December happenings

Uh, where did December GO?  How can today be the last day of the month, let alone the year?  Somehow, this month has zoomed right by and I have had minimal time for blogging.  This is funny since we've been on vacation.  I guess I've just been too busy living to blog!

It is a bitter, bitterly cold day, Kyalo's down for a nap (thankfully), I've just finished some hot chocolate, so what better thing to do than blog?

We started December off with a bang with a little Christmas/We-Made-it-to-the-End-of-the-Year! party with our friends from Dexter's program.  We gathered for a little potluck and catching up.  Hard to believe we hadn't all been together since our beach trip in July!  We kept it simple and low key, focusing more on the time together than anything else.  Seungah prepared a little craft for the kids to do (making Christmas cards) and Sirisha cooked up some fresh dosa, an Indian dish that Dexter and I both love.  It was a good day!

This was extra special to us because making the dough is a multi-step process which includes allowing it to ferment (overnight?) for a bit. Since it is best eaten fresh, she brought all the supplies with her to make it there.  It is basically a crepe with a variety of fillings, eaten with a chutney or other sauce on the side. It is SPICY.  She said she made it without spice, but it was still almost too hot for me to handle. Dexter and I used to get these after church in Kenya, so it was an extra special treat for us.  Hoping we do it again soon!!

It was no surprise that Kyalo loved the craft time. I'd say it is time for me to invest in a glue stick for the boy!  :)

if not a glue stick, a Galaxy Note would be acceptable, too! 

Sophia

Maithry Haasini, Rua, Sophia

Maithry & Sirisha

We were celebrating Maithry's 2nd birthday on Dec 1, which is why there are party hats.

As usual, we had a great time, and I left there grateful that these are some of the students surrounding Dexter -- and me -- these two years.  It is pretty incredible, I think, when you realize that we all have a two year olds!

School got out earlier this year, and we've been luxuriating in MA with my family since the 16th.  On the 17th Dexter took the second of three licensing exams (nothing like starting vacation off with a bang!) in order to get it out of the way so he can focus on the big one in March.  We also had a great opportunity to go away FOR THE FIRST TIME to Maine, of all places, to meet with a dentist there.  We had a wonderful visit with the dentist and his family, and enjoyed seeing a new part of Maine. I thought I'd miss Kyalo terribly, and talk about him constantly.  But I knew he was in good hands with my parents and was able to relax and enjoy the time away!  I'm ready for the next one! :)  

When we first got to MA there was a good bit of snow on the ground from an early winter storm.  Kyalo had a good time playing in the snow, and building his first snowman with Papa.

After all this hard work, it was time for cocoa!

This is really only scratching the surface here, but I feel it is time to wrap things up for now.  I'll be back one of these days with a small recap on Christmas and other happenings. I'm off to make my favorite cinnamon rolls to take to friends' tomorrow morning for a New Years' Day breakfast.

Happy New Year, everyone!!

32 months

I think it is safe to say that these monthly photos are winding down. Kyalo will not sit still or cooperate for them for any period of time any more.  He would just rather be running circles around me, I guess.

here he is, resting on top of our radiator

(note the condition of our blinds - a little advice: don't get vinyl shades if you have a toddler)

running away from me.  he kinda looks mad, huh?

this picture captures him when he's feeling shy or sheepish.  He likes to study his fingers (?)

Most of his pictures involved him waving and saying 'Cheeeeeeese' - I'm not even sure where he got that from!  Observe:

Kyalo's newest favorite activity is washing dishes, which I think he would do for hours.  This is somewhat helpful, so long as I don't mind the fact that he's soaked, and has usually dumped water on his hair at some point as well.

I can usually leave him here mostly unattended while I do other things.  Not a bad way for either of us to spend our day.  But maybe I should just stick him in the bath tub to do it?

Between the Music Together and Story Hour at the library two days a week, we have spent a lot of time at our public library since we moved here last year.  The front dest receptionist, Mia, has become a friend to us.  Kyalo will often dash out of story hour to go hang out with her.  It was high time I get a picture of them.

true love

Although, there's a slight chance that the love has a little something to with Mia's iPhone and Pet Rescue. . .

thanks for sharing, Mia

(or better, thanks for putting up with Kyalo all the time!)

