Painted legs and one peepee

Merlin sitting on the bush

I put on mama's socks

Carmel sitting in my lap! More lap!

The other day we were over at Cheryl and Jordan's house for dinner and playing and hanging. A lovely Friday evening hang out. The girls painted together. It was Johari's first time painting and she really liked it. She also tried eating the paint. I figured she would take a lick of it and not like it. But she repeatedly put the brush in her mouth to check it out. She ended up having this goth look with a ring of dark green paint around her lips, she already has the dark eyes, and dark paint all over her hands. Later in the evening the girls enjoyed painting all of our legs and feet. We went to bed with painted legs and ended up enjoying checking them out and showing them off in the morning.
Yesterday we went on this lovely walk along the water in West Seattle. It was sunny and gorgeous. We ended up at a cafe and then the kiddos got to play on the beach. I was able to jog the couple miles back to the get the car. That felt good because I have really been wanting to get back to some running.

Holding hands with Jordan on the walk

Johari likes to serve her imaginary apples and bananas. The apples got hot yesterday. How do I know? Because she started blowing on them before she gives them to me so that I don't burn my mouth. Very considerate of her. She is almost always ready to cook you some apple. She loves that word.

Last week she found my old manual breast pump. While Ceci was here, Johari learned about pumping nyo-nyo's. She even made up a sign for it where she bumps her forehead and says pump nyo-nyo. So she was glad to find that we have a pump. She took it to the bedroom where she works on pumping her own nyo-nyo's. It looks more like she is pumping her belly button.

Johari went peepee on her potty for the first time last night. It was cool. It took several times of her signing that she wanted to go to the potty trying and not depositing anything in the pot before she relaxed to let it go. Good beginning to thinking about it and communicating about it. No pressure to make it happen though.

Taking off the cradle cap and dipping in the pool

Yesterday, I finally decided to try to comb off Johari's cradle cap. I had always thought that it was something that would eventually just go away. For those of you without babes, it is a scaly substance on their scalp, nothing disgusting just like brown flaky stuff. I couldn't really believe that she still had it on her scalp. I thought it was a baby thang! She's no baby anymore. But Ceci informed that you really have to oil it and comb it off their scalp or else it keeps perpetuating itself. So I guess she would have gone to college with cradle cap if it weren't for the grace of Ceci's info. :) I am sure she thanks you, Ceci!
Last evening, we got out of the house to go play at the mall playground. She seemed sleepy on the way there but had a nice time. She is more adventurous. She is getting better at climbing on the stuff on her own. She still one's a helping hand some of the time, but she seems to be getting more and more confident. She also said that any piece that she was on was "mine!". She didn't easily want to let other kids get on her space on any of the play sculptures. She is establishing the world as hers right now. It's Johari's world and we are all just living in it. :) She also shared. She has both sides of it going. The compassion and the autonomy. One older boy pushed her a little and called her 'stupid', but it didn't seem to phase her.
I have been reading this book called 'Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves' by Naomi Aldort. I think it is a great book! It has taught me much about a child's psychology. About their need to be able to have autonomy and have a supported and guided outlet of strong emotions. And about how much of our trying to stop this outlet is our own discomfort with the feelings. It is a very powerful and compassionate perspective on parenting. I highly recommend the book to parents and teachers and those that interact with children and teenagers regularly.
This morning, we went to an indoor swimming pool. The place had a toddler section to their swimming poll which is awesome. Full of things to play with and a geyser and a sprinkler. Johari had a wonderful time. She fell under early on while chasing a ball and didn't get phased by it after I scooped her out. She enjoyed herself until she got too cold and we had to go. The water was relatively warm for about an hour and then she got chilly.

A beautiful day at the Zoo and a yoga class together

Yesterday, we went to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day. Sun was shining. We met Cheryl and Jordan there and Grandma and Grandpa came along too. It was a family affair. We saw a giraffe mama and her giraffe child necking and being affectionate with one another. It was super sweet to see. We walked around and saw many animals and then we ate lunch in the crowd of the zoo cafeteria. It was a very nice day.
In the evening, Ariel came over for dinner. It was great to see her. Johari was digging her and really enjoyed playing and teasing her and getting gotten by Ariel.
Today, we tried a mama and tot yoga class in Seattle. Johari really had a great time. She didn't do much yoga but she played a whole lot and was very outgoing. She would venture out to play without me quite a bit and then come and check back in with me eventually. I got to do some yoga so maybe we will try to do that class with some kind of regularity. Good times for mama and Johari, can't go wrong there.
Johari's bottom incisors are coming up and cutting through. So soon she will have her full toothy smile grown in.
I did a bit of research because of the constant info of the horrors of plastics...to find a metal sippy. And I got one that I think is pretty cool. It is seems to be well made. And they have another one with a straw as well.

