finger painting 101

Today, I tried something new with/for Kyalo -- homemade finger paint.  This has been something tucked in the back of my mind as a possible activity, but it has taken a while to make it a reality.  I need more activities to fill our days (especially the seemingly never ending afternoon hours).  I found a recipe online (here) and went for it. Of course, this recipe calls for all organic ingredients and natural food coloring, none of which I had. Oh well. Another time.

It started out simple enough. . .a mat on the floor, the paint, a cereal box. . . but I quickly realized that pants were entirely unnecessary.  {There's clearly a learning curve in motherhood.}

Kyalo seemed to really enjoy it!  It kept him busy (and quiet!!!) for about 30 minutes - which is about the most I get from anything.  At the end, he kept saying, "Pwease" and patting the mat, meaning he wanted me in on the action too.  Hard to resist.

The recipe said to boil the mixture until it reached "paint consistency."  Well, since I bet I haven't used finger paint since I was about six years old, that was a total guess on my part.  I don't think it mattered too much to Kyalo, though.  He had such a good time smooshing it between his fingers. . .

and his hair. . .

and his waist. . .

and just about everywhere!

Let me show you what multiple handfuls of colored cornstarch looks like in the hair, up close...

 

In case you're wondering, red+blue+green+yellow=brown/grey grossness.  

Obviously, this activity necessitated a bath!  Perhaps in the future it will be an outside activity.  Still, we both had a good time.  I was glad to give him something new to do today.  I'm looking for other (cheap, easy, etc) ideas, so bring 'em on.

 

Apparently, finger painting + a bath + a quick trip to the library = exhaustion, because Kyalo slept almost three hours this afternoon.  Which is great.  Of course, next Saturday, when Dexter has to be at school all day, do you think that will happen?

Me either.

Gentle Bells update

It has been a while since I've mentioned Gentle Bells. Two years ago, so it is definitely time!  Fortunately, my dad and his friends Craig, Dick and Mark were in Kenya earlier this month and they were able to get all the details. 

In short:  the school is doing really well!  The gardens - which are always a challenge to cultivate because of poor rains - are doing well, thanks to some training the teachers have had through an organization based in Kijabe; there are several water tanks to capture what rains do come; the preschool, which had stayed on the old property has now been relocated to the 'new' 5-plot, and so much more. 

I'll let the pictures, courtesy and copyright of Mark Gadue do the talking, and fill in where necessary...

In Kenya, the flag must be raised ceremoniously every Friday. This includes the children singing the national anthem.

Children, water tanks, Mt. Longonot.  A place like Mt. Longonot can really never have too many water tanks, especially now that there is a thriving garden (beans, maize, potatoes, kale, etc).  I know that new and bigger tanks are always on Esther's wish list.

The feeding program, which includes a breakfast of porridge and a lunch of beans and rice every day, is going well.  By feeding the students, they are more likely to come to class, and are better able to concentrate during the day.

The biggest development for Gentle Bells is the partnership we've made with the One Laptop Per Child organization.  They build very simple or basic computers that almost look comical, or like a big video game.  This is ideal in a place where security is such an issue.  These computers, which are hugely beneficial to the students because they have regular programs like Word and Excel on them, are not very appealing to the 'thugs'.  Getting a collection of these laptops and memory cards for the students was Dick's personal project, and it was a huge success!

Dick, delivering the computers to Esther.

In no time at all, the students were masters of these computers.

Algebra. Ugh.  I guess everyone needs to learn it...

Mark, the designated photographer took well over 1000 photos on their week-long trip, so I could be back with more information in the weeks to come.  This has only scratched the surface, really.  In addition to supporting Gentle Bells, the Kijabe Children's Education Fund (the board) is now supporting a school the two largest slums of Nairobi, Kibera and Mathare.  There's one other school that they're connected to as well.

