A few things they say

Algunas de estas son de nuestro viaje a California, hace un par de meses.

1) Estando en el departamento de Apu y Brianda, Arantxa dice "Podemos estar muy felices en la casa un rato, y luego ir al parque."

2) Camino al parque, Brianda le pregunta a Lorena de su bicicleta (triciclos). "El de mi hermana es rojo y blanco, el mío es de muchos colores, NO morado y rosa." En general, sus respuestas no son de una sola palabra.

Some of these are from our trip to California a couple months ago.

1) We were in Apu and Brianda's house and Arantxa said. "we can be very happy in the house for a while, and then we can go to the park".

2) Walking to the park, Brianda asked Lorena what color her bike (trycicle) is. "my sister's is red and white; mine is a lot of colors, NOT purple and pink". For her, it is either pink and purple, or irrelevant.

3) Our suitcases did not arrive, well, only one out of 5 did (including one car seat). By the way, we traveled nonstop in low season. SIGH! ARantxa was distraught at first, but as usual, she quickly turned into solution mode. "I know, we have to tell them that they should bring them on the next plane from Seattle, and that nobody else should pick them". The explanation we got is that they "forgot" to load 50 suitcases/\.

4) I was making conversation with Lorena.
M: Where are we going?
L: To Disney!!!
M: why?
L: Because you decided to go to Disney for daddy's birthday.

3) De nuestras 5 maletas (incluyendo una silla de coche), solo 1 llegó. Y eso que fue vuelo directo, sin escalas y en temporada baja. Dijeron que se les "olvidó" subir como 50 maletas. Después de angustiarse mucho, Arantxa, como siempre, empezó a buscar soluciones. "Ya sé, hay que decirles que las traigan en el próximo avión que venga de Seattle, y que nadie las agarre".

4) Haciendo conversación con Lorena.
M: ?a dónde vamos?
L: !!!!A Disney!!!
M: ?Por qué?
L: Porque tu decidiste ir a Disney para el cumpleaños de papá.

5) En la cola del Vuelo de Peter Pan, Arantxa abraza a Lorena y le dice: Vamos a subirnos en un barco y vamos a pasar cerca de unas estrellas. No te preocupes, no te vas a quemar". Lorena estaba más preocupada por ver a Garfio...

6) Al ver el Matterhorn, Lorena, que podía haberse subido dijo, "Mejor ya me quiero ir al hotel".

5) While on line for Peter Pan's flight, Arantxa hugs Lorena and says, "We are going to ride on a boat, and we are going to pass close to some stars, but don't worry, you are not going to be burned".

6) When faced with the Matterhorn, which she was tall enough to ride, Lorena said. "I'd rather go to the hotel".

7) Another day, she says a variation of a sentence they both use a lot. "how lucky for us that Toon town was open this morning".

8) Lorena says she is going to be a mother (she already has names picked). She is going to marry me. She will give her kids cold soup (unlike her mean mom that gives her one that is too hot), and she is going to cut their spaguetti in tiny pieces. I am going to take care of them, and I'll help her cook.

9) Oh, this one is not what they say but what they do, or rather, how they do. We were waiting for the parade to start, and they each had a whole apple to eat. Long before the parade even started, Lorena had already finished hers; and I mean, finished, there was hardly ANY left. In contrast, Arantxa was still nibbling it, and never did finish it. What makes this more interesting is that Lorena, who looks and moves like Pablo, even eats apples like him! And, yes, Arantxa, who is my spit image, eats apples like her mom.

7) Otro día, Lorena uso una variación de una frase que las dos usan mucho. "Esta mañana, qué suerte que Toon Town sí estuvo abierto".

8) Lorena dice que va a ser mamá cuando sea grande (tiene hasta los nombres escogidos). Se va a casar conmigo y les va a dar sopa fría (no como la que quema que yo les doy) y spaguetti cortado muy chico. Yo los voy a cuidar y le voy a ayudar a cocinar.

9) Esto no es lo que dicen o hacen, sino cómo lo hacen. Esperando a que empezara un desfile, estaba cada una comiendo una manzana entera. Lorena se la había acabado antes de que el desfile comenzara, y digo acabado, prácticamente no dejo nada. Arantxa, en cambio, seguía mordisqueando la manzana durante el desfile, y nunca se la acabó. Pablo, cuando come manzanas se come el corazón. Así que Lorena no solo se mueve y se ve como Pablo, también come manzanas como él. Y, sí, Arantxa que es idéntica a mi, las come como yo.

10) Les habíamos dicho que cada una podía comprar un recuerdito. Pablo estaba comprándose una sudadera y Lorena le dijo: Tú no te la puedes comprar, ya te compraste tu camiseta en Davis. Pablo está usando mucho tanto la camiseta del Club de Química de UCDavis, como la sudadera de Jack (Nightmare before Christmas).

11) Estaban desayunando en el hotel, más bien, estaban platicando, así que les dije: Apurénse niñas, no platiquen. Lorena respondió rápidamente: no les estamos platicando a ustedes. !Y todavía no cumplía 3 años!

