Fall Snapshots

Just to apologize for all the words in the past few blogs--

nothing but pictures!

 

 

Pumpkin, meet Daniel.
Daniel . . . not so much.

The gourd is more friendly.

It may be a balloon.

Pinecones, nuts, leaves, wheat, and feathers to explore.

Pinecone

GiGi's camera--maybe she'll give it to me this time.

You Say Spider--I Say Aranha

GiGi calls them spiders,

but they're aranha to me!

I like my new socks because they have spiders/aranha on them.

They're so awesome,
I just lay on the floor and stare at them.

How many aranha?
One, two, three, four.
Um, dois, tres, cuatro.

Tip-toe in my new magic socks.

I. Love. Fall !

Last night the first 'genuine' cool front pushed through southeast Texas all the way to us.  I know the Midwest is absolutely buried under many feet of snow, and the leaves have been showing off in the East for weeks now.  So y'all can join my family in Switzerland to laugh derisively at my idea of a cool front.  But celebrate with me that yesterday's summer heat and humidity have given way to early morning rain, deep blue skies from the north, and very pleasant temps minus humidity.

Hooray!  I.  Love.  Fall.

Welcome to our home,
now that Fall has arrived.

 



Our mantel

Announcing the season in a big way.
I used Modge Podge to attach decorative paper to wood letters,
in this adapted Pinterest project.

This vine apple joins a real pumpkin and drying hydrangeas in a hammered copper vase.



Two dried gourds from past Falls keep company with
a beautifully etched, stained, and polished gourd.
See the roadrunner?
(I bought the gourd from Wayne Hesterly--a Washington County TX artisan.
He used the funds to restore the Masonic Cemetery in Chappell Hill.)

 I love the colors and the textures and the smell of the air.

Wooden bowl (a gift from Brazil) holds lots of collected treasures--
leaves, feathers, nuts, wheat, pinecones, and twig balls.
There's also a shiny slab of copper; hub found it as a young rock hound.

Old birch candles,  leaves, and mums shout autumn.

 I love the season when everything begins to slow down

and make preparations to fall asleep until spring comes.

Welcome, Fall!

Bless this home, Lord.
Carved, painted candlesticks were a gift
from my friend Jo on one of her trips to Mexico.

These treasures remind me of Chappell Hill.
The woven runner is a Scarecrow Festival find.
The deer antler was laying in our yard in Chappell Hill.
The wasp nest?  I sprayed it down after 3 of its inhabitants stung me.
When all was still, I cut that sucker out of the tree, branch and all!

 Autumn is a time of happy days that made great memories:
school with new adventures and friends;
cozy sweaters; football games; chili;
a breakfast club of deer in the yard;
migrating Monarchs and hummingbirds;
and cornbread dressing at family Thanksgiving celebrations.

 I. Love. Fall !
(Excuse me while I go outside to work in the garden
and wait to hear the geese fly overhead.)
 

 

 

 

 

Seek and Find

Ola! Hello!  It's me--Daniel.  I have a new game and I want to tell you about it.  Okay?!

Chapter One: Treasures
Once upon a time last Thursday, my GiGi came to my house to play with me.  Mamae went somewhere called the store, and came back with lots of bags full of special treasures.  There were onions and carrots and red berries.  And yogurt and milk(sometimes I call it leite because I speak Portuguese too).

There were stacking things in little boxes and heavy cans.  There was a bigbig bunch of soft white round paper.  You know the round paper that's by the potty?  That's what they were, only there were lots of them all inside a plastic bag.  They were squishy fun to climb and roll on--like a bigbig pillow.  So many treasures Mamae brought back for me!

Chapter Two: Pick-Em-Up + Ayuda Mamae
I helped Mamae and GiGi put some things away.  That's a game we call pick-em-up. I was a big help.  Especially when I stood on the ledge inside the refrigerator and made room on the shelves for some of the treasures Mamae brought home.  Ayuda Mamae = Help Mamae.  That's a good game.

Chapter Three: Mais Dancing
HeyYea came to my house too!  We watched my favorite television because I like music and I love to dance.  I watch it over and over and I wanted HeyYea to see it.

