petit compaore: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

running away

Isaac flipped out, just a little bit, today.

We went to Washington Park after work because there was an ice cream social and I wanted Isaac to meet my co-worker's son, who is just a little bit younger than him. They didn't really hit it off, but they didn't fight either so I guess there's always next time! Isaac loved running around in the sand.
However, it was getting a little chilly around 6:30, and I told Isaac we had 5 more minutes. It ended up being 10 more minutes, but you know how that goes. Anyway, everything was pretty normal until we got in the car, and then Isaac just flipped out! He started screaming at the top of his lungs. If you've ever heard Isaac scream, you have a good idea of his lung capacity. I closed the car door and waited a second, thinking maybe he would calm down. But he didn't. He screamed the entire car ride home. I started to worry that maybe some sort of insanity (such as I have experienced at times) was starting to manifest itself. I mean, this was total loss of control. Only when we got two blocks from our house did Isaac calm down enough to be able to tell me, "Mama, I don't wanna leave the park!" I told him that we could go tomorrow, since it was the weekend and we would have all day to spend there (assuming it isn't too cold). He didn't like that answer either.

When we got home, Isaac started to get out of the car, then said, "Mama, I need my shoes." He had kicked them at me during his rage. "The poky things will hurt my little feet." I helped him get them on, and thought he had calmed down. Then, he stepped out of the car and started taking off, going around the garage. I said, "Isaac, where are you going? Come this way!" He said, "I'm running away!" He started running, being careful to step onto the sidewalk before continuing his escapade. After I realized that reasoning with him would not work this time, I thought I should alert Papa to the fact that Isaac was trying to run away, so he would know where we were. I knocked on the back door, but it was locked. Isaac stopped running. He said, "Mama?" I decided to hide in the "garden" when it was apparent that the little footsteps were now coming toward the house rather than away. He came up to the house and tried to open the door, saying, "Mama?" He started to get disappointed and sad, then I popped out and said "Hi!" We went inside, but then he got upset again. He still wanted to run away. Into the woods, apparently.

Papa came and convinced him to wear a coat at least, and then we went back outside to let him "run away".

I don't know what this "running away" idea was about or where it came from. Is it innate in kids? He has apparently been liking "Where the Wild Things Are" lately at daycare. That little boy is naughty, but does he run away? I don't know; it wasn't one of my favorites growing up. Any ideas on where that comes from? I was a little astonished that he is thinking about these things already. He was supposed to just be a sweet little boy that doesn't think about making his mama sad.

In the end, he and Papa "ran away" together "into the woods" by our house. They returned around 15 minutes later as our gourmet dish of the night, macaroni and cheese, was about 5 minutes into being boiled. Seriously though, what the heck just happened? This is crazy.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

blast from the not so distant past.

Apparently this is from about 9 months ago. It was on my camera's internal memory and I couldn't get it off the camera with the SD card in. Enjoy! Isaac with Papa and tonton l'Ivoirien.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Swiss heritage

A really good party always has its utterly ridiculous moments.

Wearing something out-of-the ordinary puts everyone in a festive mood.

And, good German food, music and dancing top it off. Availability of chocolate fudge from the Brigittine Monks also helps. Best of all is when you have a party with your family - because then you can be really silly and no one will judge you for it.

We can't wait to go to Oktoberfest again next year and celebrate our Swiss/German heritage all over again!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Lovely London

Our sweet little London has been here all week while Auntie Anna watches Isaac. London is a little stealth artist, and sneaks off to climb the stairs when she sees that her mama is not looking.

Isaac and London love playing with each other so much. They have been going to the park.

Isaac carefully holds on to his little cousin. "I'm a big cousin!" says Isaac.

He almost always holds on to London...except at the bottom of this slide.... Poor London!

London, like Isaac, has a very expressive face.

They also both like broccoli.

London approves of Isaac's new dollhouse.

And Isaac approves of sliding with Auntie Anna and baby London.

They ride the see-saw together.

Oh wait, expressive faces... maybe that is a Capri thing.

London is an excellent hair-grabber, just like her Mama. She holds on for dear life when she finds some hair nearby.

And look at her little social skills! Looking at someone who is talking to her, responding to her name, and just interacting a lot!

Smile! London was not feeling so great yesterday. She got a new tooth in. Isaac gave her lots of hugs to help her feel better.

