"I not yike fireworks." (But I do yike firetrucks.)

Friday night after a record long "where should we eat" walk, we sat down at a steakhouse two doors down from our apartment. We've been eying it for some time. The food was great, although it took a full hour to arrive after we had ordered it. I realized that they do this so that you order another "expensive" ($2.50) beer before your food comes. Of course they succeeded, although half of mine ended up coming through my nose after I could no longer resist laughing at a disgusting joke Chris told me (probably clean in his book.)

All of a sudden we heard fireworks very near by (explaining the detour our tram had made which we had thought was the result of a tragic fire leading people to jump from a waterside restaurant into the river. My we have dark imaginings.)

We snatched Lucas out of his seat, excited to show him the colorful explosions. But he looked nervous, and soon declared "I not yike fireworks." "But they are like beautiful flowers in the sky!" " I not yike fireworks."

We underestimated his disyike for them. When we came inside, he sat quiet, wide-eyed and clinging to me for the remainder of the meal. I will not deliberately traumatize him again to achieve this, but I must say I really liked sitting cozy with him while enjoying the rest of my salmon.




Two days later, more excitement. There was a firetruck right outside Lucas's bedroom window! A piece of stucco was smoking on a building and two firemen were chipping it off. Lucas was moderately entertained. But through all of this action, he continued to comment on random and everyday things in the scene - "car!" "pigeon!" I was stumped.

But later I read in "The Secret of Childhood by M. Montessori" about this phenomenon:

"We can perceive evidence of a child's inner life in the way he immerses himself in the fixed contemplation of minute things that are of no concern to us. But one who is attracted by the smallness of an object and focuses his attention upon it does so, not because if has made a striking impression upon him, but simply because his contemplation of it is an expression of an affectionate understanding."

Lucas certainly is expressing his "affectionate understanding" of the world around him. He chats with us, philosophizes, explains things. Recently, he asked Chris, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" But do not fear! Despite being in a foreign land, Lucas is coming along well with his pronunciation of words. He can now successfully make two syllables out of one in the true Southern style!

Since arriving in Prague, Lucas has learned many new skills: putting on his jacket, taking off his shoes, pressing the escape key when a menu pops up on the screen and interrupts his typing.

The changes over the last few months have been really interesting and amazing! And while we've managed to keep him socially linked with trips to the park, library and kid-friendly cafes, we can't wait to see him reunited with his family and friends. He talks about you all the time!