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.