Although they sell these at some Target stores, they do not put it in the baby stuff. It kind of irks me because then no one will ever run across them while shopping for a good sippy. It is in the sporting goods water bottle section!
More Johari updates....she can now walk down the few little steps in front of the house without holding a hand or onto anything. She loves to play pretend now. She pretends to prepare food for people. As soon as she gives you the imaginary food, she eagerly asks if you want more. She loves to keep supplying people with more and more of her tasty morsels.

A wonderful visit from Ceci and Mia

Snoozing after good times

The Crew out to breakfast

Holding hands...

Sista Swing

Stroller ride together

Mia drives them through the streets of Ghana

Mia drives them through the streets of Japan

Time for Johari to help with driving

Sista bath fun

Who can get the dolla to the music man

Who is really having the most fun at the Children's library?

We had a wonderful visit with Ceci and Mia. The girls clicked with no hesitation. They played and played and played. And held hands. And Johari loved to sit on Mia's lap in the stroller. Mia helped Johari take off her shoes and socks and coat when we came in the house. We went to a couple children's museums while they were here. And Pike Place Market. And the children's library at the main Seattle library. We had a great time together. The girls chomped on cheddar bunny crackers the whole way. They would hold hands while riding in their car seats some of the time. I love to see all the hand holding. It is such a sweet connection.

Walking Lola

Johari walking Lola today... Luckily since Lola is so very old and slow, she is the perfect speed for Johari to hold her leash. Lola is not about to take off with lightning speed anywhere. Johari was in bliss being able to walk Lola on her own. What could be better...independence and taking care of a dog!!!

winding it up in mexico

Blog 4 February 2008
We spent the last few days alternating between the swimming pool in Coba and the beach in Tulum. But today, our last day, we didn’t do any water event. It is hard to be sure but I think that a few times throughout the day when Johari has signed ‘water’ she has meant that she wanted to go to the swimming pool or the beach. We did go out to see some peccaries (a furry pig-like animal).
The other day when we were at the pool I was trying to teach Johari to blow bubbles in the water. At first she was opening up to get a scoop of water in her mouth, but as she inspected and touched my bubble blowing she started to get it a little more. It is a blowing process not a scooping process. We can practice more in the bathtub when we get back home.
Words are coming more quickly. Verbal ones and signing ones. And it seems like the Signing Time DVDs help with both of these categories. It is very cool to see her ability to communicate increase.
Johari and I talked a bit about cow’s milk versus mama’s milk the other day. That was about the extent of it with experiences of each one. So now a couple of times when she has a cup of milk she says and signs ‘cow’ and signs ‘milk’. We can start talking about where things come from and how things are related.
We had lunch at Zamas, a nice restaurant on the beach, yesterday for my dad’s birthday. There we found a handmade doll for Johari. The doll is a mama doll and has a baby doll. But the best part is that the mama doll has nyo-nyo’s aka breasts. But not only does this mama doll have breasts but she has snaps for nipples. And the baby doll has the other part of the snap as a mouth. Snap on nursing!!!! The mama also has hands that snap together to hug her baby. The PERFECT doll for Johari. But sometimes it seems she prefers to give the baby her own nyo-nyo’s rather than snapping it on to the mama doll.
Just before we were leaving Zamas, I noticed these guys behind us kept having this bright green drink. I inquired about it. It was a Chaya licuado. Chaya is a local green that is supposed to have great health benefits. So I had to try it out for myself. Just water and chaya greens. First Johari wanted to try it and she really liked it! What a surprise. Then I got some sips in. It was mild and almost citrus-y. I thought it would be strong greens flavor but it was pleasant and refreshing. Anybody know of some chaya growing in the Seattle area. :)
I woke up the other morning thinking about India. Imagining getting to India and spending some time there. We have been watching parts of the movie “Monsoon Wedding” in the mornings to help with me being able to comb out Johari’s hair. (By the way, her hair is back to needing product and attention. The humidity when we arrived has subsided.) Sometimes the distraction works so that she doesn’t notice the combing much and sometimes it doesn’t. So images of India have been in my mind and it is a place that I have wanted to get to eventually. Hopefully Johari and I will be able to check it out one day.
Johari figured out the shadow thing the other night. So it is not so scary anymore and she can make her own shadow creatures.

