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.

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.