A few years ago I dragged a bin of wood cut offs destined for the fire place out of the shed, thinking they’d be awesome as building blocks. I was talking to @adam.closs who is a carpenter and was busy with some woodwork outside about the blocks. He got the idea of cutting some pillars …
Syntia is well on her way to becoming a farm girl through and through. Having grown up in an urban setting myself, it is awesome to see how comfortable she is sitting on my horse’s back or going for a ride on Cesar’s tractor. Farm life was completely foreign to me when I moved out …
Spending some time with Cesar in the Parrot aviary. Cesar likes to share his food with them. When he eats a piece of fruit or veg but gets close to the stem he stops eating and collects little bits to give to the Parrots. Here he had already gotten a lot of apple to eat …
Cesar literally playing with fire. Fire is one of his big fascinations, and he welcomes stormy nights when the power goes out (= lots of candles). When I was young I did not get much experience with fire. Once, I set a paper tissue on fire (I was playing in secret, I was not to …
Living in a community comes with a set of challenges. One of those challenges is the use of space. Lj, Syntia and I share a house with (currently) 4 other people. The kitchen, lounge, bathroom, laundry room, porch and garden are all communal areas. To ourselves we have a 40 square meter room that we …
Repost from @kimberlytolife: Meet Cesar, a child of life, his own man. He belongs to no one but himself. He has adults in his world that are responsible for him and his wellbeing, that guide him and teach him by example. But he leads and directs his own life. Cesar is empowered. He is never …
That moment you realize that you should probably start keeping your make up on a higher shelf level #candidmoment #makeup #toddler #preschooler #kidsofinstagram #instakids #lipstick #pink #motherhood #nothingssafe #artistic #beyondgender #parenting #consciousparenting #awareparenting #fun #children #childhood #boundtohappen That moment you realize you should have moved the make up then and there… #postponement #procrastination #makeup …
When we noticed that Syntia started using gestures to try to bring a message across, we took a dive into the baby signing world. Baby sign language is a popular method to give babies the ability to communicate their needs more effectively and specifically, especially before they have mastered the articulating and sounding of words. …
Seems like winter decided to make its entrance afterall. The rains seem to have stopped and getting that gentle afternoon sunlight coming through. Gently caressing the land with its last rays before setting down for the night. Cesar and I took a bit of an extended stroll after attending to the horses. Enjoying the sceneries …
![Cesar gave Syntia his train tracks about a year ago, and before they were hers, she would play with them together with Cesar. She's had a ton of time to learn the different pieces, how to put them together and build a track, but for some reason, she DID NOT want to build a track by herself and most of all preferred to just watch as someone else built the track for her.
Lj and I knew she was perfectly capable of building a track for herself and we tried to support her to start small and show herself that she can do it. Or that we'd be here if she gets stuck, but she can at least try on her own. Any such attempts, however, were met with an absolute and firm refusal. So, we did it with her, or for her.
We started wondering, is this little girl really just taking advantage of us at this point? Are we entertaining this too much? Should we push harder? We knew she could do it, she knew she could do it, but for some reason she just didn't want to do it, at least, not yet.
And then one day, out of the blue, she takes out her blocks and starts building a track... by herself. Lj quietly waived me over, pointing at her, then signing 'shhht', lol - didn't want to disturb the moment. The track you see in the pic is the first one she built by herself. It wasn't a "beginner's" track like a simple circle or a straight line, it was a more intricate design laid out exactly and precisely how she wanted it to be, including all the elements she wanted to have as a part of it. Kabam, out of the blue.
There are other things where Syntia 'took her sweet time', like learning how to walk and potty training, where it was clear at some point that she was able to do it, but for some reason, pulled back or didn't want to do it all by herself just yet. It's so easy as parents to freak out over that, to think that children should develop skills in a particular way, like 'starting small' or doing something by yourself as soon as you're able to. But not all kids are the same in this. [Continued in comments..]](https://scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/135216034_868657797266702_107582540258970761_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c4dd86&_nc_ohc=Z1V8WJUUqosAX-4LmjA&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfCJjAXVxtNiIi6gvUUl0MZd6cdkXtaHW6r2JeZgYPVE-A&oe=64DB2E92)
