Sunday, 15 January 2012
I’m sick.
Well, kind of.
In fact, I’m just slightly sick. The sort of sickness where it’s enough to bug me, but not enough to justify staying home from work or even going to bed early.
Isla, actually, has been sick far worse and longer than me. She’s been waking up every half hour or so during the night and crying and coughing. Every morning for the past week, she’s spent the first hour coughing nonstop. Poor girl.
So, I’m not complaining about my lot here, I am just wondering when will be the next time I wake up in the morning without feeling my throat constricted and having to blow my nose every fifteen minutes.
At least I don’t have to worry about staying healthy to perform a wedding.
Also, check this out. Here’s what happens when you put kids in a stark white room with nothing to use for decorations but polka-dots CLICK HERE. I suspect doing this to adults would yield similar results, too.
Monday, 16 January 2012
I didn’t have to go to work today. Something about it being King Day, I think.
Today, for at least the second time, Isla looked out the window, saw a squirrel, and shouted “bear!” It’s rather cute that Isla sincerely believes there are wild bears roaming residential Pig’s Eye. Still, I feel it was incumbent upon me to gently break it to her that not all mammals can be categorized as “kitty,” “puppy,” or “bear.”
This afternoon, while Jennifer and Owen were out and about, I took our quiet time together to have a heart-to-heart with Isla. I showed her this video of polar bears playing with dogs. It was pretty funny, really. During the first few seconds, she kept pointing to the huskies saying “puppy, puppy, puppy,” which, you know, is correct. But then I pointed to the polar bears and said, “bear.” The first time, I don’t think it clicked. But the second time, she stopped saying “puppy” and devoted her attention to the bear.
“That’s a bear,” I said.
Isla then turned around and gave me a look that said, “Holy shit, I have been grossly incorrect regarding the label I have been giving those tiny mammals that run up to our door and eat our decorative corn!”
“Yep,” I reiterated, “that’s a bear.”
I think she’s got it now. Next time she sees a squirrel, she’s not gonna know what to call them.
Later, I was organizing my books, and Isla saw the spine of the book Modoc. She pointed to the image on the spine and said, “bear.”
“No,” I said, “that’s an elephant.”
She gave me a funny look, unsure of the word I just said.
So I pulled the book off the shelf and turned to the pictures inside. She began laughing because, I guess, when you really think about it, elephants are funny looking. In order to enhance this extemporaneous learning experience, I took her over to my computer and showed her some videos.
First we watched this video of Baby elephants at play.
Then, this one of Elephants playing in water. This one made Isla laugh pretty hard, and she kept pointing to her nose saying “nose.” Again, I sympathize with her, because if you’ve gotta sum up the appearance of elephants in one word, “nose” is a rather strong candidate.
Then we watched this video of a Baby elephant playing with a beach ball.
Finally, we watched these two short films, which I will simply call Newborn elephant and more newborn elephant,
The whole time we were watching these videos, Isla kept saying “elephant,” only she would pronounce it as “fat-phant.” Ha! How funny. I think that’s a great term for elephants.
Finally, on the topic of animals, my sister’s property is providing a great roosting area for a couple bald eagles (perhaps they will nest there later this year?). Here are a couple of pictures she took today:
