Urban Kids

We've had some great urban kids moments this week. Elliot and Zoe went to (and performed music in) a live theater show (finger puppets by Tim), E.B. and Nat were hanging outside graffiti tagging our sidewalk, and Elliot discovered the joys of walking around with your iPod on. He's even got the cold dead eyes of a commuter down already.

Hot weekend in Chicago

It was in the upper 80s this weekend. That didn't stop one Elliot B. Dickinson from transforming into Flash and wearing a full suit of polyester for 12 hours straight on Sunday complete with hood. Sadly, he's not Flash Gordon. That doesn't mean Julie and I didn't spend most of Sunday singing along to Queen.

Natalie is a dragonfly. We cropped out her right hand because she was holding a pair of Elliot's dirty spiderman undies. On the plus side, they weren't in her mouth.

We went to see Niki in the Garden at Garfield Park with the Kingsley family on Sunday. When Jensen releases her first album as a souful neo-neo-folk artist in 2020, the pic with JFK may be the cover art.

Natalie vocab update

Nat's words to date:

"get, get" (related to removing spider webs fired by Spiderman aka Elliot onto mom and/or dad - complete with wiping hand motion) - very possibly her first words. hmmmmmm.

"batman" another of Elliot's alter egos

"hi" and "bye" commonly used with people walking dogs

"baby" for the doll given to her by the Kingsleys for her first birthday

"up" usually at the end of a very messy feeding

"elliot" sounding a bit like Zoe ("ay-yut")

rarely "daddy" more rarely "mommy"

Rocket Bunny

Elliot continues to love drawing with chalk. This is a "bunny with rocket boots." Note the ears are tilted back and the rocket jets are firing directly down to help the bunny lift off.


We think he's been inspired by an astro boy t-shirt Jules got him a Shorty's.


Jenny (our nanny extraordinaire) thinks Elliot should become an independent comic book artist. Who are we to disagree.

Cats Weekend

Big visit from NYC this weekend. Troy, Kent, and Berra were in for the Cats/Michigan game. They came by the house Saturday afternoon for a visit.

Elliot and Berra re-enacted Jim's famous footrace with Kent. The big boy took Berra, though he did have home field advantage.

It was Troy's first Big Ten football game. Too bad the 'Cats fell apart in the 4th quarter.

Jack be Nimble

Nursery rhymes in the bathtub.

Last birthday pics

Last round - the birthday cupcakes were really yummy.

More Nat birthday pics

The famous Disney princesses played a major role in the day. Julie even convinced me that they are symbols of female empowerment and agency so I'm OK with them now. Elliot often says that "Natalie is Snow White." I am frequently Belle - the strongest of the princesses. Elliot is usually Sleeping Beauty - odd for a boy who hasn't taken more than a dozen naps in the last 9 months. Julie is frequently Cinderella - perhaps her love of hair metal made that connection for the boy.

Natalie's Birthday

We had Natalie's first birthday at the Wicker Park fieldhouse on Saturday. Lots of peeps in the house: grandparents, friends, and park folks all celebrated in some way.

Nat wasn't sure what to make of a cupcake. She didn't tear into it with much gusto but seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps she was looking for the hard stuff - lollipops. Elliot had two or three that day.

Rock throwing in Green Bay - A family affair

A couple more from the Door

Elliot was very into imagination time on the trip. On one evening walk through the adjacent cherry orchard he was lightening McQueen, Dad was Doc Hudson and Grandpa Owie was Sally, the sexy Porche. Grandpa really liked playing a hot female sports car.


Oh yeah, we found a cave. It was a little bit scary but not too scary.

Labor Day in the Door

One more trip to Bill and Jean's or, as Elliot refers to it "Uncle Piggy's Country House."

Grandpa Owie and Grandma Sue joined us this time. The weather was great, the mice were active (Jules saw one on the stairs Monday night peering at us as we read), and swimsuits were optional for one and two year olds. Big big fun.

The beach was good for making sand pancakes and pretending to be a dolphin and killer whale, the Eagle Trail in Peninsula State Park produced spectacular views of Ephraim harbor and a mildly sprained ankle for Jules.

More sidewalk chalk

Art projects are still big. Natalie is learning to draw and share from Elliot.

This is Elliot's drawing of a turtle.

Venetian Gardens Corn Roast Pics

There's midwestern and then there's midwestern. Larry and Sue's subdivision had a block party/corn roast today. Gorgeous day after lots of heat rain and humidity.

There was a green jello salad with marshmallows.

The Fox River was overflowing its banks into the park a bit too which was exciting. The fast river flow kept the powerboaters and their noise away as well. Great news!

Summer in the City

One night recently the Navarros decided to pull out the TV and watch it in our front porch area. We got these pics of Elliot playing with the girls. There are few things more exciting than

(1) Staying up late
(2) With the Navarros
(3) Watching TV
(4) Outside

Big night for a boy.

Art Projects

Elliot is obsessed with drawing these days. He draws with sidewalk chalk on our front porch area and crayons too. The chalk drawings are "teachers." The crayon one is a bus complete with wheels and a driver.