A couple of months ago, in the midst of a super-busy time at work, Lee and I agreed that a vacation was in order. And not just any kind of vacation – the kind that involves doing absolutely nothing in a beautiful place by the sea. We didn’t want to go on a tour or do any sightseeing. We just wanted to relax, pure and simple.
I give Lee all the credit for finding Tensing Pen. It’s a small resort in Negril, Jamaica, about an hour and a half cab ride from the airport in Montego Bay. We were drawn to the place by descriptions of its natural beauty and solitude, and we were not disappointed.
The property has about a dozen cottages, and this was our home sweet home, Rock Cottage I.
When we began searching for a place to stay, an ocean view was mandatory so we could enjoy breakfast on our balcony and watch the waves roll in. But we got so much more, with 180 degree, unobstructed views of the crystal blue water from the two loungers on our front porch. I couldn’t believe our good fortune. The room was nice, with french doors opening onto the porch, and a great ocean breeze negating the need for air conditioning.
We spent many hours on that front porch, me with a book (I read 2.5 books in the 3 full days we were there), and Lee with either a book, his ukulele or his watercolors. He didn’t have to look far for inspiration to paint.
When not on our porch, we could often be found here, at one of the lounge areas set up directly on the cliffs.
Or, perhaps my favorite spot, this hammock hut jutting out over the ocean.
There was no beach, but I didn’t miss it. We enjoyed waking up each morning to the sound of the water curling up against the cliffs. There were various stone pathways and ladders down into the water, and the resort provided floats for bobbing around in the ocean, which I loved. The water was deep (deep enough for cliff diving), but so clear you could see all the way to the bottom.
I absolutely loved the way the resort was designed, with rock pathways carved seamlessly into the rock cliffs. The stone cottages with their thatched roofs seemed to belong, instead of invading on the area’s natural beauty.
For someone so schedule-oriented, it’s not always easy for me to put aside the guidebooks and travel planners and just soak it all up. But here, there was no rush. No television or phone in our room – not even a clock. I woke up because the sun was up. I went to sleep because I was sleepy. And it was just what we needed.
And if the pictures don’t give you a feel for the place, here’s a little video montage of the resort. I had to include the part where I jump off the bridge over the cliffs, but I edited it so you don’t have to watch me stand there for ten minutes working up the nerve to jump!
Tensing Pen from Ginger on Vimeo.
All the way home from school, Lee and I like to quiz Camille about her day. Mostly it’s because we’re so curious about what she’s up to at school, but also partly because her answers are pretty funny.
According to Camille, today at school she:
Ate a cookie for lunch.
Made a kite.
Slept on a bench.
Delightful!
Last week at Oatland Island, Camille found a recorder for sale at the center’s gift shop. That recorder has provided quite a bit of entertainment (especially for the bargain basement price of $1). As we walked to the barn, she blew a single note over and over, and told me how excited she was to play for the animals. I think the turkeys especially liked her serenade, because they sang right along.
Barn Serenade from Ginger on Vimeo.
The Paci Fairy is either going to come out of this experiment as a hero or a heartless hag. And I will come out of this experiment with more gray hair for sure.
So, the quick advance of Camille’s third birthday has Lee and me thinking about things. Every day Camille is more girl and less baby, yet we’ve all been hanging on to some relics from her babyhood. The diapers are getting tiresome, but boy aren’t they convenient? The length of her body fills much more of her crib, but isn’t it nice to know she’s safe and snuggly in there? And she looks a little old to have a pacifier, but didn’t you see the way her body relaxed when she popped that paci in her mouth just before drifting off peacefully to sleep?
I know these things will be changing soon because it’s right to let go of them, but I also expect a few bumps in the road. So when I read an article in a parenting magazine the other day about the “Paci Fairy,” I latched on to the idea.
The Paci Fairy operates much like the Tooth Fairy: leave your pacis for the fairy and find a present when you wake up. I liked the idea, because giving up the pacis becomes the child’s choice, and there is a reward for the sacrifice instead of just a paci-less void.
