Day 8

On Tuesday, I spent my creativity on creating these mice for Squirt :) In the Netherlands, it's customary to share a little treat with your class mates when you've had a birthday, and Squirt went for... cheese! Which is quite funny when you know he tells me (and everyone who'll listen) on a daily basis that he really doesn't like cheese! On occasion while munching on a piece of cheese. Adding that he likes this cheese, but most definitely not 'the other cheese', whatever that means ;)

Gratitude only in the fact that I finished them on time :)

Birthday Boy

1976

clown

self

Self portrait. For the hell of it. Because it's raining. Because I have the house all to myself. Because I was struck again by the beauty of the blue wall :) And because it's been too long since I was both in front and behind the camera at the same time!

It's good to document. Even if it feels odd (or especially when it does?).

go

Go, as in; letting go & just do it :)
More Silly stuff!
Poor Buddha. Hope he's smiling upon my efforts :)

friend

Aren't they gorgeous?!

I met Mridula throught Shannon's course Inside/Out, back in January 2010. We've stayed in touch since, and even did a photo challenge together for a while. When she emailed me that she was going to travel to the Netherlands, from India, to visit family with her daughter, she asked if we could meet. I definitely wanted to; a chance like that is so rare when you live pretty much in opposite corners of the world! It was sort of scary, too. But in a good way ;) I'm so glad she took the trouble of coming to this here corner to visit me in my home, because we had a great chat! The way you talk with friends, comfortably. I'm only sad that this will probably be the only 'real life' chat we'll ever have...

tourists

Chinese tourists, mostly. People 'seeing Europe in 14 days'. They're off to do this:

Plastic culture! It's forgivable in tourists. It really is. Most of us have substituted the Real Thing for instant culture, somewhere - I know I have, anyway. But is it okay for locals?! I'm not so sure. Yet where we are now, we're a 20-minute bike ride away from this place (click). And all those typical Zaans-green gables? That's the colour of my roots... (although I prefer looking at those little bits of heritage 'in the wild', so to speak; find the gems right next to an industrial monstrosity for example. But I know you can't 'do Europe in a fortnight' and have time for a treasure hunt like that. I get that!) I was born around here, and got my first flashes of people and the world in these parts. I never thought it mattered, but I'm slowly finding out it does.

So. I don't have an excuse. It was a gut-inspired moment of... 'I have to'. Squirt in all his glory, intimately acquainting himself with wooden shoes. Slightly too big. You would have, too. Admit it!

spoiled part II

A while ago, I wrote this post. About not being ME, not being true to my soul, not feeling much at all - until through messy vermilion ink something came out. I entered that post in the Dirty Footprints Studio Art Journal LOVE Day party giveaway (I know, it's a mouth full *;)*) because the Me who made that messy heart and wrote that post felt that some bravery was in order.
And then something awesome happened: I won a prize!! I honestly can't remember when I last won anything!!
Barbara of Creative Fires Studio donated a pack of Swiss ephemera including chocolate - that is, Swiss chocolate! - and I was the lucky winner! It took 10 whole days to get here, I had all but given up on Swiss/Dutch postal services, but yesterday a package slapped on the doormat, and here's what was in it:

Before I had actually even properly opened the package to look, two chocolate hearts had already mysteriously disappeared...

But you have to understand - this was Lindt chocolate!! If you don't know what it means, you really do have my deepest sympathy... ;)

There are some lovely old papers in the package that will challenge me out of my comfort zone! I have never used ephemera or done much collage in general, so it will be interesting to explore new techniques. I love that bull :)

Barbara was nice enough to tuck in some extra chocolate! I'm really going to try and save some for ehm... tomorrow? ;)

I know, even as a doting mamma, that this is not the cutest expression on my toddler ;) But in the face of sweet stuff, especially chocolate, he just can't contain himself. I have no idea where he gets it from. None, you hear?!

Thank you so much, Barbara, it was definitely worth the wait :) & I love your little card!

Be sure to go look at her blog. She does awesome self-portraits and shares thought provoking insights. Incidentally, she is also one of the artists teaching a workshop in Dirty Footprints Studio's 21 Secrets, which starts April 1st. It looks like an amazing experience; I'm definitely considering joining. Looking forward to the desciptions of the different workshops being offered this round!

truck

In the stormy winds that raged here the past days, some roofing tore loose off a neighbour's dormer. It was hanging quite precariously, so the fire service was called out.
The truck was parked right in front of our house, and if you know anything about Squirt's LOVE for cars, you can imagine this was Da Bomb ;) He pretty much had his nose stuck to the glass the whole time :)

artist

blauwbador

it's a bluebador with yellow dots who poops in the wheelie bin, of course

Brain still mushy. Not expecting a change there before the Move is complete... Somewhere in the middle or near the end of November. Soon-ish, so, but it all feels like trying to look through a dirty window by banging your head against it repeatedly. Yeah. Don't ask.

