Another episode of what was I thinking

Today's episode of what was I thinking

nuestra piscina

Noah

Noah really likes giving things to people. Last night we walked along the malecon and he wanted to find little kids and give them bracelets. He also said the other day and he wants to know if there's anyone who's going to pass by us, or if there are any babies that are going to get born(ed) soon, because he wants to give them magnetic blocks. Those are a treasured toy, but he really wants to share them. And he thinks other kids would like them like he does.  When we were giving Aviva m&m's for sitting on the potty, he wanted to be the giver. He doesn't want to be thanked or anything. He just wants to give and help. 

People pictures

Even the playgrounds have ocean views

Beautiful la paz

Mayco

Bad people

We're in Mexico, or as Aviva calls it, Mayco. Nana and Papa are with us and we arrived yesterday. (I'll attach pictures, hopefully tomorrow.) Our house is lovely and we have a little pool and we're at the beach if we cross the street. Noah talks to everyone and tells them his birthday is on May 5 and his middle name is Eli and also saltines are best if you suck on them. We walked around today and had ice cream and popsicles tonight from the popsicle store. Noah called me in after he went to bed to ask me some questions: Do bad people know they are bad? and Why does a volcano be so hot? When I asked what he means by a bad person, he said it was someone who broke a house on purpose or took someone's good things. 

Noah is implicated

Noah said tonight that he wants more stories that are implicated. What does that mean? He knows it's a word and maybe we just don't know it yet. 

Watch out for hungry and/or tired Noah

Sunday, 5:45 I want to eat! Now!

(Noah doesn't get any attention, and we're busy with different things)

5:50: I'm hungry! 

5:55: I want to eat!

(There's a new container of yogurt in front of him, now open, and his hand is in it. He's eating a handful of yogurt.)

Note to self: Don't let Noah get too hungry or tired. It will likely still happen, but in that circumstance, pay him more attention. 

lunch today

Noah had a noodle sandwich, and Aviva ate the crust off two pieces of bread. Also Noah said we should wash hands separately, at different times, because we don't want germs from one hand to get on another hand (right from left, and his and mine)

recent pictures

very very unusual

Last night at bedtime, Noah and I were reading a book about rivers. It wasn't a story, rather an info book for bigger kids about parts and types of rivers. He said he wanted to read it and know it because he wants to know lots of things and he wants to be smart, and now he knows some things but maybe soon he'll know hundreds of things. He pointed out that one type of river, it's very very unusual. It's very interesting but it's very very unusual. The words had the same intonation as if he said, "actually."

Also, (it's possible I wrote this already) Noah's therapist was teaching him how to say "Aw, man!" They practiced a lot, with different nuances and tones and emphasis. It was a funny thing to listen to. "Aw, man! Aw, man. Aw! Man!" He finally got it right.

pictures

Go

Aviva does a lot of ordering around. If I pick up something she wanted Daddy to pick up, I need to put it back so he pick it up and then he can give it to her. If I don't, she is very upset. Sometimes I need to hold things a certain way or with a particular hand. "Hold like this. With other hand."

She also pushes me out the door when I take her to school. "Mama. Go."

Actually

Grandpa and Loree visited this weekend, and pretty soon, Grandpa noticed how often Noah says "actually." 

Quick note: Grandpa gave Noah a new bike, with pedals and training wheels. They put it together together and we went for a walk/bike ride to the park and around the block. Grandpa showed him how to brake and how to walk it across the street. Noah totally gets it and that's great! Today we went for another walk/bike ride around a different block, and Noah said "I like to bike with my bike!" The other day we noticed bikers around us weren't all sitting, but some were standing and pedaling. He tried it and could do it. Hurray! Thank you, Grandpa!

Pictures and more details to come....

Aviva's hot chocolate and cheese

Aviva is doing a lot of cooking. Here is what she is cooking: hot chocolate with cheese. It's what her bear wants to eat because her bear is sad. The ingredients are refrigerator letter magnets, lightbrite pieces, some coins, and some big lego pieces. 

Grandpa and Loree visited this weekend and attach some pictures and write more shortly...

"Daddy, find me!"

Look daddy

Aviva is really into saying, "Look daddy" and then flailing about epilepticly. Then she stops and looks at me expectantly.

Also, at school one of her favorite activities is making pretend soup. Which is funny, because she hates soup. 

Shenisglod

Noah: Is Shenisglod real

Josh: Who is Senesgod?

Noah: Shen - is - glod

Josh: Shan es glod?

Noah: No, Shen

Josh: Shen

Noah: is

Josh: is

Noah: glod

Josh: glod

Noah: Shenisglod

Josh: Shenisglod

Noah: Yes!

Josh: I have no idea who he is

Noah: He gives presents but not on the Jewish time?

Josh: Christmas?

Noah: Yes

Josh: Santa clause?

Noah: No! Shenisglod!

Josh: I think it is Santa Clause

Noah: I heard Shenisglod

Josh: But I think it is Santa Clause

Noah: No, it is Shenisglod

This is a catch-up post. Pictures are from the last few days, though.

