So Much To Say

Madeleine has been practicing single words for awhile. Now she's trying to put them all together. It's fun to hear her first sentences and word combinations.

Her 1st two word combination, and one she mastered early on, was "all done". She lengthens the "aaaaaall" and punctuates the "DONE". More recently, I was sitting in her room with her as she played with puzzles and she requested, "Mommy play (with) me".

Lately she puts together words that allow her to assert her autonomy and things she wants. She says, "I get it (eg ball, car)"... "I want it"..."I hold it"...."I cut it"..."more ______". She fills in the blank with all sorts of things "more bread"..."more playdough"...etc. I'm trying to teach her to add "please" to the end and she does sometimes..."peeeese".

She is good at identifying messes too. Whenever something spills in the kitchen or toys fall down she exclaims "mess". She'll even create a mess, just so that she can say it. Thankfully she also says "clean up" after and is more than happy to pitch in and chant "clean up" as she helps.

Matthew is learning some language skills too - in the realm of manners. He's learning quickly. For awhile he had a habit of sitting down for dinner and telling me that he didn't like what was out for him and/or I used the wrong cup/plate, followed by a melt down.

So, we had a talk about how to get what he needs in a less combative style (read between the lines...in a way that doesn't upset mommy). Now, most times, he'll come to me before I set things up and request his preference. Or, if he misses that opportunity, he will tell me that he's not happy with my cup/plate selection, but that he plans on using it anyhow. Also, at the end of dinner he'll explain to me that what I made wasn't his favorite, but he ate it, and can I please choose something different in the future for him. I wish he liked everything, but I'm pleased with his progress!

Maybe I'll serve cookies and ice-cream every night. There won't be any discussion at all and I'll probably get hugs and kisses left and right. An added bonus...the dentist will love me too!

Thanksgiving

I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been busy knitting and enjoying the holiday with the family. I'm out of yarn now and the holiday is over. Time to make a post.

The first thing we did after arriving in Carmel for Thanksgiving with the Senasac's was to go shopping at Safeway. It's the best way to jump start a holiday vacation. Really. We needed milk for Madeleine and the kids LOVED the double seated car attached to the shopping cart. At every stop they got out for a pit stop and changed sides. Giggling the whole time.

We went back later in the trip to hit the Starbucks inside the Safeway. I thought I'd run in and grab some coffee quickly before heading out for a drive along the coast. While waiting in the car Matthew asked his Dad why we would stop to get coffee there...when we knew he'd be sad if he couldn't ride the cars. He's right, we're not too smart. Then again, it was the only cafe open on Thanksgiving near the hotel. It's a toss up.


Next, we got to the business of a real vacation and headed to the beach with the kids and many of their cousins, aunts and uncles. It's a short walk from the hotel, so very convenient. Here's Matthew playing with Mother Nature.


The kids had fun hanging out at the hotel too. Here's Madeleine giving her brother a big smooch.


Here's Matthew wiping off the smooch! He still loves her. How could he not? She's so sweet.


All around, it was a fun trip. We saw so much family...22 of us. We're home now and ready for another great week. This time on Garden Lane.

Yo estoy aprendiendo Español con Maria!

This is my new friend Maria. Well, she's really not a new friend. I've known her for several years. She's a parent at Matthew's preschool. The thing is...I never got to know her because she primarily spoke Spanish.

Since then, she has taken many English classes and has learned a lot. I, on the other hand, have done nothing to learn Spanish. Still, we can now have brief and paced conversations in English.

One day I was chatting with her and we realized that it would be fun to get together to practice English and Spanish together. A language exchange. Interestingly enough, you can search for language exchange partners on craigslist.com.

Maria came over last week and we got started. We weren't sure what to do at first, but then eased into something that worked for us. Even though I had known her for a long time, I knew almost nothing about her. So, I started asking her questions in English. I would write them down and she would write out the same sentence in Spanish. Then the answer, in English and Spanish. We wrote down numbers above the words to help us see how it all connected. Before long, we had 5-6 sheets. I made copies for her to take home.

Now when I see Maria at the school she asks me simple questions in Spanish. I'm constantly making a fool of myself, but I'm trying. The other day I said "Buenos dias, Maria". She then reminded me that it was the afternoon. Oops. I corrected myself..."buenas tardes, Maria". Later I saw her cleaning up after the kids at lunch and she looked tired. I said, "cansado"? She smiled and said, "Si". I think she was happy for me to move past greetings.

My new favorite site...spanishdict.com! We get together again tomorrow. I'd better go study!!!

What is so funny???

Here's Matthew and Madeleine laughing and screaming uncontrollably with their friend Havah. I love to see kids laugh like this. It's contagious.

Halloween...What a day!

It took a couple of days. We've now recovered from 14 straight hours of Halloween fun. It started out with a parade and potluck party at Matthew's school. All of the kids were SO cute in their costumes. Aside from a few varieties of princess, everyone had something different. Pixar had a big contingent with Buz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen. We also had the standards...fire fighter, cowboy, and a witch. There were throw backs too....Darth Vader and Spiderman. Madeleine was a giraffe and Matthew was her Veterinarian. It was a good showing.

The Veterinarian choice was interesting. He picked it on his own without even knowing the historical roots of that choice. When I was in college, I worked for a Veterinarian. While there, I became friends with a girl named Nicole. After a couple of years of working with her, I went to her brother's New Year's Eve party. Her brother being Marc...aka Matthew's Dad. Funny stuff.

After the parade there was a lot of good food to enjoy and a pinata. Madeleine turned down the offer to smack the paper pumpkin several times. At the end, just before the thing broke open, she accepted the invitation. She must have taken some pointers from the big kids. She got up there with perfect form and a nice slice off the bat.

In the afternoon, Matthew and I carved a pumpkin and baked the seeds. He chose the shapes and I performed surgery on the gourd...rectangle please mom, now a triangle. The pumpkin and the seeds came out great. We took a couple of raw seeds and planted them in the garden. We're hoping for another cute little pumpkin like the one that recently came off the vine from last years planting.

After Madeleine woke up, we headed down the street for the Annual Halloween Block Party. They had a great time in the jumpy/slide house, bobbing for apples, eating mummy dogs, and playing with the other kids.

We came home for a quick dinner and changed back into costumes. This time Matthew opted for his train engineer costume. It's hard for him to go a day without being and engineer. We handed out candy until Marc came home and then we headed out to the streets. Madeleine seemed to catch on quickly. She chimed in on "treat" and held out her bag. She felt so comfortable, that at the next house she walked right in, found the table with the bowl and started to help herself.

After we canvased our street we packed in the car and headed to a kids party at the church. Our friend Nikki heads it up and she does a bang up job. This year it was a circus theme and she was the ring leader. There was a show with acrobats, but we just missed it. Matthew and Madeleine put on their own show on the stage and enjoyed all of the other festivities of the night.

It was a full and fun day!