We recently discovered these weekly free concerts at a bookstore. Johari getting her dancing groove on.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Grandma Johari
Grandma and she made me Grandpa. (A resale shop find!)
Purple Girl!
Carmel and Johari at hospital to meet Carmel's new baby sister, Eva.
Holding hands with EvaThursday, April 9, 2009
Rhyming QUEEN...Fo Feen
Johari loves to say things in rhyme. She makes up the words that rhyme with what she is talking about. It is fun stuff. Let's go to Target Barget. She went through a period where everything she said had a rhyming word after it. It has fizzled bo bizzled out a bit now but the rhyming mood still strikes her every so often.
We have gone to the swimming pool a couple of times lately. She is building confidence but still pretty cautious in the water. She doesn't like going under. She has a blast when we go to the pool. At the swimming pool is where she got turned on to showers instead of baths. She really likes showers now. She likes to stand and let the water hit her back and do some dances with her arms in it. She can stand in a shower for quite a while.
We have gone to the swimming pool a couple of times lately. She is building confidence but still pretty cautious in the water. She doesn't like going under. She has a blast when we go to the pool. At the swimming pool is where she got turned on to showers instead of baths. She really likes showers now. She likes to stand and let the water hit her back and do some dances with her arms in it. She can stand in a shower for quite a while.
To the zoo and family square dancing....
The crew at the zoo
This past Sunday we had a whole lot of fun on a beautiful sunny day.
We went to the zoo for the first time in a long time. We got a new membership there. I think we will try to get there often. We had fun checking out the "orangee-tangs". Johari said we were at an "Orangee-tang party." We saw the baby gorilla growing up. Johari went on the carousel. We tried dipping dots ice cream for the first time. An interesting twist to ice cream. Some super freezing process that makes it ball up into tiny pellets. Johari wanted the rainbow kind. She enjoyed feeding it to Ibrahim as well.
After the zoo, we headed to a family dance. Square dancing!!!!! Yee-haw. We had fun, but wow, that is a workout. Especially doing it while holding Johari in my arms. She enjoyed it but wasn't ready to do it on her own. Once she got comfortable she did her own freestyle dancing for a bit. She likes to run and kick her leg out to the side and twirl around. I don't think I have done square dancing since I was in elementary school. It was a good time.
Our house in the middle of our street....
View from the kitchen sink
Playroom
Living Room
Stacy, Ishmael and Ibrahim's room
Johari and my bedroom
Kitchen from living room
We have been living in our house for at least a month now, I think. Probably a little longer. It is wonderful. It is a great space. It feels good. We have an amazing backyard and front yard. Johari loves to just run in circles in the backyard. We put up a couple of rope swings on our big tree in the back. They are awesome. I had to make the swing pretty low and now it is perfect because she can do it all on her own. And she does!!!!
One huge blessing that moving into our house has been that we don't have a TV here. It is the chance to wean from watching her DVDs everyday. What an amazing difference! She spends all of that time creating, imagining, pretending, hopping, running, exploring, singing, and so much more. I love it. We read so many more books. We have been hooked on Alison Lester books lately. It started with this really cool book that we borrowed from the library called Ernie Dances to the Digeridoo. Then we saught more of her books. We both really enjoy them. They have travel and imagination and different kids enjoying life in different ways. They are super fun.
We have tons of colors on our walls inside of our house and now the outside has begun to get painted. Just the front for the moment. The comments of neighbors and passers by.... "Your house really looks different than it did." "You won't have any trouble telling people which house is yours." "Now, I can tell people I live next to the orange house." "I like it." Along with people pausing to check it out from the corner. It is sunshine on a cloudy day.
A first....
It is a lifetime of firsts, right? But after they are happen a few times it all just becomes normal. Johari just crawled into a bed and went to sleep on her own for a nap. WOW!!! Incredible!
Friday, February 6, 2009
something i haven't done in 2 1/2 years....
Today, I went alone to a cafe and wrote in my journal for a bit. That used to be my regular gig. I used to do that almost on a daily basis when me was just me. I haven't done it since I had Johari. Very nice to have a moment off on my own. Even though I am blessed with all the moments with her.
