Category Uncategorized

It was Pepi’s 10th birthday. Elliot and I were in the Indigo Hill Swimming Pool, probably our last time there. Elliot became friends quickly with a boy named Zachary. We all played together, into the darkness of the night still in the pool. Zachary followed us in his swim floaties while Elliot dove for the bouncy ball and crab toy that sank to the bottom of the pool (one of the games we play – I push him down to the floor of the pool. Sometimes he retrieves the toy, sometimes not. It’s his choice. If he does not retrieve it, I hurl him into the air, spinning, and say something like, “SCOOB! SCOOBY DOO! You’re supposed to get the toy!” I don’t think Zachary ever saw anything like that before, especially a parent playing with his son for such a long time.

Then we played a catch game with Zachary for a long time. We met his father. Apparently, they just moved here from San Diego.

Elliot asked me to tell him a story. Zachary and he listened.

“It was Pepi’s 10th birthday. All the Pizza Kittens gathered to plan a surprise party for him. They got a cake with a frosting mouse on the top, and 10 candles. They hung decorations all over the house. They bought presents: cat nip, cat toys like a fishing pole with feathers on the end, and cat treats. They wrapped the presents.

Then they went into the basement, where Pepi was sleeping, and woke him up!

All the Pizza Kittens sang “Happy Birthday” to Pepi. (Here I sang the song). They brought him the cake, and he blew out the candles. They brought him presents and decorations. He loved all of it.”

Somehow I involved Lebowski, Zachary’s cat, but I don’t remember now how he fit into the story. Zachary seemed to like that since he did not know Pepi.

Tonight and last night, we went to the Indigo Hill swimming pool next to the house. Elliot drove his white electric Mercedes car that Mark Schaier night got him for his 3rd birthday last year.

I think it might be the last time; they close on Sunday for the season. I don’t have Elliot this weekend, and it is looking more and more like I should sell the house.

I hope never to forget the memories we made at that pool, including the ones with Max in the summer and fall of 2020. We went there almost every day for months back then, because mama needed a quiet house to study. The four of us were still living together in those days.

Although we spent a lot of time in the Cordillera pool in the summer of 2018 and 2019, Elliot learned to swim at WaterWorks Swimming lessons during 2021-2022, while spending time in the Indigo Hill pool, too. It’s where he first stopped wearing “floaties”, even though I have to hold him if he leaves the steps or the small area where he can now, finally, stand.

It’s where, in early July of 2021, he had an incident that got me to immediately sign him up for swimming lessons.

Here we are going to and from the pool. On the way back, his new friend Zachary joined him in the car ride. Elliot then proceeded to show Zach a bunch of toys in the garage.

Elliot is obsessed with the oarfish for the last couple of weeks. I don’t know why. He keeps asking to see pictures and videos of it.

Before the oarfish, he was obsessed with the axolotl. I know there’s an axolotl in Minecraft, and he may have seen it on YouTube or with Maxi playing Minecraft, but I can’t figure out where he learned about oarfish.

Update: now he’s obsessed with the hagfish. I introduced him to it through a YouTube video. I recognize how obsessive he can get over topics he enjoys, something I had, too.

Elliot listened to the Hamster Dance at pre-K. Now we’re listening to it non-stop and dancing, too. He loves it.

Elliot found one of the sleeping suits he used every night when he was much smaller. He remembers it well and tried to fit into it again. Nope. He hasn’t used in probably 14 months or more. He’s age 4 years 4 months right now.

Elliot loves going to the dentist. This time, not only did we play the zombie and Jurassic world video games, but we played laser tag, too. We had a great time together. Dr. Bowen is wonderful, too. She said Elliot will definitely need braces, and she told him to stop using the “fire” (pacifier). I think he still uses it in the evenings at Karolina’s. But Elliot knows it’s a guilty pleasure so he’s not quick to admit it.

He did it! He said, “Daddy, when I’m at Mama’s, I will miss you.” During these 5-days together, I also introduced Elliot to a calendar. We colored the days with Daddy in green and the days with Mam in blue. It really helped him to understand the future. He said nor ask at all when Mama will pick him up.

A warm summer night.

Having played for a half hour in the indoor Chick-Fil-A playground, I finally coaxed Elliot to leave. Outside, it was night and there was a lightning storm. It was raining, too. I avoided the temptation to rush to the car. Instead, I sat down on the sidewalk, under an awning, and pulled little Elliot down onto my lap.

We watching the lightning show in the night in front of the mountains. It was beautiful.

Elliot called it a magic show. It was indeed magic. He was thrilled. He kept saying that he’d never seen a magic show before. It was so beautiful. Long, thin, forked streaks with hardly any thunder. Other people came in and out of Chick-Fil-A not noticing the magic show.

I am so lucky to be able to infuse this into Elliot. Slow down and look around. Look at the beauty of it all.

I did not get any photos, so here is a stock lightning image.

And a photo of Elliot the day before.

Last night, Elliot made Jello for the first time. He chose it from the supermarket and carried it around for two days almost everywhere we went. He said he never had it before, but I don’t know what drew him to it at the supermarket. Anyway, we cooked it together last night. It was ready this morning. He had some for breakfast and loved it!

Tomorrow is the first launch of the Artemis rocket. It will be unmanned and circle the moon in preparation for bringing astronauts on the next trip. Elliot wore his astronaut outfit to school to celebrate. Can’t wait to watch with him tomorrow like I watched the space shuttle launches!

We also had a lot of fun playing with Dream Studio’s Stable Diffusion, coming up with pizza kittens and space cats like this:

The Blue Room at The Garden Preschool. Elliot is wearing a black cat-tail to school because… why not?