Thankful.

12/02/2013
Just recently saw a post by my friend Amanda Arellano in her blog Cruisetocruz    http://cruisetocruz.com/2013/11/28/you/ and it gave me an idea. I've been on the verge of tears lately (of happiness) because my baby is about to turn 2 years old in seventeen days. I feel as though this birthday of his is hitting me a bit harder than the first year. This second year has been so fun and the growing he's been doing has just amazed me. His little gentle personality blooms every day and I am just so thankful to be his mom. Every day I wake up with his smiling face next to me, and his easy going attitude allows me to take everything in and relax . Nesta is such a joy to be around, and I couldn't believe my life without him.
I remember the days when he would fall asleep with his eyes open (yikes!) and I would worry about things like that, or when he would scream in the car seat during a 5 minute drive. I was a nervous wreck with this baby and sometimes I didn't know what to do with myself or with him. All I wanted to do was feed him and make sure he peed and poop. It's so funny how one changes as a parent. Now, I just want to get home from work and play with him, sing, dance and read. I am thankful for our mini-conversations. I am thankful for the million kisses I get and the million hugs that follow. I'm no longer a nervous wreck because I've gotten to know my son and I LOVE the little person he is and the man I know he will become.
I'm thankful for the mess of legos we pick up together (well..) and for the paintings he creates with his fingers as he smears "ashul" on me. I am thankful for the songs we sing and how he's actually singing.. and well it's soo cute. I'm thankful that he chose me to be the one to change his poopy diapers (really, I'm flattered). I'm thankful for the times he reads to me and shows me that he has listened to us as we read to him . I'm thankful for the hugs he gives Albert (rather than a yank at his tail.)
I'm thankful for those little hands that grab my face as he bumps his forehead to my lips to receive a kiss. I'm thankful for his little voice that says "mama" as I walk in from work. I'm even thankful for the disagreements that we have- because it takes a lot to say no to your mama.
I'm so excited for the years to come and to watch this child of mine grow.
However, it is very difficult to watch him grow and to know that the decisions that we make for him will be probably more difficult than "breast-milk vs. formula." I know Nesta will make it seem very easy for us, and I just hope that he grows up to be the man that he wants to be.
I love you Nesta Bob- always and forever.
Mama

                                                       Nesta at the public library in Nashville.

                                                    Nesta at his grandparents's house in Brown Co.

                                                       Nesta and mama in the golf cart.

Nesta speaks!

Yes, we waited and waited and we are still sort of waiting but the thing is that Nesta has been speaking for a while now. We just haven't been able to understand what he was saying, until now- sort of. I think my ears finally are picking up the words he's trying to say. For example he says ka ka often, and my mom just thought he was talking about poop. I knew he wasn't, because the word we use for poop is poopoo and we sign this as well. Finally, it dawned on me that my child is saying aca, I often say to him ven aca  (come here). He also says ta, and he has done it recently when we're knocking on his grandma's door and I tell him that she's not there No está. Like this, I have been figuring out what Nesta wants to say to me. So I am making a list of the words he says in English and in Spanish. I have to listen to him more closely when it comes to words in English, because I assume he's saying all in Spanish. However, he says hot rather than caliente and that's because hot is easier to say. 

Has your child every said something that took you a minute to figure out and then when you did figure it out you wanted to hear it again? And then your child being a little punk wouldn't repeat it? Or maybe your kid sensed that you were too excited about whatever it is s/he said that he or she started thinking too much about it and decided not to repeat it for fear of saying it wrong? Whichever it is- this happened and it was oh so so so frustrating. I was changing Nesta and sometimes to entertain him I ask him to do his animal sounds for me. So I asked him if he was a lion: ¿Eres un león? and this time he did not growl, he said tigre. I continued to change him, and then I realized what he had just said. My mom often calls him a tigre and it all came together and I wanted him to say it again, but I pushed too much and he just stared at me and then growled. I growled too ROAR I was so mad at myself for pushing him. This was like 3 or 4 months ago so it was a big deal. He still won't say any animal names, because sounds are so much more fun GROWL!

