What all have you done in the last week?

I've been into a clown. Well, I put some make-up on, and I chose on and Aunt Mo painted them, and I put on a funny wig. And then I was a funny clown. And I'm going to do it again. I took a picture. I'm a funny clown.

I went to a parade. They threw candy. And there were soldiers. There were boys. And the big horses! And what else? A clown. Uncle Alex was in the band, and Uncle Alex was one of the soldiers.

And I swammed. And I sprayed a little bit. But it was starting to rain, so I didn't spray as much. And I had my swim suit on.

And we fed the cows. And I think the blog is filled up, and I think we're done with that blog.

What was it like to feed the cows today?

It was like, you had to hold it [a handful of grass] out and then when they start pulling it in you let go. The cows in the back were scared of their supper. One cow licked my hand -- “schlurp, schlurp” -- it was like that. Daddy is the one that told me they like to chew on grass, so we fed them some grass.

How does it feel to be a boy genius?

[This playful question is answered with playfully embarrassed denial:]

Naw!

[So a follow-up question in a similar vein is posed: “How does it feel to be the handsomest boy in the world?” And Elliot answers with a confident-yet-casual shrug of his shoulders:]

Good.

What do you think about America?

[After a year and a half absence, Elliot has returned to the United States of America. When asked for his opinions about the land of his birth, he responded as follows:]

I like it. I go to Ohio. Fluff up all the pillows. Fluff up all the couches. Fluff up all the balls. That’s about it.

What do you like about Jason Slack?

I like that he does lots of things -- like go fishing... and make presents... and does crazy things. He reads lots of lots of books. All the whole time. He reads the whole book at the same time. He counts all the books on his head.

He's from Bowling Green, Uana [What is Uana?].

Uana is a state in Bowling Green. I like that he wears helmets a lot.

How does it feel to be sick?

[Elliot came down with a case of strep throat this weekend. It's been a long, slow recovery. So, it seemed like a blog about the subject would be appropriate...]

Well, your body's not feeling good. And you need a little bit of medicine. And then when you go to sleep, you can't go back to sleep because you have to drink a lot of water (Wuh-wuh-wuh-W. Water starts with "W"). Then when you're sleeping, you take up and you go down a little bit.

You have to go and talk to the doctor, and then he sees if you have white spots. If he looks with a flashlight, then you're still going to have the white spots.

What do you like about your room?

I like that I can play with Lego's in it. There's a big tent in it -- for mosquito bites -- so they don't bite me...

[Is there anything else that you want to say about your room].

Yeah. I like my shoes. Oh, my shoes are stinky now. My last question is that my shoes are stinky.

How do you brush your teeth?

Well, first I have the day a little bit. I eat lunch, and then I play for a little while. but on days that we take a bath, we take a bath a little bit so we can wash up. And after that, we watch Caillou. And after I wash Caillou I brush my teeth a little bit. And I put some toothpaste on. You have to squeeze a little bit, but not so much toothpaste on -- 'cause then you'll run out. And then we go to bed.

What's your favorite thing to do at the playground?

At the Flevopark, to make food. You go in the house, remember? The house that we played with Anika Erwin in, remember? [At the Flevopark, a bit east of our home in Amsterdam, there is a small wooden house with a built-in countertop and table to seat four small children. One person stands behind the counter, as if a waiter/cook, and the others sit at the table to order their favorite imaginary delicacies.] When someone wants something, you make it. After they tell you what you want to eat, and they ask for a lot of things, then you can eat a lot of things.

I like to order pizza, and pannekoeken. And I like to buy some new pencils; they have pencils there. And they have cheeseburgers. And they have pickles. And they have cheese curls. And carrots. And tomatoes.

What's your ideal job?

Box up all these boxes. That means I get to get rid of the boxes. I would tear them, and I would put them in the trash. I get to pick the boxes, and I hit them. I would get a bunch of letters, and the letters would get in the boxes.

I would work with Leo, Caillou's friend [Calliou is a Canadian children's television program, broadcast on American public television]. If I jumped into a Caillou episode, then I'd box up all those boxes.

You wear a kind of a dress. It looks like it has a big tail on it. And it has big wings. And it has big tops on it. It's pink.

What did you say?

[In our household, we often tease each other with mild threats, like "I'm going to get you," or "I'm going to tickle you," or other such nonsense cloaked in animosity but spoken with a smile. Today, Elliot came up with a new one:]

"I'm going to give you a pigeon to walk around the world."

[From his tone and telling grin, it was clear that this was a threat. Let the adversary beware.]

What do you like about springtime?

That there's lots of flowers and trees. There's lots of grass. There's lots of bushes. There's basketballen [the Dutch verb for playing basketball]. The sun shines. You can eat popsicles and drink some warme chocolademelk [hot chocolate] in the sun.