Isaac loves being a big cousin. He can't wait to go to Oktoberfest with London today, and show her all the fun things there!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

it's another day

Girls' clothes are definitely cute, but for me, every time I see miniature man clothes for boys, I suppress a squeal of reaction to the extreme cuteness of the idea. Like those undershirts - apparently they make them in XS for boys. We found this out when we followed my cousin's advice and went to Target to find some underwear for our potty-trained (mostly) sweet child. Now, with these undershirts, Papa and Isaac can match!

I know we should be at church, but in a very uncharacteristic turn of events, Isaac fell asleep about an hour ago. There is always Spanish Mass. In fact, I'd like to brush up on my Spanish. (I can understand it okay...)

I have been so tired this weekend. Starting work has wiped me out. It's not the same as going back to school - it's all day! And it's new so I think it's more mentally exhausting than anything. Once I start working with the kids, I think I'll get back in the groove, but right now, I'm just asking myself, "WHAT am I supposed to be doing that I forgot?" Luckily all my co-workers are so nice and helpful and have been answering all my questions. And, I have to be easy on myself - I was only in the office for maybe 3.5 hours total, so I think I've been pretty productive in that amount of time - for my first year! Isaac has been spending time with family (great-aunts and great-grandparents and some cousins who stopped by), and this week, Auntie Anna and baby London will be here all week to watch him! Then daycare starts the next week. Starting on Friday, when he woke up, he said, "It's another day!" Those were the first words out of his mouth.

Although of course Isaac wasn't even close to born 10 years ago, I remember September 11. It really upset me. I was a freshman in high school. What was upsetting was thinking about what everyone must have been thinking right before they died. It was all so tragic even though luckily I didn't know anyone involved in it. Uncle Doug was over on the east coast at the time but I don't think super close. I hope Isaac does not have to experience anything like this in his lifetime (even though I know that's a pretty radical, long-shot hope).

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

color

color~~blind~~

Several weeks ago now, Isaac suddenly, at dinner, looked at Papa and said, "Papa, you're brown." I asked him, "Isaac, what did you say?"

Of course I asked because what he said sounded more like "Papa, yoi bwaun," which is a little more vague. But Papa and I looked at each other and we knew it was time for our first "talk" with our child.

Apparently, Isaac, deciding that my question meant his observation was not welcome, muttered, "It doesn't matter." Papa heard this. I said, "No, no, Isaac, it doesn't matter. It's fine!"

So Papa said, "Yes, that's right, my skin is brown. I'm from Africa."

Isaac: "Papa, you Africa boy!"

I couldn't resist asking, since I thought maybe I had gotten a little bit of a tan over the summer, "Isaac, what color is Mama?"

Without hesitation, "Mama, you're white!"

Darn.

"Yep, I guess I am. Isaac, what about you?"

He looked at himself, and decided, "Mama, I'm brown."

I said, "Well, you're somewhere kind of in between Mama and Papa, but yeah, I guess that works."

I mean, I didn't realize my parents had dark brown, not black hair for well.. about the first 13 years of my life. So maybe explaining the difference between brown and light brown or "olive" or "mocha latte" (as my friend Audrey put it) is a little premature. I thought it was interesting though, that Isaac chose brown. I mean, really his skin is more of a brown, I suppose. It's not "white". Not all pasty like Mama.

He's mentioned it a few more times since then, "Mama, I'm brown."
I wanted him to be a little more specific, so I said, "Yes, your skin is brown."
He of course, repeated, "Yeah, my skin brown."
And I told him what I think, "It's very pretty. It's beautiful brown skin."
(Isaac also has been calling nearly everything pretty lately, but that's a different story.)

Anyway, Papa and I thought this was an interesting development. We don't know if he had just noticed it, or was just able to express himself finally. Put another way, it's hard to know if it was more of a cognitive or linguistic development. I'll be interested to see when he goes back to daycare because there is one girl who "is brown". So I wonder if he will identify with her that way, or not so much yet. I mean, he gets along with most kids, but it will just be curious to see! He wasn't very interested in her before (although she practically idolized him) but she is younger by about 4 months so that makes it harder to play at a common game.