Camille has already put in her request – she wants the Paci Fairy to bring a camera. She has been WAAAAAAY into cameras lately, picking up nearly any ordinary object, holding it up to her eyes and announcing, “It’s a camera! Say cheeeeese!” She’s done this with a piece of rope, the lid of a tupperware bowl, and most often, a small alarm clock. She regularly pushes the alarm clock buttons pretending to snap photos, and inadvertently turns on the alarm. We get surprised throughout the day when the alarm goes off unexpectedly.
So two days ago, we secretly bought her a camera. It’s a great one – takes real photos and videos, is pink (of course) and built to withstand the inevitable drops and dings of a child’s first camera. I can’t wait to give it to her because I think she’s going to love it, but apparently I will have to wait. I thought the lure of a new camera would be enough, and the first day we talked about it she seemed on board. “I’m all done with pacis!” she proudly announced.
But when bedtime neared, she told us, “I need my pacis just a little big longer.” And we’ve heard that refrain two nights in a row.
So now I’m wondering if this Paci Fairy business is going to work or not. If the choice is hers, is she ever going to be willing to part with her pacis? Or one day are we just going to have to tell her that the Paci Fairy is coming whether she likes it or not? Then she’ll envision this Paci Fairy as an evil entity who swoops down in the darkness and steals a child’s comfort.
What have we gotten ourselves into?
I know I can’t shelter Camille forever from all the negative, violent influences of the world, but I thought it would be a bit longer before we had to discuss the problem of guns.
Then she got a Care Bears DVD.
She absolutely loves the well-meaning gift and it’s one of her top requests when it’s TV time. The first episode on the DVD is fine – it’s all about the importance of eating healthy food. But I was shocked to discover that the second one involves a bad-guy character who uses a “laser” to hold the Care Bears hostage. The word “gun” is never used, but it’s shaped like a laser gun and the bad guy threatens to vaporize the Care Bears with it if they don’t do as he commands.
Of course, the story has a happy ending, but in my opinion it unnecessarily crosses a line. I expect this sort of thing out of Batman cartoons, which is why she doesn’t watch them yet. But Care Bears? And Camille doesn’t miss much. We were in the back yard the other day and she was holding a spray nozzle for the water hose. “What’s that, Camille?” I asked her.
“A laser,” she said.
GREAT.
But to be honest, I think her brush with the idea of guns (even though I don’t think she really understands what a gun is) must’ve happened even earlier, probably on the playground at school. I say this because she will occasionally pick up a stick in the back yard, hold it out in front of her and say “Bam bam bam!”
I always tell her that’s not nice, and rather than forbidding her to play with the stick, I just tell her to say “Abra-cadabra” instead. But I can’t help being annoyed that we even have to correct this sort of behavior at this early of an age.
Thanks a lot stick-wielding preschoolers and laser-pointing care bear villains!
We FINALLY got around to ordering paper for Camille’s easel, which arrived at about the same time she was given a new paint and stencil set by some friends. She’s been painting at school for a while, but this was our first chance to really watch her create with paints, and it was so much fun. We even enjoyed picking up some brushes and painting with her too.
So proud of my girl!
Hello sweet sleepy-bee, and Happy Thirty-Three Month birthday. I’m listening on the monitor as you roll around in your crib, trying to settle down for the night. I know you’re sleepy – we had a big afternoon! Our church had a spring fling/cookout at Hull Park and you played and played and played some more.
Once again, this month I am both amazed and amused at the development of your language. I feel like you understand nearly every word I say to you, and you constantly surprise me with a new word or phrase, some even outside your native language. The other day, your buddy Elsie was sweet enough to bring you a piece of pink cake, and you took one look at it and shouted, “Rosa!” Not realizing your school had been teaching you colors in Spanish, I asked you to repeat it. “Rosa!” you said. “It means pink!” And sure enough, you know several other colors in Spanish too.
The other day we were walking across a sandy playground when the wind started whipping the sand in our faces. Instead of the mono-syllabic moaning or complaining I’d expect of a 2-year-old, you stopped mid-stride, raised your hands to cover your eyes from the sand onslaught and declared, “IT’S HORRIBLE!”
