Funny stories

I really should be documenting all the ridiculous things Manny says and does. He really cracks me up. A long time ago (I really meant to blog about it, but obviously have not blogged about anything) one of Manny's favorite stories was Tres Cerditos y el Lobo (three little pigs and the wolf). He is really into re-enacting things, things from movies he's seen, books he's read, etc. And you have to play a part, too. He'll even tell you what to say sometimes. So he would "build a house" out of couch pillows really high, sit in front of it, and put a pillow in front of him for the door. Then it would be your job to be the wolf and say, "Cerdito, cerdito, dejame entrar." And then he would say, "No, chinny, chin, chin." (He has since gotten better and knows all the words.) You: "then I'll soplare y soplare y tu casa tirare!" And then you would "blow" the house down (knock the pillows down). He would act all upset and then would say to do it again. This time it would be your turn to be the cerdito.

In the next months we would be outside and he would find some wood in the yard (I think it was actually mulch or something). And he would say, "Madera (wood)! I'm going to give this to the cerditos." So he went around collecting all the wood and making a big pile for the little pigs to be able to make their house. Well, at least the wood house. (He even checked on it the next day, and was sad when they hadn't taken it. I had to relocate it so it looked like the little pigs had used it.)

Another day he had me running up and down the sidewalk with him pretending to be a horse. Actually it was galloping. And we would have to say, "Neigh (how do you spell a horse sound?)! Neigh!" That in and of itself isn't that unusual for him, but he wanted to do it for a very long time. I had to take a break. And then another break for a snack and a glass of water and watch him gallop down the sidewalk.

Since Luis has broken his achilles tendon Manny has been very sweet. He tried to help Papi in any way he can. He'll get things for him, kiss his leg a lot and ask if it is better, and he often tells Luis, "I like your robot leg, Papi." How did I end up with such a sweet boy? He is always (okay, mostly always, he's 2 yr-old boy) so kind and sweet. He tells me he loves me all the time, says sorry for everything, even if he hurts a feeling or accidentally bumps something, etc. I just feel so lucky every day.

More than just bouncy house success

I figure I should probably post other things about Manny rather than just his bouncy house success.
Manny loves books, loves to point out letters, sing the alphabet, talk about colors (I think his favorite at this time, or at least the ones he talks about the most, are green, orange, red, and yellow). He loves to count (up to 10 and then some random teens in English, and up to 10 in Spanish, but sometimes with a little help). He still mostly speaks in English, but understands Spanish. I try the little Spanish I know, but he just looks at me like, "That's not your real language," and then answers me in English.
And sadly he quotes movies a lot. He can see it once and repeat scenes and lines. And often it is the thing I least want him to pick up on. The latest is from the Shrek #4 (I know, maybe not the best choice for a 2 yr-old) movie. Out of the whole thing he picks up where an evil witch yells, "Shut your mouth!" We keep having to talk about how we don't say that, the witch said that and she is not nice, we shouldn't so things like her, she's mean, etc. He thankfully hasn't said it in a while, but there have been other instances. Like in "Despicable Me" where a kid says "My dad is going to kick your butt." Awful! I know! He watched it at a friend's house, and thankfully only said that once to the friend's mom. She did a great job and tried not to make a big deal out of it. He hasn't repeated it since. I never realized I watched such terrible movies. It is making me be more aware of what we are watching.
Maybe I should get some Jesus movies.

Birthday Party and Bouncy House Retry

My friend's daughter turned one last weekend, and they decided they were going to have a big party for her (actually I think it was more for the other kids, but oh well, everyone had fun). And cool thing is that they own bouncy houses that they rent for parties.
So, at first I thought it was going to be a repeat of last time. Laying there like a blob, observing everyone else jumping.

I had to move him to the side so he wouldn't get trampled

Now here he is, thinking about jumping. Standing up, at least making progress.

Our friend Zylen is trying to show him how fun it is. Notice the concentration on Manny's face

Smiling

Yay!

Bouncy houses are fun!

There was quite a bit of wrastling. This poor teenager got designated the official target.

Sara and Diego

Zylen

The birthday cake and family. How cute!

Monika and Zylen

Pinata! (Who knows how to make a n~? Any ideas? Let me know)

Fun times were had by all. Diego and Manny and Zylen were running around for quite some time. I had hopes it might wear off some of the sugar high (yes, I know there isn't really such a thing, but I was hoping he might at least go to sleep on time), but no such luck.

Yes, that is a sucker. Don't worry, he only had it a couple of minutes before I told him I should "watch it"while he was running, and then I magically lost it (in the garbage). I am totally a hard candy nazi. I am super paranoid he's going to get a cavity. We also don't really drink juice, soda pop, etc. He can hate me later (but maybe his teeth will thank me. maybe.). He doesn't know the difference now.

I finally snagged the birthday girl, Isabella, and got a picture.

Now here she is with her mom. Can you tell she didn't have a nap? Well, we are so glad she sacrificed for her friends, and we are glad we got invited to this really fun party for beautiful Isabella

Imagination

Yay! I am caught up! (Someday I am going to figure out how to put the pictures my sister took at Christmas on the blog, since I didn't have the camera, but not today.) I am a little exhausted. Let's see if I can keep up.
Let's see. I am really enjoying Manny and his creativity. He keeps getting funnier and funnier each day. He loves to pretend that his pop up tent is a spaceship. I have to get in, we put on our seatbelts, do a countdown to "Blastoff" and then drive the spaceship usually to Mars, where we get out, and find some friends (stuffed animals) we call Martians, and bring them back to the ship for some pretend food and a quick nap, until Manny screams, "Wake up!"
And I will write down more things as I think of them, but the point is he really makes me laugh.

Buzz and Woody: To Infinity and Beyond

We were lucky to have my friend Monika's son Zylen over to play. As you can see, they had a lot of fun, and not too much crying (only by my cry-baby son, who is learning to share toys). I got these awful costumes for cheap, but they really liked them. And you can mostly guess who they are supposed to be.
I kept trying to get them to look at me, but there was a mirror. They couldn't stop looking at themselves.

Zylen is such a ham and takes great pictures.

Manny trying to do everything himself, and then ends up crying/yelling in frustration.

Maybe we can have him over again.

Superman, Off to Save the World

Lately Manny has been enjoying dressing up. And here is our little Superman riding off on his tricycle to go save the world. Doesn't it look like that is what he is doing?

Focusing really hard on driving his car

Even though there was a little snow still on the ground, it was a beautiful day.

I love the ones from behind where you get a good view of the flowing cape.

A new favorite past time

Okay, so not so new, but when I was on Christmas break we took out the Guitar Hero and Manny really liked it. He would jump around, sing, bang his head, and try to imitate whatever they were doing on the tv (which made me think a little more about what we were watching). He would also ask for his microphone and sunglasses, but I didn't get a picture of it. Very funny.