We were up in MA for Thanksgiving (of course) and took a coooold walk at Appleton Farm on Friday.  We were showing a friend of ours, from Kenya, around the area.   It was a slow walk because Kyalo didn't get past the first stick he found.

 cute, cold, stick gatherer

it is his happy place

Dan, Dexter, Kyalo

Dan & his wife Naomi are BOTH in a neurosurgery residency program (about to relocate to South Africa).  Can we say smart (and possibly crazy?)  It was so good to see him again after more than a year. This is a definite plus to having our friends in Kenya be doctors - they get to come to the US for conferences and trainings!

Other things from this month:

- he has taken to building tents and forts with the couch cushions, which usually I'll find them all over the house.  OR he needs to 'take a nap' with the pillows and blankets.

- He LOVES the Michael Jackson Pandora radio station.  He really gets down to it.  Kid has soul.

- Seems to have ditched the nap in the last few weeks.  We put the mattress on the floor, which really means there's no chance of it happening. He will just 'play' - pull all his clothes off his shelves, dump toys and books all around the room, etc.  At least it keeps him quiet.  I still need my own break time!

- Still not fully potty trained.  I'll hope it will happen by three.

Cute sayings:

- "no. mine do it" 

- "I'm so sirsty" (I'm so thirsty - this is usually as he's heading off to bed and is used as a delay tactic. but it is a cute one!)

- "Where'd X (shirt, juice, book, etc) come from?"

- "D.C" (CD) and 'Where'd mine D.C. go?"

- "egg coke" (egg nog - his new favorite drink)

- Ask him what time it is - "2 O'Cock" or possible, seven sirty

This post is entirely too long, but to wrap it up, I leave you with a couple outtakes from my attempt to get some photos.  He's not always so angelic looking!!

Really, what is going on in these pictures???

Urban Mentors

Right after college, I did a year-long stint with Mission Year in Oakland, CA.  That 'one year' turned into 5 wonderful, challenging, memorable years.  The only reason I would have considered leaving is because I got a job offer in Kenya.  One of the best things to come out of my five years there, is a friendship with Jaime, a fellow Mission Year member.

Jaime is STILL in Oakland, (13 years later) and has started a non-profit called Urban Mentors Network which reaches out to children and families in East Oakland. Each week there are groups for children to come together for a meal, fun, and a little 'lesson' or activity.  Jaime tries hard to involve parents or other caregivers, believing that by building the family, you build a stronger community.

Each year, since her Mission Year team did it 13 years ago, Jaime hosts a Christmas Party for kids and families in the East Oakland community.  Last year, 300 people came!  She works all year to gather gifts and supplies, getting the youth involved in planning and organizing the party.  At the end of November she had over $2,000 worth of supplies in storage for this year's party on December 14.

And last week, it was all stolen from her storage unit.

Read about it here, or better, watch the news clip!

With two weeks til the party, this is a HUGE blow.  Getting the supplies and toys and gifts needed to make this a success in such a short time.  Here's where I hope you might be able to help.

You could go to the Urban Mentor's Amazon Wish List  and pick something from that list and have it shipped to her.

You could go to to Target, Subway, Panera Bread, or Starbucks, or some other place and pick up a gift card (of any amount) and mail it to her.

Or you can send a direct donation through the Urban Mentors page (link above) via Pay Pal.

I know at this time of year there are 100s of worthy places to send your money.  But I promise you, a little will go a LONG way to helping bring joy, and fun, and perhaps a gift to the children of East Oakland.

Should you choose to send something her way, the address is:

Urban Mentors Network
1975 Seminary Avenue
Oakland CA 94621

Thank you!!

fall craft

Since the painting was such a success, I've decided that I need to find activities that keep Kyalo busy, but are also things I can help with/figure out/supervise.  There's a LOT on the internet that truly astonishes or overwhelms me.  I like to keep it very simple around here.

