Cabana Isle is the name of the neighborhood Miles' Aunty Cheryl, Uncle Eric, Ninang Lea, Aunty Teresa and I grew up in. I recently got in touch (thanks to FB) with my best childhood friend/neighbor from childhood, Stacy aka Anastascia (who is also a mama & expecting her 2nd child!). We were reminiscing about when we use to explore the swampy area in front of our parents' homes when we were kids, looking for obsidian rocks which at the time, was enough proof for us to believe that we lived on Indigenous land. Finding these pieces of rocks was so satisfying and we spent hours each day digging through dirt to add to our rock collection (I was always a nerd at heart!). Anyway, growing up in a nature preserve by the Napa river was a great way for us to create our own adventures outdoors. After remembering these fun memories, I was inspired to take Dengs & Miles out to explore.
"Where did the snail go?"
Our mini-hike begins.
Miles was intrigued by the waves blowing the wheat, creating ripples.
Closer to our destination, "Look mama, there's islands."
They loved finding rocks of all sizes to throw in the Napa river.
Playing with his shadow.
If you look closely, you can see the rock Miles threw flying in the air.
Dengs was determined to find all the big rocks and he did a great job.
He was very excited to watch his rocks splash in the water.
Miles was just excited!
Dengs is naturally inclined to collect rocks like his Aunty.
"Aunty, you throw the rock!"
"Look, the fish bones!"
On our hike back to Papo's house.
Saying goodbye to the wheat.
Stopping to find shapes in the clouds.
They continue to remind me about the simple things we take for granted but are all around us in our everyday lives. Thank you boys...
Miles has been pretty busy, staring at his pages of The Complete Adventures of Curious George. As he turns the pages, he describes what he sees on each page and for the most part, recalls what the words on the pages say from memory. It's amazing how much he retains when we read to him. He likes us to substitute George's names for his name, Curious Miles. He really identifies with this monkey. Maybe because George is off the hook or maybe it's because he's brown. Shoot, I love these stories myself. So to satisfy his curiosity, we have been having our own Curious Miles adventures.
To satisfy his insect fascination, we reused some old spaghetti sauce jars and made a "bug home for good bugs" (bad bugs to him are mosquitoes and spiders that bite) as he called it. He collected leaves and flowers and pulled out Nemo's (his gold fish) net to use as a bug catcher.
He was hoping to catch butterflies and ladybugs but was just as content to find rollie pollies. It ended up being a neighborhood activity. The kids in our area were so helpful and all got together to dig for rollie pollies and show Miles how they found them.
That's one of the great things about this neighborhood. I mean, it's no San Francisco (and we really miss living there), but the cool thing about the AC is that there are kids that still play outside til dawn, ride bikes, hang out in the park, play football on the street, etc. It's reminiscent of our childhood so it's great that Miles is out and about.
Another activity Miles has been enjoying is role playing. This week, he says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. I couldn't think of too many kid-friendly science experiments that we could do at home, except for the vinegar x baking soda reaction. So anyway, Miles was just as excited to pour the ingredients into cups. He wanted to see what would happen when we mixed different liquids into baking soda. So, he wanted to test out water as well as the vinegar. He got a kick out of seeing the vinegar mixture overflow from the cup. And when I compared it to how lava flows out the volcano, he was in awe, "oooooh, lava...." When he mixed the water with the baking soda, he looked bummed that it didn't give off a reaction, "aw, it's just cloudy, vinegar is cooler." So ofcourse, we had to keep doing the vinegar x baking soda thing until he was satisfied with watching it overflow. My kitchen smells like vinegar.
Yesterday, I had my semsester parent-teacher conference at his preschool. It's really great to learn about how he's learning and developing at school and also ways in which we can help him at home. He's doing really great, developing strong bonds with his friends, Amir and Deonte. He is also counting to 13, doing good with potty training, and able to articulate his feelings when he gets upset or sad about things at school. His teacher also commented on how he is a perfectionist. Not that she said it was a bad thing-just that it was probably a part of the reason why he tends to get frustrated at school (I thought of him being more particular than anything else! haha) But I have always been aware of how, since he was a baby, had a problem with getting dirt on his clothes, liked his blanket covering all edges of his bed, stacked his toys a certain way. And after we do things for him when he asks for help or needs help, he'll say, "Not like that!" and get pretty irritated with us if we don't do things a certain way for him. I've just learned to take care of this perfectionist the way he liked it since he was a baby. Honestly, reading his cues since birth has been my guide to caring for him and making adjustments up until now at 3--he tells me (hey, who's the teacher here!?) Maybe he gets it from me. I get it from my dad. I should have mentioned this bit to his teacher: we are genetically coded to be this way. So anyway our meeting was good and I gained some insight on ways to encourage him to "go outside the box" a bit and am motivated to help him ease up! His teachers are a great resource! Not just because they are child development specialists but because they are also mothers. I'm really thankful for the Child Development Center. Again, this ain't SF, but it is the hook up! I need to pick up those books by the "ooey gooey" lady who's mantra for parents, teachers & kids is along the lines of "you learn by getting messy!"
After the meeting, Miles had an idea of what he wanted to do, "How bout, I get a haircut." He loves his barber, who happens to be his ninang Erica's cousin. She did a good job of lining & fading him up. I told Justin that he should go see her! Peep game:
Miles' mother's day gift:
Hope all you mamas had a good one! And for those that are not mamas, hope you made some time to appreciate your own mama, aka "portal" as my homegirl Bern calls us!