We are in the painstakingly slow process of updating and changing the website, but in the meantime, check it out! And let's hope it isn't another two years before I'm back with an update.

tea time

When I was first living in Kenya, I quickly learned the importance of chai.  This is the very milky tea that Kenyans drink (sometimes with ginger, or a mixed spice called tea masala).  In the hospital you could really set your watch by tea time (10 am and 4 pm), and it was always amusing to me to watch the hospital staff wander around aimlessly at 10 in the morning if the milk truck hadn't come yet, and chai was late.  Never would occur to people to go back to work and wait til it showed up.

Anyway, I've come to love this tea, and shipped home a lot of tea and the tea masala when we came last year.  My dad, who was just in Kenya, brought many more bags back for me.  I think we're in good standing now.  Needless to say, we drink a lot of tea around here, and Kyalo wanted in.

And who am I to resist him?

I serve him a very little bit of decaf tea in the afternoon, sometimes with a cookie or animal cracker to dip in it.  He loves it.  He calls it, "Ah-dtea," and asks for it a lot...sometimes first thing in the morning.

 anything is fair game for dipping!

It hasn't always been easy.  For a little while I'd let him sit on the floor to drink his tea, but that usally resulted in him dumping it on the floor and drinking it from the floor.  {Awesome}.  So, we turned this into a high-chair only activity, which worked for a little while.  Lately he's taken to spilling his tea all over the tray and splashing in the puddle, so I think we may be taking a little break from tea.  Still, it fills the afternoon nicely, so maybe not.

Nemo

Well, I got my wish: a blizzard on a weekend! Blizzard Nemo blew in to New Jersey early afternoon on Friday; Dexter was home by 2 PM, I made a big batch of chili, and once Kyalo was in bed, we started season one of Homeland.  Two things would have made this absolutely perfect: a fireplace and a big bowl of popcorn.  Of course, I think popcorn makes just about everything perfect.

On Saturday, we woke up to a real winter wonderland, and what is now the first real significant storm either Dexter or Kyalo experienced.

 

I'd forgotten how beautiful and quiet a good snowstorm makes things.  Well, quiet until the neighbors pull out their snowblowers and quad bikes.  

Kyalo was particularly thrilled to see so much 'noh!!! and we were outside by 8 or so.  

 our little Michelin baby

I said we'd pull out the snow suit when the snow covered the grass!

I never did hear a final amount of what we got, but I'd say something close to a foot which was just right.  My parents up in Mass probably got 2+ feet and that's a lot of shoveling!

In case you're wondering why Kyalo's not wearing a hat, it is because his hats and my scarf were in here:

which we can file under "Mama's not thinking ahead," since I didn't get them out when Dexter came home on Friday afternoon.

 rosy cheeks

 laughter

 trying to capture the snow in his hair

Kyalo even helped with the shoveling

we're working on the snow angel concept

It was c-o-l-d so we weren't outside too long in the morning, and Kyalo was NOT happy when I took his cold self back inside (he was wearing pjs under the snow suit) to get properly dressed and have breakfast.  I think he cried for 30 minutes, and kept saying, "Go."  Only hot chocolate could make him happy - for a bit.  We got back out there later in the day - when the sun was shining so it wasn't quite so unbearable.  And today we spent a long time out in the snow again. 

I'll be honest. This seems like the perfect amount of snow for me now.  I'm glad we're not getting through winter without any storm, but I'm also glad that it hasn't been out of control, either.  Getting into snow gear is hard work! 

Now, I'm ready for spring and cherry blossoms!

22 months

We are nearing two and we definitely feel it!  The days are good, but Kyalo can be a challenge, too.

 cheesin' it up for the camera 

2.4.2013

This has been a busy month for our Kyalo. He started swimming 'lessons' at the local Y.  By lessons I mean I hold him and he splashes around, kinda kicks and drinks the water instead of blowing bubbles.  I wasn't sure how it would be when he burst into tears the first day, but since then he's really loved it.  And after swimming he's so tuckered out he sleeps 2-3 hours, so I love it, too.  The lessons are seven weeks and when that ends we'll do a gym class. I assume this is running/tumbling/climbing, but we'll see.  We have a one-year membership to the Y, so we'll do swimming again.  This Y is so cool - they have cooking, art and even woodworking classes.  I don't think he'll be old enough to do the woodworking class, but seriously? How awesome is that?! I think it would be a fun 'papa and me' activity for my guys.

