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.

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.

Birthday in Baltimore

The thing about babies is that it's not convenient for them to be away from their mothers for too long. So, because Justeen had to give a talk at a conference in Baltimore, the whole family tagged along. I was on Elliot duty while Justeen said smart stuff to people, and Elliot was on Daddy duty. The great thing about conferences is that they really are just excuses to travel places. In fact, the whole family, Justeen included, spent a bunch of time tooling around town. But before we get to the Baltimore pics, here's Elliot in his monkey chair.


Only days after Elliot's monkey encounter, the beans got on a plane to Baltimore. In only about an hour we arrived in "Charm City" and Elliot was ready to enjoy some summer fun. He put on his pants and his shades and strolled around the Inner Harbor looking for chicks.


He found one. But it turned out to be his mother. Ah, so Freudian.



After many hours of walking around, we all got on the water taxi and made our way around the harbor. This was Elliot's first time on a boat (can you believe it? 4 months old and never on a boat.)


Speaking of 4 months - as it turns out, Elliot turned that ripe ol' age while we were there. So, in honor of his geriatric feat, we all went on a merry-go-round. I think this was the fastest carousel I've ever experienced. I thought I was going to spit up. By the end of the ride, we were all putting our fists in our mouths.

long time gone

Quite a bit of time has passed since my last post. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to get the word about Elliot out. But, this does not mean I intend to stop. It only means I intend to be more diligent. So, quite a lot has happened since our Father's Day excursion to Cape Cod. Elliot has been growing like a wild fire. He went to the doctor yesterday and the official word on his weight is 19.6 pounds. That is literally off the charts. He was in the 97 percentile, which was the highest line on the chart. Now, he was plotted above that point. I think he just might be the biggest baby in all of history. I mean, with such a burly father, it's no wonder he's so massive.

Sometimes he gets so tired carrying around his girth that he just falls asleep. Here he is taking a nap while eating his lunch. Notice how he's managed to keep the bottle in his mouth even without consciousness. What a talented little tyke.


Here he is sleeping after a long walk in his double stroller. What you can't see is that Ella is sitting behind him (also asleep).



After a quick cat nap, the little bean is awake and trying out his new tricks. Just last week, he rolled over onto his stomach. He looks so proud once he's done it. In the picture below, I think he's trying to figure out why the world is upside down from its usual appearance.

Cape Cod and Father's Day

It all started, when Mindy came into town. Returning from Malawi for a visit home, Mindy stopped over in Boston as her portal into the United States. The one in the hat below is Elliot.


We took a walk in the cemetary on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and sat near the pond so Elliot could take a load off. Below Elliot and his Mom are practicing their synchronized swimming routine (of course, with no water).


The next day, for Father's Day, we made our way down to Cape Cod. Mindy's friend from Malawi, Diane, who you will see in later pictures, was there visiting her parents (who you will also see). But below, you'll see Elliot and me clamming. That's right, Elliot is a big fan of shell fish - despite the kosher thing. I'll have a talk with him later. Anyway, here we are (not really) looking for clams.


After a time, we returned to the house and prepared our Cape Cod meal, which included fresh clams (quahogs, steamers and razors), clam chowder, and lobster. And with a view like that, who could complain? You might notice that Elliot is complaining in the picture below, but that's only because we told him he could only eat one lobster con leche. He was upset.

To work off our dinner. Elliot suggested that we take a walk on the beach. He set out before us, but we quickly caught up.



"Gotcha!" His mom caught up to him and picked him up. He didn't seem too upset.

And after some coaxing, he even started to laugh about it.


Once I emerged from my shell fish coma, I joined them on the beach for a picture. This is a north facing beach, so we have some nice light on our cheeks.


And alas, Justeen jumps behind the camera to snap a photo of Mindy, Diane, me and the bean. Soon after this picture was taken, we got in the car and drove in hideous traffic for our seventy mile trip back to Boston. I suppose we weren't the only ones with the bright idea to retreat for the cape on Father's Day.


And quite without warning, Elliot jumps in front of the camera!

Photos from California trip

As promised, here are some more photos from California. We, unfortunately, have very spotty photo documentation of the days events. Although, we did capture some good moments. Like, below is Elliot's great-grandmother greeting Elliot for the first time.

