The Fisher Price Junkie Set, Ages 3 and up

Tonight, Rachel showed me this photo of Rosie O'donnell;s kid in her army get up complete with ammo belt ("bullet sash", according to the internet, don't get me started on all of the reasons that this is wrong, maybe Mike will clear it up for everyone since this is his pet peeve). Rachel and I do not generally support the idea of toy guns and we are a bit unusual in the sense that our ideas about gun ownership do not match well with the rest of our liberal politics. (For example, we believe that gay couples should be able to get married and have guns in their home if they so choose. We encourage them to seek training should they do so and I personally lean in the direction of mandating training.)

We ended up having the following conversation*, where, feeling pretty full of piss and vinegar, I roamed around the edge of the argument lobbing (metaphorical) grenades.

Rachel: I can't believe her, what a hypocrite. I really think Ellis should never have a toy gun.
Trey: Of course not, it is far too dangerous considering that we own real guns. There should never be an ounce of confusion. But I think that argument is a practical one rather than philosophical. Should we not allow him to have underroos and a cape since he might get confused and jump off of the roof?
Rachel: Maybe it is a practical thing, but that isn't a good example. All flying humans are a fantasy, some guns are real. A toy gun is like having realistic toy poison bottles for him to stack under his play kitchen sink.
Trey: Yeah, it is kind of like having a toy heroin set complete with syringe, blackened spoon and lighter.
Rachel: That is also a crappy example, all heroin is bad and we don't own any. (Really we don't mister DEA officer, really.)
Trey: Well since swords are no longer in common use (and we don't have any) could he have a toy sword.
Rachel: Only if it was super unrealistic. Like maybe a nerf sword.

*For some reason, I am really liking this dialogue post format. Look out Plato.

Benito or Maria

(We are reading a book about using Montessori methods in the early life of a child.)

Trey: Any new revelations from the Montessori book?
Rachel: No, I didn't read anymore of it.
Trey(trying not let on he has only spent 10 minutes with the book): I thought the thing about Hitler and Mussolini banning the Montessori methods was pretty interesting.
Rachel(with acidic sarcasm): Well that will really help us with raising Ellis. Or maybe I didn't realize we needed to discuss whether or not a fascist upbringing was on the table. If that is the case there are some other things we need to discuss.

hasta luego españa

This could be our crappiest travel summary yet. Mostly it consists of just these pictures, though they are captioned. Plus, you'll get to find out what this is:and what it tastes like.

Other impressions from Barcelona and Sitges: traveling with a 1 year old is more fun if your husband doesn't have to work (we spent 1 day alone, walking and walking), the Catalan people are very friendly, I remember more Spanish than I thought and my idea that it's easier than German isn't all in my head, the Mediterranean may have the most beautiful coast in the world, Europeans are WAY more comfortable with their bodies (I don't just mean the topless women, I mean the grandmothers in 2 piece suits), I wish we could've seen more things in Barcelona.

Hmm, probably should've just made a bulleted list, but that would mean I couldn't come up with anything better than a bulleted list. Which is worse?

salad days

Yesterday was a long day with a long flight delay coming back from Spain. We finally made it home after 1 am and collapsed into bed. The rain that delayed our flight must've been good for our garden while we were gone, because it's exploded into a mass of green. At right you can see our kale in the top, the romanesco (broccoli from space) in the lower right and our supposed bush beans climbing to five feet on the lower left.

This year, we took a cue from our neighbors and planted lettuce under the tomatoes to provide shade for them but now the tomatoes are completely overgrown- why does this happen every year? At least the lettuce is still doing well somewhere under there and we even used it to have Greek salad for dinner. Also we have to decide whether to freeze all that kale and plant something else in there or try to keep harvesting some and letting it grow. We moved our zucchini plant to the hill in the back of the yard and also decided to try some pumpkin, since it is unavailable canned and expensive fresh. It's been a hard fight against the slugs/snails, but it looks like the pumpkin finally got a foot hold (and by the way, what heck kind of garden super pest eats lettuce, broccoli, and pumpkin leaves? Trey saw a slug with a cape on the other day). Of course, all the rain also made the weeds grow like crazy. The weeding looked like a two man job , but fortunately, we were ready. Here's the Ellis-eye view:

"Ok, Dad, I think I can see the problems with your technique. If I could just demonstrate..."

