Is Hanna-Barbera hiring?

Yes, it's been awhile since my last post, but with Sarah on the computer all the time trying to make a living, my screen time is way down. So far it's been a good summer (spring never appeared here -- we went from snow and 20 degrees to high humidity and temperatures in the 90s in about a 24-hour period).

The Memorial Day weekend was filled with fun family outings that, because of her new schedule, Sarah was able to partake in. The outdoor pool at our health club opened on Saturday with Elijah and I showing up with suits on and raring to go. Within an hour, not one, not two, but three very attractive bikini-clad young ladies walked up to us to say hello and give a hug to.....Elijah. Since I was old enough to be their father, I just smiled at them and insisted that Elijah respond in kind. For the record, two were from the child center and the third was a lifeguard at the indoor pool during the winter. With prompting, all three got a "hello" back from Elijah.

That was just the start of the "Isn't that Elijah" recognition game that played out over the entire weekend. At a hot air balloon rally that night someone else recognized Elijah from a gym class he took years ago. The next day at the park pool, he was greeted by a little girl who knew him from YMCA after-school care this past year. (A boy at the pool later that weekend also recognized him from "Y-Care.") On Sunday night, at an outdoor concert attended by thousands, he was spotted by a young lady who used to babysit him years ago. And what was Elijah's response to all of this attention? Unless prompted, he pretty much ignored everyone, but it made me feel good to see how many people knew, and more importantly, seemed to care, who he was.

One activity on our radar this summer is to get the little guy to ride his bike more. We've already made a long excursion on the trails near our home, and he continues to enjoy riding at the area we call "Goose Poop Park." (A lake in the middle of this park is home to a large contingent of Canada geese and, without using too much of your imagination, I think you can see why we call it what we do.)

At the park is one spot where a tree's root has caused the pathway to rise quite a bit. Elijah, wanting to warn people about this impending danger, created a sign that he attached to a Starbucks stirring stick and planted in the ground:

Whenever the little guy does something like this, I am both delighted and amazed by his attention to detail and how his mind works. Yet, just when I think he cannot top a previous effort, Elijah creates something, besides basketball goals and signs, that just floors me. Yesterday he did it again.

Months ago, when he was in a Winnie the Pooh phase, he asked (actually demanded with a plead of "I need...") for a variety of Pooh coloring pages to be downloaded from the computer. Since I haven't seen any of them for awhile, I thought he was done with them until I was the presented the following:

This is the Pooh page I downloaded...

This is how he colored it.....

As he told Sarah and me, Pooh was singing a song (note the microphone and the notes) because he was happy. Forgetting for a moment the story he created for the picture, what absolutely blew me away was the detail he filled in as background. From the pathway from "(R)abbits (H)ouse" to the "Hunny" pot on the ground, it was as if he created his own cartoon cell, a lost art these days with almost all cartoons being computer animation. But I'm not surprised -- it's in his genes. With his mom having worked for years in print journalism (a dying industry) why wouldn't he show a talent and affinity for creating something that, like the newspaper, has just about disappeared in today's society?

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know this yet, Sarah has given notice to her employer and will be doing the freelance gig full time now. I am very excited about her venture and know she will be extremely successful (with her talent how could she not be!) Unfortunately someone in our family is concerned about the future and is making preparations if things don't go well.

Have faith little guy.....mom's going do just fine.

Mother Knows Best

It's been like a MASH unit here the last couple of weeks. Sarah had surgery to repair a torn meniscus and was hobbling around on crutches for a couple of days followed by limping with a cane. Amazingly she didn't miss a day of work, even taking an electric cooler, filled with ice and with hoses that wrapped around her knee, with her to her office. As she tried to put more weight on her leg, she would leave a crutch or her cane leaning against the wall making our house seem like the final scene in either A Christmas Carol or Miracle on 34th Street. Elijah has had horrible allergies causing puffy eyes, constant sneezing and red splotches on his cheeks. I have been taking care of the both of them and, to quote Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, "I'm to old for this shit." (Full disclosure: Waiting on Sarah hand and foot for a couple of days was nothing compared to when I had my back surgery years ago. Sarah did an incredible job of helping me recuperate with all the TLC one could hope to get.)

Unfortunately, as a by-product of his allergies, Elijah was also getting bloody noses every day. No, that isn't right; it was every night, mostly between two and four in the morning. With Sarah somewhat disabled, I would have to clean up the little guy, change his pajamas and sheets, start a load of laundry and calm him back to sleep. (For awhile only Lizzie Borden went through more bloody sheets than we did.)

