Did you know that Louna missed 3 days of school because she had chicken pox? Nope? That means you need to be updated. The girls are growing up too fast. I hardly get a chance to update this blog: Primo, because I don't want to miss on their education. Segundo, because these girls demand a lot of time and attention from their Mom.
So on with the updates. Kyla, luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you see it) wasn't contaminated with the chicken pox virus. Strong little girl. To think that we didn't take any effort to separate the two. Better luck next time.
Louna, on the other hand wasn't really disturbed by the virus. She had the same appetite and energy. I just hope there'll be no scars especially on her face, because this girl's not listening to her Mom. She just can't stop herself from scratching!
On with the developments. Kyla, at 1 year and 3 months old hasn't taken her first step yet. She prefers to walk with somebody than pushing a toy stroller or pushcarts alone. Hmmm. But she's got talents tho. She can eat her yoghurt on her own. In fact, she wants to eat on her own now.
Louna's development now is more on learning letters and numbers. She's got a lot of smileys from school which kind of motivate her. But that talent is rarely shown at home. She prefers to play teacher at home, she's giving me smileys too!
She's quite active tho on extra-curricular activities which is good in learning to respect others and how to connect with other kids.
Louna doing rock climbing (okay, she's too slow! but she's the youngest among the group and she's the only girl too).
Louna doing roller blades.
She knows how to take care of her sister too (when she's in the mood, of course). Look at them playing with the snow.
Wonder what a 6 months old kiddo could do? This! Wohooo! Taking into account that Louna did it at 5 months old, we could only blame but the weather and Kyla and her covered feet.
I have been boasting about our little girl's love for water - how she jumps without fear. She's been learning more and more tricks each passing week - without us teaching her. Here's a new one..
and another one..
A real copycat, right? Oh my, she's too proud of her new tricks!
The Gymnast
She's been attending baby gym classes with her nanny and here's another trick..
That's when we were waiting for her Papa to finish his 10-km Run for a Cause. Notice those people wearing pink shirts? All of them supporting the fight against Breast Cancer. I had the same shirt too! Louna had a Mickey Mouse stuff toy and she's happy for it.
This afternoon, we visited an Agricultural Fare not far from Dijon. Louna, the animal lover had a grand time caressing the rabbits. She had the luck to ride a tractor too!
I have this impression that this pregnancy goes faster than my first pregnancy. Or am I just a little too inattentive? My gynecologist asked us to get an appointment with the anaesthetist at the maternity clinic. Then with a midwife for my childbirth preparation courses. My reaction was - Déjà? That sounds too soon. Well, I'm not really preparing myself on giving birth yet. I'm still focused on something else. It might sound unfair to my second daughter but it's true that I talk a lot less about this pregnancy than what I did with Louna. Not that I ignore it but first pregnancy is a whole new experience so I had a lot of new stuffs to share. Whereas the second pregnancy is a sort of déjà vu. Well, sort of. I nonetheless savour every minute of this pregnancy, though it always ends up comparing it with the previous one.
So for a quick update, the little girl is moving a lot more than Louna at this stage of pregnancy. Louna was a sleeper and the hiccup girl. This little girl is a kick-boxer. She's pretty active and basing on the echography results, she's a bit bigger. Sleeping has been an ordeal these past two weeks. The baby bump is becoming heavier each day so I wake up each time I change sides and she's also able to wake me up in the middle of the night because of her kicks. So imagine when she's out.
She's weighing 1.10 kg now and the bulging Maman gained 9 kg since the start of pregnancy. So far, I'm practically following exactly the same weight gain curve as that of my first pregnancy so this doesn't really worry me a lot. I feel more tired though. Probably because I have a toddler to tend to and life has to move on as usual. I could hardly stand staying infront of the computer so excuse me for not bloghopping. Yesterday, I had my first incident of hypoglycemia at work. I was on training and it was probably over an hour that I was standing up while listening to instructions (infront of a machine so it was quite hard to take a seat). Then suddenly, I thought they stopped the airconditionning. I felt hot, started to transpire, wanted to vomit and go poop, had difficulty to focus on what was being said, my vision got blurred, and then... total blackout. Within that few seconds of malaise, I had the reflex to slowly glide on the wall so I could sit.. on the floor - in the presence of the supplier training us and few colleagues. I didn't care anymore about what they would say. I was pregnant anyway. I had the excuse. If I didn't do that, I probably fell directly on the floor.
