Greg and Heather!

Marty went to Denver last week to see our dear friends Greg and Heather get hitched. Pics up now in the July album at Shutterfly. This is my favorite. They are beautiful!

That's me between Peter Mayle and Stephen King!

Check it out. S P R A W L front and center in the McNally Jackson Bookstore in NYC! And with a "Recommended" sticker to boot.

Noises

This is a picture of Elijah trying out a goose honk. He's a very good honker. It's quite enthusiastic, quite life-like. In a way, the animal noises are names. When he sees an animal in life or in a book he points and makes its noise-name: mmmmm (cow), ney ney (horse), ssssssssss (snake), da ha ha (sheep and my favorite, crazy, maniacal, sheep-laughter), hon hon (goose), a guttural trill (pigeon), a snort (pig), zsa zsa (bee), panting (dog), two soft blowing o's (owl), etc. For cat, he's been saying kee ca (and his meow goes: dadn dadn, for whatever reason). He also says raw raw raw (for rocks), ba (for ball), rou rou (for round and for things that spin), dick (for stick), dir (for dirt), guch (for truck), ou (for outside), dee da (for up), duh (for down), wa wa (water), bbbbbb (for bubbles), hoh (for hot), boom (balloon), hah (hat), guh ou (go out), mama, dada. And there are still the Momo noises: deegadeegadeegadeega, duhguyduhguyduhguyduhguy, meenumeenumeenumeenu. It's clearly starting to get really frustrating for him that we don't always understand what he means. We often don't. Last night when we were doing our bedtime routine, he kept raising his arms (a kind of existential pointing-at-everything) and saying dis (which is what he normally says when he wants you to read a book, but it's usually when he has a particular book in his hands). I kept showing him books and he'd shake his head to say no and do the whole thing over. I still have no idea what he wanted. Maybe he didn't either? Anyway, sitting at breakfast just now and he's going hm hm hm hm and making the sign for more. More strawberries, please.

Walker

I've had some requests for walking vids. Here he is in Chicago O'Hare airport on our way back from Denver two weeks ago. Before you tell me to cut his hair, it's usually curly, what with summertime in Illinois, so not just laying there on his face like that. He had flat Rocky Mtn hair that day. But cute, you know, no matter what. Enjoy.

Catching Up

We're been busy lately, which seems wrong, somehow, since it's summertime. It's so hot here today, hot and sticky and tornado-warningy. Makes me tired, cranky, lazy. But there's no time for any of that! I'm busy getting Dorothy's second book to the printer this week, and working on publicity stuff for our first book, and some stuff for my own book(s), and we spent a week in Boulder at Naropa where I taught a class called Performances of the Everyday, and gave a reading, and moderated a panel on small press publishing. And of course there is always Dalkey work. Always! Meanwhile, Elijah is busy in all his own ways . . . he started walking the first morning in Boulder. Maybe he needed a change of pace? Or a truly different altitude? He just woke up and walked. Done. And he's started obviously mimicking our speech. He had on a shirt today with a duck another duck and a goose and he walked around saying (sort of) Duck Duck Goose, which I'd said when I dressed him. He also makes a whole zoo's worth of truly adorable animal sounds. Newest additions: goose, snake, rooster. And his pigeon is getting really good. Uncle Ethan would be so proud. He's just so communicative lately. He points and gestures a lot and this morning, after clearly asking to go out for about an hour (we were really busy doing Dorothy stuff and waking up and making breakfast, etc.), he waddled into the kitchen with his sandals in his hands and held them up to me. Kid knows what he wants! He is a very sweet boy. Gives lots of kisses. Has started trying to pick up and hug the cat. Loves his mom and dad very much. And is loved, ridiculously, totally, resoundingly, in return. Yesterday we went to a little petting farm with Katrin and Anton and a goat started to nibble the hem of my skirt (actually, I was a little scared too), and Elijah got so upset. He was pretty obviously afraid the goat would eat his mom and also it seemed he wanted to defend me but wasn't sure how, since the goat was about an inch taller than him, and had horns. Okay, M is getting him to sleep and I'm going to brush my teeth and read. I'm working my way through Anna Karenina during naps. Pictures soon.

