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Fri, Nov 6, 2009 9:00 PM
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and this year we got to spread it out over a whole week. Eluned was a puppy; I made her costume.

Emerson had a small Halloween plus United Nations Day party the Saturday before. Everyone dressed up and brought their favorite international dish for a potluck. We had a costume contest and then played games.

In Els' age group, there were 4 princesses and Els, so Els won sort of by default. After all, you can't pick one princess over the others.

Far and away the best costume of the night was Batman and Robin. One boy in our church uses a wheelchair and has an assistance dog. He and his parents tricked his wheelchair out as the Batmobile, and somewhere they found a Robin costume for the dog.

On Friday, there was a little Halloween celebration at work, so I picked Els up early, dressed her up and went. I was the only person to bring a child but everyone welcomed her. They had a series of contests and challenges with various prizes, and someone gave Els a little bag of Tootsie Rolls. They wanted her to enter the costume contest, but she was content to sort her candy so I left her alone.

We had a nice slow walk back to my office with one of my co-workers. Els was delighted when we passed a fountain, and insisted on going up the library steps herself.

Everyone there was very happy to see her. We couldn't even get down the hall to my desk without being stopped repeatedly. But I got Els spruced up and we went back, and people gave her candy and pretzels. The pretzels were a huge hit with Els.

We had an even slower walk back to my car. Els wanted to explore every inch and I was happy to let her. Els had made fast friends with one of the student assistants and she walked with us part of the way, but when Els found another fountain and we stopped to examine it, even Els' new friend left.

On Saturday, Halloween, we finally carved the pumpkin that had been sitting around the house. Els didn't get too hands-on, but she found the whole thing fascinating.

That evening, I tried sitting out front with Els in her costume to hand out candy. We had a good time doing that last year, but of course last year, Els couldn't walk yet. This year she didn't want to wait by the front door; she wanted to go run around. And there weren't that many trick-or-treaters. So Will took Els out for a short walk. They even went up to one house, where Els was showered with candy. (Ironically, the same kind of candy that I had bought to hand out.)

Then we waited inside for the trick-or-treaters. We got a few more, and Els was very curious about these people in their costumes. One little girl looked like she wanted to come in and play with Els, and Els looked like she wanted that too. Waiting inside and opening the door for trick-or-treaters made for a much better evening for everyone -- until Freddy Krueger and his skeletal friend showed up. And then Els was done, so we went to bed.

The next day, Sunday, was Dia de los Muertos. Every year they have a festival a block down from Emerson. So Els and I shared a nice brunch and then took in the festival -- mostly booths. Els was very interested in the bounce houses, etc., but she's so little; maybe next year. They have performances but somehow we missed those, and we skipped the car and motorcycle show. We did visit both childrens' art booths. And we paid our respects at the memorial altars.

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Tue, Oct 27, 2009 7:00 PM
Eluned is going item by item through my stack of mail, carefully marking each piece with her red crayon, and then neatly stacking them into a new "marked" pile.

Comments:
Sarah: OK, Mommy, you can retire now. Els is on the job!

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Sun, Oct 25, 2009 5:00 PM
I realized yesterday -- for the first time last Sunday, Eluned took off running around with the other little kids at church.

We've been letting Els wander farther and farther away from us at church and for longer amounts of time for a while now. I feel safe with all the people there. But up until now Els has been wandering around on her own.

Els has also been interacting with the other children at church more and more. The little girls just love her, and lately I've come outside a couple of times to find Els sitting in the middle of a group of them.

Then last Sunday, at a luncheon after church, Els and Andrew and I think Jasmine (all from the nursery/preschool class) found each other. They started running across the dais, down the ramp and back up again.

I didn't think anything of it at the time. I just changed Els into jeans, the better to run. But yesterday it hit me: Els has watched the other kids run off so many times. She finally gets to join them.

Comments:
Daddy: That was glorious. I think it stems from all that activity at the Halloween party.

Also, Sarah, that's a good suggestion. I'm not sure what our plans are.

