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.

Elliot and Ella in their first big film

Great Grandma's 85th

The bean family went to Seattle to help celebrate Elliot's Great Grandma Millie's 85 birthday. We arrived late Thursday night into the SeaTac airport and drove directly to our little B&B called the Hogland House in Mukilteo, WA. I booked this place online, knowing nothing of it. Based on the website, and my own propensity towards good luck, I assumed it was going to be crappy. Well, this is what we got:

An absolutely stunning house overlooking the Puget Sound. And, even better, we were the only guests staying in the place, there was a fantastic hot tub (as you see), and the inn sitter (the normal inn keeper was out of town) was a fantastic cook and made us the most remarkable breakfasts. So, either my luck is changing, or the dual good kharma powers of Justeen and Elliot overpowered the normal balance of the universe.

As not to belabor this point, I should move on. The next day, we took a ferry to a nearby island and walked around. Here we are embarking on our walk. Elliot turned his hat to the side and set out to have a good day. Well, lo an behold, we had a fantastic day.


After stopping in a few locations, we drove about sixty miles up the island and stopped at a place called Deception Pass. This place got its name because of the deceptively erratic currents that occur down below.


Elliot was not so impressed by the dramatic drop. Although his parents felt slightly stricken with Vertigo as they began walking across the bridge. With oncoming traffic on one side and a dramatic drop on the other, holding a squirmy, drooly baby never felt so precarious. We promptly turned around and went back to a secure surface.

The next day, my parents arrived in town for the party. We met them at their B&B in Everett, WA.


My mother immediately commandeered Elliot for her own consumption. Luckily, I was there to preserve the moment with my handy Casio camera. Elliot felt right at home on his grandmother's lap. Without any hesitation he was playing and posing for the camera.

The next day was the big party. Here's the birthday girl and part of the bean family.


The following day, we were able to see Justeen's mom (who was in town visiting her daughter-in-law). This trip required amazing coordination on so many fronts. So, again, in typical grandmother style, Elliot was commandeered.


His evil grin and menacing eyes are not indicative of how he was feeling at this moment. He often looks as though he's plotting to take over the world.

Finally, we all paused for a photograph while wandering around in Seattle's extreme 95 degree heat.


We got on a plane later that night and returned home. The bean slept on our red eye flight - and of course I didn't. Some things never change. We escaped the west coast heatwave, only to be greeted with some mass of hellish air on its travels east. I'm glad that I was able to experience the great heat wave of '06 on both coasts.