The bilingual "experiment": two-year-old Spanish-English

"Agua, agua...!"  Hudson found one of his favorite things on a walk.

One of Hudson's mainstream pediatricians referred us to a language specialist earlier this year.  The packet of paperwork alone that came in the mail in order to go through with the referral was laughable, and we were afraid they'd just tell us to stop the bilingual life.  Recently we were at an appointment with a naturopathic pediatrician and they recommended starting to give him a supplement of cod liver oil every day because of its high DHA content, good for the ol' brain development.  And they said we should check in with a pediatrician in six months.

It's clear that Hudson is not saying "I wanna go slide" like some other two-year-olds at the park, but I have been reminded that many times boys will develop speech more slowly than girls, and I am reminded of so many anecdotes of children who didn't speak well until they were three or four and suddenly they popped out sentences like nothing ever happened.  The adults and older kids I hear about this happening to are exceptionally intelligent humans.

So, what's a mamma to do?  I don't know.  Give cod liver oil, talk a ton to my kid, get him interacting with other kids, (though most communication among toddlers I see is just shouting anyway), and try to relax.  It's hard to admit that your kid is different.  All I can say is at least so far, he's not different in a way that's costing us thousands in medical bills, or seeing specialists (yet). 

The important thing is that he is developing, albeit slowly.  He can make two-word combinations now, which he wasn't doing just a few months ago, and he even got three words together the other day:  "adios abuela cama" after we put away grandma's inflatable guest bed.  He said it like this:  "adio aba pama" but that's good enough for me.  I accept.  And every day he is repeating new words and sounds he hears us say.  Even if his speech is "horma horma horma" to ask me for his favorite song about ants (in English), I respond with "¿Hudson quiere la canción de las hormigas?" and I'm pretty sure that's the right thing to do rather than constantly respond to his partial words and sounds right off the bat just because I do in fact understand them.  He needs to hear what sentences are even if he can't make them.  He's also doing a great job of labeling items and their color, as well as other basic adjectives like "grande" or "pequeño".   He's working at differentiating "m" and "n" sounds, as well as other similar consonants like "t" and "d" even though he can actually make all those sounds.  But new stuff is happening every day.

We'll see how this all shakes down.  At 28 months, he is certainly "lagging" but I refuse to freak out and see a specialist quite yet.  His vocabulary is growing every day in English and Spanish, and he's even developing words that we have no idea who taught them to him, they just show up like magic.  Pretty cool.  Different kid, but very, very cool.

Wading pools, bathroom windows, and babysitting

 

I learned several things today.  In no particular order:

1. Always bring toys to the wading pool.  You need some goods to barter otherwise you're going to have the schmuck toddler who runs around stealing other water toys with nothing to give in return.  Also, don't eat all the snacks before the lifeguard calls all clear for chemical treatment.  Yesterday I literally had to tackle Hudson to keep him from running into the water while she treated it and all the other kids seemed to wait so patiently, not kicking and screaming.  I had that kid.  However, today I had food to hunker down with, and in the quiet I could hear some other toddlers screaming... perhaps I just couldn't hear them yesterday over Hudson's own noise...

2. Never lock the door without keys.  Our front door can be locked by turning the switch on the handle on the inside and then pulling it shut behind you.  Not cool if you've accidentally left your keys inside.  What's even less cool is when you get to within a block from home after walking in the midday heat from the Green Lake wading pool to realize you don't have keys, and figure that they must have fallen out at the lake so walk back in the heat to look again in the grass and ask the lifeguard, only to find nothing, because, of course, they are in your living room.  Back at home, and with toddler finally waking up from his nap (spent entirely in transit in the stroller to and from the lake twice), the only option is to grab one of Ben's painting ladders from the side of the building and set it up next to the bathroom window.  Distract toddler from trying to climb with you.  Try not to think about the chain of events that will ensue if you fall and land on either the concrete outside or the mass of tile and porcelain surfaces inside.  Try not to break the towel rack even though it seems to be the only thing between you and a concussion against the bathroom counter.  Cheerfully say hi to toddler as you appear from the front door as if nothing happened, except that you are considerably dirtier and more out of breath than when he saw you last.