Sarah: This January she turns two? You and Will planning a "terrific two" acknowledgement of the marker between infant and child (I seriously dislike the expression "terrible two")? Exploring on her own, developing social bonds, it's all good (though a bit stressful for Mom and Dad, at times).

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Sun, Oct 18, 2009 5:00 PM
I'm going to have to stop recording Eluned's new words soon. She's adding words to her vocabulary faster than I can remember and note here.

Els is using multi-word phrases regularly now. The other night, I was trying to coax a little more dinner into her and Els was insisting, "all done." Then she looked at me and said, all seriousness, "put [the] spoon down."

Els has been mimicking us for a long time, but the line between mimicry and comprehension has become much less clear. The other day Els was singing "Mommy Mommy Mommy." Will asked her if she was singing for Mommy or about Mommy, and Els replied, "about my Mommy."

Comments:
Sarah: I liked the mother/daughter picture taken in the aquarium. Note the expressive concentration on both faces.

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Wed, Oct 14, 2009 10:00 PM
Observant.

That's the word that keeps coming up to describe Eluned. I hear it from complete strangers and from people who know her well.

It's not the first word that I would use. But I don't have any experience with babies or toddlers beyond Els, so I have no basis for comparison. And I'm so close to Els that I don't see things that others see.

We visited a new place last weekend, Descanso Gardens, with my friend and her son. There were a number of other people there with young children, and we kept running in to one couple and their two kids.

Descanso Gardens has multiple koi ponds, but we found a really good one where Els could get right up to the water. I think she even touched a fish.

Els was sitting on a rock by the pond next to the little boy and girl, and one of the mothers commented to me -- and there was the word again: "She's so observant."

Comments:
Sarah: Yes, now that it's been said, I see that Els comes by her observant ways honestly, as the saying goes. You, too, have that way about you of really looking at what you focus on, really listening to what's being said, and so forth. I think it's a most becoming attribute.

You will really see it when Els starts school, the contrast, I mean. There are so many children who gaze about with a distracted air, or fidget meaninglessly, or just "hover" but she will be the one solidly grounded, looking and listening and taking it all in.

Poppa: I remember another young girl who used to study everything; I don't recall people using the word observant to describe Els mother, but you were always watching and learning about the environment you were in - and then talking about what you had seen. Of course, we didn't always underestand what you were trying to tell us; it wasn't until several years later that Aunt Ginny figured out that every time you said "tuckabody", you were really saying "Let's talk about it!".

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Sun, Oct 11, 2009 7:00 PM
Eluned has started doing this thing that I think of as "circumnavigation." When I'm standing, say, in the kitchen, she'll start to walk by me. But instead of going past me, she'll rest a hand against my leg and swing around in a circle. Sometimes she'll walk around and around me.

This morning after church, I was sitting at the end of a row of chairs with our bagel. Els took off towards the front of the sanctuary, then turned down the first row of chairs. Then she came back along the second row. For several minutes, I watched a wisp of blonde hair go up one row and back down the next. At my end, Els would pop out for a second to make sure I was still there and watching. Then she'd head off on another circuit.

Comments:
Sarah: I wonder if it's how the brain learns how the body exists and moves in three dimensions, establishing oneself as a multi dimensional being. Next, time as another dimension?

Nana: You were a circumnavigator too at about the same age going down the hallway, into the livingroom on through the diningroom, into the kitchen,back to the hallway - over and over again - laughing all the way. I think maybe trying your wings a bit, but in a safe place.

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Sat, Oct 10, 2009 9:00 PM
Sharing is not one of Eluned's strengths, at least not yet. She is especially possessive around the cats. If the cats so much as sniff at her food or the toy she's playing with, Els will chase them off with "no meow-meow no!"

Someone, presumably a cat, pulled a decorative red string out of the box of wrapping paper and supplies. Els found it on the floor and started waving it around. Well, the cat thought that was great fun and joined right in. Els scolded the cat ("no meow-meow"). When that didn't work, Els took off running, trailing the string behind her, growing more and more agitated as the cat chased her across the floor.

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Sat, Oct 3, 2009 8:00 AM
My Aunt Ginny is down here for a visit and last night she gave Eluned her bath. Afterward Aunt Ginny broke out the goat's milk lotion (that we hardly ever use) and gave Els a thorough application. Els loved it.

