March Fun

You know what they say about Texas weather . . .

If you don't like it,

just wait a day.

Those two pix were taken about a week apart, but it's always amazing how quickly our plants respond to lengthening days and warmer temps.

When he visits, Little Man starts the day needing a light jacket over long sleeves and by lunchtime he's stripped to a diaper for puddle jumping.  "It's WET!  It's all WET!" he squeals.

Here are some pictures of the fun we've had in March.

Now that we've finally turned the car seat around to face forward,
D likes to tell HeyYea, "HeyYea, you're good driver!"
Instructions from our back seat driver: "Red means stop.  Green means go."
"Watch out!!  Watch out!  Look!"
Then as soon as we're parked in the driveway,
our newest driver scrambles to the best seat.
"Daniel good driver!"
 

Since the day we stopped on a walk to watch a forklift in action,
hard hats have been a topic of great interest.
At home D wore his Dad's bike helmet all day--even to the library.
He found this white hard hat in a stack of GiGi's mixing bowls.

 

When Hunka Cheese found out that his little Homey likes helmets and hard hats, he showed up with a special present.

A real hard hat with stickers and drilling mud
from when Hunka Cheese worked at Weatherford.

Adjusting the fit.

Blurry and squealing with joy!

My hard hat, Matey!

Thank you, Hunka Cheese.

 

For Daniel's party on February 22, I purchased foil balloons at the Family Dollar.  Four weeks later, they were still floating.  (Quite a bargain, aye?)

 

"Daniel hiding in a balloons."

"Here I am!"

There's a bucket of smooth black stones by our sandbox.
One day GiGi and Daniel were tossing stones onto the path,
and it was time to gather them all up to throw again.
D picked up one or two and then sat on the patio to watch.
Knowing that Mr. Two doesn't respond so well to direct commands,
GiGi demonstrated how much fun it was to sing and pick up,
with special dramatic flair.  Daniel didn't budge,
but in his most encouraging voice, he commented,
"Good job, GiGi!!" 

GiGi works in the garden a lot between visits from D.
He's very tempted by the tool bucket; when I tell him they're GiGi's tools,
he gets wide-eyed and very serious, saying, "They dain - jus." (dangerous)

Our recycled cardboard garage is holding up
after a month of love.

It Takes a Cardboard Village

When we offered our house as the site for a two year-old's birthday party, and I saw the February weather swing from pleasant and mild to miserably wet and icy, I panicked started thinking of possible indoor activities for preschoolers.

Without one original creative bone in my bod, I started searching Pinterest.  Pretty dangerous, but I came across a cool idea.  Especially for our young gearhead.  See my cardboard village?

recycled garage with (frozen yogurt take-out cover) skylight



gas station?  car wash?

parking garage



lower level parking garage

 

just the right size for matchbox cars



Set up on the covered patio with benches,
it was good to go, rain or shine.



HeyYea and I made these as sturdily as we could.  We used a sharp Exacto knife and straight-edge on cardboard boxes and containers of various shapes + empty wrapping paper tubes.  Duct tape wrapped, hot glued-- how long would it last?  But, hey, it was totally free.  Not only did the village withstand the intense play of a handful of preschool boys that day, it has become D's hands-down favorite inside toy for a month of Fridays.

 

Beep!  Beep!  Vroooom!  How do boys make all those authentic sounds?!

 



His Twoness

Daniel just had his second birthday, but since he's so advanced   :~o   we've experienced waves of his Two-ness for quite a while now.  It started with a few good fits of frustration when a toy (or a person) wouldn't cooperate.  Then it was a very calm, polite "nono nonono."  Now, no matter what the question, the answer is immediate.  "No Quer." (Translation: "I don't want to/I don't want it.")
"Do you want to eat lunch now?"
"No Quer."
"Do you want to get a clean diaper?"
"No Quer."
"Do you want a cookie?"
"No Quer." That one always trips him up, and upon further thought, he changes his mind.

Limits and boundaries are really hard for on who's just realizing

• how big and awesome the world is, and
• how many things one can actually do and control.

