Kolya likes:
1. Swinging on Tarzanka- A piece of rope hanging off a tree that you swing on, elegantly named after Tarzan in russian. We have one of those on the woodwalk towards Highgate wood, although some clever youth has decided to pee on it yesterday. Lovely.
1.5. Bouncy castles- big time. the bigger the better. We have a little one next to our house. Every now and then we go to check if its open and when it is, the level of joy is uncontrollable
1. Swinging on Tarzanka- A piece of rope hanging off a tree that you swing on, elegantly named after Tarzan in russian. We have one of those on the woodwalk towards Highgate wood, although some clever youth has decided to pee on it yesterday. Lovely.
1.5. Bouncy castles- big time. the bigger the better. We have a little one next to our house. Every now and then we go to check if its open and when it is, the level of joy is uncontrollable
2. Avocado- almost any time of day with anything
3. Semolina- porridge is so yesteryear
4. Piu Piu- there's an undying love for guns, pistols, arms in general
5. Sunglasses- We don't leave the house without them
6. Sticks- again, size really matters. You can swing them, and throw them and fight the nettle bush with them- endless possibilities.
7. Animals- Kolya knows lots of animals by name, we are now discovering what happens to insects when you play too hard with them. Where's the ladybird, mama? Its still sleeping Kolya, after you played with it yesterday between the strawberry plants.
8. Superheros- Green lantern is the man of the month! (that with the film coming out and the adverts splattered all over billboards and buses which Kolya seems to take close count of. I saw THREE buses with green lantern. Lets buy it!) He comes hand in hand with spiderman, superman and batman of course. We have books, toys, clothes, costumes, stickers, toothbrushes and all sorts of accessories dedicated to the subject. And let's not forget Man Toy. I have no idea where that one comes from.
9. Cars- all cars are correspondent to the exact type of cars that each member of Kolya's extended family own. This car is like nana's car. And this car is like Pop's car. This car is not like Yulya's car. But its similar. (in russian, this is a new word for Kolya, похожее, and he uses it with great delight)
10. Drawing on walls, tables, floor, different types of furniture
11. Baby animals- utmost delight when we see baby cats, or chickens, or dogs or goats. In russian he calls them all kittens. That's a kitten cow. And that's a kitten lion. And that's a kitten elephant. Котенок слон. Котенок жираф.
12. Tigers- there's the game which he mostly plays with Sasha. It's called: you're the tiger. When it gets too exciting- they change roles. There's lots of roaring and squealing and laughter. Then, there's the animal himself. Always a great interest. What they do and what they don't do. Constant questions.
13. Duplo- loves building piu pius or trains for his animals
Counting- in English Kolya can count to 20, in Russian to 10. Favourite question: how many dogs is that? How many vans? How many nettles? How many airplanes? So, we count. He loves it.
14. Reading- again, great interest. We read simple words. He likes to guess, sometimes asks about letters but mostly likes to guess the words he already knows.
15. Cuddling- the sweetest boy. We hug alot. Lots of hugs- as Kolya wakes up and comes into my bed and cuddles up next to me with hands full of toys. This is the most special one. After the nap- with a sleepy face and that sweet innocence. When we make up. When we get scared. When we just want to say: I love you right now and always. When we get tired or feeling naughty.
Kolya dislikes:
1. Napping- Kolya really doesn't like the idea of going to nap. We work through it and within 10 minutes are in bed but its always the same reaction. In fact, he starts asking a couple of hours in advance wether its time to go to nap. And later, if its time to go to bed.
2. Getting close to spiders- I'm guessing this is partly my fault as I am super squeamish when it comes to spiders. Although we have resident spiders that provoke great interest, especially the one in the bathroom, which has been missing for a while and every night we come into the bathroom and check for his return. Where's the spider mama? He's gone shopping, remember?
