Chicos y Hombres

So, what is this? It's a wood shaving from Daniel doing some planing. What else does it look like to you? I'm always reminded of a scene from one of the 'Little House on the Prairie' books where Laura puts the wood shavings from her father's construction in her hair to make golden curls. But that's a girly response because Joaquin sees......a ROCKET! Yes, he spent much of that morning in the garage running around with various 'rockets' making zooming noises. His rockets, as he will inform you, are automatic, nobody has to drive them. And they have electricity magnets and gas and oil and fire and generators! And their fire is really, really hot because it has so much energy! So they go really, really fast. (This is a more organized version of what he tells me, wording very close to what he actually says.) And yes, Joaquin is not wearing a shirt. I don't know what to tell you, he just doesn't want to get dressed again after naptime. We spend a lot of evenings in disarray and that's when I take the most pictures. He gets it from his father who walks in the door and immediately takes off his outer shirt. :) They're boys, they don't like clothes and they pretend things are rockets. I can't explain it.

Ajedrez

So Joaquin is really a genius! He's playing chess! Okay, not really. I had to make a slideshow of different types of kings for my Sunday School lesson and Joaquin was helping me. He was very intrigued when I pulled up pictures of chess pieces so Daddy took out our chess set to show him what the pieces look like in real life. He also explained the rules and they 'played' a game. While I would say that Joaquin played a good game for a three year old, he's not really a chess prodigy. His favorite thing to do was move a piece in a way he knew was not right. Again an example of Joaquin's contrary humor. Anything deliberately wrong or opposite is soooooo funny.

Zapatos Iluminados

Joaquin has never really cared what he wears. He makes some objections if he thinks something is really uncomfortable, but even stiff jeans rarely get a complaint. I've always kind of regretted this despite the fact that it means I get to play dress-up with him a bit longer. I keep thinking that if he could establish control in an area like clothes, where I don't care if he's in charge, he would be less obstreperous about others. (Perhaps we could get going where we need to go without all the frustration!) So when he does express an opinion about his attire I listen. Hence the light-up Toy Story shoes for this season. He doesn't know anything about Toy Story since he's still refusing to watch movies (aaah!), but they light up on the heels and on the toes, WOW! They were two dollars more expensive then the shoes Mommy liked, but I sucked it up and Joaquin is so jazzed. Here he is going for a nighttime walk with Daddy to watch his shoes light up in the dark.

Tareas

So I decided it was time for Joaquin to have a few chores; get used to pulling his weight around the house. Ha, ha, he's not capable of doing as many chores as he causes. However, he has been very sweet and semi-excited about helping mommy with a few things. He brings his plate and cup to the sink from the table. (This is very mature on my part b/c I'm always nervous that he'll drop

something onto the floor and I'll have more to clean up.) We've had to discuss how you get down from the table BEFORE you pick up your plate and you carry it with both hands, then go get your cup. He's very good about it, most of the time. He also helps me when I unload the dishwasher. He puts the silverware back in the drawer. These pictures are of him showing Daddy how to do it one morning. They had a great time since Joaquin started getting silly and deliberately putting the silverware in the wrong place because it was soooooooo funny to put a fork in with the spoons. (This is a classic example of Joaquin humor. His favorite joke is to call someone the opposite sex from what they are, "Mommy you're a boy!" or, addressing mommy, "I love you Daddy!" Oh, ha, ha, ha!) Fortunately he doesn't normally misplace silverware for mommy or his helpfulness would be completely lost.

Cuentando

Joaquin's new thing is finding ways to delay bedtime. He tries the classic; 'I'm thirsty, I need a drink of water'. (Why is it that every child tries this? Do they all believe parents can't resist it? You do feel wildly guilty if you deny your child water.) He also frequently has to go to the bathroom about half an hour after bedtime. But Daniel's favorite is the counting. He started this by whining winningly "Daddy, don't leave me". Mommy wasn't about to leave Daddy in there indefinitely (this could be forever since Daniel can't resist a sweetly needy Joaquin), so she said, "You and Daddy can count to 10". This started a trend and now they count every evening. Sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish but to increasingly higher numbers (Joaquin's not dumb, and he knows the higher the number the longer Daddy stays). Joaquin's counting is getting really good actually. (The video is really only audio, turn up your volume loud.)

Un Niño y su Perro

So these aren't the best pictures ever, but you can see the growing relationship between Joaquin and Chita. (Joaquin is wearing his work shirt having just come in from the garage.) Chita has always had an ambivalent attitude towards Joaquin. She's very protective of him and gentle with him, but she doesn't trust him. Watching her trying to teach him how to play fetch and tug-of-war is wildly entertaining. Joaquin of course has always loved Chita, but now he sees her as a source of fun as well. Yesterday we were all hanging in Joaquin's room (he likes to shut both Chita and I in there so we can't leave) and they developed a whole new chasing game. I was sitting with my knees up and Chita, attempting to escape from Joaquin, dove through them. Up to this point, I think only Joaquin was having fun but it changed as Joaquin dove to the floor and scrambled through them after her. Chita began to wave her tail and then ran around me and did it again. Joaquin followed. This went on for quite a while, with the added gambit of Chita licking his face passionately and play-biting his hands to keep him from getting through the 'tunnel'. Constant giggles and tail-waving accompanied all of this. It was cute but boring for mommy since only my physical presence (i.e. the creation of the 'tunnel') was required and I had nothing else to do. This morning we spent half an hour or so snuggling under my blankets with Chita. Surprisingly, Chita let him do this without even trying to run away. It must be love.

El Veterinario Apacible

Apparently Joaquin is a very gentle and humane animal doctor. Here he is taking splinters out of his little critters. He explained to me very carefully how tweezers can be pokey but how these tweezers have pads on them so that they can't hurt the puppies and kitties. He was so serious about it that I resisted the urge to laugh, but his explaination was so expressive and pompous that it was very hard. And look, he cares about the animals emotional health as well. See him read to Jorge? I can rarely get Joaquin to 'read' to me although there are several books he knows well enough to recite. However, I will sometimes catch him reading to Chita or his animals. One time I heard him 'read' most of SkippyJon Jones to Baxter. Which is impressive cause that's a long and complicated book. Unfortunately when reading to Chita he never gets very far as she runs off. Oh well. Here he was showing Jorge his "Build a Burrito" book. It has a variety of ingredients for a burrito and you put different numbers of them in(1-10) so it's also a counting book in english and spanish. Joaquin is always intrigued by the idea that someone would put rice, olives, chiles and lettuce in their burrito, being a strictly beans and cheese man himself. He graciously explained to Jorge how some people like these things in their burritos because everyone likes something different.