With that incident, my gynecologist required me to eat salty breakfast instead of my regular café au lait and toasted bread topped with Nutella. So okay, I think I'll shift to Filipino breakfast starting tomorrow morning.
Aside from that one minute discomfort, everything else goes impeccably good - a little backache, a bit of fatigue, a moment of hormonal imbalance here and there.. life is good.
This update wouldn't be complete without a word about Louna, right? Oh, this talkative little girl could handle a conversation now. Errr, I mean, she could go monologue. Listen attentively and you'll know all about her.
Last weekend, we were again at the pool because Louna starts to claim for it. She loves being in the water. And more precisely, jumping from the edge of the pool. She also mastered turning around and swim from one end to the other (~10 meters) with the bicycle movement (she saw me doing aquagym).
At one moment, she tried to catch the attention of a lady with her sweet smiles. Once the lady looked at her, she said Louna, deux ans et démi (Louna, two and a half year old) with her hands raised showing her two fingers. Then she started to move out of the pool, looked at the lady and said Régarde (Look.). She quickly jumped onto the water, less than a meter away from the lady. After jumping, she immediately looked at the lady to make sure she was being watched and said Plouf dans l'eau (jumped onto the water). She continued by pointing at me and said C'est Maman, ça. Bébé, pétite soeur. (That's my Mom. She's got a baby, my little sister). And so on and so forth. In less than 5 minutes, there were already 4 adults around her listening to her stories and watching her jump.
It was the same scenario when I brought her with me in a bar (bars in France are now entirely no-smoking areas). She started to present herself and talk about what happened during the day.
Well, I try to explain to her that she sometimes need to wait till other people ask her. But that sounds too complicated to comprehend to a talkative toddler.
Attention (Careful) Papa/Maman - She always reminds us to be careful while driving especially when we suddenly break or swerve and she feels the impact.
Ecoute (Listen) Maman - We were in a department store when suddenly, the song New Soul was aired. She stopped and told me Ecoute Maman while pointing on her ear. It's our ritual to listen to the radio inside the car every morning on our way to the nanny. And when it's my favorite song on air, I tell her Ecoute Louna, c'est le favoris de Maman (Listen Louna, that's Maman's favorite). She in fact registered my favorite songs.
Calin (to give a kiss and a cuddle to somebody) - She claims a moment of tenderness every now and then. She's becoming sweeter by the day. And that's not exclusive to us, she does calin to her toys and even to her rabbit bootee.
A Real Chatterbox
And she demands attention. During conversations with families or friends, she would catch our attention by going at the center then she would start singing Ta ta poisson dans l’eau, nage, nage, dans l’eau.
And notice how she switched the rhyme to Twinkle, twinkle little star, kulit!
Or in a funnier way. She would imitate the sound of a pig and she would say cochon.
She says her name and age too. But she says deux ans et demi now (2 and a half years old), the vid is quite obsolete. Just check on how she shows with her fingers how old she is. Now, she would voluntarily tell her age even if it's not her being asked but other kids.
She would voluntarily tell to a stranger (like the fish vendor in a supermarket, for example) that Maman, bébé, ventre (Maman, baby, tummy) while pointing to my tummy.
Now, she even goes further. I bought a Dora activity book where Dora presents her baby brother and sister. So that same night, I read the story to her explaining that she too will have a baby sister. The next day, she was already telling her nanny non-stop that bébé (pe)tite soeur (little baby sister).
This morning, she told bébé tite soeur again on the phone to her auntie (hope she didn't understand) and just this afternoon at the supermarket, to a vendor of hair dryers.
We can’t keep any secret anymore, me thinks.
She’s Independent
Je vais le faire. Toute seule. (I will do it. Alone.) That’s her favourite phrase now when she’s dressing up, serving a glass of water, washing her hands, etc. It’s great, alright. But morning rituals became longer because she wants to do everything alone!
She’s a Traveller
We drove quite a number of kilometres during our vacation in Italy but guess what? It was a breeze. She was sleeping most of the time or talking to our friend who spent a few days of vacation with us.
Visiting the city was not a problem because she likes walking or pushing her stroller around. She’s not picky with food. She’s not grouchy inside a restaurant. She’s got another notion of tourism though. She would rather feed the pigeons and run after them afterwards, or cuddle the dogs, or smell and pick some flowers, or collect eggs from the farm.
