Mecánicito

Despite determined tool exposure since his early childhood, Joaquin has become somewhat blase lately about working with tools and building things. Although excited about his bed that he and Daddy are building, he's not usually excited to help build it. Instead his attention has switched to fixing cars. He LOVES to work on our cars with Daddy. He actually asks when they can change the oil (I'm not even kidding). I find this amusing since Daniel, while perfectly capable of working on cars, is not particularly fond of it. Although he likes it a lot more with his little helper in tow. Recently they replaced my brake pads and rotors (hopefully that's what they did, I'm always a little shaky on these details not being an even vague car person). Joaquin helped out with the entire project and had a great time. He even got extremely greasy so we had to wash our hands with Daddy's orange stuff (oooooh, exciting!). And while I prefer Daniel's mix of creativity and building know-how, a son/hubby who fixes cars is definitely useful so I'm excited about Joaquin's new interest.

Joaquin's other new interest is babies. He is slowly developing an interest in his friends' younger siblings and some of the other babies he's meeting. Here he is with a friend of our's new little boy, let's call him 'Joe'. Joaquin had a good time demonstrating to Joe how to do acrobatic feats on our futon, and was not at all dismayed when we told him Joe wouldn't be able to do that for a long time. Joe was very interested in Joaquin (he had been fussy, but apparently all he needed was for 4 adults to stop trying to calm him, and one 3 year old to entertain him) and watched his antics fixedly. Finally Joaquin asked to give him a hug. Here he is being very gentle.

His interest in singing continues to grow, he likes to sing with me while I play the piano now, which is really fun. It's also somewhat difficult since frequently he 'plays' with me; usually right where I need to be playing. Sometimes I just play everything an octave up, but things sound chinzier that way. However he's added a new dimension by changing his voice for different songs. He likes sweet songs like 'Jesus Loves Me' and likes to sing them imitating my tone of voice. He's started to kind of bend the ends of the words and slur them together. So far it sounds ridiculous and is so entertaining I have to work keep from laughing at him. But I'm very proud that he's understanding that you change how you sing for the type of song you're singing and I'm sure he'll learn how to make it pretty without the exaggerated note-bending.

El Fuente

Last Thursday (yes I'm a week behind) we went for our first splashpad outing of the summer. That means we went to Uptown mall and played in the fountain. We went with our friend 'Jane', her mommy and little brother. Which sounds like a lot of chaos but was actually quite fun. We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen first since it's right next door, which turned out to be a terrific idea. It was a little weird since most of the customers were business people out for business lunches, but turns out CPK is pretty kid friendly. They had all the usual color crayons, etc. as well as kid cups and were surprisingly chill about some energetic little people in their adult atmosphere. The kids tore through a cheese pizza between the two of them, leaving Jane's mom and I the opportunity to share something more adventurous. And despite my feelings about deviation from traditional pizza toppings I highly recommend their Santa Fe chicken. (Comes with guacamole, which probably explains my endorsement.) All this to say, that Jane's mom and I hatched a plan (On a high from a successful and pleasant lunch with children). We want to start a blog/website that rates restaurants for child-friendliness on a variety of aspects. (Atmosphere, equipment, menu, etc.) Mostly we want to have an excuse to eat out a lot. :) But seriously, anyone know if this is already done somewhere? You would think it was, wouldn't you?

The kids were seriously funny running around the fountain. Jane never did get really brave about running through the water despite getting quite wet from all the mist. Joaquin was having a lot of fun running around the water but once he inadvertantly drenched himself it was a free-for-all. In fact I had only brought fresh underwear and a t-shirt so we had to purchase new shorts (an entire new outfit was called for). We went into Gymboree to use their dressing area to change (under the theory they were least likely to kick out dripping children) and thus came home with new green shorts and two boxer-briefs. Sigh. After a cookie at the Nestle store (honestly Uptown Mall sucks you in!) we said good-bye and headed home. I had the camera in my bag the whole time and forgot to take pictures, but I did take this picture later that afternoon. Joaquin took awhile to calm down and go to sleep, but once he did, it was impossible to wake him. I left his door open for twenty minutes before my prowling around and unloading the dishwasher finally convinced him to open his eyes. A morning in the sun will do that to you.

