The Kids and Kahlie

Thomas and Gramps are having lots of adventures. Follow the link to see pictures of bath time, hiking in the Seymour Forest, and playing with trains.

LiveScience.com has a story this week about how babies learn their first words. Not surprisingly, the study suggests infants learn the words for things they are interested in more quickly than other words. Here’s the gist:

Like teenagers, babies don’t much care what their parents say.

Though they are learning words at 10 months old, infants tend to grasp the names of objects that interest them rather than whatever the speaker thinks is important, a new study finds.

And they do it quickly.

The infants were able to learn two new words in five minutes with just five presentations for each word and object, said study leader Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University. Importantly, the babies paired a new word to the object they liked best, regardless of what object the speaker referred to.

“The baby naturally assumes that the word you’re speaking goes with the object that they think is interesting, not the object that you show an interest in,” Hirsh-Pasek said.

The result is not too surprising, Hirsh-Pasek said in a telephone interview. She says interest drives learning for older children, too, and even adults.

This explains Thomas’s fascination with yellow cars and shouting out the fact that he has seen one every time he does!

Flooring and PaintOriginally uploaded by Thomas Miguel.

The kitchen is getting painted and the flooring has arrived. Check out the new pictures.

Update: Four new pictures — the cabinets … follow the link above.

Resting Place

Originally uploaded by Thomas Miguel.

Check out Thomas’s new hiking photos from last weekend’s trip to Lighthouse Park. He looks soooooo small next to the big trees!

The kitchen is coming along. Check out some new pictures here. (Note the new door to the porch!)

Thomas’s latest phrases are ‘move it’ and ’stop it.’  I was told to move it yesterday when there wasn’t enough room for Mariela to sit down on the couch!

And he continues to call himself Tom-o.

For two mornings now, we have woken up to snow on the front grass. Parts of Greater Vancouver have received lots of snow and Vancouverites are doing their usual job of demonstrating general confusion over the rare meterological events.

Thomas loves the snow (as does Kahlie, for that matter). He chose his hat with the big pom-pom today.

And, as a final note in this brief note, our general family chaos — due to work, snow, kitchen messes — will let up in April. Expect more regular correspondence then.