It was pretty great for everybody. Elliot was overwhelmed with the love after a long flight. But I could tell he was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

Now he's back in his great grandmother's arms experimenting with a funny monkey (and no, that's not a euphemism).


Here's father and son posing with the grandparents. I believe this is the morning we left, so this picture is out of order. But for consistency's sake, I'm going to leave it here.



Then, we went up to visit Justeen's dad in Morro Bay.



And of course stopped off to visit 'good ol' Terry and George' in San Luis Obispo. We saw their beautiful garden and snapped some photos. Elliot is either getting tired here are acting cool in his fancy fresh lid.

Elliot Does California

Elliot took his first trip to California to visit his family and friends. It was quite a whirlwind affair. We arrived in the afternoon Wednesday May 31st. Upon arrival, we went straight to Elliot's great grandparent's house, where he was greeted by my entire family, including parents, brother, niece, nephew, cousins, sister-in-law, and of course, the great grandparents. After sleeping for about six hours on the flight over, Elliot was wide awake and awaiting the shower of love he received. Luckily, the shower was so powerful, that he fell asleep only about five hours later and almost slept through the night.

We slept at my parents' house (Elliot's grandparents' house), but soon after waking up, we headed out for our next adventure. We stopped in to see Justeen's sister at her groovy salon, Suburbia. After passing the bean around to various well wishers, we headed out to Morro Bay to visit J's dad - about 3.5 hours north. Once there, Elliot got his fair share of lovin' and mom and dad and bean enjoyed the reprieve from the 100+ degree temps in Los Angeles. It was a cool 65 at the beach. Thank goodness for the marine layers.

The next day, we said goodbye to the beach, J's dad and his girfriend Josie and made our way back to "the southland." We arrived home and my grandparents, or the bean's great grandparents, were at my parents', or the bean's grandparents' (is this making sense yet?) house. We had a lovely time chatting and eating pizza and the bean, passed from loving embrace to loving embrace, stared as we ate his future food (pizza con leche).

Later that night, we went off to Jennifer's house (J's sister or the bean's aunt) to meet J's mother, her husband, j's grandmother and j's niece (or the bean's grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother and cousin), who had just driven six hours to visit from Sonora, CA. We chatted and the bean was again, passed around.

The next morning, we went to visit my brother and family (or the bean's uncle, aunt, and cousins) and had a nice ol' time eating biscuits and talking about things bean. We said goodbye and made our to jen's house, where we were having a little party to see all of our old friends. A few hours later, the friends arrived and the bean was passed around again. Happy as a clam, the clam bean made his way from smiling face to goofy smile and impressed everyone with his coy glances and intense stares. We poured margaritas and avoided the heat. It was really great to see everyone again - it made us realize that we still have good friends on the other coast.

The next morning at 8am we left my parents' house (or the bean's grandparents' house) and drove to Long Beach to catch our plane. Justeen told him before we got on the flight that because he's been so good the entire trip, that she didn't mind if he cried all the way home. I promptly corrected her and told him that I minded. And that he should probably take a long nap again. Well, I was victorious in our first parenting disagreement. The bean slept until someplace over Kentucky. When he woke up, he just stared at the man sitting next to us until about Indiana. Then he found some other hapless victims to stare down. With only a few fussy moments during the entire flight, as we were deplaning, several people told us what a great baby he is. And I was overtaken with my first feelings of pride for the little guy. I was a proud father - his behavior was stellar and I felt so pleased that we were related (I'm the bean's father).

We arrived home around 9 o'clock on Sunday night, and all of us, exhausted from our travels, crashed. We had a great trip and the bean is still glowing from his visit. Of course, his eyes are now permanently open.


You might be wondering why there are few pictures posted here. Well, the camera is in Justeen's bag, so I won't get to posting the pics until I get back from Cleveland this weekend. Oh yeah, I'm leaving for Cleveland today for a conference. It'll be my first time away from J and the bean, and I'm not so happy about it. I know that J isn't either. But, I promised to return home with a smile and maybe a little something from the rock n' roll hall of fame.