Little Isaac is growing up. At least he won't have to go to kindergarten for another 3 years. Our little cousins started kindergarten this week and it had me thinking about how I'm glad I have another 3 years to get ready for that stage. It won't be about the separation - and I don't think that's what makes it hard. It really is, as my cousin put it, the end of their childhood, in a way. Not that they aren't kids anymore. They are just beginning to get closer to adulthood. I don't know - maybe I'll be more eloquent about it when Isaac gets there. (Or maybe not - eloquence is not always such a strength of mine).

Monday, September 5, 2011

starting the week off right

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Spencer Butte and Columbia River Gorge

We have been enjoying our Labor Day weekend by exploring the great outdoors in Oregon. Yesterday we took a hike in good ol' Eugene up Spencer Butte. It was kind of a long hike but fun. We like walking in the forest. Apparently last Wednesday someone spotted a cougar up there. We didn't see any but made sure to make ample noise so they wouldn't be surprised by us. The climb right at the end of the trail is pretty steep. Papa was ready to give up, but he came along and we all enjoyed the view. Isaac fell asleep on the way back. Papa carried him most of the way. When we were at the summit we saw a guy come up who we had passed already, going down, while we were going up (are you confused yet?). He said he was training for a 50K next weekend. Papa pointed out that you can't go running around the track and expect to compete with guys like that. I wasn't sure exactly how much a 50K was but a quick look at the speedometer today put it somewhere around 30 miles. So if a marathon is not enough for you, they do make longer races.

Enough blabbing - here are the pictures:
Isaac and his dorky mama.

Isaac on top of Lane County! (Maybe?)

This is Isaac's interpretation of, "We're going to take a rest."

And then, on the way back down, in some competent arms, Isaac did indeed take a rest.

When we got back, we took some showers and Isaac and Papa read Isaac's current favorite books: Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger, and the sequel, Abiyoyo Returns. We have been reading them pretty much nonstop. Perhaps we shouldn't have discovered the sequel.

Then, this morning we were ready to go to the Columbia River Gorge. Papa had never been there, so we decided we should go this weekend. It wasn't too much driving, and most of the main touristy things are within 40 miles of Portland. We could have gone further, but decided to save it for another day. But, something very sad happened. Mama took what should have been an SD card with 8GB space. It turned out not to be compatible with her camera. This was only discovered when we reached the Portland Women's Forum and had our first view of the Gorge. Now, I'll be the first to admit that my little camera's photo quality is less than first rate. But at least some vague, fuzzy picture would have been better than nothing. Nothing is what we've got.

Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves and were glad we made a day of it. Good thing St Mary's has 7:30 am Mass! We also went to Vista House (where Isaac saw lots of motos), Latourell Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Falls, and the Bonneville Dam. If you want to see pictures, I'm sure you can google those places and people who have better cameras can give you a better idea!

Now to rest tomorrow and get ready for a change this week - Mama will start work, but Isaac will not start daycare yet. It will be a little different every day, but we are very very thankful for family and their help!

Friday, September 2, 2011

pre-conception

I know this is probably not the case all the time, but I was thinking about the psychological preparation one has before babies are even conceived. I guess it would more appropriately be called anticipation. For me, I thought about Isaac intensely for at least 6 weeks (and then a few more) before he came into being. I also had a lot of free time on my hands to think about him. I didn't think of him as a boy (or a girl), just as a person that I really wanted to meet, soon. I think it is interesting that before this summer, I hadn't really had that feeling again since he was born. But during the last two months, I have been starting to think about the next baby. I have a lot less free time now since Isaac keeps me busy. I wonder if it takes the same sum total of mental preconception before each baby. What do you think? Has this happened to you?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

garden

One thought I have about improvements our society could make is for everyone to be involved in producing their own food to the extent possible in their living situation. Hence, this:

I've been thinking lately about how it's too bad that many people do not take full advantage of the space around their house to partake in the joy of harvesting their own vegetables. I was noticing particularly in Redmond when we were over there (yes, I'm a backyard peeping Tom - looking for vegetables) that vegetable gardens were not so common. In a few places, there would be several neighbors with gardens (some of them quite prolific actually, and definitely someone who was a major corn aficionado in there), but for the most part, people seemed to restrict their efforts to flowers. I know the climate is a little trickier over there, but definitely not an insurmountable problem, obviously, since some people had nice gardens. In fact, the more consistent hot temperatures actually should be beneficial for things like pumpkins...I would think.