I felt badly for laughing at you, but that just seemed like such a dramatic, grown-up thing to say!
At other times, it’s not a new word that surprises me, but rather the context. Like tonight, at the park, you were wearing your swanky flower sunglasses. As you climbed up a playground ladder, your Daddy and I commented on how cool you looked. You paused, looked at us and said matter-of-factly, “I look like a nurse.”
Where do you come up with these things?
I also love your tender heart, which is a beautiful thing to have even if it causes you distress from time to time. You cannot stand the thought of someone or something in pain or peril. We were riding in the car the other day when suddenly you cried out, “What happened?!? What happened to that bug???!!!??”
We were driving past a billboard for a local pest control company which featured a graphic of a termite with bruises and scratches, looking rather abused. You were clearly upset by this, so we tried to diffuse the situation by just saying, “Well, he got a boo-boo.”
These billboards are all over town, and each time you see one we go through this conversation again, starting with, “What happened to that bug????!!!??” And usually ending with your attempt at reconciliation. “He’s crying for his Mommy and Daddy! I will blow him a kiss. That will make him feel better.”
The day of your school Easter Party, I watched you during circle time as your teacher read “Miss Spider’s Tea Party.” When she got to the part where the spider began to cry because no one would come to her party, you began asking “What happened, Mama? What happened to her? She’s so sad!” Your teacher told me you often get upset during story time whenever the object of the story faces sadness or conflict, even crying as she reads until the matter is resolved.
I love your tender heart so much it nearly breaks my own.
However, I must admit I have exploited your sympathies a bit when it comes to eating vegetables. I blame it on an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba in which the vegetables on the plate are crying because they want to go to the “party” in Brobee’s tummy. So, for example, last night when you didn’t want to eat your asparagus, I just said, “Oh no Camille! The asparagus is crying! It wants to go to the party!” And you ate every single bite. I hope that doesn’t make me a bad mother, but I’m pretty sure you understand it’s all part of a game we play.
This month you really enjoyed all the Easter celebrations, culminating in the family Easter egg hunt at Grandma Lou’s house. We all spent the weekend at Boo’s house making cupcakes and dyeing eggs in anticipation of the big event. Here’s a video recap of our fun weekend.
Easter Weekend 2009 from Ginger on Vimeo.
As much as you enjoy hunting eggs, I think it’s cute that you haven’t gotten competitive about it yet. At Grandma Lou’s there are three “prize” eggs that have money inside, which is a big deal to the older kids. You found two of the prize eggs (the older kids were told to let the little ones find them this year). One was a big ceramic egg, and soon after finding it, you took it back out of your basket and handed it to me. “It’s too big,” you said. Sigh. How cute that you aren’t all wrapped up in getting the biggest prize egg.
In fact, you taught me a lesson about my own competitive nature this month. I was watching video from your school egg hunt, and cringed as I listened to myself giving you instructions. You’d found 4 or 5 eggs, and decided to stop and open them. As I watched all the other kids racing around to get the rest of the eggs, I urged you to put yours away and keep hunting. But later when I thought about it, I realized it was bad advice. Why should I make you want to get more and more eggs? Why should I care if the other kids got the rest? If you were satisfied with 4 eggs and were ready to enjoy your find, why wasn’t that good enough? I’m sorry I got pushy, and I pledge to work harder on enjoying the small pleasures of life like you do, and not constantly look for something more.
In many ways you seem so grown up, but there are still parts of your babyhood you’d like to cling to awhile longer. Like your pacifier. A
long time ago, we restricted use of your pacifier to naptime, bedtime and in the car. This month, your Daddy and I decided it was time to take away the car pacifier, and the first car ride without it was brutal. You cried so hard and we all felt just awful. But remarkably, the next ride (and nearly every ride since), you asked for it, but didn’t get upset when it was denied. Thanks for being such an agreeable little girl. Next up, getting rid of the night-time and naptime pacifier. I hope your accepting nature kicks in there too, but I know it’ll be tough.
