Spoken by Elliot when an eagle flew over Grendel and we watched.

Remember how often Elliot says, “Daddy, guess what? I love you.”

Remember on Wednesday, when I picked up Elliot from his last day at The Purple Room at the Garden Preschool, he asked about being with his mother? And tonight, the day before his first day in The Blue Room, Elliot asked who is picking him up from school tomorrow. When I said “mama”, he said he wanted me to pick him up. “Can mama bring me to school in the morning and you pick me up? I can stay with you?” When I said I’d have to ask mama, he said “I asked her and you know what she said? She said yes.”

Barbara Shindell says this could just be Elliot’s desire not to change; not necessarily that he likes being with one of us more than the other. But we had so much quality time together these last five days, I don’t know. He had off from school/camp on Thursday and Friday, so I took off from work. I very consciously was present with him for 4 1/2 days. No phone (except to take photos); no computer. No distractions. Just us 24/7. And Elliot still does not like being left alone unless he is watching TV, which I limited to only when I was cooking lunch or dinner.

So even if I go to the bathroom, Elliot follows me. If I move from the kitchen to the laundry room, Elliot follows me. I’ll forget something in one room, and he follows me for the 3 seconds it takes before I return to the original room. It is like we connected by a leash. We are very attached to each other because of this.

GOING TO PLANET COUS-COUS

See on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/shorts/ZANaj_RT8iU

Arcade 1-Up

“Daddy, what’s an axololtl?“

Elliot has been asking me that numerous times over every day for the last four days. But I don’t know why. We watched a brief documentary about them many months ago. Does he remember that? Or did Max show him one in Minecraft?

Either way, it’s pretty funny.

… when Elliot runs to me and throws his arms around me, burying his head in my stomach, because he has brain freeze from eating ice cream.

At the Douglas County Fair on Sunday, Elliot wanted to play the a water “ray gun” game. It’s a contest of several people playing against each other. Whoever shoots the water gun at a small target the longest, wins a prize. Elliot won twice (with my help), upgrading his first prize to this red pepper ghost face.

I did not realize how proud he was until later. He kept talking about winning twice and would not let go of the pepper. He carried it around the whole day and the next day (he was with me on Monday, which is not usually the case). He wanted to bring it to preschool to show everyone but in the end decided not to.

I put it in his backpack so he could show Max and Karolina, not now I sort of regret that. I loved seeing his face while he told me how he won it… he did it himself and his pride.

Elliot got this at Shredder Fishing Camp a couple of weeks ago. He came home with it and was SO excited to fill it with water and to see if the cats would use it. It was all he would talk about for a day. Then it was forgotten.

One great thing about having small children is that they make you spend time on things that matter: them. They grab your sleeve as you’re staring at your phone and say “will you play with me?” — Paul Graham

Elliot asked me twice over the last two days to watch the clouds with me and pretend what animals or things we could find in them.

He asked at bad times, going to school or similar, so I said we’d do it later. Later. I don’t like that word. I hope I remember to do it with him tomorrow when we see each other again.

We were walking to the pool yesterday evening. The sun was low and our shadows very long.

“Look how long my legs are m, Daddy! Look at my feet! I’m so big!”

I love seeing the world through his eyes. Everything so new. He reminds me to notice things that I overlook. I love that.

When I’m 100 years old, Elliot will be the same age I am now: 52. I hope I am fortunate enough to see him at that age.

I caught COVID-19 last week when I went out with my friend, Steve Neuman, for lunch in Parker.

I missed my time with Elliot because of that. We’re going to be together tomorrow. It will be 9 days of not seeing him, which is the longest we’ve been apart since he was born.

What a wonderful evening Elliot and I had together.

First, we met Maya, Ella, and Sagi (their father) at Club Greenwood to go swimming. We played Crazy Bronco, berry bombs, zombies, and many other games in the pool. Elliot also went into the steam room and sauna with me, briefly. He did not like it very much, too hot.

But then the children took turns sitting in the lifeguard’s chair next to the pool. It was Elliot’s turn. I was holding onto the chair and somehow slipped. I pulled the entire chair and Elliot into the pool with me! Amazingly, no one was hurt. We laughed and laughed and talked about it over and over again.

