family ties

We're down at my mom and dad's for Christmas. Amado was playing hide and seek in the hall closet - really him hiding and wanting us to go open the closet and act very surprised to find him in there.

So, this game was getting a little tiring, so at one point, I tried to go and hide with him. He barred me from entering the closet. He said "no, mami, tu no puedes entrar. este es mi casa".

So naturally, I replied, with shock "pero, yo soy tu mami!" as my reason for why it was inconceivable that I would be barred from his house.

To which he replied, "no mami. yo soy un senor que tu no conoces".

hasta Mexico

Every morning, Amado wants me to get out of bed before I want to get out of bed. Every morning, I tell him that I cannot move until I get my 'beso and abrazo de buenos dias'.

A couple days ago, we went through this routine but I only got my abrazo, no beso.

"Hey, donde esta mi beso?" I asked.

"Esta afuera. Volando hasta Mexico" said Amado.

sonando

I napped with Amado yesterday because I was feeling like I was coming down with a cold. It was cold, so we cuddled up together in the big bed and fell asleep for almost 2.5 hours. It was heaven, his little warm head pressed against my neck.

I woke up before him but knew he would feel me if I got out of bed so I just laid there for awhile. When I finally did get up, I had walked from one side of the bed to the other and he jolted awake, just like I thought.

He had clearly been in deep sleep. But as soon as his little eyes popped open, he said,
"Quisas tambien el perro queria ir a la iglesia. Quein sabe. Quisas si, quisas no".

I laid down next to him, and said, "mande, mijo?"

It seemed like at that moment he realized that what he has said made no sense in this context, because he turned to me all sleepy eyed and said, "sonaste tambien, mami?"

work

Yesterday, Amado was playing with a meghaphone toy thing that belongs to his cousin. He loves those things.

Pretty soon, he started chanting, "Si Se Puede!"

Then he turned to me and informed me "si se puede es mi trabajo".

I wanted a girl…

When I was pregnant, I hoped I would have a girl. I wasn't distraught at the thought of having a boy, I just felt so much more comfortable with the idea of having a girl. I know girls- most of my friends are girls, Im a girl, my sister is a girl. You know. But everyone took one look at my belly, and informed me I was having a boy. So I was expecting a boy, but deep inside was hoping that my belly shape was throwing everyone off and that there was actually a girl cooking in there.

When Amado was born, I didn't give it another thought. After 41 hours of labor, I was happy to have him out. And he wasn't completely well, had to spend his first 5 days in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit, so I was focused on him being healthy enough to come home.

But now, looking back at this all, its interesting to reflect on the fact that even with all my gender analysis, with my belief that we socialize kids based on our own gender roles, I still wanted a "girl". I think a lot of progressive and radical people do this. I had an idea of what a girl is and I wanted that.

Often, when mamas like me reflect back on that journey, they end up in the place of being happy with their boys because they bring out a new part of them, that girl wouldn't have. Watching garbage trucks and digging with a tonka tractor in the yard is pretty cool. But even still in this, a lot of us continue to keep those gender expectations in place. If I had a girl, she wouldn't be into garbage trucks. He likes the tonka tractor because he's a boy.

What Amado is teaching me is that we gotta redefine what a "boy" is. Because I know Amado pretty well. And I don't think he is the anomaly, I think this is what a boy is. Boys are loving. Boys like to cuddle. Boys like to dress up like bumble bees. Boys like shiny glittery beads and handbags that match. Boys love to cook. Boys are enthusiastic about helping with the laundry. Boys love to grab their own brooms and sweep next to you. Boys beam when you notice they are working hard. Boys love play kitchens. Boys like to cuddle with dolls. Boys love to read.

Some of us are happy with our boys, but still pine for a girl. Im not. Im happy being the mama of a boy. Im proud to be the mama of a boy. I love being a mama to a boy.

lovely boy

I havent written mch in awhile because Ive been busy writing stuff for school. This wont be long, but I figured it was worth sharing.

This morning, when we woke up (Jason was out of town so Amado and I slept together), Amado said "Buenos Dias, Mami!" I was trying to squeeze a little more sleep out of him, trying to coax him back into laying down. I patted the bed next to me, he laid his little body and head down, and I though "alright!".

His face was a few inches from mine, and he put his warm hand on my cheek. "Te quiero mucho, Mami."

I smiled at him, with my eyes still closed. "Gracias! Te quiero mucho, mijo. Te quiero con todo mi corazon."

Then he said, "Gracias por mi vida, mami."

this is not "not Katrina"

I've gotten several emails in the past few days from progressives and comrades, comparing the treatment of the San Diego evacuated residents to the residents of the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina. People have seen the news reports of clowns entertaining evacuated kids at Qualcomm stadium and people serving themselves from buffet lines. Did the families of Katrina deserve this? Absolutely. Were they abandoned by the government because they are Black and poor? Absolutely. I feel the comparasin to Katrina. No doubt the government left the people of the Gulf Coast to fend for themselves and that was absolutely and explicitly racist.

But, I think lots of the comparasins about whats happening in San Diego is a little too simplistic. Yeah, some rich white people lost their homes. But painting the picture as they didnt take care of the Katrina victims because they are Black but they are taking care of the San Diego victims because they are white is too simplistic.

One of the fires is burning at the border. There are tons of Mexicano immigrants and Chicanos in those areas. Some of them are undocumented migrant workers who live in the flammable canyons because they dont have homes. ICE is checking to see if evacuees at the stadium have papers (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/24/18455816.php) and is facilitating deportations for anyone who can't produce the right documents. Undocumented people who live in shacks in canyons are not getting evacuation notices. Some of them are staying put because they fear what will happen if they show up at the stadium and are questioned by ICE agents carrying machine guns. They uncovered the bodies of 4 immigrants in a burnt house yesterday. They were scared to leave and died, waiting.

The Union-Tribune has been running stories about undocumented immigrants stealing supplies from the stadium, only to have it come out later that they were invited to take these supplies as they returned home. This is a clear parallel to the stories that ran about Black residents of New Orleans "looting" while white residents "found".
.
There are lots of low-income people of color who are also being abandoned in San Diego, left to burn in canyons or left to find their own way out.

Its consistent with what happened in New Orleans, not opposed to it. I think we gotta make these links.

photo caption:

David Bacon/New America Media

Indigenous Mixtec and Zapotec farm workers from Oaxaca, Mexico, live in a camp on a hillside outside Delmar, Calif. Relief efforts have missed undocumented workers living along San Diego's hillsides and canyons, New America Media reported. A lack of translators caused other problems.

baby nuala tiene dos mamis!

Rory watched Amado last night while I was at a meeting and Jason was in class. When we were getting his shoes on, and I was talking him through what was going to happen, I took the opportunity to do some preschool-level political education.

We have talked about this before, but you can't repeat it enough.

So I said, "Amado, tu sabes, que? Baby Nuala tiene dos mamis. Una mami se llama Tyger y la otra mami se llama..." (I left the space for him to fill in the blank).