3.  Have the babysitter come early.  But try not to have your ride show up too.  Hudson cries whenever anyone comes over, whether I'm staying or leaving.  He just assumes I'll be leaving.  We don't have enough friends come over to hang out, we only have babysitters.  (Although Hudson actually got used to his Aunty Sarah the other day.)  So, the babysitter came fifteen minutes before my departure and Hudson was just coming out from behind my back where he was hunkered down with his sippy cup, playing some very coy peekaboo, when my ride to the poetry reading came and his anxiety got all riled up again.  I almost might have been able to say goodbye without tears.  But you know, I will take it as it is, because at least he bawls because he loves me and is attached healthily.  Within fifteen minutes he's fine and playing enthusiastically. 

What a day.

Create.

Parenting is the biggest creative challenge I've encountered yet.  The writing challenge, the choreography challenge, those are far less intense and seemingly endless, and in many ways, less real.  Though I do love them, let's not forget that.

When I feel like I've found a parenting solution it directly impacts a human being, my son.  I also love finding something close to a solution for a line of words.  But I never really know if that's a solution or just something better than what I did yesterday.  If you get down to it, that's the same thing, really, it's all just looking for something better than the day before.  Yup.  Can I get Hudson to not throw a tantrum right now... can I get him to eat his dinner... can we play something other than wheel-spinning and actually keep his attention...

I can't wait until he gets a bit bigger when we can really start doing arts and crafts.  When we can really start drawing, and making sculptures, and making sand castles... It's going to be great, and that will definitely satisfy my need to keep creative even when I can't sit down to write any thoughts for hours or days or weeks at a time.

I'm reading Imagine by Jonah Lehrer, our faculty summer reading, and it's doing a great job of helping me realize how many ways I don't stretch my creativity and my brain power.  I had very much the same sensation when I read Poemcrazy a few years ago, though they are actually quite positive sensations because I come away determined to do more, and also satisfied with the knowledge that I can in fact cultivate creative thinking in myself and those around me.  Travel, go to coffee shops, talk to more neighbors, allow myself to be under the influence (within reason) and get out into the arts world to be exposed to other people's creativity.  These are all important lessons I'm getting.

Mostly, I'm learning to take advantage of time even better.  To take a day and a half to write a blog post is okay if that means I am actually using every five-minute piece available to me, and if it means that on the whole I'm writing more.  I'm learning to observe more closely and narrate not just to Hudson what's going on in the world around us, but to myself.  I think it's all connected.  Hopefully all this will help me stay creative as a parent as the years go on...

What I learn from a two-year-old

It has been a long stretch without a post to this blog, mostly due to my own freak-out and needing to step back and look at life from new angles and re-settle things in my mind a bit, re-organized.  But contemplating, playing, planning, discussing, oh, and going to lots of therapy sessions, have been a really good way to spend the past few months. 
The biggest takeaway from this Spring has been that having a two-year old seems to run my life, but it doesn't have to be that way.  I commented to a colleague recently who has a 3rd-grader that there is no "sweet spot" of actually making all this career-art-mother balance.  It is just hard.  He commented back, "unless it's all a sweet spot and you just have to look at it differently."  He paused, and I tilted my head in that "well, maybe so..." kind of way.  "But we both know that's bullshit", he said.  Yup. He went on to explain that he remembers having a toddler and the stress level was entirely different.  He can actually sit down with his kid to read books in the evenings, and can go outside to play sports with him, and I keep that in the back of my mind....

