I’m still not with them. I’m still in Littleton.
Karolina: “He insisted on a waffle with his bath.”
Sharing ice cream
Sharing ice cream
Category Uncategorized
From Karolina, traveling cross-country to Maine:
Do you see this? There is a safe in our room. Elliot was playing with it, he punched in a number, took Max’s socks put it in there and closed it. And now we can’t open it.
Why Elliot is sitting naked on a hotel carpet — I’ll never know.
From Karolina:
Visiting an Amish farm. It is sooo beautiful.
…and…
We stopped at an Amish food store – I bought so much food, everything here is homegrown and made. They are the super Amish here, so everything is super organic and soo good . We are in Holmes County which has the biggest population of Amish world wide.
…and…
I love it here so much !!! Seriously!! I already want to come back here and stay in one of the tree houses – it is very “Amish” here, got stuck behind a buggy on the road several times today. We visited several Amish homes and farms – the Amish people/ farmers we met today were all so friendly and nice, they all loved Elliot. I explained to an older Amish farmers what my husband does for work – keep in mind this guy lives in a house that hasn’t been updated since 1866, he doesn’t even know what a computer is.
The cats and puppies in the photos are all for adoption 😃😃😀
I ate so much today – we all did , because everything they make is from scratch, out of homegrown ingredients from their own field, and you can taste it. Elliot ate two big bowls of soup for dinner, on top of everything else he ate today.
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We got Muffin for my 11th birthday!
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E.T. came out, and we were treated to seeing it on a weekday Summer night, at the last minute. I was outside in front of the house when we were told about the plan. And I was so excited; we never saw movies on weeknights.
- Journey’s Escape album was released. The girls played it in the schoolyard during recess on a portable boombox.
- Rush’s Moving Pictures was released. My brother bought it, maybe his first Rush album, I’m not sure. But he blared it all the time, and it got my attention. I listened to it on his record player when he wasn’t home I fell in love with Rush. Some of the love was due to my idol, my brother, liking them. But at some point after 1981, I grew to enjoy them on my own terms. But before that, I started buying their other albums and wearing t-shirts. There is a photo of me from 1981 wearing one of their shirts in 3-quarter black and white sleeves.
- Mr. Cwanger’s 6th grade class. I loved Mr. Cwanger. And I joined the gifted group with Matt Goldberg, David Gordon, and 1 or 2 other kids. We were pulled out of class regularly to do extra work.
- MTV started
- Foreigner 4 !
- Echelon roller skating rink (Gorgar pinball, birthday parties). Girls would slow dance with boys to songs that had just been release like “”Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “Urgent”. But not me.
- Mt. Misery: the Jersey Devil movie, vistiing the Pasedena Ghost Town in the Pine Barrens
- Summer camp at Na-Je-Wa in the Poconos. It was generally bad time with my bunk makes hating me and calling me a Nazi because of my last name (it was the first and last time I remember being picked on, or bullied, as it is called today). But the best parts were:
- Making my first real circuit with blinky-lights. It is a purple heart with two flashing LEDs that I still have today. I gave it to my mom who wasn’t sure what to do with it. My father taught me how to solder before this, but it was always repair work. This was the first time I created something with electronics, and I remember the teacher well (an older man with gray hair who guided me in soldering the 505 timer chip).
- Damn, I forgot.
- bad part: the counselor stabbing me with his electric razor after he found my playing with it (I was fascinated by the electric motor because I’d been playing with electric motors with 9-volt batteries before camp). I was bleeding and still have the scar under my chin,
- Dungeons & Dragons!
- Another inspiration from my brother. I “dungeon mastered” for Chuck Trobman, Scott Mazer, and (at times) Mark DeCheser. Jan Robbins was too silly to play. I played Rush’s “YYZ” and Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now” during play for ambience. Both of those songs have a certain mood that fit the milieu. It didn’t work so well because Scott asked that I turn the music down, but I had the right idea. Playing mood-specific music is what all the kids do now apparently.
- Heavy Metal the movie
- I can’t underestimate the influence of this film. I saw it on HBO or Cinemax late at night. Both of those were new for us: we’d just gotten cable TV (with MTV) that same year. I’d never seen nudity let along animated nudity. And the soundtrack included Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, etc, bands I was already listening to or soon started listening to (and also saw in concert).
Max and I went last night. He sat on my lap for some of it because the booster seat was not comfortable. It was so special, even though he’s too heavy to be doing that. Afterwards, there was a Q&A session with two 11-year-old boys (max’s same age!) who played Charlie and an older girl who played Violet Beauregard.
It was raining at Elliot’s first Pow-Wow at The Fort in Morrison. Max said he didn’t bring a “barilla” (umbrella).
In April, he asked Karolina if she had seen “101 Donations.”