I finally put up new pics at Shutterfly. Also . . .

You may have noticed a lot of vegan-type websites and blogs popping up under my links over there. We've officially made the switch. There's been a little back and forth (from vegetarian to vegan) and I still sometimes eat vegetarian when I'm at a friend's house and they've cooked me something but not cooked vegan. Anyway, we're getting there and I'm feeling so happy about the decision! If you ever want to talk about it with me--the food/recipes, the animal rights issues, the environmental issues, the love--I'd be thrilled to!

Also over in the links: Dorothy, a publishing project! Not sure when you last checked it out, but it's pretty close to a f'reals website now. Or, actually, yeah, it's f'reals. We just got two advance finished copies of our first book back from the printer. It's pretty. So pretty.

And: Siglio. The book page for S P R A W L is now up. The book had its first review, at Publishers Weekly. It was neither good nor bad, which I'll decide to think of as good. Really, I think it tipped more to the good, but it was largely descriptive. But the two reviews under mine (the only other ones I glanced at) were kinda brutal, so all in all, you know, huzzah.

xoxo-D

PS: Here's a teaser:

Off to Swim Class!

Katrin's Camera

Touch-a-Truck Day

(click a pic to enlarge)

Mr. Martin Riker

Has up a smart blog post, here.

Stuff and some other stuff and then some pictures

It really does seem like language just happened to Elijah. He now says:

cracker : gach ga
truck (pretty much anything with wheels) : guch
flower : oof
kitty kat : gee gach
dirt : dih
balloon : boon
spoon : boon
cup : ka
car : ch
go outside : ow
door : do
mama : mama
dada : dada

It seems to make him so happy to be understood. Just a minute ago he looked at the cupboard and said gach-gah and we went over and got a cracker and he was mightily chuffed. He also signs. He still signs to nurse. He signs hat/head. He makes dog sounds (panting), pig sounds (almost a snort but more like a German person coughing), cat sounds (a screech), and bee sounds (zzzzzzzz). He claps when he wants you to sing (which is almost all the time, even when he's nursing). His favorite song has been the teddy bear picnic one (by a long shot). But he's also into the wheels on the bus song (urgh) and that don gato song. He clucks his tongue when he likes a song and sort of bounces a little to show approval. Boy's got rhythm. His clucks usually keep good time.

He's not walking yet, but this week he started taking steps while holding onto our fingers. Before, when we'd try, he'd just fall right to his knees (on purpose) and crawl away. He hasn't seemed too bothered about walking. He's more into kicking and talking. He likes to spas out on the mattress or in the bathtub. And in addition to speaking baby English he also is really into vocalizing all possible sounds. It's almost like a sound experiment in our house. I wish I could capture it on tape. The noises he makes are sort of unbelievable.

E was super on our trip to Colorado. He loved being at Greg and Heather's - they have two cats (two tails to catch!), and a little rubber dinosaur, and one of those cat bowls that perpetually runs a little waterfall . . . and carpeted stairs, which are basically heaven to Elijah, who climbed up and down about fifty times a day, often saying "gach gah" because he knew the crackers were upstairs. In general, the kid likes to eat, preferring, it seems, banana and avocado above all else. He also loves bread, and crackers, and pasta, and raisins. So it's basically a carbs thing with him. He also is pretty cool with tofu and scrambled eggs (he likes a little thyme in his eggs).

AWP was good, in as much as AWP is ever good (as opposed to the ways in which AWP is evil). We saw people. We bought pretty books and also a few ugly books. Mostly it was just really good to see friends and the Rockies were friendly too. Here are some pics.

Kentucky and a Joke

We just got back from a quick trip to Louisville (where we were assured that we should be calling it Loo-uh-vul even if we're not locals). Elijah was awesome. He had so much fun meeting people and crawling on new grass (Kentucky grass!) and climbing up new stairs (Kentucky stairs!) and crawling on new carpet (Kentucky carpet!). I gave a reading and a talk on form and it went really well. Lots of people and lots of questions and I even sold some books. Then an awesome dinner under pink blossoms in the "gallery district." All in all, a welcome and charming little break. And I'm getting paid for it!