I'm not sure what he found so funny, but I love the joy that is this picture

His talking is getting much better. He doesn't really have sentences and sometimes words aren't quite finished, but it is pretty easy to tell what he's trying to say.  THE most common thing for him to say right now is, " 'hat's 'at?"  (what's that?)  which can also sound like "whazzzzat?"  He says this All.The.Time.  Over and over and over and over.  And usually pointing to the same thing (my phone, my shirt, his food, his bottle, etc).  We haven't even gotten to "Why?" yet, and I'm already questioned out! Ha.  Another new phrase he says is, "No, my" (mine).  I'm not sure exactly how he picked up on the "mine" concept - I guess it is innate in us - but boy he uses it all the time, too.  In funny situations, too, where he doesn't need to be laying claim to anything.  But he also uses it when Ellen is over and she has the nerve (!!!) to look at one of his toys. Even if he wasn't at all interested in it before she looked at it, he'll rush over, rip it from her, and say, "No! My!"  Winning friends, he is.

 {don't worry - the cap was on, and I took this away immediately after the photo}

Over Christmas he went from "yeah" to "yes."  Which is sweet.  He now says, "pwease" or "peas". The first time he said it my heart broke just a little bit because my little guy is growing up.  And the big and very unexpected change is that he now calls me "Mom".  I'm not sure where this came from, either, since I always refer to myself as "Mama."  He does call me that, but most often it is something like this:  "Mom" "Mam" "Mum" "Mooooooooooooooooom."  Hello?  When did he turn twelve?

 {playing with a new firetruck from Erica & Bo!}

After swimming the other day, a mom was counting with her little boy. He was probably a couple of months older than Kyalo, but already counting up to 20!  I thought, "Eek. Kyalo's nowhere near that."  It is hard -- very hard -- for me to not doubt myself when Kyalo doesn't seem to be doing the same things as his age-mates (talking, reading, counting, whatever).  I worry that I'm somehow doing him a disservice by not being more intentional about some of this, and then I have remind myself that a) he is not yet TWO and b) he WILL read and WILL count and know his colors and all that jazz.  And in the meantime, we'll play with rocks/sticks/dirt/mud/play dough, go to story hour, read books, take swimming lessons, go to music class, and call it learning by living.  But still. . .hard not to second guess myself!  Who can relate?

 {love}

Kyalo hates to have his teeth brushed.  It is a real ordeal (chasing him down, screaming, tears, etc) to keep the growing number of pearly whites clean.  Usually we give up and just let him suck on the toothbrush.  That'll do the job, right?  My Dentist husband says so.  He also HATES to have his fingernails clipped, which is too bad because I'm basically the fingernail Nazi.  That, too, has been an ordeal. I've taken now to clipping the nails while he naps and that seems to be doing the trick!

If I had to say one word to describe Kyalo, I think right now I'd say 'loving'.  He really is so sweet and loving. For a little while he would - for no apparent reason - give me a kiss on both cheeks and my forehead.  It felt like a blessing.  He gives hugs easily and freely.  He'll run up and give me or Dexter kisses random places: a foot, a knee, etc.  Probably this is just a phase, but I love it.  I figure someday soon I'll ask him for a hug or kiss and he'll say, "aw, Ma, do I have to?"  so I'm relishing them now.

That isn't to say that this time is easy.  He is two months away from two, after all, and he certainly shows that.  He still throws his food all the time.  He'll pick something up that he shouldn't, run away from me, and then throw it.  He whines and fusses and bites when he doesn't get his way. 

This post has gone on far too long, and if anyone other than Grandma is reading this, you deserve a kiss from Kyalo.  Obviously, since my days are 100% (and sometimes feel like more) Kyalo, I could go on forever.  I like to write them down here to remember them by.  It is amazing how much I already forget!