In the Willamette Valley, the climate is really so nice you don't have a valid excuse not to garden. I have noticed a lot more front-yard gardening here in Eugene and when we were in Corvallis, too. It's not very hard to grow things, even in pots if you live in an apartment and don't have access to garden space. All you need is sun. If you have that, I think you can grow a good variety of vegetables. Isaac loves to eat things straight from the garden or outside. He is 95% likely to try something fresh off the tree/bush/vine, and about 25% likely to try something offered to him that I have cooked (that he didn't specifically request). He is also very "in-tune" with our plants. A couple of hours ago, he said, "Mama, let's water the plants." I said, "Oh, let's wait until it gets later." Well, I look out now and the basil is looking a little droopy. Hm. Isaac knew it was coming. We'll water when he wakes up from his nap.

I realized when we were at Grandma and Grandpa (Wally)'s house the other weekend that my idea that everyone should try to garden as long as they have access to at least partial sunshine has probably been strongly influenced by my parents and grandparents. Not only do they plant, but they have always integrated things like composting, and using water responsibly, ever since I can remember. Why anyone would throw vegetable peelings in the garbage was difficult for me to understand for awhile. I have to admit I die a little inside everytime I throw that wonderful green material away (okay, not "die", but it is pretty heartbreaking). Clearly their methods work. My mom makes full meals all the time entirely from the garden and local fish. Just look at how prolific my grandparents' garden is! And it is visually appealing too. Hopefully my garden can look like that someday - abundant and beautiful. Still, it is nice to look out and see my little row of plants in pots. It really livens up the bark mulch in the landscaping.

Isaac in Grandpa Wally's/Grandma's garden

Loganberry bushes

Palm tree (only on the coast... alas), rainwater recycling system, and some pretty flowers/shrubs

Elephant garlic that was hung up outside and flowered!

Fuschias. These will always, always remind me of my grandma's garden.

Calibrachoa. Nana's new favorite. Apparently patented, and can only be propagated by cuttings, which is technically illegal. Ah, heck, I say, who cares? Who's going to come poking around in your flowerpots? The flower police?

"Did you buy this?"

"Um, um, um..... no..it came from a cutting..."

"30 years of jail time for you, for patent infringement!"

Yeah, I don't think so. (If I disappear, the flower police probably do really exist and have taken me into custody. Wrongly, since I have not actually propagated these by cuttings. Yet.)

These little things are on a potato plant. I know my little garden plot was sad, but my potato plants never reached the stage where they had little tomato-look-like "fruits"! Apparently these are very normal.

Here are two zucchini harvested from my own garden. They made a delicious summer squash soup. I would like to share the recipe - it is from Grandma Hurliman. I think I'll do it at the end of this post, which is way too long already.

My one little pumpkin, successfully hand-pollinated (hence all the seeds will actually make pumpkins, not some weird pumpkin/zucchini cross). I was reading The Compleat Squash by Amy Goldman and I'm pretty sure she has turned me into a cucurbitacean. If you aren't one, you might be after you read that book. I thought it sounded a little crazy when she said, "There are few things I enjoy more on an early summer morning than hand-pollinating squash." Then I did it, and I was hooked. If only I had had another female flower, that would have been fun. But maybe this is the only pumpkin my poor little pot-bound plant can support. The point of the picture is that the flower in front of it (kind of out of focus, sorry) is what the flowers (both male and female) look like when they are going to open the next day. Just in case you were thinking of hand-pollinating some squash of your own, ya know.

And I have a pot of zinnias too! I know they are not good for any eating, but this pot definitely helped me appreciate why people do get really hooked on flower gardening. In this case, I think it was a good thing the sprouts got leggy, because they are really stretched outside the area of the actual pot. They are quite bright and cheery. But darn, it, those squash flowers are stunning too. Isaac thinks the pumpkin plant is a flower plant more than a vegetable plant.

"Oh," you say, "this has very nearly convinced me to garden in my small apartment." (okay, I'm not that convincing, I know) "But now I have to wait another year to get started!" Aha! Not so. It's almost time for fall planting. Get that garlic in the ground, plant some corn salad, kale, broccoli, beets, spinach, radishes, ooh, even swiss chard. I think the beets would do well in containers. I'm going to try it. (I guess in the winter, it's more for their greens.) So, stay tuned. Isaac will be helping too.

Oh, yes, and I promised the summer squash recipe. So here it is. I think I can make a "cut" here so you can click on the link if you want it.

Summer squash soup