We wrote her name and contact info on her shoes though. There were just too much people and we didn't know how we could trace her back in case she's lost or we're lost. Writing on a piece of paper wasn't that handy as she didn't have a pocket all the time. We just explained to her that just in case, tell other people about her shoes. Thankfully, we never had to use it.
One funny thing though. She saw this ad and she immediately asked C’est Louna ça? (Is that Louna?). Taas ng ambisyon ng anak ko.
Magkamukha ba?
Ninja, The Bad Toy
During our stay at the seaside in Italy, she found a Ninja Turtle on the sand. And she decided to keep it with her. Disaster. Once it got inside the car, the Ninja started to bite the hand of one of her dolls (of course, she's doing it - putting the hands of the doll on the mouth of Ninja). The doll in return pushed Ninja. So Ninja and the little doll went to the corner alternately. Then Ninja started to bite Louna too. It was a bad toy.
And the role of the parents? We were obliged to talk to Ninja and the doll, plus bring them to the corner (in one part of the car) all the time during the duration of the travel. That’s pretty sweet at the start but it became tiring in the end especially when there’s Louna at the backseat being grouchy. She was taking her created story to heart.
Just funny that all her toys are kind and cuddly for her while her found Ninja has been tagged as a bad one. It’s resting somewhere now, with the agreement of Louna. It created a bad ambiance among her toys so better back off.
I knew she's got the potential. I saw it. And I was quite sure of it. I talk pretty much. And so does Papa. An apple tree bears apple fruits, no mystery.
She's been trying to communicate at an earlier age. Though not clearly, she's nonetheless able to express what's in her mind and get what she wants most of the time. A mix of baby talk and body language are this girl's secret.
Here's some tricks and phrases of the moment:
Me trying to play Dora the Explorer DVD on my SIL's computer, but the computer was only able to read sounds without the images. Then there was Louna, playing narrator to her grandparents, auntie and cousins started:
Meow.. dans l'eau.. il pleure.. Diego.. il fait calin. Meow (the little jaguar) .. fell on the water.. it's crying.. Diego.. cuddled him.
In trying to help her wear her shoes, or anything for that matter:
Je vais le faire. I will do it.
In trying to accompany her to her potty, to her room, etc..
Reste là. Stay there.
In trying to push her to eat something:
Aime pas ça. I don't like that.
If she did a mistake:
Oh no! (With Dora accent please!)
In trying to help me or Papa finish our yoghurt:
Aider Maman? Can I help you Maman?
The way she expresses herself just shows how independent she had become. My baby is a big girl now.
My tummy's getting rounder and rounder since the preggy announcement and I hate that I needed to purchase some preggy clothes because the ones I used during the first pregnancy were summer clothes and that, obviously, were out of style.
Last night, I had this brilliant idea of getting Papa behind the camera and capture Louna and the growing bunny at play time. The result ain't that bad so this would become a monthly pictorial series till the bunny's out.
Our 29 month old little mademoiselle is a certified chocolat addict. In fact, it was hard to really capture a good portrait with her running around. So we bribed her with a bar of chocolate. Instantly, she was cooperative and the result was awesome. But just after the pictorial session, she was already claiming her chocolat.
We're slowly introducing her the art of partage (sharing) since she will soon share her Maman and Papa. Below is the scenario at lunchtime: An Easter egg to be shared between the 3 of us.
Louna dividing the chocolate, giving a portion to Papa, then to Maman and the biggest share infront of her (I was still eating some fruits). They ate their share of chocs then afterwards, Louna moving out of her chair walked to my direction. With a big smile, she asked me:
Louna: T'aimes pas ça? (pointing to the chocolate) You don't like it? Maman: Non, j'aime bien. No, I like it a lot. Louna (insisting, again pointing to the chocolate): T'aime pas ça? You don't like it? Maman: J'aime beaucoup. I like it a lot, Louna.
The question and answer portion were probably repeated 5 times with her fingers getting closer and closer to the chocolate. Then she looked at me again and said Partage (Let's share) dividing the chocs into 2, one for her, another for me.
That T'aime pas ça and Partage conversation went again and again till I was done with my fruits. In the end, I only had 1/8th of what I was supposed to have.
Well, at least she understood the principle of sharing - and it always works to her advantage.
Pssst: please watch her dance We did it! with Dora and Boots:
- Wear and remove her shoes. - Do her potty. - Remove her winter coat. - Wear her gloves and bonnet. - Go up and down the stairs. - Eat and drink alone. - Help me bake a yoghurt cake. - Choose her own dessert. - Choose what DVD to watch. - Choose the song she wants to hear inside the car. - Peel off a clementine. - Ride her trotinette (scooter).
What she could do at the Nanny's place but refuse to do at home:
- Arrange her toys.
What she couldn't resist:
- Any kind of food.
What she hates:
- Water.
She's becoming more and more independent. She's almost ready to go to pre-school. Where did time go?
Oh yes ! The trick is, we have to remove her diapers at daytime for her to tell us it’s time to do the potty. When she’s with her diapers, most of the time, she won’t even bother to inform us that it’s poo time. So here are the tricks which worked for us:
- No to diapers during daytime. At first, she refused to remove her diapers and it was a real tug-of-war between us. She in fact understood that without the diapers, she was obliged to remember (because she tends to forget when she’s busy playing) and inform us (most of the time, it’s one second too late, thus the accidents). Practice makes perfect. After repeated accidents, she understood that, well, she had to think about going to the toilet sometimes.
PS: This strategy is coupled with the questions Pot Louna? Non. Sûr? almost every 30 minutes. Yes, we have to think for her sometimes.
- Let her know that accidents are not acceptable. She has to have the notion of what is good and what is not. Time-out corner, when used moderately, doesn’t hurt.
- Encouragement. Kids love to be applauded and praised – and know what, this doesn’t cost a thing. Louna is just so proud when she does it. There was one afternoon when she wanted to keep her potty because Papa hadn’t seen it yet. And Papa was still at work! So I tried to negotiate to keep the potty chair inside the toilet, without 'flushing’ the content, but she wanted it to be near her inside her playroom. She doesn’t trust Maman when it comes to potty matters. Imagine the odor propagating everywhere inside the house! Panic! I called up her Papa and explained the situation. They talked over the phone and Papa said Bravo Louna. After then, she took her potty chair and headed to the toilet. It was ok to flush her business. Whew.
It’s been almost a month now that she’s doing her potty business without any accident. She could even control herself now. Hope this progress continues.
Another milestone is taking into form right now. Last Monday night, bad Maman as I am, I told Louna to Go do your potty on your own. You’re a big girl now. when she started to say Pot. That was because this bad Mom was busy watching the telly. But… before criticizing me, read this:
Louna went to her potty chair, pulled down her pants and diapers, then did her business. She then went back to me, pants pulled up correctly with some bumpy thing inside. I checked on it and it was in fact her diapers (it was night time – diaper time) which she wasn’t able to pull back up with her tiny hands. That was really cute! Papa and I was laughing our hearts out, followed by Louna who equally giggled on her own. We were really proud of her.
We’re not into systematic rewards each time she does something good. But that night, she had her Kinder chocolate for a job well done.
Louna hiding, ashamed of what she's doing in her little potty corner. Her potty corner is just outside Papa and Maman's own potty corner.
More On Her Habits..
Bisous
She's developing a cute daily routine at her Nanny's place. She would knock on the door. Once inside, she would give a kiss to everybody in the house - then to Maman. After saying Au revoir Maman, she would take her slippers, remove her shoes, then wear her slippers. Just after then that it's play time.
She would take the same routine in the afternoon. She would wear her shoes, give a kiss to everybody, take her coat, then wave A demain to everybody. All in that order. She's so cute.
Wipey Lil Butt-y
Doing the potty starts to be a regular routine. If it's pee time, then I just give her a toilet paper and she'll do the wiping on her own. She throws the used toilet paper in the toilet bowl like a big girl. If it's poo time, then she would bow down for me (or Papa) to do the wiping. She would then accompany me to the toilet to flush her business and says au revoir pipi/caca.
She starts to raise her panties too, not perfectly tho. Her bottoms are always left uncovered because her tiny arms just can't reach the butt part, yet.
Bébé Massage
Oh, this is an excellent bonding time between us and Louna (whoever gives her a bath). She's a willing client. She would even turn her back so we could do the job efficiently.
My little girl's growing and it's quite hard to realize that she's nearing 2 years old and she'll start playschool starting February of next year. She's mastered a lot of skills and tricks now that makes her more adorable. I'm sure you're excited as me to unravel her cuteness.
