8 Minutes Peeling a Clementine

LS decided she wanted to put together an Avant-garde piece, tentatively titled "8 Minutes Peeling a Clementine".

Note, we don't actually expect anyone but the grandparents to watch it to the end, or even watch it at all.

A few days ago she started peeling her own clementines. It seemed cute enough to get some film of those little fingers in action. She had already peeled and eaten her own, so this one was peeled for Papai to eat.

Naturally she ad libs some topics along the way, including a dissertation on how big Papai is.

This is also LS's first piece with English subtitles.

Linguistic Gymnastics

This happened a couple months back, but I've kept it in the back of my mind to write about when I had a chance.

LS and Mamãe were driving in the car, and LS says from the back "you is também".

This didn't seem to make sense at first, but LS repeated it and she seemed very intent on it as a fact. Not just some random playing with words.

It took Mamãe a few minutes, but she caught on to what was going on. When she relayed the story to me later on I didn't get it. Even on the first explanation I didn't quite catch on.

Here's how it plays out.

• "you" is "tu" in Portuguese


• "tu" sounds like "too" in English


• "too" has the meaning "also"


• "also" is "também" in Portuguese

So, "you" -> "tu" -> "too" -> "também".

Unlike losing something in the translation, this was kinda like adding something in the translation. Funny stuff learning is.

Catching Up

There's so much to catch up on from the last month. Not like anything big like a birthday happened or anything. Oh wait! LS turned two. We got this photo on her birthday, along with Sapo. Since it had been a while since Sapo had gotten into a picture.

Turning two was a good deal of fun. Lots of family around for a party, Memére came up from Florida and stayed for a long weekend, and Avô came back with us for Portugal and was staying with us for a few weeks. Wow - what a full house!

The highlights of this month include a trip up to Maine to visit Aunt Diane and Uncle Ken. This came complete with LS's first time touching a working wood stove. We're pretty sure she believes us about the whole "it's hot" thing now. Judging from the screaming, crying, and blisters on her hand anyway. She's a trooper though, and was down for her nap within the hour. A little less than a week later there was no evidence that it even happened. And in the meantime she wore gauze and kept a sock on her hand for protection with no complaint. A couple weeks later (this past weekend) we went to the pool to swim and the dead skin finally came loose after all that soaking.

Another recent highlight was LS helping us take down Mamãe's show display after a 3-day show she had this past weekend. The second picture here is her at home after the first day of the show wearing the boots that Mamãe had just taken off.

But the best part was helping us put things away at the end. Part of the display is 36 mannequin heads that each get put in their own Styrofoam bag and packed into a box. LS served as the go-between in our assembly line. It worked like this.

• LS would get a bag and give it to Mamãe


• Mamãe would put a head in the bag and give it back


• LS would bring the head to me to put in the box


• LS would go get the next bag, etc.

We had an awesome rhythm going, it would've been great to have an extra pair of hands there just to record it!

We also had some great time in the pool this past weekend. Since Mamãe was at the show, Papai had full duty and swimming was a good thing to do. The first day LS was a little nervous (since we haven't swum since summer), but she started to get the feel for herself in the water and enjoyed having a bubble on and playing with those flotation noodles. The second day she got to the point that I didn't hold her at all and she could paddle herself around with her feet with the bubble on and holding the noodle (and without the noodle for short stretches). It was so cute that we went back a third day in a row just so Mamãe could see how she was doing.

The first day at the pool there were a bunch of kids there, and she decided to give one a name. She pointed to one kid who was swimming around and going underwater and told me (in Portuguese) that his name was "Oose". What a name! She even told Mamãe later on that Oose was at the pool.

You're too funny kid.

Heading Home!

We're heading home tomorrow. It's really been a great couple weeks. LS got to enjoy time with so many of her friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, and her grandfather too. Too many good times to be able to recount and do it any justice. Hopefully during tomorrow's travels we'll be able to look as happy as we did here at the beginning of the trip!



A story from today definitely sums up how LS's Portuguese has progressed while we've been here. We went to have pizza for lunch today and at the restaurant there was a TV. Actually, this story also points out how we don't have a TV...

Suddenly LS points to the TV and says "Isso é um computador sem teclas". Which means "That is a computer without a keyboard". Too funny. She's used to seeing images on Youtube or Skype on Papai's computer, so that is her point of reference.

Well, ready or not U.S.A., here she comes. We'll miss you Portugal (but we'll be back)!

Janela (Window)

The house in Portugal that is in Mamãe's Father's side of the family has a wonderful window, that LS is just perfect for. The exterior walls of the house are about a meter thick, an aspect that keeps the interior comfortable in the cooler weather as well as the hot summer.

The house is reportedly around 300 years old. Its thick walls also came in handy as fortification when the house quartered an officer in the Portuguese military when they were fighting off the invasion of Napoleon off the nearby coast.

LS provides the perfect guage to measure this window by. It makes me jealous for being the size that she is! I've always loved this window (which is in the dining room), and these pictures just make me love it more.



Do you think she's having a good time?



As an aside, it also amazes me that within these thick walls I get a multi-megabit mobile broadband signal in order to access the Internet. Oh the things this house has seen...

Our Little Terror

We're at the beginning of a trip off to visit family in Portugal. Just had to share the fact that our little terror was made to take off her shoes before going through security. Yep, our 23 month old. I'm sure everyone feels a lot safer now. But anyway, we're through and waiting to take off. Having some fun roaming around the airport!

Passing a Milestone

Today a bit of a milestone was hit. I'll quote the email I got from Mamãe on the matter:

I just turned around and saw [LS] with her pants and cuecas down, sitting herself on the potty. And she delivered! I was so startled and impressed that I cried.

You might guess that "cuecas" means underpants.

True to her genes, she also picked up a book and start leafing through it while she was seated.

The Big Slide

A few weeks back LS used the big slide by herself. We're fans of letting her push the boundaries of what she can do on her own, and this one was no problem. This day was probably about the third day she was doing it, but this is the day we we actually had the camera.



The funny thing is that now, inexplicably, the last couple times we've gone she has decided that for some reason she doesn't want to go on "the big slide", as it's called.

I actually wish they had one of those really big metal ones that pick up speed like when I was a kid. It used to be a slide wasn't a slide unless you flew off the end of it. Oh well.

Tricycle

LS's legs are just barely able to reach the pedals on the tricycle, so we haven't used it much. But this day a couple weeks ago we gave it a shot and she had a good time.

She seemed to particularly like getting her foot stuck when she was trying to dismount. Go figure.

Something to Say

LS dropped some knowledge on Mamãe this evening. She said: "A chuxa branca não faz barulho e não parece uma borboleta." ("The white pacifier doesn't make noise and doesn't look like a butterfly").

This is in contrast to the *yellow* pacifier, which *does* squeak when she chews on it, and *does* look like a butterfly.

Adoro

A great moment with LS today (among many every day of course). After LS got up from her afternoon nap and had her time on the potty I was holding her. And out of the blue she says "Eu Adoro Papai", which means "I adore Papai". It doesn't get much better than that.

Good a time as any to share this video from a few days ago. Mamãe decided to shoot some film of getting Papai up out of bed one morning. This particular morning LS took an interest in practicing the word "Mongolia". Did we mention she likes her world map? Note the effects our camera is still randomly adding to our videos. You should have to pay good money for that.

Á and Zó

Meet "Á" and "Zó". LS has given her own names to something for the first time ("Á" is the one on the left). In English they'd be pronounced, roughly, "Ah" and "Zoh". Until recently these two little dolls (which are part of a hand-me-down Duplo set of blocks) were just referred to as "homenzinhos" ("little guys"). Maybe because one is obviously feminine LS decided they just had to have their own names. So now they do!

Their picture here is taken on what we call LS's "escrivaninha" ("desk"). It's really a little bench, but it has a nice slot for holding a couple books and it's the perfect size to put in front of the potty chair when LS is going about her business.

22!

Today LS hit 22. Just 2 months to go until the big 2! It had been a while since we got a picture with Sapo, so for the occasion we brought him outside for a photo shoot. LS was very excited to have him up and out of his usual place in bed, she immediately started pointing things out to him when we got outside. "Folhas!" ("leaves") "Peixe!" ("fish", a small sculpture of a fish we have in the garden).

If you ask LS to smile, this is what you'll get. So don't try it if you can't handle the freight train of cute that will be coming your way.

As we can see, although it seems LS and Sapo started out the same size almost 2 years ago she now towers over him. And loves him. When she saw Papai bring him downstairs she was wide-eyed and whispered his name almost in reverent disbelief. Having Sapo outside of the bedroom is quite an event.

Other than that, we can report that potty training has gone well. Almost always dry diapers (which she's also happy to report as we take it off) and no "#2" other than in the potty or toilet for at least a few weeks. (Not the kind of status report I had ever imagined giving). She likes the little dance that we do to tell her she did a good job. And if she's around when either of us uses the bathroom she's sure to tell us we did a great job and to do a little dance for us too. We're all just so happy in the bathroom.

It also seems she'll know the whole world map before we know it. She loves pointing out where places are on her placemat. Latest favorites are Tazmania, Solomon Islands, Egypt, and Saudia Arabia. Funny crazy stuff.

A few days ago was the last day they were officially open at a local lake that we've enjoyed going to this year. They were in the process of removing the boundary ropes and putting everything else away while we were swimming. Obviously LS enjoyed being wrapped up in the towel afterward! We went back this evening and it was pretty nice to be there and just have the lake in front of us with no ropes.

El Camino

Last week while driving we were behind a truck that was pulling a trailer which was actually the back-end of an old pickup truck. Mamãe remarked how from the back it kind of looked like an El Camino.

LS wanted to know what this word was, and it was explained that it was an old type of car. Of course, no English/Portuguese translation was possible or necessary.

Now, a week later, I'm spending the morning with LS and she's been saying "El Camino" for seemingly no reason.

Later I find her, undeterred by her inability to read, sitting down pulling out Mamãe's cookbooks, flipping their pages and saying "El Camino... Dicionário... El Camino... Dicionário..." over and over again.

Apparently she's determined to find out what this El Camino thing is, even if she has to flip through all the cookbooks in the house to find out!

Taste of Summer

We love summer meals of corn-on-the-cob and bruschetta (especially now that our own tomatoes are coming in). LS is right there with us!

ABCs for Visavó

A couple days ago, LS decided she wanted to give Visavó (great-grandmother) a fake call in order to sing her the ABC song. She didn't stop there though. She also wanted to get a couple of her stuffed buddies in on the action.

Spoons and Potties

This past week LS made some good progress on a couple fronts.

One was using a spoon. Probably through "practicing" with her stuffed animals, it seemed to click one day for her how to keep the spoon level when feeding herself. She's not perfect at it by any means, but she is eating her morning cereal more or less by herself. Once in a while the spoon gets tipped just as she's getting it to her mouth (so close!) and she gets a milky goatee. This morning we got her sitting forward, which have been the last major ingredient for spoon success. Of course we're still at the stage of reminding her almost every bite on all the points of success: "Hold the neck of the spoon", "keep it level", "sit forward".

The other was the beginning of some potty training. Too complicated to go into all the details here, but it's a combination of keeping a close eye on her for the signs that she has to go and also her letting us know. The last few days we've been able to just use the diapers for naps, overnight, and when traveling outside the house. Of course, there have been a couple "accidents", a fair share of wet underwear, but lots of happy success too.

On the failure side of the spectrum, LS and Mamãe tried to go out to a (free) movie last Wednesday, but LS couldn't handle it. They're showing free movies at the theater in town every Wednesday and this was the first attempt (it was "Horton Hears a Who"). I wasn't there, but apparently the combination of the dark theater and the loud flashing opening scenes were too much for her. After a couple attempts to sit and watch it was called off. From what I understand, LS and Mamãe had a nice time at the Café in town instead.

Now Even Surrealer

It's been almost a month between posts, and obviously things have just gotten more surreal around here! This picture (taken a few days ago at the beach) is thanks to our camera deciding that normal shots are just too boring. It's developed some type of problem that makes it lean to pink and also get streaky. Just too weird. So I guess we'll have to get a new camera soon! This one has lasted us about 6 or 7 years maybe, so it's done its job well enough.

Naturally a lot has gone on in the last month or so. Memére came for a long weekend to visit, which was very exciting. We also went to Maine for a weekend. Memére bought LS a new placemat which is a map of the whole world - very exciting! Now she no longer mistakes India for Florida.

She's taken to some songs, beyond our made-up ones. She can sing just about the whole "Row Your Boat" song. And a few days ago we started with the "ABC's" song (which she actually was calling the "ABCD's" at first). She can fill in some of it if you pause for her. And apparently "I" isn't distinguishable enough from "9" because part of the song usually goes "H9JK".

This is an early recording of the ABCD's a couple days after starting. Made all the more dramatic by our malfunctioning camera. It does have some sort of art house quality to it.



So much more to tell, hopefully we'll stay on top of it better.

A Message for Portugal after 2010 World Cup Loss

LS wanted to pass along a special message to Portugal after yesterday's World Cup loss. It's a lesson that she has learned well in her short life so far (she turns 20 months tomorrow!).



That's right: "Não vale a pena chorar" ("it's not worth crying about" - the subject of a couple posts ago).

The one goal scored against Portugal in the tournament was one goal too many. Playing world #1 Brazil to a draw the game before followed by losing to world #2 Spain the next game 1-0 has to be cause for some respect. But still.

Now with the US and Portugal both out of it, we're left to root for Brazil purely on language terms. Although we'd kind of prefer more of an underdog.

Palavras!

As I mentioned in the previous post, LS is fond of a game she calls "palavras!" ("words!").

This basically consists of making words up. Then laughing about it. Then exclaiming: Palavras!

Now, the never-before-seen footage.

States

There's too much time between posts, but certainly no lack of cuteness going on over here. LS has really been having fun experimenting with words. She like to make words up now and laugh about it. And then exclaim: "Palavras!" - which in Portuguese means "Words!".

I decided to grab some outtakes of LS practicing with the States on her placemat after lunch the other day. She's also starting to pretend to sound words out. But you have to catch on when she is "reading" the word California but saying the word "Massachusetts!" Nice try kid! :-)



I also wanted to share this clip that was the day before Father's Day. I guess LS wanted to give me presents early, so she kept bringing me raspberries (frambuesas) from our bushes in back while I laid on the lawn. She probably made about half a dozen trips. Usually with just one but sometimes with a handful (struggling not to drop them). Thanks LS!



