Happy Ganesh Day!

What is this?

You can(not) stand in an artist's way

As is the trend these days, I made sure the kids have a little corner of their own where they can write, draw, paint and generally express their creativity - and plenty of supplies. And yet we don't really seem to have art time very often around here.

...

Why?

You tell them stuff, but who knows what they are thinking..

Just a few minutes ago, Appu shows me a drawing he made and tells me it's me - and by the way, he did that because Rohan yesterday had made a picture of me, and he wanted to measure up :)

Anyway, back to the story. Appu says:

- Mamma, it's you!

- It's me?

(maybe I sounded doubtful)

- Yes, when you were very small.

- When I was small?

- Yes, when you were inside *my* tummy..

By the way...

... I hope you like the new design. Featuring original artwork by mamma, no less :)

Appu impara a leggere! (In inglese...)

Rajiv has known his letters and the sound they make for a while now, mostly thanks to an annoying electronic toy. However, he just wasn't interested in putting those sounds together to make words. I tried to introduce the idea a couple of times, but he just wasn't ready.

And now, suddenly, he really wants to learn! In the video he is reading from a book that I made for him more than six months ago. He loves that he can more or less read it all by himself. Of course the pictures help and by now he must have it all memorized, but you can see that he is really trying to figure it out by himself.

Anyway, mamma is so proud :)

Note: At Appu's request, I wanted to record the reading of the whole book, but Rohan had some computer trouble and then I finished my memory card, so the video at some point just ends.

Photos You Have Missed - Part 3

This is Meaghan, also known as "The Nanny" :)
All the photos below were taken by her while spending time with the kids, on various days in November.

Questa e' Meaghan, la ragazza che si occupa di Rohan, e alcuni giorni anche di Rajiv, mentre io lavoro. Le foto che seguono risalgono a Novembre e sono state scattate da lei.


No worries: the train only comes twice a week, at predictable times, and it is a veeery slow charming old train.




Rajiv and Rohan have fun sweeping the leaves in front of our house.


Art time.





Playground.




Coffee break.



More playground... and Rohan finds a friend!



Right next to the playground it's also fun to look at the animals, but little fingers have to be out of the net at all times!

Fridge art

One of the joys of daycare: knowing that your son can express himself with paint, glue and what not, and he is not doing it on your walls. :)

Happiness is ... washable markers

Felicita' e'... pennarelli nuovi con un sacco di inchiostro (lavabile!)

Art time

In questa puntata, il nostro Appu disegna con i pastelli. Non si sa bene quando sia successo, ma improvvisamente il piccolo Rajiv sembra essere capace di stare seduto per un po' di tempo a fare cose tipo giocare con le costruzioni, sfogliare dei libri e farseli leggere, o disegnare. Ovviamente assaggia anche i pastelli, ma molto meno di una volta, e soprattutto... non gli piacciono! Li sputa! Evviva!

Today we had fun with crayons. As some of you know we have been more or less confined at home for a few days because I had tendinitis and we have had to come up with ways to pass the time. Fortunately this coincides with a new phase of my little one's life in which he suddenly seems to have a decent attention span - he even lets me read to him... So today we sat down and made pictures for more than an hour (!!!).



I put on the floor the top of an ex Ikea coffee table and we used that as art station. He sat on it for the whole time, it was amazing. In fact he sat right on his "canvas" for the whole time, I think it might be the beginning of a new art wave.












As I said, he likes to sit on his work, hence only half gets colored, but the result is quite attractive (says the mom...).



The happy artist!