Rulli Rulli Pomm Pomm

This is Marta and her friend Paul. Paul is just a few months younger than Marta but they communicate like they are twins. They are both energetic with a love for physical activity and pushing the limits of what they are allowed to do.

One nice thing about Paul is that he only speaks Estonian. This gives Marta the opportunity to play with another child in her mother language (as opposed to her father language). He also si willing to play along with Marta's need for non-stop action.

Sometimes though things get out of hand. Marta usually likes to tease Paul about his possessions and Paul gets very upset. He will then try to hit Marta, and the whole situation will end in a big puddle of tears and emotions. Their favorite word is "oma" which means "own" - so they'll go back and forth "Pauli oma" (Paul's own thing) "No, see on Marta oma" (no, this is Marta's own thing) until BOOM!

This last weekend they even got in a fight over some deer. We were at paul's grandmother and grandfather's house in upstate New York and saw some deer. "Vaata kitsad!" (look goats!) Paul said. "Ei ole kitsad, on põder" (they aren't goats, they're moose" Marta answered. "Kitsad" "Põdrad" "Kitsad" "Põdrad" "Kitsad" "Põdrad" - finally one of them started crying and the other started screaming. They were both wrong though. The right word for these kind of deer is "Hirve."

Watching them both is exhausting. First they are playing together - so you approach them like a referee, waiting for one of them to foul the other. Then they split up. One runs this way, the other runs that way.

Epp made up a song for Paul - who is a typical boy and loves cars. It goes "rulli rulli rulli pomm pomm." I am not sure exactly what it means. But both Paul and Marta
like to sing it together during thier adventures.