Vocabulary Check
Mamie and Papi - the French words for grandma and grandpa were a hit this summer, especially that she stayed almost two week with her grandparents. She calls her nanny's mom Mamie too. And mind you, she could exige Mamie's attention with matching stamping of her feet. What an authority!
Pain - French word for bread. She's quite addicted to this word as much as she is addicted to the actual bread. And the way she wipes her plate with her bread, or the way she dips her bread to her cup of milk, you would know that she's a real Frenchie.
Tchin-Tchin - Here in France, if they don't say Santé (to health) to say Cheers, they would say tchin-tchin. And my little girl would ask for a tchin-tchin everytime she drinks her glass of water.. so careful if you serve yourself with wine.
Main - Hands. Of course, she knows where her hands are and she knows how to wash them. She would take one chair near the wash basin, climb the chair and ask help from Maman or Papa by shouting 'main main' with her hands held up high.
Moo - it could be Nemo when she wants to watch the movie or a cow if she sees one.
Oh Men - Have you seen Dora the Explorer? Do you know Swiper the Fox? And do you know what Swiper says? Oh men!
Back Pack - Still with Dora the Explorer, now with the Back Pack. Louna has some collections of Dora band-aids (which her Maman bought of course) and I caught her one time at the playground telling her playmate about her band-aid - she was singing the Back Pack song while pointing on her knees with the band-aid.
More Tricks
She basically mastered all the animal sounds in her book, almost all her principal body parts and is becoming more and more sensitive to music. She could sing Frere Jacques / Are You Sleeping song with her own lyrics hehe... but you could actually recognize the song, that's essential, right? She's trying to use her left hand for eating lately and she's doing it great. Check the videos below, at the last entry.
She also loves patterns - you know, she had to follow the trail when we do hiking. Look at the picture attached, she walks on the green lane.
On potty training, optimist-me says we're almost at the finish line. She says caca or pot when she feels like doing it and would say non if it's no, of course. The problem is, she only informs us in the morning and evening.. and during daytime, she would finally forget informing us because she would be busy with her baby life. I try to ask her every so often and it works, she would say oui (yes) or non. The problem is, when I start to get busy with everything else except Maman life, I too, forget that I have to ask her for a pot. A friend told me I have to use an alarm clock and I swear, I'll use it this weekend.
She hates Mamanrazzi
When is the age when kids adore posing infront of the camera? Mine still hates it at 22 months old. She hides from me! .. Or is she hiding because she's eating something?
You must be wondering how am I and what I'm doing. Maman had been quite busy lately and now she's sick so I thought, I might as well update my own blog. I've heard that Daddy (my grandpa from the Philippines) was asking about me non-stop and was disappointed to see my Maman in the Philippines alone, sans me. So okay, I'm taking the situation myself. I can't wait for my parents. I'll update you of the latest developments, latest tricks.. everything latest about me!
So where do I begin? Well, I'll probably start with an activity in a playground which I found beneficial and I could use in my everyday toddler life. Look at the picture below:
Me climbing the rope at the playground, then the stairs at the hotel, then trying my skills on rock climbing. I'm learning really fast!
During our vacation, we had a stopover at a zoo and the challenge was to imitate the animals to realize, well, animal-life what else.
With the pictures above, I was trying the tyrolienne bébé-style and the exercise bar wherein I stayed 9 long seconds to imitate monkeys. The 3rd picture shows how good I am to imitate pink flamingos.
Aside from good experiences, I also had my share of bad experience during our vacation. We were in a parking area at La Mongie preparing for our magnificent ride to the Pic du Midi when this cutie little donkey approached us. Maman rapidly took her camera to take a picture of me with the donkey while Papa held it to prevent any accident. I tried to caress it but the donkey thought I was giving something to eat. There you go. Maman captured a great picture of me, my hand inside the donkey's mouth. Papa said donkeys are kind and it didn't mean to hurt me.. but I was nevertheless hurt! Bad donkey!
Oppps, by the way, I finally said goodbye to my feeding bottle without the fuss. Drinking my milk from a bowl, just like my parents do, is really cool. I actually overheard them say that it shows where I'm interested into by checking on which skill I develop first. I eat excellently well for my age. Now, I drink from cups and glasses and I could proudly say that I never broke one.
Well, I don't know why they make it big of a deal that I have a BIG appetite for my tiny stomach when the little boy with me at the nanny's place had to be pushed just so he swallows something. Parents! They never know what they want for their kids.
