Red Hook Farm

We have some friends who live in Red Hook, so the weekend after the storm Elliot and I headed over there to see if we could lend a hand (Hannah was off being a good friend to Liz in Oregon).

 It turned out that our friends were already taken care of, so we wandered over to the Red Hook Community Farm, which is a MASSIVE plot of land, like two football fields.

A big chunk of it is asphalt.

And it's right next to Ikea. 

Elliot tried to contribute, with his art.

And his general adorableness.

Just stuff

Not interesting stuff.  Just stuff. 

1) Someone screwed him up with shapes.  He's been (for months now --- in fact maybe I already blogged about this?) pointing a circles and saying "oval."  I have to gently correct him.  And he doesn't take it well. 

I'm blaming someone at Bumblebee Daycare, because when he was at Sunflower he was between 6 months and 10 months, and that just seems too young.  

Regardless of who is responsible, it's been an intensive, brutal, punishing corrective process.  But slowly those monsters' grip is loosening, the toxins are leaching, and our lovely child is returning to us. I've missed him so!

2) He skips 5.  We've been doing a lot of counting, and somewhere along the line Elliot decided to go straight from 4 (as in 1...2...3...4)  to 9.  

It's not that he doesn't know 5 comes after 4.  If you stop him and say "No, what's after 4?" he will think about it and say 5. 

What's happening, I think is that he has learned that ten is the goal.  And what better way to get to ten than skipping to 9?

When he actually does this skipping thing, it makes perfect sense to me.  We're reading a counting book, and we start counting pears or something.  He starts slowly (1...2...) but quickly accelerates (3, 4) and somewhere around the number 3 I can hear the excitement enter his voice.  By four he's fired up, brimming with anticipation, and the next number out of his mouth? Nine.  

If I were a better writer I could find some way that all of us adults do something exactly like this in our adulty lives.  But the analogy, if it exists, refuses to come to me right now.

If you think of one, leave it in the comments. 

Storms

It's been a crazy few weeks.  Hurricane Sandy had barely moved through before we got word of another storm shaping up.  The NYC marathon was canceled.

On Tuesday Obama won reelection (Yay!) (Elliot can now recognize photos of Obama, and he shouts "Obama" (which is a perfect word for an infant to pronounce) whenever he sees him).

Then yesterday this second storm hit us, a Nor'easter they called it.  I was trying to finish my compost bin and the wind was getting really strong, and then it started raining.  Hannah and I pulled the compost bin down into the basement, and an hour later when I came upstairs it was snowing.

Not the nice calm Christmasy snow, big flakes drifting onto your parka and such.  This was blustery swirls of ice pellets stabbing you in the cheekbone.  Not fun.  It took me half an hour to drive 10 blocks to pick up Elliot.  And I was wet from the 15-second run from the house to the car.

This is our backyard a day later, and it's been pretty warm so some of the snow melted:

That's our compost pile, which will soon be binned...

Elliot is smart

Can I just do that thing where I talk about how smart my kid is?  Do you mind?  Great.  Thanks for pretending you don’t find this incredibly irritating. 

We were reading a halloween themed book, and he pointed at a spooky castle and said “House.”  I explained to him that it was called a castle, which was like a house but a lot bigger.  I left it at that --- an explanation of the feudal system of governance seemed like it would be beyond both him and me.  

We finished the book and started another.  This was a train book, and on one page the train wound its way through a city.  

Elliot pointed at the skyscrapers.  “Castle,” he said.  

“Oh!  RIght, well, actually --- Yes, that is a really big house, but it’s different than a castle.”  

He looked at me suspiciously.  I realized I would have to be more specific.  

“It doesn’t have turrets.  A castle has turrets, and little spires and cupolas.”

He was skeptical. Should I be learning from this guy?  I plowed on.

“Also castles are made out of stone, and buildings are steel or wood.  Or, well, I guess buildings can be from stone too.  But castles are always really old.  Unless you built a new one, which almost no one does.”

He stared at me.  There was a pause. 

“Read Lowly Worm!”

Birthday at the Daycare

Birthday trip to the Zoo

Elliot updates

1) "Up Daddy.  Up Mommy."   These expressions are used constantly.  We'll be sitting eating dinner and we shall be commanded by Himself to rise.  We ask him why, but Himself just repeats the inviolate command.

(Yeah, I'm poking fun, but who has the last laugh? Himself.  Because after five or six rounds of unshakeable Up Daddy, what always happens?  I get up and see what he wants me to do.)

2)  Hannah.  He's started using her name.  We don't know how he figured it out, but I guess it's not that tricky.  There's something so hilarious about hearing him babble "Hah-nah, hah-nah," over and over (as he inevitably does, because once he sees how the words make us laugh, he keeps repeating them).

3) Couches are fun right now.  We went over to Brady's place for Baconfest 2012, and Elliot was drawn immediately to the couch.  He's the size that he can run up and smash his chest and belly against the front of it, and then flop face down onto the couch seat, with his feet still on the ground.  Then he likes to roll over on his back, again with the feet on the ground, which puts him in a very weird, uncomfortable- and unhealthy-seeming position.  Often it exposes his stark white tummy too --- which is hard to resist tickling.

Hurricane Sandy

We are all well.  There are some tales to tell, but none involving getting soaked or hit with a branch or made homeless.

Here's a video I took on Monday night, at the height of the storm:

At the time, the decision to go outside seemed pretty innocuous.  But after reading this article about a young couple killed during  the hurricane, I feel the need to give thanks.  That couple lived just a mile from us, and they were only outside for a few minutes to walk to the dog.  It's easy to forget how quickly it can all be snatched away from you.... (more about the tragedy here)

Head over to Nostrand South for a more complete story (and photos) of my hurricane experience.

Halloween!

Our block is an official Lefferts trick-or-treat block --- meaning it's closed to traffic and there are crossing guards at all the intersections.

As a result, we expect to give away several hundred dollars worth of candy.  It will be awesome.

Photos of the evening will be forthcoming --- for now, check out our pumpkin-carving fiesta from last weekend.

swimming

Hurricane Sandy!

I'm at work, Hannah is home with Elliot.  I fear for my green beans in the backyard (latest photo of them is here, but they are much higher now, nearly three feet --- I suspect they will be bright green mulch by the time I get home).

The storm is supposed to hit South Jersey this evening, but will probably miss most of New York.

As far as I can tell, the only effect of this storm is that it allowed me to drive to work this morning (7 miles) in 12 minutes.

Well okay, I guess it did drown Red Hook:

Halloween Day at Wyckoff Farmhouse

We heard about a fun Halloween festival for kids, on the grounds of the oldest house in New York.  So we jumped in the car and drove down Clarendon Road into East Flatbush.

Turns out the oldest house in New York is now squeezed between an auto body shop and a car wash.  Who woulda thunk?

But they have a nice few acres.  Elliot plucked some cherry tomatoes and ate them, so that was fun.

The highlight of the afternoon was face painting.  He was remarkably cooperative; I think it was because he had a dry hot dog bun in his lap to eat.

 

Trees and Saplings Class at BBG

Happy Birthday Hannah!

I love you sweetheart. I'm so happy about the adventure we're on.