On being bilingual

It's always a question we get asked as my wee man's daddy is Italian "Is he bilingual?" and for a long time it's been a hard question to answer. When the wee man really got going with his speech Italian was never at the forefront. It was obvious he understood what his daddy was saying to him as he clearly followed instructions that were asked of him. Well when he chose to listen anyway. 

Then eventually we were getting one or two words as he was reading his Italian books. It was never a common occurrence though and never really in general conversation. I would occasionally get him to say a word in Italian for me and we knew he could count to ten in both languages.

Then this summer while in Italy something seemed to just click. He kept asking his Nonna what she was doing and I said to him he had to ask her in Italian and he did. Then he was really copying what everyone was saying to him and repeating it back. Then he was saying sentences on his own in the right context. Not just a word but words strung together. Finally he was speaking to his Nonni and daddy in Italian and would turn around and tell me the same thing in English.

To say I am pleased and proud is possibly a slight understatement. Now we are back in Glasgow thankfully he continues to speak to his daddy in Italian. It's quite funny as his daddy is the only person he speaks Italian to unless on skype with his Nonni. We are really hoping that it continues and hopefully I can find new ways to immerse him in the Italian language. 

I don't mind armbands

So I sent my wee man to the water babies "swim lessons" from he was 10 weeks. I had dreams of a future Olympic swimmer. Admittedly I still have dreams of a future Olympic swimmer. I think all the secret dreams I have for my son could be a blog post all on it's own....but I digress...

With work commitments and expenses water babies was well abandoned. He kept up his swimming with his Daddy on a Friday which he enjoyed. Then when mummy had more time on her hands again I found a great class at Scotstoun Leisure Centre. It felt like a well organised proper lesson with well armbands. I'll be honest. I loved water babies. I think confidence in the water is great. I have  personally though never thought of it as learning to swim but more about being confident and being safe in the water. 

The wee man is not overly keen on being dunked under the water anymore but he loves spending time in it none the less. As his awareness grew his grip on to me actually got tighter and I wondered if a time would come when he would actually let go. He is good at doing the lessons though and loves using the kick board and chasing after the balls and jumping into the water. Our teacher actually recommended specific armbands for him which were better for buoyancy and I think personally they worked a treat.  

Now this summer has been a real treat. Overall he is pretty keen on doing most things himself and suddenly swimming seemed to be one of them. We went to the pool while on holiday and he just suddenly decided to let go. He was off kicking away. I am hoping like letting go one day we will be taking off the armbands.

Summer growth

It's like you showed us this great big ball of yellow in the sky so we had to do so much to compare with it. We were always building up to this and then well we just all burst open together. 

We had longer days to spend time together and we stripped down to the barest minimals to enjoy your warmth. We basked in new salty smells and sandy textures. We managed to get our feet wet in the sea.

There was strawberry flavors coated in sugary sweetness. Chocolatey ice cream flavors to cool us down in your glorious heat. Picnics, lots of picnics. You gave us time, lots of time together as a family. You gave us space to let our imaginations grow. We know our favorite stories by heart.

You have taught us to be bolder and we have practiced and learnt new skills.

 

Summer you were pretty no holds barred.

I'm joining in with Older Mum (In A Muddle) and her beautiful seasonal linky One Week. A few words and photographs reflecting our experience of Summer 2013.

A quiet morning in the park

With a toddler my sign that schools are back is that I am back at work and it's all systems go. Then suddenly I found my working week over and my days off with the wee man had arrived. I felt that lull you get after just having a busy holiday and easily justified to myself a trip to the local park. The second sign that schools are back was that the park was quiet. The wee man is looking all grown up after summer and takes to the park so differently running around with a new found confidence and agility. It should be pretty awesome to see what Autumn has in store for us.

  

The Ordinary Moments with Chocolate

My wee man loves chocolate. It's not that my wee man loves all sweet things. His taste for dessert is reserved for chocolate and ice cream. Actually if you just give him plain dark chocolate he is in sweet heaven. If we are doing any home baking I usually make it chocolatey and he has his fair share of chocolate bits before they even make it into the cake. A particular favorite now is the kinder chocolate eggs and every time we go to our local Sainsburys he immediately will ask for one as this happens to be the first place we bought him one from. While we were in Italy he discovered the brioche and so this week we delighted in an afternoon snack of a chocolatey croissant. The after effects are usually the same a face covered in chocolate....