You see she's in her "gardening boots" which she just loves to wear when she's outside gardening with Mamãe. She knows more about the plants out there than Papai does!

It's Not Worth Crying About

We tend to focus on the good stuff since it seems to be in the majority, but a few weeks ago LS really threw us for a loop. She suddenly decided that instead of falling asleep peacefully that she enjoyed being awake too much for that.

Nap times and bed time were suddenly occasions for crying and crying. She'd get herself so hysterical that you'd pretty much have to snap at her to snap her out of it (at least that was Papai's approach...). A couple times that's almost all it took. Once she came back to reality she could calm down and go to sleep.

We're pretty much past it now, and she mostly goes to sleep peacefully again. Sometimes she'll do some talking for a while, but the crying fits have definitely, and thankfully, subsided.

At the same time it really highlighted to us how lucky we are generally. Even during this time, it didn't create a problem with waking up in the middle of the night or getting up early. It pretty much meant about a half hour of crying (maybe more) during the time she should have been falling asleep. We're so glad that she doesn't make us sleep-deprived! (knock on wood)

During this time, LS got credit (from us) for saying her first sentence: "Não vale a pena chorar" which means "it's not worth crying about." It can also take on a meaning closer to "don't bother crying about it."

Like she would do previously (and still does) with "não choras" ("don't cry") she'll actually say this when she's in a situation where she might want to cry. It's really sweet to hear her in her crib when she's struggling to get to sleep and telling herself that it isn't worth crying about...

Last night at bedtime she decided to tack on a little extra to give it a little more zip. She decided to go with: "Papai disse, 'não vale a pena chorar'" - which means "Papai said, 'it's not worth crying about'". Too cute.

Driving Miss Surreal

As fate would have it, this weekend found us in an assisted living facility. LS had a grand old time. She really loved that there were all these adults roaming around with things that could give her rides!

As you can see here, one woman in particular immediately offered her a ride, and she didn't hesitate to accept.

Later on, other women were slightly baffled by why she was coming up to them and tapping the seat of their walkers. (maybe it didn't help that she was asking in Portuguese: "Faz favor" (please) and "para cima" (up))

We got the sense that it would be best to put the two ends of the age spectrum together and everyone else just stay out of the way.

Unfortunately I didn't capture much video footage of these low-speed rides (picture the Seinfeld episode with the Lark chase scenes). But I did get this exchange:



I had to stop filming and step in before it came to blows (kidding!). LS tried out the ride on a wheelchair on the lap, but she didn't like it as much. There's just nothing compared to being out in the open, sitting on your own seat, the still air in your face as you progress almost imperceptibly down the hall. Nothing but you, the road, and your senior companion providing the power.

It really seemed like a great experience for all. So much so that we're seriously considering randomly stopping at a senior living facility near us without even knowing anyone there. Just popping in and visiting whoever happens to be there, and just seeing where it goes.

In all seriousness, if you have a young one, we highly recommend it. It seems like a situation with only winners on all sides.

Toponymy for Toddlers

Cute moment from dinner last night. When we started to eat outside when the weather got warmer we needed a placemat for LS so that the majority of her food that found its way out of her plate wouldn't just fall through the metal mesh outdoor table onto the floor.

As it happened we had a US map placemat so that's what we've used.

Back in February when we were visiting Memére in Florida we told LS that we were from Massachusetts - and she does a passable job at trying to say it (pretty much "Massatuzits"). When we started using the placemat we figured we'd point out where Massachusetts was, as well as Florida.

Then we went to Maine so we had to point out Maine. For some symmetry and to make it easy I then clued her in on the whereabouts of California and Washington, as well as Texas since that's big and in the middle and where her plate usually is.

For random fun sometimes we'll ask her where these states are and she'll point them out. Early on she wouldn't get her finger quite over all the way to Washington and would land on Montana instead, so she ended up learning Montana also.

So, last night I asked her if she could put her finger on Texas. This was a little different wording than usual since we usually just ask her "where is Texas?" She looked around the map for a bit ("mapa" to her) and then put her finger on Texas.

I told her she was right and she grabbed her cup to take a drink of milk and I went about taking another bite of dinner. I wasn't fully paying attention at that point but I then heard LS say something about "copo" ("cup") and "Montana" as she proceeded to put her cup down on top of Montana.

Montana, "The Cupholder State".

When dinner's done and the plates are up off the table she also likes to put the placemat on her head and call it a hat - which I'm sure is even more fun.

