petit compaore: 2011

Friday, December 16, 2011

family/tree

Boompa came to visit two days ago. He brought some plywood and created some storage space for us in our garage! Then he spent the night. Isaac loves spending time with Boompa. He really enjoyed Boompa reading to him the story about "Steve and the Mighty Loader".

In true petitcompaore style, I now have something completely different to show you. It's our Jesse tree/Advent tree. We have been enjoying doing this so far! This year I could only get as far as making the "tree". That was enough craft effort for me. I had Isaac color and I cut out some pictures I found online. I have to say, it's working pretty well for me. The old children's picture Bible that Grandma and Grandpa lent us is working really well too. It's nice because Isaac is now to the age where he loves stories, so he is very interested in the Bible stories and wants to hear them again and again.

Another thing that has been fun for me is seeing how Isaac's coloring has come along. You might look at this and just see scribbles, but I see some definite intentional color placement on each little picture. Isn't it so neat how that happens? I haven't been noticing the whole "fine motor" thing as much until recently, but now that Isaac is starting to try scissors and do this coloring, it's very intriguing to me.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

being silly

I found a new setting on my camera - fish eye view. I thought it was funny. I showed this picture to Isaac and I think he's just confused about it.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

something new

Because band-aids fix everything.

Okay, so maybe you can't tell... but I have a new camera! Thank you so much Nana and Boompa! It will get lots of good use on our big trip!

I'm still figuring out the settings and maybe I'll have to read the "manual" that came on a CD with the camera. It is fun so far! As long as I can take one good picture of each of Henri's family members (that might be a lot to ask for...) it will be worth it.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

mr. sugar and spice

On mornings like these, I tell myself, if someday I have another boy instead of a girl, I guess it will be okay.

When your son wants to wear a frilly apron, help you cook pancakes, and drink from a pink bottle (he chose the color himself), you can have a little taste of little girl sweetness with none of the little girl drama.

I mean, I would love to have a girl too. But man, even with preschoolers, sometimes those girls are really groupy-groupy. I could just see a lot more drama potentially coming along with the girl package. Then again, there are a lot of little girls that are the sweetest little people you will ever meet. So, I guess either way, I will be happy (I am not expecting a baby, by the way, just thinking). For right now, Isaac is giving me a nice dose of both.

Friday, December 2, 2011

les tontons

Tonton Saloman and tonton Sosthene paid us a visit for Thanksgiving.

We also saw Great-Uncle Doug, Uncle Mikey, Uncle Greggy...

We also saw Uncle Chris.

And spent some time with Nana too.

Isaac and tonton Sosthene got along really well. Isaac keeps talking about his uncles that he met.

I was really excited to meet them and it makes me even more excited about going to Burkina Faso in a little over 2 weeks!

sur la plage

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

sometimes

Isaac's new word lately has been "sometimes". I don't think he entirely understands what it means though. And now my mind has gone completely blank so I can't remember any specific examples. I think it is usually something like "Sometimes, I have a jacket" or something that isn't really a "sometimes" sort of statement, preceded by "sometimes". He is picking up even more words: today he asked about a fire alarm and what we would do if it went off. I said I would probably go out the front door. He said, "Actually, I would probably go out the front door." He also got his last shot before we go to Burkina for the break. They also have this "Flu mist" flu shot now. It was interesting - they just sprayed it up his nose. I wonder if it works.

These past few days we visited Auntie Anna and baby London. It was so good to see them! I hope they have a happy Thanksgiving, as they won't be coming down... London is starting to chatter away - I bet she'll be saying some words soon! She's just so darn cute!

"Sometimes, I wear sunglasses."

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

why?

Isaac was sick last week. Then, when he was better, it was like all this development - BAM - was there. Like it was just waiting to happen but couldn't because he was sick. The first really noticeable thing has been that he started asking "Why?". Oh man. I don't know how I feel about that. He can answer why questions too. I said, "Isaac, why would you want a cookie if you don't want to eat it?" He thought a while then said, "I just wanna look at it."

The second noticeable thing has been that he is really into his number and letter puzzles. Not that he's learning their names (all the numbers besides 0 are "9") but he has finally figured out how to orient the shape so it matches up with the cutout shape.

The third noticeable thing has been his increased interest in French. On the way home today, he said, "Mama, what is our house called?" I was unsure how to answer, but then he answered for himself, "It's la maison." I'm starting to think more and more that the French immersion preschool would be really a good fit for him next year. I think he will also pick up a lot of it in Burkina when we go. He is just really interested in it lately.

My handsome boy and man last Sunday. Our neighbor took these pictures with her nice camera.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

croup round 2

We have been sick around here ever since last Friday. On Friday evening, Isaac seemed like he was being extra sassy. Then I realized his body was warm and he had a fever. The following night, whatever virus it is had developed into croup (meaning it affected his vocal folds). That was only really bad for two nights, but Isaac has a lingering cough and a lingering fever, otherwise I probably would have shipped him off to daycare for my last work day this week. But, of course, now I am starting to get whatever he has, so I called in sick today for myself. I'm a little sad because we might have to put off our trip to visit Auntie Anna and baby London until next weekend. But we certainly don't want to give baby London croup.