"Rory!" he yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

"Si! Ella tiene dos mamis!" I said.

"Si! Baby Nuala tiene dos mamis! Muy bien, baby Nuala!" he yelled.

I explained that it was great for her (to a toddler, mamis are awesome. two mamis? who can beat that?!) but that it is not actually something she did, that she has two mamis because they love each other, and they also love her.

"Que divertido!" he yelled.

sopipalos

Yesterday, we were in a Friday evening mood, tired from the week, tired from being sick, and nobody wanted to cook. We decided to go get something out.

We were all in the car together, and as Jason started the conversation about where to go, Amado yelled out something from the backseat and then collapsed in a fit of giggles. It all happened so fast neither of us caught it.

"Dime otra vez, mijo" I told him.
He could hardly get it out, because he was laughing so hard.
All that was intelligible was "sopipalos".
"Otra vez?" we asked, laughing also. Not because we actually got it but because Amado was really almost in tears because he was laughing so hard. By that time, we realized it was a joke but hadn't caught it yet.
Giggling the whole time, Amado choked out, "Vamos a un restaraunte que se llama 'Sopipalos' para comer!"
He basically was like, what would be a funny thing to eat. Sopa de palos. What would a restaraunt that sold a sopa de palos be called?
Sopipalos!
I think he's right.

todavio necesito crecer

Someone dropped a car engine on the side of our house thursday night. Public works was here on Friday to pick it up. They came with a huge back hoe (is that how you spell it?).

This was a big event in our house. Amado loves construction vehicles, and having one 20 feet from his window was like a dream come true. We were all perched in the window, watching this go down, being late for work, sharing in Amado's enthusiasm.

The guy driving the back hoe had to wait for the guy with the pick up truck so he couold dump this huge peice of metal inside of it. While he waited, and we perched, he pulled out his morning snack. It was coffee and a cupcake.

Most of you know the love Amado has of pastelitos and whafe. Right on par with construction vehicles. Top. He couldnt believe his eyes, this kid. Not only did this guy get to drive this machine (Amado calls them all "tractores") but he got to eat a pastelito and drink whafe while doing it!

Later on, Amado told us, "Yo voy a trabajar como el. You voy a trabajar con un tractor, y voy a comer pastelitos y tomar whafe. Pero todavia necesito crecer."

regalo, musica vieja, haciendo rodney yee

A few funny things from today.

Regalo...
I was wrapping a gift for my mom's birthday and Amado walked in the room. We all got in together to buy the gift, and tonight was the unveiling.
"Oooh!" he squeeled, kneeling down carefully beside me and the gift. "Que es, mami?"
"Es un regalo para nana", I told him, evading the question. He is at the age where he will blow the secret right away if he knows what it is.
"Pero que es?"
"Vas a ver, mijo" I said, still trying to avoid.
It was a digital camera. They make digital cameras pretty small these days. The box was the size of a grapefruit.
"Es una guitarra?" he asked, really honestly. He got a guitarra for his birthday.
"No, mijo".
"Burbujas?".
I think he was wishful thinking on that one.

Musica Vieja...
My dad was listening to some boring, long, music when we were in the car tonight.
From the back seat, Amado said "Papa, esa musica es vieja. Por favor, cambiar la musica".

Haciendo Rodney Yee...
Amado does some pretty impressive yoga positions. We have never taught Amado any yoga, he has never seen yoga, but I guess thats kind of the point of yoga - its positions that are natural for your body. So, sometimes, he will break out a downward dog or a childs pose. We call this "haciendo Rodney Yee" so that we can have a laugh at his expense. Its all in good fun.
So today, he was getting ready for bed. He had already read two books, already brushed his teeth, already given my mom and dad a kiss. He asked for a drink of water, took a big swig, and then started haciendo rodney yee in the bed. I know his delaying sleep antics.
"Amado, por favor" I said.
He then opened his mouth and let all the water drip out, pooling in a little lake on the sheet.
I was not amused.
"Amado, por que hiciste eso?" I asked.
"Porque no quiero dormir" he said, all matter of fact,
I thanked him for his honesty and turned out the lights.

amado’s first day of school

I know many of you have been wondering, so here is the update, written by jason who dropped him off.


I'm shooting this out as a quick update of Amado's drop off. It was reallyeasy (good work mami on all the prep). It went so smoothly in fact that I semi-left and came back to check after I had already said goodbye because I felt like I looked bad with the other parents, some of whom were still hanging around, or with Amado because other parents had stayed.

The process there in the morning is really conducive to leaving easily. When kids are arriving (9:00-9:15) they hang out outside and ride bikes or play with plays or whatever. There was a patineta that he grabbed immediately, and truth be told, I could have left right then. Instead I let him play, and when talking to another parent found out that the normal process is that they play until all the kids are there, then Ada rings a bell. Then they put their toys in their place, all line up on a bench, and then go inside. After they take off their shoes they have some circle time
where they hang out in a circle, sing buenos dias to everyone, and sing some other songs. After that is some kind of art time, and then free play, then snacks, etc, etc.

The other parent told be that usually parents break out at the bell, so I told Amado that that's what was going to happen. He said "si", then when they rang the bell I told him adios, te quiero mucho, que juegues mucho, y que hay que compartir bien con los otros niños. He said "si" gave me the beso y abrazo y ya... He didn't immediately get the line up thing, in part because most of the kids just sort of milled around and Ada had changed the lining up place, so part of what he did was help himself to toys that other kids had vacated. I helped him find where he was going, hung around and then said goodbye again. In the process I got to see a nice interaction two of the kids where one girl, Nadia, didn't want her mom to leave, and another girl, Sofia, came up to her to ask, "Nadia, quieres venir a jugar conmigo?" with the clear intent of helping her make an easier transition. I ducked out for a couple minutes, then ducked back in. They were in a circle singing, Amado was hanging out watching, with power saw in hand (his favorite toy so far) which he had clear gone immediately to grab, once he had his shoes off. He was playing it mellow, I think in part because another kid was having a really hard time crying and wouldn't let his mom leave. Most of the kids were going nuts singing with feather boas and maracas jumping and dancing around, and Amado running his motocierra. When song time ended, one kid a brought a birds nest to show them, so I said goodbye for the third time, repeated everything I had previously said. Amado was patient every time, always gave me el beso y abrazo, he walked really close to get a good look at the nido, and I bounced.

The one other part that's worth saying is that we drove up, and will drive up every day with Maya. He was really juiced about picking her up. And it's clearly a treat to have two car seats in the car, etc. When she first got in the car, I felt compelled to get the conversation going. Pregunté a Maya que comió para el desayuno. Respondió que no se acordó. But really it wasn't necessary. The two of them started talking pretty much right off. It wasn't perfect. To Maya, some of Amado's words weren't all the way clear. But the reality is that he can't really always talk to other little kids, because they won't understand him at all. With Maya he could, and he definitely could understand what she said. Seeing that made it clear that this is going to be really good for him. It's not at all that he walks through life without being understood or anything, but he now is developing a whole crew of friends that he can communicate with a lot easier. I think he will like that.