10) We had told them that they each would be allowed to buy one souvenir. Pablo was trying on a sweatshirt and Lorena told him, You can't buy it, you already got yourself a T-shirt in Davis. Pablo is enjoying both his UCDavis Chemistry Club T-shirt and his Jack (Nightmare before Christmas) sweatshirt.

11) They were having breakfast in the hotel, or rather, they were chatting; so I told them to stop talking and hurry up. Lorena's quick reply: We are not talking to you. And this was before she turned 3!

Trying to post some Cinderella video...

I will leave this video on for not too long. If you still want to see it, please post a comment or email me. Thanks!

Voy a dejar el video aquí por poco tiempo, si lo quieren ver después, porfa dejen un comentario o pídanmelo por correo electrónico.

This is the 3rd attempt

This is our Cinderella, working on some things for her many stepsisters in the back. (You can click the pictures to see them bigger).

After the play, in front of the set they decorated. A third panel opened to the right to reveal the pumpkin turned carriage. Arantxa worked on several of the set sections, she is usually very involved in things.

I just love this picture. Here she is when we were watching the video. By the way, I think none of the little videos I took with the regular camera are good enough for posting. They do not really show her doing her thing. I have to transfer video from the regular camera, and I have never done that; I don't even know if we have the required cable.

Arantxa's Cinderella's Play

Arantxa has been taking a weekly drama class for the past couple of months. Today they had their show.

First, a bit about the class. It was a group of about a dozen girls, aged 4-6. The class lasted 2 hours, and they did some crafts, read Cinderella versions from different countries, painted the stage/scenery and, of course had a snack. That is in addition, naturally, of the acting out the story.

I was very curious about the performance. Arantxa said they all could be whatever character(s) they wanted to be; which makes sense for their ages. In the last few classes, they had to settle on a character, some were allowed/required to play more than one part. Arantxa was going to be one of multiple Cinderellas.

Whenever you see your child performing or doing anything, there is the question of neutrality. Clearly, I will always be biased, but I think I can also be reasonably objective. Arantxa worked for her music class, practiced some, and she is able to read some music and play her Glockenspiel, but she seems OK at it. In her gymnastics class, she has some strengths and she is working hard on mastering some skills; she is better at some areas than others; but she is clearly not one of the top gymnasts. This is all to say, that Arantxa did really great at acting, if I may say so myself.

The teacher introduced them and she acted as the narrator/teleprompter, and also played the Fairy Godmother. The assistant teacher was the prince. There were maybe 5 Cinderellas, at least 6 stepsisters, and a kitty. As the teacher introduced the story, the Cinderellas marched in and announced their special names. Arantxa quickly said her name, her voice loud and clear. Some girls needed more prompting and it was all really funny. You can imagine narrator saying: And the step sisters said.... and the stepsisters said.... (gently touching one).. and the stepsisters said...

So, the story moved along, with the unbearable cuteness of little girls performing. I loved the stepsisters loudly calling in one voice: Cindereeeehla! Arantxa was so in character, never stopped acting, saying her lines (obviously improvised), helping the other girls move along. After the stepsisters make them work extra hard, the Cinderellas quickly get some sashes and Arantxa announces, "Wait for us, we are ready!", or something similar. The stepsisters start taking their sashes one by one. It was super cute to see Arantxa, shielding another Cinderella, and then giving her a hug when they removed it.

The story was funny. The fairy godmother had equipped them all with crowns in lieu of slippers. The prince was tired of being stepped on, but decided to dance with the newcomers, just once. He liked them all so much that he decided to marry them, well, he and his bunch of (absent) brothers. One of the girls was the clock, and they all ran away, forgetting to drop their crowns, so they all had to come back for a bit. When the prince returns the following day, the narrator says even the kitten had to be fitted. This apparently was an inspiration of the moment. Cinderella Ax, quickly helped try the crown on the cat. the narrator then said that the cat would not even want to marry the prince, and Ax thought that was hilarious and laughed aloud.

After the story ended, teacher sang and the girls acted, and sang along in bits. It was really sweet. We will definitely try a new drama class in the future, and Studio East was great. All the girls were really into it, from the shy ones who acted but remained mute; to the ones that seemed to own the stage.

Lorena, for the most part, remained watching the show, or telling the little brother behind her to be quiet. Since she was quiet, I barely looked at her. It was tricky (video camera battery had died, Pablo got one today, left it charging, I came to pick it up, the camera kept giving an error message, etc.), but we managed to tape the whole show. It is really dark, but it will be a great memory!

We have, for a long time, suspected that Arantxa would love to act. She LOVES stories, likes to dress up, is super confident in big groups, etc; but she had not said much of the class. She said she liked it, but she hasn't tried a class she hasn't liked. Last year she took ballet/tap, and she had fun, but never really danced like that outside of class (Lorena can't wait to try that class, she wears the ballet and tap shoes almost every day). However, after the class today, she said she absolutely loved it. She said something like: I had never liked anything so much in my life!

