will mow your lawn for $10

play video

As soon as I find a lawnmover small enough, I'm putting him to work. This kid has gotta start earning his keep around here.

america's next top baby model

Check out this screenshot. If you look in the bottom right corner, you will see a familiar face.


If you are at the thinkgeek site and click on the photo, you can see a larger image of Elliott in action. Him & his rhino friend are recreating an image on a shirt I bought Dan for Christmas. Unfortunately, the shirt is now discontinued so the images might not remain up on the site much longer.

very busy

he's driving!

cruising the mall

the weix boys swimming

a walk on the green in new haven

everyone gets a little exhausted taking care of an elliott

happy birthday grandma weix!

Grandma & Grandpa Weix are in town this week and arrived today on Grandma's Birthday. Elliott has been putting on a non-stop show for her. He always knows how to get her to laugh & smile. Everytime he sees her, he claps and she laughs. And now he claps all the time. In the car. In the bath tub. When we are trying to put him to bed. He'll have his eyes closed and be snuggled up in your neck so you'll think he's ready to be put in the crib. But then suddenly he will pull back, eyes wide open and clap and smile. Its going to be a busy week.

happy 1st birthday sam-a-lama!

Whenever I see Sam & Elliott together, I always picture them as best buddies growing up thru the years. I can see them walking around the playground as first graders swapping lunches and catching bugs. I imagine them becoming very different people by the time they get to high school - you know the pair of friends that you would never expect to be friends, and yet are inseparable. This part gets a little hazy. Perhaps Elliott will be a big computer geek and Sam will be the cool jock. Or Sam will be the prom king & Elliott will be the band geek. Or Elliott will be the fat kid bully and Sam will be the tall skinny goth guy. No matter what, I'm positive they would be battling it out for valedictorian. But then, whenever I try to predict their future together, I suddenly remember that we're moving to Illinois and there is a very real chance that their paths will never cross again. And I am sad. But I rejoice in the fact that Elliott had the honor of having Sam in his life for this period of time. Happy Birthday, Sam! We love you big guy!

larger than life

happy 1st birthday salome!

In honor of Salome's birthday, I washed Elliott's highchair seat cover today. Before they left for Chi-town, we had Jeanette, Ken & Salome over for dinner. Elliott had already eaten, so I offered Salome the high chair. Unfortunately, the seat hadn't been cleaned in several weeks and though I don't have a picture of how scary it was, you should have a sense of how yucky it had gotten based on the pictures of Elliott in it and the incredible amount of food that is all over his face. At first, I thought Jeanette was offering to hold Salome just to be polite, but now I realize that she probably didn't want Salome to have to wallow in Elliott's filth. I'm incredibly embarrased and very very sorry. Jeanette & Ken, congrats on getting to the one year mark. Your daughter is incredibly beautiful in so many, many ways. And Salome, we miss you and hope you are living it up in Chicago. We can't wait to see you again and promise the next time you come to our home, we will have more hospitable conditions for you to eat in.

you say tomato...I say bleeaaahhh (gratuitous vomiting noises)

random picture of Elliott about to eat grass

Even before Elliott was born, Dan & I realized that he would play a crucial role in our food wars. He would be the tie breaker for many food stuffs that we were in conflict over. I like bananas and oatmeal - Dan does not. Dan likes corned beef hash, funyuns, and raw tomatoes - and whenever I even get a whiff of said items, I feel like I'm two months pregnant and begin dry heaving.
Up until this past weekend, Elliott has only been exposed to bananas and oatmeal and I'm happy to say, he loves them both. It is fun to think I'm winning the war, even though it really isn't much of a war since Dan & I eat as much as we want of whatever we want (even if it causes the other person to need to leave the room). Still, this weekend, when we were at the Katz's and Meta served up some raw tomatoes (something I would never do), I felt it was my duty as a loving mother to offer some to Elliott (and give his father an opportunity for a comeback). At first, Elliott reacted the same way he always does when given a taste of something different - he furled his brow and made a gagging sound. But then he tossed the tomato around his gums a bit, swallowed it down, smiled, and began to kick his legs happily again. It appeared as though Dan would finally get some points on the board. But when I gave Elliott a second bite of tomato, he had the same initial reaction, but then promptly proceeded to vomit up the entire contents of his stomach. And I'm not talking baby spit up here. There have been many times before when E was younger where I thought he was seriously vomiting, but after witnessing this event, previous events could only be described as the merest bit of spit up. No, this was like a garden hose was attached to his mouth. This was like in the movie, "Kill Bill Vol. 1" when Uma Thurman slices off arms and legs of the Crazy 88 and they spray blood everywhere, except it was liquidy sweet potatoes, cheerios, bagel, & tomato. As I watched my baby in horror and sought out ways to comfort him yet avoid the pool of spew that had collected in his bucket bib, I couldn't help but smile & think to myself, "Stella - 3, Dan - 0."

epilogue to i have just achieved greatness

Since publishing this post two weeks ago, I have not once been able to get Elliott to re-nap from the car to the crib. However, Dan has. I guess I should be happy.

Visit to NYC

Elliott took his first trip out to NYC today to visit with Tom & Meta Katz. Dr. Katz is the professor Dan worked for at Columbia when he was an undergrad. Recently, Tom celebrated his 70th birthday and there was a surprise party for him which Dan attended. Since Elliott & I weren't able to go, we took a separate trip out today to visit with them.


Here's a pic of Tom holding Elliott. He held up pretty well holding our little behemoth!


Tom, Elliott & Meta


Dan, Elliott, Meta & Tom


After brunch we headed to Midtown to do some exploring. Can you guess where Dan wanted to go?


The car ride home after a very adventurous day. Well, not all of the car ride home, but the peaceful part.

P.S. Happy Birthday Crazy Aunt Judy! We miss you lots & wish Hong Kong was only as far away as Stamford! Now update your blog you freak!