Moving at warp speed

Lucienne had been developing by leaps and bounds at such a pace it's hard to keep up with her. I was gone in Berlin over the weekend and could even tell a difference in her language after only a few days. She speaks now in 3 to 4 word sentences which are not complete, but she definately gets her intention across. A few cute things she's saying now is when she wants me to carry her she says, "Mama, carryU?" I suppose this is from me asking, "Do you want me to carry you?" It hasn't occured to her that these are two words. She is still asking to take a shower, her term for a bath. Lucienne is quite enthusiastic about most things and empatically exclaims, "Mama, a puppy right dere!" She still is very concerned about what belongs to whom and often verifies this, "Mama hat, Dada hat, Lulu hat" and she is very concerned if one of us is lacking the coat, hat, shoes, hood, etc. Lucienne loves to go to the "coffee shot" and play at the "beach" although she's beginning to use "sand".

Now that Lucienne has the alphabet mastered, she's working on numbers and shapes. She can count to 10 and knows several shapes and can draw a circle. I've been especially impressed by her accuracy while coloring. She really concentrates and says closely within the lines. Lucienne's singing has really developed too. While on spring break she broke into a rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and I didn't even know she knew any of the words! She sings "Row Row Row Your Boat" too. At music class she is really keen to learn the words and is aways trying to sing along. She's also singing to herself in a kind of gibberish.

Big Girl Bed!

The big girl bed has arrived at our house, but has yet to be slept in through the night. Lucienne has taken a few naps and we love to read stories before bed in it, but she still likes to sleep in her crib. We hope that she'll warm up to it within the next month because her bedroom set has been purchased by a couple expecting a baby at the end of June. When we've tried to put her to sleep in the big girl bed, in spite of her better judgement must come out in the living room and see what mama and dada are up to. After the 3th or 4th time she asks to go to sleep in her crib.

Easter Egg Hunt

The Little Gym which Lucienne attends on Thursday and Friday mornings sponsored an Easter Egg Hunt out in Waterloo. It was a beautiful day and very well attended. Of the 100 odd children lining the tape barrier waiting for the bell to signal the beginning of the hunt, Lucienne was the only impatient one. For 10 minutes (but what felt more like 2 hours) I had to hold back a screaming Lucienne, who was frustrated because she wanted to get her hands on the chocolate! When the bell finally did ring at 3:15 on the dot, she had worked herself into such a state having thrown herself on the ground, the other kids just stepped over her to get to the eggs.

When Lucienne finally figured out what was going on, that the hunt has started, she ran out and collected a handful of candy, then took her bucket and made a B-line for the little playhouse to sit alone and consume her treasure. Oblivious of the kids around her who were still filling up their baskets to the brim, Lucienne was content to savor her few precious chocolates in private. Needless to say, she can't wait for the Easter Bunny to come on Sunday!

Lulu is TWO!

We welcomed Lucienne's 2nd birthday with a great celebration of friends and family. Aunt Sarina, Mathias and Sophia visited from Zurich, Cousins Michelle and Axel came from Paris and Grampa Larry and Gramma Myrna came all the way from Azerbaijan! We also had our friends Norah and Niall over as well as Zach, Dawn, Hannah and Izzy and our neighbor, Giovanni.

It was a house full and a fantastic time. Lu loved the puppy cupcakes and thoughtful gifts chosen just for her. My best memory of the day will always be when we sang happy birthday to her. She was so thrilled and loved the attention. She even blew out her candles; no problem! I made a vegetable lasagne and appetizers of bruchetta, caprice picks and tapanade with croustini. Thanks so much to cousin Michelle for the beautiful pictures. They capture the beauty and spirit of the day.

La Primevere

Lucienne has attended the Primevere créche since December 2007. It's convienently located across the parrot roundabout, just a 5 minute walk from our apartment.
The woman who cares for her is Melanie who I have mixed feelings about. She's not the happiest woman on the planet, but few Belgians are. Lu doesn't seem to mind her and can say her name now. Melanie has told me that she loves Lucienne's accent when she says French words. She told me, "I love the way Lucienne says, dodo and bonjour, her American accent sounds really nice." I find this suprising since she has what I would call a 'toddler accent' whenever she says anything in English! She has few words that are truly clear, "no" and "puppy" of course being the exception! She seems to increase her French vocabulary each week lately. The other day when I came to pick her up she saw me and said, "Maman c'est la!" (Mama is here!) Melanie has told me that Lucienne can understand everything in French which I've witnessed at the créche and now at her Little Gym class.
We are lucky to have such a good créche as I've heard that some can be quite basic with women who exist at work only to look forward to their next smoke break. Often when I pick Lucienne up, Melanie has music playing and she keeps a rotation of toys going for the children. They also decorate and plan activities for every holiday. Overall I think it's been a great experience for Lucienne.

Favorite Foods

Lucienne has always had a healthy appetite, in fact her Papa Dan said, "she eats as much as a man!" Some of her favorite foods are pictured here. You can see that Babybel cheese is particularly irresitable! We shop mostly bio (organic) which we can get easily here in Brussels. Lu loves fruit of almost any kind, but vegetables are another story. Tomatoes are a good bet, which she calls "meemos" and avocado which she inhales with tortilla chips. Pasta is her favorite meal, preferrably with tomato sauce. These German animal cookies have been really fun as she learns animal names and the sounds they make. Breakfast is her biggest meal of the day generally, which often includes scrambled eggs, yogurt, toast or crepes in large quantities.

Carnival

On February 24 this year Belgium celebrated Mardi Gras or the beginning of lent. This is the day that kids traditionally dress up although Halloween is gaining in popularity. Lucienne went as a kitty cat to the créche that day where she ate crepe among the other disguised toddlers. The black makeup was eventually wiped all over her face, but she kept her disguise on all day. This was an appropriate costume since her favorite toy now is the grey kitty cat that her cousin Mathias gave her for Christmas. The little guy has graduated from ''reow" to "kitty" as Lu's vocabulary expands.

Now at the créche, holidays are celebrated with art projects (bricolage). For carnival Lu made this mask, theoretically to wear at a parade. We didn't make it to one, feeling the mayhem would be too much for us.

The Europeans take a week holiday during this time with many parades and festivals usually involving dressing up and drinking. We planned a visit to cousin Michelle and Axel's near Paris for the holiday. We couldn't wait to show them some of Lu's accomplishments since they'd seen her in November for Thanksgiving.