En la Casa de Amadu

Once in Ft. Collins, we were priviledged to meet Miss Yasmin Amadu, who is a very cute and very determined little baby. We were trying to be helpful to Patience and yet keep Joaquin from going stir crazy, not an easy line to walk. Fortunately Patience and Yasmin both usually napped in the morning (recovering from a less than restful night), so we went places. Before Daniel left we went to their down/old town which is a cute little area with some fun shops and a ton of restaurants. We found a neat little toy shop and Joaquin got a slugabug car. We also got have dinner with our friends Abby & Craig which was very fun and entertainingly adult. I always find myself a little weirded out when I do that something that I remember my parents doing in my childhood. I remember going on vacation and spending an evening with an old college friend or old high school friend of my mom's. To do it myself felt a little like a rite of passage, somehow different from vacationing at a friend's house. Once Daddy left Joaquin got a little more restless, but we made it through with the help of a playground in the Amadu's apartment complex, and a few outings. I think we were overall helpful and I had a good time getting to know Patience better. So here's a few pictures of our time.

Joaquin in a Ghanaian (sp?) hat Patience gave him. He's quite fond of it, probably b/c it actually fits! A novelty in Joaquin's life.

Joaquin holding Yasmin. He was actually quite interested in Yasmin and told me how cute she was. This is despite being told to be quiet for her sake frequently. Kind of pointless since she could sleep through anything if she wanted to, and nothing put her to sleep if she didn't! Still despite his lack of indoor voice skills, he was relatively good and nice about the baby.

Joaquin on a plastic Triceratops in a park we went to. He had a great time since he was quite wound up by this point. He found a stick and pretended it was first a lawn mower, then a leaf blower and then a walking stick. My favorite was when he told me he was 'lawning the grass' with it. That's a reasonable assumption to make with the name lawn mower and knowing you cut grass with it, but still wildly funny. I attempted to correct him, but he wouldn't believe me! This happens a lot with an assumption he's made based on words. He just won't believe that English is a severly inconsistent language and wants his inferences to be correct. It took me awhile to convince him that muffler pipes did not let out smoke and 'muffle'. I had to explain that they were called muffler pipes b/c they also muffle the noise of the engine. Even then I only think he listened b/c Daniel had already told him that an engine without a muffler pipe was loud. Not sure why he's so suspicious of my explanations, but the trait of thinking he knows best about everything comes from both sides!

Viajando a Ft. Collins

Last week we drove to Ft. Collins to spend some time with our friend Patience and her new baby Yasmin. I was kind of dreading the drive as it's the longest we've attempted with Joaquin. (In one day) Fortunately the trip up went swimmingly. Joaquin chatted to himself (very entertainingly) for an hour and then slept for almost two. With a portable DVD player, Max & Ruby dvds, a stop in Raton for ice cream and a stop in Colorado Springs for dinner with Mi-mo and Billpa-pa it was actually fun. Go figure. I think this kid just likes to be going places and doing stuff.

Sabado

Before we left for Ft. Collins, we spent a Saturday working on my new planters for the backyard. (Will be finished hopefully before it's completely too late to transplant my bulbs.) Joaquin was intrigued by Daddy's jig to drill pocket holes in the boards, so when Daniel was finished he grabbed the jig and his own personal tools and went to work. I had to help him clamp it on, but he had it all set up without me, just neede me to help him work his clamp. We put the jig over the pocket holes Daddy had already drilled, so I think he thought his drill was actually making holes. When I went inside for a bit, he set it up on the other side of the board and was dismayed when it "didn't work". Yes Joaquin, toy drills do not actually drill holes in wooden boards. Makes them kind pointless, I agree. After that he got a little bored and so Daniel put him in the car. This is Daniel's normal method for entertaining Joaquin when he is working in the garage and can't really supervise. He puts him in the car or truck with the doors closed and let's him 'drive'. Believe it or not, this is actually entertaining for a considerable period of time. He drives and honks the horn and tries to put up the sunshade. On one memorable occasion he managed to lock himself in the truck with our then only key to the truck. Daniel spent several minutes trying to get Joaquin to push the button and watching him push every other button he could find in the truck. Finally in desperation Daniel said, "the lock, Joaquin, the lock". To which Joaquin responded, "okay", reached over and pulled up the lock. (I feel like this is something Daniel should have already know to do. Button is a very ambiguous word, lock is specific. However it is a little surprising that Joaquin knew which one was the lock and how to unlock it.) Still, in general, the car play is an inventive strategy in that it keeps him in a (semi)safe location where he can entertain himself and be seen by Daddy. The planters aren't yet finished, but we're making progress.

