Elliot

Elliot comes up with the funniest things sometimes. Here are a few examples.

Lately, for some unknown reason, he started saying to me, "Mom, you say 'oh my goodness,' I say 'Oh my gosh.'" So then I say, "Oh my goodness!" and he says, with a big smile, "Oh my gosh!" I am not sure where this came from, but it seems to give him great satisfaction.

Elliot has several things memorized or nearly memorized. We like to sing/recite these things as we walk along. Usually I start the sentence and he finishes it, but sometimes we'll take turns doing bigger chunks. His favorite is probably when we recite Where the Wild Things Are. I start with, "The night Max wore his..." and he chimes in with, "wolf suit"
K: "and made..."
E: "...mischief of one kind and another."

and on, until the end of the story, taking turns, until the end

K: "...and into the night of his very own room, where he found..."
E: "...his supper waiting for him. And it was still hot."

He also knows Pooh's ABCs ("A is for apple, juicy and sweet. B is for basket with good things to eat...") and can sing many of the Carole King versions of Sendak's Nutshell stories, like Pierre, Alligators All Around and One Was Johnny. Today while he was sitting on the toilet, we heard him singing with all his might, "Arriving home at six o'clock, his parents had a dreadful shock. They found the lion sick in bed and cried, 'Pierre is surely dead!' They pulled the lion by the hair, they hit him with a folding chair. His mother cried, 'Where is Pierre?' and the lion answered, 'I don't care.' His father said, 'Pierre's in there.'" Ben and I were giggling from the kitchen. It's so funny because he doesn't actually know words like "arriving" and "dreadful," so he just says the basic sounds and rhythms. I think he actually thinks it is "a-riding" instead of "arriving." (We are working on getting a video of this. It is much funnier to watch than read about, especially if you know the original version... we'll keep trying.)

He has also been quoting movies, in particular his favorite, "Kung Fu Panda." The other day he had something Aaron wanted and he said, "You want this? Come and get it!" Ben and I were laughing so hard, wondering how he came up with that. Then he reminded us it was from Kung Fu Panda. Still pretty funny though. Sometimes he'll just say, at a seemingly random time, "Remember Kung Fu Panda? He's like, 'Open the door!' That's so silly." I don't remember this part of the movie, but I'm dying to see it again to find out why demanding a door be opened could be so memorably silly.

Pictures

We've been wanting to get some good pictures of the whole family for awhile now. With the help of our friend Lisa, her excellent camera, and the gardens behind St. John's Cathedral, we were able to get a few.

Looking at Libbie

On a bench

Our little tulip

This is what we got when we asked Elliot if he could "make Libbie smile."

Enough said

Teasing Game

Aaron: Nah, nah, na-boo-boo, you are a poo-poo.
Elliot: I'm not a poo-poo! I'm pee!

Today

We had a great day today. Ben was on a hiking trip with the Boy Scouts so it was me and the kids. By the end of the afternoon, though, there were six kids in the apartment. It was pretty exciting.

We started off the day by heading off to a park in Harlem for some fishing in the Hudson River. There was an event there, with the park rangers, live music, and the whole shebang. We were really excited (especially, of course, Aaron) but when we got there they said you had to be at least eight years old in order to fish. Aaron was crushed (I may have shed a tear myself the disappointment was so strong) but we finally decided that I would fish and he would stand with me. Kori and Tony and little Tony met us there, but when the rain started coming on strong they went to our place while we fished in the rain. It turns out that the rangers running the actual fishing part were less strict than those with whom we signed in, because as soon as we got there they offered Elliot a fishing pole. Aaron used his pole and a new lure he got as a reward from his reading chart. Nobody caught anything, but it was fun nonetheless. We left prematurely because I could only take so much torrential rain in one afternoon. I'm not a big fan of getting myself and my kids soaked, but Aaron and Elliot were so excited that I didn't think it was worth it to say no. It was quite a sight to see them there, standing on the dock over the Hudson River holding fishing poles in the pouring rain. Trying hard to be patient but hoping deeply that they'd feel a tug. Elliot kept saying, "I want to catch a fish!" Aaron thought he had one for a minute but it turned out to just be the dock. Later he said it was our fault for not coming fast enough to help him hook the fish, which is essential since he was using a plastic lure.

After the fishing escapade, our friends brought their two girls over and the party continued, now with my three kids, Mara, Ava, little Tony, my sister Kori and her husband Tony. Kori took Ava out to get new shoes and a manicure (she was in heaven). When they came back, everyone wanted their nails and toes painted.



Pink, the color of choice for the night. Any thoughts on letting little boys paint their fingernails? It doesn't make much sense to me to deny them the experience if they really want it. If the pictures come back to haunt them someday, so be it.

When it came time for Kori and her family to go, Elliot said, "I want to go with you!" I told him that Ben, Aaron and I were all staying at our house tonight but he still kept saying he wanted to go with them. I explained to him in many different ways that we wouldn't be with him, that Kori would be putting him to bed, etc, and he still said he wanted to go. So we packed up his backpack and he and Tony walked out delightedly.

Cousin Sleep-Over!

Last time I checked in with Kori, Elliot and Tony were eating ice cream cones and watching Nemo. Let's hope the enthusiasm continues and I don't end up taking a midnight train to Connecticut.

Actually, I think I miss him more than he misses me. When I called earlier, I talked to Elliot and said, "I love you" and he said, "I yuv you" and handed the phone back to Kori. Just like that. Aaron would have freaked out at his age. First of all, he never would have gone off by himself like that. Then, if he had heard my voice on the phone it would have set him off crying. It's funny how different kids are.

Update: Elliot is back from his sleepover party and was happy the whole time. He was excited to see us, but when Kori and Tony drove off, both Tony and Elliot were bawling.

Thumb Sucking

Libbie has been really into her thumb lately. Every once in awhiel she gets other parts of her fist in there as well, but most often she sucks on her thumb. A few times now she has put herself to sleep from sucking her thumb. Now I can't decide whether to keep swaddling her at night or not. Should I encourage thumb sucking? I'm not sure why, but Elliot takes her thumb out of her mouth every time he notices it. He says, "Libbie sucking his thumb." (He hasn't quite gotten used to female pronouns yet.)

Soothed to sleep on the couch

Brotherly Love

These boys love their little sister so much.



Aaron rarely poses for pictures, but he likes to snuggle with Libbie so much that he actually requested I take this one

Elliot "reading" Mercy Watson to Libbie