Examples from DanielLand:

Food Wars
His Two-ness thinks:  I can feed myself quite independently now.  I know what I like.  No matter how much my people want me to eat, I can't be forced.
One night Will fixed pasta with Alfredo Sauce.  Pasta of any kind is usually a homerun--Mac 'n Cheese, noodles, elbows, rotinis, shells, bow ties.  Milk is always a hit.  And cheese?  Yum with no hesitation.  However (comma) . . . this night's conversation went something like this.
"Here's some pasta Daniel."
Pause  "No Quer."
"See?  It's pasta with a yummy sauce with milk and cheese in it."
Pause  "No Quer."  Pause "I want the orange pasta?"
"This is the orange pasta.  See?"
Pause  "I want the clean pasta."

Sent to the Principal
Cecilia picked up Daniel from Mother's Day Out one day and was greeted by his teacher, a stern-faced Ms. Charlotte.  Not only had he refused to nap, but the rebel had also become a disturbance for other compliant classmates when he wouldn't stay on his mat as instructed.  Ms. Charlotte reported that she had to remove Daniel from class to sit in the Director's office.  After embarrassing apologies to his teacher, Cecilia made a beeline to the office of Ms. Elaine, Director.  (BTW Daniel and Ms. Elaine are charter member of their own Mutual Admiration Society.)  Instead of detention, D had crayons, stickers, paper, and a pleasant hour of conversation.  Sometimes it pays to be non-compliant!

Choices
Looking back, there were times when I regretted naming Daniel's father Will.  Iron Will.  He was strong-willed with enough chunkiness by the time he turned two that I had to figure out alternate strategies to circumvent his Two-ness.  Either that or keep a good chiropractor on retainer for all the times I was lifting a contorting screamer into his carseat. We did actually have his hearing checked at one point, because I wanted to make sure we weren't dealing with what seemed an obvious deficit in communication.

Every Two likes choices, right?  So here's the choice, Will.  You're going to get in your carseat.  Do you want me to put you in, or do you want to do it yourself?  What Two doesn't want to do it himself?!

I'm using the same strategy with Little Man.
Face to face, in a calm assertive voice, I say, "Daniel, look at GiGi.  It's time to wash your hands for lunch.  Do you want to wash in GiGi's sink or Daniel's sink?"
Pause  Avoidance  I'll play with these cars while I consider . . . is this a trick question?
Again, I repeat the same question in the same way.
After another long pause, D answers in his signature question mode.  "GiGi's sink?"

And off we go, fit-free.

Time To Put the Toys Away
That little motivational song no longer works!

One day my buddy and I were tossing some stones on a path outside.  It was time to collect them and I invited Daniel to help.  After depositing one stone in the bucket, he sat down to observe all the apparent fun I was having.  I picked up "one, two, three rocks," and D leaned back on his hands. "Good job, GiGi!" he said with a cheery smile.

Cecilia told me that when it was time to pick up toys yesterday, she recruited Little Man to help.  She encouraged him to no avail.  In fact he climbed up on the couch to watch her work.  When she repeated her instructions, Two said, "Daniel sit on sofa.  Mamae clean."  (Here's where the choices were offered!)  Cecilia stated the options; (1) pick up the toys or (2) sit in the time-out chair.  The Smart Kid chose option #1.

PS--Bible Study teacher Beth Moore is certain that God created His most challenging children to be the cutest.  It's her theory that their sweet faces, chubby arms, and dimpled knees are God's protection.  After all, who could stay mad at all that cuteness?

 

PPS--And for the record, I never wished that Will would have one just like him.  I was too busy strategizing how to stay a step ahead.

 

Direct your children onto the right path,

and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Proverbs 22:6

New Living Translation

On a Birthday Roll

As you can tell from my last posts, we were certainly on a birthday roll in February. From the 11th to the 23rd our new Two was thoroughly celebrated.  But we weren't done yet!

Quietly on February 24th Cecilia had a birthday request for her special day.  She wanted to come over and try her hand at a special cake while Daniel napped.  The cake is called Rocambole in Brazil--Jelly Roll here.  Neither of us had ever made this type of cake. C was brave enough to try; I was excited to learn some new techniques.