Pintura de dedo, dos

About a week ago (yes I haven't blogged in awhile, I was busy) I decided to try fingering painting again. This picture shows you my well thought-out set-up. (Wow, two hyphens in a row!) I squeezed a little of each color into a bowl (no more giving him the entire pot!), used smaller sheets of paper, got lots of paper towels and set it all up outside! (See I learn from experience). I thought I was soooooo clever and it was definitely a lot cleaner. However, cleanliness impairs creativity as Joaquin was definitely less thrilled with it as an activity. He played a little and swirled some colors around, but he got bored quickly and didn't really care what happened to his pictures later. I'm forced to conclude (reluctantly) that most of the joy of finger painting is the squishy messiness! And that, like many works of genius, Joaquin's creativity is spurred on by chaos and craziness. Sigh. I forsee much clean-up in my future.

Mi primero nombre

Joaquin has named his first stuffed animal. Normally I name them and then tell him. Admittedly he sort of named his chick Ming-ming, but that's because he thought she was the duck from the show "Wonder Pets". This is the first time he's come up with a name all on his own. He has a dalmation stuffed animal and we had to snuggle him since he was wearing his new fireman pajamas (how cute are these!). I asked him what his puppy's name was and, despite the suggestion of Daryl the dalmation, he thought for a moment and told me, "Wiggly". So everyone, meet Wiggly the dalmation.

Música?

We have a friend staying with us for a few days and, as usual, Joaquin thinks he's here just for him. Daddy was busy writing a paper, so Joaquin decided to serenade his thinking processes. We made an unholy noise with the three loudest of Joaquin's many instruments. He has a harmonica, an accordion, a drum, 2 xylophones, a tamborine and a shaker. He's only a few apparatuses and a cymbal away from a one-man band. Maybe for Halloween, hmmmm.

Dibujando

Joaquin is developing his artistic skills lately. Thursday afternoon (after the Balloon Fiesta), I had to do some tutoring, so Joaquin hung out with Grandma. Apparently they talked all about the balloons b/c they decided to make a picture of a balloon. Grandma drew a simple balloon shape with an attached square (gondola) and Joaquin filled it in. He colored a blob of orange, pink and black where the fire should go. Then, despite the round shape of Grandma's drawing, he decided this was the cow balloon. (That's good old Elsie, representing Creamland, "the milk of New Mexico". She is a serious shape balloon, but I guess Joaquin thought the round balloon was close enough.) He drew two circles for eyes, a scribble for a nose, a line for a mouth and several scribbles for hair. ALL BY HIMSELF! And then explained it all to me when I came to pick him up. Okay, so it's maybe not amazing, but it's definitely a milestone since he hasn't done that before. He's starting to color better as well. We scribble a blob of the appropriate color approximately over where it should go. This video is of Joaquin cutting. We're just learning how to use scissors (don't worry, carefully supervised and with this cute little child's pair). He still has to use both hands to push the blades down, so it's not the most accurate or controlled manuever, but he's certainly proud of himself. (Me too.)

Fiesta de los Globos (2009)

Ah the Balloon Fiesta. Happens every year and I still like it. (I'm not alone in this, such is the charm of large numbers of hot air balloons that many Albuquerqueans go every year.) Joaquin of course loves balloons (continuing our trend of enjoying everything transportational or mechanical). We've been watching them from our window in the mornings, a great perk of our current location. Thursday we decide to take the morning off from work, etc. and go to the park. We always try to go on a Special Shapes day b/c it makes it that much more exciting. Joaquin had a great time, his favorite balloons were the Noah's Ark and a few shaped like other forms of transportation (a fire truck, a train, etc.). But I was totally thrilled to see Carmen Miranda back! She's my favorite from when I was a little girl. I've never seen pictures of the actual woman but my childhood self thought the balloon was the prettiest thing ever! She still looks good.

Mis Flores (dos)

Aren't these flowers beautiful? Wednesday Daniel, Joaquin and I went to a potluck at a friends house. Since I was teaching right before, the boys had to pick up some bread to share. Apparently they were admiring the flowers and Daniel asked Joaquin if he'd like to bring Mommy some flowers. Joaquin said yes and when Daniel asked which ones, he pointed and said "the daisies!" Which is so super cute b/c I had just showed him some daisies and told him their name the day before. Not that these are traditional daisies, but close enough. I love getting flowers from my boys.

