There is playdough of various types all over my house. Little bits and pieces that Ju has used for all kinds of things - stamping cars in it, making it into "food" on his play stove... Now he has discovered that the nice wooden letter and number stamps make very clear marks in it when he squishes it onto the floor in front of the T.V.

"Mommy, look, they're sliding."

"Oh Ju, everything is going to get massinha all over it."

"It's alright mommy, we can wash it."


He is also trying to figure out death, since we watched "Thomasina" and the main character, a cat, dies and then comes back to life. It's hard to grasp this concept, since kids this age have to experience things to understand them. He has been making comments like "My mouth is dead. It won't eat." or "The spider is dead" (his hand is frequently a spider that gets into mischief all over) as his hand lays palm up on the table, motionless, and then "It's alive again!" as it moves. Many times in the past, he used to say something didn't have a "pila" (battery) when it wasn't working ("my mouth don't have a pila!") and these associations are now linked with death - something not moving means it's dead. From the perspective of a three year old, I'm not sure it can get much clearer than that. Maybe he will get the idea, finally, when we have to take Ona-key to the vet later this week, although she hardly moves now.