Invention

[Translated from the Russian]

Abi: Mama, who invented invention?

Mira: That's a great question. Nobody invented invention. It's a big mystery where it came from - how people became smart. Most animals can't make up new things.

Abi: I know where it came from! Either we got it from the apes, or God made us this way.

Mira: OK. If God made us this way, that answers the question. But if we got it from the apes, then we still don't know where it came from originally.

[Abi is still thinking about this one...]

A Song from Yosemite

Floating Cities
================
by Abi (with help from Josh), August 2008

One, two, three, four,
Tell me if you love me more

Floating cities
Waves on water

One, two, three, four,
Tell me if you love me more

Grass on fields
Clouds on mountains

One, two, three, four,
Tell me if you love me more

Leaves on branches
Sticks on paths

One, two, three, four,
Tell me if you love me more

Moons in skies
Shooting stars

One, two, three, four,
One, two, three, four,
One, two, three, four,
One, two, three, four...

Max

Abi: I'm a little afraid of Max.
Josh: Why?
Abi: He's always chasing me in school.
Josh: Really?
Abi: Yeah. He tries to chase me and kiss me. Eww.
Josh: He tries to kiss you?
Abi: Yeah. And sometimes he gets other people to help him chase me.
Josh: Does anyone else in your class try to chase people and kiss them?
Abi: I don't know. I don't think so.
Mira: Are you friends with Max? Do you ever play with him?
Abi: No, he just chases me and tries to kiss me. And sometimes I kiss him back!

Poetry

THE MORNING SONG
=================
Oh! When I woke up I sat in my room.
Oh! When I woke up I sang a tune.
Oh! When I woke up I was looking at the moon.
Oh! When I woke up I smiled!


THE HANDSOME SONG
===================
Chapter 1: OSE
What a handsome pose!
What a handsome rose!
What handsome toes!
What a handsome nose!


Chapter 2: OON OOM
What a handsome room!
What a handsome tune!
What a handsome broom!
What a handsome moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-ooon!
THE END


THE RHYME POEM
===============
Mouse in a house
Books on hooks
Silk in milk
The moon is soon
Twos in shoes
One on a thumb
I love you

The spellchecker

Abi, on seeing Gmail's spellchecker tag the word "Shabbat":

"Mama, I think our computer isn't Jewish!"

What I did today -- by Abi (with mama's help)

Today in the morning I woke up, got dressed, and did everything I needed to. I didn't go to school because I was sick yesterday and we wanted to make sure that I wan't sick any more.

I went downstairs and worked on a math problem with mama. There is a dot in one corner and there is a dot in the other corner and you need to find out how many ways you can get from one corner to the other one. The answer was 10.

I also made a paper grid for Battleship for me and Galya. You take two pieces of paper, a crayon, and a ruler. On each paper, I needed to draw two big squares. Inside the squares, I needed to draw ten lines down and ten lines across. I had to put Russian letters on the side and on the top I needed to put numbers from 1 to 10. I hid these grids under the papers on my table, so Galya would be surprised.

Then Galya came and asked me "Did you eat anything?", and I said "No". Then I asked, "Did you bring any omelette today?", and Galya said, "Yes!"

So we ate some omelette and then we played Set. I also made a little concert, then we went outside and I found lots of things, like sparkles. We went to the park and there I saw my friend Sophia, and we played tag with her friend Henry. I wasn't running or catching. I was the base and I was on Sophia's team, and I was trying to make it so Henry couldn't get to the base.

I fell down on the right side of the sandbox and hurt my knee, but I didn't cry. Henry fell down too. Then Henry's father asked Sophia, "Did you fall down?" and she said no.

Then it was time to go. On the way out of the park, we saw mama riding her bike home. She was thinking, "Are they home yet or not?" And then I saw Sophia walking home and I ran to her, and we went in my driveway and picked some blueberries for her. I asked her, "Do you want one of my sparkles?" and she picked a purple one. Then we picked some more blueberries. She asked, "Can I pick one of those flowers?", and I said yes. Then I asked, "Do you want to have another sparkle? Can you please pick a pink one, because the pink ones are most of all, and I want to keep the ones that are not most of all." And she did. And that's not the end. Galya already left, and then Sophia left. She said, "I'm going to see you tomorrow at the playground, don't worry".

The end.

Snails and snakes

There is a snail in Abi's aquarium -- we're not sure how he got there, but we've been watching him grow for about month now. Recently things have gotten even more exciting: there are three new baby snails in the aquarium. (We were wondering how that was possible with just one snail, but our friend Ben, an expert on snails, tells us that snails can do that.)

This morning, looking at the adult snail, Abi said in a worried voice: "I don't think he's as big as he used to be." She thought a little and added, "I think he's getting old". Why do you say that? "Because I know you get smaller when you get old."

Meanwhile, my mother just adopted a California King Snake (it belongs to a friend of my brother's who is going abroad for a year). A few days ago, Abi and I saw it for the first time -- a gorgeous creature. When the snake wasn't moving, Abi looked at it curiously. But when it moved, Abi's look changed to pure rapture, and she said with utter certainty, "Instead of an aquarium, I want a snake." It really was love at first sight. Interestingly, the snake behaved differently with Abi than with anyone else: several times it lunged at her through the glass (as it would at prey or perhaps an enemy). My guess is that Abi moves more rapidly and frenetically than the grown-ups, and the snake gets agitated from it. Based on that, I'm not sure we're ready for a snake just yet...