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We came home after the Cottonwood Haunted House to a water leak under the kitchen sink.

I can’t believe how Elliot responded. It was so… special. He saw I was distraught. He said, “hug, daddy, hug” several times. We hugged over and over and he said things like, “it is ok” and “we have a beautiful house” and “don’t worry”.

When I got a bunch of towels to dry the water, he said “let me help” and took the towels from me and wiped up the water as best he could.

Then he asked me for paper on which to draw. On the kitchen table, he drew several pictures for me, something he’s never done before. One was a rainbow ice cream that I pretended to eat. Another was a picture of me that said “FAVORITE DADDY” (he asked me how to spell it), and two more were of cats — he knows I like cats. One he named one “Sammy”, writing it on the paper, asking me how to spell it. And finally he asked me to draw a flower pot; then he drew a flower with several colors in the pot for me.

All of this because of the water leak.

I thanked him profusely. I told him that he’s right, the water leak doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are together, right now.

He knows what is important and showed me when he saw me getting upset. It changed everything and brought us even closer together – something I didn’t think possible.

I wish I could convey how special it was. Just writing a description of what happened doesn’t capture it. I’m a good technical writer but not so good and conveying emotion and feeling in writing.

Said Elliot

“It’s Yom Kippur! You’re supposed to fast!” yelled elliot to the people on the bike path. They weren’t eating. And Yom Kippur was over, although he probably didn’t know that. It was already Sukkot. We were sitting on the “furniture tent” in the backyard.

Elliot is proud to be Jewish. He says lots of things like this, and doesn’t realize other people have no idea what he’s talking about. I love it.

He told his drum teacher about his experience in the “mobile sukkah” (he says sOOkah) eating pumpkin doughnuts. I had to explain sukkahs and Sukkot.

I just love that he is uninhibited talking about Judaism. I’m fact, he doesn’t even know always that it’s Judaism. And he expects everyone he tells these things to (also about Shabbat services) to insert.

I know it will stop someday, but I hope it doesn’t.

Elliot continues to learn to read as we progress through “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”. The book really works! We first started the book on April 28, 2022 (age 4). He wasn’t ready. So I waited a year. We started again on April 19, 2023 (almost age 5). He was definitely ready. Now we completed lesson 43. He is already reading and has been since somewhere in the 30s lessons.

It has flexed my patience muscles. It feels good.

Here is an 8-minute video of his progress. I am so proud of him.

As I call it, “The Pinball Party”. Elliot now calls it the Pinball Festival.

“Elliot Jung, 5, who’s been coming to the expo since he was an infant, races his father Eric Jung on the Cruis’n Blast machines during the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown and Gameroom Expo on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows in Lone Tree, Colo. Admission to the expo comes with being able to play hundreds of pinball and classic arcade games without the need to feed quarters into the machines, as well as various tournaments throughout the weekend. The expo will be running through this Sunday. (Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette)”
https://denvergazette.com/multimedia/photos-rocky-mountain-pinball-showdown-and-gameroom-expo/collection_1464b23c-5f2b-11ee-b73a-9f057b64bd2f.html

Elliot is still fascinated by revolving doors. He’s 5 and a half now. I still remember the first time he saw one. He was floored by how it worked. I don’t remember how old he was. This one was at the Denver Marriot Park Meadows.

Elliot hasn’t been to Dry Creek Crossing apartment complex since Karolina moved out 2 years ago when he was only 3. On Friday, we went there to visit Allie Green. Elliot remembered the complex very well. Maybe it helps that Allie lives on the same floor in the same building, although I’m guessing all the floors look alike. In the elevator he said, “I remember this smell.” It is a distinct, unpleasant odor.

He said his mama used to live here, but she ordered a new apartment. On our way out, I pointed out apartment #411, where he spent a lot of time when Karolina lived there. He asked if someone else lives there now.

I was impressed with his memory, but I guess it’s not surprising when I think about how many days he spent there.

How to make chocolate soup by Elliot Wolf Jung

You get the can of soup and pour it in a bowl and put some chocolate in there. And wait for 15 hours and it will turn into chocolate soup.

It is has to be regular soup, chicken soup, and tomato soup.

I went to school to be with Elliot while he decorated the Sukkah.

I just awoke from the strangest dream. I opened a “hole” into the void. Elliot fell into it. He climbed a short, invisible wall and fell into the opening. He was gone forever, and it was my fault for not protecting him.

The terror I felt, the horror. I can still feel it.

Elliot sang songs and showed me his Rosh Hashanah art this morning at school. Then we went with the kindergarten class down to the creek to do “Tashlich”; throwing bread into the water while apologizing for any unkindness we can remember creating.

Elliot chose to apologize to the Farmette chicken. He also apologized to Grendel for being rough. I did not prompt him to choose those. It was so wonderful.

And Elliot told me to apologize for a time I was unkind to Allie, something I’d shared with him when he was feeling shame about the chicken incident at Farmette.

Tonight we went to the Indigo Hill Pool next door for the last time this season I told Elliot he won’t be back here until he’s 6. He asked twice “will I be 6 tomorrow?” and I don’t know if he means on Friday or just sometime in the future. He is not precise yet with time.

We played King Kong vs Godzilla. And King Kong vs Mecha-Godzilla (previously Robot Godzilla), King Kong vs Mothra. King Kong vs Giant Axolotl

(And I LOVE how he pronounces “axolotl” —he says “axowotl” with a “w”. I copy the way he says even though I know I should Corp him instead. It’s so cute.

Kong vs Rodan. Kong vs Kong Gedorrah.

He is always Kong and Kong always wins.

Surprisingly, we played less CRAZY BRONCO this summer than i thought we would.

What a wonderful Summer of 2023 for little Elliot.

The summer of SKIPPY JOHN JONES and Busy Town videos and a new Gerald and Piggie book from Allie.

Elliot keeps asking “When is October? When is October?” He knows that is the month of his favorite holiday, Halloween, and all the activities around it: haunted hay ride, haunted forest, the haunted house in Highlands Ranch, Anderson Farms corn maze, Botanical Gardens corn maze (at Chatfield Farms), trick-or-treating, costumes, and so much more that we do.

Yesterday and today we reviewed a calendar so I could explain when October starts. He is learning the months.

Elliot woke up the other morning. The first thing he said was, “is it October?” (It was September 2). His favorite time of year is Halloween and all the events in October that we do.

Every morning or evening, I give Elliot the vuvs or a massage or both. He asks for it. Sometimes he asks for the “special massage” which is a massage with moisturizer. I love the way he says “massage” – it is “maschage”.

It used to be only The Vuvs. But ever since I gave him his first massage, it’s mostly that he asks for.

Last night he offered ton give one to me. It was so sweet. His little hands slathered in “lotion”, as he called it, running my back. He rubbed my legs and and feet said his magic will make me run faster. He said he was rubbing evil magic into me, which was a little concerning. That he’d gotten it from a wizard who visited him when he was a baby. The magic leaving him would stop him being mean to animals.