My two-year-old is teaching me patience.  Both the patience needed to find out why he's throwing a tantrum and to stick with him through it, and the patience needed to understand that he will someday be a 3rd-grader.  He is teaching me that he can do things by himself -- like read his duck book, play with his musical toys, and play in the bath, and I can ABSOLUTELY take little moments in his playtime to read a poem or look through my own writing.  The rest is all about scheduling - even personal time has to be scheduled when you're a working, creative mamma, or even if you're a creative, stay-at-home dad like my husband.  We've gotten lazy.

Our plan is to actually schedule babysitting time well in advance so that  we have date nights set up regularly.  I have just started a summer session of adult ballet that I'll take one or two nights a week.  In the summer, when I'll be home with the kiddo I'll take him to a drop-in daycare once or twice a week so I can sit in a coffee shop and do some writing.  When next school year starts, little H will be registered in the NSCC co-op preschool program and while Ben will sometimes have to be involved as a member, he will get some sessions off to do his own thing.

Meanwhile, we watch our little guy learn new words every day, switching between his Spanish and English vocabulary, we watch him get excited about a new book, we cuddle and tickle and tackle and spin umbrellas in the rain.  And of course, also, we try to get him to eat dinner without the house becoming a war zone.  We try to get him distracted from a toy whose batteries have run out.  We try to get him to sleep in his toddler bed for the whole night.  And we stay patient. And I will continue to use this blog as my process, and my place to share what I experience and what I learn.

Flap your wings like a chicken!

Hudson flaps happily at... something in the garden.

We attended the Seattle Garden Show yesterday with the explicit aim of spending time in the Playgarden for kids they had set up there.  (And also to see the fabulous garden designs on the other side of the show as well.)  We each paid the entrance fee of $20, which I still feel a little queasy about,  but I feel like it was worth it.  Hudson was squirming in my arms while waiting in line so much that I was not about to question the ticket booth attendant about their pricing policy. 

When we finally made it inside and figured out where the Playgarden was, we had a super duper great time.  We had to make it through the trauma of watching the musician, Caspar Babypants, play the guitar that Hudson couldn't touch (trauma of all traumas).  He played fun songs though, and all the OTHER kids were dancing around and jumping up and down, not squirming on the floor and crying.  Sigh. 

Little Guy digging in the seeds!

The next challenge was going into the "chicken coop" and desperately wanting, then not wanting, to touch the hen.  There were bigger kids picking up the hen and touching it, and I think it was also a bit crowded (Hudson could not maintain physical contact with me at all times) so Hudson was both ecstatic and freaking out at the same time.  He was flapping his little arms at the chicken intently, but then he'd reach out for it, and then retreat emphatically and start crying.  The other adults were getting a kick out of it.  I'm glad we could provide some extra entertainment for you all. 

The digging gardens were the best.  That's where we found our rhythm.  There were planting boxes full of chicken feed that were set up like sand boxes with diggers and dumpers and sieves and cups.  Then there were planters full of real dirt and hidden vegetables that kids were digging out.  I can't imagine how much effort it took to set up that garden.  Hudson played in the seeds with the trucks (filling the dump truck, dumping it out) nearly forever and only had a couple toddler run-ins when sharing the dump trucks became an issue.  He loved discovering the vegetables, and when he found a carrot he immediately tried to eat it.

I was mildly observant at the Playgarden and saw that it is in fact a permanent place in Seattle, somewhere in South Seattle, and by the looks of their website it is a pretty cool place.  Next time I think I will take the trip down there instead of paying $40.  But at least we brought our own lunch, and we were able to walk around and see some other garden fun at the show before Hudson descended into total pre-nap and overcrowded grumpiness.  He was happy again in his backpack as we walked up towards capitol hill where papa had parked the car, because there was traffic and taxis and trucks and other favorite vehicles. 

Thanks for a fun morning, Garden Show!

Notes on the bilingual process - 22 months!

