My HeyYea Makes Magic

Bahnah = Nirvana

nir va na
One dictionary defines nirvana as "an ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy."
Another--"any place of complete bliss, delight, or peace."

Daniel defines nirvana as "any place I can get my hands on 'bahnah' (a broom or mop.)"

From the moment we drive into the garage, and Little Man sees the handles of a dozen or so gardening tools, he begins talking, "bahnah, bahnah, bahnah."  I free him from his carseat and set him on his feet.  He walks to the wall where all the tools are mounted and continues to chant.

This is paradise.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Daniel saw me prop the handle up against a wall one time,
and now he does it just the same way.

Even when something else catches his attention,
bahnah is close at hand.

Shiny floors, huh?

Taking a ride in HeyYea's chair
with bahnah.

Bahnah can be heavy and unwieldly,
but Little Man conquers.

Learning a two-handed bahnah approach.

HeyYea found a smaller, lighter-weight bahnah for D.

More bahnahs!

Complete delight!

Checking out some books
on a bahnah break.

What does Daniel spy?
That's right!  The bunny has a bahnah.
And the story comes to a screeching halt;
he refuses to let me turn the page.

Okay, GiGi thinks, let's try another book.
Another book?  Another bahnah . . .

Did you know that Noah carried a bahnah?
Ri-ise and shi-ine and give God your bahnah bahnah.

On Easter Sunday, Uncle Steve is introduced to bahnah.

Giggles and squeals ensue as Daniel
and bahnah find lots of colored eggs.

We're all trying to figure out where the obsession and the word came from.  Here's my theory.
Just after his balloon/birthday party, D began to learn the word balloon.  It was "ba-oo" "ba-neen" for a few days.  Then Daniel met Blanca, the lady who comes to clean our house every other week.  He fell in love with her, and she's pretty sweet on him too.  Although Blanca is not the only person in this house who uses a broom [I did need to interject this], Little Man began to associate Blanca's name with the long-handled implement.  BAHNAH

How many times can he say the word in 2 minutes?!  Check it out.

BTW--I am so fascinated with the way that babies learn language.  It's a remarkable thing.  The debate may rage about the negative effects of speaking more than one language to a young child.  Opponents claim it slows language development.  However, our nieces Zoe and Mia learned Texas English from their mother, Swiss German from their father, and French from the preschool they attended in Brussels, Belgium.  At ages 5 and 3, these girls can chatter intelligently with the best of them, in three languages.  Daniel gets healthy doses of both English and Portuguese; and at 14 months, he has an amazing bi-lingual vocabulary.  He's been communicating with words for several months now, and I'm delighted to say I've lost count of the entries in his verbal bank.

So, anyway, you've seen what nirvana looks like to Little Man.  Here's what a place of delight and peace/nirvana looks like to me.

Here are 4 of my treasures
and a bahnah.
This truly is nirvana.

Easter 2013

The table is set.

An impromptu Spring centerpiece:
celery and asparagus (from the fridge)
and lavender from my kitchen garden.

The Easter Bunny ties bags of goodies
to the chairs of each adult.

Each place has a dyed egg nestled in parsley and lavender.
This is Steve Sr's egg "place card."
The kids have eggs with their initials.

Since there's a girl in the fam now (hooray!)
the Easter Bunny leaves pink items.

Cecilia's egg "place card"
has the letter C dancing all over.

Another EBunny bag of goodies

Will's W egg "place card"

My place card could have M for Mom, G for GiGi, or
S for Sandy (or Steve, or Steve Jr.--see how confusing it could get?!)
So it's just plain pretty speckled purple.

S for Steve Jr.

The EBunny has a great time scattering eggs
for (almost) 14-month-old Daniel to discover.

D can check out the birds at their feeder outside the window
and find some surprises.

No need to be subtle about hiding places this year.

Well, the blue sort of hides by the pillow.

For a month or so Gigi and Daniel have been playing a game
called "Where's the Knife?"  Now, before anyone calls CPS,
the knife is a small butter spreader that can't even cut butter.
Little Man drops the knife behind the ottoman, and GiGi finds it.
Then GiGi 'hides' the knife somewhere
in plain view in the living room while D watches.
"Where's the knife?" GiGi asks.  Daniel searches,
spies it, and picks it up.  The game repeats from there.
It's GiGi's attempt to prep the kid for Easter.

The highlight of the day for Steve:
Daniel arrives and walks into the room
squealing "HeyYea!"  He toddles to HeyYea's legs
and asks to be picked up.  Arms lifted, D begs "Puh, puh!"
No, the baby is not dyslexic--we all know "puh" means "up."

More squeals ensue when Little Man finds his "bahnah"
and introduces it to his Uncle Steve.
Brooms, mops--anything with a handle--thrills him
and sends him into a rush of "bahnah, bahnah, bahnah . . ."

Hey, bahnah and I found an egg.
 

Let's pose for a picture
with my bahnah, of course.

Maybe he'll audition for a remake of the scene from Fantasia.
You know, The Sorcerer's Apprentice
with Mickey and all those brooms?

Little Man pauses for some reassurance from HeyYea,
who can fix a broken egg.
Bahnah can wait.

Mamae and Papai with Daniel and his bunny
and his bahnah

Steve films the festivities.

After our lunch of Lamb Curry

Cecilia shares her Easter toy jacks.

Not only are they shiny bright, they can spin too.

An after-lunch snack--Steve Jr. has just one more devilled egg.

Daniel's Easter Bag shares the table with
birthday gifts for Steve/SteveDad/GrandDad/HeyYea.

Just a few days early for his April 4th birthday,
Steve gets his favorite cake.

Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookie Cake
with one discreet candle and a happy little horn-blowing wooden clown
that's probably almost as old as Steve.

Daniel gives HeyYea a flatbed truck that hauls a race car.

A red race car!

Little Man explores his Easter bag.

Some organic bunny jellies,
a book about Jesus, . . .

and a little lamb (who looks a little like Shaun the Sheep).

 

Easter Blessings!