Nothing to see here

No seriously, there is NOTHING to see here.  Don't be mad at me if you watch this whole video.

Big Changes

A strange thing happened recently.  I was performing my usual post-Elliot-bedtime ritual of scouring my laptop for photos of Elliot to post to the blog.  And I tried to post some, and Google told me that I had used up all my allowed storage space.

What????? I thought Google owned the world.  I thought that us allowing them to own the world was the price we paid, so that they would let us share one small glorious piece of it.

But apparently there is a limit to the portion of Google-scented Glory each Googlezen (amalgam of Google-citizen or Google-denizen, you choose) is allowed to partake.

My time on this blog runs short.  Weep not for me.  Like a phoenix this blog shall rise again.

You might think that Google, with all the smart people they employ, wouldn't allow me to just open another blog and starting uploading more photos and videos.

But you would be wrong.

So head over to the next incarnation of Elliot, his toddler years, at ebpage2.blogspot.com.

Another 1 GB of videos here we come!

(cross-posted to ebpage2.blogspot.com)

Kate and Elliot

Or:  Book v iPhone

(Treadwell, NY, Thanksgiving 2012)

Christmas Cookies

Emily brought her three awesome kids (Liam, Zara, and Aramis) over on Christmas Eve.  There was much rollicking fun, but most of it was not caught on camera.  Christmas cookies, however, are indisputably photogenic.

(Yes, that's a Christmas elephant.)

 (And yes, that is a fistful of sprinkles exploding from his tight little fist...)

Merry Christmas to All

We had a nice Christmas here in Ann Arbor.  Elliot got some great books, some cool shirts, an awesome unbreakable camera, and a tower of ramps for his toy cars that is truly intoxicating.  Kate made a delicious souffle for brunch, and then duck with mushroom risotto for dinner.

Tomorrow we may head out to see Dan's place (which we've been hearing about for quite a while, so I'm excited).  And then in the 27th Ami with come over with Ezra, which will be fun.  Plus that's the day I'm heading to prison to visit someone I'm helping Deb with.  (Yes, that's all very vague, but there may be privacy issues here so I edited that sentence down to nearly nothing).

Photos soon!

My Christmas Eve Eve

If I hadn't flown to Michigan this morning, this would've broken my heart....

Kindle

This could be a pretty good ad for it...

Treadwell, NY.

Alan and Elliot

Thanksgiving Day, 2012.

Variations on a Theme

When Elliot first learned the phrase "Thank You" he associated it with the giving and taking of objects:  sharing.  Logical enough.  Someone gives, you say thank you.

But the precise relationship between "thank you" and the sharing of objects was never quite nailed down.  So Elliot started using the phrase as a way of alerting us that he wanted to share with us. In other words, it was  a way of saying "Here, you take this."

Hence, car rides with a chirpy "Thank You!" emerging from the backseat, and us looking around to find him handing us a toy.

And then a funny thing happened.  Instead of "thank you" he started saying "you're welcome".

So yesterday we're cleaning up the living room and I hear "you're welcome, Daddy" and I turn around and he's handing me a crumpled up paper towel.

I'm sure we will repeat this ad nauseum with books, napkins, bananas, bottles, etc.

Some updates

What's been going on?  We all went out to Joanne and Drew's wedding last weekend.  That was a super-quick jaunt through Michigan (I was there for almost exactly 24 hours), and we got home not-so-rested and had to start a whole long week again.

Plus things have been brutal at the hospital lately.  Lots of patients, lots of consults.  It's tougher living an extra 10-15 minutes out on the subway, even though that seems like a tiny difference.  Hannah has been working from home because her office got flooded during Sandy, and that has its own set of challenges.

Kittens!  They are growing.  We still have all three, but we are definitely going to give away one, maybe two.

So if you know someone in the New York metro area who wants an adorable kitten, have them get in touch with me.  I should probably throw a few photos of them on the blog to whet your appetite, but I don't have any right now.

Anyway, today we moved the kittens from the first floor bathroom --- where they have been frolicking and shredding shower curtains and stinking up the place something royal --- to the back two rooms of the first floor.

Since these back two rooms also currently serve as Hannah's office, it remains to be seen whether the shredding will continue, with Hannah's documents taking the place of the shower curtain.

Albie Mose

In case you're not hip to it, Aaron and Daria have a great blog going for their son Albie Mose Page.

And even if you're just a pure Elliot-o-phile, right now the Albie blog is featuring a bunch of great photos and videos from Thanksgiving, so the entire clan is included...

Pinecone catch

At Two Oaks, Alan and Michelle's farmhouse in Treadwell, NY.

Anna Novick's Holiday Party

Which was awesome, by the way.  I spent most of my time having fun, which is why this is the only video clip from the event.

The unexpected effects of a home renovation

We're going a little nuts with this renovation right now.  We're sleeping in what will one day (hopefully in 2012, or at least early 2013) become an office.  Our bed right now is located about 20 feet from Elliot's crib.

At first this didn't mean much.  For the months of September and October, Elliot slept the way he did before --- all through the night.

But slowly.... slowly he realized that he could get us to come in and pay attention to him at night.  We were close enough that we couldn't just ignore his cries.  And so he began to cry more, and we, wanting sleep, began to hop up and get him a bottle to bribe him back to quiet.

It's gotten to the point where he now wakes up every single night, without fail, and demands a bottle.  He cried for half an hour last night, coughing and gagging he was so worked up.

The point of all this is:  we need our own bedroom.  With a door that gives us some space from him.  Here's hoping it will be here soon.

As you may or may not know, the walk signs in New York City are colored orange and white. 

The Don’t Walk signal is an orange hand.  The Walk signal is a white figure walking.

The unfortunate upshot of this is that when it’s time to cross the street, I say to Elliot, in my cheeriest voice, “Okay, let’s go!  The white man says we can walk!”

At Thanksgiving

Obama

Elliot's bedtime noises

I realize I haven't posted much video of Elliot talking.  I just got our camera up and running again, so hopefully you'll be hearing it soon.  Consider this a warm-up.  For those willing to listen all the way to the end, he's got a pretty good vocabulary: