Dear mami

Dear mami, 

I love you a lot and I missed you and daddy when you were gone.

Abuelita/grandma and I almost melted here in London because it was so hot, but we made it. Next time can I go with you please?

We did lots and lots of things.

First thing abuelita did was cut my hair! She heard daddy say I had a “mullet” and she cut little bits off the back. Did you see she put my curls in a bag for you?
Because it was so hot, abuelita let me hang out naked! Yesssss! No nappy and no shirt. I was just drinking my cold juice when suddenly water came right out of my willy! I did this twice this weekend, once behind the TV and another time next to your bed. I think you stepped in it. Sorrrrrry!

My teeth hurt again! I woke up at night and I don’t think abuelita was too happy about me crying. But just for you to know, she didn’t get up right away. You may want to have a “quick talk”with her.  Just like you do with daddy.

te quiero mami y papi/I love you mami and daddy

I'm very close to saying my first big boy word. I've been holding back - but when I shout out "heeeh" that’s my way of saying Hola/Hello. And "neh -neh- neh" is how I pronounce "no". Remember mami, I have a British accent, you don’t.

Oh, and you know that baby gate you put in the living room to keep me from playing by the fireplace? Well, you can just put it away because I can squeeze through any opening! Got between the sofa and the gate and abuelita couldn’t find me! 

She kept saying “Little M, Little M ¿dónde estas?/where are you?” So funny! Got black stuff on my hands and I made a little drawing for you on the wall by bookshelf. Did you see it?

Lastly, don’t be upset with abuelita, but she gave me candy when we went to the fair on Saturday. It was so yummy!

I drew this picture for you it says I love you very much mami and daddy and I am so happy that you are back and take me with you next time.

te quiero mucho
Little M

Someone named John Lewis

Last week, someone named John Lewis asked mami and other blogging mamas along for a lunch to talk about Christmas. There's that word again - Christ-mas...Chris-t-mas? I still can't remember where I've heard it, but I am hoping to figure it out soon. All I know is that toys keep being mentioned which makes me very very happy! I think John Lewis is a friend of mami and daddy, but I can't be sure.

Here's what I do know about someone named John Lewis:

• Sells very beautiful furniture and good quality homeware
• Has a team of friendly people who are always willing to help and treat you very nice
• Has almost everything anyone could ever want in just one place!
• TOYS!  Has a wide range of fun things to play with for us little ones!
• Mami and daddy have always been very happy with anything they have bought from him
• Mami and I spent a lot time over at his when I was little because the cafe is spacious
• The baby changing rooms are the best mami has ever been in!
• Daddy doesn't like to shop, but if he has to, he only goes to see John Lewis
• He is very generous. Gave mami a Flip Mino HD Camcorder to record my dance moves and funny faces

When mami told daddy all about her day, he just smiled and said "Ah, don't you just love John Lewis at Christmas? I miss just being able to walk over". (Apparently we use to live near John Lewis and we would walk over for tea, afternoon lunch and sometimes buy things this person had on offer).

Mami said she arrived at One Mary-le-bone, (phewww, that's a tough one to pronounce!) which is an old church, and walked through different rooms that were filled with brightly coloured clothes, carefully knitted sweaters, pretty shoes, a big kitchen, beds with big puffy pillows, wallpaper with paint on them, and fluffy sofas.

But most importantly, she said there was an entire floor full of TOYS! Awwww, yessssss! They had scooters (my favourite!), a drum set, (my uncle has one and I want one too) and even an electric guitar! All I know is that it makes a loud noise, yah!!

I just can't believe I missed out such a fun day! I did over hear mami and daddy saying that they will be visiting John Lewis again. I sure hope they get me a scooter, or anything that makes lots and lots of noise! Those are my favourite kinds of toys - come to think of it, the toys I have that use to make noise don't work any more, hmmm?

Looking through the catalogue, mami said she wanted "one of everything" and daddy looked like he had a tummy ache when she said that.

She quickly told daddy "don't worry, I won't over do it. At least not until Christmas".

Mami just laughed loudly and re-arranged the new pillow John Lewis had given her on our corner sofa, and hung up the pretty printed towel.

Before leaving the room, she smiled and winked at me. Sneaky mami! I know that look, it means she will definatley be visiting John Lewis again!

Simply and honestly me

Been busy here entertaining my abuelita/grandma who is visiting for a few weeks. Hard work I tell you, I have to show her where my milk is and which cup to give me, how to open the door to take me out, and which park to take me to.

Poor abuelita, she can't keep up with me and she tells mami that she is "muy cansada"/ very tired after spending a day with me. Funny how everyone I spend a day with seems to say that. Not sure why?

Either way, I have not had much time to blog, being cute is hard work too, and I've been doing a lot of that lately!

Last week both Holly at Its a Mummy's Life and Emma at Mellow Mummy tagged me with A Blog with Substance and The Blogging Meme. Boy was I excited - not only because they are very lovely and pretty mamas (mami met them at CyberMummy), but because we have been reading their blogs for some time now. Thank you very much!

A Blog with Substance - Holly asked, why do I blog?

Simple. I blog to help mami keep a record of all our fun and sometimes "difficult" experiences (those are her words by the way). Years from now she will enjoy looking back and reading about our early days together. Especially if one day we leave England and move to the USA, she will want to remember all of our adventures here. That, and I remind her what its like to be a little one.

My blogging philosophy in 5 words: Keeping it honest and simple

The Blogging Meme - Emma asks:

What is my favourite blog? Ooh, hmm? Ah yes! It's got to be Foodie Mummy! French expat living in Ireland, Foodie Mummy deals with life as it comes, loves football (well, not the French team at the moment) and is always very honest about her daily adventures as a new stay at home maman. Go and visit her, you won't regret it!

Blogger I respect? A fellow bilingual mama, Steffi over at Mummy do That! is brining up her little one to speak both German and English. I know that it is no small task, and mami and I salute her for that.

Best blog to join with? No weekly write ups or links to worry about. Just stop by RedTedArt blog for craft and art ideas. Mami is not very good with paints, but I always stop over at Maggy's blog for new art projects mami and I can do together. A few weeks ago we made a mini-sailboat for daddy that I saw on her Get Crafty with Children section. He loved it!

Best post by fellow blogger? Ha! this one made mami laugh out loud "Google yourself and you shall find" is a post by Nordica In London about Googling her blog name and coming up with a very different result than expected. Check out her post to see what its all about.

A Blog with Substance goes to: RedTedArt

Bilingual Corner No 2 - What's your name?

Gracias to so many of you for writing about being bilingual and the funny stories you posted for the first Bilingual Corner! Its all just for fun, so this month I thought I would talk about our names! See, I realised that being bilingual not only means speaking two (or more) languages but experiencing different ways of doing things – traditions I think mami calls it.
Let me make it easy for you: 

Mami is from Chile
Daddy is from the USA
Which makes me, Little M a Chilean/American born Brit – cool huh? And that’s a whole lot of different traditions going on there!
 

And so the name selection process began...

When I was still in the waters, I could hear mami and daddy talking about what to call me once I came home. It was a bit muffled, but I could sometimes make out parts of their conversations. I tell you, I knew a lot more than they thought when I finally left. Including my name, Little M!

After a day of non-stop bumping around in mami's tummy, when the waters did eventually stay still (which now I now know means that mami was sitting), I could hear mami say “he is going to have English last name, so I want him to have a Spanish first name, but easy enough to pronounce”

Daddy would then say “Any particular names you had in mind?” then mami would say a few and then they would both just go silent. From what I gather, it took them a long time to finally agree to my name. Mami really wanted a Spanish name and happily daddy agreed too! (As long as it didn't have too many "R" because he has a hard time with those still, hahaha!)

When I discovered my name...

I was so happy when they finally did start calling me by my name, “Hola Little M, its daddy” I’d hear him say, and then again, and again and again. So that’s how I knew he was talking to me!