Done with Diapers!!!
How exciting. We are done with diapers. Daytime. Naptime. Nighttime. It is lovely to not need those anymore. For a while before bed, as a ritual, she would say to me, "I don't want a diaper. I don't want a pull-up." That's cool. Especially because she didn't need them either.
Borrowing and returning and loving
Johari has been REALLY into borrowing. She likes to borrow something from her friend's houses. Toys, dolls, clothes, candles. And sometimes she is into returning the items too. Sometimes she even thinks of bringing stuff for her friends to borrow. I think it is a pretty cool process because it keeps things circulating and yet not this strong material attachment.
The other day we were over at Jordan's house. Johari and Jordan were totally off in the other room playing together, having their own conversations and negotiations. It was so cool. I love listening to their conversations. They were really having a blast together. Earlier that day, we were walking down the street with Jordan coming back from the park and Johari asked her something. Jordan answered very quietly and Johari said, "I don't understand what you said. Can you speak louder?" Jordan is pretty quiet when we are babysitting her, so she reluctantly and quietly repeated herself. It is fun to watch their friendship grow.
Johari is talking a whole lot about love these days. I LOVE it! She says, "Mom, do you know I love you?" Or "I love you. I love Barney. I love Grandpa. I love Grandma. I love Merlin." and on and on. Or the interconnectedness of the love. "Grandpa loves Barney. And Grandma loves Barney. And Barney loves me. We all love each other." It is so wonderful to hear her love and feel loved. The other day when Carmel was over, Johari said to her, "Do you know I love you? Do you know I love your teeth? Do you know I love your earrings?" I believe Carmel's answer to all of these was "No." Pretty funny. This outpouring of love from Johari was also between various pushes and hair pullings and things that she has been doing to her friends sometimes when she gets too amped up. We are working on that side of things. But I know that in her heart of hearts, she has love.
Johari likes to do this back and forth where she tells me to say "Yes" and she will say "No". We just say yes and no to each other over and over. Then she will chang it to me saying "Yes" and her saying "Yes" and after we do it a few times, she says, "What are we saying yes to?"
She is interested in last names now more. So imaginary friends now sometimes have last names. The other day she asked Hyon if she knew Cheryl's last name. She did not. So Johari tells her it is "DogParker". Perfect!!! Cheryl's last name is Parker and her business is taking dogs to dog parks.
The other day we were over at Jordan's house. Johari and Jordan were totally off in the other room playing together, having their own conversations and negotiations. It was so cool. I love listening to their conversations. They were really having a blast together. Earlier that day, we were walking down the street with Jordan coming back from the park and Johari asked her something. Jordan answered very quietly and Johari said, "I don't understand what you said. Can you speak louder?" Jordan is pretty quiet when we are babysitting her, so she reluctantly and quietly repeated herself. It is fun to watch their friendship grow.
Johari is talking a whole lot about love these days. I LOVE it! She says, "Mom, do you know I love you?" Or "I love you. I love Barney. I love Grandpa. I love Grandma. I love Merlin." and on and on. Or the interconnectedness of the love. "Grandpa loves Barney. And Grandma loves Barney. And Barney loves me. We all love each other." It is so wonderful to hear her love and feel loved. The other day when Carmel was over, Johari said to her, "Do you know I love you? Do you know I love your teeth? Do you know I love your earrings?" I believe Carmel's answer to all of these was "No." Pretty funny. This outpouring of love from Johari was also between various pushes and hair pullings and things that she has been doing to her friends sometimes when she gets too amped up. We are working on that side of things. But I know that in her heart of hearts, she has love.
Johari likes to do this back and forth where she tells me to say "Yes" and she will say "No". We just say yes and no to each other over and over. Then she will chang it to me saying "Yes" and her saying "Yes" and after we do it a few times, she says, "What are we saying yes to?"
She is interested in last names now more. So imaginary friends now sometimes have last names. The other day she asked Hyon if she knew Cheryl's last name. She did not. So Johari tells her it is "DogParker". Perfect!!! Cheryl's last name is Parker and her business is taking dogs to dog parks.
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