Be Kind, Remind

Here's a quick flashback post of Monkey a year ago today. In the stroller pics she's wearing the same hat (which was on purpose) but I just noticed that in the swing pics she's wearing the same shirt (which was not). The wig pic? Well...unfortunately that was a one-time event for which I have no part-two : ) I'm looking very forward to sitting down and writing a long, rambling, self-indulgent post, but for tonight I just couldn't pass up these little blasts from the past.

The First Amendment

I knew that as soon as I wrote this post I'd think a bunch of other phrases Lily says and sure enough I did. Some are worth mentioning, so here is an amendment or tack-on to my last post:
Of course she says no-no, her first phrase, and I count that as a phrase since technically it does contain two words, hehe. Another one of my favorites is when she says good girl, which I use emphatically whenever she goes potty on the potty chair. Or, that is, when she used to. Our potty train seems to have made an unscheduled stop in Refuse-to-go-ville, population: one. Anyway, you'd have to hear it to appreciate it, but she pushes all of her air through her nose in a nasaly gihhhh gihh. I just wish she'd say it more often. She also says hey now, or more accurately hey no, in reference to this song.  From a very early age we have seen musical inclinations in her and she sang the tune of this so recognizably that I knew exactly which song she meant even though I couldn't have hummed it myself in a million years. And you should SEE her dance to it! I guess probably her first Slovak phrase was one which, when roughly translated, means it ain't. Babka would ask her if something, like her soup bowl, was hot and she'd touch it with her little hand and respond with a smile and a head shake, no it ain't. I'm a stickler for good grammar, but it's still pretty cute. And her longest phrase is also in Slovak; on the phone (block, Lego, hairbrush etc.) she asks, hallo Babka, si tam? Hello Babka, are you there? So, we're getting there. I know any day now she's just going to explode into full-on soliloquies, but for now the girl makes herself exceedingly clear with one-word queries or answers. And when she can't, so far pterodactyl-mode has been working well enough for her.

Here are a few snippets of our life lately:

Going to get ice cream

Rare moment of hand-holding, aka obedience

Fearless

One of several hideous ''statues'' on our square

 

More Happy

This morning Lily and I took a walk to the milk-o-mat, which we do every four days to get raw milk, and on the way home she saw something or other and pointed excitedly, saying, ''There it is!'' which in Lily speak is more like dehhh dizz. And in that moment I realized just how much joy I get when she says those words, which are usually only exclaimed when searching for a shoe. Bilingual children tend to start speaking a little later than single language learners since, you know, well, they're learning two languages. So although Lily knows a lot of words in both languages, she still only uses a handful of phrases. They are:
Good night (which until recently was ki-nock), love you (too), bye-bye, and hot dog. Yes, hot dog. A couple of Christmases ago Tomáš and I watched It's a Wonderful Life, and he was amused to learn the phrase hot dog! and went on to write a song wherein Lily sarcastically exclaims, Hot dog! Hot dog! Daddy's gonna play (guitar), hot dog! hot dog! (yawn) I will have to stay... and Bug loves this song, so every time she sees the guitar or a picture of him playing the guitar she says hot dog! (unsarcastically, I might add). She says come here in Slovak, but only randomly to people who are miles away, which is completely adorable. Like yesterday we visited Tomáš at his office and she squealed, ''babka, pod' sen!'' Or in the middle of playing she'll call for her little friend Adamko. When she wants me or Tomáš, she says ''hands,'' and leads us where she wants us to go. And lastly, she says ''let's go!'' in Slovak, which she usually says when she is anxious to get unbuckled from her stroller or carseat, but last week on the way to Babka's house, Tomáš stopped at some railroad tracks and when trying to start on a hill, killed the car, when she quickly exclaimed, ''Po-me!''

So this long-winded explanation was all to say that it got me thinking about the things that are making me happy now. So, without further ado, here are a few:

Piggy tails. By far her cutest style right now.

For months I thought the red marks on her neck were just from laying down, then I realized it's a birthmark and I have it too.

Reminds me of Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two.

Lily's get-out-of-trouble smile

This building makes me smile whenever we walk by it. I hope everyone paints their balcony a bright color.

Her love of keys

Iced coffees



Regular, yet always surprising donning of the bunny ears.



Reupholstering the bench on the balcony




Happy stripes

Bright and sunny anniversary flowers

Bringing gifts to daddy at work.