Elliot is already so comfortable at skating. His cousin Olivia will give him a lesson in Colorado Springs in early March. I enjoy watching him. Elliot enjoys watching the zamboni smooth the ice before his lesson starts. He is fascinated by it. We talk about how it works and watch.
From preschool: “We made sensory balls with balloons and rice. They feel so squishy and fun to play with!”
I asked ChatGPT to tell me a story. The topic is the pizza kittens, characters I made up to tell bedtime stories to elliot (actually, Elliot first coined the phrase “Pizza Kittens” and I ran wit it.
ChatGPT made a wonderful story I can tell to Elliot the next time we are together. Here’s the prompt:
“Tell me a story about two pizza kittens named Grendel and Pepi. They go on an adventure to fight a city of mice who are destroying the cheese factories.”
ChatGPT:
“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there were two pizza kittens named Grendel and Pepi. They lived in a cozy little pizzeria with their owner, Nonno. Nonno loved Grendel and Pepi like they were his own children and they loved him just as much.
ChatGPT
One day, while Grendel and Pepi were out exploring, they stumbled upon a city of mice who were destroying all the cheese factories in the land. The mice were stealing all the cheese and hoarding it for themselves, leaving none for the other animals.
Grendel and Pepi knew they had to do something to stop the mice and save the cheese factories. They returned to Nonno’s pizzeria and told him about their discovery. Nonno was shocked and saddened by the news, but he knew that Grendel and Pepi were brave and determined kittens and he believed they could save the day.
So, Nonno gave Grendel and Pepi a special pizza recipe that he had been keeping secret for years. It was a pizza made with a secret ingredient that was irresistible to mice. He told them to use it to lure the mice out of the cheese factories and into a trap.
Grendel and Pepi set off on their adventure, armed with Nonno’s special pizza recipe. They traveled to the city of mice and began to lay out the pizza. The mice were immediately drawn to the irresistible smell and began to gather around.
Once all the mice were gathered, Grendel and Pepi closed the trap and captured all the mice. They returned to Nonno’s pizzeria and presented the mice to him. Nonno was overjoyed and declared Grendel and Pepi as heroes of the land.
With the mice gone, the cheese factories were able to start making cheese again, and the land was once again filled with the delicious smell of fresh mozzarella. Grendel and Pepi were hailed as heroes and even got their own pizza named after them at Nonno’s pizzeria.
And from that day on, Grendel and Pepi lived happily ever after, with plenty of cheese for all.”
Images Generated by Stable Diffusion
I’m reading this parenting book right now:
Elliot likes to look at the cartoons inside. He asks me to explain them.
“What is the book about?” he asks.
“It teaches me how to be a better daddy,” I say.
“How can I be a better boy?” he asked.
And my heart melted.
“Elliot, when I die I want to be buried in a Jewish cemetery,” I said.
“But you don’t die,” replied Elliot.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you’re new.”
After Elliot has been with Karolina for 5 days, I sometimes notice an improvement in his speech when we are reunited. His speech is really good, so this doesn’t happen as often as used to. But I’ll hear better pronunciations, new vocabulary, or new sentence structures. It’s remarkable and I love it.
Now we are apart for 12 days; the longest we’ve ever been since his birth. I wonder how he will sound when he returns!
Elliot woke up this morning and asked to watch the “beach statue”. I had to think for a while that he meant Talos. Jason and the Argonauts.
We’ve been listening to the theme song from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” a lot, even in the car, and he hums it often.
Elliot LOVED Hanukkah on Ice this year. He’s been going since he was 7 months old, once per year, but this is the first time he wore skates and skated. We stayed until the rink closed! Hardly anyone was left. His progress in just 90 minutes was amazing: From me holding him up and skating with him to him doing it on his own and not holding the wall at all.
Elliot watched “Home Alone” for the first time over the last couple of days. But we don’t finish it because we keep replaying the “sledding down the stairs” scene.
Elliot cackles uncontrollably with laughter every time. It’s such a wonderful thing to hear! I tried to capture it on video but couldn’t.
Age 4 years and almost 8 months. We went to feed the ducks today, but they are gone for the winter. Grocery shopping with Elliot. He takes up most of the cart now and complains when I put a groceries on his legs. I think there is not much time left until “Shopping for Elliots” is over 😢
Elliot:”Grandpa Marty, you like to eat spiders?” Elliot moves the planchette on the board to “YES”.
Elliot: “What does this say?” He is pointing to HELLO and GOODBYE.
Me: “This is HELLO and GOODBYE. Ask him another question.”
Elliot: “Why… why you are dead?
See YouTube video at https://youtu.be/7zKNY1OfKdU
Elliot has discovered “Doo Whop” music from the 50s and early 60s and can’t believe people can sing like that. So we’ve been dancing the night away to music from my parents generation that I know only through them.
It’s a great way to remember my parents. They loved that music, especially my father.
We switch between dancing, “the tickle tunnel “, and me holding him upside down by his ankles and swinging him around. He calls it “going crazy” as in “Daddy, let’s go crazy!!
His favorites are “Blue Moon” by the Marcels, “Mr Bass Man” by Johnny Cymbal, and “Speedo” by the Cadillacs (although that’s not a Doo Whop song really, it’s just from the same era). Speedo was a favorite of my dad’s, and one that we also went crazy too.
In fact, I remember very well “going crazy” to music with my father, too. I’m so glad Elliot loves music!
Still perfecting the unbroken latke. But they taste great.
We are waiting on line to ride the horse carriage next to the house by the pool. There are dozens of parents and kids. Elliot is singing “Oh, Hanukkah” around all these Christian people who are here for the holidays. It’s quite funny, a contrast.
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