Random kid stuff

Jon got home from LA tonight, and I let Natalie stay up so he could put her to bed. He told me that she had him read "Going on a Bear Hunt" (I hate that book, BTW). She told him "We can get a bear! And put a cave in the backyard! But I don't think Mommy will like that". She has me pegged!

Also, she can write her name! Has some trouble spelling it, but if she sees it written, she can write it too - so cool! She wrote "Oliver" and "Jenn" last night too - the "m"s in Mommy were a little too hard for her. I've been singing a song, to the tune of the alphabet song to help her learn her name. It works well for Natalie, and well enough for Zakaras. "N A T A L I E, that's how I spell Natalie", sub Z A K A R A S if we're working on our last name.

And I think Oliver got a healthy dose of my Latin blood! I mentioned before that he loves Mariachi music. Well, I've been letting Natalie watch DVRed episodes of "Dancing With The Stars" (she loves the fast Latin dances, but will tell you she hates the Quickstep - which I love - and can recognize when it is being danced). Yesterday afternoon, I had it on for her. First dance was the Lindy Hop - she loved it - Oliver paid no attention. However, the next dance was an Argentine Tango, and the couple performed to traditional music - they didn't try to bitch up the dance to a popular song as some do. The minute the music started, he stopped what he was doing, stared at the TV, started smiling, laughing, and moving his feet back and forth very precisely! He did that every time a Tango was performed to a traditional piece, and again ignored the Lindy Hops! I thought that was kind of neat!