Learning through creating

Yesterday after swimming, Mommy and I went to the library. I love going to the library! This time they had some books they were selling off for just 10p [about 15 cents] each, so we chose 11! Then we borrowed some other books. Good thing Mom brought the stroller with the big basket!One of the books we borrowed is called 'My holiday in the USA.' 'Holiday' means trip/vacation here. Mom thought it might be good for me to learn something about America. So I guess you could say I was having a social studies lesson.

The first picture in the book is of a man with a helmet catching a ball. Mommy said he was playing American football. I said, 'No, he's not playing football. He's not kicking the ball!'

Then there were lots of interesting pictures of different parts of America. One picture had the Eiffel Tower in it, and I said, 'Look! It's France!' Mom said, 'No, actually it's America. It's in Las Vegas at a hotel that looks like Paris, France.' Clearly, I have a lot to learn about America! It's so confusing!

One picture I really like in it is the Statue of Liberty! I asked Mommy to help me find pictures on the internet of it, too. We found some videos even on YouTube. Some are funny--they make the statue sing and dance around! Mommy said that the Statue doesn't really move.

I asked if we could make a copy of the Statue of Liberty ourselves. Mommy thought about it and suggested Play-Do. Today we worked on it together. Mommy did most of the main sculpting, and I added some of the decorations. I am so happy with it!

Then after a ride on my bike and some time feeding old bread to the ducks on the local canal, I worked on another project with my PlayMais. (PlayMais is a present from my Auntie Jacqui that she brought back from Germany for my birthday. It's really cool. It's little bits of stuff made out of corn somehow that stick together when you get it a little bit wet with a sponge.) I showed it to Mommy and told her it was a piston and connecting rod for a steam engine. So I guess you could say this was the physics/engineering lesson for the day, only I was the one teaching it!

My first latte

After dinner tonight, Daddy was making some coffee for Mommy and himself in his Mokki.  ['Mokki' is what JoMo calls the stovetop espresso maker that we got in Italy--they call it a Moka there.  See the story from October 3rd, 'Barista and Bearista' --found here.]  I said that I wanted some.  So, he made me a mini-cappuccino, too!  Well, since it was almost all milk with only a spot of coffee, I guess it was a mini-latte, actually.  And don't worry:  it was decaf!

They got some cantuccini/biscotti to dip in their coffee.  But I didn't want those!  I wanted some of those nice cookies Mrs. Hanes makes.  They are also known as Moravian cookies or ginger crisps.  GaGa Donna sent them to us and I love them.  I am always trying to get some of those:  I'll finish my meal, be extra good, make my eyes really big and hold out my hands and say 'Please....?'

Enjoy the video clips.  And remember:  it IS decaf!  [And it was almost all foamed milk!]

Ho Ho Ho!

I like crackers. Not just the party kind of crackers that people here have at Christmas dinner, with the paper hat and joke and little toy or other surprise inside. Those are fun. But right now I'm talking about crackers that you eat. Savoury biscuits, some people call them.


Today I was having a couple of crackers at lunch time with my hummous and veggies and other stuff. One I had was a Hovis cracker, that says "Hovis" right on it. I don't think I had ever seen this kind of cracker before. Hovis is famous as a brand of bread here, mostly wholewheat. But there is also, as I found out, the Hovis cracker, or 'biscuit' as the locals call it, that looks like a loaf of bread. Cute, huh?

I ate half of the Hovis biscuit and held up what was left to Daddy and said, "Look! It says 'Ho'!" He was surprised. These parents are always surprised when I read things. He asked me, "What would THREE of those say? Something like Santa might say?" "Ho! Ho! Ho!" I said with a laugh.

But I said to the parents this week that I thought that maybe Santa was actually Mommy. "Cynical at age three!" said Dad.

In any event, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Addendum, Friday, 2 January:

Today at lunch I said to Mom, "I want a cracker that says H-O-V-I-S--that spells 'Hovis'!"  Now it was Mommy's turn to be surprised!