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?