I came across this post for a salt dough leaf impression and thought it looked like a good -- and doable, and affordable -- activity.  I'd never made salt dough before, but I thought it couldn't be too hard.  And I knew Kyalo would enjoy it.

The general idea is to make the dough, stamp a leaf into the dough to make an impression, bake it for a few hours, and then, when cool, let the kid color in the leaf's impression.  I also had the idea that this could be a nice little gift for Grandma, and Kyalo was keen to 'make sumpting Grandma.'

It was a great activity, but I don't think Grandma's getting her gift for a while.

This was pretty easy to throw together, and I really let Kyalo do most of the work.

First there was stirring. . .

then kneading. . .

 there wasn't quite enough flour on the dough; needed a pinch more, of course

 doesn't he look professional??

(sorry for my voice, but I thought you might like to watch him in action.  Perhaps that's just me!)

And then there was the leafing pressing. . .

Kyalo was really into this part of the 'project.'  When I gave it to him to color, though, he scribbled a few lines on it and said, 'all done dis.'  So, he liked the manual labor of it all better, I guess. I will say that I think I didn't do this project quite right -- didn't get the leaf into the dough enough to make a good impression, and possibly didn't cook it enough -- so in the end it was kind of a fail.  But hey, Kyalo had a good time.  And he was a total floury mess when all was done.

This leaf bowl project looks like a fun thing, but I think I'll save it for next fall.

One way I know this activity made an impression on him is that a week or so later he was collected leaves, and when home, got out his play dough and pressed the leaves into it.  That was satisfying to me - to see him do it all on his own at a later date.

artist at work

I'm discovering that Kyalo really likes art!  As I mentioned, his favorite part of the Halloween Fest was the little apple basket craft he did there (stamping with apples) and he'd carry that painting around the house for days.  Even before we went to that he kept asking to 'do painting' though I'm not sure where that idea came to him.  So I was at Target one night and picked up a $2.00 tray of watercolor (and washable!) paints.  The next morning I let him have at it.

He painted a solid two hours.

I'm in love.

I'm also discovering just how much artistic ability Dexter has, which is awesome since I have Z E R O. Dexter's oldest brother went to art school and the next brother can do glass sketching which is a big deal in Kenya.  Obviously, Kyalo comes by this naturally.  This is another place where father and son can get in a lot of extra bonding time.  I'm happy to help him foster his talent.  Especially if it brings him so much joy, and brings me so much time :)

 I scoop up these seasonal-themed coloring pages at our library each week.  We had a big stack of Halloween-y pictures going for a while.  

 you know this is the real deal when the tongue comes out!

getting into it!

Papa, trying to show Kyalo the right way to hold the brush

Kyalo plowed through that first tray of paints in about a day and a half, so I thought it might be a good idea to get something a bit more heavy duty.  Off to Michael's we went - which, since I'm not generally crafty or creative, totally overwhelmed me - in search of some new activities for Kyalo.  I thought I might be really inspired. Alas, I wasn't.  Still, we left with some new sponge brushes, acrylic paints and, at the last minute scooped up a plain wood model plane for $1.00.  I thought this would be a fun thing the guys could do 'together' - painting and building.  Painting was great, but a little early for the building.

I never got a picture of the final product.  But this was something that Kyalo was very proud of.  I'd say it was fun for all of us, really!

And lastly, we were at the park one day a couple of weeks ago and a woman was with a little girl.  They had been collecting leaves, and I heard the woman say to the girl, "what colors do you want to paint these when we get home?"  I thought that sounded like an interesting idea, so we started collecting leaves, too.  I'm not afraid to steal others' good ideas!

We got home, got set up, and got to work.  It worked in theory, but Kyalo painted everything BUT the leaves, so. . . that didn't go quite as planned, but he had a grand time, of course!

 You can see the leaves in this picture.  In some cases he seems to have painted around them.  Or perhaps he just painted his body instead.  Jury's still out on that one. . .

happy, messy artist