Anyway, that's it for now.
Peace,
Jason

fresas

Amado woke up from his nap today way later than I expected and I had planned for us all to go out to the farmers market. So, he wakes up and Im kind of trying to hurry him along in his wake-up process and I think I am luring him with this cool idea.

So I say to him, in my most enthusiastic voice, "Amado, quieres ir al mercado para comprar fresas?"

I mean, whats more enticing than fresas, right? Amado can always go for fresas. Nothing beats fresas.

And he looks at me and says, "No, mami. No necesitamos fresas. Tenemos fresas en la casa."

bilingualism

Amado is really working through the fact that he is learning two languages. He is constantly talking about it - "en espanol, dice _", "Asi se dicen en espanol".

What's funny is that, for whatever reason, he thinks that espanol is the other language, the one he doesn't know many words in.
"Aqui estan mi zapatos, mami. En espanol, se dicen 'shoes'" he informs me.
"En espanol, se dicen 'how ya doin'".

The other day, Jason was giving him a bath. Quick aside - since Amado has never seen TV, he doesn't really know about these random characters. The only ones he even recognizes are Dora and Elmo, and he doesn't know that they are anything more than pictures in a book/action figures. Related to this, he has historically mixed the two of them up.

So, the other day, Jason is bathing Amado. Amado has this little Elmo squeezy squirty bath toy that he got for his birthday form my cousin. He was playing with this Elmo toy, and he said, "Mira, papi, es Dora".

Jason gently reminded him, "no, mijo, es Elmo".

To which Amado informed his papi, "Si, es Elmo. En espanol, se llama Dora".

the life of a nino grande

So, Amado is changing schools. He is starting preschool. Jason and I have joined with some other families to found a Spanish-speaking preschool cooperative. Check it out at lassemillitas.org. Its exciting and inspiring, it also means that Amado has to say goodbye to his old escuelita, where he has been since he was nine months old.

We made him a book, about a boy names Amado who is now a nino grande and is going to be going to a new school. In the book, Amado bakes cupcakes for his friends and teachers to say goodbye and thank you to them. Last night, we baked our cupcakes (carrot muffins) and this morning, he put the finishing touches on them by dousing them with canela. He told me he was triste, when I reminded him it was his last day. I wanted to cry.

Man, goodbyes suck. Today, when we dropped him off, we walked into the backyard of his escuelita, and all his amiguitos were sitting around the snack table, waiting for him. They had prepared a big poster for him that said "Adios, Amado, Te Vamos A Extranar". Amado unveiled his cupcakes with pride, showed them around, and took his seat at the head of the table.

Carmen reminded the kids that today is Amado's last day because he is going to a new school.

"No, don't go, Amado!" the kids called out.
"But, we love Amado!" they said.

Im not kidding. It was like a movie. Amado beamed, looking around at his friends, pleading with him to stay.

Xander, one of his good buddies, is mad. He sat at the table with his arms crossed, kind of scowling at the whole situation. I dont blame him, man. This is awful.

The kids continued with their opinions.

"We love Amado!"
"We don't want him to go!"
"Stay at this school!"

Tonito, his other good buddy, was an especially vocal member of the peanut gallery with his statement:
"Do what we say!"

We left as the despedida started, a feast of plain yogurt with strawberries mixed in, a big jug of water, some toast, and special goodbye cupcakes, just like in the book.

I almost cried. Im sure I will when we go back to pick him up at 1:30.

As a mom, you want to shield your kid from sadness, from hurtful goodbyes, from scary new situations, from leaving good friends, from having to move on.

It made me wonder how many of these he has been on the other side of. Maybe some friends he has really liked have had this same party, maybe he was the Xander who sat with his arms crossed, scowling at how unfair it is when someone you really love doesnt come to school here anymore. I wonder if one day, when he was difficult to manage and frustrated easily when he couldn't get the puzzle right, I wonder if he had said a goodbye that day, but didnt have the words at that point to tell me that he wasnt frustrated or mad, but sad because sometimes ninos grandes have to say goodbye to someone they love.

And yeah, I know, we cant shield them from everything. He grows stronger as a person by going through situations that are challenging, by trying new things, by starting something new and being able to do something scary without mami and papi.

I know. But sometimes, I really wish he could be this Amado forever. Two years, two months, and 23 days old - sitting her in the company of good friends who love him, at a place he feels safe, happy and content and proud.

feliz, mami?

The morning, I was trying to do a lot of house cleaning in a short time and Amado was being a difficult participant. There were a couple back-to-back incidents and I was frustrated. Not like lose your mind and yell kind of frustrated, but the kind of frustrated where you stop talking and just focus on what you are trying to get done. I say this because it was pretty subtle, my mood.

I was folding some clothes and he climbed up on the bed, put his little hand on my knee, and got his little face all close to mine. I was sitting kind of hunched over, so he bent his neck so he could look up at me, right in the eyes.

"Feliz, mami?" he asked, smiling at me.

I wasnt sure if he was genuinely asking, or if he knew it wasnt my most feliz moment so he was trying to make me feliz, or both. Probably both.

I smiled at this beatiful face, inches from my own, and told him, "si, mijo, estoy feliz".

"Si!" he yelled, jumping up with his arms in the air.

"Porque yo soy tu mijo!"

today, naptime

Things Amado said after he got put in his crib today for naptime. This spanned a period of about an hour. He really didn't want to nap - you can see the variety of tactics he used.

Papi!

Quiero Agua.

Tengo Poo Poo.

Ven Nana Papa!

Ven Nana Papa - tengo algo un mi cuna para ti!

Tengo un owe.

Me deule.

Mami!

Papi!

NanaPapa!

Ven NanaPapa.

jokester

Oh man, Amado is so into jokes these days. He is into jokes, the idea of jokes, making jokes, and calling something a joke.
He gets confused between the words "chiste" and "chistoso" because they are now used so often in our house.
Here are some of his latest antics, all from yesterday:
Yesterday, we were in the car, driving from Santa Barbara to LAX. My mom and Amado were in the backseat, my dad and I in the front. I had already told him 5 times it was time to nap, I had already sung "Elene la Ballena" twice, I was through. We were all sitting in silence, hoping that he would get bored and fall asleep. He took off his shoe and threw it into the front seat, between me and my dad.
Oh. No. I dont think so, kid.
I turned around, and with a firm voice, said, "Amado."
Before I could go any further, he said, "Fue un chistoso mami!"

After that, we were on the plane. He was standing in his seat, playing with my hair. With his hand, he brushed some hair in front of my face.
"Parece a Peace, Mami." he said. (Peace, for those of you who dont know, is Steve.)
"A Peace? I asked him.
"Si," he nodded seriously, and then bust out laughing.
"Come on, mami! Es un chiste!" (For those of you who dont get the chiste, because you dont know Steve, check out his picture in my "friends" list. He certainley does not have a bunch of hair hanging in front of his face".)