Birthday Present

A couple days ago Papai had a birthday, and got a great present. LS often comes in to the bedroom with Mamãe in the morning before I get up (being the later sleeper that I am). The great thing is that at LS's height she is barely taller than the mattress - so when she generally comes over to say "good morning" or often "levanta-te!" ("get up!") she is roughly at eye level (even a little lower!).

But it was a great birthday present for LS to come in and instead say "Happy Birthday Papai" (after some coaching from Mamãe naturally).

Hopefully it is seared into my memory well. It was very sweet.

We also got to spend the whole day together, which was great. We went for a long walk around the block after lunch (she walked half way then got a shoulder ride the rest of the way). Fun watching her explore the world around her.

Não Choras!

LS had her 18 month checkup today. Yep, 18 already. 1/12th of the way to voting. The curse of this visit is that it was the first one where she could use words.

First, an introductory story.

There are a couple scenarios where we ask LS not to cry. The first is if she's fallen or startled and we just gently ask her not to cry ("não choras (shore-azh)") and that everything will be OK. She's really good about stopping and getting ahold of herself. And lately she'll even say "não choras" before we even have a chance to as she's gathering herself up.

The other scenario is if she's starting to whine to complain about something. This warrants a slightly stern "não choras", and again she generally calms herself and repeats it after us, or even says it before we have a chance to (she knows it's coming from Papai if he starts with "Querida.." ("darling..."))!

Fast forward to the Doctor's office.

The weighing was fine today for the first time. Maybe because we were able to explain to her that she just needed to sit there and she was OK with it. She's often stepping on the scale at home now anyway, so maybe it wasn't such a foreign concept this time.

She still doesn't like all the other stuff though, the stethescope, the peering into ears, and eyes and such. So this time around, when she starts to not like it and we're telling her it's ok, as she's stuggling to get away from it, she starts saying "não choras" - over and over again. At one point the Doctor has us lay her back to make it easier to see in her mouth (also made easy by her screaming with it wide open). At that point she's yelling "NÃO CHORAS! NÃO CHORAS! NÃO CHORAS!" It was somehow sad and sweet at the same time. One because mostly she wasn't crying - it's like she really was trying to not cry for us. And second because there she was, "using her words" as we often tell her to do ("querida, usa as palavras") and it wasn't doing any good.

At one point while she's trying to keep the Doctor at bay, trying to push him away with her hands she was also saying "não queres" over and over (which means "you don't want" - though she wanted to say "I don't want"; she's still getting the hang of saying "quero" in response to the question "queres?"). At a couple points there might have been a couple "não mais" ("no more") in there, but it was all a blur at that point.

We're sorry the words didn't work in your favor this time LS. We promise that usually they will. And we're proud of you for using them.

Once the Doctor was done the nurse then had to come in to administer some shots. LS was none to happy about those too, but it was fairly quick. And LS learned a new word today: "Band-Aid".

Stat check: 22 lbs 15.5 oz. Half an oz shy of 23 lbs. More than 4x what she was 18 months ago. Wow.

Little Helper

Last weekend we went to Maine to visit LS's Aunt Diane. She had a great time, not least of which was due to playing outside with Isabelle the dog.

While we were there everyone pitched in to help out with some gardening, even LS. We think she probably had the job that was the most fun.



Once the job was done, she didn't mind the ride back either...



She did a great job. I don't think there was one stray leaf that got away.

Cardinality - Bonus Clip!

Just realized we had earlier video, 2 weeks ago (April 8), earlier in LS's counting career. You can see that this dislike she has to 2 and 4 is deeply rooted. Luckily she got over her dislike of 6, 7, and 8. We hope with time she may come to embrace all numbers as special in their own way.

Cardinality

LS has been dabbling in set theory and wisely chose the set of positive Integers as her starting point. Mamãe took this clip today of her practicing. One of the first times really trying to connect the act of counting with physical things. Peas of all things (Memére hates those!).

For some reason in English she is holding a grudge against 2 and 4.



You may notice that LS has a scrape along her cheek and under her eye, and a little bit of bruising. She proved to us yesterday that she's decidedly better at counting than she is at running with a stick in her hand. She'll learn though.

She was really a trooper about it. When she got upstairs a little while later she wanted to come around the desk and show me. Tough little girl. She's probably getting used to that eye getting the worst of things. That's about the third time that area has been bruised, cut, and usually both. Our little scarface.

Bicycle Built for 3

This past Sunday (also Easter) was really great weather, so we decided to get the bike out. And, for the first time, for LS to give it a spin.

LS wasn't *too* happy about putting the helmet on at first. But after a little explanation she trusted that it would be worth it (and since that ride, she now asks for it!).

We had a good time taking a little ride. Since it was the opening weekend of our local ice-cream stand, we decided that would be a great place to ride the bike to! LS didn't mind getting a few licks of ice-cream. I'm sure this will become a regularly scheduled event during these warm weather months.