beach, dog shadow, and sorbet

Blog Jan. 30, 2008
We dropped off our friends, Alfonso and Liz, at the bus today to return home. It was so very nice to get to see them and hang for a few days with them. It was mostly beach time. Liz came with her objectives very clear cut... her skin had to darken through a great relaxation at the beach and slathering of oils and gels to bring the sun more in touch with her skin. She succeeded and is now recovering but happy. Alfonso joined her in this goal. And he achieved it as well. We also went to a couple ruins...the ones in Coba and the ones in Tulum. Johari loves the beach so it was perfect for her as well. She can play in the sand contentedly much of the time or she requests "water" time. In which case we go play in the surf. She runs in and out of the water. Windsurfers landed on the beach a few times. The 'kites' or sails that were pulling them along became Johari's play tent when they landed on the beach. We stayed the night in Tulum last night so we could hang out a bit more.
This afternoon just before she went down for her nap, Grandpa, Granny Em and I taught Johari "Ring Around the Rosie". She loved it. She would have had us doing it for hours if everyone had been willing. She will be ready to play "Ring Around the Rosie" with Mia when she comes to visit. And maybe Jordan will enjoy some "Ring Around the Rosie" with her as well.
Yesterday evening we went into town (Tulum) before dinner so that Liz and Alfonso could take care of a few things. There was a big political rally going on. A final rally before an election of some sort which made the vibe on the street more like a party with everyone out to socialize and music playing in the background. Johari loved walking down the sidewalk with lots of people around, music playing and the nightlife. That girl likes to have fun!
She is definitely scared of shadows, day or night. It may be lessening slighly. She calls shadows "dogs" since that was the initial scary shadow that set this whole thing off. Grandpa feels sorry that he ever made that dog shadow, but who knew... All I can say is that it is a good thing that we will be going back to Seattle soon where gray skies lessen the chances of as many shadow encounters until that fear wears off.
A few days ago, Johari had a blast wanting to play with this kitten at Lol Che. She would follow it, very excited, and tell it to come to her. But if it started to seem like it would chase her or come towards her she would sign that she was scared and run to me. I was playing with the cat with a stick. Johari wanted to hold the stick too, but when the kitten would bat the stick, she would drop it scared. She had fun. It was a funny back and forth of her desire to play with and her fear of not knowing what it would do. She had a good time.
She loves to have her little bit of lime sorbet with her grandpa in the evening now. She asks for it often. It is a sweet treat for her. A grandpa treat. We won't be continuing the tradition when grandpa is not around, but it is a grandpa´s right.

burnt hips and fun at the beach...the other

Blog Jan 25, 2008

Today we had a lovely day. We spent a long morning at the beach. Johari had woken up very early for some unknown reason, so she fell asleep on the way to the beach. I waited while she snoozed for a while. When she got up we donned our beach gear. Johari has decided topless is definitely the way to go for her. Smothered ourselves in sunscreen. Dumby me left my own legs unprotected because my experience is that they always seem to stay lily white, sun or no sun. But my hips are now burned. You live and learn or at least we hope that we learn from these things. First we went to play in the surf. We kneeled in the water and then we even went in a bit deeper. After some playtime in the water, we went to sit under a tree. She played in the sand for a while. Scooping sand and pouring it between her shovel and her sieve. She seemed content doing this for quite some time. Then we went back to the water. She had a blast with the water this time and gathered more courage. She was running in and out of it. She had abandoned the need to be holding on to my hands with each splash of water. She is even fell down into the water and I scooped her out immediately. It didn’t phase her. She danced and ran in and out of the water. Good times!!! She didn’t really ever want to go away from the water.
When we got back we had lunch at Lol Che restaurant and there were some tour bus loads of Finnish people having lunch as well. A girl who was 3 months older than Johari was in the mix. Johari took to her right away. They immediately started interacting. And when they were both done eating they had a grand time playing with each other. Holding hands and running back and forth together. Hugging each other. It was wonderful. And it was interesting as well. Because if I watch her with Mary Carmen it doesn’t go like this. It is much more serious interaction with a much longer time for them to warm up to each other. Why? Well, my dad says there is this theory in anthropology of the Other. And that children recognize the “other”. So he would say that Mary Carmen is from a very different background compared to the little Finnish girl. Since the Finnish girl and Johari probably come from similar cultures they connect rapidly and interact easily. I don’t know what I think of this all. I mean I don’t necessarily want to believe this is true. I think that it may have to do with Mary Carmen is not put down on the ground. She is not walking yet so she is always held on someone’s lap. And then the interactions with adults are different than she may be used to at home. More serious. More quiet between people. Just my own interpretation of course. Because with some of the older kids she has warmed up to them, maybe not as rapidly as with this little girl from the tour bus. She likes Mary Carmen and wants to go see her often. But they definitely need more coaching to hit it off. My dad told me of a time when they were in Albania with my brother when he was little and how he would take a while to warm to the Albanian children and then they were eating in a hotel one day and there was a little German boy that my brother immediately ran off to play with. What does this mean? Kids are sensitive to the subtle differences in how people act and interact with one another. And if there are cultural differences that dictate how to interact, it would probably have some effect on how easily the child comes out and dives into play.

