Life in the Boonies

Time is flying right by and Frank is now 21 months. His new interests include jumping, the digger doing construction down the street, and unloading the dishwasher.

The jumping started at first only when we do the shake your sillies out song which ends with jump your jiggles out. Now Frank jumps from the bottom step of the staircase down. He has falling landings but that seems funny to him. He also stands on the Elmo chair and jumps off. Jumping on flat ground is also fun but not nearly as fun as standing on his train ride-on and jumping/stepping off. Last weekend we went to the farmer’s market again and Frank wouldn’t come out of the jump house. All the kids in there were much older but Frank held his own. Frank has found a new way to go down the stairs. He sits and slides his butt slowly and plop he lands on the next step. Kind of like going down the slide but on stairs. He does it rather cautiously and has not yet fallen but mom is only slightly nervous watching this and keeps saying be careful in hopes that will be enough.

Frank is pretty much obsessed with the digger down the road. Halloween night he walked down the street not to trick-o-treat but to go look at the digger. Well we didn’t take him then but he got his way eventually. Mom took him out to get the mail. He really wanted to walk down the corner. So we did in hopes that he will be tired like last time and head back home to get the stroller. We pressed the button and crossed the street and Frank pretty much ran on the sidewalk as mom followed in fast pace with the day’s mail in hand, stopping occasionally for a baobao(hug). Mom insisted there will be no carrying and if he can’t walk we will go home. Frank then continued on, running, stopping, baobao, repeat. The construction caution sign was still flashing but all the machines were parked and the workers gone home. Frank made it all the way there, almost to Safeway. Then we stood there admiring the digger. It was huge and dirty. Next to it was a grinder/driller like machine that loosens all the dirt for the digger. That was also impressive and we made some drilling noises to explain what that was. Mom’s concern was how to get back home. Last time we were in a stroller and Frank screamed with discontent as we left the digger behind. Mom was not about to carry a screaming child all the way home. So we looked some more and we said bye bye to the digger and grinder. We walked a few steps and looked back. Said bye bye again. We have to get home to get the car to pick up daddy, mom said over and over again. Oh look there is a bus. We talked the entire way finding new interesting things to keep Frank on the path home. It took twice as long in time and who knows how much more energy and creativity to finally get him home. But it worked and we didn’t have a melt down. Frank was really tired too. As we got home he laid down on the carpet and rested.

Whenever we open the dishwasher, Frank wants to help. So mom let him let unload it once. He helped put all the forks and butter knives and spoons away. Next time mom showed him where some of the other stuff (measuring spoon, spatula, tuperware, etc) and he did a fabulous job. Now he wants to do this all the time but he understands when we say it is dirty now and you can help put it away when it is clean.

Some of the daily activities we do together are mega-blocks, playdoh, drawing, spinning around in circles, and reading. He is starting to spin counterclockwise but prefers clockwise. Of course we always look for diggers in our Richard Scarry books. Frank has been saying owl and this morning he repeated after us in saying towel. Sheep is bahbah. In addition to red, green, blue, yellow, and orange, Frank is now learning white and black in signs. Frank now lets mom hold his hand to show him how to do a sign. He still does it wrong but at least he is now more receptive. The one frustration with the signing is when mom is driving the car. Frank is so used to communicating with mom his needs that when mom can’t see the sign while driving, Frank breaks down in his frustration. We hope after a few more times he will understand that when mom is driving, she can’t see his signs and we have fewer melt downs in the car. We are starting to use something similar to a time-out. There is no time limit, but rather we say when you are done screaming or when you are ready to be nice, come out of your room. When he starts to scream and we say you can go scream in your room, sometimes he stops. One time Frank was starting to act up and mom said go to your room. When he left, mom wasn’t sure what happened. When she looked he did go to his room and closed the door half way too. He came out shortly after and we had hugs and kisses and talked about what happened.

Food of Love
by: Anthony Capella

Not as good as the Wedding Officer but it was a fun read. The story about a wonderful cook in love with a beautiful woman but he is self-conscience about his looks so he helps his good looking friend pursue her and helps him cook up fabulous meals to impress her. She is extremely impressed but senses something is not right. Eventually the truth is told and a happy ending.

The Wedding Officer
by: Anthony Capella

What a delicious book! It is a love story set in Naples during WWII between a British officer and a cook. He is stationed there to prevent the soldiers from marrying the Italian girls there, known as war brides. Soon he himself falls madly in love with this girl. She is a widow who lost her husband to the war and takes up a job cooking for the British officers. Yummy both in the description of the foods and in the tangled romances at wartime Italy. Happy ending too. I was slightly worried for awhile it was going to be depressing but all turned out good.