When we got home from the airport, we were hanging out with Mariana, my sister, and Jason, and he was recounting his trip to them, with my prompts.
"Jugaste in la pisina?"
"Si!"
"Dormiste en un hotel?"
"Si!"
"Tomaste un liquado?"
"Si!"
"De que sabor?"
He remembered the pina, but couldnt remember what else was in his liquado. I was trying to help him remember and said "Ma- Ma- Ma-"
"Mariquita!" he yelled, proclaiming successful recollection.
"Mariquita?!" I said (thats a ladybug). (His liquado had mango.)
And then he busted up laughing, and said, "Come on!"
My sister said "es un chiste?"
"SI!!!!!!!" says Amado.

no time to write a longer blog

So I will just include some highlights from today...

"Quisas, mio jugo".

"ella esta brincando como loco" (about a girl walking by our , kicking a hackey-sack back and forth with her friend).

paporse

We count a lot around here. Amado is pretty good up until 10, though he ditches cinco and nueve every once in a while.

Today, he was eating yogurt and started counting out his bites. He got to diez, and then had this little glimmer /travieso look in his eye that said "I bet thats all you thought I could do, huh, lady? Check this out!"

And then real non-chalant like, he said "once, doce, trece, paporse.."

Oh man, it was so cute, his "paporse". I started laughing, I couldnt help it, and he started cracking up, yogurt falling out of his mouth, like "I know, I shocked you with that one, huh?!"

Then he continuted, saying "diesiseis......" he trailed off, and then yelled, throwing his arms in the air "y no mas!"

So awesome. He is right - I didn't know he could count up to paporse, and then throw in a diesiseis for good measure. He was so proud, and also knew when he couldn't go any further, so he finished with a flourish.

so fresh and so clean

This morning, as I was getting Amado dressed, we were discussing what he wanted to have for breakfast. He decided he wanted cold cereal.

So, the kind of cereal we have right now is that puffed corn one. For some reason, we started calling this cereal "puffy puffy". I know, its a dorky mom move, lets just get on with things.

So, he decided he wanted "puffy puffy con leche" by the time we had his pants on. I stood him up and started to get his shirt on, when he stopped me.


"No, mami...Puffy puffy, leche...tiro mi panza..no camisa,,,despues, camisa, mami".

Dude. He was telling me it made more sense to wait until to put his shirt on till after his cereal because he always spills some on his belly when he eats cold cereal. He was right. So wild.

I was in total disbelief that he communicated that so well. This guy is so awesome - it is so so cool to watch him put things together like that and then communicate them! And of course, its Amado so its about cleanliness.

sweet dreams

This may only be meaningful to those of you who know Amado, aka those of you who have heard him talk in, what we call, "monster voice". Its a voice he slips into several times an hour, to get a laugh, or just to change things up a bit. He makes his little voice all deep and then says things or sings, especially things that will sound funny in monster voice. One of his favorites is singing the mothers day song they taught him at school in monster voice. "Mamacita buena, Mamacita linda" is the part he knows. How sweet, right? Yeah, now replay it again in monster voice. Nice.

The other night, Amado talked in his sleep, in monster voice. I couldnt believe it. I am fast asleep - its just the two of us in bed together because we are in Chula Vista visiting my mom and dad - and all of a sudden I am woken up by monster voice.

"Mira, mami! Mira, mami!" (in monster voice)

I was like, "no way, is he really screwing around in the middle of the night?!" I whipped around towards him and he was passed out cold! I touched him to see if he was really pulling a fast one on me, and he was completely, totally, 100% asleep.

Oh man, that was a pretty good one. Weird little guy.

The So-Not-Terrible Twos

When people ask how old Amado is, and we answer that he's two, the response is a blend of sympathy and what seems like a shudder or recollection. "Oh, two is such a hard age! The Terrible Twos!" But its funny because though it seems like they are remembering their kid at two, it seems more like they are reiterating what we as a broader society feel about caring for (managing?) two year olds.

The terrible twos. I guess its because at 2, these little people are really coming into their own. Amado's two most repeated refrains these days are "mio hacer" (i'll do it) or "solo" (I can do it by myself). Of course there are hard moments when what we think is possible for him and what he thinks is possible for him are at odds (for example, he want to jump into the pool alone, as opposed into one of our arms. um, yeah right, kid.) But man, how amazing to watch this little person who sees himself as capable of anything. He is not too small, not too short, not too weak, not too young. He wakes up in the morning and he sees possibilities. He has will like you wouldn't believe. He is his own person. He may not want to go when its time to go, he may not want to stop playing when its time for a diaper change, he may have different plans that what we have on the agenda, but man, you really gotta respect that. And Im sure these other parents felt the same way about their kids when they had two year olds. But its funny, we are told "the two's" are terrible, so we call them terrible. The Terrible Twos - its a phrase everyone knowingly nods when they hear. "Oh yeah, the Terrible Twos". Yup.

I am reading a book called "The Emotional Life of the Toddler" and it talks about how toddlerhood is a constant pull between asserting independence and the need for a secure base. And its a constant tension for the kids and its a constant tension for the adults. And one place you can take it is frustration, "man, why wont he do what he is supposed to" but another place you can take it is to admire what it means for these little people to be defining themselves, and to always be that secure place that they can come home to, after venturing out to assert their independence.

This age is about asserting who he is. Testing him limits. Trying new things. Being who he is. Identifying himself as a real person, not just an appendage of Jason and me. He is working so hard these days, working hard at Being Amado. And that may be different that what we had planned for him, it may happen on a different timeline than we had our watch set to. But he is becoming himself. The wonderful, fantastic, magical Twos.

The first few times it happened, I didnt know how to respond.
"Two?" they said.
"Oh, god, two is so hard! The terrible twos! Watch out!"
I was like, "Um, what? Have you met my kid?"

But now I know to expect it.
"How old is he?"
"Two! Man,its so much fun!"
"Oh, um yeah!" they say, skeptical, but smiling.

And at night, before I climb in bed, I sit on the edge of it and look at him. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust, to see where he starts and ends and where the blanket is. I look at this little-big lovely warm soft baby-kid sleeping in his crib, rythmically breathing in-and-out, and I just want to hold him, bury my nose in his warm neck, wrap my arms around his little waist. Each night, I consider it. Can I move him into the bed without waking him? I know that I will wake up in two hours with his feet on my cheek and an hour after that with his one finger in my mouth and another in my nose. But I still consider it.

I decide no. Soon enough it will be 5am, and he will be standing up at the edge of his crib, calling for us gently, asking to be brought into bed with us for his last 2 hours of sleep. Its not just those few hours of precious kid-free sleep I am choosing, it is an attempt to also respect that he is in process of growing apart from me. It sounds so sad to say it that way, but its true. There are moments I yearn to turn back the clock, to start over, to grow him inside of me once again and relive, relove all those amazing moments. But I know that now my job is to allow him to be him. Toddlerhood is hard on the mamas, I think, because we are continually confronted with the fact that they are their own people. So when Im frustrated that he doesnt want to get his shirt on, or doesnt want to leave the park, or wants to bang my computer with his dumptruck, I gotta ask myself. Am I frustrated at him and what he is doing, or am I maybe a little sad that he is not a swaddled baby laying in my lap? Two years old. I guess we are both growing up a little bit at a time.

comedic timing

Amado has been picking up some English, and he seems to pull it out at the perfect moment for maximum comedic impact.

The recent highlights:

The other day, Amado was eating a fresa. He came up to me and said, "quitar, hojas, mami." I was doing like 14 other things at that time, so I admit I gave a half-hearted attempt. I pulled off the hojas but left in the stem. I handed it back to him. He looked at it and then looked at me. Then we walked over to my sister, and said, "nina, quitar, este". She pulled out the whole stem carefully, like she always does. He thanked her, then turned back to me, I guess figuring I might be offended by the request for a re-do from someone that wasn't me. He said, "sorry-bout-that, mami" then ran off, slurping on his fresa.

A few days later, I was trying to put Amado to bed (Jason got the night off from his regular job because it was his birthday). I am trying to encourage more independence in that process, trying to let him work it out on his own a bit. So, he was still awake, but I put him in his cuna and told him that I would sit in the chair and sing 2 times and after that, I was going to leave. I started to sing, and Amado, completely exhausted, laying face down in his cuna, started yelling "Help! Help!". Oh, man. It took everything I had to keep singing "Elene la Ballena" and not start cracking up. Seriously, I didn't even know he knew that word. And then he was exhausted, calling for someone to resuce him from his terrible fate of sleep.

And today, I think he called me "dude". It was almost 8, I had already given him like 3 warnings that it was almost time for bed. It was the moment of truth - I knew we had to do it now. So I laid hm down to put on his pijamas. He told me he wanted to play more with his Camion de Bomberos. I told him that he could play with it first thing in the morning. To which he responded, "Come on, dude".

stuttering

We are entering new territory over here. Most of you know I am kind of a worrier. So far, motherhood has been pretty smooth sailing - Ive kept the worrying pretty under control. Sure, I have the periodic panic moments about things big and small (like all of us, right? right?) , but for the most part, smooth sailing.

I have heard that growth and development milestones are a big deal for parents, but we've never had to worry about this stuff. He gained weight ontime, rolled ontime, crawled ontime, walked ontime, grew ontime, ate on time, talked ontime, etc etc etc.

In the last few days, Amado started stuttering. I ignored it for a day, then started googling on day two. Its apparently a typical two-year-old thing - their brains are working faster than their tounges can keep up and they stutter. Makes perfect sense. So why am I worrying about this?

Its amazing what your mind will do. The thoughts cycle through...oh my god, what if his friends at school make fun of him?...what if it doesnt stop?...what if he gets frustrated and he stops enjoying learning new words and talking and singing?

This is new territory. Im used to sitting back and marvelling at his talking and now Im worrying about it. So what Im trying to do is be conscious to appreciate whats happening in his brain - this little guy is learning two languages. He's vigilantly observing everyone and everything around him. He's trying out new sounds, new words, and new ideas. He is moving from three word sentences to putting out whole, long, complicated thoughts. (Today, he said "Uh, oh, nina. Mira. Hormigas. Abajo. Mesa. ") He is repeating things he hears and watching what happens (my dad taught him the batman theme song). He is singing songs to me in the morning to wake me up. He is trying to tell me stories, trying to convince me to hand over the scissors, telling me he is rodney yee when he does downward dog.

He's gonna work it out. And if he doesnt work it out soon, he will work it out later. And in the meantime, I gotta keep telling him, as much as I always have "wow, amado, tu hablas muy bein!"

Fashion Advice

The other day, we were getting ready to go out and play. We were both in our pajamas, and Amado wanted to go out RIGHT NOW. So, I was giving him the run-down of what we needed to do in order to get out the door. We had to get him dressed, we had to clean up his breakfast dishes, we had to get me dressed, we had to make me a cup of coffee, and then we could go out. He was a little put off by all the steps but went along with it.

He came into the room with me when it was time to get dressed. I was wearing a tank top and some red pajama bottoms - -you know the kind that are loose, with an elastic waist band, real thin material. No, they are not particularly cute. Yes, I got them off the bargain rack at Ross for $2.99.

Back to that morning. We go into the room to my dresser. I pull out some jeans and threw them on the bed. Amado pointed at them and said, "este, mejor". Then he pointed at my pants and said "este, sucio". This is his standard reason he cites for why you take anything off (many of you know, he has a real accute sensitivity on the sucio meter).

So I said to him, "no, no esta sucio. pero es mi pijamas".

Amado pointed at the jeans again and said "este mejor." Then, he pointed at my pajama pants and said "este muy grande".

Dude, I think he was telling me that I looked sloppy! That my pijama pants were too big and sloppy. I couldnt help it - I started cracking up. Which meant that he kept repeating it, with more animation each time. "Este no, mami. Este muy grande. Este mejor!"

Uh oh, Mami!

Amado is a fake tatoo afficionado. He pretty much always has 4, I usually have two (it HAS to be one on each arm, there is a method to his madness), and Jason usually has one (that's all he'll go for - bad sport).

For those of you who aren't pros at the process, you cut the tatoo from the sheet, put it on your arm face down, and then wet the back. Then, you count to 30 (or 3 sets of 10, as Amado does, he can't count past 10 yet) and then you take off the paper. Print this out. You might need it some day.

So, each time we do a tattoo, we have a conversation/power struggle (depending on the moment) over Amado wanting to operate the scissors. I always explain that they are very sharp, its peligroso, blah blah blah. So, responsible and detail-oriented mom that I am, I must have left the scissors on the couch yesterday from the last tattoo round.

This morning, I was making coffee (like usual) and I hear Amado in the living room.
"Uh oh, Mami! Este no!" he yells.
Lets be honest. I didn't go running. I mean, empassioned "uh-ohs" from Amado are a dime a dozen around here. A crayon under the couch? "Uh oh, Mami!" His sock is crooked? "Uh oh, Mami!" He has a raisin stucck to his arm? "Uh oh, Mami!" You get the picture.

So, I continued making my coffee. Then I turn in time to see Amado, running towards me, full speed ahead with these scissors in his hand! Crap. Isn't that the one really bad thing you can allow a child to do while under your care? Run with scissors? There's jokes about that. Crap. If I had my coffee already this wouldnt have happened. Damn, the coffee addiction!

"Amado!" I yelled. "Por favor, mijo!" I said, grabbbing them from his little but not-to-be-reckoned-with grip.
He gave me a look like I was insane.

And then he gently patted me on the hand and said, "Este no, mami. Tijeras, no. Sofa. Peligroso."

WARNING

Amado has been really into warnings, or cautionary advice, lately.

He will tell you "Cuidado!" when you are getting to close to stepping on something. The other day, Rory was leaving after a visit, and he yelled after them, "Cuidate, Baby Nuala!".

Today, we were playing outside, and we were up on the front porch. This guy rode by on his bike, with his arms hanging by his side.