Mi Primero Chiste

Here's a blog all about Joaquin being silly. First, Joaquin told his first joke - and it was actually funny! To be technically correct it was his first pun which I'm afraid reveals his relationship to my father. I'm not sure this family can take any more punniness. While I was bathing him, Joaquin looks at me and says, "Mommy, do you have gum in your mouth?", I didn't, so I looked at him oddly and said, "No I don't, see?". I opened my mouth to show him it was empty and he says, "Yes you do, right here!" and points to my gums while grinning widely. Then he laughs. Get it? JK! Secondly, this video is Joaquin right before naptime. Frequently the knowledge of impending slumber makes him wildly hyper. If you're tired the only way to keep from falling into the sleep trap of death is to keep yourself frantically moving. Today the combination of approaching naptime and clean sheets was very entertaining. He kept singing songs and telling me funny things from under his blanket. In this video he's attempting to sing "Five Green and Speckled Frogs". He can make it through the first verse but since his subtraction skills are limited (i.e. nil), that's as far as he goes. To translate for those of you who can't understand Joaquin with a blanket over his head, the song goes: "Five green and speckled frogs, sat on a speckled log, eating the most delicious bugs (yum, yum!). One jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool, then there were four green speckled frogs." It's a classic!

Día de Trabajo

Well Uncle Matty has left to return to London, sigh. But before he went, he came and spent the Saturday doing boy things with Daniel and Joaquin. They were building a planter and since there were two adults to one small child some of it actually got done. This is Joaquin in his 'working' clothes. He's responsible for the tool belt, but I put him in the appropriate shirt.












I think they had a good time (don't know for sure b/c I took the opportunity to go shopping BY MYSELF!!!! A pair of boots and a dress later....) but it was certainly exhausting. After lunch Uncle Matty and Daddy went shopping for shoes so that when Joaquin woke up from his nap, they needed theirs! They sat down to 'watch' "Max & Ruby" with Joaquin and couldn't help themselves. Joaquin and I were very amused. They didn't even wake up when I took the picture! Joaquin had to jump up and down near Daniel and say, "Wake up Daddy!" several times before we got a reaction.

Mi Cobija

Blankets are so versatile. Sometimes they're a comforter, sometimes they're a house (as shown in previous blogs). Frequently he 'wraps' whatever toy he is playing with up in it and hands it to me as a 'present'. Not one that I can keep mind you, it's just for the fun of unwrapping. On this occasion, it was hat and then a flag. While the hat is very stylish (if you like babushkas, or is that the Russian grandma who wears a scarf like that? I can never remember), I was mostly amused by his flag. He started flailing his blanket around and watching it flutter. Then he told me it was a flag and that his arm was the pole. I thought he looked just like the color guard from my high school marching band (with much better form I might say), but Daniel says he is one of those macho Italian guys who "trow de fleg" in Sienna Italy. (If you're confused I recommend the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun".) He was truly having a great time and I got several action shots that have great facial expressions. If you feel so inclined, I would suggest you enlarge the pictures to see his devilish grin.

Tío Mateo

Uncle Matty's home! Okay, so he's been home for awhile, you try blogging with the week I just had. Moving on, we went and met him at the airport, which I pumped Joaquin up for. When I told him we were going to the airport he said, "We'll see the American flag, and the yellow flag and the black flag. " I'm thinking, american flag okay, yellow flag is the New Mexico flag, but black flag? Turns out he was right, at the top of escalators are three giant flags, the American, the New Mexican and the POW/MIA black flag. I repeated this story to Daniel who said that yeah Joaquin had told him all about the flags the other day and called it the black flag with the man on it. He notices the weirdest things! Meeting Matthew was fun and while Joaquin was a little nervous, he warmed up quickly since he wanted to go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play with "the big guy". Matthew further cemented the friendship by bringing presents of a double-decker toy bus, matchbox (yes they sell those in England too) construction equipment and a propeller-driven squid bathtoy. (This squid is the coolest toy ever! If I can find a way both Allie and Jonah are getting one.) We've had a lot of quality time with Matthew during the day and I wanted to include this video of Matthew and Joaquin twirling in the pool. We spent a really long time in Great-Grandma's pool and practiced our synchronized swimming moves. I'm working on Joaquin's form, he doesn't seem to remember to point his toes and hold his legs out when I spin him. Unless we make more progress we'll never make it to the Olympics. However, it was very fun to spin with Uncle Matty since he's up higher and can swing faster!