"First, you are using way too much wrist action. You have to put your shoulder into it. Don't try to be so controlled. A little more aggressive, maybe try grunting too."

beach baby there in the sand

Ellis officially loved the beach. He was hilarious playing in the sand trying to figure out whether it was a liquid or solid. The water was a little cold, but he didn't seem to mind and a couple times started crawling back toward the waves when we tried to take a rest on the towel further up the beach. Here he seems to be exclaiming that the beach is "awesome".

random notes from Spain

Today Trey was at the conference all day, so Ellis and I walked all around town (well, I walked, Ellis mostly hung out in his stroller). Then we left Barcelona and arrived in Sitges. So tomorrow Ellis will try "swimming" in the ocean for this first time. We will do a more thorough summary of what we've seen and done soon. Until then, you get these crackpot observations.

• The food here is a lot like Italian food- not exactly what I was expecting. Trey has remarked especially on the yumminess of plump, meaty anchovies and the non-fishy tasting canned tuna. I agree with him on the anchovies, but the tuna-that's because it's oil packed. Meat+fat = more flavor; it's universal.
  
• Our hotel is 50 m from the beach, literally right across the street. In a possibly related note, the tap water here is beyond nasty. Could it be that the tap water is actually desalinated seawater? What would that taste like?
• Barcelona has some of the most unrelentingly creepy, crazy sculpture. Everywhere you look: giant heads without bodies, smiley faces with corkscrews stuck in their eyes, disembodied wings, what looks like a lower body (no upper body, naturally) but with a butt on both front and back. Also, clearly, I do not appreciate art. Ellis appears to not be a fan either of even this simple one, which marks the edge of the Olympic Village.
  
• I stopped in a super market to get something to drink and some type of whole grain biscuit (nominally for Ellis, though obviously I eat a lot of them). I clearly haven't learned my lesson about reading the labels of foreign food carefully. Because I accidentally bought some sort of colon blow biscuit, as you can see from the somewhat disturbing back panel.
  
• The Spanish seem to really love babies. Really love them. In Germany, the baby love extends to kids getting a free half pretzel or slice of wurst. Nearly everyone I've interacted with here has cooed "Ah, que guapo" while bending over or leaning over to smile at Ellis. And tonight Trey went down to pick us up a snack and one of the Spanish colleagues (a stranger) actually kissed Ellis's foot. I agree, though, look how sweet he is zonked out in the hotel bed tonight.
  

Civilization

How do you know you are in a civilized place:

1. The breakfast buffet is 50 yards long.
2. Everyone is having champagne for breakfast.
3. Olive oil is the ONLY savory table condiment.
4. Having a baby at the table is a cause for the wait staff to laugh and play rather than be annoyed.

Coming to you live from the Spanish coast

We made it to Spain today and Ellis's traveling demeanor won him several accolades. A couple of folks mentioned his incredibly even temper on the plane and a French woman (or as we call them here "a French"--long story about my labmates and the funny English we speak at EMBL) said she couldn't believe that Ellis could even get an old German to smile back at him.

The hotel is nice (as it should be for the price--most or all of which is being covered by my work). We have free wireless. They have an interesting system for conserving electricity: when you come in the room there is a little wall slot that you stick your key into and then that sends power to your room. This guarantees that if no one is in the room then the lights and TV aren't on.

Ellis just managed to turn the TV on and scare the crap out of himself. He was so surprised his butt raised off of the bed an inch.

Wilhelma Gardens

We are way overdue, but here is a summary of our trip to Wilhelma Gardens and Zoo in Stuttgart. As far as a zoo, it was pretty nice. Like a lot of bigger zoos, they are clearly in the process of creating larger, more open habitats for the animals. What is unique about the zoo is that it is also a botanical garden. Also, it has some historical significance as it was originally built by King Wilhelm I. His Moorish Gardens from the end of the 1800s still form the heart of the park. These building and water features are beautiful with an ornate, Near Eastern feel.