Together we made a really delicate, golden, rectangular sponge cake (if I do say so myself!).  Separated eggs, not much flour or sugar, lots of high speed whipping with my 40 year-old Sunbeam Mixmaster (a wedding gift that keeps on ticking), parchment paper lining, good guesses about when to remove it from the oven.  We were in virgin territory there, but Cecilia's deft hands got the cake turned out onto a clean, damp, sugar-dusted kitchen towel.

Earlier the kitchen was noisy with a pressure cooker's hisses, as Cecilia magically turned a can of condensed milk into doce de leite. According to C, this may be the first thing every Brazilian cook learns how to master.  It amazes me to watch her place an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a small amount of water in that pot and, in a short time, open up that can of dreamy creamy caramel sauce.

BTW-When I was little, my mother used a pressure cooker on rare occasions.  She taught me basically that it was a tool of death--a scorching bomb destined to explode.  Evidently my mother was wrong, because millions of Brazilians use pressure cookers safely every day.  But even if there's a hint of truth to my mom's lesson, doce de leite is definitely worth the risk.

Back to the cake.  C spread the fresh, creamy, caramel over the sponge cake.  Then I watched her perform this tricky maneuver that resulted in the sponge cake being coiled up around the filling to make a roll.  It was a Tah Dah! moment, for sure.

Here's Cecilia putting the final touches on her birthday cake:

 

powdered sugar sifted over a doily stencil



Pretty awesome!
See that doce de leite oozing out?
Shut my mouth!



Here's the Birthday Girl.

And here are 3 guys wondering when they can devour the cake.

I made a big pot of Lamb Curry for Cecilia's birthday dinner. She's in love with Indian food.  It's in the tradition of Steve's mom Joy; every child gets a homemade family birthday dinner and the cake of his/her choice. Of course, Joy made both the meal and the special cake.  This time, it was the Birthday Girl who requested and made her own treat.  C even brought her own candles.

I got the cart before the horse after dinner, and brought C's gifts for her to open.

CHEESE!

There are a couple of things on Cecilia's bucket list that I know about.
One of them is to see the ballet Swan Lake.
So in her purple bucket were 2 tickets to
the Houston Ballet's Swan Lake.

Happy Birthday, Mamae!

One candle for each decade + one to grow on.

Daniel tells Papai a secret after dinner.

It's no secret.  How good is this Rocambole com Doce de Leite!

Wow.

Happy Birthday, Dear Cecilia.  Thanks for the baking lesson!  It was a good day, and I'm blessed to be part of your life.

Pizza + Presents

Sunday morning--the day after that World Cup Birthday Party

 

An unplanned sleepover at GiGiHeyYea's on Saturday night
meant that D had no clothes packed for Sunday.
So he had to wear a pair of jeans that GiGi
hadn't altered.  What's a guy to do?
Get those britches tied up with a ribbon.

A beeline to the sandbox on Sunday morning

Hi!

It warmed up a lot while we played and waited for Mamae and Papai.
Off came the shoes, socks, jeans,
and then that sweaty long-sleeved shirt.
Ahh, Spring!

Cecilia and Will arrived ready to make lunch.

Flatbread made really good crust.

Will served the pizza,

while Cecilia fixed a plate for the picky eater.
Don't you love the hair?

Then it was time to open presents.

He giggled with excitement when he saw the first gift box.

Assembly complete.  Ready, set, go!

D loved watching the little cars speed down the ramp
and then shoot across the table.

A police car and an orange car

Tractor!

This tractor was full of farm vehicles and livestock too.

Mamae and Papai had fun with the sheep and cows.
Daniel's faves?  The wagons.

A big dump truck captured our gearhead's attention.

Some really great blocks build a tall tall tower.

 

 

D opened several gifts that GiGi didn't get on film.
An airport with vehicles, planes, and a helicopter;
books, a vacuum/dust buster, mega blocks . . .
oh, my!

Pizza + presents = an excellent way to stretch out a birthday for 12 days!