Haircut and Splashes Splashes......

How do you like Ana's new haircut? It's her first...... Her brother gave it to her.

They now know how to open the "child proof" latches on the art supply cabinet. Of course, we explained again that hair cutting is for Aunti JoJo, Mami, and Grandma. We also reminded them that Mami or Papi were supposed to be involved when the scissors come out. You know, to save hair and the clothes that the kids were wearing and also decided to cut. Yet, they kept going for that cabinet in the following days. Scissors are now stored above the fridge.

"Ring around the rosey
Pocket to the posey
(Spinning around on their knees)
Splashes
Splashes
We all fall down!!"
(SPLASH!! On to their pompies)

...in the tub. This is the song they were chanting for ever!! I don't know where they heard the real song or when they decided it was a bath time song but their version makes sense in the tub. I love my babies.

The caped kiddos saying bye to Mami as Papi takes them out for an adventure so that Tami can do some homework.

Enzo yells out "I'm not a baby!!!!" Followed by his own laughs.
I say, "I know you are not really a baby any more but you and Ana will always be my babies and Mami's babies."

We have had this "baby" conversation many times. I call them my babies all of the time and they don't actually mind but they do like to talk about everything. Enzo especially likes to use "Why?" questions and lately he is really fond of an endless list of "What does XYZ mean?" XYZ being something from the previous definition I gave him or some other word he just heard. When having the "I'm not a baby, you are silly Papi!" conversation, Ana will often chime in:
Ana: I'm bigger huh? Papi, I'm bigger huh?
Me: You are bigger and you are going to keep getting bigger until you are all grown up as an adult.
Ana: I'm bigger already huh Papi?
Me: You are bigger than you were. And you are still growing. And some day you will be as big as Mami and Papi. You're not that big yet but you are still growing.
Ana: Yeah, I am growing bigger.
Me.. to myself: There is no rush, take your time.

We drove around and ended up in Palo Alto. Enzo fell asleep in the stroller while I walked us on University looking for a restaurant. Ana and I enjoyed a nice Italian meal while Enzo slept in the stroller at our table. After, we walked/strolled down to a park and then Enzo woke up naturally just in time to play.

The park had a pretty cool concrete slide. Kids had left lots of cardboard at the bottom of the slide for anyone to use if they wanted to slide down faster. Enzo tried with and without the cardboard. He and Ana went on the slide over and over.

Ana also is much more comfortable making new friends than I am. Her only question/comment was "these are my amigos right?" Yeah, it's easy to be friends at this age. I said, "yes, these are amigos, you can go play with them." And off she went. Here is one of the pictures of her playing with some of the other kids.

At one point a slightly older kid tried to shove her off of this spring-thing while yelling "No!" He wasn't trying to be mean, though it did look like it. He just didn't have the vocabulary to explain, as there were only two of them on it at that moment, that Ana should sit opposite him so that the thing would balance. Ana just held her ground and looked at him. Then, after some consideration, the other kid got off his side and moved opposite Ana. Then Ana understood. Later, Ana was on it alone and another little kid tried to get on right next to her. She tried so hard to explain in her limited way and she even tried to gently nudge, but she didn't shove. The kid didn't get it and Ana didn't feel like moving so they played a few moments sideways until more kids came in and balanced them out. It was interesting to watch.

This is a very special drawing that Enzo made last week. It is the first of it's kind. Tami and I both noticed it when Enzo made it. All of a sudden, with no other sign of build up, Enzo jumped a whole new level in drawing. Every crayon picture either of us has ever seen of his before this one was a scribble of color and/or letters. He would tell us what they meant, they had meaning. Then he made this all of a sudden one night. He made this enclosed shape and colored it in. Crazy. I never would have thought about the developmental phase of coloring an enclosed shape but had I, I would have imagined the processes leading up to it to have been more obvious to me. Nope. Appearing to me as all of a sudden is this space ship that Enzo made. He said the lines in the back are the fire. After making this, nearly all of his drawings now include enclosed shapes that he colors in, with rare exception. I can think of only one drawing, other than letters which he has been writing with increasing frequency, in the last week that was not an enclosed shape he made and colored. Very interesting. Which brings up a new stage in play at our house... we go through a lot of paper for both of the kids now.

Also fun was that this last weekend we celebrated with Baby Jack and Laurie for their birthdays along with other friends and family. Jack is one and Laurie is a little more... about my age. Happy Birthday! We had a good time. Tami and I mostly got to speak with John and Dana and their two kids who are so grown up now (12th and 8th grade) which we enjoyed. Enzo and Ana got to play with Charlotte and Tristan a lot which they very much enjoyed. And we all got to see people we don't see very often.

On Sunday we played in the park and I pushed Ana forever on the swing as she likes me to do. Enzo watched some older boys playing and in doing so learned how to spin around on an unwinding swing which occupied him for quite a while.

Good days.

Also!!! QUICK UPDATE----- Aunti JoJo is in labor right now as I type!!!!!!! I am at a cafe and doing some work and also uploading this post that I was working on. Now, I have to hit "Publish" and close up my work. Heading home now to be there when my kids get home so Tami can run off to see Jo. Exciting!!! Layla is on her way out into the world!