child development

There was a time when I tried to force education on Marta. Now I am happy to report that things seem to be developing by themselves. She has learned to spell, is interested in reading, and now, for some reason, wants to know about numbers. When I walk her to school, she asks me:

Marta: Why do houses have numbers?

Me: So that the postman can find the right house when he delivers letters. The postman doesn't know everyone's name, so people have to write the house number on the envelope.

I am not sure if that's a good answer, but she seemed to accept it. And another thing -- Marta has a musical ear. I heard her singing the other day (she learns lots of songs and poems in school). And the way she did one section was very impressive. It's not just that she hits the right notes, but that she can move between them, and maybe take one down a half step, then swing back up to it. I realized that she is listening and can repeat. There are a lot adults who can't even carry a simple tune. But Marta can, and she's not even six years old yet!

Anna's vocabulary is impressive. Of course, most of it's in Estonian, but at the same age, Marta favored Estonian, too. It's mommy's language. She understands everything I say, though. We have conversations. If I ask her a question, she'll answer. If it's about food, then Anna speaks English. Her favorite English word is "More." I can't believe that even as of April, her vocabulary was limited to something like 20 words. I was afraid she had some speech development problem. That's the thing about kids: you always worry. A kid gets a runny nose and you check on the Internet and basically a cold is a symptom for almost every known disease. I guess it's normal to worry. It's what parents do.