Elliot Does California...Again, part I

It's been a long time since I posted the updates of Elliot's life. As it turns out, Elliot is still growing and doing great. He's crawling now, he's still smiling and talking in his own special language. Below is the first of a series of posts of his California trip. We're in Los Angeles now visiting his great grandparents (featured below), grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and what nots. Elliot is beside himself with excitement; if only everyone was as happy to see him as his family - he'd be even more smiley than he is already.

Elliot crawling (sort of)

Here's the little bean experimenting with his newfound skill of crawling. His major motivator? Not his parents - the remote control. We are already taking the back seat to technology. Notice at the end of this video, when Elliot is seconds away from victory, Justeen cruelly removes his assigned target away from him. Will someone please call DSS?!

Elliot's First Thanksgiving

Sadly, we weren't able to go to California for Thanksgiving this year, but we're thankful to have had a loving and welcoming home in which to celebrate. Rachel's parents, Norma and Arnold, invited us to their home for the holiday (their other home on Martha's Vineyard was featured previously on this blog). We had a lovely meal and much to give thanks for (as Rachel put it, her father began the meal with a celebratory diatribe/toast about the recent landslide victory of the Democrats). Elliot basked in the good spirits as well - despite a leaky nose, he was his typical affable self.

Here's Charlie (Rachel's husband) inviting Elliot to join us at the table.


And here's Elliot after joining the table conversation.


And one last pose from a satiated duo.

Elliot Does San Francisco

Justeen took her annual trip to San Francisco to meet her mom and sisters. Elliot went with her this year. My sense is there's only a few years remaining before Elliot refuses to go on these all-girl shopping excursions - so it's good that everyone enjoys his company now. I mean, this is not to suggest that we're going to force him into restrictive gender roles or anything, but I'm just betting odds here. Honestly, I can't much stand shopping with Justeen. She does a lot of looking through glass and not enough throwing down of plastic. It's common after Justeen has gone "shopping" for her to come back empty handed, and, most surprisingly, to be fully satisfied with the experience.

In any case, here are the photos from little e's first all-chick shopping trip. Here's the group posing for a pic.



Here's Justeen's mom when she learned what a Franciscan crab actually is.


And finally, Elliot looking innocent after a long day.

More Bouncing for Halloween

Never too tired to bounce, Elliot has a time on his friend Kathleen.

Elliot's First Halloween

Because he has long loved the song "Five Little Speckled Frogs," and because he has recently taken to the activity of bouncing, a frog was the ideal mascaraed for Elliot. When we found this "speckled frog" outfit," we decided he had to wear it.

On the Sunday before Halloween, we had a party in our community garden. Lots of people from the neighborhood came out on a beautifully blustery Fall day to parade their children in costumes, bob for apples, scavenge for junk, and beat a pinata.


Even Izzy joined the fun. He was a ladybug. And don't worry, the irony of our dog being the prey of our son was not lost on us.

Here's a group photo with all the kids. And some of the parents of those kids unable to pose.


On Halloween night (an unusually warm night here), our favorite folks (Jeannette, Guillaume and Ella) came by to help us hand out candy to neighborhood beggars (i mean, kids). As you can see, our two little speckled frogs were quite the spectacle themselves.

The Bean Family Go to Chicago

Justeen had to go to a conference. So, the whole family got on a plane and went to Chicago. While Justeen was hobnobbing, the little bean and I wandered the streets of Chi-town, looking for fun. We came across a number of things - Halloween festivals, stunning architecture, crowded sidewalks - all things that kept us occupied.

Here's the bean in his sweet ride, waiting for a sweet tour.


When Justeen was finished, she joined us in our wanderings. Here they are in Millennium Park - a wonderful display of open space and art in the middle of the city.


But, as traveling is always exhausting, it often takes a toll on you. The day we left, we decided to go to the Chicago history museum. Even before we arrived, Elliot decided he was done. He tipped forward in such a way that was temporarily irreversible. For about an hour, we walked around the city with what appeared to be a dead baby.

Mildly Amused

We bought Elliot a new toy - it's kind of like a Coney Island for babies. It has shopping, movies, amusement, voyeurism, and perhaps even a little theater. Surely, we thought, Elliot will find back-to-back hours of amusement in this thing. In practice, after thirty minutes of absolute thrill, the mood turned to mild amusement. As you can see in this video - it's as if he's just smiling so we don't feel bad.

