Faker

I received a call from the babysitter saying Elan wasn't feeling so well. A nap and a of couple hours later you would have never guessed it. He was back to his usual self. Ignore the stain on his shirt. What can you expect? He's a boy.

Cardboard Fort

My mom, dad, and I took a road trip many years ago to California and Las Vegas. Being a parent now, I realize that they must have wondered how I would keep entertained for hours and hours of driving cross country on I10. Little did they know the fun I would have with these simple hair rollers my mom had back then. I guess she packed a few to do her hair but when I got a hold of them, they became my favorite toy. I would bend them, twist them, and join them into anything I could imagine, then take them apart and make something else. If I'm not mistaken, I may have broken a few from how much I played with them.

I now see in Elan, as I have with other children throughout my life, that with a little imagination, anything can become a great toy. A plastic bowl, a wooden spoon, an old VCR remote can provide endless fun for a child. We had some boxes laying around from Christmas and other shopping we had done. Elan loves boxes. I was about to break them apart and put them in the recycle bin when I thought, "let's see what we can make out of these." I pulled out a box cutter and some duct tape and began piecing the boxes together. Thanks to my bright idea, this big fort looking thing now sits right by our entrance. I want to tear it apart and send it off to recycling, but Elan seems to enjoy it too much. And it's been so cold and wet lately, I can't put it outside for him. I'll just have to live with this thing by our front door for a while I guess. If only I had made it big enough for me fit in there. Hmmm... I'm sure Sears has some discarded refrigerator boxes! (click picture for more of Elan playing)

Holiday Break 09

I've been slow to pull pictures off the cameras, but here are some from the holiday break. We spent several hours trying to get good pictures of Elan and Camila and all I can say is that people who do baby portraits have their work cut out for them. That is a career move I will never be doing. It was great to be in Del Rio for a good while. As most holidays go, we got to spend time with family members we see little of throughout the rest of the year. We celebrated Elan's birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Camila's birthday, and the New Year. Elan got to play with cousins, cats, dogs, goats, and even a donkey at one point. It was a nice change of scenery for him. Click on the picture above to see more pictures.

Elan's 1st Birthday

click to see all
I think we all enjoyed the party, with the exception of a couple of tweens that probably felt obligated to attend (that is an awkward age in life- too old for children's parties, but too young for teenage parties). Either way, we appreciated them being there and everyone else that attended. The weather was perfect, the food was good, and most importantly, the company was great. Elan wasn't too sure what to think when all the attention focused on him during the singing of Happy Birthday, but overall, he really enjoyed being outside with many people around him, and he definitely enjoyed all the cookies and other sweet treats he was able to eat.

The pictures in the album include pictures from his actual birthday in Austin and his birthday party in Del Rio.

Cookie Monster Madness

We've gone Cookie Monster crazy around our house. It's hard to believe that Elan is one year old now. There have been many struggles, many accomplishments, and much joy we've shared over the past year. Our latest endeavour has been planning and making things for Elan's birthday party. We aren't extravagant in our ways, but we may be a little particular at times. We discovered that Cookie Monster themed party supplies were not available, but instead of changing the theme we decided to make everything ourselves. You can find Sesame Street supplies, with all the main characters included, but not Cookie Monster alone. So we looked for ideas on the internet (Oh glorious internet, what would we do without it) and made the invitations and decorations from scratch. We've even decided to make the cake. We contacted a baker, but thanks to copyright and licensing issues, she could not make a "Cookie Monster" cake. I wondered about the piñata and why we were able to find a Cookie Monster one, then I remembered the little sticker on the top of the head that said "Hecho en México". I wish more things were hechos en México. I understand licensing and copyrights, but on the other hand, it's just ridiculous that a child can't have a Cookie Monster cake baked by a "business" that hasn't purchased the rights, or a U.S. business at least. We could have done the easy thing and ordered the cake in Acuña, but like many things, we decided to give it a shot ourselves. We baked a trial cake last night and that is his actual birthday cake. We'll be baking another one for the party in Del Rio on December 20th.

What is Art?

