Th

Nathan has a new name in our house! We all call him "Nathan" now. Rachel has recently figured out how to make the th sound and is using it with abandon. She's long known that his name isn't "Nafan" and would correct us if we adopted her pronunciation. Now that she's discovered the th sound, it's fascinating to observe her trying it out in all sorts of words, seeing where it belongs and where it doesn't. For a few days, she would count "One, two thuh-ree [very carefully enunciated to get that th next to the r], thour." I think she's figured that one out now, and this morning I heard her mention putting something in the "thridge," then quickly decide that wasn't right and correct herself--"fridge." I love when we are afforded such a chance to peer into our children's amazing developing minds!

White fluff initiations

So, for various reasons, we never got Nathan out to play in the snow when we had 30 cm of the stuff on the ground for weeks. Then last week it melted, only to be replaced with a light dusting last night. And who knows what more we'll have? (Probably lots, since we have no garage and that seems to be the way the fates work, but you never know.) So I thought it was high time Nathan was introduced to snow. He's noticed it on our trips to and from stroller and car, and lately he's been interested in sticking his hands in it. He has even tried eating it off the rug after we tramp it into the house. (Delicious!) So today after lunch, we bundled up, and out we went! Nathan was sufficiently bundled up that he had a hard time maneuvering if I sat him on the ground, but he did great if I pre-positioned him for crawling.



He loved riding in the sled--especially when Rachel was the reindeer!



And then...and then Rachel introduced him to the fine delicacy that is fresh January snow. Like sister, like brother. He is a fan!




Then, later this afternoon, we made popcorn for our snack. I'd been avoiding introducing them to it because of an article I read that recommended not letting kids have popcorn until age four. Honest, I don't listen to all that stuff, but choking is something I'd rather not deal with, and popcorn seemed pretty easy to avoid, except when the bag in the cupboard sang its siren song to me on cold afternoons. So I was waiting. Then I saw on this week's preschool schedule that Thursday is Movie and Popcorn day. Well, if she's going to be eating popcorn at school, then she can eat popcorn at home, by golly! I didn't want her initiation to be from a plastic bag or from the microwave. So we got out our best poppin' pan and popped us some corn. And, if you grew up in the house I grew up in, you have to eat it from a wooden salad bowl. So we did. And it was good. It was especially cute when Rachel held up a kernel and explained to Nathan that the yellow skin turned brown and all the fluff exploded from inside the corn! (She is a born teacher. She "taught him how to make a snow angel" today. Well, if he'd been paying attention, he might have learned. He was climbing back into the sled to beg for another ride at the time.) And thanks, Mom, for reminding me of the bite-off-the-kernel-and-give-the-baby-a-bite-of-fluff trick--Nathan loved it, too!

Photos!

New photos at last! I've just finished the 2009 album at our Shutterfly page ( kralikphotos.shutterfly.com ). Check it out and enjoy.

And here are a few fun recent photos...

Showing off some new duds. (They're a little better at sitting on a chair than in last year's Christmas card photos!)


Rachel got this new dress from Grand-Merr. Does she look a million years old to you?


Nathan on the chair again--this time, he also brought toys over to the table to entertain himself!


Holy facepaint, Batman! This was a butterfly by Mom with embellishments by Rachel. She does love the makeup.

Nathan sits

Nathan is totally into sitting. He's really, really close to walking--stands alone for a long time when he doesn't know he's not holding on to something, walks around pushing progressively lighter things (laundry baskets are popular lately)--but just hasn't yet decided it's time to take a step. So walking--yeah, he's making progress like he's supposed to and all that. But sitting--therein lies his passion! He has discovered that there are some little chairs that he can get into all by himself and he loooooooooooves to do so. I've watched him spend half an hour (no exaggerating!) climbing into and out of a little blue chair we have. (Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. H--you had no idea what fun this chair would bring us!) He gets his rump on the chair, usually with one leg hanging off the side, then wiggles around until both legs are in front. (This is accompanied by sound effects that are darling.) Then he looks up at whoever is around and grins. And then he reverses the process and gets himself back off the chair. Pause. Push chair a few centimeters. Repeat.


We spent some time on New Year's Eve at a children's museum--they had hourly countdowns during the afternoon, so we celebrated the New Year with the good people of Dubai. Anyway, there also much to play with and explore. Rachel roamed around, made a party hat in the art room, played picnic in the pretend forest, tried on some costumes and ran across the stage. Nathan and I spent quite a while at the Time-Out Chair--a cute little red Adirondack chair with a sign announcing its purpose. We were there, not because anyone was being naughty, but just because someone liked the chair. (I guess I gave myself away by calling it cute before. Oh, wait...) He shimmied himself into it, then settled in and relaxed against its reclined back. He had this look that said, "Yes. I am sooooo cool, sittin' here like a big person. I was made to sit here." He was very proud of himself. This photo, alas, is after he sat back up to get out of the chair. I missed my chance to photograph his expression, which would have been a good thing to show the several people who walked past, glanced from me to him, then looked at me like, "What kind of mother puts such a tiny child in time out?" Guess they don't know how fun it is to sit in the chair you were made for.