Mafe Maria: A Creative Playground by Maria Q. Stultz
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(145 entries)
Last week, my babycenter newsletter called Joaquin a “preschooler”. It also warned, me in case I’ve been bracing myself for the arrival of the “terrible twos”, that what’s truly terrible is the second year — the one we just passed — because the “twos” (or third year of life), newsletter says, are a much tamer [...]
Without much effort on our part, and perhaps thanks to the educational videos Joaquin watches every day, our almost two–year–old bollito has moved on from learning the numbers 1 to 10, to now show a huge interest in the alphabet, and as of today, he knows the letters A, B, D, G, I, K, M, [...]
“Look Joaquin! A little insect!”, I point out to “Doro the exploradoro” during our morning walk. His tiny fingers immediately catch the poor crawling bug, and by the time I’m down to his level, telling him to hold it GENTLY, I can see that the thin black patitas are not moving any more. Joaquin offers [...]
Remembering the satisfaction I got from making Joaquin’s pirate costume last year, it was kind of implied that this Halloween he would wear a mommy-made costume again. So after a short talk with Joey, we decided that the only requirement for this year’s character would be to include a mustache, just because we loved last [...]
Here’s a little slideshow documenting a fairly typical day in my life. I once saw a photo album one of my friends uploaded to his Facebook account for this same purpose, and I have wanted to do something similar since then. Wouldn’t it be interesting to do this every year and see how life changes? [...]
Walks around “our property” (the backyard) like Simba, the lion king. Announces poops and pees — and perhaps, farts — by becoming very serious and saying “popó” in a solemn tone to express the “gravity of the situation”. Demands more than two choices to select a video to watch. “Two?!”, he moans and quickly points [...]
Mmmmmmhhhh… mmmpgh… hmmmm… ack… GRRRRRR!… Mmmpgh!!! Grrrrr!… Sun of a mother!… &#@#&%@!!!… … Piece of festering marsupial-pleasing orc!… Aghhhhhhhhh… I…. HATE!… MAKING!… BAGS!!! Angry words, courtesy of the Cuss-o-Matic.
Interrupting my recent rampage of jewelry making projects, about a week ago I discovered with horror that Joaquin’s cow sleep sack has become too tight for his 19–month–old growing legs. As I free Kiki out of it and the crib, I tell him about the problem… Sozo doesn’t make any bigger sizes of their adorable [...]
Over the last few years, age started beating poor Siege really hard. Every year she’d get sick and the hospital bill would often be around $1,500. It was clear that we needed to replace her, but we don’t like change… And with Joey still in school, we didn’t feel it was prudent to do it. [...]
Yesterday, right after I finished writing about why I need a nanny, Joaquin and I went out for our weekly playgroup, and if the last two classes at the Little Gym have been a nightmare, yesterday afternoon I really wanted to move to a different planet and not give Joaquin my new address. Joaquin was [...]
As soon as I saw her, she reminded me of my mom. She looked mature, yet youthful. I liked everything she said, her experience, her presence at my house, and the best sign of all: Joaquin seemed to be ok with her. He ate his dinner peacefully, even with a “stranger” at the table. Then [...]
My playgroup friends had to explain it all to me… You see, where I come from, Easter is not called “Easter”. It’s “Semana Santa” (Holly Week), a time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and perhaps do some sacrifices of our own. Not a time to be running wild and crazy, looking for eggs filled with [...]
An umbrella category for all entries that have more to do with me, my life, and interests, than with my work as an artisan and web designer.
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