Mama dice....

As we enter into the 5th month of cold here in Pittsburgh, I am running out of ideas to entertain Victor at home.  Unfortunately for us, it has been a long, hard winter, what with a newborn and the entire family sharing illnesses for about 4 months straight.

Luckily, Papa has done a great job working with Victor on his body parts.  So far he knows:

• la cabeza
• la oreja
• la nariz
• la boca
• la tripa (this is our favorite as he walks around grinning as he pats his belly with 2 hands!)
• las manos
• los pies

We've stayed away from los ojos since we're afraid he'll poke his little brother in the eye.

Next on the list are las piernas, los brazos, and el culo.

This morning, we played a fun game of Mama Dice.  I didn't want to confuse him (who is this Simon guy anyway, and why does he keep telling me what to do???) and since I love hearing him say "Mama", it was a win-win.  

While he is too young to know that he should point out his body parts only if Mama lo dijo, it was a lot of fun for both of us!

Talking up a storm!

Friday afternoon, we had our 18 month pedi appointment where the dreaded question was asked:

"Does your son speak at least 4 words?"

What?  All of that nervousness and he only needs to be speaking 4 measly words???  (he does:  bye-bye, suave (i.e. "don't hit the baby"), no, Eli (the pink elephant from Pocoyo), a-oos (adios), and various animal sounds).

Well, if that weren't enough, this weekend he added about 10 words to his vocabulary including silla, leche, agua, papa, and mama...even something that sounds a bit like "Ah-viz" (Oscar and I like to think that he is referring to his brother, David).

Por fin!!!!

Yippee! Victor's first (Spanish) Word!

Victor is obsessed with "bye bye".  He must say it 400 times a day.  Seriously.  

Well, yesterday the "bye bye" was replaced with a smiley "a-os".  To a mother's ears, this was a beautiful and perfect "adios"!

OLE!

Is Spanish harder to learn than English?

I don't think fathers worry so much, but all of the mothers I talk to agree--the "well child" appointments with the pediatrician are as close to a report card as we get.  I have tried to be ambivalent and accept that my kids will develop on their own schedule, but as the date creeps closer and closer, the "cramming" begins.

Right now, we are working on talking.

My husband had a month of vacation time during the holidays, so we have effectively shifted to about a 90% Spanish household.  After all, with the cold weather here in Pittsburgh, we don't have as many outings, and those that we did have were with Spanish-speaking friends to celebrate Navidad.

But wouldn't you know it--the few words that Victor says are all in English?

Talking to the pediatrician last month, she was not concerned with his limited vocabulary as the few words that he does say (bye, bye; papa, no...) were two-syllable words -- a more complex skill than the typical "nose", "ear", etc.

So I set about trying to come up with a list of monosyllabic words to teach him in Spanish.  I came up with 6:  dos, tres, seis, si, no, pez.  We're in trouble!

My opinion is that Spanish may be more difficult to learn in the beginning, but Victor will catch up quickly.  He's starting to sing along with (American!) rhymes and songs and he's super-quick with signs that I teach him and takes direction well (okay, as well as a toddler does!).

It's just tough not to worry.  After all, it is my performance review we're talking about.