Monday, June 12, 2006

Almost there...birthday thoughts

- 28 days and the baby is definitely ready to be "launched"...I enjoyed a very warm and intense parisian weekend with a first wave of contractions which finally convinced me it's about time I stop running around and simply consacrate my time to lying down and doing nothing! The adreanline rush was pretty wild: I definitely need at least another couple of weeks, at least mentally! Today it's my birthday and I treated myself to a couple of books I wanted to read for a while (some recent Amelie Nothomb, some old Kundera and the latest Tabucchi), hopefully they'll keep me glued to the couch!

Milo feels the commotion that it's about to come...I keep telling him that one of these days his little brother will come home to live with us. He listens very carefully. The only item he retains is the gift that this brother is suppoed to bring him! He definitely got that!

This week English has taken a more active role in his linguistic development, to our amazement. We never address him directly in English, but he hears us all the time speaking it among one another. This weekend he wanted to hurry his dad to take him to the park and he yelled:
"Tome on, papa, tome on!" (for come on).

He also heard me replying "I don't know" to one question and he has replied so on a cuple of occasions, randomly.

At this time we don't hang out with any English speaking friends, and it's a shame because it could be a viable way to slowly build some bases for him...but then again I don't want to force too much on him, he has already his share with French, Italian and Dutch.

I also noticed that he is very talkative and chatty at home and among familiar people, while when we go to the park he turns a little shy. He is very tall for his age, although he's only two he's the size of a three year old, and kids are somehow puzzled by his lack of immediate verbal response. I caught several times older girls asking him impatiently is the toys he was playing with were his, and being frustrated at his lack of reply. I try to monitor him as much as possible and intervene if necessary, but he also needs to learn the playground rules...

On the other hand, now that he can communicate more, his carachter is softening- it's clear that he enjoys talking and expressing himself. And we don't miss his screaming! He's incredibly aware of words triple identity: without being asked, he often offers the three versions (IT, FR, DT) of any given item at hand!

It's gonna be a very quiet birthday, a little dinner tonight in a nearby restaurant, nothing wild...but with the best of presents on its way, what do you expect?!

4 comments:

giovanni said...

Congratulations! The "Tome on..." reminded me of my daughter saying "tamertje tapot gemaat", refering to the wallpaper she had teared of the wall of her room a few months after the birth of her cute little brother. Have a nice birthday dinner.
Un abbraccio

Alice said...

CLO!!! Happy Birthday!!!! Guess what, My birthday's tomorrow, too, we're two days apart! A fellow Gemini! So now I know why we get along so well (hehehe) ;) I dare not ask how old you are though I am fairly bursting with curiosity (if you send me an email revealing the "dreadful" age I will reveal mine to you too, teeheee) I hope you had a nice day and that you got treated to something really nice!
Lots of hugs!!

L said...

Happy Birthday Clo (I'm sorry I didn't comment yesterday). I hope the baby comes soon and everything goes on smoothly.

Milo is a cutie - I can't believe he names objects in his three languages, wow! My oldest has been enjoying a new "game:" speaking English with me, which is very cute. In an unrelated subject, contrary to Milo, Kelvin's pretty small (short) for his age, but Linton's a bit above average - I'm pretty sure that in a few years they'll be the same size (and then I won't save money on clothes anymore :( Have you saved Milo's baby clothes? That's the one thing I love about having two boys - being able to use all the clothes).

Juliet said...

Happy birthday! You share one wit my grandfather. ^_^