I often see what many refer to as works of art and regularly ask myself, is it really art? I like to think of art using it's most basic definition. Simply put, art is created when elements are put together in a way that appeals to the senses, emotions, or both. It may not appeal to me or impact me in some emotional way, so to me, it may not be art, but it can be for you. Beauty and creativity are relative. When you dismiss an old, dry, insect infested log, I see the beauty of all things that are temporary, imperfect, and incomplete in that rotting piece of wood. I envision my flesh and bones disappearing that way in the not so distant future. To me there is a bit of art in all that we are and all that we do because it is all so temporary. It may not impact or appeal to others, but if it appeals to only one person, if one person considers it art, then it is art. The best part is that we are free to think as we wish. For all we care, it can be a piece of garbage, yet it may be a masterpiece to someone else.

The difficulty I have is deciding whether art is something that has to be created intentionally. Can it occur by chance? If I place a subject in the view finder of a camera, give it the perfect lighting, angle the camera just right, set the aperture, shutter speed, and focus for a desired effect and take it's picture, it can be considered art. What if I grab my camera and by chance happen to capture something nice? Is that art? This picture above. Is it some sort of abstract art? To me, it is the rag I used to clean and re-lube my bicycle chain. It is sitting in the dirty rag pile right now. But what if this evokes a strong emotional response from someone who sees it? Does it then become art? Did it become art when I decided to lay it flat on the ground and take it's picture?

Who knows...? I am not even going to try to answer that. I will however share my latest work of art. Well, it is art to me because I like it, it gives me a sense of accomplishment, and I intentionally created it to look this way. We may not agree and all you see is a collection of metal, leather, and rubber, or another dumb bike you have to maneuver around in traffic. If that is the case then we can just agree that Art is nothing more than that guy that used to race cars and is getting married in May.

Still Working on the Road Bike

Lari really thinks I'm crazy now. I built the Soma Smoothie road bike in a bit of a hurry to have it ready for the Tour de Gruene. Now that the ride is over, I am really taking my time adding personal touches to the bike. What was once a thrift store leather bag has become the raw material I'm using to accessorize the bike. Maybe I have gone a little crazy. I have always believed form should follow function. I still can't decide what the function of subtle leather touches on a bike, but it sure gives it an aesthetic value I really like. Hopefully, with Elan's help, the bike will come together in time for me to enjoy it over the Thanksgiving break.

Wurstfest/Halloween

It took me a while, but I finally had a chance to pull the Halloween pictures off the camera. My mom, Selina, and Camila (my sister and niece) came to Austin Halloween weekend. Halloween day I rode the Tour de Gruene and we spent the day at Wurstfest in New Braunfels. We then came home to greet a few trick-or-treaters. Camila and Elan dressed up. Elan had two costumes we put him in. Click on either picture to see more.



Bike riding, beer, and sausage. We know he likes at least one of them.

Nap Time

Elan is now close to 11 months old. He's pretty good when it comes to napping. We can lay him down and he'll go to sleep on his own after a few minutes. However, we often hear him making noise in his room before he falls asleep. I often wondered what he did in there, so the other day I set the camera up and hit record as soon as I put him down. This is what it recorded, and yes, those are his teeth marks on the crib.

Celebration / Sad times

What in the world? This isn't a picture of Elan, I know. And most won't care to read this post or see this picture. So I apologize if this doesn't interest you, but it's of importance to me, so here goes.
So, what you see before you is the last bag of pumped milk Elan will ever have. As some of you already know, returning to work and leaving Elan with the sitter has been hard on me, but it's a fact of life I must deal with. However, I have always been comforted by the fact that, although I can't be there with him physically, a part of me was always there with him as he had my pumped milk while at the sitter's. Well, I stopped pumping two months ago, so tomorrow he will have his last bottle of my pumped milk. It saddens me that we have reached this point, but it's also a time to reflect and celebrate my accomplishments (yes, I am patting myself on the back, tooting my own horn, etc.). I was able to give my child what I think is the best for this long and I am proud of myself for that. Pumping was hard work and sometimes a real pain in the butt, but well worth it. :)
We promise to put the Halloween pictures up soon!