Cute Elizabeth Stuff

[velvetpage]

Her favourite bath toy? Not the coloured boats. Not the rubber duckies. No, her favourite toy is the plastic cup I use to rinse her hair. (She used to hate this operation. She would cry at the sight of the shampoo bottle in anticipation of having her hair rinsed. Now she puts her hands over her eyes, bends forward so her nose nearly touches the water, and puts up with it.) She played with that plastic cup for a good fifteen minutes. We learned "plein", which she can't quite say, and "Vide!" which she says with enthusiasm as she dumps water over her "ventre". We went over other body parts as they got "mouillé", too - genoux, orteils, dos, cheveux. Bathtime is one of the few times when she mostly speaks French, because it's usually me who gives her a bath.

Afterward, we cuddled, we lotioned, we sang, we watched the kitty cat screen saver that she loves, and she read a book to me. Yes, that's right. I helped her turn pages, and she told me what happened on each page. It was Mercer Meyer's "All By Myself", which has the little monster dressing himself, tying his shoes, getting a drink, etc, etc. She can do most of it. Only one or two of them stumped her. She told me in whole sentences, too. She put two of them into French - "met chaussettes" and "brosse mes cheveux!" It was so cute! I have a pre-literate twenty-two month old!

She was entranced when I pulled her crib out from the wall, the better to put on the crib sheet. "WOW!" said Elizabeth. The caps were audible. She raced around the crib, pushed the garbage can out of the way ("Go, garbage!") and ran into the corner that is usually blocked by the crib. She threw one toy that had been resting there comfortably for weeks into the crib, from which I promptly removed it due to excessive dust.

We read one more book, we prayed, we sang again ("All Day, All Night," this time, followed by one chorus of, "Ma Mère Chantait Toujours," which she sang along with me.) With Pooh, Tigger and White Rabbit (to distinguish from Pray rabbit, the one who prays with us when we press its tummy) as company, she went down at ten after nine.

Comments

great nights

[bamusical.livejournal.com]

these are the great nights of thier lives as well as ours. It sounds like she really enjoys the bedtime routine the two of you have established.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Yanno, you make motherhood sound so wonderful. And I love that she's learning French so early. :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Motherhood IS wonderful. At least when they're little. I'll get back to you about the rest.

Languages are best taught when they're too young to have developed resistance. Right now, she's a sponge for language. Most of those words she knows in both English and French. When she's talking to Oma, it's, "Look Oma!" When she's talking to me, it's, "Regarde, Mommy!"

Of course, for me, the big factor is the different school systems. She'll be in the francophone system - she won't get any English at school, officially, until grade 4. Even better, the francophone board has full-day, every-day junior and senior kindergarten, which is going to save me an absolute fortune in daycare fees. And it means I will never be in a position where I might teach in the same school that she attends - I work in the anglophone board.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Kids and language- yeah, I know. A family I used to babysit for had kids growing up tri-lingual- English, Spanish and German all as crib tongues. (Mom was from Columbia South America, learned German and was teaching Spanish at a German University when she met her American husband who had been transferred to Germany for a bit). Made understanding the kids a trip as I didn't know German and only had school Spanish.

I just wish I knew a second language well enough to teach any future little ones a second 'native' language.

Hmm, my cousins are learning French/English (Daddy married a French girl). One of the cutest things I can remember is Maude at 3 stomping her lil foot and insisting "Oui Mama!"

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Do you have second-language immersion programs available there, or is that mostly a Canadian thing? Here, we have the option in some areas of putting kids into French Immersion, which basically means they are taught in French from kindergarten. They get some subjects in English, usually because the school can't find a French-speaking Music teacher or some such, but they come out functionally fluent in French.

I chose the next step up from that for Elizabeth, because I know some of the downfalls of French Immersion and I know what the Francophone board can offer that FI can't. But the next best thing is second-language programs in elementary school, taught for fluency.