Beto and the rest of the preschoolers at Federico Froebel went dressed as shepherds to the school’s Christmas program.  The theme of the program was “Imagine”, featuring a group sing along of the Lennon song at the end.  The big kids from each grade each did a dance number, except for the 6th grade, who did an excellent job of playing “Imagine” on the recorders.  The Kinder 2 and 3 groups sang and did a little bit of a dance, while the Maternal and Kinder 1 (Beto’s group) kids mainly just sat on the floor and looked cute.  :)  After the music and dancing, there was ponche and cake.

We left a bit early as Beto’s best friend lives right across from the place where the program was held.  We stopped by so that Carolina could see Beto in his ‘pastorcito’ costume.  We had a great visit and plans were made for the two families to spend Christmas Eve together, with piñatas for the kids.  It should be good fun.

Here are the photos of Beto’s big debut on the stage:

and then he had a party at school the next day with his classmates and a proper cake (Thomas!).

Those links will take you to the first picture of each group and you can just click “Next” to continue through the group.

For his party at school we took in Thomas decorations, plates, cups, etc and stickers for each of the kids.   We made an enormous fruit salad and served that in individual cups, as well as a watermelon agua fresca that I made, and delicious tacos tuxpeños made by the mom of Beto’s best friend Carolina.  We also served a Thomas cake (tres leches white with strawberry filling) and vanilla ice cream.  The kids came in from their recess and pigged out, sang both Happy Birthday and Las Mañanitas for Beto, then Beto opened presents and that was it, back to the regularly scheduled school day.  Beto had fun and got himself filthy, which is why his outfit changes halfway through the pictures!

http://kirbylovell.com/gallery2/v/gilbert/2years/

Beto’s been talking a lot more recently, saying multiple new words a day.  It’s pretty cool and he’s absolutely delighted when he tries to express something and we understand what he’s saying.

He loves books, art projects, music, animals, running laps around the dining room table, throwing and kicking balls, taking all the cushions off the couch to make obstacle courses or cars…man, that boy loves to pretend that he’s driving!  Whenever he sees a picture of a vehicle, he’ll point to the driver’s seat and then to himself and say ‘Bo’, which is how he says his name.  When I ask him where I’m going to sit, he always points to the passenger seat.  He loves to make cars out of cardboard boxes and uses anything vaguely circular as a steering wheel, then tells me to get in the back.

He’s really starting to do a lot of imaginative play.  He feeds his baby doll or decides that it’s time to change the diaper on his froggie.   His Matchbox ambulance likes to stop each of the other cars at every lap to check their tire pressure.  Yesterday he played by himself for 15 minutes, which I think must be a record, as he still really wants Mommy and Daddy to play with him all the time.

When neither of us are sick from all the new nursery school germs, I try to take him outside for a good long play every day.  We’ve got a few really nice playgrounds here in Colima now, and he loves to go climbing, sliding and running in circles with other kids.   Sometimes we take his tricycle out and he works on mastering that or we just take a long walk through the neighborhood at Beto speed.  I always return carrying rocks, flowers, leaves, etc as he really likes to collect things!

All in all…he’s a pretty typical 2 year old.  Oh, except he insisted that Luke read a Hemingway short story to him last night, before bed, instead of one of his own picture books.  That’s just weird!

Wow…we’ve all made it through another year! Beto celebrated his 2nd birthday at the Parque Regional. This is where Colima’s zoo is, as well as a small lake for paddle boats, lots of picnic area and…dum dum dee dum…CYCLOVIA! Cyclovia is a special course built for cycling, the perfect place for the birthday boy to try out his brand new tricycle! We took a picnic and birthday cake. Beto drank way too much horchata and had all sorts of fun experimenting with his new wheels. There are lots of pictures of all the birthday fun in Beto’s Gallery.  Enjoy!