action ship

Our upstairs neighbor asked Elliot to help her out with a video and this is it. EJ’s first acting gig—that is, if you discount the 75% of her day that’s spent reenacting various Disney movies (mostly Tangled). Maybe it’s just the proud daddy talking, but I think she did a pretty good job. :)

to be deleted soon

most posts i regret and this no doubt will be the richest plum of them all. for all none of you who seek out my seasoned and measured advice, here this. the only advice i have for all you pregnant women and your terrified husbands (of which there are many, many of each group in our present circle) is this: if you are fortunate enough to scrap together five bloody years as a couple in the warfare that is marriage, do not bring your precious byproduct of those five years on your anniversary date. "why would i want a babysitter when we can spend a lovely evening together as a family?" you think as you foolishly refuse offers to babysit from skeptical friends. she is the best thing that has ever happened to you, no doubt. and while your evening may begin with each spouse minstrelling balads of gratitude and times gone by, you will end the evening with a screaming child and to-go boxes, profuse apologies to the world for bringing a child to a nice restaurant, and standing up over your desk like a crazed liberace banging out your next angry blog post. you will have had neither the mex chocolate cake or the custardy flan for dessert you have been trying to decide between since you heard the violent debates on the merits of each on cnn. being a mother is great blah blah blah. of course we love being parents. we are completely obsessed with our child. but i will love being a mother the most when our precious gift is asleep and i am eating a hamburger out of a plastic box.

chat with EJ

Last night when I talked to Elliot on FaceTime, we had a completely normal grown-up human being dialogue. We talked about her day, where she went, with who; she showed me how long her hair was getting; read me her new book; she asked if Lizzy was there (she wasn't); she played games with the video chat—one time I "offered" her a jelly belly and held it out to the screen and she said "you're too far away!"; she said, "Dad, do you remember eskimo kisses?" (I did, and we rubbed noses across the internet); she asked for hugs; she was super tired silly and laughed a lot; we counted together, sang songs together, we said a prayer together… I mean, she's always been a really good communicator, but it was like she was at a completely different level than she was one week ago… so crazy.

cartoon

Very funny and very true.

From the New Yorker. Thanks @brentbarson for the tip. :)

good momma

This could in some way be considered a Monther’s Day post… I’ve never made any claim of being punctual. Especially on this blog. We’re still waiting on EJ’s birthday from April and, apparently according to my sister-in-law from this past weekend, photos from Christmas… 2010? Who knows anymore.

But, Suzie… you are an incredible mom. We love you. Everything Elliot is is credit to you.

off to preschool

It’s weird to see your baby grow up. I mean, who does she think she is?! Posing for photos!? Smiling!?!

Also, that little kitty in her arms got lost at school and Suzie and I were faced once again with how to handle something being gone. When Susan—Elliot’s first beta fish—died, we just kind of hid the tank for a few days. We had wanted to replace her with another Susan, but couldn’t find a fish that looked similar enough. In the end we told her, but it wasn’t the most graceful parenting. Currently we’re trying to decide if we should buy another Amber on Amazon. Fortunately for us, one thing in the world that there is absolutely no shortage of duplicates is Beanie Babies.

fashionista

Recently, whether it’s been the refusal to wear anything or wearing several layers of winter bundle on the warmest evening of the season thus far, Elliot has really taken to voicing her opinions when it comes to matters of dress. And most of the time she really does pretty well for herself (even if with some good coaching from Suzie, I’m sure). This shouldn’t, nor does it, come as a surprise, as this is the same girl that walked around Babies’R’Us on the eve of her first birthday, picking clothes off the hanger racks and saying: “Ooo, cute.” And then ultimately picking the only pair of sparkly gold flats to wear out of the store that night as an early birthday present from her Gran’mama.