(big fish)

So I have kind of sucked at updating the blog, despite good intentions.

Martin, who is three and one of my good friends in Osorno, has done some pretty cute things lately, and I thought I should share.

He doesn't technically know how to read, but he can do just about anything online--and apparently recognizes words. I discovered this when he climbed into bed with me Sunday morning and he looked at my email and proclaimed--almost all of these messages are from facebook (they way he pronounces "facebook" is adorable, by the way)--except for some of them like this one are just from people. He was totally correct. Kids pick up on SO much more than I think we realize.

Just a few minutes ago, he asked me "Bets, how do you say 'mono' in English?" (He calls me Bets--it went from Emilee to Emileebess (to avoid confusion with Emilee Paz) to Bess to Bets.) He didn't give me a chance to answer, and said, "I know how to say it, it's 'monkey.'" "Wow Martin, how did you know that?" As if I just asked him the most obvious question in the world he responds, "Well, I know it with my mouth, Bets." All he was missing was the "duh."

My favorite from the past few days happened this evening. Alvaro, the nine-year-old, went on a jog with me (I was impressed at how much he stood up to, the skinny little thing). Martin was jealous not to come, so when we arrived home again, he was waiting for us at the door, ready to do "abdominales" with us. He was jumping up and down, excited and said "Bets, bets, let's do the abdominales, the big fish ones!" I had no idea what he was talking about...when he finally showed me, it was push-ups--which in Spanish are called "tiburones" or "sharks." I totally cracked up and then we did some big fishes.

I'm gonna miss the kids when I go.

Which is coming up pretty soon, unbelievably.