Stephen in A.P.

Hanging out in PJs and Sarah's jacket outside Tia Evis' house

while Mama gets some much-deserved sleep.

"Wow-wow!" Looking at some doggies across the street.

Round parts of a bracelet - "Ball!"

"Down"

Hangin' with Tio Ivan

Tes!

Marlenne was playing with Ramoncito and helping him jump off of pieces of luggage. Heard from the next room:

Marlenne: Uno, dos,

Ramoncito: TES!!! (Very loud and gleeful)

Marlenne: Uno, dos,

Ramoncito: TES!!!

Ramoncito

So Stephen is now Ramoncito for the duration of his visit to Mexico. I don't want Nana to hear anyone call him anything but Ramoncito. Just like I don't want Grandma and Grandpa to hear him called anything but "Stephen" or "Stever". It just wouldn't be right. It's more important for Nana though. The good thing is that the little guy answers to both names and seems to understand both English and Spanish pretty well, even if he is still hardly talking. And that he is as cute as all get-out.

Stephen's Orange Ball

Stephen loves to play ball. He went to the store with Tia Evis and came back with a mandarin orange that he was gleefully clutching and tossing around while saying "Ball! Ball!" He played with it until it got too mushy to even want to peel and eat.

In A.P.

Sarah and Stephen love being in A.P. Especially Sarah. They give her all of the candy, sweetened drinks and junk food as she likes, let her watch TV all day, and let her do whatever she wants without correcting or disciplining her in any way. I'm concerned about her character, although I am sure that long-term affects should be minimal (I hope). However, the short-term affects are that she doesn't want to listen and has a fit when we turn off the TV or cut off her candy supply. It gets awkward because the other adults there all seem to think we are too mean and strict, and when we take steps to enforce any kind of discipline we quickly lose favor with everyone (adult and kid). :/

Stephen: AAAAAHHH!

Stephen is learning not to yell. He tends to ask for things by shouting "AAAAAH!" and then pointing at something when we look at it. It is frustrating for both Mama and Papa so Papa has taken steps to try to teach him to ask more quietly.

Papa: "Stephen, please talk more softly. Habla bajito. Say 'Aah' and we will give you what you need. Say 'Ah". (Waits)

Stephen: Aah!

Papa: Good job Stephen!

(Stephen smiles gleefully, Papa gives him whatever he was asking for)

(Note: We went through a similar training process with Sarah in that unfortunate period before Papa started maintaining this blog. [Aside: That training process continues]).

Sarah and Spanish

Sarah, who started out speaking Spanish as her first language, is now speaking English as her stronger language. In recent days and weeks, as the visit to Nana has approached, we (read: Papa) have been trying to get her to practice her Spanish.

Papa: Sarita, vamos a visitar a Nana, necesitas hablar en espanol.

Sarah: Why?

Papa: Porque Nana no habla ingles, solo habla espanol.

Sarah: Why?

Papa: Se dice, por que? Porque ella vive en Mexico, un lugar donde todos hablan espanol, como Grandma y Grandpa, que viven en un lugar donde todos hablan ingles. Pero nosotros hablamos las dos idiomas para poder hablar con todos. Si le hablas ingles a Nana, no te va a entender, y le vas a hacer sentir mal.

Sarah: Why?

Papa: Porque (blah blah blah) ...

Sarah: Why?

Etc, etc.

When we arrived in A.P, Sarah is still talking a lot to everyone in English, although she is starting to remember more and more to use her Spanish words, and Papa and others are still reminding her to speak in Spanish.