Good times at the Grandparents'

Leo has a good time when he goes to see Mamie and Papi. And he is very helpful. He helped roll the challah strands and paint the loaves with egg to make them shiny.


And he helped them to start harvesting (and eating) the first ripe currants from the garden.

There is always something fun to do (and good to eat!) when he goes to visit. Thanks to mamie for the photos!

Tio Eduardito

Tio Eduardo came to visit! All the way out to the wilds of Montclair.

It's been a while since the last time Leo saw him.

Eduardo quickly intuited that a good way to renew his friendship with Leo would be to offer him some food.

Box Cars

Did we mention that Leo likes trains?

Chew Chew Train

Leo really likes trains. And he really likes raisins. What could be finer than a train made of raisins? A traisin, if you will?



The best thing about his creations is that he gets to eat them.



But that sometimes interferes with the preservation of his work for posterity. (The noodle train was longer before the photo was taken, but Leo also really likes noodles.)

Leo makes pizza

It is hot work, making pizza!



Leo takes adding the ingredients very seriously. He tracks down every last stray bit of onion and dispatches them to their fate.



We won't list the ingredients here so as not to shock our Italian friends. Suffice to say, pineapple may have been involved.

Early Expressionism

Leo's sorry not to have posted to the blog in a while. He's found yet another mode of artistic expression.


He claims this "writing" will replace blogs one day. He's a visionary.

Preparing Passover -- with Perks

It's time for Passover! Which, like all Jewish holidays (except Yom Kippur), means time to eat. And time to get busy in the Giszpenc kitchen. Leo's very favorite thing is helping, as loyal blog readers know. His second favorite thing is eating. He got to do a lot of both yesterday.

Here he is helping Papi chop the carrots.


And to go with the carrots, they had to peel some potatoes (don't be alarmed: it's a butter knife).


Mum and Dad were working on some cream for a Passover cake. Leo helped us whip it. (Thanks to Vlado for the cool chef's toque.)


Ever the perfectionist, Leo carefully did some quality control. It took a lot of trials and sampling, but he did declare the cream kosher for Passover in the end.


He tells us he is looking forward to Passover next year in the Giszpenc kitchen.

Happy Birthday-and-a-half!

Leo moves fast these days.



It's getting harder to catch him on camera. He is so busy driving his train ("tchoo tchoo!") and his cars ("vvvvvvvvvvvvv") and finding new ways to get into mischief.




Everything is new to him. The other day he discovered watches. His daddy let him play with his watch, and since it didn't fit on his wrist, we suggested he put it on his ankle, to which he warmly agreed. Now he can keep track of the time as he rushes about.



Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Leo also is exploring a creative side through the plastic arts (specifically, bold assemblages of actual plastic).



In the above case, plastic rings with tennis ball. Below, plastic cars with sandals, Russian doll bottom, and tiny teddy bear.



Boy, he's come a long way in the past half year, not to mention year. But he's still loads of fun and keeps us plenty busy -- that sure hasn't changed.

Happy Saint Patrick's day!

To celebrate the day that's in it, Leo made a flag:



Here he is, assembling the final block:



Confession: this construction sequence is played in reverse :-). For the nostalgic: Saint Patrick's day 2008.

Léo in Boots

Léo got a bunch of lovely books when Leslie came to visit. One of them is Puss in Boots (Le Chat Botté). It has only encouraged him in his pursuit of wearing and walking around in our big, big winter boots.