LS also had another first, at the ice-cream stand: first skinned knee (if you look reeeeeally close you might see it in the picture). Not much of one really, we're not talking about a serious flaying or anything. She thought about crying for a couple seconds, but with some encouragement she decided that she could take it. Whew! Plenty more of those to come over the years...

For the years before LS when Mamãe and Papai would ride this bike around we would often hear kids say something along the lines of "cool! two person bike!". Now it's at least 50% cooler, being a three person bike.



Looking forward to lots more riding this summer.

Silence is Golden

It was Mamãe's idea that this video would be enhanced by leaving out the sound, and I have to agree.

I've always felt that silent family movies produced a special nostalgia. Heck, this video is barely 3 days old and I feel nostalgic watching it.

It always seems to me that those people in the movie are trying to communicate out to the future to me, but they can't. I think the missing audio really produces a particular feeling.

We can't communicate with those people from the past, and they can't communicate with us. Not having the audio prevents us from pretending otherwise.

It makes us not quite able to be in that moment. It's more like getting a secret glimpse that feels all the more fleeting.

I think it also forces us to concentrate on the visual aspect more. With the need for one of the senses removed, maybe the others are heightened slightly.

I'm sure experts of film know what is really going on here. Or maybe it's just my overactive imagination.

At any rate, this was LS this past Easter Sunday. She had a nice dress on that was a gift from her Tia Maria this past August. It was taken in the back yard at Avó and Grandpa's house.

Three minutes of beautiful silence.

Catching Up

Way too much has happened to be able to catch up on everything LS has been up to - but we have to try don't we?

It's been a big few weeks since the last post. Walking had gotten much better, and sometimes seems on the verge of running. We'll say walking briskly.

LS's language has improved seemingly daily. It seems that she knows the English equivalent of just about everything she knows in Portuguese. Often she'll translate back and forth with you like she wants to practice. I guess that's what babies/toddlers to a lot of - practice.

There's been an interesting learning of concepts and putting words together. A couple weeks back LS was with Papai and she was sitting on the sanita (toilet). Suddenly she says "Calças" ("call-suhz" which means "pants"). I often repeat what she says, I guess to let her know that she's understood and as a prompt to see where she goes next. So I say "calças". Which she follows with "Não tenho" - which best translates to "I don't have any". This is a pretty keen observation for someone sitting on the toilet without their pants on! This pattern was repeated later in the day with "chapéu" ("hat") at a point in time when she wasn't wearing a hat...

We've had some birthdays in the family so LS has had some practice with "happy birthday". Early in the month we were trying for "happy birthday Uncle John". What we got was "hap birtday unc jah!" Kind of like it would sound if over a bad cell phone connection.

Later in the month she was a little clearer for "happy birthday Aria" though it was usually in the two pieces "happy birthday" and "Aria". But just today she was still saying it, and putting it all together as one phrase. We're hoping she'll really be ready in a couple weeks with her "happy birthday Aunt April".

Speaking of Aria, since playing with her at the birthday parties LS hasn't been able to get off the topic of Aria. A typical progression will be: "Nice. Aria. Borboleta ("butterfly"). Gato ("cat"). Miau ("meow"). Bola ("ball"). Amarela ("yellow")." This was the story of Aria. She's nice, particularly because she gave LS some butterfly wings (on her own birthday!). She also pretended to be a cat, naturally saying "meow". She also played with a ball. The ball was yellow.

Last week was a big week for many concepts associated with the song (and books we have of the same) "The Wheels on the Bus". Open and shut. Up and down. All the classics. LS particular enjoys the part of what the baby says "wah wah wah" and also when the driver cries "bump bump bump". At the end of each verse she'll finish up "town" for you too, though her timing leaves a little to be desired.

To finish things up, here's a video from just today with LS enjoying a new activity - jumping on a cushion. Such simple joys in life.

Walking Translator

It's occurred to us lately that soon LS will be teaching us Portuguese back. At least two times recently, once to each of us, she reminded us what the Portuguese word for something is.

This could work out as a great tool! With her better recall, we just need to remember a word long enough to tell her a couple times. Then later, when *we* can't remember it, she'll be there to help us out! Yay! Our very own walking pocket translator.

Today it happened with Papai when we were looking at a book together. This book had a picture of a pail with a shovel next to it. So I'm going through the book with her mostly in Portuguese, and on this page I point to the pail: "balde". Then I point to the shovel and say: "shovel". A couple seconds later, LS pipes up with "pá" (pronounced "pah"). Admittedly, her pronunciation was a bit off, and I didn't quite get it at first. But after she said it a couple more times, I realized - she's telling me the translation. Wonderful!

She's actually gotten quite good at translating between the languages - providing words in both. One of her bedtime books mentions several animals and when Mamãe reads it in English, LS pipes in each time one is mentioned and gives the Portuguese translation.

The only time this language stuff is tricky is when you can't quite make out what she is saying. It could be Portuguese, it could be English, or it could be "practice". But, it's worth it.