There's this man who dances and sings all at the same time.  He wears a hat, and white socks with black pants and black shoes.  He dances all crazy and wonderful: he walks backwards without moving; he kicks and waves his arms and holds his hat.  Sometimes he leans so far to the side!

Mamae says he is Michael Jackson, but we call him Moco (moh-soh).  When I want to see and dance, I ask Mamae, "Mais Moco dancing with a hat?"  My Vovo in Brazil thinks it's really funny when I speak two languages in one sentence. I made Mamae smile, too.

Chapter Four: A New Game
Oh, I almost forgot!  Ayuda Mamae and Pick-Em-Up and Mais Moco Dancing with a Hat are all fun games.  But those are not the new game I want to tell you about.

Here it is.

My GiGi and I were having fun opening and closing bedroom doors while Mamae was busy in the kitchen.  One time when I opened the door, GiGi was gone!  Where did she go? I started to look for her.  I called her.

Mamae asked me, "Where's GiGi?"  I looked in the kitchen, and no GiGi.  HeyYea asked me, "Where did she go?"  We all raised our shoulders and wondered.

Then I turned around and there she was!  My GiGi was standing around the corner by the television, being really still and quiet until I saw her.  We both laughed.  "I see you, Daniel!" she said.  I got a big GiGi hug. 

I ran back inside the room and closed the door.  When I came out again, GiGi was gone.  Again.  Mamae asked, "Where's GiGi?"  HeyYea asked, "Where did she go?"  We all raised our shoulders and wondered.

This time I found my GiGi in the same place, really still and quiet and smiling so big.  "I see you, Daniel!  Boo!"  We giggled and I got a big GiGi hug.  Then I squealed and ran back to close the door again.

GiGi tried to trick me by hiding in different places.  I called her.  Mamae and HeyYea asked me.  We all raised our shoulders and wondered.

But I found her every time I looked for her.

I found her in the corner by the table.  I found her in the corner by the door to outside.  We giggled every time.  I got a big GiGi hug every time.

My GiGi calls this game Seek and Find.  I like it--a lot!  Maybe more than "Mais Moco Dancing with a Hat?"  Well . . .       

Catch Up!

I just turned around, and September was done!  Before the day is over, I want to catch up on some pix from the last 4 weeks.  Shots from Friday play dates with my favorite 19 month-old and other September things:

GiGi's garden hat is on the move.

No more tip-toes needed
to turn the lights on-off-on-off-on-off.

The crazy thing is
GiGi's hat nearly fits.

Going to the pantry for . . .
(any guesses?)

. . . a bahnah.
Still a favorite, though now it's called by two names: bahnah and broom.

D fixed the drawer pulls.

 In addition to bahnah, Little Man played with cars and kucks, airpane and cot-ter.


The cot-ter has blue rotary blades,
in case you wondered what a cot-ter is.

The orange car (background) is a pillow
that Josie and Papi brought months ago
when they came for a visit.
D calls it Papi Car.

 While waiting for lunch, it was time to catch up on a few phone calls.

HEY-OH!

That number is 88888888888888888888888,
right?

We were on speaker phone . . .

. . . and someone really called!
Hey Yea sounds a lot like Papai.

 Daniel started Mother's Day Out in September.  Two days a week, he plays with his new friend (there are two toddlers in the class) and learns new words from his teacher Ms. Charlotte.  There's a shady playground, snack, lunch, and naptime on a mat on the floor.

No tears on the first day of  'school.'

At least no tears from Daniel.
Mamae wore the feather necklace that GiGi gave her before leaving Brazil,
to give her courage for Daniel's first day of school.
 

This year, for the first time in a really long time, I purchased season tickets to The Houston Ballet.  They were half-price!  The beauty of these performances, amazing professional dancers, choreography, lighting, sets, costumes, and a fantastic Houston Symphony Orchestra--I'm transported.  There were two ballets in September to start the season.

Steve was my date for the first performance of the season.
He's not mad; just doesn't especially like to have his picture taken.

My friend Jo joined me for the second ballet--The Merry Widow.
We both hummed the waltz all the way home.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch--

Not rubber bands.  Pasta.
And neither of us wore burnt orange--the color of that other university in the state.

D still played in the hose.
With temperatures in the low 90's throughout the month,
there was plenty of time to play outside in the shade.

Saggin'

Let me interpret this look.
Is this boca nao? or can I drink this cool agua?

A bucket for washing finger paint off the hands
and belly.

Daniel still loves to read books.  He points at every picture and wants to know what it is--if he doesn't know already.  I noticed he's getting a little bored with the same old format, so we played a new game.

GiGi said, "I Spy a . . .  "
and D filled in the blank.
One of his funniest new words:  pickemup.
It's what he calls paper clips, because he and Papai
play a game scattering and picking up paper clips.

Fall has arrived in Texas, according to the calendar.
GiGi brought out a big bag of acorns
for scooping and pouring.

With morning temperatures a little more bearable,
we took a pumpkin for a ride in the wagon.
See the drool?  Daniel is cutting all his 2-year molars at once.

What's September without Aggie football?!!
Uncle Dodo showed D how to take a hike from the center.



D took the football, turned, and ran down the hall.
All the time he ran yelling, "Go! Go! Go! Go!"

During a time-out on the field,
Daniel checked out Aunt Nana's computer
while Mamae (and Johnny Manziel) looked on.


H a p p y   F a l l ,   Y' a l l !
 

The Word of the Day Is . . .

Hi!  Ola!  It's me, Daniel.  I'm getting to be such a big boy now that I talk all the time.
 
I know my colors: ed, bue, ellow, purpa, pink, green, brown, gey.
 
I like to tell everyone about cars and kucks.  Ed car!  Bue kuck!  Ellow kuck!  Gey car!  Green bike!  Bike is anything with two or three wheels.  Airpane is up in the sky, and so is cot-ter.  Barco floats on the water.  Everyone needs to know these things.
 
I like to play outside with agua in the blue pool at GiGi and HeyYea's house.  There are lots of bird and some fowa (flower) and budda (butterfly) there too.  I see grass and green bush and tree.  And ant and bee.
 
I like to tell my people "xixi" when I pee in my diaper.  This makes them smile a little.  I also like to talk about who has boy parts like me, so I ask Mamae.  Papai?  Mamae says, "Papai ten."  Mamae?  Mamae no ten.  GiGi?  GiGi no ten.  HeyYea?  HeyYea ten.  This is important, right?
 
Book is one of my favorite things.  Mamae likes it when I read to her.  I like to sing Twinkle Twinkle and Baa Baa.  Aranha and Cai Cai Balao.  It's fun to dance too.  Whenever I see a T or a t, I call it twinkle.
 
Uh-Oh is one of my favorite new words.  Uh-Oh kacker! when my GiGi drops cookies on the floor.  Uh-Oh! when I see pieces of corn loose on the cob.  Uh-Oh spoon! Isn't that a cool word?!  
 
I know a lot about food and eating.  Spoon, cup, cool agua.  One day I surprised my GiGi when we were eating lunch together.  She picked up her cup to take a drink, and I was thinking really hard.  I said, "GiGi cool agua."  My GiGi was so excited.  I guess it's a big deal when someone says three words together.
 
But I like to talk about my favorite foods.  Banana and pasta are the only ones with just one name.  Everything else has two: apple/maca; orange/laranja; pineapple/abacaxi; strawberry/morango; bread/pao; juice/suco; cheese/queijo; rice/arroz.  Good!/Bom!  Mmmm!
 
There are lots of foods that I don't like right now.
 
I'll tell you a secret.  It's not really that I don't like foods, because Mamae and Papai cook good things.  It's just that I've discovered something very im. por. tant: I can say no!
 
I try to eat only my favorite things, but Mamae and Papai don't want to play by my rules.
 
I know so many words now, that I get all buzzy inside when my people don't understand what I want or when I don't have a word to tell them.  Sometimes they tell me no, even when I ask nice with "mais" and "peeze."  That makes me so mad and sad that I have to fall down on the floor like I'm wrestling with someone.  I growl.  I cry. I kick.  My people just stay all calm.  What's that all about?! 
 
I hear my people talk about the Terrible Two's--whatever that means.  My GiGi tells me I will be two in February, but I don't know what that means either.
 
I just know that I'm a big, big boy. Want to talk?