Grandparents' Visit

It's always a treat when the grandparents come out to visit. They stopped over to see us on their way back from Deutschland. Actually, they stopped over to see Elliot. It seems as though we've merely become conduits for our child. Take this blog for instance - you don't read it to see pictures of me do you? no. It's all about the ol' boy. Granted, he's a lot cuter than his old man. But, I can type faster than he can. So, there.



There they are sitting on the chairs we keep around in our backyard - well, it's the cemetary, but sometimes I think it's our backyard. Izzy poos in there enough for us to call it our own. They didn't sit for long. In no time, we went off apple picking and pumpkin sitting. Here's Elliot sitting on his favorite squash.



Any time we weren't grabbing for fruit or vegetables, Mary Ann took it upon herself to hold on to the bean. And the bean was loving it. Here he is practicing his boxing moves with grandmother. She really wants him to be a boxer - don't ask me why.



'steen was pretty happy to have her mom in town. Here they are pretending to like each other for Elliot's sake. It looks like he's buying it.



Sadly, the grandparents left. So, to make Elliot feel better, we bought him a new hat. Our parenting philosophy is that you can cover up all wounds with a fashionable hat. We learned that from Dr. Laura.



Here it is again. The hat is irresistable. You really can't try to resist this hat.



And if that weren't enough, here he is in a cartigan vest. He really is like a little doll. I'm proud of myself when I can dress him well. Ah, the small victories of parenting are as grand the greatest victories of nations. Only when I win, I get a cute picture as a reward. What do you get if you win a war but a few new lines on a map.

Leaving Fall

Every walk, every drive is a treat, because each time I leave the house, the landscape has changed just a little more.





It would seem as though Elliot has found a certain enthusiasm for the changing seasons already.

Fall is about hats

Fall is here. The leaves are turning colors, the weather has turned, and we set out to explore our options in hats. Here's Elliot trying to find something to match his mood.



And speaking of hats, here's a crane we saw in the park. Even the birds take this time of year to put on funny hats.

Elliot's Bounce

Elliot has discovered the beauty of bouncing on the bed. Have we created a monster? Perhaps.

The Secret Lives of Beans

Something is going on in this picture - exactly what I can't be sure. Elliot obviously has some problem with Izzy. Perhaps Izzy has something in his beard, perhaps Izzy has licked Elliot on the face (think Lucy's reaction to Snoopy), or perhaps Elliot wants to pull Izzy's hair and Izzy resisted. Whatever is going on, I feel like my son is experiencing his first relationship about which he is keeping me in the dark. Perhaps a little preview of his teenage years.

6 months or half a year

On Friday, the bean turned that magic number - that elusive midpoint between zero and one. When celebrating his mid-year arrival, I couldn't resist thinking of Zeno's most troubling paradox. As Aristotle tells it: "That which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at its goal." Well, that makes perfect sense, until you conclude that a thing could never arrive at its goal, because there is always a half-way point between two points. The paradoxical conclusion is that travel over a finite distance can never be begun or completed - thus rendering all motion an illusion. Well, darn - that puts the bean's most celebratory milestone into perspective, doesn't it? He is travelling towards something - walking, eating, talking and reasoning - but when its marked in developmental stages and increments of time, it all seems like a race to a finish line that is not really a finish, nor marked by a line. The bean is changing everyday - but each change is a fait accompli as opposed to a marker on a path towards a distant conclusion. So, the bean's progress towards completion is, thankfully, an illusion.

I give you proof. Does this action of saturday morning pre-coffee, haven't-gotten-out-of-bed-yet, and justeen-gone-crazy-with-the-camera, appear to be a midpoint. It doesn't get more "complete" than this.

Or this one, moments later, both dog and baby appear to have a whole new lease on life. Father is out of the picture - likely taking a shower or stumbling to find more coffee. Somehow, justeen manages to retain control of the camera.


What you see in the image below is Elliot's new smile. He has taken to biting his upper lip and organzing the sides of his mouth upwards. The result is a smile, but with only the slightest alteration, it can be a pout.


Here's Elliot, another day, waiting to go for a walk.


And that's me in the background - playing the guitar in a vain attempt to entertain the lad. He's far more entertained by his mother and the camera.


Speaking of his mother. Here they are posing together. Aren't they sweet? Notice that they have the exact same eyes. And Justeen is also a "poo factory."


Look ma, no hands. That's right. He's sitting all by his lonesome on some precarious box thing in the middle of the cemetary. Of course, we are on hand for any possible variations in his upright status.