Mañanas

Recently Joaquin woke up ready to work! I barely got some breakfast into him and his pjs off before he got down to business. Obviously clothes were out of the question - they only slow you down anyway. He cut wood, made pocket holes, and hammered like a madman. I think my favorite part was this concentration face. You'd make that face too if you were cutting a two-by-four with a chainsaw. :) Scarily enough that his current favorite saw choice. He could never give me a straight answer on what he was making; too absorbed in the specific tasks. He worked for quite a while and Mommy had a good time taking pictures. I think he wakes up in the morning, and before he calls out to let me know he's awake he plans his playtime. He frequently jumps out of bed with a

yen to play with some specific toy, and we have to at least touch it before we can eat breakfast or do anything else. I have this vision (in my imagination) of him sitting there, pointing at one toy after another, shaking his head as he decides against one. Finally he is struck by a brilliant plan for his __________ toy. That is it, the toy he must, simply must, play with today! At least that's what I'm extrapolating based on his actions. Never really asked him about it, which is pretty silly. We'll see what he says.

One final little bed story. Last night Joaquin woke up and got out of bed, walked to his door, opened it and stood there calling "Mommy". I woke up (Very disoriented since this never happens anymore) and went to go see what the problem was. "There's a spider in my bed" he tells me. First of all I'm a little sad that I appear to be passing on my spider phobia. (Probably b/c I shriek like a banshee when I see one and Joaquin has seen this reaction multiple times) Second, I was concerned that there really was a spider, but confused as to how he had noticed it. I was relieved to hear that he had 'seen' it, an impossibility since his room was way too dark. So I searched for the imaginary spider for awhile and after he was reassured he went back to bed willingly and was asleep almost as I walked out the door. Monsters under the bed here we come!

SkippyJon Jones

I did indeed return from Phoenix (almost a week and a half ago), hit the ground running and we've been running ever since. We started by moving most of Heather's stuff into the apartment she and Bryan will share, while separating everything she needs for the next two weeks to send to my parents' house. Last week I proctored some AP exams for a high school and poor Joaquin spent more time without Mommy. (Don't feel too bad for him though, he got two extended playdates with his best friends out of the deal!) After a weekend filled with a wedding, overnight guests (which were so exciting as I hadn't seen Charity in forever!), and two graduation parties we've been spending our free time this week working on Auntie Boo-boo's wedding! It makes me tired just thinking about all of it, but the upside is that Joaquin has really been a charmer through most of it. He was a little crabby on the first days of my return, but he perked up and has been relatively cheerful for a small child denied most of his normal entertainment and forced to be good while adults work. This picture is of him packing himself in a box emptied after the Heather/Bryan move. In fact, if you look closely you can see the floor and an electrical cord from their new apartment! Woo-hoo. He has also fallen in love with another fictional character apart from Max & Ruby (yeah!). SkippyJon Jones. SkippyJon is a siamese kitty who thinks he's a chihuahua and whose adventures are told in a series of books, some of whom were given to us by Auntie Rachel. Joaquin loves them passionately despite not usually understanding what is going on. He (Joaquin) calls himself SkippyJon Jones and corrects you when you use his actual name. I'm Momma Junebug Jones and Daniel is Mr. Jones, which I realize is boring but Mr. Jones does not actually appear in the stories so Joaquin had to make it up. Joaquin continually tells me about things he does with Don Diego ("the biggest of the small ones", the leader of a band of "mysterioso chihuahuas" called "Los Chimichangos") his favorite character from the books. While this is charming and entertaining for mommy, it does present a problem with strangers who aren't familiar with the story, but are still told to call him SkippyJon Jones and are told in a not so "muy, muy soft voice" about the plots ad nauseum.

Otro Tiempo Con Joaquin

It's Daniel again. Bethany was with Kara last week so Joaquin and I had more quality time together. We had been preparing him for this all week but I don't think any amount of verbal prep is sufficient to ease a 3 year old who misses his mommy. Joaquin out a bold face on it though and did remarkably well.

I took Monday off so he and I could hang out. I LOVE waking him in the morning. There is nothing like a good sleepy snuggle! We went to the zoo, the National Nuclear Museum, and to Costco. All before nap time!

