Artwork on the porch

Yesterday was an inspirational day for Abraham. When Angelo went down for his nap, I asked what Abraham wanted to do. "Paint!" he said. We went the front porch and I set up his easel and we picked the paint colors and squeezed them onto a plate. Abraham was very focused on this painting for over half an hour. He experimented with brush sizes and looked carefully at how the colors were mixing on his plate and on the painting.

When Angelo woke up we went out back for drum kit making. Abraham gathered buckets and chairs and spent at least half and hour setting up the kit, re-organizing it, busily setting it up and re-setting it. He then spent the next half hour drumming and screaming at the top of his lungs the lyrics to Road Runner by Jonathan Richmond.

After dinner he spent a very long time making creations with clay.

walking and talking

Now that Angelo has mastered the walking... and running (except for the occasional/3 x a day falls on his face). He's back into talking. He's added many new words to his list--most importantly yogurt--or gogurt as he calls it. The other day Angelo was able to sneak behind while I had the fridge open, grab a sugar-filled container of baby yogurt (which I had purchased because he saw it in the store and was yelling gogurt over and over), open it with his teethe and approach me with it in hand demanding gogurt. So, now he just needs to learn where the spoons are and how to get himself in a chair and he'll be pretty self sufficient.

Tonight we had an almost 20 minute conversation with each other in jibberish. It amused Abraham while he was in the bathtub. And just before bed, Angelo grabbed one of my socks and said "mama sock." I couldn't believe it. Then he ran to the bathroom and dunked it in the toilet (also one of his favorite activities).

Abe speak

Always the verbal child, Abraham has commanded the english language to make it more suited to his needs:

Unsleeve this-turn the shirt right side in so I can put it on.

A loose tier--someone who is no good at tying his shoes tight enough. (A tight tier is obviously the opposite)Loose tier=bad becuase tight shoes=good.
Please tie my shows tight because at school teacher Joanne is a loose-tier.

Down sleeves/up sleeves--short sleeves/long sleeves

Bedtime apple--refers to the fruit requested prior to bedtime. Usually one or two bites is consumed before he drifts off to sleep.

"I don't hear your feet."-usually said when your presence is requested somewhere and you don't move quick enough but shout out, "I'm coming."

Extra case- a mix between an extra and just in case
Let's bring this downsleeve shirt in extra case.

Other common mix-ups:
Angelo Apricot Lester-Barrali (instead of Alcott)
An apricado=avacado
Peter Pam=Peter Pan
Hair stack=hay stack
What cream=whipped cream
And of course, Roco Bobama

No cavities!

Abraham had his first dentist appointment today. I banked on Abraham's tolerance of procedures (he didn't flinch at a recent throat culture and declared getting his finer pricked at the doctor the best part of his day) and did not send him to a pediatric dentist with bells and whistles (they are too far away). We went to my dentist in the neighborhood. There were some kids magazines in the lobby including a Peter Pan book-which really impressed Abraham. I was amazed at how willingly he sat in the chair, opened his mouth right up and put on the Corey Heart sunglasses to protect his eyes from the light.

The visit went well despite Abraham offering up voluntarily that he ate a lollipop today and then it came to an abrupt end when we looked up to see Angelo booking it to a fan and stick his whole hand in. Luckily is was turned off. But that dentist had visions of a fingerless child and a big lawsuit in his head.


(he looks likes some 1980's rockstar being tortured)

First Day of School

The main excitement for all of us was Abraham starting school. He's going to the same school he went to last year but is upstairs this year-which means he's a big kid. He'll also be going everyday. This means I have a couple of mornings alone with Angelo.

The first couple of days at school have gone well. Abraham's new lunch box consists of my fourth grade Garfield model where he's diving a huge spread of various food. Oddly enough, Lasagna is not on there. He seems to like his teacher and his classmates were mostly in his class last year so he's pretty comfortable with them.

The only glitch with school is that Abraham can't figure out how to eat the batman fruitroll ups I bought him. He can't remember to take the plastic off so he kind of chews around it. Hopefully he will end up thinking they aren't that great as a result and he won't be demanding them in the grocery store anymore.