have noted, the laptop computers are perennial favorites. Generally speaking, any and all electronic devices find favor with Lautje. For example, the Daddy's cellphone (as seen below - switched off, of course...) is capable of keeping even the grumpiest boy entertained.
Simple things work very well too. Aside from plastic spoons (and the IKEA plastic clips), sunglasses always bring a smile to Lautje's face (though, admittedly, he tends to break every pair that he gets his hands on - but then again, so does the Daddy...).

Torturing the Daddy

In this instance, it is perhaps best to begin with a photo. Out of context, it makes no sense whatsoever really. There are, of course, some interesting elements in the photo: you can see Lautje's expanding collection of teeth, as well as that the Daddy doesn't clean his windowsill very often. But all in all, the moment captured needs some clarification to be fully understood. Luckily, video exists of a similar moment...
As can be seen in the video, one of Lautje's favorite games is falling on top of the Daddy. Earlier, it simply involved falling from his knees onto the Daddy's stomach, but now that he can stand (and really punish the Daddy), Lautje enjoys it even more. Needless to say, whatever secondhand enjoyment the Daddy gets by making his son happy is offset by sore stomach muscles and the occasional misplaced knee or elbow... In any event, photography simply can't do justice to Lautje's Daddy-torturing exploits.

Absolutely Mobile

It has been mentioned once or twice that Lautje recently began to walk. As such, it seemed appropriate to give a minor update on his progress. At first, as previously mentioned, Lautje was quite capable of taking steps on his own, but only when properly motivated (kind of like hanging a carrot on a stick and holding it in front of the donkey to get it to pull the cart, except in Lautje's case, it wasn't a carrot, but rather a camera or the Mommy...). Well, now that Lautje has figured out that he can walk, that is literally all he has done lately, as can be seen below...

He walks from one room to another, then back again, sometimes for no reason at all, sometimes moving random objects from one room to another (it was difficult enough to keep track of things in the apartment, now that Lautje moves things around for sport, it's well nigh impossible...).

Easter at the Oma's House

So lautje's first Easter has long since come and gone, but it would be a shame if these photos didn't get online. Up top, you can see Lautje and his Oma playing on the floor (both having a rather good time - though Lautje is understandably disappointed that there isn't actually hot tea spilling out of the plastic toy teapot...)And, of course, what trip to the Oma's would be complete without Lautje enjoying his favorite game: hide and seek!
Naturally, Lautje's first Easter ended with Lautje enjoying his first real taste of chocolate. Since then, whenever he sees the Mommy or Daddy with anything even remotely chocolate-looking, he drops everything and goes straight for it...