And then, I sweep him away for a little walk. Although, he seems overly concerned with that camera again.


We return home from our long walk and the bean falls asleep. This gives me precious few seconds to do a little gardening. He likes being in the garden, he just refuses to hold a hoe.

stops and starts

The short time of Elliot's existence has been filled with stops and starts. He stopped waking up five times a night, he started again; he stopped liking the song about the bus to happy land, he started liking the song about speckled frogs; and most recently, he stopped hanging out with Jill and started hanging out with Helda.

So Jill has been our babysitter since the end of May and she has, in all regards, been fantastic. Elliot has taken to her like a planet designation to Pluto. Wait, no, that doesn't work. What I mean to say is that Elliot likes her a lot. They played games, read books, sang songs, took walks and had an all around fantastic time. On Jill's last day, to only minor tears (from my eager-to-tear-when-happy wife Justeen), we went into our backyard and snapped some photos.

These guys are like the kids from 90210. No matter where they go to college next year, they'll always be close.





So no one is happy about Jill leaving us, but she's back to school and an internship. We all wish her the best of luck in her career with children. No matter the context, the kids she comes into contact with will surely be better for it.

Our new day care is good. Elliot has been there a week and he seems happy about it. The other kids seem to like him and he hasn't told us of any troubles thus far. And it's oh so convenient. We stroll him down to the bottom of the hill each morning and then stroll him up each night. Izzy seems to like the extra excuse to get out of the house, too.

Since my last post, Elliot has experienced another big start. He started eating solid food - rice cereal to be exact. And it's very funny. He sits in his little spongy chair and dive bombs the spoon with his face. He's heard the speckled frog song so many times that he imagines the spoon to be a fly and his face, a long tongue. Don't worry dude, I'm not going to steal your rice cereal. You can have it.

Here he is having his sorbet (fingers) between courses.



And then, straight back to business.


Well, while we're on the topic of starts. Elliot and Ella's parents had a bit of one themselves. Just this week, we got our first nighttime babysitter. Jeannette and Guillaume got theirs and we got ours and we went out "on the town" for some fine Italian food. Not only that, but we had an adult conversation over dinner. We didn't mention babies and the baby world once over our extended three-course meal. We had a great time and we learned that parents are happier if they get a little life-break now and then. It's always great to come home to the bean, but it's nice to have someplace to come home from now and again.

And we felt no need to be guilty. Below is a picture of Elliot and his new babysitter Lauren. He doesn't look too upset about the whole thing.

Martha's Vineyard

Last weekend, we went to the Vineyard (pronounced with a New England lock jaw). Our friend Rachel's parents have a house there, and she invited us to come and stay. Martha's Vineyard is a storied place - one of those places you might just assume would be far surpassed by its reputation. But that wasn't our experience. The island is fairly magical - even when you don't see water, there's a feeling of being on an island. The landscape looks similar to other places in Mass, but there's a separation from land that you don't get on the main land (or off island as they say). There's a feeling of being apart from the rest of the country - only seven miles off the coast.

But before we were able to enjoy the intense seclusion of the place, we had to enjoy the insane crowds of a summering New England. People pack onto the ferries that leave every 45 minutes. We jammed ourselves on only to arrive in an even more crowded port town. But, soon, Rachel picked us up and drove us off to a wooded rural town, with a sandy, brushy oceanside landscape. Here's the view from the porch.

Elliot slept in the car from Oaks Bluff (the port town) to the house. He woke up and I can only imagine his surprise when he opened his eyes. Rachel's husband Charlie and their friend Andrea were at the house when we arrived. Without much delay, we got in the car and drove a mile to their semi-private beach.

The beach was great. Izzy ran free, Justeen learned to boogie board, and the bean just lounged on the beach.




At some point he asked that his mom and I leave him alone so he could more effectively pick up on some chicks. In no time, two of them (Rachel and Andrea) were by his side.

Notice the confidence with which he grabs onto his ladies. He surely must have learned that from his dad. After some time alone with his ladies, the bean demanded we all gather for a group portrait. Here it is, minus Justeen - she was behind the camera.

When we returned from the beach. We grilled some amazing fish, made some great food, and enjoyed the dinner in this snazzy little sun porch.

So even if Elliot doesn't remember his first (and hopefully not last) trip to the Vineyard (hint hint Rachel), I hope these pictures will remind him what a relaxing time he spent that one weekend in August.