However, I am very thankful for several things:
1. My job - I really really really appreciate how flexible it is. I like that I don't feel guilty (and am not made to feel so) if I have to take time off to take care of my sick child. Or myself. People take time off often. I think it is part of the field. You are constantly exposed to small children, who constantly expose each other (and you) to diseases. Especially around this time of year, colds and flu are rampant. (In fact, I think we actually picked up this bug from Isaac's daycare, not one of my sites. This is very impressive to me, or maybe just illustrates the importance of hand-washing.)
2. Papa - he took the day off yesterday so I could have one work day during the week. I really needed that day, because I have three annual meetings next week and was counting on seeing all three of those kids this week so I could have a better idea of progress to report to their parents. I can't work it into my schedule to see them next week before their respective meetings, so having the entire day to do what I needed to do was priceless.
3. Health - we are so lucky that we have made it to the first full week of November before getting sick. Really, with the stresses of a new job (although, honestly, it hasn't felt too stressful) and new schedule, we should have been sick many more times in the last two months. Here's hoping that we make it through next week with no sickness, then have a relaxing Thanksgiving week off, and make it to Christmas break healthy.
4. Family - Nana, Boompa, Grandma and Grandpa all came to visit last weekend. We were so lucky that they could spend time with us. Boompa taught me how to change the oil on a car, Nana and Grandma helped make dinner that night. Grandpa helped pick huckleberries too and Grandma and I made huckleberry jelly. The jelly is from the huckleberries on the bush right outside our back door and it is delicious!

There are a lot of material things I am thankful for too:
5. Having a garage - you quickly become pampered by this luxury once you have it. Scraping windshields is absolutely no fun and takes up a lot of time!
6. Having a dishwasher - I'm not sure how many days of my life have been saved so far from doing dishes. Let's just say I am the slowest dishwasher ever so a sink full of dishes can take me an hour or two.
7. Having a washer and dryer in our house - no need to explain. It's just convenient.

And I'm sure there are more, but that is enough for right now. I hope everyone out there is doing well and is healthy!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween

Last night Papa came home early so we could get ready to go out trick-or-treating.

Isaac put on his tiger costume.

We talked about proper trick-or-treating etiquette.

Then we went around our neighborhood. It was actually a perfect area to go trick-or treating. There were really quite a few houses giving out candy, but it was not too busy either. One house down the road had a driveway re-enactment performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at 7:30 pm and we caught the tail end of that. We were back home by 8:30, just a perfect amount of time to be out. It was nice to be within walking distance of home. And by the end of the night, Isaac started to get the hang of saying "Happy Halloween," then "trick or treat", then "thank you", then "bye". Kind of. It took a bit of prompting, but he was very polite for having all those new words to remember.

Isaac wanted to look at all his candy. His bucket actually got pretty heavy by the end of the evening. We had to help him carry it. This probably should have been taken as a sign that it was time to go home.

I know, what bad parents, letting our two-year-old child have so much candy.

Don't worry, though. He didn't eat all of it in one sitting. In fact, he told me today that he does not want any candy that is chocolate or has peanut butter in it. This effectively eliminates all the candy left in his bucket from consideration for consumption. Sometimes, it is a blessing to have a picky eater.

This was our first Halloween actually trick-or-treating. It was fun! Kind of strange to go ask strangers for candy, but it's good in a way - especially if you are in your own neighborhood, you can meet new people.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween and no one got a tummy ache from too much candy.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

pumpkin patch take 2

I was internally debating whether or not I should put this picture up since it does have someone else's child in it. I ended up putting it up because as far as I am aware, strangers cannot search for Isaac's blog (although I've had a couple hits from Latvia and Russia lately. Huh?). So we will not name the child. It (ooh look, I'm even being gender neutral :)) is one of Isaac's friends from daycare. The point is that it is probably not possible to get a picture with all the toddlers in it smiling at the same time.

There were a lot more pictures like these two - only one kid smiling each time.

Isaac's daycare class went to the pumpkin patch this last Thursday. One of my sites was not open, so I moved my schedule around so that I could go with them. I was so glad I got to go! It is always fun to get out and do things. The whole 8-5 (or 8 to 5:30 it seems to be lately) thing is starting to get pretty draining. (I think I actually should be leaving work earlier if I'm going to only work 40 hours per week. The thing is, it doesn't matter because it's a salaried position, so I get paid the same whether I work 40 hours or 50 hours.) Anyway, it was a lovely morning with us and the pumpkins, and Isaac chose a beautiful pumpkin to take home. I think it was the most beautiful pumpkin of all. In fact, I will take a picture of all the winter squash that we currently have in our house. I have been a little squash-obsessed this year and trying new squash has been really fun. Now I want to go back to this farm (Lone Pine) and get a Jumbo Pink Banana squash and a Sweet Meat squash before they close for the season after Wednesday...

A final, unrelated thought: Last week at the park, someone said Isaac has Byzantine eyes.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

gag

Isaac was eating fish. Then he said, "Mama, the fishies in the water. They swimming in the water." I looked over at what he was doing and tried not to think about it too hard. "They have legs," he said. No, they have fins, I corrected him. "Oh, fins. They swimming, look at they fins." Only with an imagination can fish meat chunks in your water become swimming fish with fins.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

sweet fall

bellyfwops

"Mama," said Isaac, "Let's do wing awound the wosy."

"Mama," said Isaac, "Let's have bellyfwops."

So bellyfwops were had.

And Isaac and Papa played some soccer too. Isaac was watching the women's soccer team practice and I think he picked up a lot of soccer strategies.

dress

Silly Isaac. He is wearing Mama's shirt as a dress.

Isaac is kind of into girls' clothing/shoes lately. I don't know exactly how to approach this. On one hand, I figure he may as well try on some of my clothes just to be silly. And after all, I think kids should be more gender-neutral at this stage. On the other hand, as much as he may have wanted them, he can't have the sparkly "ruby red slippers". But maybe this is a part of him figuring out gender roles? I don't know. I just know that he is cute and funny and likes to get a laugh out of everyone when he gets the chance.