A riddle for you....

What do you get when you mix Canadian and Brazilian genes - and 6 trips between the megalopolis of São Paulo and small-town northern Canada - into one 20-month-old kid?

a) the world's only moose-eating, soccer-playing samba dancer?
b) a happy, even-tempered tot who's as comfortable hanging out in international airports as in favelas (7 and 4, respectively, at last count)
c) a fearless superhero who can take on the mean streets of São Paulo, as well as the odd muskox, bear, and giant beaver?
d) a multilingual parrot?
e) (organic brown salt-free) rice and beans at midnight?
f) all of the above.

You guessed it - f) all of the above is the answer! Proof to come in the next post...keep your eye on my blog!

Ahhhh....summer in the Yukon!

No Brazilian beaches in sight, but it sure was a nice summer!

It's a bird....

It's a bird.....


(Thanks, Tia Sarom, for the fabulous chickadee with the ultra-realistic chirp!)

It's a plane......


(OK, so it's not in the picture, but Ellazora and I are pointing at an airplane, really we are!)


It's...........



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SkookumYukon Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!












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I have added dozens of English words to my vocabulary in the last few months. Words like "moose," for example. Yep, I sure do like mooses! And squirrels. And buses and airplanes.

While it probably doesn't interest anyone but me and my parents, here's what I could say at 18 1/2 months - in mid-August - for the record.

(These are words that I say spontaneously - not just copying someone - and consistently, listed in the language that I say them in. While I understand all of these words - and many more - in both Portuguese and English, I almost always say any particular word in just one language....and so end up saying funny things like "Mais (more) cheese!" Sometimes, my "words" are so far off that they're not actually words in any language, but if I use a sound consistently to mean something recognizable, it's included. Words that I already said at 15 months aren't on this list - you can see them on the post from May.)

hello ("lo")

purse ("puss")

banana

blusa (sweater)

outside ("ow-sigh")

nenê & baby

puppy

bunny

dress

onion ("anyeh")

tchau & bye bye

guitar ("tao" - with guitar sign)

Harley ("ah-ley" - 5-year-old neighbour)

bus

mess (I just love throwing things on the floor and then announcing that there's a "mess!")

vroom (car -"bum")

num num or papa (a.k.a food)

tetê (milk/nurse)

meia ("mia" - sock or leggings)

real & money

yeah

OK ("otay" - OK, I don't really say it spontaneously, but I copy it a lot.)

bug ("bu" with spider sign)

pants

shirt ("shut")

apple ("apo")

rice

pão (bread)

cheese

bird ("buwd")

avião

train ("tayn")

tractor ("tato")

diaper ("data")

boat

moto (motorcycle)

bike ("bat")

rio (river)

umbrella ("bala")

flower ("flau")

hat ("ata")

Vovô ("wowo" - Grandpa)

ovo ("o" - egg)

towel (tau-oh)

Po (the dog we took care of)

up

desce (down)

all done

sapatos ("paty" - shoes)

moose

horsie

pee & "sss"

poo

thank you ("te" along with sign)

meow (cat), grrr (bear), fish lips (fish), tongue click (squirrel), bow wow (dog)

bola (ball)

"bat" (glasses/goggles)

anda & walk ("wa")

monster ("monta")

eyes

bum

mão (hand)

please ("pees")

keys ("tees")

tree ("tee")

I am starting to get proficient at combining two words together, too. For example:

Daddy, done.

Mamãe/Tia/Daddy, dress/blusa/paty. (a.k.a sapato - shoe)

Blue, tia. (Translation: "Draw a picture for me, auntie." It took Shauna a while to discover what she was being commanded to do!)

Mais cheese!

Mamãe, tee (tree) á. (Translation: "Mommy, water the plants.")

Bowwow, anda!/Po, anda!

Tia 'Lo (Translation: "Auntie Hello" - Shauna's neighbour's name is Carol, not Hello - but we always say hello to her!)

Mamãe, tetê/num/pão.

All done.

Vovô vrum! (I identify cars by their owner - "vrum tia," "vrum vovô," and "Harley vrum.")

Nice bus!

Bom dia!