Frank must still remember Uncle Al because when we picked him up at the airport Friday, Frank gave him a hug. Not much of a nap today but Frank played nicely with Uncle Al until bedtime. Sat morning we went off to the farmer’s market and for the first time, Frank went into the blown up bounce house and played in there. He followed a bunch of older kids to climb up to the top and then slid down the slide on his tummy. Then he wanted more and more so we watched him and took pictures. He was fast! Later at home Frank showed Uncle Al his tricycle and sandbox and got Uncle Al to throw the basketball way up high.

Sunday morning we all headed to church. Frank was less enthusiastic once Uncle Al mention the word church for the first time. He still lasted throw the whole service but it is obvious that he knows where church is and what happens to him when we get there. A nice treat to a balloon at Trader Joe’s afterwards. Frank is signing the basic colors and indicated he wanted a blue one this time. Luckily, they had blue this time. Before nap, Uncle Al built Frank the coolest train tracks and they choo choo-ed the trains around it.

The weekend has passed and we still don’t have pumpkins. First thing Monday morning, we all (except for dad who had to work) drove out to Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm. Several groups of school children gathering for the tours. Otherwise, it was not at all crowded. We followed the tours and Frank even went through the hay tunnel. It was a short one and mom led the way with her camera flash so we didn’t get too scared. Later we had a jolly good time watching the pigs fight for food in their cage. Uncle Al lifted Frank up high and they watched and laughed together. Then we went through the hay tunnel again. Fun! At last we wandered the pumpkin patches each looking for our very own to take home. Frank wanted to take all the ones he can pick up home. Just one mom insisted. Uncle Al picked the biggest one he can find. We put it all in a wagon and pushed it to our car. Frank really really wanted to push the wagon so Uncle Al let him help after we emptied the load. Frank is becoming very independent these days. He wants to do everything himself. And he indicates this by pointing to himself. He does it with his elbow sticking way out and finger pointing to his chest. Sometimes he would throw a fit if we didn’t let him or we finished the task already. At first it was just pushing the button on the garage door. Now he needs to open the car door on his own, turn the lights on and off in his room, brush his own teeth, unload the dishwasher, peel his own banana and oranges, and even climb up the stepping stool that mom uses for the high shelves. He has a new obsession with raisins so when mom told him he can’t reach the cupboard, he pointed to the ladder. He still couldn’t reach it but it sure made mom giggle.

Tuesday is Uncle Al’s Birthday. That morning we told Frank to say happy birthday to Uncle Al and he said “berdai”. We practiced all day and he consistently repeats that. At one point we sang and he was singing too. Then after tasting some chocolate zucchini birthday cake daddy made, he now points to the leftover cake and says “berdai”. Also when seeing the birthday cake in his Richard Scarry book, he says it as well. I guess next year he’ll need a cake =) Then it was presents time and Frank ran around and jumped on Uncle Al and threw his present (the one shaped like a ball) around. Good thing it was not fragile. Frank sat on Uncle Al’s lap and they opened presents together and said “berdai” whenever prompted to. Frank loved grabbing the wrapping paper and throwing that around. He was so wired he had 3 accidentally head bumps that needed mommy baobaos(hugs). During nap, mom and Uncle Al carved their pumpkins. Then daddy did his after Frank went to bed. What a busy day.

Another day of celebration. Daddy came home early to prepare for the trick-o-treaters. Our pumpkins got lit, the candy bucket filled and costumes on. Frank dressed up as a cow and Uncle Al wore a weird wig and a Goofy hat. When we asked Frank what Uncle Al was, he did the sign for dog. Heehee. We assembled and ate tacos as the doorbell rang from 6:45 to almost 9. Uncle Al was on duty to not just hand out candy but also keep track of how many visitors came. A record 104 this year. We all took turns taking Frank outside as he really really wanted to go out. But not to get treats from the neighbors as we found out shortly. He wanted to hike down the street, press the button to cross the street and then go visit the big digger and bulldozers that are parked in the construction zone. We took him down the street and back a few times and Dad took him to the neighbor’s house too. He got a Reese’s peanut butter cup. He stuff it in his face and found another one just like it in our candy bucket. Ate that as well. No more mom says. He loved his cow costume except for the hat. Last night he requested the cow costume after his bath and refused to put on any clothes except for that. So we had dinner with our little cow the day after Halloween.