Nah, that i’ mai tain, Vitorita. (10/13/10)

That almost sounds Chinese or something… LOL

I no see et Mami. (10/19/10)

I can only laugh…

I’m so amazed how quickly he’s picking up English. I’m so proud of him!

As Victoria, Nico and I enjoyed this perfect Fall afternoon in the back yard, we watched the trees and shrubs changing colors and all kinds of insects flying around. A ladybug happened to land right on the siding of the house, after it flew in my hair first. Here’s the little conversation Nico and I had following the incident.

Me: “Ahh!” (I screamed as the ladybug flew into and out of my hair)

Nico: “Wa’ happen Mami?!” (he said quickly and with concern – he’s too cute)

Me: “Nothing, there was a bug in my hair, but it’s gone.”

Nico: “Mami look, a be-u bug.” (Mami look a big bug - pointing at the ladybug on the siding after he looked around for the bug that had been in my hair)

Me: “Where Nico?”

Nico: “Err theu Mami. Wakala!” (over there Mami, ‘wakala’ which means ‘yuck’ in Spanish) At this point he was getting ready to smoosh the poor ladybug with the end of his plastic bat. I didn’t let him though.

The ladybug got smart and not having a death wish it flew away before Nico could get it and without us noticing. When Nico noticed it was gone he asked me:

“Wu les it Mami?” (where is it Mami?)

Me: Gone Baby. Gone. :)

I found the stick and cord for our kite outside the house by the garbage can. Nobody knows how it got there. Anyway… I brought it inside to show and tell Julio about the random occurrence, and when Nico saw it he pointed at it in surprise and said:

Tha’ ta kick, Mami.  (that’s a stick)

“…i’ broken Mami.”  (it’s broken)

I didn’t even know he knew the words stick and broken. :)

Here’s a couple more sentences Nico said today that came as a surprise. The best part is how silly and cute they sound as he pronounces them in his own way. I’ve spelt them out just like he pronounced them…

“Why da doin’ Tyson? Come on!” 

Nico said as he played around the house with Tyson.  Again, he used “Come on”. Seems to be getting pretty popular in his talking repertoire.

“Ewas, e at this.” 

That translated to “Edward, look at this.”  That’s what Nico told his older brother as I put his yogurt snack on his picnic table.

Yesterday afternoon, after I potty mouthed to myself in the kitchen for some reason, he came running through the family room saying,

“Oh, oh, Mami! Wo happen?”

Today while waiting to see the Ped in the waiting room, I was telling him something and he said,

“No, shupp.”

Huh? Where the hell did he get that from?? Well, thank God no one was around… to laugh.

Later on today, while goofing around in the house he came running to me and said,

“Mami, where is Tyson?… [then he sees Tyson walk by] …”Tyson, go. Go, Tyson. Go, go!” [poor dog ran for his life, lol]

Oh, and he’s singing Happy Birthday to himself as we speak…

“Happy Birday to you. Happy Birday a Nico. Happy Birday to you.”

then I asked him to repeat it, to which he responded,

“Shupp.” (shut up. wth?? sigh.)

Today’s new English sentence.

“Mami, it cuck!”  (Mami means Mommy in Spanish)

“It what?” I asked Nico.

“It cuck!” he said.

Ohh, it’s stuck. He was trying to close a drawer from the cd cabinet and it was stuck. Wow, this may sound silly to most people, but my little boy has learned another phrase in English, and I don’t even know when, where or how. :)  Lets keep in mind his first language is Spanish. Sure, he’s now in preschool, once a week. So after 3 preschool days, he can speak a few things here or there in English. Every new word or sentence he says in English simply amazes me, and is always catches me off guard. The element of the unexpected is like a breath of fresh air. Marvelous! He certainly understands waaaay more than he talks. He’s so smart, hehe. ;)

From now on, I’ll try posting some of the things he says in English. I think it’ll make for cute reads when I look back on memory lane. Plus, isn’t mispronounced toddler talk just adorable? I think so.

Here’s a pic I took today during our lazy Sunday. Good times! :)

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We decided from the get go that we’d speak Spanish at home all the time so our kids would learn it. And I mean really learn it. I don’t want them to be those kind of Spanish speaking people who can understand it but talk it with what seems like a horrible foreigner accent. As if it was really their second language, or something they just picked up along the way. I want them reading, writing and speaking proper Spanish. Truly bilingual. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

Then came this summer. At Nico’s first lesson of Kindermusik I realized he needed to learn English. And pronto. He was acting like a totally different child, petrified among all the other kids. Where was my outgoing little extrovert?  I figured it out. He had no clue what anybody was saying, or why. He must have thought he was in another world…

Lesson learned. I began talking both Spanish and English to him pretty much all the time. Just like an episode of Handy Manny; first in Spanish, then repeat it again in English. Sometimes I do it the other way around. Never ceasing to amaze me, he always gets it. Kids are like a sponge, they absorb so much and learn so fast. It’s amazing! :)