Galit visited us for the weekend!

Adventure Playground today - Noah playing the inside of an old piano

The Girl:

• Lately, she wants her socks on backward, inside out, and upsidedown, so the heel is on the top of her foot. This is what she wants. THIS IS WHAT SHE WANTS. Let that be clear.
• After I comb her hair, she wants me to put the knots back in. They're invisible knots that I pinch out of my hand and put on her hair. Then she's happy. 
• It's a little better this last week, but it's been taking sometimes up to 20 minutes to get her into the car. She wants to get in on Noah's side, but then she wants to go to the driver seat and pretend drive, and then Noah's seat needs to get buckled with him not in it, and again with him in it. Then she climbs out and runs away, laughing. Insisting that NOW is when it has to happen -- this has no effect. She wants to do it all "felf! felf!" When I try to put her into her carseat, she arches her back and wiggles in a way I can't overcome. I guess she's almost 3 years old so this is normal. But it's exhausting.
• She wants "one more chance" for everything. We know now that when we tell her "no," it's more like a warning, that she'll test, and ask for one more chance.
• She's talking a lot, often to herself, but with real words we can understand. Or she sings about the wheels on the bus. When we put her into her crib, we can hear her for the next half hour, talking and singing. It sounds like this sometimes: youputyourrightfootin, youputyourrightfootout andyoushakeitallabout wheelsonbusgoroundandround

The Boy:

• He likes to be "opposite boy," meaning he'll do the opposite of whatever we ask. We've gotten good at saying the opposite of what we want. 
• He's hearing about the election all over the place, and he wants to vote. The other day when I told him we were going to take a bath, he said, "Let's vote on it."
• He's been anunciating the letter L in a lovely way. It's like he's over-pronouncing it. 
• He can't say the R sound, and it's hard with the TH sound, so he skips 13 when he's counting. 11, 12, 14
• Daddy had an upset stomach. Noah wanted to know what it was upset about. har har
• He wants to know why they made poop with so many germs in it. By the way, he's out of diapers and he's been reluctantly going to new bathrooms. It's been a couple weeks since an accident.
• We went for a hike and he got so tired he kept sitting down in the middle of the trail. So tired.
• We went to a bonfire potluck at David and Alea's house, and he decided to ask around to see who wants chips. "Who wants chippies? Who wants chippies?"
• He and Aviva were "cooking," at the water table on the porch, and he needed a bunch of ingredients: sugar, eggs, mashed up tofu, mashed up broken windows, and magic flavor.
• He wants to help the planet and fix the drought. His idea is to cook with the doors and windows open, so the steam can go into the air and rise into the clouds and make more rain.
• Maybe, he says, when he's older and has a job, the job will be to go to people's houses and tell them what is going to be the weather. "Like if there's gonna be a storm, or I'm 100% sure there's going to be lightening. That will be my job just for a little while."
• For Halloween, we trick or treated and he wanted to carefully choose just the right candy to take but he wants it to be sweet and not too sweet but very sweet. "This much sweet" - (arms out wide). "And which one do you think I would like?" It was an important, big decision. When we got home, both kids ate some candy and then Noah got sick and threw up. Since then, he hasn't mentioned the candy (and we won't remind him. We'll just secretly eat it.) If he remembers, we can warn him not to eat too much because "remember what happened last time?"
• He was playing with one of my hairties, and asked what it is made of. I guessed elastic and maybe some cotton thread around it. He said "no, I don't see that. I think there's a little bit of dried flubber, to make it stretchy." (Flubber is glue and borax mixed, and it's kind of like play doh, but weirder).

Trick or treating: dragon, daddy, strawberry

Noah at Adventure Playground

About Marfin Loofa Kin

This is a picture of Aviva eating cheese. She likes cheese. She ate this whole block.

This is how Noah eats when he doesn't want to lose even a crumb

Noah said today, "I fwink Morfin Loofer Kin is dead. He thought everyone should do the same thing. He was a freedom fighter and worked all day and night until it got right. What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!"

About Noah's body

Noah says that his nipples used to be bigger, and he had more fun when they were bigger. He also told me that sometimes his hands and feet feel cold because a long time ago, he touched an ice cube. 

The earth

Noah told me he could feel the earth spinning today, but it was weird because he could only feel it spinning counter clockwise. He also reported a soft noise, which he believed could be flying dinosaurs. 

His mouth

Noah! Has lots! Of energy! And he feels things very very strongly. When he wants something, he really really wants it, and when he doesn't, he really really doesn't. Presently, he does not want to pee at his summer camp. He's just not used to it, he says. I started telling him yesterday that no, he is in fact now used to it. We'll see what is the report when I pick him up today.

He's at a camp called Abundant Summers and they meet at Lake Temescal. They're outside all day and they pick blackberries and go fishing and do art stuff outside. He started taking a nap every day, in their "nap tent."