Elliot loves hiding in the lockers. He’s still small enough to fit in these half-height lockers. We play the “Where’s Elliot?” game, and even though I know where he is, and he knows that, he still loves to play it.

There was an amazing sunset on the way out. The children rolled down a grassy hill about a thousand times. Everything is new for Elliot, just like the Jello we made the other day. I love experiencing it with him.

We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner (“Can we go to the place with the playground inside”). Coming out: Elliot’s first lightning show. It was a good one. Really good. It was nearly dark. I pulled Elliot down under an awning. We sat and watched the lightning “magic show” for probably 20 minutes. When was the last time I did that? And that’s what we called it and referred to it for the next couple of days: the lightning magic show.

I love our life together!

Here are some pictures from the Arapahoe County Fair that Elliot loves so much, from the next day. This is our 2nd or 3rd year attending.

It’s the end of the day. Elliot and I are walking.

“Daddy, look how big my shadow is. Why is it so big?”

My baby Elliot is 4 years old. I think of the music that inspired me when I was that age. I know the songs in my memory, but I did not know when they were released without looking them up. This one, “Neil Sedaka – Laughter in the Rain (1974)” has a particular memory for me.

I don’t know my age, but based on the song, it should have been 1974 or 1975 – so I would be 4 or 5. I was with my mommy at the house. The car was broken or missing, I don’t know why. She asked the next-door neighbor, Roz Brandeis at 1125 Sea Gull Lane, to drive us somewhere. The Shop ‘N Bag supermarket, maybe?

Roz put us into her car. Mom was in the front and I was in the back. No car seat or booster back then. This song was on the radio – Neil Sedaka – Laughter in the Rain (1974).

I remember how Mommy looked. I remember how Roz looked. I remember the blue car. Most of all, I remember the music!

Other songs from 1974 that were part of my life as a 4-year-old:

“I Shot The Sheriff” – Eric Clapton’s version. We had this on 45 record. I remember the “pig” or “cow” logo on the record. I played it a lot.

“wichita lineman” by Glenn Campbell, 1968, was on the radio a lot. My father liked Glenn Campbell and Gordon Ligthfoot, so of course I did, too. “Rhinestone Cowboy” was big. John Denver. Playing his albums on the record player over and over. Why I wanted to move to Colorado. “jet plane” my parents should hug when my dad leaves for the airport. Everything by the “The Carpenters”.

Christopher Cross-Arthur’s Theme – oh my. 1981?

killing me softly – roberta flack

tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree – tony orlando. i took this song very literally.

pretty much everything by the carpenters – e.g. yesterday once more, top of the world

jim croce – time in a bottle, bad bad leroy brown

lots of john denver – this was a huge influence on me

So many more!

streisand – the way we were

kung fu fighting

love will keep us together – we had this on 45 rpm record.

I still remember when Skylab fell to Earth in 1979. I was 9. People on TV who found items (and others who claimed they did by manufacturing junk with aluminum foil). It was inspirational. I looked to the sky at the right time to see what I could see. I wish I could share that with Elliot , but he’s with Karolina this weekend.

The Long March 5B, a 22-ton Chinese rocket, is falling back to Earth this weekend. 20-40% of it will survive reentry. No one knows exactly where the pieces will crash, and that’s part of the allure, right?

Hey daddy it’s so nice to be with you (while entering the haunted house at the fair) at top of the Ferris wheel he says I CAN SEE THE MATRIX!

I’ve been teaching Elliot not to kill or hurt bugs for a long time. We touch them and pick them up, and watch them. But he knows not to hurt or kill them, even though other children at school and camp do. I’ve explained to him why he shouldn’t do that, and he’s very conscientious and careful about it. We really enjoy watching and rescuing bugs on our “adventures”, expeditions, and walks. Elliot picks them up off the pavement and returns them to an area with grass or soil, including worms.

On Sunday, Elliot and I walked through a house for sale a few blocks away. The realtor liked him a lot. Afterwards, Elliot saw a dead bug on the front of our car — killed by collision. He asked why it had died, what had happened. I explained it to him in great detail, using my hands to show how the bug must have smashed into the car at high speed while we were driving.

Tonight I spoke to that realtor about 715 Mueller Drive, our home. She not only remembered Elliot’s name, but told me how wonderful it was that Elliot was concerned about the bug on the front of our car.