Thank you! Gracias! Merci! Danke!

This week mummy and I (she does my PR) have been busy at work on the blog and today the wonderful Mellow Mummy surprised us with a Gratitute Award!

Daddy and I noticed she was extra happy these past couple of days even letting me have chocolate cookies; and that never happens!  As I've said before, I love to see her smile because it makes me smile!

After my afternoon milk when mummy was cleaning the kitchen, I  managed to swipe her blackberry off the dresser and I tucked myself away between the couch and the wall to get a peek at her Twitter account.

What I read was unbelievable! She had received wonderful messages from friends and new followers saying just how much they like my blog and our funny stories. I let out a loud  laugh and clapped my hands with excitement! Just as I was getting into the swing of things, swiftly strolling through the tweets, I saw mummy's legs in front of me and looked up to see her standing over me asking for her phone back.

I had no where to run, so I pretended to be on a call and put the phone to my ear (this tactic never fails because she and daddy think "its so cute!") That bought me some extra time and once on my feet I made a run for it.

Hidding behind my bedroom door, I read a few more messages and even managed to answer back. Mummy was coming for her phone when I noticed her forehead was scrunching up (she cannot go without her "device" for more than 5 minutes. I have noticed she gets a little shakey and irritable without it) I threw the phone away from me, she scrambled to pick it up and legged it back to the living room.

Handy Manny was on TV so I climed onto the couch to take a break - but out of the corner of my eye I could see that mummy was smiling.

For that I say:

Thank you! Gracias! Merci! Danke!

Have I got news for you!

Before going to bed tonight, I peeked at mami’s latest twitter posting and found out she feels more tired after spending a day with me than when she goes to work! (@patygalilea, @positivedivorce, @activekiddies and @activemarketing all agree so this post is for them as well!) And as if that wasn’t enough, she said work for her was a much needed break. Well, this may come as a surprise to you mummies but the feeling is mutual!

I speak for all Little One’s out there. We too need a break from being at home all day. I enjoy going to nursery to get away from the constant nagging, but I am also the first one to run to mami when she picks me up!

Below are some of mami’s complaints and my solutions to making her life easier:

She is constantly running after me! – She would be less tired if she just let me be. I just want to be free to chew on the corner of the table, pick up lint, open cupboards and taste everything I can get my hands on. Is that too much to ask?

She says feeding me is very messy – Oh loosen up! Truth is, I love food! As a matter of fact I am sort of a "toddler foodie". I don’t just eat food, I experience food; I enjoy squeezing the mashed potatoes through my hands, rubbing tuna fish on my checks, and gently massaging soft noodles through my hair. It's liberating. Try it!

She tells daddy that dressing me is a mini-wrestling match – oh it sure is! You should see her trying to catch me so that she can get me dressed. Eventually I settle down, but once she gives me that trusting smile and says “good boy” I quickly do the twist, kick and drop move I have mastered and in a flash I'm out of the room. It wouldn’t have to be this way if she’d just let me hang out in my jammies all day.

She says I poop too much – I do, so what? I always get the urge right before going out. You should see her face! At first she looks puzzled, and then she picks me up and sniffs my bottom. After realising its a poopie, she rolls her eyes back, lets out a loud sigh, drops her bag and keys to the floor and calls me into the room. Sorry! When you gotta go, you gotta go!

My crying wears her out – excuuuuuuse me! If only you understood what I was saying the first time around I wouldn’t have to resort to extreme measures. We both speak the same language (two as a matter of fact) and I understand almost everything she says, so why are we having communication problems? I can’t wait until she learns more words – it’s getting ridiculous now.

Well, I’m going to leave it there but I could go on. However, this in NO way means I love mami any less!

So mummies, next time you are tired, and “need a break” why not just give us a break and make life simpler. Help us, help you!

So, who’s tired now?

P.S. – That's me in my jammies (refer to 3rd point)

Mami paints her face!

Not sure if other mamas out there do the same thing to their faces, but mine draws colours on her cheeks and eyes every morning before leaving for work. (I tried doing this at nursery with the crayons but my teacher made me draw on the paper instead).

After getting me dressed and having my morning milk, I usually run around until we are ready to head out the door, but not without mami shouting "little m, no! get out of there" when I play near daddy's night stand. Apparently opening the drawers are dangerous or something. I usually ignore her and run off only to try again later.

Mami then sits in front of a mirror drinking some sort of black juice that she says she "cannot live without" and smooths what looks like my sudocrem (only smaller) on her face. I thought it was just for my bottom, but I guess its for the face too! She then rubs another darker creme on her face before taking out her paint brushes and colouring set. Using different brushes, she dabs at the coloured blocks and begins to paint her face.

This morning, I took the time to stop and really look at what she was doing - and I could see mami making faces in the mirror when painting her eyes! She looked so funny - it made me laugh! She didn't move much at first, she was looking straight up in the air, and her mouth was wide open. After a few seconds she smiled back at me and put the black brush away.

After making more funny faces in the mirror, I stood next to her and asked her to paint my face, but she smiled and said "no, little m, face painting is for mamas, not little boys". Just then daddy picked me up and said, "no, that's not for you" and took me to get my jacket on. Come to think of it, I haven't seen daddy paint his face. Hmm?

Next time I am in the room I will investigate further and, if I can get up on the chair, will try out her coloured pencils and brushes!

Just in case you are wondering, the name of mami's paints are called: E.L.F. eyes lip face and her face sudocrem is: Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser. She does not recommend the light brown stuff to "cover up" with because she is not happy with the one she uses.

Any mamas out there have something better to she could try?

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Speak softly and carry a big stick 

(US President Teddy Roosevelt)

Yep, that's exactly what I did!

There I am running away from mummy and daddy after I found the biggest stick ever! They got a good laugh out of seeing me run around - but later mummy was afraid to come near me, so she sent daddy to get me when it was time to go home.

I could see daddy approaching with caution, so I scared him a bit and waved the stick around. He jumped back and I just laughed out loud and ran off. Sadly though, daddy caught up to me and before I knew it, he had the stick in his hand. I let him know he couldn't just sneak up on me, but when he put me on his shoulders I thought I may as well make amends. Besides, it was dinner time and I was hungry!

Eventually mummy motioned to daddy to get rid of the stick. As if I didn't notice that one, but I pretended not to see just so mummy didn't feel bad.

I admit, I gave them a bit of a hard time - but I think they secretly love it!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

¡Hablo español!

We are a bilingual family!

Daddy has always pointed to the milk and called it just that, milk. Mummy offers me milk and calls it leche. I hadn't paid too much attention, but I suddenly realised, mummy speaks another language, and so do I! Mummy or mami as I call her, and daddy (papi) speak English to each other with some words in Spanish, and mummy speaks Spanish to me. As for daddy - well, he tries to speak Spanish to me, but it sounds funny!

Apparently, I am not alone. According to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) one in four children in the UK has a mummy born overseas – which means at least one parent speaks a foreign language at home. I know this to be true – my friend Little G at nursery speaks Spanish too. I over heard his mami saying “adios” to him one morning. Then there's Little A, whose mummy speaks German to him (at least, that’s what I think it is). It all makes more sense now!

Mummy is a great example of a successful bilingual upbringing. She was born in Chile where Spanish is spoken and moved to the United States where she was raised speaking both English and Spanish sans accent (there’s a bit of French for you!)I’ve heard her constantly tell daddy that she wants me to understand Spanish – but what she doesn’t realise is that I already do! Its daddy who needs to catch up!

But don’t just take my word for it - I’ve included a blurb from the Literacy Trust explaining bilingualism and children’s development: “children will not get confused by learning more than one language in the household; up until about the age of 10 or 12, children learn foreign languages almost as if they were one big language. As children, people process language in the frontal lobe of the brain, but later on, the brain has to "scramble" to find storage space somewhere else. Importantly, learning two or more languages can help a child's development in his mother tongue”.

For those mummies who are unsure of brining up a family with more than one language, mami says to look at these links I've highlighted above where everything is explained in more detail.

For the fun stuff, I recommend looking at:
1) Dora the Explorer - English and Spanish
2) Handy Manny – English and Spanish
3) Kids Music Town – Songs in Spanish and French
4) Little Linguist (for music and books in all languages).

