Books and Stones

It has been extremely hot these past few days. I could just easily lock myself and my little ruffian toddler inside the room and turn the air-con full at blast.

Tough luck.

The little guy is an outdoor person and prefers to bake under the sun (at 1 p.m.!) while playing with his toys or doing whatever. If I keep him inside he'll get cranky.

And guess who gets cranky NEXT??? 

So anyway, between the peak of heat until around 4 p.m. when its (hopefully) shady enough at the street for a stroll or bike ride, we stay outside in the garden. There Alonzo happily plays with his toys, "cuts" the grass and waters the plants, plays hopscotch, terrorizes Lolo's pet bird, bullies the dog, draws different shapes on the pavement with a chalk-y stone, rearrange all the slippers at the doorstep, touch the makahiya and watch it fold (also called touch-me-not plant). When he gets bored he'll ask me to read him a story.    

His current favorite books at the moment are "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" by Virginia Lee Burton and "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddel (Thanks, Maqui and Aki for this!)

I try to be more creative when it comes to story telling. It may seem silly but there are times when some of his stuffed toys are arranged and seated in a row on the play mat with Alonzo at the center as I read to "them" a book. Facial expressions and funny voices are obligatory! hahaha! (will seach for photos in my file)

So anyway, one day while we were outside I ad-libbed the Owl Babies story and used drew on a couple of accent stones from the garden and used them as my "props".