Last week while eating dinner I asked LS: "Como é que se chama a maçã in English?" - which is "What do you call an apple in English?". After a few pensive moments she responds "Appel" (I spell it this way, because it is closer to how she says it!).

Next I ask her: "What do you call an apple em Português?" Another few pensive moments. Maybe she's thinking "he can't really be asking me that can he?". And then: "maçã!" (pronounced something like: muh-sanh)

Sim, muito bem querida!

A Spot of Tea

Over the weekend we all had a cold (LS still does a little, Mamãe even more so). This at least gave LS an opportunity to try something new.

LS took great interest in this hot drink that we were drinking, so we decided to give some to her. Wow, did she like it! After these initial tastes, we've also occasionally given her some in her own cup. She asks for it by name!

In Portuguese the word for tea is "chá" - pretty much pronounced like "shah". We introduced her quickly to the English word also, which of course is just as easy and comes out just as well.

You can catch some other Portuguese words in there if you know what you're listening for. She's getting better with her "faz favor" ("please") too. If you hear something that's "pee-shah-doh" that's her way of saying "chapéu" ("sha-poh'"), which means "hat" (since there were pictures of hats on the mug with the tea!).



At the end there she's thinking the camera is a telephone, not like you can really tell the difference these days. And I'm sure less-so by the time she's ready to use either one.

5 Days (and 5 clips) in FL

This past week we spent 5 days in Florida visiting Memére. Everyone was very pleased! To the FL natives, the weather was "cold". But we found shorts and t-shirts to be just fine (ok, the mornings really were cold...).

LS was starting to attempt some walking before we left, so we knew this trip would be when it happened. It was in Portugal when she started to crawl, so there must be something about being away from home that makes you want to stretch your legs!

In this case we had a secret weapon though, named Reesa. She's a little dog (Dachshund) that loves to lick faces. We knew that would get LS on her feet trying to escape! This also had the added benefit of teaching LS another phrase in English: "No faces!"

In this first clip, shot our first day there, LS gets a lick from Reesa and lets her know "no faces".



As you can see in this next clip, such incidents got LS on her feet and walking. Later that night she had several attempts, one of the last of which was the longest at about 9 steps. This is the best clip of catching her in action.



In this next clip, LS is making good friends with the dogs, especially Reesa. Between the two dogs plus a cat, LS was just having a ball.



And finally, LS put it all together - walking *while* playing with the dog! The stuffed bear is Reesa's, but she didn't mind sharing it for a little play time.



LS also learned some new phrases. She improved on saying "I love you", and especially had fun saying "I see you!" back and forth with Memére playing hide-and-seek. She also did a respectable job with "precious", which was Memére's pet name for her. In this last clip, LS answers the question "who's precious?" once and for all. Like there was any doubt.

What Goes Up...

She's been doing it great for probably a couple months now, but we finally took the opportunity to get some footage of LS making her way down the stairs. It seems like she'll be walking soon, so we thought we should get this stuff while we can!

3 Minutes This Morning

We caught some video of LS this morning. This, her last day of being less than 1.25 years old.

Scrambled eggs make for pretty good fork target practice. Feel the suspense build as she builds toward the critical moment. Will she? Won't she? You'll have to watch to find out!



Feel free to enjoy part II - an additional 3 minutes of raw footage, complete with experimental camera angles.

Almost Polite

Some things LS says pretty clearly, and others I think she wants us to have to guess a little. The words that aren't clear, or sometimes a whole sentence, can be fun to try and figure out. For instance, right now "musca"* (which means house fly) and "mister" sound about the same. Also "sepato"* ("shoe") sounds like "be-za-too".

Like usual at this age we're trying to instill some politeness, so we started encouraging LS to say "faz favor" ("please") when she asks for something. This is really a slight contraction of "se faz favor" which means "if you please."

At this point she is only getting the first part out: "faz". Although this comes out nice and clear, the irony is that when said alone it is really the command form of "fazer" (to do) - so she's pretty much really saying "do it!"

*[Spelling mistakes above - "mosca" and "sapato". Hopefully LS learns more from Mãe than Pai]

Awe-sommme

The last couple days it seemed like LS was really happy with life, because among the words she was practicing there was one that stood out in particular. Every once in a while she'd repeat it a few times.

"Awe-sommmmme. Awe-sommmme. Awe-sommmme."

Yeah, LS, we think you're pretty awesome too.

Well, today we figured out the truth. LS was actually trying to say "urso" - Portuguese for "bear" and (supposed to be) pronounced "oor'-soo".

Ah well - we still think this is all awesome.

Stat check: Back on Jan 7 LS had her 14 month checkup. Official stats: 19 lbz 10 oz, and 29.25" long. "Nossa grande pequena" as we sometimes call her - "Our big little girl".

Telafoammm

LS has been making incredible progress lately. It's just amazing to see what little sponges children are.

