The Zane family is here and we're spending a nice time together. I went for a run at 9.00 am after waking up at 7.30 am. I didn't have breakfast yet and in the last mile I felt very low energy. Having breakfast as I am typing this.
We only talk to Nora in Bulgarian and Dutch, and she is getting more vocal every day. Everybody says that this is the way to go, since she will learn English here from everybody else. In fact, in a few years Dutch and Bulgarian will be the minority languages for her.
Still, it is a little scary to not explicitly teach Nora English. Will she be okay in school? Will she be able to talk to her friends?
A week ago, we heard Nora make her first real sentence in English. When we met Tristan and Calla on the street, Nora told them: "balloons! there!"
And toddlers have a great memory for language. Yesterday we overheard her talking to her self and saying: "happy birthday to you". The only place she would have heard that was when we sang at Ingrid's birthday, two weeks ago.
While I ran at 7.00 am it felt like 8.00 am -- end of Daylight Savings Time will do that to you. So slept in nicely and then went for a fast run, felt good. Even did the 4.5 distance.
Ran with my hat on which was good. It was 37 degrees. Cold arms and hands for the first 10 minutes but then nice.
This morning we went for a walk to Washington-Lee, the high school near us. It's less than half a mile but we took our time since Nora was walking with us. Since a few weeks we let her walk longer distances, without the stroller, and she loves it. She stops and looks at everything: flowers, stones, carved pumpkins ("poes!").
At Washington-Lee we saw the build-up for this afternoon's political rally when President Obama will speak to support Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor. The elections are this Tuesday.
We walked back and did some shopping at Giant. This was one of the first time Nora was walking in the supermarket and she enjoyed it. I had to remind her a few times not to touch the merchandise but she did well.
A nice Sunday morning. Nora went to sleep at 1.00 pm, which is quite late for her especially since today is the first day without Daylight Savings Time.
Last night we had a common meal with several of our neighbors at the 'taverna', which was great.
When I ran past the Washington-Lee highschool I saw several trucks on loading chairs and equipment. President Obama will visit there tomorrow, pretty cool -- it's a few minutes from our house.
I surpassed my absolute minimum mileage for the year today. In 2010 I ran 358 miles and I consider that the lowest I should go in a year. Next milestone is the 2012 number, 379 miles.
Nora woke up twice tonight -- she has a case of the sniffles. So I woke up for the 3rd time at 6:30 and figured I'd go for a run. Wasn't too cold, run went well. In the mornings there is more traffic, so a longer wait to cross Lee Highway.
I planned to go for a longer run today but I felt tired on my run. I was a little bit grumpy in the morning so I guess I'm really tired. When I felt my right knee weirdly while going up the first hill on Custis, I decided to not do 6 miles but do our 4.5 miles course instead. First time in forever that I felt something like that so taking it easy.
The other day we where at Clarendon Commons and a group of musicians was performing for toddlers. There was a man in a gorilla costume and someone playing the guitar, both quite memorable for her.
She makes funny connections between the languages.
I won't be able to run tonight so I went in the morning instead. Sasha gets up at 6.45 am these days so I got up with her and left at 7.00 am. It was still dark when I left, but when I got back the sun had gotten up. As usual, early morning runs are slower for me. I stretched well.
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.
We only talk to Nora in Bulgarian and Dutch, and she is getting more vocal every day. Everybody says that this is the way to go, since she will learn English here from everybody else. In fact, in a few years Dutch and Bulgarian will be the minority languages for her.
This morning we went for a walk to Washington-Lee, the high school near us. It's less than half a mile but we took our time since Nora was walking with us. Since a few weeks we let her walk longer distances, without the stroller, and she loves it. She stops and looks at everything: flowers, stones, carved pumpkins ("poes!"). 
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. 