This has been a draft for sometime, and I just want to post it because it can be never ending.  Mainly I wanted to know how many words he knew. I feel like there are more words that he knows, but the ones in the lists below are definitely the ones he uses the most. He also started to say caliente and música just recently. Another thing he started to do is make new sound that he hadn't done before- these sounds are hard to explain so I keep thinking it is a new word. I'll figure it out soon enough I hope. 

Spanish                                                                 

Parque

Burbujas
Manzana
Pelota
Está
Ven
Aca
Gracias
Sientate
Pato
Agua
Pan
Abuela
Zapatos
Azul
Casa
Bebe
Tres
Música
Caliente

English
Hot
Bread 
Albert
Go
Truck
Shorts
Banana
Pocoyo

Brown County, Indiana.

We are very lucky to have family all over the place. Yes, sometimes it is difficult because we would rather be near each other. However, it is fun to be able to visit our family in Wisconsin, New Jersey and Indiana. Of course Indiana is where the grandparents live (Nesta's) and that's where we were over the last two days.
We were searching for mushrooms and a good time. We got both! Nesta didn't know why we wanted mushrooms nor did he care if we found any. We didn't find any morels, but other types were found. Nesta had a blast exploring in the woods, throwing rocks, kissing the cats - well mainly Stewart. He LOVED riding in the mule which is the golf cart that we use to move around when it is too muddy. Well, he didn't like riding in it, he wanted to drive it. He loved spending time with his grandparents and watching them cook breakfast and helping the stir. This kid loves stirring. 

                                                   Nesta really wanted to wear his boots!

                                           So happy to be out in the woods.

                                                Tasting rocks- it's a must!

                                                 New dance move? Nope, just backing up.

                                                   Really throwing rocks.

I had to think fast while walking around the woods and telling Nesta about all the beauty around us. So here is some stuff I came up with:
Turtle: Tortuga.                                          
Woods: Bosque (forest).
Mushrooms: Hongos.
Trees: Arboles.
Tree trunk: Tronco.
Rocks: piedras.
Mud: Lodo.
Flowers: Flores.

It was pretty easy except I keep thinking there is a different word in Spanish for "the woods" but all I could come up with is "el bosque." Also the golf cart my in-laws drive around their property is called "the mule" but I thought it be too funny to call it a mula. So I just called it "el carrito." Nesta now knows what a car is and does and he even adds sound effects to it when he hears the word whether in English or Spanish. He cannot wait to go back to Brown County. He loved every minute we were there. He loves his grandparents and just wants them to hold him and show him what they're doing.

Buscando hongos.

Mushroom hunting should be exciting and fun- that is if you find mushrooms. We found a few but they were old . Here , though are some cute pics of Nesta.

Ken gets married!

One of my oldest and bestest friends got married this month to a great girl. It was Nesta's second wedding but first time wearing a suit. Sorta- I guess baby's suits don't come with a jacket.
I thought Ken and Mary Wilson's wedding deserved a blog post:)

Beautiful day!

Today felt like summer. I've lived in Chicago for about eighteen years and the weather is unpredictable as everyone knows. I never cared if winter took longer than usual or if fall didn't make an appearance. Yes, I whined about it being too cold or too hot. I am a Chicagoan after all. However, now that we have a beautiful and energetic son, the season preferred around this household is Summer. If Spring wants to make a permanent appearance we'll take that too!! Only problem with Spring is wet play grounds and muddy backyards.
I like to take long walk when the sun decides to grace us with its presence. I'm lucky that Nesta likes the long walks too. Although he's an energetic toddler, he doesn't mind sitting in the stroller for a half hour or more. Sometimes he pushes the stroller too. We walk down to Letizia's often and share a muffin. He LOVES muffins- but who doesn't?
Today we went to Letizia's then to the park on California which was packed. He danced, he played and then ha enough. There were too many kids there, he couldn't even get onto the slide We had a pic-nic in Humboldt Park- he thought it was really funny to just sit on the grass. It didn't last long :) He saw a boy kicking a ball and soon he wanted to do the same. Nesta kept talking to the boy, except no one knows what Nesta was saying. The boy tried to share, and we appreciated the effort. Nesta noticed that the boy really didn't want to share with him, and he was okay with it and walked away. He may have been too tired for an argument. 

