Yesterday, Mateo became the proud owner of an actual kid-sized guitar. He is in love with his music class and instruments in general, but especially the guitar. We had debated getting him one for Christmas and decided against it because he was having so much fun playing with a multitude of pretend guitars. He played "guitar" on a ridged plastic plate, on a plastic microphone, and on several musical instrument-shaped puzzle pieces. It seemed a shame to interrupt all that imagination with an actual guitar!
Anyway, two days ago, a new family came to Sacha's weekly Spanish playgroup. They live down the street and are returning to South America in the summer, so are getting rid of all of their possessions. When the mom of the family saw Mateo pretending to play guitar, she asked Sacha if he might want the one they were giving away. And, the next morning, it appeared on our porch!
Mateo is obsessed with it. You can't blame him, either - his fantasy play object just appeared out of nowhere one morning and it was just for him! The only problem with it was that one string was missing and another broke upon arrival. This made it pretty much unplayable. So, today, after I took the kids to a special breakfast at my work, we went to a nearby guitar store to see about getting it restrung. Mateo did pretty well leaving the guitar at first, as he was ogling the shiny full-size models all over the store, but he was very, very sad when he realized it was really gone. Knowing that he'd get it back when I got home from work was no consolation. He woke up from his nap wailing "Where's my GUITAR???"
You can imagine his delight when I walked in the door with it this evening. He grabbed it and ran to the playroom yelling to Mommy about how his guitar was back. We took this video soon after. It includes Mateo singing part of his favorite song ("Hello Everybody") as well as baby Talia saying her favorite new sounds.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Ah-da!
Who knows if this means anything, but baby Talia has done an interesting thing the past several mornings when Sacha has left for work. As she and I and Mateo stand at the window to wave bye-bye to Mommy, I usually say "bye-bye Mommy!" over and over and encourage Mateo to wave. The past couple of days, Natalia has flapped her arm up and down and said "ah-da! ah-da!" during the goodbying and waving. Of course, she won't do it on command. Either it's just a random combination of movements or she knows when we're really saying goodbye and when we're just trying to get her to perform!
However, Sacha and I realized, upon going back and looking at some videos of Mateo around a year old, that he was actually communicating a lot more than we thought he was. We could hear him trying to say things that sounded like precursors to words he started saying for real a few months later. So, we're a lot more tuned in this time to whatever Talia might be trying to say.
Whether she's actually saying goodbye or not, it is awfully cute to watch.
However, Sacha and I realized, upon going back and looking at some videos of Mateo around a year old, that he was actually communicating a lot more than we thought he was. We could hear him trying to say things that sounded like precursors to words he started saying for real a few months later. So, we're a lot more tuned in this time to whatever Talia might be trying to say.
Whether she's actually saying goodbye or not, it is awfully cute to watch.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
getting into rhythm
It has now been around five months that I have been home half-time with the children. It is just now, after five months, that I really feel like I am comfortable with my afternoons with them. I am sort of surprised that it has taken this long to get used to my six hour stretches.
Here are some things that have made the afternoons easier for me. Obviously, we have the student nanny one day a week, and so that day is quite easy for me. On the other days, I have a set activity each day of the week. On Tuesday we have Spanish play group at the house for an hour. Even though it is only one hour out of the six, it gives me some structure for the rest of the afternoon. Each day of the week I have a plan. Although this can make it difficult to do things spontaneously, I do much better with the routine, and the activity or get together tends to just be one or two hours long.
When we all eat dinner around six and I expect the dinner to bed process to take about an hour, things go much smoother. Most of the time I make dinner for Mateo and me (and give Alayna a portion of the leftovers), and then make someting simple, but obviously different, for Natalia.
I used to show Mateo and Natalia a video almost every day, but have stopped doing this consistently. I read somewhere that video watching at this age is more habit forming for the parent than for the kid, and I would have to agree. I was using the video to do my cleaning of the house, but not try to involve Mateo in the cleaning more. When we are washing dishes I sometimes give him a sponge and a bucket full of water so he can wash some dishes too. He loves that activity. Other times I have him put the silverwear in the dishwasher.
When we are cleaning his room, he always walk around in a clockwise circle putting away the things we see as we find them. He loves to do this, especially now that I have a cleaning song I downloaded from the internet! Natalia loves to sit in the middle of the room as we run around her cleaning everything up.