In June, Max was watching an Irish dance troup on TV. After a few moments he said, “You know what? I bet I could dance like the leprechaun people”
Early May, 2019
Max
Max cried when the “bad guy” in Game of Thrones died (final season). Karolina only let him watch that one episode.
Karolina got her hair lightened and it was down, not in a bun. She picked up Max and he said, “Can you put your hair back?” (He means into a bun)
Karolina: why?
Max: Because I know you better.
Elliot
Elliot laughs whenever I sing the “meow mix” song in falsetto, even if he’s in the middle of crying. He wants to copy things we do — drink from a regular glass, stir the pot, walk Chinle. He insisted on bringing a wooden spatula into the car.
THINGS THAT MAKE ELLIOT LAUGH – April 28, 2019
when we smell at his feet and go “bleh” pretending they are smelly
when we are holding him, he pushes against our chest and we pretend to be thrown backwards
removing aki’s glasses and aki reacts like something terrible has happened and he says “MINE! MINE!”
running after max with a stick while elliot is in the chest carrier
max being really goofy or silly (like when he ADHD medications wear off)
blowing on his belly — making farting sounds
elliot putting his finger or entire hand into our mouths and we pretend to eat it
we tap our hand over his mouth, modulating the sound he makes into the stereotypical ululating Native American war cry. we also do this to our mouths. He goes crazy for this.
Playing peek-a-boo
he also recently starting copying us “uh-oh” or, if we copy his “bah” and “dah”, sounds, he copies us back several times.
Max and I passed the topless bar on Santa Fe Drive. He asked about it again, couldn’t believe such a place can exist. Then he said he’d rather go to a Chocolate Bar.
Other things he’s said recently:
Max: “Have you ever seen 101 Donations?” [Dalmations]
He calls Elliot “Elli” now.
Max called the state of Virginia “Vagina” not because he wanted to but because of his speech.
Max, Mama, and Elliot went to the Denver zoo today (2019-Apr-26) and rode the carousel together.
Colorado Springs. April 7 with Ed the Veteran.
First time playing instead of just watching, as we did at GenghisCon. Afterwards, Max says he likes it more than all of his video games!
April 8, 2019!
Insert photo here 🙂
On Monday, March 25, after we arrived back from Texas Pinball Festival in Dallas (what a drive!), Max did not want to take a shower.
What a surprise.
To coax him, I used the old trick: “How about I shower with you?” His answer? “That’s weird“.
No more showers or baths with Max anymore. The end of an era for me! We had so much fun playing together during those baths and showers, although sometimes I did not want to take them too.
The 11th birthday was a success. Elliot got one of Max’s “11” silver balloon and loved it. We tied it to his walker for week. You can see the two silver balloons in this photo, with Max wearing the Geoffrey tiara from now-defunct Toys ‘R Us:
Hi.
I hope you had a good time with Elliot at the party! I keep thinking of him riding a pony for the first time and wish I could have seen it. I hope it was a lot of fun for both of you. Thank you for going to those “Jewish” things with him.
My cell phone battery died during the drive, and it does not charge. It is broken. So, I have no phone and no camera for the entire weekend. I am sorry. Fortunately, I wrote down directions on paper before the battery died, so we made it to the hotel, but I will need to buy a map tomorrow… like old days.
We arrived at 10:30 PM your time (it is 11:30 here — it is Central Time zone) and since we left at 9:00 AM (after getting gas, sunglasses, and putting air in the ties), it was a 13 1/2 hour trip including breaks/stops, the 45 minute cool-down of the car, and getting a rental car in Amarillo. Yes, I took your suggestion. We got a rental car in Amarillo and I left my car there to pick up on Monday morning. We won’t return until Monday very late at night, I think.
We did visit the Cadillac Ranch and I took photos before my phone died. But all in all, a crazy start so far: car and phone trouble. Hopefully that’s the extent of it and nothing else.
We will try to call from a pay phone (!!!) tomorrow — if I can find one. There is a phone here, but I don’t know how to use it yet. WE are exhausted and going to sleep.
OH! Max lost a tooth on the drive while eating. I saved it.
love,
aki + max
p.s. we forgot pajamas and toothpaste 🙂
Max had been asking to go to the International House of Pancakes for a little while. He thought the name sounded grandiose. It must be a superb place with such a pretentious name. So, we went. Highlands Ranch. I didn’t say anything or set his expectations. He was disappointed. Can you see it in his face?
Max to me after I tucked him into bed, “Wait, Aki, I have a question. Will you try to get some sleep so you won’t lose your mind?” We talked about this over dinner:
Study: Deep Sleep Best for Brain ‘Cleaning,’ Emphasizes Link Between Sleep and Alzheimer’s