I am lucky that most of mami’s friends speak both English and Spanish so I am always able to practice and hear it all the time. If you want to find out who speaks the same language as you here in the UK, try finding new friends on the Multilingual Families page.

¡Buena suerte!

Mummy's got the blues

For the past week and half, mami has not gone for her usual afternoon runs, long walks by the river with me, or even attended Chiswick Bootcamp on Saturday mornings (which she never misses).

I've heard her tell daddy that she "is tired" has "lots of work" and is "not feeling well". I'm sure that is all true, but I know that look - mami is sad! I've heard her cry when talking to Grandma D on the phone, then quickly wiping her tears when daddy walks by. I notice it happens every once in a while, but I suppose that is normal when she has so many things going on at the same time!

Frankly, I don't know how she does it, but she is very organised and that helps keep her sane (her words not mine!) She has said that all mummies get sad, but the key is to have a great group of friends you can talk to, get outside, exercise and most importantly, get help if you feel its too much.

These feelings of being sad run in the family and she wants to make sure it doesn't go any further. Its difficult for her to talk about - but after discussing it with daddy she felt much better. Today she woke up in a much better mood - she was even singing and helping daddy with breakfast. I heard her whisper that she is getting "back on track" and quickly kissed daddy in the kitchen.

I can't wait to see her when she comes back from her bootcamp session - she always ends up muddy and sweaty, but I can see the big smile on her face after a good workout. Right now she is looking for a running partner to train with for the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October.

I love mami the best when she is happy - so please get in touch!

P.S. See how beautiful mami looks when she smiles?

Uh oh! I cracked a tooth

I'm not even 18 months yet and I've already "broken something".

Two weeks ago, I fell and cracked one of my front teeth playing at the Westfields play area. Truth be told, mami has never liked that play area because she says it is "way too small for such a large place".

I was having a great time, but there were big kids running around and they made me lose my balance. Next thing I know, I am face down on the slide I was trying to climb and I felt a sharp pain on my mouth! I screamed out for mami and she scooped me up and hugged me, but I kept crying out because it hurt sooooo much.

After the initial pain, I had a strange taste in my mouth. Mami knelt down next to me to look at my mouth - that funny taste, was blood. I cut my lip on my tooth. But then, mami's face changed and she covered her mouth. I looked up and saw that she was sad - she was crying! Did she get hurt too? Turns out, I had chipped one of my teeth!

Two days later, mami and daddy where talking about going to the "dentist". That day mami to took me to see a doctor and he looked at my teeth. I sat very still because I wasn't so sure of what was going on. Mami asked if "I'd be alright" and "if it can be fixed"? I wanted to tell her that "I still have my tooth!" "I can still eat!" but she didn't really understand me.

The doctor, turned out to be this dentist I had heard of, said nothing can be done and that I shouldn't be in pain - I had tried telling her before, but I suppose we are still working on communicating better. In any event, mami looked up more information on cracked baby teeth and I thought you might want to read on it too. I don't think we will be going to that play area any more. Oh well, I like the park better!

P.S. speaking of teeth, I have started brushing mine on my own!

It's me, Little M blogging for mummy

Hi there! 

As I mentioned, my mummy or mami as I call her,  is very busy and never seems to get around to blogging.

Since turning 1 in January, my days have changed too. Mummy went back to work part-time and on those days I go and play with my friends at nursery. At first mummy was overwhelmed and I even heard her cry at times. Now she and I are both happy - and on my days off from nursery, I've decided to help mummy out and blog on her behalf.

You see, I have been hearing for months about "blogging". My vocabulary has been limited for the past year or so, but slowly more and more words have become more clear to me.

 Once I found out what all this blogging was about, I paid special attention to daddy on the computer and here I am now! Mummy and I spend a lot of time together, and she talks to me about her days when giving me a bath and putting me to bed.

I'm new at this, but keep coming back as I promise to give you updates on my mummy and her adventures.

Believe me, she always has a story to tell - she's funny too! We always enjoy a good laugh together.

All for now,

Little M for mummy (that's me on the blackberry!)