41. The imagination box

This entry was originally going to be about two events, one cute and one really pretty sad, but since this draft is a year old or more, I only remember the imagination box. Also, I have enough sadness going on in my life right now to have to try to dig up more from the past.

I think I may have written about this before, but if I did, then just bear with me. It's a cute story, so...

One day, Tristan climbed into a box, like he's still prone to doing from time to time. It was a regular cardboard box, nothing special, but I remember Tristan sitting in it, playing in it a bit and then his mother saying something like: this is an imagination box Tristan. It can become anything you want it to become.

Tristan then looked at the box, looked back up and said: "Imagination doet het niet," which means something like "Imagination doesn't work."
It was an adorable moment.

And the best part is that Tristan is still just as cute now (8 jul 2011) as he was a year or more ago. I'm glad he's turning out okay, despite all the crap with his parents.  

40. More adorable expressions by Taddy G

The butterfly in the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Sabrina was just reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Tristan and again, our little man succeeded in making me laugh.

Sabrina reached the end of the book and read where the caterpillar comes out of its cocoon and has transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

Suddenly, I hear Tristan exclaim: Nee-ee! Hij moet geen vlinder zijn. Hij moet een rups zijn!
(No-oo! He shouldn't be a butterfly! He should be a caterpillar!)
I couldn't help chuckle at that sweet, opinionated little boy. Most kids would probably say something like: "Ohhh, what a pretty butterfly!", or something to that effect. Not Tristan. He knows how things should be and he's not afraid to let you know what's wrong with matters in his opinion. ;)

Another cute thing he did earlier today while I was changing his diaper. He was a little bit restless and cranky, because he was getting tired, and I began to sing a song for him; Under the bridge, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I sing that song to him from time to time, with some regularity, so he's become accustomed to it as being a bed time song. So when I started singing it, he began to protest, thinking I was trying to get him to go to sleep or put him to bed or something.
So I said to him: Tristan, it's just a regular, calm, soothing song which daddy sings to you before bed time sometimes. It doesn't mean I want you to go to sleep. It's not a magical song that will put you to sleep.
Tristan replied: Is wel magisch liedje. (Is too a magical song.)

That was so endearing to me. It shows that he thinks daddy can sing a magical song that will put him to sleep. Both the fact that he believes there's such a thing as a magical song and the fact that he thinks I can sing it... adorable. <3

Funny dialogue between Tristan and mommy, an hour before bedtime:

Mommy: Tristan, you're not being a very good boy. Do you want to go to bed an hour early?
Tristan: Yes.
Mommy: So you want to go to bed right now?
Tristan: No.
Mommy: Right now would be going to bed an hour early Tristan.
That seemed to confuse him a little bit.
It sure made me smile.

And finally, for a cute one liner:

Dat is niet vies, maar ook lekker!
(That is not yucky, but also nummy!)


Oh and here's a few pictures of things that happened lately. Some remarkable, some just cute.
Enjoy!

Molen van Piet, on a sunny day while riding
around with Tristan on my bike. He really
wanted to see it so... we went. ;) 

On another bike ride with papa.
In this picture we were watching a butterfly.  

This butterfly, to be precise. ;) 

Creative picture of the shadow of my bike,
with Tristan in the baby seat at the front. 

One of the scenes we saw on our bike ride through the forest. 

Tristan, blazing a trail, as always. <3

Here Tristan is putting laundry in the washer, completely
of his own accord! And it was so sweet, because I was
really, really tired that day. Only one thing got washed
that shouldn't have been: a face he had made at
either preschool or daycare. Still... wonderfully helpful. 

Tristan, just being his adorable self.
And yes, he still loves his Kiko. :) 

39. A stitch in time, especially at this age...

Tristan cleaning the fridge with a dish brush... of his own accord, I should add! 

Tristan is a very special little boy. He'd been disobedient and troublesome for the past 2 days already, but today, he just walks into the kitchen while I'm busy making dinner there and he says: papa, I want to help. So he takes the dish brush, and starts scrubbing one of the kitchen cabinets at floor level. So I made him a little bowl filled with water and dish soap and he happily went to work at scrubbing the kitchen. And he did a great job too with the cabinets and the fridge. It was amazing to behold and so, so sweet. 

I love that little boy so much. 

Now, let's not forget that he refused to eat much of anything of the dinner I'd made, except the hamburger that went with the meal. That was a real pity, because I'd really put some effort into making a proper meal, with beets, boiled potatoes and gravy, the whole shebang...:o/

But when we came upstairs to go to bed, I asked him if he was going to be a good boy again, he said yes, so I asked him to pick up all the puzzle pieces he'd left scattered all throughout the hallway, and he did without any further prompting. I'm so proud of him. <3

I also asked if he wanted to help me like that every day, and he said yes. That's my little boy! 

Someone is too smart... sometimes ;)

Tristan really is a bright boy, you can tell.

There were two instances today that I just have to record here, for later. It would be a shame if they got lost in the sands of time.

The first was at a shoe store, where I went with Tristan today to look for some new shoes, since apparently the shoes he had on were a bit too big for him still. When we walked into the store, I asked the girl at the register if she had a garbage can, since I had some crap that I had to throw. So she presented me with the trash can and I deposited my garbage.
Ten minutes later, in the back of the store, I asked Tristan if he could hold his mini juice carton. He said he didn't want to, so I told him: "If you don't want to hold it, papa will have to throw it. Now, I don't see a trash can around here anywhere, do you?"
He looked around for a second and then said: "Yes, at the cash register." (There was no way for him to see it, since it was all the way across a pretty big store)
I just laughed and told him he was too damn smart.

Mylazara

The other instance happened not too long ago, when I was putting Tristan to bed. As per normal, we talk a little bit, I ask him a few nonsense questions and we start talking about his stuffed animals.

I asked him: what's Kiko (his stuffed frog) and he said: Frog!
And what about Scout? Dog!
And finally... what about Mylazara? What is Mylazara, Tristan? Tristan looked at the blue ball that is Mylazara for a bit, trying to figure out what kind of animal Mylazara actually was.
Then he looked at me and landed on: Lief!
And smiled. ;)

Heh... but then there was the little incident on the train home.
Tristan took my hand and wanted to bite it. He said "Papa pijn doen," (hurt daddy)
I told him I didn't want him to do that, but he kept trying, so I put his fingers in his mouth and told him to bite on those... then 10 seconds later, I hear a "yow!" from Tristan.
Well, what do you know... he'd actually somewhat hardly bitten his own fingers and now was actually surprised that it hurt.  So strange... he must know it hurts... We have a weird little man for a son. <3

Have a great day all.
Wow, time for sleep... I'm falling over.

Kids say the darnedest things

Me: If you want to grow up to be big and strong, you have to eat your lettuce. 

Tristan, 10 mins and 1 leaf of lettuce later: I AM BIG! 

This one doesn't translate properly, but I'll give it whirl:

T: I am sick!
M: You don't look sick.
T: I am look sick!

M: Tristan, if you eat the right things, you stay healthy. If you eat unhealthy things, you will get sick. 

T: I want to do sick things!