When I spoke with my mom and told her what was occurring she suggested a swab of Vaseline inside Elijah's nose each night would help. Sure enough the blood spigot has been turned off and all three of us are now sleeping peaceably through the night. I guess mom proved again she must have gained some knowledge from raising the three of us.

Which reminds me of the famous Mark Twain quote: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years." Thanks again mom for not only your love, but wisdom as well.

On the Beach

As I mentioned on an earlier post, we spent a wonderful week at the beach in Siesta Key on Florida's Gulf Coast. Sarah found a great place a hop, step and jump from the beach, and everyone had a great time.

Vacations usually involve eating out, which, with Elijah in tow, can lead to some stressful times. Fortunately Sarah booked a room with a kitchen, so meals were, if not a pleasure, at least no different from what occurs at home. With a barbecue grill right outside our door and a Publix Market a few blocks away, meals were not only cheaper, but much healthier than our normal vacation fare. (The Publix became our second home on this vacation. Each day Elijah would ask to go there as he shares his father's odd obsession with wandering through upscale grocery stores, especially if a viewing of crayon markers or a free treat is on the agenda. With the demographics of the area being elder Jews and Hispanics, each time I went there I thought I was back at a Vons in Sherman Oaks!)

Except for a day trip to the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, we spent almost all of our time on the beach. Although Sarah and I enjoyed the aquarium, Elijah seemed bored by the idea of looking fish that don't talk they do in the Nemo films. One of the few times he really seemed to be enjoying himself was when he was viewing a tank that contained clownfish, or "Nemo fish" (and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, when he saw the "traffic signs" in the gift shop.) But his biggest smile came when we debarked from a tour boat. "Look Daddy...over there," he said excitedly, and joyfully pointed out a basketball court someone had constructed behind one of the docks.

The beach was wonderful. The sand, like no other I've seen, stays cool to the touch and, like the tourist brochures promised, truly does feel like flour. And as one got closer to the water, the sand became home to sea shells by the thousands, prompting beachgoers to comb the area from sunup to sundown looking for the perfect shell.

Although colder than normal for this time of year, the weather, except for rain on our last day there, was great. I got a laugh when I went out to get a paper one morning wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops and encountered a gentlemen out for his morning walk bundled up in a sweatshirt, jacket and gloves. I doubt he would even leave his home during winter if he lived anywhere near us. (The warmest day of the trip coincided with the day that SEVEN inches of snow fell back home.)

Our last night coincided with the traditional drum circle event on the public Siesta Key beach. Lots of congos and bongos, hula hoops and flowers, with people encouraged to join in and dance to the rhythm. Of course our little guy jumped right in and showed the crowd his best steps.

Just like we felt about our vacation, he left the crowd wanting more!

A Quick Break from Spring Break

Yes I know I promised to post more photos from our trip to Siesta Key along with details of the little guy's beach escapades, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. In the meantime here is some new artwork that is gracing our walls that was inspired by a trip to the Sarasota Aquarium.

Once we got there Elijah had little or no interest in seeing dolphins, giant squids, pelicans and blow fish, though a tank containing a real Nemo and Dori did get his attention; but the gift shop with its various "traffic signs" (i.e. manatee crossing, a picture of a shark with the words Dead End) pique his curiosity. That interest waned however until today when, in a burst of creativity, he recreated the shark sign and added to it a variety of crossings we should be on the lookout for when we take to the highway. I don't know about you but being stuck in tape or glue and getting blindsided by a quart of milk is not my idea a joy ride.

Spring Break

For those of you who have been wondering why there hasn't been a new post lately (I'm guessing ten people, including family members) here's a few pictures of where we've been with more details to follow.

What is this s**t?

With Elijah, sometimes a crisis is nothing more than a DVD freezing or wagon wheel pasta that isn't cold enough. Other times, like last night, it's a bloody nose that drips on his shirt and prompts a demand for new apparel. (Not too long ago, the blood coming out of his nose would have been the cause for alarm, so I guess this is an improvement.) This morning, however, the cries of "Daddy come here!!!!" coming from the bathroom were for a problem I haven't dealt with before -- bright blue poop.

For any parents reading this blog, such a moment probably doesn't register high on the angst meter, but for Elijah, the anxiety was overwhelming.

"I don't want my poop to be blue! It needs to be brown!"

My mind went back to a birthday party he attended yesterday in which the Star Wars theme cake was layered in "dark side" black frosting, and I assumed this was was the culprit of the bowel mystery. A quick call to a nurse hotline confirmed this (after she got a good laugh) so the panic level in the household has subsided dramatically.

Sort of gives a new interpretation to the phrase "let the force be with you."