summertime fun

Summer is here and in New England that means blow-up kiddie pools. So, we rolled ours out and let the kids take a dip. Here they are on July 4th taking in the sun and surf. The other naked kid is Henry - Elliot's good friend from daycare.



Elliot is making an offering. It's a brown rubber turtle.


But it's not all kiddie pools and backyards, there is also a fairly large ocean nearby. And beyond that, there's this thing called Cape Cod. We took a boat from Boston to the tip of the Cape - a little town called Provincetown. Or as it is lovingly known by the locals, P-town. P-town is a pretty fantastic place - it's family friendly, Massachusetts style. We happened to go to P-town during "bear week." Here bear does not refer to honey-eating, picnic-basket stealing wildlife. These bears, as the captain of the boat said, are OK to feed - but they like the expensive liquid kind of food.

Anyway, here's the port of P-town. That tall thing in the background in the pilgrim monument. The pilgrims landed in p-town before heading to Plymouth. They took one look at the place and said, man, the new world is a "freakin' sand dune" and continued on their way.

Another pic of the port from the perspective of the ferry.


We only had a few hours to spend there, so after eating lunch, we went promptly to the beach. It was a great, north facing beach, with a 360-degree view of water. Truly spectacular. But, what was more spectacular was Elliot's yellow pale. Here's Justeen getting him all set up.

And here's his yellow pale.

And here he is pouring freezing ocean water on me.


Oh yeah, and our friend Mindy was visiting. She was on her way back from Africa and decided to stop by Boston again. She stayed a week and we're already looking forward to her passage next summer.

Elliot's Mikvah

We had a Mikvah and naming ceremony for Elliot at the Temple we've been attending here in Boston. Basically, the mikvah was a formality. As Justeen is not Jewish, Elliot's identity would be in question to some lame people who care about such things. So, we went through the process so that there would be no confusion. It was actually a nice little thing - three rabbis came to a nice warm bath and Elliot got to play in the water.


The next day, we had the naming ceremony during friday night services. Here's what I wrote and what the rabbi read:

Elliot's hebrew name will be Eliyahu. The reason we named him Elliot, and the reason we would like his Hebrew name to reflect his English name, is because of our understanding of the significance of the prophet Elijah. We are both intrigued by this figure - his understated wisdom, his modesty, his deep sense of justice. We want our son to be successful - but we measure success not simply in economic terms, we measure success in his ability to be self-sufficient, and in his understanding that all actions of the self are situated in the actions of the community. Elijah understood that individuals only exist in societies, and individual actions are social actions. We want our son to have a deep respect for self, but an even deeper respect for the society he lives in and the communities that embrace him. We want our son to respect authority, but like Elijah, not to be afraid to question it when he knows its wrong. This is also the relationship we want him to have to Judaism. We want him to respect its traditions, but never blindly. We want him to take comfort and solace in its community; but never at the expense of his ability to think freely.

Finally, each year when we leave a cup for Elijah at the Seder table, we understand it as a symbol of hope - as the impossible pursuit of redemption. And the figure of Elijah reminds us each year that redemption isn't something that just shows up. It takes hard work and perseverance. The messiah will not come until peace and social justice are restored in the world, and it is we who must strive for and work towards creating a society that is fair and just for all. We give our son a name that is at once utopian and pragmatic. We give him a name that embodies our hope in him, our hope in the world, without burdening him with impossible expectations.

California Without Dad

While I was home working on my book, Justeen and Elliot went to California for a visit. Most importantly, Justeen braved the solo travel with toddler on a six-hour flight. She is truly a brave soul. So, I don't have narration to this pics - but I thought in the interest of documenting Elliot's life, I would post them.

Here's Elliot and Maryann. It's blurry, but darn cute.


Here they are struggling over rights to the very annoying Pets.com toy. Ah, neither Maryann or Elliot are able to let go of the swingin' 90s.


Terry and George came up for a visit. I don't know what they're doing. But it looks like a good time.


And, one of Elliot's favorite pastimes - swinging (not in the 1970s sense).


Justeen: "I could have had a V-8"

DJ Baby

Just who needs the sound canceling ear phones?

Some Pictures from Daycare

See More Pics Here

Elliot Learns to Say Izzy

It took awhile, but Elliot learned how to say the name of his favorite being.

Visit from the Grand 'rents

My parents rolled into town last week for a quick visit. The weather turned sour, but we had a great time nonetheless. The first two days dipped into the 40s and dumped rain - so we opted to keep our activities indoors. We went to the museum of science because we had heard great things about the toddler room. And we were not disappointed. Here's a brief sampling of the activities:

a giant litebright

a cave thingy with plush bugs


and a massive xylophone at elliot's level

There were also little monkeys involved and later a temper tantrum. Sadly, I had to go to a meeting and missed out on the monkeys and the tantrum. Too bad.

The next day, still cold and rainy, we set out for the new Institute of Contemporary Art on the South Boston waterfront. Elliot loved running back and forth along a long corridor with big glass walls that lurched above the harbor. Here we are contemplating the moody scene.

Finally, on Sunday, the weather cleared and we set out to Old Sturbridge Village - a living museum of New England life in the 1830s. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a pretty amazing place. I was expecting total cheese. When in fact, the place was rather tastefully presented. All sorts of characters roamed the little village and were quite knowledgeable about history and their particular craft. We spoke to a guy about gardening for a good twenty minutes, and the blacksmith kept my dad busy for longer than some podcast about the stock market.

Here are a couple views of the landscape...



One of the things that fascinated Elliot was this odd puritan bowling game. Here it is in action.



The only problem is you have to pick up your own pins. No automated system here.