Anyway, these are some random thoughts, but I just wanted to write them down.
Here are some things that have made the afternoons easier for me. Obviously, we have the student nanny one day a week, and so that day is quite easy for me. On the other days, I have a set activity each day of the week. On Tuesday we have Spanish play group at the house for an hour. Even though it is only one hour out of the six, it gives me some structure for the rest of the afternoon. Each day of the week I have a plan. Although this can make it difficult to do things spontaneously, I do much better with the routine, and the activity or get together tends to just be one or two hours long.
When we all eat dinner around six and I expect the dinner to bed process to take about an hour, things go much smoother. Most of the time I make dinner for Mateo and me (and give Alayna a portion of the leftovers), and then make someting simple, but obviously different, for Natalia.
I used to show Mateo and Natalia a video almost every day, but have stopped doing this consistently. I read somewhere that video watching at this age is more habit forming for the parent than for the kid, and I would have to agree. I was using the video to do my cleaning of the house, but not try to involve Mateo in the cleaning more. When we are washing dishes I sometimes give him a sponge and a bucket full of water so he can wash some dishes too. He loves that activity. Other times I have him put the silverwear in the dishwasher.
When we are cleaning his room, he always walk around in a clockwise circle putting away the things we see as we find them. He loves to do this, especially now that I have a cleaning song I downloaded from the internet! Natalia loves to sit in the middle of the room as we run around her cleaning everything up.
Anyway, these are some random thoughts, but I just wanted to write them down.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Mateo's 27 month letter
Dear Mateo,
Happy two years, three months! It has been quite the month of growth. Although we have had our more challenging moments, and you have definitely turned two, you are just a sweet wonderful guy who we love to the stars and moon.
This month, you have really gotten into action stories. You love it when we tell you a story about baking the cake and you pretend to break the eggs, mix (your favorite part), add in the milk, mix again, add in the sugar, mix again . . . bake the cake and then eat it! Action stories make driving so much more entertaining.
You also have been getting used to hanging out with more people. On Mondays we still have our nanny student (not weekly, but that is a different story). You really enjoy playing with her and are getting more and more used to her. On Thursdays we now have a mother's helper for two hours. She speaks Spanish with you and you just love playing together with her too. Today you made a long train in the playroom and went to the park with her and had a blast. She is helping you hear some more Spanish from a native speaker, lets me do lots of housework and have time to hang out with either just you or just Natalia.
Speaking of Spanish, you have started to sing some songs in Spanish - "10 Deditos", Bomberos (a new favorite about firefighters), Venga a la Granja and some other songs. You have also memorized a handful of stories in Spanish and love "reading" them to us. You seem to understand most of what Mommy says and continue saying a few words in Spanish.
You are an action powerhouse these days. You have finally learned to jump, jump, jump, and you do it all day long. You also can walk and run for longer periods of time. We took a nature walk a few days ago and you pushed your stroller at least half of the time, and also can run/walk all the way to our local park and back.
You continue to love food, when you feel like it. You have been eating us out of house and store - really enjoy oatmeal for breakfast, still a lover of mac and cheese, bbq chicken is a new favorite, anything with fruit, also like corn, peas and dinosaur trees (broccoli).
On the sibling front, you are more interactive with your sister. Most of the time you like to make her laugh, give her pats and are really good with her. Of course there are those jealous moments, and you don't completely understand that you can not pick her up or what is not gentle enough, but you are working on it and overall you seem to really love Natalia. You are such a great big brother.
We love you so much and think that you are turning into such a wonderful little boy.
Much love,
Mommy and Mama
Happy two years, three months! It has been quite the month of growth. Although we have had our more challenging moments, and you have definitely turned two, you are just a sweet wonderful guy who we love to the stars and moon.
This month, you have really gotten into action stories. You love it when we tell you a story about baking the cake and you pretend to break the eggs, mix (your favorite part), add in the milk, mix again, add in the sugar, mix again . . . bake the cake and then eat it! Action stories make driving so much more entertaining.
You also have been getting used to hanging out with more people. On Mondays we still have our nanny student (not weekly, but that is a different story). You really enjoy playing with her and are getting more and more used to her. On Thursdays we now have a mother's helper for two hours. She speaks Spanish with you and you just love playing together with her too. Today you made a long train in the playroom and went to the park with her and had a blast. She is helping you hear some more Spanish from a native speaker, lets me do lots of housework and have time to hang out with either just you or just Natalia.
Speaking of Spanish, you have started to sing some songs in Spanish - "10 Deditos", Bomberos (a new favorite about firefighters), Venga a la Granja and some other songs. You have also memorized a handful of stories in Spanish and love "reading" them to us. You seem to understand most of what Mommy says and continue saying a few words in Spanish.
You are an action powerhouse these days. You have finally learned to jump, jump, jump, and you do it all day long. You also can walk and run for longer periods of time. We took a nature walk a few days ago and you pushed your stroller at least half of the time, and also can run/walk all the way to our local park and back.
You continue to love food, when you feel like it. You have been eating us out of house and store - really enjoy oatmeal for breakfast, still a lover of mac and cheese, bbq chicken is a new favorite, anything with fruit, also like corn, peas and dinosaur trees (broccoli).
On the sibling front, you are more interactive with your sister. Most of the time you like to make her laugh, give her pats and are really good with her. Of course there are those jealous moments, and you don't completely understand that you can not pick her up or what is not gentle enough, but you are working on it and overall you seem to really love Natalia. You are such a great big brother.
We love you so much and think that you are turning into such a wonderful little boy.
Much love,
Mommy and Mama
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The terrible you-know-whats
This week, our son realized that he is two years old. Before this weekend, he was toodling along in life, blissfully unaware of how a two-year-old might be developmentally required to act. Then, either a switch was flipped or those two-year molars he's working on are really awful, because he has been somewhat difficult to be around ever since.
He's been pushing and shoving his sister, yelling at his mama, kicking his friends, and just generally testing limits in a lovely variety of ways. He's had more timeouts in the past week than he has, well, maybe ever.
A friend asked me today if the timeouts were working and I said, honestly, that I didn't know but at least they were keeping me from spanking him. Giving him a timeout is a much-needed breather for both of us when things are going downhill.
I'm holding onto some hope that things will improve once those awful molars are finished. However, the phrase "terrible twos" keeps ringing in my head! In any case, we're going to have to brush up on our 1-2-3 Magic skills...
He's been pushing and shoving his sister, yelling at his mama, kicking his friends, and just generally testing limits in a lovely variety of ways. He's had more timeouts in the past week than he has, well, maybe ever.
A friend asked me today if the timeouts were working and I said, honestly, that I didn't know but at least they were keeping me from spanking him. Giving him a timeout is a much-needed breather for both of us when things are going downhill.
I'm holding onto some hope that things will improve once those awful molars are finished. However, the phrase "terrible twos" keeps ringing in my head! In any case, we're going to have to brush up on our 1-2-3 Magic skills...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Right and left
In the car today:
Mateo is jabbering about right and left. For kicks, I say, "Mateo, which is your right hand?" The kid raises his right hand. I ask him about his left hand, thinking he just got lucky. He raises his left hand. He then correctly identifies right vs. left feet. Then, he says, "Baby Talia is on the left side of the car."
At home:
The student nanny arrives. I decide to test the new right/left thing in front of an audience. Again, Teo obediently raises his right hand. Then, his left. He does it again for Mommy when she gets home.
He has a little friend who can do this, too, and we were making a big deal of it at a recent playdate. I guess he decided to figure out what the fuss was all about. I feel like I didn't completely conceive of right vs. left until a much older age and I can't quite wrap my mind around how he managed to figure it out. Go little guy!
Mateo is jabbering about right and left. For kicks, I say, "Mateo, which is your right hand?" The kid raises his right hand. I ask him about his left hand, thinking he just got lucky. He raises his left hand. He then correctly identifies right vs. left feet. Then, he says, "Baby Talia is on the left side of the car."
At home:
The student nanny arrives. I decide to test the new right/left thing in front of an audience. Again, Teo obediently raises his right hand. Then, his left. He does it again for Mommy when she gets home.
He has a little friend who can do this, too, and we were making a big deal of it at a recent playdate. I guess he decided to figure out what the fuss was all about. I feel like I didn't completely conceive of right vs. left until a much older age and I can't quite wrap my mind around how he managed to figure it out. Go little guy!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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