...in 14 days, we will be in Hawaii! We are just so excited to leave the bay and get away, hang out with mom & dad (aka gramma & papa) and enjoy being outside--and on a beach, with a clear blue ocean (unlike SF's murky grey waters!)! But from now until the day we leave, there is just so much to do--finals week, a couple gigs, cleaning, etc. I should be studying but I figure, let me just blog (and procrastinate). I am super excited for Miles because his gramma is planning all kinds of activities for them to do while he's there for a month. Yes, a month! I really wish, ahem, that they lived here so Miles could just be homeschooled by them. They are some of Miles' best teachers. Anyway, as gramma was telling me about some of the activites, such as star gazing in Kaneohe, and art time in the park--I was thinking, "I wanna be there to do that also!" Who needs to go out and party when you can just do that!?
I'm excited for Miles to have this opportunity to just experience living there--even for just a month of each year, but I'm also feeling anxious just thinking about what in the world I'll be doing without him!? I'm so use to planning my days with Miles. I guess for one thing, Justin and I will get to spend time with each other and actually go on dates (I can count the times we've been able to do that this year...about 4 times so far). And of course, with Miles away, we will time to do our own thing!! A month will feel like forever without Miles but at the same time, days go by so quickly, I am going to maximize my time with the following:
1) Spend quality time with Justin. Nurturing our relationship is so important as nurturing Miles. It's so easy for us to put everything into Miles and skimp on putting energy into each other. Justin, you are the best partner a womyn could ever ask for!
2) Take care of myself... & take another yoga class (or just keep doing what I've learned this year on my own). My teacher really has been a blesssing this semester. This semester was not as stressful as last because of yoga!! Namaste.
3) This is part of taking care of myself but with a group effort--Detox. Live food detox with Miles' ninang Erica, and Aunty Xtina. Not as extreme as the master cleanse but a great way to make my cells healthier w/ the support of my homegirls.
4) Read the Twilight books Rizalene sent me as a b-day gift. Not a big fan of the movie, but Riz swears by the book. She said, "if you loved the Anne of Green Gables series, then you'll love this."
5) Read The Power of Play by David Elkind for some parenting inspiration & insight for when Miles gets back. I bought the book a year ago and still haven't had the time to read it.
6) and, train with Miles' ninang Dee, for DMC. I've always wanted to do this. I think we were 18 when we said we would one day "be champs." Might as well enter now before I turn 30, right?!
Sounds like a lot, but as a mom, I think I get so much done and then some in an average day. What more, being child-less for a whole month?
From now until then, I'm trying to maximize my time with Miles. When we get home from school, as much as possible, I just spend the remainder of the day doing things with him (studying can wait until he goes to sleep). Today, we had a play date at the firetruck park with Miles' buddy Tyler & his mamas. Miles and Tyler ended up running around with all the other boys on the playground. It's great seeing Miles interact with other kids. He usually says, "What's your name?...I'm Miles...do you want to play with me?" But when he's at school, he has a little posse and his best homeboy, Deonte, and him have their own way of greeting each other with so much swagger. "Wassup Deonte?" "Wassup man?" Then they both give each other pounds and walk off together with a strut.
Miles' toddler behavior is slowly changing (goodbye tantrums! thank God) as we notice every day how much he grows. It's great to see him becoming a big boy but it's also bittersweet because the cute things that he would do and say as a toddler are also changing as he learns more about the world, life, and about himself. But thank goodness for the things that haven't changed just yet...I'd like to hold on to these moments for as long as I possibly could!
Today at the park, he was sitting on a bench, eating his spam musubi with his dad. Across from them was a mother and daughter, about 2 or 3 years old, climbing up the playground. He leans to his dad and says, "Her's cute." And he's sitting there, watching this girl play with a big smile. Now I don't know if he's just saying she's cute cause he hears me say that about little kids that we see when we are out--or if he's just attracted to her (already?!!?). It was just a cute moment.
He also has this funny way of using the word, "very". He ran in the park, tripped and fell down and began to cry. I walk over to him and help him up and he says, "Mommy, it very hurts, bad sidewalk!" (condemning the concrete for making him fall).
Oh, I'm just gonna miss when he says things properly. But then again, it would not be cute to hear him talk like that at 8 years old!
I realize that it's already May (omg!) and I haven't updated most of the April pictures so here you go..this is what Miles has been up to this Spring so far...
I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T, do you know what that means?!
Musubi Makin'...
Building skyscrapers...
Making house calls for the ugly dolls.
Of course, transformers are apart of his daily playtime routine.
Movie nights w/ his favorite snack--can't forget the mochi crunch!
Skyping with his gramma & papa!
And here are some moments from Deng Deng's 3rd birthday!
Darrien's in heaven with his cupcakes!
Hunting for dollar bills & high fructose corn syrup!
The Aries Birthday Boy!
Miles & Adonis whoride on Darrien's brand new car (talk about sweet 3rd birthday!)
Miles was yelling to everyone, "I got my license!"
Hyphy!
Raising gentlemen...
Hanging out with his teenage Aunties, Rhea & Angela.
Miles' buddy Kasama getting' down at the jam!
Afro-pickin' session w/ Ninong Dre & Kasama-llama!
Miles wants in on the afro-pickin!
Getting down with his homegirl at the jam...
We're raising our son, Hip Hop.
Miles loved seeing Dzyer get down with the crew! (He's been really into graffiti lately)
First day of t-ball, Go Orange Team!
Dengs prepares to swing!
Batter's up!
The two boys are in their own world when they're together!
