Little Kite Girl

I can’t even believe how much Cy is growing and changing lately.  It seems like all of a sudden all of the things we’ve been teaching him and talking to him about are all starting to grow in his mind, and he’s putting his own thoughts together.

For example, today we were driving and Cy dropped his car on the floor.  He said, “Mommy, get it please!” I said, “I can’t bud.  I can’t reach it.” He said, “Cy get it!” I said, “No buddo, we all have to stay buckled in our seats while we’re driving.” Cy says, “DEN STOP THE CAR!”

He’s also big into planning things.  If he doesn’t want to do something he’ll try to “reschedule” for later in the week.  For instance, “Cy! Time to come in for lunch!” Cy, “No! Um, eat lunch Tuesday!”

We brought him to a wedding tonight, and he charmed everyone at our table by singing Freire Jaques (is that how you spell that?) softly to himself while eating a peanut butter sandwich (that I packed for him because I know that steak or chicken would not be a viable option for him, picky eater).

There were goats at the wedding (have I said that I live in a rural area?) and he kept going over to the pen to feed them, and when one goat ate the other goat’s food Cy yelled, “Hey goat! No way! You be nice!”

There was also his desire to see the temple, which was awesome.  He loves to play the piano and sing, and I think that if he sticks with it and takes formal lessons as he gets older, that he’ll be better than me in no time.   He’s also starting to speak Spanish a little bit, and tonight we were driving home from the wedding and a little boy was sitting next to him (my friend’s son, they are from Mexico) and Cy said, “Um, I white.” I said, “Yeah, buddy, you are.” He said, “Hola brown.” (He calls the little boy Hola, even though he knows his name.  There was initial confusion about teaching him to say “hola” that’s just stuck…) Then Hola taught him the words for white and brown in Spanish, and Cy repeated them, and then Hola taught Cy the Spanish version of Freire Jaques, Frey Felipe.

When I got home I told my parents what Cy said, and how initially I was a little embarrassed.  I think that’s just a 90′s education coming back.  I went to school during a time that students were inundated with the whole “color blind” approach to social justice, when we were taught that noticing people’s differences was rude and “not PC.”  I think it’s different now, though.  Now we can notice the different colors of our skin or eyes or the different sounds of languages, and appreciate them for what they are.  Children are especially adept at comparing without adding judgment to their comparisons.  It was actually a pretty cool moment.

My parents told me that I was just about Cy’s age (2 and a half) when I met a friend of my Dad’s and said, “He’s a brown man!” I guess the guy thought I was pretty cool.  I wonder if Cy will share my interest in and affinity for other cultures.  It’s cool to see a part of myself in him.

Ok, I guess that’s enough of that.  I’ll now move onto what people REALLY want.  The pictures.  These were taken in the last couple of weeks, first at Thomas’s Day Out in Essex, and then today at the wedding we went to, after everyone shed ties and long-sleeved shirts and started walking goats around.

Cy getting ready to see Thomas in his cool shades.

Photo op!

Diesel 10!

A picture with too much sun.  AND THOMAS!

They had train tables everywhere, and in most cases the kiddos were fighting over the trains.  Here, though, there was some cute playing with a little girl whose shirt read, “He’s trouble” and had an arrow pointing at Cy.

For days afterward he said: “I gave Toppy Hat a HIGH FIVE!”

Cy yelled, “ALL ABOARD!” five hundred times. It was cute.

He hadn’t napped that day, so I got some cuddles on the train.

And…on to the wedding! (This was also a no nap day, as we fit in a bike ride in the morning. We are exhausted! I think we’ve done more fun stuff this past month than in our history as a family.  I’m burning out.  I foresee a backyard/low-key summer.  If the bear moves out.)

Cy, feeding a goat.

John and Cy, walking a goat. Named Taco.

Again, walking Taco.

And then they got to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. After the bride and groom, of course.

And…back to the goats…

We toasted the happy new family, and came home to bed!