Amado, giving it all he had, yelled "Dos manos, Senor!" The guy, who didnt speak Spanish, smiled and waved at him, which only made the warning more urgent. "Dos manos, Senor!" he yelled, until the Senor had, dangerously, biked out of sight.

este baby no sirve

For a reason we can't quite figure out, Amado does not like to look at baby pictures of himself. Its kind of strange because as those of you who have been over you know that in the living room, we have monthly pictures of his first year.

But, the other day we were looking at some pictures I had recently put into an album from his baptism (January) and the May 1st march and he LOVED looking at them. We spent like a half hour looking - he wanted to talk about each one, wanted to point out who was in each, etc. He was liking it so much I figured that he might want to see some more pictures. The only other pictures I have in an album are from his first few months of life (back when I was a new mama and developed pictures right away.)

So I pulled it out and he was like, um this is not so cool - thats what the look on his face was saying. There were pictures of him brand new in the hospital, when he was in the NICU. He turned the page. I asked if he knew who the baby is. He didn't answer. I told him it was him and he looked at me skeptically. There were pictures of him home, all teeny tiny. He said, "no" and turned the page. We got to a picture of him nursing, about a week old, and he shook his head. A few more pages and he started complaining, saying, "este, este no. este mejor" pointing to the other album. We went back to the other album, with the recent pictures, and he was happy again.

I dont know if he was disturbed to see this intruder baby in all these pictures with people he loves or what. But he was not having it.

Yesterday, he pulled my mom over to the computer to look at some videos of them they have uploaded - playing in the pool, that kind of thing. He loves to do this. My mom clicked on the wrong icon and a picture of Amado at about 6 months popped up. "Este baby no sirve" he told my mom, shaking his head.

What?! Este baby no sirve! Wow. Basically, he does not have the capacity to say anything more extreme. Este baby no sirve. Wow.

a new game

So, Amado has a new game. It fits in with a new theme of his life, "Si se puede".

I think he is re-playing out the May 1st protest. He runs around the house with a Palestinian flag and this little horn that he got for Christmas from my cousin that is supposed to go on a bike that is like 14 times louder than it really needs to be. But, he turns it around like its a bullhorn and speaks into the part where the sound comes out and yells, "Si se puede!" while waving the flag.

Man, I could watch him do this all day.

make believe

This morning, I was trying to get Amado dressed and I was kind of in a hurry. Sensing this, he decided to make it harder for me and go limp. I was trying to get him to stand up, and he was letting his body go all limp.

I said, "Tu eres un fideo?".

And he said, "Poopoo-sano". (Which, you might remember from earlier, means "gusano". "Gusano" has now become synonomous with "PooPoo" because of the composting adventures with his Nina and Tia Mariana).

He was pretending to be a worm, and he was able to communicate it! Later on, we were telling Mariana about it, while he was eating dinner, and he decided to be a poopoo-sano right there at his table, giggling the whole time, melting into his seat all noodle-like. Or poopoo-sano like, I guess.

oh man, beso

This morning, Amado was laying in bed between us, trying to get us to wake up. I wanted to keep sleeping.

"Mami! Mami!" he says, poking me in the eye.

I say, "Amado, estoy cansada. Necesito un beso".

So Amado says "Oh man, beso" and thinks about it for a minute before he plops one on me.

asi, mami

Amado is really into the concept of "igual" right now. Anything that is close enough to comment on is "igual".

We are both wearing shoes?
"Igual" he says, pointing to our feet.

Two kitchen towels?
"Igual."

You have a plate with rice and beans and I have a plate with rice and beans?
"Igual" he says, smiling, looking at our plates.

He goes through the world trying to match things up so he can comment on them.

This morning, I was making espresso for me and "whafe" for him (steamed milk with canela). I poured his into his cup and mine into my cup. "Pote! Pote!" he yelled, frantically. He is looking for his popote. I pull one out, which means that he discovers where they are, and he goes over and starts rummaging through the bag.

Great, Im thinking. He is about to dump out all 200 of those straws. "Dejalo, Amado, por favor, dejalo" I am telling him. He runs over to his table, items in hand, waiting for his whafe. I didnt see what he ran over there carrying, so in my head, Im grumbling about the fact that he probably just took 43 straws over to the table. I get to the table and he has two. I start to tell him, "Amado, no necesitas 2 popotes", kind of annoyed, I'll be honest, when he says, "a mi" holding one of the straws and is holding out the other one to me. I realize that he brought over one for me and one for him. Aw.

Now, I dont particualry enjoy drinking my espresso through a blue striped straw. So I think I can just thank him for it and drink my delicious warm beverage the way God intended. I laid my straw down on the table and started to sip my espresso. But no. Amado is not quite sure why I dont get it.

Gently, he picks up my straw and sticks it back in my mug "Asi, mami."
He takes a sip of his whafe, and says "yummy!" encouraging me to do the same.

I take a couple sips through my straw.

"Igual", Amado says, knowingly, nodding his head.

But then he notices an important difference.

Pointing at my cup, he says, "No tapa".

The tapa on his cup is the bain of his existence. He hates that he has to have a lid on his cup and that he can't just drink it normal like the rest of us (he cant, by the way, because he will dump the whole thing over in 2 seconds flat).

So then he notices, igual, but not quite.

He starts to try to wrestle the lid off his cup, reasoning with me, "No tapa, mami, no tapa. Igual." Man, you gotta give in on that one. He is communicating it so well.

So, I undo the tapa, remind him to be very very careful with it.

I am sitting across the table from him, as we are enjoying our morning cafe and whafe, looking at this incredible person I have sitting here with me.

Then, Amado reprimands me. "Uh, oh, mama. Manos. Asi". He is reminding me that without a tapa, i am supposed to hold my cup with both hands. Good thing I have him looking out for me.

baby tattoo

Rory and Tyger's baby came into the world last night! A girl! I unfortunately dont have any more info than that, but I do know that everyone is healthy and happy! Hooray!

Amado and I had a funny exchange about it this morning. We lit a candle yesterday when she was in labor and talked to Amado about how we need to keep them in our thoughts and prayers and how this candle represents that. So he was really interested in the candle all day, saying "Rory" "vela", and pointing to it.

This mornning when he saw the candle, he said "Rory. Baby. Panza", patting his own panza, and I was telling him that the baby was born, that the next time he saw Rory the baby would not be in her panza. We told him this several times yesterday, and it didnt seem to be registering (kind of a hard concept) so I thought to make it more palapable, I should tell him that the baby would not be in her panza because it it would be "en sus brazos".

Amado looked down at his arms, said "Rory, bebe, brazos" and pointed to his Dora tatoos (one on each forearm). He figured that the baby "en sus brazos" meant that the baby would be on Rory's forearms in the form of tattoos.

Si Se Puede! (part 2)

Amado woke up bright and early this morning. Jason and I were taking turns trying to keep him in the bedroom so we could lay in bed for a little longer. Jason read the Si Se Puede book with him and then took him into the bathroom for a morning bath while I laid in bed.

