Codman Farm Lambs

Yesterday afternoon we went to Codman Farm in Lincoln, about 10 minutes from our house. The goats had just had kids that were between 3 days and a week old. How cute! They even let us in to pet them. They also let us pet the bunnies, the adult goats, the sheep, the pigs, the cows, and a donkey. There were also a bunch of adorable black lambs.

It was quite an exciting, if muddy, day at the farm. The male turkeys were displaying all their feathers, the cows and sheep were making such a racket that the other boy Bubulo (Ethan's name for him) was a bit scared. Ethan proclaimed himself "not scared", although the truth is that he wanted me to pick him up when he saw big roosters wandering around, or near the adult goats.

Akarium

Ethan's school was closed on Monday, so Ethan and I went to the Akarium -- you know, the place with all the fish in it. We parked that car at the Alewife subway stop parking lot during the morning rush, and as we walked from the car to the elevator, Ethan waved madly at the cars passing by and shouted "hi!" to them. It was actually quite wonderful. About half the drivers got big smiles on their faces and waved back. I had this overwhelming feeling of awe that he could manage to brighten the day of so many random passersby's.

It was Ethan's first time on the subway train, and he was fascinated by the whole thing. Everyone in the car was quiet, so when I started talking to me he told me "shhhhh". He loved going over the "salt and pepper" (Longfellow) bridge into Beacon Hill (and later we found it in the "Make Way for Ducklings" book too).

When we got to the "Akarium", he raced around the entire place in about 25 minutes, wildly pointing at fish and asking where the dolphins were. We watched the seals and the penguins, and he saw a shark in the big tank, and he played with the spider crab and the horseshoe crab in the "petting zoo" part. Then Ethan suddenly declared it time to go. "Are you sure you don't want to see more?" "No. Ethan home." Outside he wanted to see the big boats, and we spent about a half hour throwing ice and snow into the ocean -- seemingly even more exciting to him than seeing the fish.

Three Months

Today it is exactly three months since we landed in the US from Kazakhstan. It blows me away how much has happened in that time. Ethan's grammar is still evolving, but he speaks so much and so well that everyone assumes he's always spoken English. In fact, I've discovered that Ethan manages to speak and communicate more than many of the kids his age. It's extremely rare anymore that he can't express an idea, both with his increased vocabulary and our shared history and common understandings (for example, "milk strong?" means that he is asking for the quadrillionth time to confirm that drinking milk will help make him strong and healthy as he grows up).

Ethan asked us for the first time yesterday whether he would have to go back to the "ballallar" (his word for the baby house -- it means 'children' in Kazakh). When we answered "never", he repeated, "never?". "Never, unless you want to", to which he responded with a smile. (Which raises another question -- how and when did he learn the word never? How does one learn such a word? The mind's ability to assimilate language is truly a remarkable thing, especially that of a 4 year old.)

No Farms on the Moon

It's hard to describe just how extraverted Ethan is. He can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, even grumpy New Englanders. Picking him up from preschool might best be described as watching a candidate running for president -- he throws big waves to everyone, shouting "bye! bye!" as loudly as he can, then flashes his big smile when he finally catches their eyes. Leaving his preschool room usually entails a round of hugs and kisses for whichever kids or adults are willing, then another round of hugs and kisses for whoever is still in want of one.

Ethan also continues to develop his sense of humor. He can imitate himself and others for comedic effect. Yesterday he was incredibly cranky, and insisted, among other things, that "Ethan is English". When I told him no, he burst into huge sobbing tears (I have no idea what he was trying to say, because he was not at all appeased when I explained that he was talking English). Later, when he calmed down, he imitated himself crying, making it clear he realized how silly he was being. Here's a photo of Ethan making a funny face.

Last night Ethan also noticed the full moon rising. He started talking about how soldiers went in rocket ships to the moon (we told him the word was astronauts). For some reason he then started talking about what wasn't on the moon. He ended with "No farms on moon". Yes, indeed, as of today, there are no farms on the moon. Mark thought this might make a good title for a sci-fi book.

Folk Dancing

Ethan and went folk dancing today. My friend Tom caught this photo of us leaving. When Ethan wasn't running madly back and forth across the room chasing other little boys, he was a good dancer.

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"Stop coughing me"

Ethan told us that he likes our cooking, and that: "Ethan like momma papa house." Very pleased with this, we told him thank you, and that it was "mama, papa, Ethan house". He beamed a big smile. I'm not entirely sure he understands yet that we're permanently his. Like many things in life, his general attitude is to enjoy what he has now.

He started talking a bit more about his experience at the baby house. He likes our food a lot more (he's said that several times). And he said that they had lots of toys, but no "race cars" and that he really likes "race cars". He talked about how one kid had been bitten by a spider, and another stung by a bee.

For a few days Ethan kept saying "stop coughing me". We tried to explain what coughing was by making "cough, cough" noises and that he must mean something else. Eventually we figured out he had misheard what that the other kids at school were telling him which was: "stop copying me". (He likes to repeat what people say, along with the way they say it and any accompanying face and hand movements. It was sort of cute when he was first learning English, but now it's just pretty annoying, although to be honest, he's an awfully good mimic of both voice and motion).

And in a case of reverse language acquisition, Ethan's teacher told me today that some of the other kids in his class are now saying the Kazak word "Atta", which Ethan uses to mean "look!" or "hey!".