You enjoyed two fun “firsts” this month, all on the same day! You had your first pony ride and flew your first kite. You selected a Thomas the Train kite at the store, and were delighted to see it soar in the air. The beach was a perfect place for your first kite experience, and I think you liked it almost as much as your Daddy did.
Thank you for another amazing month, my love. Thank you for filling my ears with your laughter and my arms with your hugs. Thank you for being my talkative, tender-hearted two-year-old. I love you so, so very much.
I want a family compound. You know, a cluster of separate homes sharing the same plot of land. I so enjoy spending time with my family, and it just doesn’t seem fair that we’re all so scattered.
We enjoyed seeing Erin, Dave, Jones and Boo on Easter weekend, then Erin and Jones came to spend a few days with us. It was fun watching Jones and Camille interact. Each found the other pretty fascinating. I’m afraid Camille is always going to call him “Baby” Jones, or her other favorite, “Baby Jones-er.” He’ll probably be graduating high school and she’ll shout from the stands, “Way to go Baby Jones-er!”
In addition to playing around the house, taking trips for ice cream and to see the animals at Oatland, Jones got to experience a big “first” at our house. His first bath in a big tub! How cute is he?
Camille thought this was all great fun, of course, but could not stop washing him. She watched Erin intently as she bathed him, and all Camille wanted to do was help scrub him down. I snapped this photo right after I asked her not to wash his face. Hmmmm … someone has selective hearing.
First, a comment on the weather. How is it possible that my day started cool enough that the heater kicked on in the house, yet this afternoon:
Oh yes, that’s my child in a swimsuit, running around her Elmo sprinkler with an umbrella (of course) and a popsicle. Crazy but true.
Anyway, back to the point. Today I had the pleasure of accompanying Miss Camille to an Easter party at her preschool. A couple of weeks ago, when I found the note in her bookbag about the party, I was delighted to see that Camille would need a silly Easter hat for a little round-the-playground parade. I love a chance to be crafty, so she and I headed to Michael’s to find some materials to put together a fun hat. But when we got there, she spotted this:
A ready-made kitty cat hat. And she was smitten. So I put down my hot glue gun and happily bought the hat that was clearly her heart’s desire.
At school, the kids lined up for the playground parade as we parents stood off the to side, cameras at the ready. Camille had me laughing right away as she passed the monkey bars and couldn’t resist showing me how she likes to jump to try to reach them. Here’s a video clip – if you’re not sure which one is Camille, look for the kitty-cat hat jumping up and down. Then there is more jumping during one of their “circle time” songs, and finally, a bit of egg hunting.
School Easter Party from Ginger on Vimeo.
I enjoyed the party activities, but I think my favorite part was just being there and observing her at school. It wasn’t an easy decision when we moved her from her previous daycare into this preschool, but I’m very glad we did. I’m really liking the Montessori concept so far, and I also like the fact that this school is much smaller. She knows all the teachers and they know her, so I never feel like she’s going to be “lost,” neither literally nor figuratively. Miss Brooke is one of her favorite teachers, so I had to get a photo.
Two cuties!
After the Strawberry Festival on Saturday, we headed over to Ronnie’s to share some burgers and milkshakes with good friends we hadn’t seen in much too long. Erica and Isaac came to visit, and for the first time we got to meet Isaac’s son, “little” Isaac, who is such a sweet kid.
We took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and played at the beach, then grabbed dinner at the Crab Shack. The wait was long, but Camille didn’t mind – after all, she had her buddy for company.
I was sure the two kiddos would get along, but I was interested to see the exactly how the dynamic would play out between a 2-year-old and an 8-year-old. Turns out, these two were fast friends. On the way back from the Crab Shack – even though it was past bedtime and Camille should have been cranky and tired – there was so much laughter coming from the backseat I was afraid we might be violating a noise ordinance. Later, between fits of giggles, Camille explained. “I took off my shoe and I was hitting him with it. And he was laughing!”
Sunday, they went to church with us and got to be part of our church Easter Egg Hunt. Here’s Camille getting a pink egg (the older kids hid lots of pink ones especially for her – they take good care of my girl!):
And after the hunt, the two pose with their treasures. We will definitely have to get together again soon – this was fun!
