Friday, November 30, 2007

Elliot Crawled!

Elliot crawled this morning--and Grandma Suzan and Grandpa Bill were here to see it! I'll post video soon.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Harry Potter

We were so sad to miss our friends' Harry Potter party while we were gone for Thanksgiving! In the spirit of the party, though, I've decided to post some pictures from the Harry Potter 7 release party we went to in Columbus Circle this summer. Notice the conspicuous absence of any of the men in our lives--they claimed they wanted to be helpful and babysit, but I think they were really just trying to avoid having to walk down the streets of New York City with us.

Tamarra (Fleur), Jill (Hagrid), Mikaela, Linea (Snape), Kara (Parvati Patel)

A glowering Snape

Why fly when you can take the subway?


Me (Luna Lovegood, of course) and Mikaela

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Elliot and the Uncles

We went to Connecticut for Thanksgiving. Elliot had a great time hanging out with his uncles (and aunts!) Here are the boys watching Baby Einstein together. Caleb and Josh claimed that they were only watching for Elliot's benefit (it is for babies, after all), but I did notice that when they thought no one was looking Josh would occasionally turn to Caleb and whisper, "That's a cool one!", to which Caleb would nod fervently.

The amazing, mezmorizing powers of Baby Einstein, huh? One wonders what would happen if, say, Baby Mozart fell into the wrong hands--we might all be sitting around watching hand puppets and felt crabs on metronomes.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Bad Day Gets a Little Better

Last night, after finishing a huge presentation, I came out of class and the car wouldn't start. Apparently, the garage attendant had accidentally tried to start the car using the wrong key, thereby activating our car's "electronic immobilization" theft deterrent system. Basically this meant that a thief couldn't get the car, but neither could I. I won't go into all the details of what followed, but here are a couple of highlights: Having to call a neighbor and ask her to go and knock on our apartment door after Chris failed to answer any of my 32 calls (turns out his phone was on vibrate); and being asked if I had any "soft paper" after inquiring whether there was a restroom I could use. (And then, when I said no, having to follow the garage attendant to his car where he retrieved some wrinkled dinner napkins from his glove compartment and graciously offered them to me. I accepted them gladly.)

This morning didn't go much better. Chris had to spend over two hours waiting for a tow truck to come (even though they said it would only take a half hour) and missed class as a result. I spent nearly that much time on the phone with our insurance company, the tow-truck man and the Volkswagen Dealership (where - fingers crossed - our car will arrive safe and sound in the next hour or so).

Despite all of this, things are looking up. Here's why: Though I don't usually turn on the TV during the day, I decided to flip through channels while feeding Elliot. Turns out Drew Carey is now the host of the Price is Right. Yes, that's right. There he is, fat, balding, wearing a suit and holding that ridiculously skinny microphone -- and looking thoroughly miserable doing it. My thought? Well, at least my life isn't that bad.

Reason #2 my day is looking up? Elliot hates bananas. After gladly gulping down watery green beans and pea paste, the kid has decided that it's bananas he doesn't like. And I haven't laughed this hard in ages. I took a video - hopefully this will brighten your day too.

PS - The pink bib was the only one they had at the grocery store the day I was there. I swear!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Addendum to Yesterday's Post

This is what he was doing when we came in to get him this morning. I was half tempted to offer him the TV remote and an ice-cold beverage.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Crib Bumpers

Elliot has always loved his crib bumpers. It doesn't matter where I lay him in the crib, when I walk in later to check on him, he has always managed to push himself into the corner of the crib, where he can press his head (and frequently his face) against them. Recently, though, he's found another use for them: lounging. Now when he wakes up from his nap, he props himself up on the bumper, one arm resting casually across the top and just "chills" until I come get him.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Playdate

Sariah and Ben came over today to help us decorate cookies. The cookies turned out great, though I can't take any credit - their success is totally due to Sariah's steady hand and Jill's helpful hints (the royal icing was perfect!) Elliot had lots of fun hanging out with Ben!

Friday, November 2, 2007

A New Trick

For the past week or so Elliot has been making various attempts at mobility. Usually he'll lie on his belly and pull his knees to his chest, trying to scoot. When that doesn't get him anywhere (and he's thoroughly frustrated by it), he'll roll where he wants to go. But today he figured out a new trick. It hasn't helped him to move yet, but he's still quite proud of the accomplishment.