Photos and One More Thing

Here are two shots I forgot to post after I took them. In early January, as you may remember, Nishiokoppe got a lot of snow. Aaron decided it would be fun if he and Ridge tried to make an igloo. It turned out to be more of a snow cave than an igloo, but they sure had fun. In these shots, Ridge and Holt and hanging out inside the "igloo". Holt didn't want me to take a picture. That's why he looks unhappy. Now, nearly a month later, the igloo has mostly collapsed in on itself, unfortunately.

And for a few bits of non-Japanese information: Holt is totally, completely potty trained - nighttime and everything! His language is really taking off and, thanks to Aaron's habit of talking to him using big words, he regularly uses non-3-year-oldish words like, "actually". Ridge is showing some exciting pre-reading skills, can write his name and Holt's, and is really interested in learning how to write his numbers. Most notably, with Ridge, is his sense of humor. He is very interested in telling jokes. Mind you, most of the time they are ridiculous and make no sense, but he sure thinks he is funny and often has a good laugh at his own jokes. Not a day goes by now without him saying, "Listen, I have a joke!" My mom sent him a card with two bulldogs dressed as sumo wrestlers (we'd been watching a lot of sumo). Ridge told me he had a joke about it. He then proceeded to talk about "wouldn't it be funny if they had a stick in the middle and the guy did that thing and they both threw salt and said, "Yosh!" He nearly fell off the couch laughing at himself. I wish I could capture that hearty laugh of his on tape. It’s a magical sound, pure joy.

Oh...he was basically describing what happens at the beginning of a sumo bout. The referee has a paddle (the stick), and the wrestlers throw salt into the ring each time they enter. It's part of the ritual. "Yosh," is sort of like the equivalent to "Go!", or "Heave ho!", or "Now!" depending on the situation.