Els has had a touch of a cold all week, so before bed Will and I tend to her nose. To distract her last night, Aunt Ginny rubbed more lotion onto her feet. Well, foot; we move fast. Then Aunt Ginny did the other foot. And we realized, Els was so distracted by her nose that she didn't realize that Aunt Ginny had gotten the first foot. Els was very insistent ("foot. this.") until Aunt Ginny applied another layer.

Els was so delighted with her lotion that she kept finding new spots that she felt Aunt Ginny had missed. Els would point them out, "this, more," so Aunt Ginny could get them too.

Comments:
Ann: I took a couple of cute pix of her while the choir was warming up Sunday -- cool shades and all. :) Then Will tried to give her a teddy bear to play with, but she wouldn't take it from him -- he set it down on a chair, and THEN she'd pick it up. Yes, yes, you have an Independent Woman on your hands. :)

Sarah: Next it will be, "Peel me a grape." Heh.

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Tue, Sep 29, 2009 11:00 PM
A few people have told me recently that Eluned is getting taller, but I couldn't really see it for myself until tonight. Sure, she's gone up another pants size and she can reach higher on our counters/tables/shelves, so I know she is growing.

When I picked her up at Bertha's, Els stood in her carseat for a few minutes.

I can clearly remember earlier this year, around the time she was first learning to walk -- Els was so excited to stand up against the back of the carseat, peer over the back, and try to reach the light in the ceiling of the car. The top of her head barely cleared the top of the carseat.

Tonight the top of the carseat didn't even reach her shoulders. Els could have touched the car light with ease.

Comments:
Sarah: Short people are not treated the same way as taller people. In my mind's eye, I can see her a couple of decades from now, tall and beautiful and intelligent.

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Mon, Sep 28, 2009 9:00 PM
Earlier this month we took Eluned to the Hollywood Bowl for two concerts, Bolero and then Berlioz' Requiem, both performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. My sister Rachel joined us.

The first evening went almost perfectly. We arrived early enough to get in a nursing session and then let Els run back and forth in one of the cross-aisles before the concert started. We brought a picnic dinner and ate during the first part of the concert. From our cheap seats at the back of the Bowl, we could see all the way to the Hollywood sign.

Els loved the music as much as I hoped she would. She spent much of the first part of the concert standing by us. She danced. She held on to the back of the wooden seats in front of us, and periodically knelt down and peered through the slats. As the concert progressed, she spent more and more time on various laps. Finally she fell asleep in my arms.

The second concert didn't go quite as smoothly. It started out well. We arrived even earlier, so I finally got to see the gift store. They have some great books and a variety of light-up toys that Els found fascinating. Then we looked around the picnic tables for a good spot and saw parts of the Bowl and of Hollywood that I'd never seen before, but in the end we just found our seats and ate there. Tickets hadn't sold as well for Requiem, so the ushers offered upgraded seats to everyone in our section and we got to sit much closer this time.

Els remembered the Bowl. When we got to our seats she started dancing again. But a few minutes into the concert and she was already restless, so I took her for another run along the cross-aisle behind our seats. We came back to our seats, but she started fussing again. It turns out Berlioz' Requiem is loud, surprisingly loud. Will took her back up so I could eat a little more, and then I joined them. When Els saw me she started crying, so I carried her out of the Bowl.

We spent the rest of the concert exploring the Hollywood Bowl. They have signs all over with blown-up photos detailing the history of the Bowl and the surrounding area. We found all the restaurants. We peeked into the expensive seats and the back of the Bowl, where the dressing rooms and such are. Els fell asleep in the Ergo.

Comments:
Kate: The description of the concert said something about "Berlioz' rarely-performed Requiem." In hindsight, I should have read that sentence differently.

sarah: Since I hardly ever comment in this scrapbook (according to Will), I thought this time I'd put in my 2 cents' worth. I agree with Els' musical taste. Never have been very fond of Berlioz, myself. "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" comes to mind as a descriptor.

Wonder what she thinks of Tchaikovsky or Mozart...

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