Day 52: CHAP

November 16, 2010

We had another play group gathering today at a place downtown called CHAP (Children's Healing Art Project). It's a big space designed to let kids be free with art. There are tables with paints and collage materials set up, but there's also a play space with a house set up, some tunnels and other odd things (an old bathtub, some mannequins, toy cars, a mini kitchen). You are allowed (and even encouraged) to paint all these things in this area! Pretty neat. 

Jacob did a little bit of painting. He wasn't totally into it this morning. He wanted to play instead which was fine. He also did a little collaging. He said he had a fun time. 

Thankfully, the paint was dry on this punching bag when he hugged it.

 We had lunch with a few of the other moms at the Laughing Planet, a restaurant not far from CHAP. It has burritos, bowls, wraps, salads. Kind of healthy Mexican style stuff. Very tasty. I had a Cuban bowl with brown rice, black beans, plantains (yum!) and sweet potatoes. I added chicken. Jacob ate lots of black beans. Portland sure is fun and interesting when you're downtown. So much to look at and do (a.k.a. spend money on). Just people watching in a park is great fun.


Headed back over the hills for naps. It's a beautiful drive this way, though. The wet forests with bright patches of moss on the bridges and trees... very pleasant. 

Took a nice walk around the neighbourhood in the evening. I put Jacob in the stroller with a blanket and told him we were going on a walk in the cozy, dark evening. He liked it. We also checked the mail and he got two more presents! We waited until Daddy came home to open them. One is a really cool book from Gigi with a pop-up alphabet. We had to read it right away. And the other was the play food I'd ordered online.  
"Ooohh!" he said as he discovered what was inside. The look on his face was priceless. "Open. Open."
The first thing was breakfast foods: bacon, egg, hashbrown, a muffin (!) and strawberries. He was putting them in his dollhouse kitchen. It took him a little while to even notice that there was something else in the box. 

Vegetables that you can cut with your own knife! Oh, he was in heaven. We got those vegetables out and he cut them up and put them together for almost half an hour. Fraser was with him and they'd call out the names as he was cutting them:
F: "Avocado!"  
J: "Arrogado!"
F: "Tomato!"
J: "Mato!"
F: "Carrot!"
J: "Car- rot!"

We finally had to pull him away to have a few bites of dinner and a bath. 
Bathtime was funny tonight too. He was all hyped up, having a great time swimming around in there. 
"Don't splash too much, sweetie," I said. "It'll get all wet out here."
"Moldy," Jacob said. The boy does listen.
"Yep," I said, "it'll get moldy in here."
"Blackberries."
"You're right. Like the blackberries get moldy sometimes." 
Never underestimate what a kid is understanding. Or remembering. As Soundheim said, "Careful the things you say, children will listen."