In more important news, Elijah is telling his first joke. Well, he's funny pretty often, or almost always, and he had his "shake your head at Daddy joke" and his "suck air in while saying 'E' joke" but this joke seems a little more sophisticated. He points at dirt or a cord (or takes them in his fat fingers) and then puts his finger inside his mouth while shaking his head "no" and smiling (or downright busting a gut). Then, when Mama follows with the requisite "No, not in the mouth, Elijah" he just loses it in a mess of giggles. He does this about twenty times a day now. Good times.

Leaps and Bounds

As a follow up to the last post . . . lately it seems like Elijah learns a new word or something everyday. Today I asked if he wanted a cracker and he pointed inside his mouth and said "ah ah." When he was done he looked at me and did it again, meaning, I guess, "More please." Amazing! Also today I was talking about his clothes and I said "shirt" and he grabbed his shirt and tugged at it while looking at me. Then I said "shoes" and he pointed first at one shoe and then the next. Genius!

Elijah and His Aboom

A few months ago I posted something about Elijah and his first words . . . I said he was saying "Mama" regularly and had started to say something all his own for "Kitty." I'm 98% sure I wasn't making that up, but then there were no new words and that word for kitty has pretty much disappeared (replaced by nothing, he mostly just points and screams at the poor Doctor). "Mama" didn't disappear but he still often said Mamamamamamamama. If you asked him "Where's Mama" he of course knew the answer, same with "Dada" and "Giraffe" and all that jazz, but now, as of about a week ago, it's like a light went off and he points at me and says "Mama" like a real word and like he really gets it. Also this week, he has started pointing at something else and saying the same thing over and over. It's a balloon we got at a party a few weeks ago and he looks at it and says, everytime, "Aboom." A new word? A coincidence? I have no idea. Like teeth coming in, this whole language acquisition stuff is exciting and sometime frustrating and mostly really unbelievable slow. Although, as I type that, I'm reminded of how really it's just slow to us. To Elijah, the world must be so overwhelmingly new all the time. Everything's an adventure. In fact, I just this second heard Marty say to him: "You've got your mommy's panties on your foot, son. I don't think she wants them there." See? Pretty exciting stuff . . .

Monday Night at the Library

Stuff

Some stuff lately:

Elijah pouring the cat's water bowl over himself, totally fascinated.

I handed Elijah one of those plastic cups with the soft plastic layers around the top (to keep cheerio-type snacks inside while allowing tiny hands in) and he figured it out right away and was so into it that a minute later when I talked to him he jumped. I've never seen him quite so engrossed in anything before. He sat there eating puffs for about half an hour. Very pleased with it all.

He screeches in gleeful anticipation whenever he sees a dog out on a walk. Even if we're inside the house. If we're out walking, inevitably the dog walker and dog stop to say hello. E is very social. If you even say the word "hello" in conversation, he starts waving.

If you hum or beat-box or read a rhythmic story, he dances. If you snap or clap, he dances. You dance, he dances. Say dance, he dances. The other day we were walking around the house (me holding E in one arm and on my hip) listening to Feist or Cat Power and I was snapping with my free hand and pretty soon E started clicking his tongue as a way of joining in. It actually did sound a lot like my snapping.

He likes to feed mama. In his high-chair, he will occasionally hold out a pea or a puff or whatever for me to take with my mouth. He is also neat, in his way (not with books, which he pulls of every shelf he can reach, nor with clothes, which he loves to take out of drawers or baskets). He won't usually accept a spoonful of food until he has swallowed what is in his mouth. Also, with the cup mentioned above, if he spills a puff on the floor, he either eats it or puts it back in the cup.

His funny joke with dad: see dad and shake your head back and forth really fast until you're dizzy. Hilarious.

E turned one and surely never a cuter baby ever graced the age:

new glasses and toothbrush

Me in ELLE Magazine

Okay, not really in the magazine . . . but on their blog.

Must-See TV

We like to call this one, "No Pukey."

Attention Grandparents!

New pics are up at Shutterfly (link to the right).