The bath riled him up even more, and he came running out of the bathroom, still naked, his warm, fresh, smooth little body scampering around the room. He threw his little knee up on the side of the bed where I was still laying, climbing up to me.

Simulatenously pulling the covers down and trying to fit his little body in the crook of my arm, he started saying, chanting, really, "Leche, mami. Si Se Puede! Leche! Leche! Si Se Puede!"

Police Activities League

The other night, Jason was making Amado's dinner and we were all in the kitchen. I answered the phone and its some Police Activities League requesting donations, which I declined (shocker). I hung up the phone and said to Amado "A la policia, decimos gracias, pero no gracias!"

At that point, we were all walking into the living room because his dinner was ready. He always eats dinner at his little table in the living room. So, Amado pretty much tries to repeat everything, but sometimes if it is long, he only repeats the end of it. Like "mariposa" is "osa".

So we are walking into the living room, and I say "A la policia, decimos gracias pero no gracias!" Amado pointed to his table (and chair) and said "silla, no gracias!" and plopped down on the floor.

learning

We were playing outside today and Amado said "pompos. poo-poo. ano."
Translation: "Compost. Poo-Poo. Gusano".
He was telling me what his Tia Nina taught him about composting and worm casting for the garden. Cute.

Si Se Puede!

This morning, we were reading a Jose Luis Orozco book and its accompanying CD we got from the library. We turned the page and I said, "Oh! Esta cancion se llama "Si Se Puede!" but when it came on the CD, it wasnt a song but a poem. I was disaapointed. But then, from hearing the words, not even any tune, Amado said, in the perfect intonation, "Si, Se Puede!" like he was chanting it!

Jason took him to a protest against the INS raids more than a month ago. And here he was, so much later, hearing the words, he remembered the rhthym of the chant! It was more like "Si, Si Wede!" but the rythm was undeniable!

He brought it back up periodically throughout the day. We would be doing something and he would turn to one of us and say "Si Si Wede."

So, at bed time, I started talking to Amado about how it was Cesar Chavez birthday, and who he was and what he fought for, and he was really attentive while I explained. Then, I picked out a special book for bedtime that Maria had given him for his birthday but he hadnt really read because its a bigger kid book. Its called Si Se Puede, and is the story of the Justice for Janitors strike in LA.

We are reading an abbreviated version of it, and we get to one of the first pages that has pictures of people with open mouths and picket signs. Amado said "este!" "Si Se Wede!" After I read each page, he wanted to come back to that page and chant again.

horchata, arroz, y frijoles

Amado and I were in Chula Vista last week, hanging out with his Nana and Papa. We went to Mariscos de Mazatlan to get the kind of Mexican food you can ONLY get in Southern California (sorry Bay Area, but its time to face the facts) and Amado had a "nino grande" moment.

They brought him a kid menu! Now, forget the fact that he has been eating kid-size portions off of my and Jason's plate for 9 months or so. They brought him a kid menu! A list of deep fried things with fries, of course. But I was kind of floored by the fact that in the eyes of the rest of the world (or at least the waiter at Mariscos) he doesnt look like a kid who would pick food off of his mama's plate, but a kid who eats from his own plate!

I guess Amado must have been struck by this also because he tried to place his own order. The water came around to ask what we wanted to drink. I was getting Amado an horchata (special treat, this kid only drinks leche and water) but I wanted to be clear that it should be kid-sized, not a regular one. The kid meal comes with horchata or fruit punch. So I told the waiter that he would be ordering from the kid menu and he will take the horchata. I picked up the menu and was gesturing at it when I said this. As soon as I set it down, Amado picked it up, and pointed at it like I had done, saying "chata".

Then, when he came back to take the food order, I ordered for Amado, the only kid-menu item that wasnt deep fried: filete de pescado con arroz y frijoles. I was pointing at Amado when I said it. He waited for me to finish, got the waiter's attention, and said, pointing at his chest, "arozz, y joles".

What a nino grande we have. Wow, parenting a toddler is so deep. Each day is full of so many changes - so many gains and losses. While its so cool to watch this little baby grow into a person, its also filled with a lot of sadness for me. What a blessing this kid is.

Pato. Pan. Piso.

This morning, Amado wanted to get out of bed and go play in the living room but Jason and I were trying to squeeze a couple more minutes out of him. So he climbed over to Jason, and said "Papi. Ropa. Nones (pantalones). Vamos. Otay (okay)?". Wow! He did such a good job of communicating what he wanted - Jason to get up, put some clothes on, pants specifically, and go to the sala with him. So so cool.

Later on, we were hanging out with Amado's friend Imani and they were feeding ducks in the park. Amado was trying to lure the birds towards them by explaining to them that he had food for them. He said, "Pato. Pan. Piso." Later on, he was telling my sister/his Nina about it and he said "Patos. Pan. Gracias, Ninos" (because some little girls gave them a peice of bread to feed to the patos).

Watching him become a little person is so incredible. What a blessing.

Triste, Feliz

We were reading a book this morning that we just checked out from the library. The last 2 pages has 8 photos on it - 4 happy faces on one side and 4 sad faces on the other side.

We've been talking about "triste" a lot, because especially as a boy, we want him to be really emotionally literate (thats what the books call it, i know, im a dork). You know, boys are taught to tune out emotions, to get over them, to suck it up. So, we're really intentional about trying to help him tune into his emotions and other people's emotions.
When there's a kid crying at the park, we try to ask him, "What do you think he's feeling? He seems like he's sad, huh?" You get the picture.

We have a book called "Abrazo" that Cedric and Ray gave Amado for his first birthday about a mono named Bobo who sees all these animals huggng and his face gets more and more sad and then he starts to cry, and just then, the mama of Bobo appears and hugs him and little Bobo is so happy. And with the love of his mama he then starts to hug the other animals. Its a really sweet book, and really helpful to talk about "triste" and "feliz". At first, when he saw the page of Bobo crying, Amado would say "Shhhhh" and hold his finger to his lips because it looked like Bobo was sleeping (his eyes are shut). But now we get to that page and Amado says, with this knowing voice, "triste".

So the book this morning. We were reading the book right before he was gonna have a nap (early nap today because he is sick). We are looking at it and I'm trying to talk him through the thing - these are happy faces, these are sad faces, etc. He seems to get it so I start to point to the photos randomly, asking him if they are triste or feliz. It becomes clear pretty quickly that either he doesn't completely get it or else he likes saying "triste" more than "feliz" because pretty much everyone was triste. No big deal.

So I ask him, "Y tu, Amado? Estas triste or feliz?"
"Triste" he says.
He didn't seem at all sad, but I didn't want to negate him saying that, so I told him that I am sorry he is sad and that him feeling sad makes me feel sad.
He didn't really comment on that one, so we just moved on.