Today is Louna's 20th month. As usual, I need to come up with a monthly update but this time, I'll try to talk less but show you more evidence. You might think that I brag about my daughter non-stop without even knowing if 50% of what I write is true or not. So here's Louna at 20 months old.
She's playing Mommy.
She's a Green Thumb. Well, she's watering the plants and loves to smell the flowers.
She eats on her own. Look at how coordinated her movements are, and how clean she eats at her age.
She loves chocolate. In all forms.
She could remove the seed of a cherry fruit. Oh yeah, direct from her mouth. That's my 20-months-old.
She's a Dora the Explorer fan. She's afraid of Swiper the Fox tho. She was watching Dora yesterday when I suddenly heard her cry. I rushed to see what's wrong with her, but in fact, she was just afraid that Swiper might swipe the ribbons of the three little pigs (To the Rescue edition). So I told her to raise her hand each time she sees Swiper and say, 'Swiper no swiping' three times. Well, she's raising her hands now. Not a bad start.
She's a webcam princess. - Here is one of our webcam conversations while I was on business travel.
She loves to accompany me buy a baguette or a pain.
What more can a Mom ask for? This budding little princess is a concentrate of pure happiness. Happy 20th month, ma coquine.
She’s a Frenchy. I have been trying to instill Filipino values by dressing her up Divisoria-style but aside from the Zambal song Popo Talobo she’s requesting each time I change her diapers and her morena color, no other traces of her being half-Filipino have blatantly marked her developments. She’s growing frenchier by the second. It’s inevitable. She’s growing on a French ground.
Language and comprehension skills are the important milestones this month. Aside from the words and phrases already listed two entries ago, she’s got new additions to her vocabulary. All French, of course.
Aïe Aïe Aïe (Ay Ay Ay) – Could be translated to Ouch, to Oh boy! to Oh dear! depending on which situation she employs the word. But hmm, she’s quite abusing this word.
Là – There. Ask her to search for something and she’ll answer you with là.
Coucou – Another way to say Hello.
Coin (pronounced as kwang)– Corner. Remember the Time-Out Corner when she does something bad? She knows it by heart now. She even goes there without being punished to practice her crying prowess. She pronounces it as khang.
This girl is a promising talkie-walkie. She talks a lot and she expresses herself so LOUDLY. And I mean loudly. She probably noticed she could get more attention by shouting all the time. How could I explain to a toddler that she could get what she wants even without yelling?
She’s now into Role Playing too. She plays Mom to her favourite doll. She feeds her doll, installs her on the high chair and attaches her with the security belt, puts on her shoes, dances with her, talks to her and cuddles her. Her doll has her own dose of khang too. Nasty doll!
Other toddler wonders she’s mastered right now are:
- Sending flying kisses and giving out real kisses with sounds. - Playing with building blocks. She starts to pile up goods inside a grocery when left unguarded. - Putting on her own shoes.
But this girl has two faces. She’s also a Bad Girl in the Making. She’s in the process of pushing our patience to the limits. She would refuse to arrange her toys. She wouldn’t oblige if we ask her to point on her different body parts. She wouldn’t concentrate when we want to teach her something. She would play when it’s bedtime.
Bref, she’s a growing toddler, with her highs and lows.
We were at my parents-inlaw’s place the week before I left, and as usual, we had lunch with the whole family, SIL’s family included. Family gatherings like that happen probably 3-4 times in a year. So like you, they also follow Louna’s development through blog – and phone calls, of course.
Proud parents as we are, we were ecstatic to announce that Louna understands quite a lot now, both in English and in French. You could ask her to throw something in the garbage, to go to the bathroom because it's bathtime, to wipe her mouth, to arrange her toys (understanding and actually doing the task is not synch yet), to get inside the house. Well, the list is actually endless.
SIL, a mom herself, knows that parents love to brag about their kids so she started to test Louna’s comprehension skills.
Louna, does Papa cook well? (Remember, I told you, we we're having lunch. And French culture says, we should talk about anything related to food while eating.)
Louna, sitting proudly on her highchair, aware that everybody was watching her, started to nod. Everybody applauded and said ‘Bravo’.
SIL, still not completely convinced, started to ask another question.
Louna, does Mama cook well?
Louna after seconds of hesitation, looked at me, and started to shake her head. Everybody laughed except me. I suddenly turned red.
PS: You should know by now what the title means. PS1: But well, at least, they knew that she, indeed understands well.