Our zoo is great. The exhibits are easy to walk to and there is a beautiful grassy area shaded by old cottonwoods. I love those trees. We took a picnic and Joaquin was asking about it by 10 am. I was able to hold him off a bit longer by taking him to the play area which is AWESOME! All the surfaces are made from flat nylon webbing that is woven together and tensioned. The more advanced areas can only be accessed by lifting your body up through a little hole on the next level. This posed a serious challenge for Joaquin who, like his daddy at this age, is very heavy. He doesn't have that monkey advantage that lot's of kids have and can therefore climb up anything. Nevertheless, he was DETERMINED to get through that hole! He pushed and pulled and reached and squirmed and just when it seemed nothing would work....HE GOT IT! I was so overwhelmed with pride that I was literally yelling, "YES! YES! YOU DID IT!" Then he had to do it two more times and....HE DID IT! He was so proud of himself. :)

Unfortunately, I couldn't take more days off and he spent the remaining days with Grandma who was very busy with Auntie Boo's wedding plans. The good thing is that I got to wake him up every morning. :)

The best part was getting Mommy back!

Un viaje a El Paso

OK, it's Daniel again. Joaquin and I have been spending some awesome time together lately and our recent trip to El Paso warrants a blog entry.

We went for Marcela's 1st Holy Communion. Funny how I had NO IDEA what that was until this trip. I did not realize that it was the first time a child takes communion, ie. bread and wine! I KNOW! How could I not know that? Well...what can I say? We Protestants don't really make that much of it and I decided that I think it is a really good thing to make a bigger deal of it. But...enough of my opinions...

Joaquin was SUPER excited to see Elisa and Marcela (aren't they the most beautiful little girls), not to mention Mimo and Bisi (my grandmother). We hit the road on Friday and made it in time for dinner. Marcela was sick and Erica wasn't much better so we said hi and went back to Bisi's house.

Joaquin and I slept in the same bed for the FIRST TIME. I have been wanting to do this for a long time but he always wants his own bed. This time there was only one bed and I woke both nights to Joaquin telling me to get out of his bed, which was followed by tears when I said no. He forgave me and went back to sleep. This is an important step because mommy wants to buy a small family tent soon that will fit in the back of the truck. WHAT! You heard right! Mommy wants to go camping. Isn't it amazing what a mom will do for her little boy?

It turns out that Joaquin was not the only one crying the first night. I recall hearing some howling and puppy cries throughout the night and, being the owner of a small dog, I connected the tamber to a small hound. Well, we woke up the next morning to a surprise. A beautiful, white puppy had trapped itself on the roof of Bisi's tool shed and had spent the whole night in the cold (recall the ridiculous end of April cold snap). Jonathon gave him 2 corn tortillas and bowl of milk but he was so distressed that he wouldn't let us get too close. I got on a ladder and tried to make friends by talking sweetly and giving him one more. He was all skin and bones.

We left him there to contemplate his situation while we were at the Communion and returned a few hours later to a much less fearful pup. I climbed on the roof and gave him some dog food while Joaquin, Elisa, and Jonathon watched. A few hours later, Jonathon and I returned to a changed animal. Joaquin named him Miso. He let me pick him up and Jonathon nurtured him to health with more food and love. It was amazing to see the transformation of attitude and body. He slept inside that night and by morning, the ribs were concealed!

Joaquin had quite the adventure!

El Doctor Pequeño

Last Saturday Daddy had a little trouble getting up, so eventually Joaquin and I went and got him. Joaquin was very upset when he saw an owie (how do you spell that?) on Daddy's hand so out came the first aid kit. It was hysterically cute, because at first I didn't realize he had gone to get it, so he started doing everything himself. First he cleaned Daddy's hand with his special cleansing foam (guaranteed to make all band-aids placed on the area afterward NOT stick.). Then he went and got a 'big' band-aid for Daddy. I was totally mystified as to why he had to go and get another band-aid when he has plenty in his little kit. However all was made clear when he returned with a regular, non-animal or Diego patterned band-aid. Daddy needs an adult band-aid, duh! He made very cute concentrating faces while opening the band-aid. (Which he did himself b/c Mommy was too busy taking pictures of how cute he was being.) Then we put some neosporin on the band-aid. I've been working on reminding him how you always put the neosporin on the band-aid, not on your owie. More hygenic and also less messy, very important when a three-year-old is doing it himself. Then he very carefully and tenderly put the band-aid on Daniel's hand and smoothed it down. So cute! Especially since some days he very adorable and takes good care of his stuffed animals (wrapping them in blankets to keep them warm, and feeding them), while others he asks me things like, "Do you ever throw kitties?". And then proceeds to throw the kitties. Boys!

El Corte de Pelo

We had been growing Joaquin's hair out to see if a long hair-do would help the frizziness in the back. But when it got close to their visit to El Paso I decided I couldn't let him go in his current stay of ungroomedness. So we gave him a haircut. And this is the result! Daniel went a little crazy with the scissors. He looks like a baby marine!