Ovama vs. Obama

Tonight at dinner Ava caught me totally by surprise..little did I know we were about to have a social studies lesson for a 3 year old!  Ava and Alex were having their dinner, Daddy was at the Dynamo's game, and I was sitting with the kids when Ava says:

Ava: Mommy, where does Ovama live?
Me: Who? (totally surprised that she knew that name, since we don't discuss politics at home ;) )
Ava: Ovama. Where does Ovama live?
Me: Obama lives in the White House.
Ava: Where is the White House?
Me: It is in Washington D.C.
Ava: Washington C?
Me: Yes, the White House is in Washington D.C.
Ava: Oh!

after a couple bites of food...

Ava: Is Ovama a boy or a girl?
Me: Obama is a boy. He is the president of the United States of America (I thought the complete name might ring a bell, since Ava knows the pledge of allegiance)
Ava: He's a boy? I thought Ovama was a girl name.
Me: Ava it's O-Bama, with a B.
Ava: No mommy, it's O-Va-Ma.
Me: Where did you learn about Obama?
Ava: At school Ms. Lisa was talking about Ovama. She said 'O-Va-Ma', 'O-Va-Ma', Ovama.  Where is the big white house again?
Me: The White House is in Washington D.C.
Ava: Washington D.C? (repeating it over and over as though she was trying to help herself to remember the answer)

Ava: How long does he live in the white house?  Does he like living there?
Me: He is going to live there for 4 more years.  I think he likes it.  That is where the president lives.
Ava: Where is the white house again?
Me: It is in Washington D.C.
Ava: Yeah! That's where Ovama lives!

Still can't quite believe we had that little conversation, but I love how she learns things, wants to remember things so badly so that she can participate in all the conversations.  She really surprised me with this one, but I love how she is so headstrong...even to the point of refusing to believe that it is Obama not Ovama. ;)

Fall festival

Today we went to the fall festival at the church near our house, thanks to the invitation from some friends and from my mom's group.  The kids had so much fun with the different games, playing on the playground, the bounce house (for Ava), and even a petting zoo and pony ride.

Alex absolutely had no fear of any animal and was completely drawn to the petting zoo.  He wanted to pet every goat and baby goat, and loved the deer!  Of course he thought they could all be grabbed and roughed around like he does with Bo, but luckily these animals seemed pretty used to the rough handling of children.

Ava had a blast on the pony ride.  She was beaming!!!  She couldn't believe it "I'm riding the horse all by myself!"  Too cute!  So much fun, but we were all a little tired and ready for nap time after a couple hours at the festival!

"Come here deer!" Alex says, while Mommy is saying "No Alex! Gentle!"

"Come here goat!  You look like my dog Bo...just a little smaller... you can be my goat!"

...just hanging out here with my goat!

Alex saw a bunch of pumpkins, ran over and decided to make it an obstacle course to climb over!

Ava was elated to be on the pony ride...much more than the handler behind her!

Ava was beaming to be doing it all by herself.

Ava (3 yrs. old) and Lila (5 yrs. old) walking around the festival

Sibling fun!

Ava and Alex have so much fun together!  Alex follows Ava's lead on many things, copies what she does, and finds her extremely entertaining.  Ava also gains a lot of courage from her little brother when she is afraid to do something... I suppose being 2 years older has given her a little more time to be more cautious about different things ;)

Just today the two were giggling themselves silly chasing each other around the kitchen/family room.  Then Alex started to follow Ava's lead in using the toy tea set utensils as telephones.  Ava had a pink plastic knife and Alex had a white plastic spoon, and both pretended to be on their phones talking to different people and finding it all very funny.

Yesterday we went to the park for a playdate and the two had a blast!  They climbed all over the different playgrounds, checked out the ducks and geese and turtles (Alex had no fear!), and really just enjoyed each other, other kids, and burned off a lot of energy! :)  Alex even met my friend's little 4 month old baby girl and fell completely in love.  He would not leave her side, kept touching her, patting her tummy, and being very sweet.  He kept saying "hi baby" - I did not know he knew how to say that until I heard him.  But I suppose this could all be a great sign of how great he will be as a big brother! :)

Already living up to their titles of "Best Big Sis" and "Best Big Bro"

At the park Alex had no fear, Ava was a little more cautious...

Ava loved the turtles, they were so cute!

Alex just wanted to get up close to see these guys...

he had his own method of crouching down, then standing up and getting a little closer...

then squatting down again...

"pay no attention to me...I'm just one of you"

Alex's speech development

Alex's language skills are developing at lightning speed.  It really seems like only two weeks ago there was not much that we understood at all, but then all of a sudden he was saying complete sentences!  He seems to share another few words or new sentences on a daily basis now.  So basically, as soon as I post my list will be out of date!

 

i-wan-dat = I want that

i-wan-a-nana = I want a banana

i-wan-a-cacker = I want a cracker

i-wan-can = I want candy (thanks to Halloween)… working on un-learning this one!

i-wan-go-nai-nai = I want to go night night, to bed for nap or at bedtime after bath.

aw-maann! = oh man!! (this is used anytime he spills something or makes a mess)

mo = more

i-do-coco = I did coco/I have a dirty diaper

bo = bo or most other dogs

nao = no ;)

ok = to agree to anything

dagun = daddy and some other male relatives

voo-voo (tight-lipped) = Voovoo

va-va! = Vovo

mama = mommy

daad = daddy

agun = Ava (usually)

pun-kim = pumpkin

boh = ball

Alex knows plenty of other Russian and Japanese words that we don’t understand, but we are working hard on learning his language. I am certain he says quite a bit more, but we are just slow these days. Ava enunciates words so clearly and well, that we just don’t pause long enough to decipher Alex’s actual attempts at trying out new words he’s picked up. But we’re getting better.

My favorite is the new “no” that has just recently come about. It is usually accompanied by the shaking of his head, in addition to a smirk that says “I just figured out I have the power to control something!”. I also love the i-wan-go-nai-nai, because I usually say “okay, go tell Daddy and Ava night night” and he will go to each one, lean in, give an ever so sweet kiss, with a sheepish smile, that is just totally Mr. Simpatico!

 

Halloween!!! :)

Ava was super excited for Halloween!  She couldn't wait to get dressed up as a princess and go trick-or-treating.  Alex was a little more oblivious to the impending activities, and really was  not to thrilled that we decided to dress him up as Clifford the Big Red Dog - he doesn't really care for hats!

Finally Halloween arrived, Ava was all set and looked adorable as Snow White (thanks to the costume tia Stela got for her and that she has been wearing everyday for the last two weeks!).  We dressed Alex as Clifford, complete with doggy hat, bone collar, and tail (though the hat only lasted 2 minutes, and we hadn't even left the house).

We went next door for a potluck dinner with the neighbors, then took the kids around the block with our other neighbor's 3 young girls.  Ava had a fantastic time getting tons of candy, thanks to being the cutest little princess trick or treating ;)  Alex enjoyed riding in the wagon and getting to eat about 5-6 lollipops as we made our way around the neighborhood - he was quite upset when it was over.

My sweet princess...

all set to go trick-or-treating!

Alex was did not like having a hat on, and Ava didn't like hearing him complain!

"Get this thing off my head!"

Ava with the neighbor's girls...feeling so big ;)

Alex burning off some of the sugar high after so many lollipops!