My little Hudson Guy is nearing his second birthday, and he is slow with his verbal expression but at no loss to make himself understood.  He is certainly fascinated by words, and is probably starting to recognize more clearly the differences between English and Spanish, at least judging by his need to have certain books read to him in English by Papá and certain books in Spanish by Mamá.  Here are some of the words he is currently fascinated with:

Practicing sounds and words with his puzzle

Last night while playing with his toy helicopter he had me repeat the word "aspas" over and over and would try to repeat it.  He could not quite get the consonant combinations and stuck mostly to his adadada variations that are common in his current speech, but he would very clearly point to the helicopter blades, try out the word, and intently watch my face while I said the word.  He loved it.  He has done similar things with fun sounding words like "luciérnaga" and "buho", and loves hearing other animal names like "delfin" and "manatí" that he tries to imitate.  He thinks the word "zapatillas" is hilarious, and there are others that crack him up that aren't coming to mind right now.  He'll listen to the word, crack up, and then stop suddenly and look at my face and point to whatever it is he wants me to say, waiting for the awesome sound.  It goes on forever.

Hudson's toddler babble is getting more complex and creative and sounding like crazy gurgles and gronks, and he wants to try out every word.  He is getting great at identifying letters now that we have refrigerator magnets for him to play with.  He can easily name "A", "O", "B", "P", "X", "D", and can point out, even if not produce, many others.  It's so exciting to watch. 

Language production, as I said, is a bit slower with him than with many other toddlers I have seen who have many word combinations and sentences that he's not close to producing, but I'm pretty sure that from the little I've read, our Hudson is not beyond the realm of normal.  He is great at using his signs to make his needs known and even if there are many objects that have the name "ma" or "mo", the context always makes it clear.  For example, if he goes to the coffee table and says "mo" he clearly wants to watch some coins spin, but if he goes to the kitchen and says "mo" he clearly wants juice. 

It is exciting to be in a phase where every day something new happens.  I sometimes get home from teaching late and have only two or maybe three hours if we're lucky to spend together speaking Spanish, but we have the weekends, and I'm very excited to see what will happen over the summer when he's in a fury of language acquisition.  We're hoping to some day get into a rhythm of summer travel and regular visits to Spain, so that will keep Spanish alive for all of us, not just Hudson, but for now we are continuing our experiment with OPOL.  I really try to stay Spanish-only, and sometimes Ben will read to him in Spanish too, so hopefully this experiment will have some awesome outcomes.  And I'll continue investigating bilingual opportunities in the area for our family, and to share with all the other padres bilingües out there!

The Art of Translating: The Case of Dr. Seuss

After long and repetitive sessions trying to do on-the-spot translation of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, I was relieved to receive the Spanish version for Christmas.  How do you translate a "seven-hump Wump"?  How can you make it sound as cute to box in yellow socks?  These questions were answered by whatever professional translators take on the Dr. Seuss books, which Hudson is now much more enthralled with than when I stumbled and guessed my way through them before.  (I would read the English book, but in Spanish as best I could because I pretty much refuse to read to him in English.)  To play around and have fun in a foreign language is perhaps the highest level of bilingual comfort -- they say telling jokes in a second language is one of the top skills... well, I don't tell many jokes in any language, so I feel  a little exempt.

So, now we have Huevos verdes con jamón and Un pez, dos peces, pez rojo, pez azul in our collection and they are a hit.  They are both published by Lectorum, which has everything, and while some quality bookstores and toy stores do certainly carry the Spanish Dr. Seuss, I also recommend the Continental Book Company online for more easy Spanish searching. 

I have done some translating both in classes and on my own, of poetry, and it is hard.  I have a great respect for those whose task it is to find the way to make ridiculous words in Spanish match the English craziness of a Yink who drinks pink ink.  It is also a great way to get more intimate with Spanish and to see what noises an animal or machine might make, to see what names might make sense if they have to rhyme with something in particular.  I love it.  It's all fun, it's all brain-bending, and if Dr. Seuss is pretty much the only thing I'm reading these days, it's okay.