Satisfying

Sladjana loves becoming literate - we've got about 50 flashcards that we refer back to. She has even come up with her own game, where we lay out the flashcards, and then read on to her and she finds it. I think she senses that this will open up new doors for her. I told her she would be reading Suess to me before the end of the month. I sometimes put a few cards together into a sentence, and she just amazes me.

Though, I heard my father was working with her this morning, and he pronounced "would" in pure serbian ('vuddh'), so we'll have to work with such distractions.

Kristina is not quite ready yet. She picks a word of the day (one from our list, mind you) and guesses that for every card that we flash her. One night it was "cow", another night "to". She's the type who is ingesting all of this, and one day, when our guard is down, she will just start using it.

To keep it at Kristina's level, I have her spell the word back from the card, and then Sladjana reads it. Sometimes, Sladjana is in another room, and still yells the right word back to us.

When Sladjana was born, I kept telling my wife I how wanted to get into her head, and see what she was thinking. Now, I find that watching her and her sister 'learn', and together at that, is much more satisfying.

The Workers

My older daughter, Sladjana, never stops amazing us. This past weekend, her and I went to visit with some friends of the family, for their annual Slava celebration. We go there each year; however this year, Kristina was sick so it was only Sladjana and I.

As we were driving there, she mentions that we went there last year, too, to the Feast. Feast is how my friend Vladan explains the concept of Slava to non-Serbs. That was my first surprise.

She then goes on to tell me how last year, we went with two cars. I thought and I thought, through two stoplights, yet I couldn't remember the circumstances of last years visit. So I asked, "How do you know we went with two cars?" Sladjana reminded me that after the feast last year, she went with Kristina and their mother to visit some friends, while I went home to do some work.

I was impressed. After all, how many five-year-olds can remember something from a year ago in such vivid detail. So I prodded: "That's very good. How do you remember so much about last year?"

"Daddy! I have workers up here who write down everything that I hear and everything that I say!" I should have known.

Priceless

We took the girls to see the Wiggles last night. It was a fantastic show! Here's how I break it down:

Tickets for 4		$160-
Parking		$ 11-
Gas		$ 12-
T-shirts		$ 30-
Light wands		$ 36-
My younger daughter, Kristina, coming up to me during the show, and in excited 3-and-a-half year old fashion, sputtering out "Thanks...thanks for...thanks....thanks for....for bring.....thanks for bringing us here!"		PRICELESS

Kiki sits down

Our younder daughter, Kristina, has picked up most skills a little faster than her sister. Probably because of the example set by her sister. However, at 20 months, she still can't go down the stairs by herself.

We've tried to teach her to hold on to the rail, but she usually starts jumping from step to step. We've let her go unattended, only to be right there to catch her when she needs it. Finally, we taught her to sit and slide down, one step at a time.

The slide seems to be working. It works so well, that this weekend, as she approached the stairs, she sat down about 10 feet away, slid to the stairs, and then proceeded to slide all the way down.

And her name is Sladjana

I was reading "Curious George Learns the Alphabet" to my 3 year old the other night. For those unfamiliar with the story, the man with the yellow hat teaches George the letters, from A to Z, with examples of each letter. Every few letters, there is a little break in the story, and a little review.

When we got to one break, it summarizes the first seven letters; something along the lines of "now you know A, B, C, D, E, F and G." At that point, my daughter continues reciting the rest of the alphabet, followed by "now I know my ABC's; next time won't you sing with me!"

I said "Wow! I've got a very smart and very beautiful little girl sitting right next to me."

She replied, "Yes, and her name is Sladjana!"