Kale is growing up quick. This morning I gave him his Easter basket as Michael and I were dressing. He opened the eggs and threw the grass around. In one egg he discovered some jelly beans (I had forgotten to remove them because I thought he’d choke on them.) To my surprise he chomped those beans to bits and seemed to really enjoy them. One of his new sounds is MMMM.
Last night I made spanish rice and chicken. When I pulled the lid off the rice he happened to be nearby and he yelped MMMM and threw his pacifier on the floor. The rice was hot and as soon as it cooled off he gobbled it up. He’s such a spirited and bright young fellow. I can hardly believe how big he is and how much he’s grown. He’s gone from a bald bean boy that cried for milk to this young toddler who loves to be outside, loves to eat, laughs proudly, pulls off his socks and has me wrapped around his little finger.
Last night going to bed I thought to myself, “the best feeling in the world is going to bed under the same roof as my boys.” I adore Kale. He reminds me of simple pleasures and sensate focalism. He’s learning to sprint and takes little dashes out the door. He eats grass and I freak out while he laughs and runs off.
There are challenges with a toddler, discipline being critical right now. I think about having a balance between being his mother and setting good boundaries and rules for him to abide by. He knows what no means but often chooses to continue getting into my drawers, the plants or pulling things down. Fortunately he’s generally open to redirection and can be distracted. It’s nice to have Michael there as he tends to be the main disciplinarian & he normally gets Kale back on track more quickly and Kale seems happy.
Kale is getting his molars and they’ve been a sore spot for our family. Some nights he wakes up restless and tearful and wants to be carried or rocked. Some days he’s irritable and rubs his gums and whimpers. But, most of the time he moves along exploring and running around. He’s easily my favorite human being to watch.
He’s becoming quite the conversationalist and mimicks words. I got him some flash cards with shapes and colors and hope that we can start using them while the language explosion is still in high gear.
I also need to deliberately expose him to more Navajo. I try to talk to him in the evenings and label things, but sometimes it feel inauthentic & I’m worried that I’m missing too much and not doing it often enough. Maybe I need to find more creative ways for him to hear/learn our language. I bet I could get some KTNN streaming so he can hear that fast paced rodeo style Navajo.
Other notable things:
- Kale had his first haircut at V’s Barbershop with his dad a couple of weeks ago. He was very calm and laughed while he got his haircut, the barber was impressed with him. I of course got teary eyed seeing him without his baby locks. He very much is a boy now.
- We’re starting a garden in the backyard, we’re hoping to grow some beans, squash, melons and a few other edibles. We’ve started the seeds inside and are going to move them outside in the upcoming weeks. Kale had fun digging in the soil and throwing it around. It’s going to be interesting to see how he reacts to seeing things come out of the ground.
- He seems to really enjoy animals. It’s a shame we can’t have more than our turtles right now. He gets very excited about the neighbor’s cat who occasionally will let him pet her and dogs we see out in public. I want to take him to a petting zoo, I’m sure he’d enjoy that now that he’s big enough.
- It’s pretty warm here in Phoenix and we’ve been outside a bit more. He loves the backyard and loves digging. We’re also looking into getting him a sandbox so that he has a place to dig, build mud pies and castles (and probably drive me nuts with the residual laundry).
- Kale had his first Easter, he was super cute in his little short set. He collected all of 4 eggs in the hunt. Michael got some good pictures of him that I’ll post on our picasa account. I also bought a horde of plastic eggs for him to noodle around with at the house. He’s been dragging them on the floor or against the walls and smashing them around, he seems to like the noise they make. This morning he accidentally threw half of one in the toilet and started crying. It was a bittersweet moment. I rescued the egg and washed it off but his dad whisked him away and he forgot all about the egg.
In summation-life is good for the Phoenix BC’s. I often miss our families, but we get visits at least once a quarter and that seems to cut down the on the homesickness.
Bits of my journey. 