Mr. President

Some call him Mr. President, others call him "Bomba". This may be a testament to Obama's unprecidented connection with the common man... and toddler? Lucienne can recognize two important people on television; Joe from Blue's Clues and our new president Barak Obama, whom she prefers to refer to as Bomba. It's quite adorable and made Kevin and I realize how obvious our excitement must have been when we watched the election and inauguration.

No more nonny?

I'm a little nervous about writing this in the chance that I may jinx it, but it seems Lu has kicked the nonny habit herself with very little urging from her parents. Dare I say that giving up the pacifier is going to be as easy as giving up the breast and the bottle? (She really is the perfect child). It's only been since Valentine's Day so it's a bit premature, but each night when she goes to bed she does not ask for it. I've been preparing her that when she turns two next month that nonny is going to live with another baby because then Lu won't be a baby anymore once she's two. Kevin thinks that maybe because she opened some gifts on Valentine's Day that Lu may have thought it was her birthday. We have made her none the wiser. Wish us luck! Considering that up until the 14th she needed two nonnies to get to sleep!

ABC & Red, Yellow, Blue!

For the past two weeks Lucienne has been talking up a storm, learning all her colors and some of her ABCs! If that's not enough, she has been putting together sentences and using prepositions. First the colors are almost mastered which includes the spectrum as well as black, grey and brown which are reported to be most difficult for toddlers. She loves to pick them out in objects around her.

The alphabet is coming along too with as many as 10 letters identified consistently, her favorites being T, I and P. The other day after I picked her up at the creche she was going on about 'p' and after much pointing I figured out that she was telling me that she saw a big 'P' on a sign signaling parking which was reserved for CD plates and of course I was illegally parked!

Particularly this week Lu has been crafting sentences that leave us amazed. This morning when she awoke and heard the shower she asked me, "Shower?". I told her that her daddy was in the shower and she said (I kid you not) "My dada in the shower. Mama not in the shower." Her mind is really working on possessive relationships too. She wants to assign things to people, "mama's pants", "dada's coat", "Lulu's shoes". It seems something that she needs to repeat often to reconcile in her mind.

Lu made the day of her caregiver at the creche, Melanie when she said her name the other day. Melanie was so touched and asked if Lucienne talked about her at home. She doesn't really, but when I tell Lu that she's going to the creche, I say she's going to visit Melanie and feels quite content about it. Melanie told me that she loves Lu's English accent when she speaks French; words like, toot (pacifier), dodo (sleep), gouté (snack).

Lastly, Lu's daddy is quite proud of that fact that she's using prepositions which he's been working hard with her. She tells us now when she wants her coat or shoes 'off' and has been using 'in' as well in different situations. We of course think she's very gifted, but more than that love seeing each new develop hand how she processes and articulates new experiences.