At the end of the day, everyone was happy. Elliot got to bowl, my parents got to taste life in the old new england (would that then just be england?), and I got to learn about sticking vegetables in sand to last through the winter. All told, smiles all around.


Then the time came for the grand 'rents to get on a plane back for LA. Elliot had four days of activity and was just ready to rest.

Visit to the Museum

One morning, after breakfast, we decided to go to the children's museum. We figured, we have a child, and we'd like to see other children preserved under glass.


Elliot was a bit taken back by this prospect. But he was game for anything. We arrived at the museum, and as it turns out, we weren't greeted by famous embalmed children, or a history of child evolution. When considering the museum, I forgot to take notice of the apostrophe. It's not a children museum; quite on the contrary, it's a children's museum. A museum for children, not about them. Well go figure.

So, we played basketball.


Posed with Big Poppy...


Traveled through tubes...


And played with water.



All in all, a pretty great day for one and all. We're happy when Elliot's happy, and Elliot found a unique state of bliss at the museum not about children.

Mother's Day

To celebrate mother's day, the three of us went down to the public garden to have a picnic. We bought some sandwiches and fruit at this little market in Beacon Hill. Elliot was unhappy with how much it cost.


He was upset, but he wanted to eat anyway.


I mean how could you stay upset when the woman of honor is looking so good.


After lunch, we all went to the pond to look at the ducks. There were many, and we were told about each one.

Bye bye Boston

I know, I know, long time. We should just assume that every entry begins with this sentiment. It's funny, as time goes on, Elliot is photographed less. Not that he's waning in cuteness - that factor is still very high. Only that I realize that parenting and documenting are each full time jobs. If I can only pick one - it would have to be documenting, but Justeen forced me to reconsider.

Jeannette, Guillaume and Ella moved to London. Here's some documents of their last day in Boston together, hangin' with their pops.

Walking through the cemetery

Preparing to go down slide

And off we go!

It was a bitter sweet day. We had a nice time strolling around and we vowed to do it again sometime soon. And we just might take a trip out to London town this summer to say a quick hello.

Elliot dealt with the pain by digging in the dirt. Whatever works.


And when we told him we weren't interested in having his dirt, he got very upset.

Day in the Life

I know, too long. So for all of you Elliot fans, I've decided to do a "day in the life" portrait of the little man. He's more than 13 months old now and he's walking up a storm. So, his days often consist of walking, pooing and eating. Because this is a family blog, I'll leave out the middle element.

The day starts with a healthy dose of cheerios - some in the mouth and some elsewhere.


Then it's time for exercise. Here's the little guy doing laps indoors.


He then takes the activity to the streets (or our backyard), whichever comes first.


Then, it's time to eat. Walking takes a lot of energy, and you can never get too much cheese and yogurt in the system.


And finally, it's time to clean up. He takes to the bath and washes the stress away.



More to come soon. I promise.

Happy Birthday li'l e

We threw a party for Elliot on the big occasion of his first birthday. It was really a fantastic affair. Elliot had a good time, mostly because he likes nothing more than to look at people when they're paying attention to him. So, we had about 25 people in our house, all of whom paid him ample attention. Here's the invite we sent out.


We were impressed that he has not only been reading the New Republic, but that the New Republic thinks it important enough to report on his birthday. Little did we know that his influence spreads well beyond the relatively centrist New Republic. Our friends Sam and Zsuzsa pointed out that, in fact, the Nation has also been reporting on this story.


I'm so proud that Elliot is already affecting Leftist discourse in this country. So the occasion was more monumental than we had anticipated. In any case, Elliot was dressed up in his colorful birthday outfit, awaiting the arrival of his guests.



The night before, the two elders (Justeen and Eric) baked a carrot cake for the little guy and wrote on it with raisins. I know, very clever.


So many people bought so many great things for him. We received all sorts of books and other playthings that will surely keep Elliot and his parents busy for the foreseeable future. Brooke and Cher bought him a slick firetruck that he immediately took to. Here he is confidently strolling through the living room looking for emergencies.

And finally, to the end the day, Elliot posed for a picture with his ladies. Only one, and already a sly dog.

Winter Fun

I know. It's been a long time since I've posted to the blog. I've been very busy and I apologize to those who rely on their regular dose of Elliot news and pics. Well, let's see, we had a fairly disappointing winter, in that we only received about six inches of snow (the average is 41 inches). That means no skiing, and not the ideal conditions for sledding. But we made due. One saturday a few weeks ago, we had a visit from our friend Roger. He's from a strange land across the pond, where they call diapers "nappies." In any case, we let him stay with us for several days and we showed him the delights of a relatively snowless winter in Jamaica Plain.

First we set out to have brunch at our favorite food spot - Centre Street Cafe (notice the British spelling of center - I think that subtlety went unnoticed by Roger). Here we are waiting in line in 30 degree temps for our hearty meal.



It was a bit cold, but everyone seems terribly happy, don't they? Soon after we were satiated by good food, we went home and Roger and little e had some quality time. Elliot felt powerful because finally he had more hair then one of the "tall ones."


There was no containing his enthusiasm for life.



It's important to note that Elliot has recently discovered the wonders of his little bike. He can almost scoot himself about on his own. And the fact that it makes a real annoying noise just adds to the wonder.



But winter time is not all indoor play. Remember I mentioned that we only had a few inches of snow. Well, a few inches is better than nothing. We went out, faced with trials of icy snow and attempted to do a bit sliding back and forth. As we discovered, putting lil e in his sled and carting him about is far more entertaining for everybody than having him in his carrier. Sadly, the snow has now melted, so the sled will likely stay in our stinky basement until next Winter. However, we look forward to pushing and pulling him about in other contraptions as the weather permits.