Last weekend I made blueberry scones. We call them "bosbessen broodjes". I'm not sure if that's the right Dutch translation but in any case, Nora loves them.

It is rewarding to cook for Nora. Tonight we had pasta with bolognese sauce and she devoured it.

Sasha bought crayons for Nora and yesterday we went to try them out.

Nora didn't need any explanation and loved drawing on the street. We brought two chairs and sat in front of our house and had coffee while Nora was playing.

Nora is 20 months today. We went for a long walk tonight and she walked hand-in-hand with us.

Back home she enjoyed the present that mommy gave her.

We lost Giraffe the other day. First we didn't think much about it -- Nora has the tendency to put her toys in random places so we figured we'd find it soon. But today we realized it really wasn't in the house, so it might have gotten lost in the playground.

Anyway, we went for a walk to the same playground and as usual we would stop to look at the "house with the owl" on the way. And look and behold! Giraffe was there!

It must have fallen off the stroller and somebody put it on the fence where it was visible. Nora yelled: "giraf!" and we are all very happy that we found it back. It was a present from Ilana on Sasha's baby shower.

Halloween is only two weeks away and many houses are decorated with frightening themes. One of the recurring features is the "skeleton crawling out the ground", with white bones and a skull, suggesting that the skeleton is digging itself up in the front yard.

Sasha and Nora went to the park yesterday and they passed by one of those houses. All of a sudden Nora says, confidently: гъбга! (a mushroom!) -- she saw the white bones and figured those were mushrooms.

At the next house, which had a similar display, she confirmed what she was thinking and said again, with certainty: "гъбга" (a mushroom).

Update 10/26: added a picture.

This afternoon was the annual block party of Lynnbrook, the street that we live in. The party was a lot of fun.

We talked with many neighbors we hadn't met before, especially from a little further down the street. During the summer we've met many of the neighbors in our corner and it's a great feeling to live in a place where people know each other. There were quite a lot of kids at the party also.

Sasha brought two salads to the party and especially the mlechna salad was a big hit.

We learned that for Halloween there is a "pre-party" at Haynes Park that might be fun to attend.

Juan's dog Bo made a big impression on Nora this Saturday.

When Nora wakes up she often talks to herself. This morning I heard this monologue:

hondje... thuis...
hondje.... куче
Nee Bo! Nee!
hondje.... Bo

I was preparing dinner when all of a sudden Nora came running towards me.

"Eng! Eng! Beessie!"

A big flying insect of some sort had come through the kitchen door and Nora was scared. I didn't want to kill the creature, so shooed it back outside with a piece of paper and it quickly disappeared.

Just then Sasha came home and Nora explained what happened.

"Beessie!" -- and with relief and admiration in her voice: "Pappa!"

Since a few weeks Nora goes down the slide by herself. She knows how to walk on the steps, sit down and then slide down.

Here she is at the playground in Quincy Park.

Today we went to the open house of Heidelberg bakery, a German store on Lee Highway in Arlington.

The weather was beautiful so we walked. It's a nice route through Cherry Dale, about 40 minutes each way. We saw the first Halloween decorations.

The open house was nice. We met the owner, Wolfgang Büchler, who immigrated from Germany in the 1970's. There were several machines on display and we saw the big ovens they use. There were also several cookies and breads to try out and take home. A very nice gesture.

The oven.

A machine to measure out the dough for muffins.