Something else he's not used to: for a long time now (maybe a year or more) he's allowed to come into our bed in the morning when his nightlight turns off, and he sleeps more with us. The other day, Josh asked him to greet us with a word. Just "hi." He refused and Josh insisted, So he decided he's done with coming into our bed. It's kind of unfortunate, because I really liked it. But he refuses to say "hi" so that's the end of it. He says he's just not used to it.

The other night he called me into his room in the middle of the night because he had had a nightmare. He wanted me to stay with him for the rest of the night and I said no. I said I'd stay with him a little while and then I'd go back to my bed. He said, "Okay. Just stay with me until you leave. Promise."

He has a hard time with the "th" sound, in addition to r's and l's. He's been replacing the sound with all kinds of things.

thirteen = kwah teen
thirty = woody
think = quink
both = bofe or bose
thumb = fwum
thunder = chwunduh

He's also refusing to say "thank you," and it's only partly because he can't say the "th" sound. He's kind of against it on principle. Sometimes he agrees to say "thank ya" but it's really "tank ya" but his refusal to say "you" is just his latest noncompliancy.

We got a bunch of books and songs read by family members, and these have been what Noah falls asleep to every night. It's great. They're on the ipod and he'll tell us what he wants to start with each night. Last night it was Frog and Toad Together.

Did

Aviva has been using the past tense. If I ask her if she did something, like if she had snack yet, or did she give Noah his car back, she might say "Did." She's also saying "thanks," a lot, and sometimes "your welcome." And, "oopsy daisy."
milk = ilk
come here = um here
cat = hat
And, unfortunately, last week Noah had dinorina. Did. 

Swing girl

Bubble boy

Uh oh

Overheard multiple times this morning from Aviva's crib, "Uh oh, Dolly," followed by a bang. Poor Dolly.

Aviva's self

Aviva very much wants to do things "self." If I pick up something from the floor but she wants to do it, then I drop it again so she can do it. She likes to close the refrigerator, so sometimes I need to open it again so she can close it. Self! Self!

Also things are either "tiny" or "whole bunch" - this refers to milk or food or flowers or the car window or her door, to her closet (the closet she sleeps in). They can all be tiny or whole bunch. 

And if she doesn't want me to do something, she says "verysoon." It's one word. 

She likes to count (but not in order) and likes to boss people around and she talks a lot. The other day she pointed at something and said, "Mira!" At her home daycare they speak only Spanish so that's nice that she's understanding and speaking. 

If she wants to tell me about something in the past, she just says, "Did." It's kind of like how Noah used to say "Done!" He still does it actually, at meals mostly.Noah's doing a pretty good job of being nice to Aviva, but it's sometimes hard for him because she hits him and takes things from him. She's a bossy little lady.

Nana and Aviva at Indian Rock for Shabbat picnic

The Boy's Mouth

Noah is very articulate and talks a lot. He likes to approach strangers and explain where is his sister is on Tuesdays. But there was actually that one Tuesday that it was different. And he'll explain that also.  And if someone has a dog, we should ask if the dog is too fragile to pet or if it's okay to pet. Because we don't want to hurt it or break it. And he will talk to adults about these things. He doesn't really talk to other kids.

He also really wants to know WHY and WHAT IF. And what are spiders for, anyway? Why do mosquitoes bite, and how about if all the fish ate all the mosquitoes? What are hiccups? Why? What is lightning and is there going to be a storm tonight? Will there be a flood? Or an earthquake? Do you know for sure or you just think it? Can you promise? When there's a storm, afterwards will it go back into the sky? And what are storms for?

He still can't really say R's or L's, and it becomes a problem when he really wants to know why we don't use an awa wam (alarm). And will a deer eat us? If it comes close, will we shoot it with an wo woah (arrow).  

Fears are presently earthquakes, storms, and animals that might eat us. He doesn't want to be eaten by a deer. 

Talents are presently running backwards with his eyes closed and shaking his head and not even bumping into anything! All of these things go together.

Concerns are about people's clothes, and if they're the right kind. If they're the right kind, then the people are his friend right away. Sometimes the clothes are only kind of okay. He can't explain why, it just is. Sometimes my clothes are wrong and I'm not his friend. If his own clothes aren't right, he isn't his own friend but he still is his self. Somehow he got mixed up with a girl teenager's brain. Not sure where this came from. 

Hopefully we'll get a ticket soon from the police, because he wants to see it and maybe it will be a pretty ticket, he says. 

Josh told him about recycling and wasting paper and water, and Josh told him the the trees will thank us. He's been asking a lot about how the trees will thank us (actually how they'll quank us). Trees don't have mouths! How can that work?

Something else I might have already written about - running away. He's allowed to run away if he meets these conditions. Running away means running down the block when we're getting into or out of the car. So if he asks permission, stays in eye sight, and stops when we say, then he's allowed to run away. 

Noah was coughing and his throat was dirty, but he's better now. He went to a summer camp last week at Urban Adamah, and I"ll attach pictures.

Zucchini and lettuce from our garden

Noah wrote his name himself for his nametag