                                                                         Pic-nic

                                                         Dancing at the park.

Nesta at Letizia's on this sunny day.

We just found out we have to move at the end of May. We had signed a new lease to stay here until 2014, but our landlord failed to tell us that he did not sign the lease because he's selling the building. Apparently the potential buyers want to live in our apartment if they get approved. I'm upset about it. We live across the street from the park, and a block away from the library. It has been so fun to go to the park whenever we get a chance and on rainy or cold days to go to the library. I hope we can find a place we like near a park. I was getting used to Humboldt Park. sigh.

There's more to it than you think.

A lot of people think it is easy for a bilingual parent to raise a bilingual child. I mean, it's just natural and all that stuff right? Well, yes and no. I thought it would be super easy, but as my child grows I begin to worry more about it. Right now we live in a Spanish-speaking community but (as much as I love you HP) I don't think we'll live here when he starts going to school. Also, it seems that he knows more Spanish than English. I say it seems because of his understanding of commands and questions, he doesn't speak much yet. He says "gracias" "no," and "ven." He knows animals sounds if asked in Spanish, and he sometimes sings a song called "Metete Tete" by Cri-Cri. It's funny because I can just hear him sing "tetete." So I don't know what part of the song he's singing. This has lead us to believe that he knows more Spanish. However, he's so young that anything goes really. 
As the nerd I am, I started reading a couple of books:
The Bilingual Edge by Kendall King, Ph.D. and Alison Mckey, Ph.D.
7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child by Naomi Steiner, M.D., with Susan L. Hayes
In both of these books I read about a language growth spurt. Mainly, a bilingual child will not have an even growth spurt. Nesta will either show an advancement in his language development in English or in Spanish. Right now he's showing one in Spanish. This is how hopefully he will be until he gets to the point of acquiring academic English and Spanish. The authors recommend that bilingual children learn how to read in both languages at the same time. They also point out that bilingual children become better readers than monolingual children. In all the studies they did bilingual children seem to have better understanding of what they are reading. However, bilingual children may have a difficult time expressing themselves right away in writing. Their writing may be very basic without being able to explain the motives of a character, or what happened in the climax of a story. Yet, they will be able to explain it in great detail while speaking. I found that bit weird, but true. I can explain my self while talking, better than writing. I think it is because writing is such a difficult process. An idea starts in your brain, and then you have to go from your brain, to the muscles of your arm/hand and into the paper. If you are a bilingual child and the story started in your head in Polish, but the teacher is asking you to write in English then this adds to that process. Alas, things get lost in translation. They do say that if both languages are constantly supported then at some point children will be able to express themselves in writing in both languages with no problem. Key word-support. Just as a child may need tutoring in writing in English, he/she may need help in that other language. 
Something else that these authors talked about was the need for a bilingual pre-school. Many children grow up speaking Greek, Spanish, Creole, Mandarin, etc and then they go to an English-only pre-school. They go home speaking English, and that's that. I've talked to a few people who remember speaking another language when they were kids and now they don't remember that language. That conversations with each of those adults scared me. 
It scared me because, although I know a bilingual pre-school is necessary finding a good pre-school in general is hard enough. Now, I have to find an awesome bilingual pre-school. Ay! 
Something to always keep in mind if you are raising your child bilingual is this: English is everywhere, it's on the street, at the grocery store, at the coffee shop, at the movie theatre, at the playground, at the indoor play-space, at your friend's house, on tv and in the radio. Do not think that your kid will not understand English because he or she is only around you and you only speak X language. I seldom allow Nesta to watch TV or DVDs, but when I do I let him watch "Pocoyo" because this show is also in Spanish. I'm sure he'll get plenty of TV in English when he's allowed to watch more of it, but trust me in this- I will try my hardest to make some of that TV watching in Spanish. Thank you Plaza Sesamo :)

A little update- I looked up bilingual pre-schools in Chicago and to my surprise there weren't many. The one that I liked the most according to reviews is way up on Wilson and Kedzie. Yay to morning traffic!  If you live in Chicago and know of some awesome bilingual Spanish-English pre-schools I would love the info. Thank you.