I liked hearing their voices through mami’s tummy and sometimes I would even put on a little show for them and kick my legs or move my arms around.

More surprises...

After being in the outside world now for 18 months (well, almost) I realised that Little M is in fact a Spanish name, however, we have all discovered that it is also a German, French, Portuguese, Finnish, Nordic, and even Lithuanian name! (Daddy saw that a few biathletes in the Winter Olympics where also named Little M and that made him very very happy!)

So I guess mami and daddy made a great choice  - although I still get funny pronunciations at nursery. Don’t they hear how mami says it? Silly people.
 

Your turn...

 

Now I ask you, do you have a first name that maybe is traditionally used in another country or language? Or the other way around? Is someone else in the family named that? Did you choose it to remind you of where you come from? Does it set you apart? Have you had difficulties with it?

So far, no problems here! I've even met a few Little M's although they were not so Little – and when people hear it, they say they like it!

Write and link...

Can’t wait to hear your stories. Please remember to mention Little M's Bilingual Corner and link back to my blog on your post!

I will add a Linky so you can come back and leave your post so others can read it. 

 

Out of this world - CyberMummy 2010

The day finally arrived! This past Saturday, mami woke up extra early to meet all of MY blogging friends at CyberMummy at the Ibis Hotel in Earls Court!

I followed mami’s tweets throughout the day on daddy’s laptop and saw that minute after minute she was meeting more and more great mamas! I sure wish I could have been there, especially since I’m the blogger!
I was most excited about mami reading my blog post at the end of the day. The night before I heard her tell daddy “I’m really nervous”.

Daddy just told her to read slow and I shouted out “don’t forget to tell everyone hi on my behalf and thank them for reading!”

Before I knew it, the day flew by and mami was back at home with a HUGE black bag. Mami came in absolutely glowing and talking very very fast – her cheeks were red and she was smiling really big!

“You should have seen all the mamas there!" she shouted out. "It was amazing!"

She picked me up and said,

“Little M, everyone sends their love to you! The reading went very well and even though I was nervous I made sure to let everyone know you are the blogger!”

I wanted to know if she had been able to talk to everyone, she brushed my hair back and said,

“Sorry mi amor, there was so much to do and see that I wasn’t able to meet everyone”.

I think daddy was slowly losing interest in what she was saying and changing the subject asked,

“so what’s in the bag” and mami jumped up and said:

“Oh! You won’t believe this” and she unzipped the black bag.

Daddy and I just stood there watching as mami pulled out packet after packet of Asda wipes, nappy creams, some sort of cotton pads, Tommee Tippee bottles, Plum snacks, a frisbee, baby spoons (hey! I don’t need those!) more creams, and even pasta ! Daddy couldn’t believe it!

I couldn’t stop clapping with excitement and threw everything all over the living room!

I don't know what you mamas did to my mami, but she went to sleep before me!

I waved bye bye from daddy’s arms and we closed the door and let her rest. Ah bless her, it was hard work networking and having fun all day.

I want to say GRACIAS to Susanna, Sian and AlphaMummy herself Jennifer for a great event. Maybe next year I will be able to come too?

Thank you to everyone for meeting my mami and for following my blog. I hope to meet some of you some day! I started the blog for mami and I promise to keep writing about our busy lives.

Bye bye! Little M

Christmas, Chris-t-mas?

Mami and Chef Phil Vickery

I don't know how mami spends her days. She takes the train after leaving me at nursery, but after that I have no idea how she fills her time. I have heard her talk about her "office" and "work". But that is as much as I know.

So when she came home last week talking about seeing new toys and food for something named Aldi, I was even more confused than before.

"There was a room full of delicious food and chocolates and fun toys in another!" She told daddy.
I perked up from my high chair. "Toys?" I thought.

"It was Christmas in July" she exclaimed 

"Aldi has a whole range of toys, I had no idea they had anything other than food at their stores. Remember Aldi stores from Spain?"  She asked daddy and emphasising the word Spain  (I don't know what that is either) but daddy just thought for a moment and said,

"Oh yes. They have toys there?"