A few minutes later I laid him down on the bed for his nap, and he says "teche" (leche) because he wants to nurse. I tell him, okay, no problem, he can nurse. And as soon as I lay down next to him, he started laughing, looked up at me, and said, "Mami, feliz".

jabon

2 cool things today:

1. Amado is starting to put together 3 word sentences. Its really cool to see his little/big mind at work. What's funny about it is that he says his three-word-sentences like they are 3 consecutive one word sentences. Each word is so so carefully chosen like perfectly ripe fruit. Today, we were doing laundry. We make a lot of effort to incorporate him into taking care of the house for a lot of reasons - because he is so enthusiastic about helping, because he doesnt need fancy schools and DVDs to learn when he can learn by doing everyday things (ive been reading some of that "montessori in the home" stuff) and because he's a boy and really need to know how to clean a house. Wow, that was off topic. So anyways, we were doing laundry this morning. One of his jobs is to pour the soap into the machine. If he had it his way, he would pour in the whole 72-load-bottle. So today, after he pours in an appropriate amount that I have pre-measured, he says: "Mas. Jabon. Mami." So cool!

2. Tonight, after I nursed him to sleep, I am tranferring him from the bed to the cuna and he says, "Jabon." Clear as day, like he was completely awake. What?

no calle

We had an incident a couple weeks ago, I won't tell all the long details but it involved an enthusiastic Amado returning home from hanging out with Rory, a distracted Mama looking at the Valentine card he had made, and the street in front of our house.

In his excitement and with my distraction (yes, not my best parenting moment), Amado ran into the street, around the opposite side of the car. He wanted to say something to Lumina, who was still in her carseat. Rory yelled, I jumped and grabbed him hard (the way you would grab a kid who had just run into the street), he cried because he thought we were mad, the whole thing degenerated pretty quickly. Now mind you, he was never REALLY in danger - there were no cars coming - but you know, it was an emotional experience for him.

And here we are weeks later, and about 5-10 times a day, says "no calle", "no calle", while shaking his finger at the street.

So, a couple days ago, he was hanging out on the front porch and he sees Oso, who is the next door neighbor's dog, wandering outside of our place.

"Oso! Oso! Ven!" Amado calls. (except he says "Men")
Oso continues on.
"Oso, no calle. No calle".
His voice is calm, but clear. He is like, clearly this dog does not know that you are not supposed to be playing this close to the street.
He reached his little arm through the bars on our porch and is shaking his finger at Oso / the calle.
"Oso, ven. No calle. No calle."
So of course, Oso walks right into the middle of the street, crosses it, and heads up 63rd. He is walking away, and Amado is standing there watching him.
"Bye-bye, wow-wow" Amado says, and turns around and comes back in the house.

It was so funny because he basically washed his hands of the situation. He was like, I did what I could, but now this dog (no longer called by his proper name) is on his own.

praise

Jason and Amado were laying on the living room floor coloring in one of his coloring books last night.
Amado looked up, studied Jason's picture, and said "Muy bien, papi" in this really sincere, honest, voice. It was really sweet - I guess he knows it feels good to have your art complimented, so he was returning the favor.

Kenji dice heiwa

We were reading his peace book again (we are always reading that book) and I turn to the page with Kenji on it.

I say "Kenji vive en-"
"Japon" says Amado.
What? Did he really just say Japon?
"Wow, Amado! Muy bien!"
He is clearly proud of himself, but looks a little amused that I am so surprised.
I keep reading.
"Kenji dice-"
"Heiwa" says Amado.

Man, how cool is that.

On another note, Amado has also recently picked up expressions that I didn't realize I use until well, they started being repeated to me.

We were making pizza the other night and Amado was distributing the goat cheese on the pizza. He would pinch a little off the block, and drop it on the pizza. Pinch a little bt off and eat some himself. Next pinch, pizza. Next pinch, in his mouth. Several minutes later its clear that this is not gonna work so I tell Amado that he has had enough for now, that he will eat more when he gets his slice of pizza after it comes out of the oven. "Oh, man!" he says. It probably doesnt sound that funny in writing, but its pretty halarious.

Peace, Paz, Paix

I was gone all last weekend at a Board-Staff retreat for the Women of Color Resource Center. Consequently, Amado saw very little of me all weekend - I left right after he woke up and came home after he was already in bed. Then, on Monday night I had a work event in the evening, so he was at school in the morning, came home for a nap, and I was gone by the time he woke up.

All this to say that from Friday through Monday, I was kind of missing in action. And Amado, while very happy to have some one-on-one Papi time, was growing a little tired of the situation.

The reason that I know this is because he generally sleeps through the night with a couple quick wake ups. But on Monday night, he wakes up, sees me, and figures, "She's here, I better get my play time in now". So we bring him to bed for what we assume will be a quick-put-back-to-bed as is customary these days and instead we find ourselves in romper room.

I wont detail the whole repertoire of antics, but highlight a couple. My sister bought Amado a book for Christmas thats called something like "Peace Day", and it talks about how all around the world, kids say peace in different languages but they all want to be safe, go to school, share food with their families, etc. Its a really nice, positive book. And each page has something like "Carlos lives in Mexico. Carlos says "paz"". You get the picture.

So here we are, 4 in the morning, and Amado decides to whip out his mulilingual peace knowledge. He sits up, and says "Peace. Paz. Paix. Peace. Paz. Paix. Peace. Paz. Paix". Good lord. I mean in general, you really congratulate ssomething like that - I dont even know what that last language is. But its 4 in the morning.

So I say to him, in my most ernest and cautionary voice, "Amado, you are going to play in the morning with Rory and Lumina. You need to sleep now because if not, you will be too tired to play.". He didn't heed my warning. Instead, I put two fun names of two fun people out there in the mix and he decides to make up a song. Doing his arm-movements that signify music (some of you know exactly what i am talking about), he yells "Rory! Rory! Ro-o-ry!" "Luna, Luna, Lu-u-na!"

Wow.

And yes, he finally fell asleep. About a half-hour before I had to get up. It didnt make sense to go back to sleep so I spooned his little warm body, buried my nose in his hair, and felt sad about what it will be like when he is too old for this insanity.

animal sounds

Amado has been doing animal sounds for a few months now.
You say "como habla la vaca?" and he says "moooo".
"Como habla el gallo?" "kikirikiri!"
"Como habla el gato?" "eoooww!" (yeah, he leaves off the "m", we are not sure why)

So, you all know that "cafe" (and then the mysterious "whafe") was one of the earlier words in Amado's repertoire, no doubt based on the massive amount that we drink. Well, we recently bought a used espresso maker off of Berkeley Parents Network (yes!!!) and our consumption has now tripled. And he has a new animal sound.
"Como habla el whafe?" says his papi.
And yes, my toddler son says "schweeoohschweeschwee", imitating the sound of the espresso maker.

Learn how to mop, kid

So today, Jason and I were standing in the kitchen. Amado (one and a half years old) comes in and says "sucio". Sometimes he is just using his words for no particualr reason, just to say them, so we figured this was what was happening. Joking, I ask him "whats sucio? tu papi?". He shakes his head and says "piso".
My one and a hald year old kid is telling us that our housekeeping is not up to his standards. What a guy.