Summer 2011 (in pictures)

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are 10,000 words in picture format.

 Maidstone Beach in East Hampton

 Daddy teaching Violet to swim

 Violet and Jackson in the building's courtyard

 Violet cleaning up after "hurricane" Irine

 Feeding ducks and swans in E. Hampton

 Violet refused to part with the stale bread to feed the ducks

Main beach in E.Hampton 

 The swing at Van Voorhees Park

 Petting Zoo at Prospect Park

Audrey introduces Violet to sushi

Сорока-ворона

Out of my 150+ blog posts, this has been by far the most popular one, with nearly 300 1 million hits.  I suppose there are a lot of people out there trying to find the words to popular Russian nursery rhymes.  This made me want to include Violet's current favorite nursery rhyme/song: Сорока-ворона.

Russian

Сорока – сорока,

Кашу варила,
Деток кормила.

Это му дала,

Это му дала,

Это му дала,
Это му дала,

A этому не дала-

Ты воды не носил,
Дров не рубил,

Тебе нет ничего!

English
Magpie - Magpie,
Cooked the porridge,
Fed it to the little children.

She gave to this one,

She gave to this one,
She gave to this one,
She gave to this one,

But she did not give to this one -

You have not brought water,

You have not chopped fire-wood.

There is nothing for you!

The adult runs her finger over the baby's palm, like her finger is a ladle and says the first verse. Then the adult bends each of the baby's fingers (except the pinky) while saying the second.  The pinky finger is held and shaken during the third verse. 

 I guess Russians want to instill good work ethic from infancy.  How does this sound?  Violet, you didn't help me optimize my search campaign today, therefore you did not contribute to this family's income, so tonight you will not be eating dinner.   If you think that's harsh, you should see the Ukrainian version of this rhyme.  Here is the translation only:

The Magpie-Crow

Was sitting on the stovetop,

Cooking porridge for the children

I gave to this one,

I gave to this one,

I gave to this one,

I gave to this one,

And I won't give to this one.

'Cause this one 

Didn't chop the wood,

Didn't make the dough,

Didn't go for water,

Didn't look after the children,

Didn't do anything.

And the one who doesn't work,

Doesn't eat!

The full rhyme can be found here.  So while the Russian child had to chop the wood and bring the water, the Ukrainian child also had to make the dough and look after the children.  And if that wasn't enough, s/he was blatantly told that those who don't work, don't eat.  Poor Ukrainian children, they just can't get a break. 

A,B,C....O?

This morning I walked into the room to find Violet doodling while singing the ABC song.  I usually use the doodle board to write out the letters as I say them so she is familiar with what they look like.  Her song sounded something like this:

A,B,C...babble babble, I, O...babble babble, X,Y....babble babble...now know....babble babble...

I was so proud because I have been singing it to her the past few days and I was amazed to see that she has been listening all along.   Usually I start and say, "A" and she repeats "B" to which I say "C" and she always follows that up with "O".  I remind her that next is "D" and she continues by saying "I".  It's not a perfect performance, but we're working on it.

Potty Pooper

Before becoming a mom, I never understood why parents would get excited about their kids' fecal matter.   I was forced to listen to numerous stories about kids crapping all over the walls, themselves and god knows what other objects around the house.  It made me make this mental note: do NOT tell poop stories to people who aren't parents, because there is nothing funny or cute about defecation.  Alas, here I am  writing about potty training my kid.  Well, actually the day care is potty training Violet and all Gene and I have to do is cheer and clap and sing, "poop on the potty, poop on the potty, poop on the potty. Yay!!!"  I think we enjoy it a lot more than Violet and a little part of us (mostly Gene) wishes that this little song and dance was also appropriate in other places....say at dinner parties, or the workplace.  Violet hasn't fully figured out that she has to go on the potty in order to complete the waste removal process so we often see her squatting in random corners around the apartment, then standing up and cheering for a job well done.  Ah, to be a kid again!

What is Art?

What is that you ask?  I have no freakin' clue but I can tell you that it is the first of the many unidentifiable art projects to come.  When I came to pick up Violet from day care yesterday, she extended her little hands and forked over the pink thingumabob, (paper weight?)  beaming from ear to ear.  At that moment, I was the proudest mommy on the planet!  My little girl made that!!!  

Fall Foliage

It feels like just yesterday I wrote this post.  Alas it has actually been months and now my favorite season is upon us.  How can anyone not like the Fall? Especially the early Fall when it's still pretty warm out and the leaves start to turn and it's that magical time right before everyone starts trampling over each other for Christmas presents. The whole seasons screams of pumpkins, cinnamon and apples.  Most importantly, I look great in orange, which might as well be the official color of Autumn. Then there is Halloween and the all important decision of what Violet should be this year.  Last year she had two costumes: a sheep and a ladybug. It's going to be hard to beat such cuteness!

  

I have to enjoy this time because as the years pass, the costumes will get shorter and sluttier.  First she will go as a princess, then it will be a cheerleader and before you know it she will be a slutty cat or maid or cop or some other costume that will be sure to give Gene a heart attack.

A growing dictionary

Each week Violet is learning new words.  Here are some recent additions to her dictionary.

Car - this is often followed by vroom vroom
Cookie
Nyam Nyam - this is usually done while pointing at her high chair and demanding to eat at 6:30 am
Dai/Na - (give me/here)  She uses these interchangeably
Go Go Go - For some strange reason she never says "go" once or twice but always three times.  I guess she really wants to enforce her sense of urgency.
Duck - she started to say this the other day when we went to visit the duck pond.  We had a really great time until I realized she was hoarding all the stale bread for herself instead of feeding the hungry creatures.