Picture: Louna with her Mamie (grandmom) and cousins Louise and Martin. Look at how delighted she was in seeing the cake. Takaw!
She starts to dream big...a lot. I mean she's got a lof of dreams. I was just wondering what suits her most. What do you think?
She dreams to be a Dancing Queen. So, supportive parents as we are, I taught her the first step (wriggly pampery arse), Frenchguy the second one (incredible hulk style). Hehe.
But me thinks she'll be a Future Engineer, like Maman and Papa. Look at her building the Eiffel Tower.
But well, her love for animals will also make her a good Veterinarian, me thinks. She not only gives them injections, she's also capable of giving them TLC - hugs and kisses.
She also dreams to be a little Imelda Marcos. She's a Shoe Advocate. On developments..
Il est où? T'as vu? Literally translates to Where is it? Did you see it? Her first two sentences. No wonder, she's my cute little frenchy.
Au revoir (she pronounces it as ow-vwa). That means Goodbye. But she says that word to say Thank you. Baligtad.
Understands well (only when she wants!). Isn't life unfair? She understands us. But we don't understand her. She usually babbles a lot of sounds. She must have a lot of stories to tell. It must be interesting to know what's behind each uncomprehensible words.
She knows her body parts, errr, limit that to the head, ok? Nose, eyes, head, ears, lips, hands. Of course, there's some mix up sometimes but that makes kid life funnier, right?
Don't touch me. That's probably what she wants to say to all those who want to touch her, kiss her or hug her. But at her age, all she could do is to scream. Better luck next time, folks.
Bookworm? She starts to love looking at pictures on her book. Her favorite is her Farm Animal book. And would you believe that she said hiiih to imitate goat sound when she saw one? This book is a marvel! Oppps, one more thing why I hate leaving her with her Papa (see picture below). This public display of complicity starts to make me jealous. Grrrr.
My new found discovery. I could spend my whole day doing just that - removing and putting my shoes on.
Maman left me with apple slices but they were not enough. I wanted to move out of my high chair to find more apples but it was too complicated. Now I'm blocked.
First time Mom, away from the family and living in another country are the perfect factors to feel lost. I've conditionned myself to rely on my instincts but there's just some situations that I feel the need to rely on something else. Since my pregnancy to present, I have been a grand devourer of books, magazines and internet sites. I've frequented Mommy and Baby bloggers around the net. I have learnt a lot of Mommy tricks, but the most important of all, I've learnt that there's no such thing as Child: User's Guide.
Every child has his own curve of physical, cognitive, social and emotional developments so no need to stress out over something because statistics say so. I have stopped worrying that my child walked later than her peers. I have stopped worrying that she just started potty training at 16 months old. I have decided to let her grow at her own pace, not worrying about statistics. I have decided to watch her grow without pushing. I have decided to savour the magic moments of her little discoveries without worrying.
She sees/hears the world. She stops when a dog barks and says 'waw waw' in return. She looks up in the sky when she hears an airplane and points at it. She loves observing birds and would stop walking just to see them fly. She would stop walking, lacking confidence, when she hears a motorcycle pass her way - like she's sensed danger. She would stare at someone and wait till he says hi and would smile and wave her hand in return.
She imitates. She cleans the toilet bowl with the brush (even if I say no). She puts toothpaste on her brush. She uses her toothbrush as a lollipop. She combs Papa's hair. She holds the (computer) mouse like a pro. We were once walking at the town center and some teenagers shouted. She stopped, turned to the youngsters, and surprised everybody when she yelled back at them. It's the time of parenthood when we have to be careful on what we say and do before her.
She makes us laugh. She would swing from one foot to the other when she hears music and look at us with a smile. She would do something good and would clap her hands.
She understands. More than what we think she does. She shows where her nose is and if she points somewhere else but her nose, it means playtime. She would arrange her toys, put her diapers in the garbage, goes to her room when it's bedtime, bring something to Mama or Papa... but all that, exclusive when she's on play mood.
She drinks on her own. This one's a milestone! She holds her glass, ask for a toast (when she's on play mood), drinks what's inside, and ends the whole procedure with a cough. Chic!
She knows good from bad. It's either we applaud or nothing. Depending on the gravity, she would either give us a hug or a kiss or go to the corner. She would always try to push to the limits, of course, but kids will always be kids. I let her be. That's part of the gazillion joys of parenthood.