Thank the stars for Carla Sonheim whose silliness has saved me from actual screaming and the tearing out of hairs. Until now at least, because the course is done and that's it. I have to come up with my own stuff again...

But I did! Already! Well, sort of, anyway :) Squirt is inventing words, these days, and this morning's random blurt was 'blauwbador'. In a true enough dialogue, we decided it had yellow dots and lived in the wheelie bin. Or at least, pooped there. Of course ;) You're never too young for those kind of jokes ;) And I could just see it, a friendly monster in the bin.

So I had to draw it. And here it is. Make of it what you will ;) I'm sure there are a lot of things you could come up with. If you're in any way drawn to the Freudian side of things, I'm sure you'll worry about me. But don't! I'm actually quite happy this came out when I least expected it!

sight

Silly assignment, to decorate a pair of glasses.
Isn't this so cute, in a weird, almost disturbing way?!

faceless

I'm a bit scared to draw in the face... But apart from that, pretty pleased about how this came out! And it actually happened, wet bum & all ;)

(click on image to see it larger)

doors

This is the hottest item in the house at the moment. A rather beat-up BMW. Not quite the latest model, but Squirt doesn't care much about these things. My parents' neighbours were moving and offloaded some toys. This one took the cake. Its doors actually open!

The previous owner of the vehicle - not quite that fabled dear old lady, as you can see - got the cutest high five in return :)

brugman*

Listening to Squirt expanding his vocabulary. How he learns to capture what goes on around him. How he gets better and better at telling me what he wants, what he sees. Amazement. He'll come out with a word I can't remember 'teaching' him (like 'couch'. Unlike 'nincompoop'. Which I did teach him, and it comes out fluently.) and it just puts a huge grin on my face (and his)! Watching this progress in such an up-close way, on such a micro scale is... amazing! Educational! & definitely entertaining :)

He's got a very absolute two-word-sentence limit. Whenever he tries to add a third word to the mix the last two words become a missmatched hash - which is funny in its own league. Glasses, worn for sick-day ease, were a source of mixed entertainment (note to self: get glasses fixed - they perch precariously now). 'Glasses on' worked. So did 'mamma glasses'. 'Mamma glasses on' invariably became something resembling 'mamma gl..loop' (actual NL: 'mamma bl...lop'). The only exception to this rule is 'mamma water drink' (excuse my skew translation of toddler-Dutch to English - I can't do a better job without losing the essence here). I guess his mind thinks 'water drink' is one word. The technical implications of an exception like that boggle my brains, but I'll leave it to the experts for now. I'm too sure I'll miss something if I take a time-out to excavate the science!

I love how he tries words on, for size. He'll drag mamma, pappa, oma, opa AND Moroccan friend N into the mix to see if it works on all of us. This boils down to us all owning cars together. Or eating, being outside or in, upstairs or down, at work, at home, wearing shoes, socks, having legs and tummies. Still fine, communally speaking. More questionably, we're also taking a shower and going to the bathroom, as a group ;)
He also knows when something or someone isn't 'here'. He'll answer 'gone' (NL: 'weg') when asked. I think that's so cool :)

He seems to understand certain concepts, but not others, which is interesting. Yesterday, he was having lunch at the coffee table - just for the fact that I was too tired to sit up at the dinner table (still flu-ey). So I was lying on the couch watching him eat, and out of the blue, he pointed at the table and stated: 'table'. I was appropriately impressed so he proceeded: 'food table.' Yesss! Pointing at the couch, I asked him what it was. 'Couch.' This was going really well :) 'Mamma on the couch' was met by his 'mamma couch'. 'Food?' met by 'table'.
So when I asked: 'where is mamma?', I was told I was on the table. Of course. As you are.

Which goes to show we're not quite there yet. Thank goodness! Because I'm having way too much fun watching and listening to him trying it on and spinning it as only a toddler can!
There will be plenty of time for him to talk me onto a table, or into a corner, in neat compound sentences. If his progress is anything to go by, he'll become a master at that, a lot sooner than bears thinking... But please: not for a long time yet!


* Brugman: Father Brugman (1400-1473) was known for his fiery sermons. His name has far outlived him in the Dutch expression 'talking like Brugman', for someone who talks much and quite convincingly.

priorities

Baby Boy knows what's important in life.

"I'm in my favourite recliner (pappa), got the remote, got my booze, all's well with the world!"

mamma, pappa

As if he read that last post, the next day Baby Boy picked up the pace on calling me 'mamma' :-D And admittedly, it's pretty cool to be called 'mamma' :-D

Also new this week, every time BB hears a noise outside (pretty much every five minutes, on average, as there is still a lot of construction going on a couple of blocks away), he looks at me expectantly and asks "pappa?". Have to disappoint him, most of the time - "no, pappa is at work...". Adding that when he hears hammering and drilling, it most likely isn't his dad. Who has a lot of talents. But home improvement, or singing, are not two of them ;-)