It was baking hot the day of our visit, so the greenhouses were not very popular, though the collection of plants is quite impressive. The bright sun also meant a lot of pictures are bleached out- sorry. Check here for a few pictures to get a better idea of what the place actually looks like. Even outside the greenhouses, we were surrounded by gorgeous vegetation, including lily pads that can support up to 70 kg and the trellises covered with flowers. They have a wide variety of animals so we did everything from watch the sea lions perform to get up close to the residents of the butterfly house to stare at elephant butts (in order of decreasing excitement, obviously).

More than even a typical zoo, this one is great for families because of the vast amounts of open, shady green space. It makes it easy to take a picnic and just hang out on the grass for a while. The park's website even lets you print out a stroller-friendly tour that contains no steps. There is also a smallish petting zoo that is nicely designed for both people and animals. Kids and their parents can walk in among the goats and sheep, but when the animals get fed up they can escape to one of the adjoining pens from which people are excluded. Here is Ellis somewhat underwhelmed by a goat and her kid (actually, looking at these pictures, perhaps he was underwhelmed by the whole experience, ah well).

Developmental Explosion

As you know, Ellis hit one year last week and since that time we have had a developmental explosion on our hands. I mean it, as he develops, the explosions of temper are on the rise. I think part of the development has been due to Aunt Lindsey's persistence with a few things, but I don't really know.

Here is a short catalog of developments since his birthday:

1. His second molar is breaking.

2. He is now up to taking 5 steps between parents without holding on. When he does this he cackles with unbelievable excitement. In fact, he gets so excited we have to calm him down between attempts to avoid a disaster. We showed the downstairs neighbors on Friday and they were pretty excited. If there is one sad thing about him beginning to walk, it is that Rosyl, the downstairs neighbor won't be able to watch him since she is far to slow to catch a toddler.

3. He has definitely got the sign for "more" down. This one is probably due to a strict perform-reward session with Aunt Lindsey that involved a car ride back from France, a cramped backseat and dried apricots.

4. He also can identify his foot. Or at least if you say foot, he picks it up. Aunt Lindsey is also responsible for this having replaced the apricots with tickly toe kisses.

5. He clearly knows what "no" means. His usual response is indeed to stop what he was doing, but to also scream his head off.

6. His first words are starting to form. I think we have pretty solid confirmation on "yuck".

7. He also seems to say a version of "bonk". He likes to push his head against mine in a donkeyesque gesture of affection. Since he can't give a kiss yet, at least not one that isn't more like a tongue bath, will only give raspberries (zerberts) to his mother and can't hug really, I got in the habit of saying, "Hey Ellis, gimme a bonk", and he has figured out what this means. When we bonk heads, I always say "bonk" and now he does too.

I can't explain why he has this different way of being affectionate with me from what he does to his mom. Maybe the raspberries are an offshoot of nursing, something that he, obviously, never did with me. I am just happy that if Rachel gets a special thing, so do I and I can report that the kid has a hard head and a high pain tolerance. Maybe he has a future in the UFC.

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Addendum added 7:26 am, 11th of June, 2007
Within an hour of posting this, Ellis took to bonking heads with everyone. The only consolation is that Ellis got them when they weren't ready and hurt them a bit. Not only did I lose my little special thing with him, but I probably have to start discouraging him, since he is inadvertently hurting people. Also, we had a bad night last night, probably due to the teething, so I expect to see some more teeth shortly. Oh and at dinner, the more sign was flying all over the place.

How 'bout them apples?

A boy at one year

For Ellis's birthday we had a low-key celebration and a meal of his apparent favorites (fried potatoes, meatballs, and strawberry cake). He seemed skeptical at first and carefully removed and ate each strawberry piece. But when he finally decided to dig into the cake/custard/icing part of the cake, he seemed to like that part too. In addition to the previous gifts from Grandma Lise, Ellis opened even more presents from Grandma Audrey and Aunt Lindsey, including some super cute summer outfits (and a baby swimming suit!), a starter train set, and wooden pull toy on a string, which he's working hard to get to follow him. Here are some pictures (more here) and musings on the first year.