So, I think she has found one real passion (other than reading), and a calling. It is great when their interests coincide with their talents!

That is it for the proud mom. I'll see if I could post some pictures.

In front of the stage...


Argh!I can't post pictures.. I'll try that later. A final funny comment, the teacher is expecting her first child and there are mostly boys in both sides of the family. She mentioned to a mom that at teh beginning she thought it'd be really sweet to have a girl, but by the end of the session, she had changed her mind. She said she was surrounded by all divas!

The begining of lies or I did not do it!

(English at the end)

Mientras cocinaba el otro día, Lorena estaba jugando, como siempre disfrazada. De repente la vi pasar corriendo junto a mi y me pareció que tenía crayolas en la mano. En efecto era así. Le pregunté de donde las había sacado y me dijo que las encontró en "El Rinconcito", que es el lugar a donde van si necesitan espacio para calmarse, o si no se están portando bien. Vi que tenía los brazos pintados, así que le pregunté dónde puede pintar. Obviamente respondió, como era de esperarse "solo en papel", pero al mismo tiempo negando que se hubiera pintado ella, insisitiendo en que solo pinta en papel. Le pregunté entonces: ?dónde más no pintaste?. Su respuesta fue: No pinté en la puerta de la lavandería.

PAblo venía justo bajando así que la pescó para que yo pudiera regresar a la cocinada. Les iba a dar el súper borrador mágico de cloro, pero Pablo pensó que era mejor que tuviera que tallar más con un trapo normal.

Estos últimos días, hemos tenido más de estas situaciones. El tema de las mentiras en los niños chicos, es algo complicado. Muchos expertos dicen que los chiquitos no pueden decir mentiras, que todo es parte de pensamiento mágico y que dicen cosas que quieren hubieran pasado. O en otras ocasiones, piensan que al decirlo así, la realidad puede cambiar. No estoy segura qué es lo que pasa en el ejemplo de la pintada; pero en otros está siendo cada vez más claro que Lorena está diciendo "mentiras de a de veraz". Ejemplo, la mandé a que fuera al bañito el otro día, antes de leerle un libro. Corría y regresaba rápido diciendo que ya había ido, así que la volví a mandar, Como en la tercera vuelta, corrió al baño, le jaló y regresó a anunciar que ahora sí ya había ido. La acompañé, la senté e hizo, lo que probó que no acababa de ir. En ese caso, NO hay duda, de que fue una mentira declarada.

Por otro lado, nos está quedando clarísimo que no acaba de entender que diferentes personas tienen diferentes perspectivas. PArticipó en un estudio de la U.W. y eso parecía, y algunas situaciones depués de eso, nos han aclarado eso. Por ejemplo cuando me enseña algo para que lo vea, pero del lado incorrecto, es decir, lo que quiere que vea hacia su lado y no hacia el mío. Si es así, es posible que no esté diciendo mentiras, que sea imposible que diga mentiras si no entiende 100% que cada persona tiene una perspectiva diferente.

Y, cómo diría Nino Canún, "usted, qué opina?"

As I was cooking dinner the other day, I was keeping loose track of the girls. I knew Lorena was dressed up and playing in the living room. AT some point I caught a glimpse of her holding what appeared to be crayons in her hand. I went to check and confirmed my suspicions, and I also saw that she had painted her arm. I asked her, "where do we paint?"; and she promptly replied, "on paper only". When I confronted her about the arm, she denied any involvement. So I proceeded to ask, "where else didn't you paint?". Without blinking, her answer was: " I did not paint the laundry room door".

By this point, Pablo was coming downstairs, so he took over while I returned to the cooking. I offered them the clorox MAgic Eraser, but Pablo thought it would be better if she had to rub it off with a regular towel.


Lately, we have been confronted with more and more of these situations where we are wondering about lying (sp?). It is not a simple matter; many experts in development maintain that very young kids are unable to actually lie. They say that it is a manifestation of magical thinking, where they might think that what they say might override reality, or that things did not happen if they don't admit to them. In a case like this one, it is hard to guess whether she is telling lies or not. However, other occassions, it seems more of a clear cut lie. For example, this week I sent her to the bathroom before'reading to her. She ran to the bathroom and came back right away, so I sent her back. She repeated the run, so I probably pointed out that she had not gone so fast. The next run, was slightly longer, and it involved her actually flushing the toilet. I then went with her, and she of course peed, which further proved that she hadn't gone before. That to me, is a clear-cut lie!

On the other hand, she recently participated in a study at the UW in which they were observing whether 3 year olds are able to see things from another person's perspective. It was clear that she hasn't gotten that yet. We have things, like the toilet example, where she seems to get it; but other times it is very clear she is not. She still shows me something to look at the wrong way (object facing her, not me). So, maybe, she really is NOT lying as she can't really get that our perspectives are different.

What do you all think?