Legos

Nathan had picked up some regular legos (we had duplos before) the last time he was in the US to save for M. We got them out last week in an effort to keep M busy and, of course, they're a big hit. The picture shows a roller that he made from instructions -- he only asked for help a couple of times! Legos have got to be one of the greatest toys of all time. Someday we'll have to visit Legoland -- it's not close enough for us to visit it in one day, but we could do it over a long weekend, I think. V loves the small legos too, but mostly loves to take them apart. We're teaching her to take them apart and PUT THEM AWAY in the lego bin. Did you know that the different sizes of lego blocks really fit together? They're called legos, duplos and quatros, and it's true! They really work together. Try it out sometime. We also discovered some cool stuff on www.lego.com. You can use their software to make your own building instructions (and, naturally, buy all the blocks to make your creation!) and you can download instructions that other users have made.

M's newest trick is counting backwards. During breakfast he counted back from 20 and it was great to see him really think about what he was doing. V is a munchkin as usual. She loves to count and can consistently count to 12. Her favorite conversation starter: "Do you know what happened?" Waits for encouraging comment. "Woody got an owie on his right arm." If I've heard it once, I've surely heard it 100 times. It refers to the plot of Toy Story 2. Her other very consistent habit? At the beginning of our family night every week, we sing a song. While the rest of us are picking a song, V jumps into the middle of the room and sings a Little Einsteins song to a Dvorak theme. Literally every week. M complains, but Mommy and Daddy think it's funny.