"Yes! That's the German store. I had forgotten they had them in the UK. They have amazing prices" said mami.

"They had a display of all products that will be out for Christmas".

"Christ-mas, Chris -t -mas" I thought slowly. I know that word. How do I know that word?

"So what else did they have?" asked daddy.

"Hold on!" said mami and she ran out of the kitchen into the living room. She came back with a white bag and began taking out chocolates and cookies.

"Yummy!" I thought and pointed for a piece. "No Little M, you finish your dinner"

Daddy looked at her and said "well, this isn't very good for your diet" Mami just snorted at him, took the chocolates out of his hand and put them into the fridge. I could tell she couldn't wait to eat them! I can't blame her because I want some too!

Changing the subject quickly she said "well, the best part of all is that I got to meet with Phil Vickery!"

Daddy stopped stirring the sauce and looked at mami wide eyed "You did? How? What's he like?" he asked excitedly.

"Well" said mami slowly, "He's a really nice guy. Very funny, big advocate for getting kids cooking.  He's been working with Aldi stores for 2 years now."

"So that's what Aldi is, a store" Got it.

"Oh, really?" said daddy "Wow! I had no idea"

"Oh yeah, he's got an online school called Phil's Cooking Academy that helps kids learn to cook from scratch. Something I want Little M to learn when he's older".

"Sure! I've seen daddy cook and I want to help too" I shouted out. Mami looked at me, wiped away some sauce from my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

"So, did he give you any advice?" asked daddy

"Of course!" Said mami and read off a list of tips that Phil recommend for all mamas:

• Bulk cook so that you can freeze 2/3 of it for another day - Daddy smiled because he does this already.
• Keep your meals simple and have balance of sweet, fruit, veg, meats - Mami smiled this time because she cooks very very simple. Daddy rolled his eyes.
• Fast-food does not mean junk food. He says you can have healthy packaged or frozen food that is fast and easy to make but that does not mean its "junk"  - No reaction. Guess they both agreed.
• Kids should be introduced to a variety of foods early enough so that they are open to try it all later on. He said it is something called "flavour profiles" - Daddy perked up and said "its like muscle memory, the mind doesn't forget"

"Don't forget meeee" I thought. And I threw some mashed potatoes at mami to get her attention. She turned to me and said, "Okay mi amor, lets get you in the bath".

I still need to figure out what this Christmas business is all about and how it involves toys.

At least I learned that Aldi has "great value" for money as mami says, a yummy range of fresh and frozen foods, and Phil Vickery on their side!

Hot hot hot!

I've been very sticky and wet lately. I have never felt like this before. I feel warm all over just like when I was sick a few months ago - but I feel fine.

I hear mami and daddy say "hace calor/its hot" and that now it is "verano/summer time". There is a lot more light and sun than I remember and on some days its so hot that mami doesn't even dress me - and that never happens!

Mami says she want to eat my toes - I hope she doesn't!

I'm going to be 18 months soon, so I would have had a summer before, but giving it another thought, last summer we went to Chile when it was hot - and it was cold there in July! Daddy said it was winter there when it is summer in the UK. 

So this is my first real summer - and I'm loving every moment!

Mami sometimes looks a little flustered and her cheeks get red. She is constantly folding up magazines or paper and waving it in front of her face. I once saw her pour water on the back of her head - silly mami.

I don't know why she doesn't just take off her top and shorts like me. It sure helps keep me cool!

Whatever mami and daddy say - I sure do love verano/summer!

I don't have to wear socks!
I can see my toes through my shoes :)
I like being able to feel the sand and sun on my legs
My shirts don't cover my arms
No jacket to put on before going out - I don't like them at all!
I can drink as much juice and water as I want
I get a bath, every single night!
We go to the park 3 times a day
I get to eat with no shirt on
I get to splash aournd at the paddling pool
Ice cream! Mami gives me an ice lolly on our way home from the park - yummy!
Abuelita comes to visit - that is the best part of all!

Summer is great - I wish it could stay like this all the time!