Chili Pepper 2

This is from a little later in the afternoon, when Elliot and Nene had developed a playful "I-Run-You-Chase" rapport.  

It's really hard to spot, but at 0:35 Nene trips and falls on her face, and if you watch closely you can see Elliot throw himself down after her.  Hey, that looks like fun!

Ian and Elliot

Chili Pepper Festival at BBG

That's Mike and Carrie's daughter Nadine (frequently known as Nene).

[Editor's Note:  I kind of post these videos without watching them too closely.  When I went back to this one, I realized Elliot comes off like kind of a bully!  He started off "tagging" Nene, but when this footage was taken he had graduated to what can only be described as "shoving."  Please watch the second installment, "Chili Pepper 2", for iamges of a kinder, gentler Elliot.]

Trip to Maine --- Bo, Kate, Dana, and Tessa

Bo is one of my college friends who moved up to Maine a few years ago.  His wife Kate has eight brothers and sisters, and they share a house on an island near Freeport.  We went out there for lunch while we were in Maine.

Dane is five (I think?) and the most confident little man I have met in many months.  We went swinging, me and Dane and Elliot, and Dane could tell Elliot was nervous. 

"Doesn't he know how to swing?" he said. 

I explained that he was just learning.  "Do you remember when you were learning how to swing?"

"I did it really fast.  It took me, like 5 minutes.  Or actually it was like 2 minutes."

There was a pause.  "Actually, I learned it when I was born."

Another pause, and then (I am not making this up): "Actually, I learned it when I was in the womb."

Stuff to Remember

He's really into lights.  When I pick him up from Ms. Irving's Daycare (on New York avenue at Lenox Rd), the first thing he does after flinging himself into my arms is show me the overhead light.

He loves trucks.  Jeez, what a cliche.  But it's true.  "Big truck" is a common phrase when an 18-wheeler rumbles past.  He also knows "garbage truck" and knows that the appropriate time to utter it us at 6:30am.

He loves to drive in the car, now that we have a car seat that faces forward.  But he hates being placed into that car seat.

He's starting testing us. Today Hannah was smearing peel-away on our foyer door (more about all that here).  Since it can take off 20 layers of paint in a single day, I assumed it was not so good for human skin, so I told the barefoot Elliot to stay away from her.

He stared right at me and took a single step toward her.

Do not go toward her, I said.  Come back here.

He stood still.  Elliot, I said.

He paused.  Again staring at me, he took another step toward her.

(You don't need me to explain how this ends.  Hint: tears are involved.)

Trip to Maine --- Farm

Trip to Maine --- Apple Picking

Sh*t Elliot Says, Pt III

Updates:

***He loves lights.  Every time he sees a light bulb he says "light."  And you have to look at it and say "that's right, light."

The day we got back from Maine was the first time he used the plural.  Hannah said, "One light, two lights," and he said "two lights."  She noticed it --- I wouldn't have.

***He has started using "mama" and "dada"  a lot.  like A LOT.  Every time he wants something, it's "Mama do it" or "Dada do it."  A favorite of mine is "No, Dada."  This phrase, of course, can be applied in a multitude of situations --- I think toddlers have a knack for finding 12-in-1 tools to get around the fact that they don't know many words.

***He still loves the moon.  Today we went to the corner bodega (at Nostrand and Maple) to buy a few things, and Elliot spied the moon.  "Moon, moon" he jabbered at me, before we crossed the threshold and it was drowned out by a hard-pounding salsa beat.

We walked back to our home, which is four houses down from the bodega.  From our front stoop the moon was hidden by the apartment building across the street.  "Moon, moon," Elliot jabbered again.

"The moon went away," I said, rather disingenuously.

"Moon moon" he repeated.

"I don't see it.  I don't see the moon.  I think the moon went away."

I thought I had the upper hand in this argument, empirical facts being in my favor.

But Elliot was not disuadeable.   "Moon moon," he continued to chant, followed by "Come Dada."

He took me by the hand and led me down the sidewalk (did I forget to mention we were already out on the sidewalk?  A stray cat had drawn us there).  "Moon moon" he said as we walked down the sidewalk.

"No, Elliot, let's just go home.  Look, there's no moon."

"One more time.  One more time."

(This is one of his most adorable phrasings, accompanied as it is by a Clintonesque waggle of the index finger.  Or sometimes the middle finger.)

"Okay okay, we'll go down by the bodega one more time."

This was no small concession on my part, holding as I was an open can of Coors Light.

"Moon moon."

"Where?  I don't see the moon."

"Moon moon."

He stared up at the night sky.  We couldn't see the moon.

"Uppa."  This accompanied by both arms raised.

I picked him up and we strode onto the wide Nostrand Ave sidewalk.

"Moon!"

"There it is!  You were right!  Good job."

"Moon!  Moon!  Moon!"

And now he will know the importance of sticking to his guns, even when his own daddy is telling him to quit and give up.

Photo Booth!

Nov 2011

Poconos Photos

 Thanks to Anna Groth-Shive for capturing these lovely moments....

Anna's Farm Trip

The weekend of Sep 8-9 (I've decided to get more specific with dates, for the sake of posterity) we went up to Anna's farm in the Poconos.

Hannah and Anna went up Friday night, and Elliot and I joined them Saturday morning.  It was threatening to be a rainy weekend, and in fact it did rain.  But that did nothing to prevent us from having a lovely time --- we went swimming, we lay on the dock in the (occasional) sun, we walked in the woods, explored the barn.  We put Elliot down for a nap, and watched the storm push sheets of water across the sky.  And I crawled into bed for a late afternoon nap.  Heaven.

NOTE:  As you can tell from the many over- and under-exposed shots, all of these were taken by me (or Hannah) with my crappy MetroPCS camera-phone (or her semi-crappy Samsung).

Anna got some absolutely gorgeous shots with the big-girl camera, as she calls it, including perhaps my favorite photo ever.  I'll post them here eventually, but I want to give her a chance to put them up on her various websites first...