Carter Answers Your Questions about Oviparous Animals

Recently, Carter decided that he wanted to know which animals lay eggs. This query led us to a wonderful website by a kindergarten teacher that includes a lesson about oviparous animals. Carter likes to play a game where he and the parent of his choice list animals that lay eggs. Frankly, we have learned alot too. Aside from zoologists and parents of toddlers, who knew that the only monotremes (egg-laying mammals) are platypuses and echidnas? [The only reason we know what the latter animal is at all is that the echidna is featured on Carter's "Animals of Australia" jigsaw puzzle.] The video does not feature Carter at his best, as he would only answer questions about these animals and not list them himself.

Lea: "Do platypuses hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "Um... yes."
Lea: "Do alligators hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "Yes."
Lea: "Do kitty cats hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "No."
Lea: "Do horses hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "No."
Lea: "Do caterpillars hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "Yes."
Lea: "Do fish hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "Yes. How about dinosaurs?"
Lea: "Right. Dinosaurs. What else can you think of that hatches from an egg?"
Carter: "Mommy pick."
Lea: "Do birds hatch from eggs?"
Carter: "They do. But they... some... some...um...caterpillars do. How about mommy pick?"

More Fun in the Snow

As the snow has melted and a new snowfall came overnight, an update about Carter in the snow is long overdue. Carter has been enjoying both new snow activities, and some of the same activities, just with the snow. He really liked sledding, and Jani has passed along this video of Carter to share with readers.

Carter's old activities continue as well. A photograph here by Jani shows the boys feeding pigeons. The bird feeding has continued, however, the birds are much more aggressive now, as seemingly Carter and Thomas are the only food providers in L'viv. One day last week, pigeons landed on both Carter's and Thomas' heads. An activity that Carter has feared until lately is the seesaw. He has decided that much of the playground equipment here in L'viv is dangerous. Despite his cousin George's protestations to the contrary, we must agree that some of the equipment is dangerous, as it is broken and no signs of repair have been seen during our stay. At least the snow covers the broken glass and jutting pieces of metal. Suddenly last week, Carter decided that seesaws were acceptable. Here you see him going up and down (courtesy again of Jani).

Carter Answers Your Questions about the Solar System

As many of you know, Carter has shown a strong interest in the planets for quite some time. We visited a fantastic hands-on children's museum near Kansas City many months ago, and he spent much of the time in the space-themed room. He has a jigsaw puzzle of the planets and often draws them. For reasons only a two-year-old can fathom, he decided that Lea's parents live on another planet, prompting the following discussion about where he would like to live.

Erik: "Would you like to live on Mercury?"
Carter: "'cause it's too small 'cause it's high in the sky."
Erik: "What about Venus?"
Carter: "'cause it's medium, 'cause its high high in the sky."
Erik: "What about Mars?"
Carter: "'cause it's... no."
Erik: "Why wouldn't you want to live on Mars?"
Carter: "'cause it's... I'm not sneezing." [A note: Carter enjoyed the book Dogs in Space that we checked out of the Lawrence Public Library for many weeks. In the book, the dogs do not stay on Mars because the sandstorms cause them to sneeze.]
Erik: "Oh. What about Jupiter? Why not?"
Carter: "'cause I don't have a spot. "
Erik: "What about Saturn?"
Carter: "Mommy has a spot!" [A note: Carter thinks that freckles and other sorts of changes to skin coloration are "spots."]
Erik: "Mommy has a spot like Jupiter. What... what about Saturn? Would you like to live on Saturn?"
Carter: "No 'cause I don't have a ring on."
Erik: "What about Uranus?"
Carter: "I don't have a ring like this and like this." [A note: Carter distinguishes the rings of Saturn and Uranus by their position.]
Erik: "That's true, you don't. What about Neptune?"
Carter: "No."
Erik: "What about Pluto?"
Carter: "No."
Erik: "Why not?"
Carter: "'cause it's very small like this."

Robocop

After attending today's puppet theater performance, we now know the secret to Paul Verhoeven's source material for the lead law enforcement official in the futuristic dystopia of New Detroit. When we looked at the schedule, we saw that the title of today's play was the "Adventures of Робокопа." Erik joked that it was probably about a robot. Lea's superior Ukrainian knowledge shone through, when she said: "it is probably about Robocop." Indeed, the story revolved around three animals who proved to be a menace to Ukraine's streets by not following the rules of the road and were apprehended by a man in silver bejeweled gear: Robocop. To be fair to the animals, by not following the rules of the road, they were simply normal Ukrainian drivers. Robocop, whose anthem "Ya Robocop [I am Robocop]," a kind of Old School Ukrainian rap, was repeated several times during the performance, sent them to his driving school. While the offending elephant and monkey showed up, the bear skipped class, prompting Robocop to call upon children from the audience to help find him, which they did. Robocop's performance was Oscar-worthy - at least in Carter's mind. He turned to Erik during the performance, and with a look of wonderment in his eyes, said "Daddy, it's a robot!" The other children enjoyed the performance too, rapping "Ya Robocop" all the way out the door.

We suspect that this may be President Yushchenko's solution to the problem of the traffic police. He disbanded this unit - the GAI - and since then drivers have felt quite comfortable disobeying the rules. Robocop refused a bribe from the elephant, and was an upstanding civil servant requiring limited maintenance costs. Since beat police make around 500 grivnyas per month ($100), corruption is bound to surface. Robocop could solve everything, just like he did at the puppet theater.

Holodomor Vigil

Today marks the official beginning of a solemn period for Ukraine: remembering the famine that killed millions from 1932-1933. We have written about this tragic event earlier, and about how it is interpreted by many as a genocide against the Ukrainian people. We have listened to the haunting music piped through the public loudspeakers all day, broadcasting events from Kyiv. Although the Holodomor did not directly affect L'viv, as the city was a part of Poland at the time, several hundred citizens participated in a candlelight vigil, shown in the pictures above and below. Today's commemoration, two days after the Thanksgiving feast, reminds us again (to quote Thomas Herron): "we have alot to be thankful for."