Today, I looked back and read the posts about Ellis's arrival and first days. The skinny arms have been replaced by sausages and the skinny fingers have become littler sausages. He has filled out and stretched out, but still has a nice pudgey babiness, despite the fact that he looks more like a little kid every day. His hair is still thin and whispy, but getting longer and filling in a bit. He has one molar and I expect we will see more any week. Here are some of the other things that have changed, or not.

Weight:
Then: 7lbs and change
Now: 25 lbs
If he continues to triple his weight every year he will be bigger than the earth before he retires. I am doubtful that he can do this, but based on tonight's performance at dinner, he seems determined.

Head shape:
Then: Sloping forehead reminiscent of Grandpa Simpson
Now: Perfectly round pumpkin

Favorite Food:
Then: Milk
Now: Everything and milk. He especially loves meat and fruit. The strawberry consumption has been outrageous and he has recently begun to appreciate bananas much more.

Favorite Toys:
Then: Milk dispensers
Now: His new musical instruments and his books

Primary means of locomotion:
Then: Laying around waiting for an earthquake to tip the house and slide him somewhere interesting.
Now: Walking and crawling. He is ever so close to breaking free of holding on to the sofa and the walls, but just can't quite do it. Frequently he can be seen standing with his own balance barely touching the furniture. He loves going up the stairs much to the chagrin of the grandmas.

Sleep:
Then: 3 hours, max, in the family bed
Now: 2 naps and one 3 am stirring for a snack and snuggle, in his own bed a few hours per night. Who knows when he will sleep through. He has hinted he is close to doing so lately, but far be it from me to jinx it.

It is hard to know what to say to mark the one year. So much has changed about him. On the one hand, it seems like he was just born yesterday and on the other it seems like he has always been part of this family. There are new reasons to love him all the time and he finds new and creative ways to drive us crazy everyday. He dissipates so much energy, that he must be contributing to climate change. Recently, he has developed a much bigger palette of facial expressions that include all sorts of rumpled up lips and squinty eyed leers. I can't say he has correctly identified either of us as mama or dada, but he sure makes both sounds a lot, just not while looking or pointing at the correct parent with any regularity. His vocalizations have increased in volume, frequency and variety, so I expect we will start hearing some words pretty soon. His coordination is really excellent as you saw in the recent cinematic triumph, "Baby Feeding Self Potential Allergen with Fork". He has also become really snuggly lately, sometimes stopping as he crawls by to plop his head on your leg. This, we must enjoy, because, I know it is a limited time offer.

11 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days

Ellis is turning one on Tuesday! Lindsey is here to celebrate the occasion and lobbying for a birthday cake for him. I know the following two pieces of information about Ellis:
1) He loves strawberries
2) He really takes after Trey

Thus, I thought maybe a strawberry birthday pie would be a better choice- but it just doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

Anyway, Ellis was allowed to open Grandma Lisé's package early. There were lots of cute summer outfits, which he'll be trying out as soon as it warms up around here. More popular with him, was a box full of musical instruments. He doesn't quite understand the harmonica yet, but the maracas, little drum, and rain sticks have certainly held his attention.

and he's buying a stairway...

Lately Ellis has one goal and one goal only- getting up the stairs. He's actually pretty stable and only seems to have any difficulty when he's tired at night. To be fair, at those times, he also often falls while cruising along the wall too- he gets clumsy. He's a good little climber now, though I know my mother's heart is in her throat when sees him get past stair#3 on the webcam. The problem is that he can get all the way to the top, where he stands up and looks back down while perhaps thinking "I went up head first, maybe I can go back down that way too." The worst thing now is that when we take him off the stairs, he throws some kind of little proto-tantrum, involving a quick back arch and some kicking and screaming for 15-30 seconds. If he's doing this at 11 months and 3 weeks, I fear for what the second year of his life is going to bring.
It's a good think his Aunt Lindsey is arriving shortly for a visit, so we'll have an extra pair of eyes and hands around here.