A few weeks ago LS said her first real word conversationally that wasn't referring to someone (Mãe, Pai, Avó, Grandpa, Memére, Tia, etc.) - "mais", which means "more". She was sitting having her dinner with us and friends. And when we were a little too long getting her that next bite of food - there it was: "Mais?"

Since then, it just seems like a snowball of new words coming every day. She sure is trying! Most are Portguese, but she's getting English in there too. We made a list a couple nights ago, but we're not going to be able to keep up.

A couple days ago while on the changing table being tended to by Mamãe LS says: "Fome. mer?" Fome = hungry, and "mer" was an attempt at "comer" which means "eat" (she doesn't have the "C" sound down yet).

Yesterday was a good one. After getting her up from her afternoon nap and getting her on the changing table I called Mãe to let her know LS was up. A few minutes later LS pointed up toward the window, saying "Telafoam!" Yep, I had left the cell phone up on the window sill. She draws the "m" out, and had fun saying it over and over - "Telafoammmmm... Telafoammmmm..." The pronunciation actually isn't that far off because the Portguese pronunciation is more like "Telefun" anyway.

She had yet another surprise in store for us last night though. We've been letting her try her ability with spoons and forks. Generally the spoon for things that we can stick to it for her (like some mashed veggie) and the fork for things that we'll stick for her.

Suddenly she decides to put it all together; she harpoons herself some stuffing with her fork (she was having pork chops, stuffing, and broccolli with us) and puts it in her mouth!

She was so excited that when going to do it again she got a big chunk of stuffing on the fork, and just before getting it to her mouth shook the fork in excitement with a shriek of glee and the stuffing went flying several feet.

Oh how you make us smile LS.

renniD

At LS's age, life is full of firsts. Some better than others of course.

Last night at dinner, LS had a look that said "Um, I think I just saw dinner again". This, of course, as dinner streamed out of her mouth for what seemed like a really. long. time.

We were eating over at our friends house, and luckily the feeding seat that she uses there has a tray. With a lip. A big one.

Our friends have kids of their own, and they immediately sprang into action into what seemed like a well-rehearsed protocol for a disaster recovery plan.

This came as we were pretty close to heading home anyway. Just after we adults got to have some dessert. LS, if you were holding out until the end - thanks, you're a trooper.

So, thus went LS's first vomiting. Yay.

After a quick cleanup and pack-up, we headed out for the 10 minute drive home.

About 5 minutes into the drive, I was looking in the rearview at LS and she gave me a look that said "Um, I think I just saw lunch again". Yep, another first. First vomit during a car ride. We didn't think there could have been much left after the first
eruption. We were wrong. Mamãe was able to clean her up some with the napkins from the glove compartment (and the hat LS had been wearing), but the poor thing had to ride the rest of the 5 minutes sitting in her newly discovered 6 hour-old lunch.

We got her in, took off her clothes in the tub, and decided to give her a quick bath, check her temperature, etc. Her temp was good, and the quick bath got the sticky inside-outs cleaned off.

An abbreviated night-time bed routine and she was tucked happily into bed.

For a half hour anyway. We heard her crying, and Mamãe got there first. And there was LS, on all fours, staring down and imploring her breakfast how it could have betrayed her like this - as it sat there where she had been laying moments earlier.

"The third time is a charm" is a saying that's supposed to mean something. Happily in this case it meant "LS is done vomiting".

Mamãe was well prepared for this final time. LS had been put in two-piece pajamas instead of one piece, and had been put to bed with a changing pad under where she lays her head.

Cleaned, changed, and put in bed a final time, LS then slept the rest of the night. Although she would moan from time to time, and she was checked on a half-dozen times or so (Papai stays up later at night anyway).

Thus ended LS's episode. For us there was laundry; airing the car out in windy 15 degree weather; taking the car seat out, cleaning it off, taking off it's cover, and washing that.

LS slept late, and her "morning" nap went until about 1:30pm (and only because we went in to get her and make sure her eating schedule didn't get too far off). She seems in fine spirits now.

She's not even complaining about the bland meals of oat cereal, crackers, bananas, and water. She probably, like us, is just happy that it stay on the inside where it belongs.

New Year, New Seat

LS decided that she wanted to ring in the new year with a new car seat. And who could blame her given how big she's gotten.

She's still rear-facing, since the seat has a minimum height recommendation for forward-facing of 34 inches. 5 inches to go! (We'll get official stats next week when LS has her next Doctor appointment.)

We got a picture of one last time in the old seat here, but it's hard to appreciate how tight a fit it is when she's wearing a winter coat!

To serve as a bookend, here's a picture of LS's very first time in the original car seat. Ready to go home for the first time from the hospital!

In other exciting news, we've booked our first trip to FL to visit Memére next month. I'm sure it'll be a great mid-winter getaway, and everyone's looking forward to it.