Johari is definitely scared of shadows right now. Hopefully this will dissipate with time and with better communication about it in the future. A dog shadow made with hands has scared her twice. And in the evening she was scared of a large dragonfly on the wall. More fears keep coming out. It is good that she can communicate her fears with her signs. I really am grateful for that.

In the afternoon I couldn’t get her to take a nap. She just wouldn’t rest even though she was crabby tired. I had to walk her to sleep. Then she took a good nap on my back.

pyramids, swamps, and scams

Blog 1-24-08
Today we went to a small group of ruins that I had never been to. It also had a boardwalk through a swamp and ended up at the shore of the sea. Johari climbed her first pyramid. She at least climbed a few of the steps a few times. She and I went up to the highest part which was a low pyramid. Then along the boardwalk there was a look out tower. I put her in the Ergo and climbed to the top of the lookout tower. It was a beautiful view. A scary descent, but not so bad. Just kind of like climbing up and down a ladder with your kiddo on your back.
Well, I got scammed today and then recovered from the scam. Here is how it went. I went to get gas at the station. And the guy filled it up. I knew that I had two 200 peso bills ready to give him. The other guy who was doing my windows suddenly said the tire on the other side of the car was low and wanted to show me. So I got out of the car to look at it. I had given the guy that pumps the 400 pesos. When I came back around, he showed me a 200 and a 20 as all that I had given him. Thinking maybe I had slipped up somehow and been wrong, I paid him. Then while sitting waiting for air, I realized that I had been ripped off. What was I going to do? What was I going to say? Was I just going to give up? I definitely had a back and forth in my head. Give up and do nothing or don’t let myself be taken advantage of. So I gathered my strength and got a little more pissed at being ripped off and I went back to the guy and told him that I gave him 400 pesos. He immediately gave me back 200. He lost out on 20 pesos in the end.
I have started reading the book Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Definitely not bursting with joyful moments so far but not overly depressing either. It is interesting.
We are having a 2 Signing Time DVD day since she didn’t get an afternoon nap. Typically, we have been watching Signing Time altogether after dinner sometime. It is nice to get altogether and watch the DVD. Johari makes sure that each person does the signs even if she doesn’t necessarily do it herself. That girl really likes to direct and run the show once she gets comfortable. She gets people to walk and go places and play with her and eat their food and sit in different places and kiss and hold hands and give her all of their olives and strawberries.

more in mexico

Today, we went into Coba and went to the fancy hotel in town there. Johari and I went into the swimming pool. We had a good time in the pool. She didn't want to wear her bikini top. Who needs it, right? And we don't have swimming diapers because Target didn't have them when we left. They were out of season!!!! Isn't every season a possible time to go to the swimming pool for little kiddos. So the regular diapers soak up all possible water when one wears it into the pool. The diaper becomes extremely bloated and heavy!!! Johari definitely loved hanging out in the pool. And it is nice in many ways because there is some shade over parts of the pool. There is a ledge underneath the water around the edge that was the perfect height for Johari to walk around on when she was overtaken by her need to be independent. She has probably been going through waterplay withdrawl since we don't have a bath here. We just take short showers. The pool was a fix for her waterplay craving. Then we had lunch at the hotel restaurant. It was good food and Johari ate more than usual and tried more things. She looked so content looking out at the pool while she sat laid back in a recliner high chair and gnoshed on her food.
Mary Carmen had a baby doll today. And Johari was more than happy to take care of it. She nursed it and put it in the top of her dress to carry it around and bounce it and sit in the chair and so on. Babies...that girl loves them.