One more word to your linguistic repertoire

Baby Zoe, 


You are going through a linguistic breakthrough. You are able to capture the main phonemes of the words you hear, and repeat. Although you can't say the words accurately, the sounds you catch foreshadow perfect pronunciation in months to come. There is one more word to be added to your master list: Bubble! 

This picture (where you are dressed as a devil for your first Halloween) doesn't represent your excitement over bubbles, but they make you ecstatic and you ask for them over and over and over: "Bobbaeeeeel! Bobbaeeeel!"


*UPDATE!*
ZOE, THIS EVENING YOU SAID TWO MORE WORDS! "UOVO" AND "BUTT." 
Your 'uovo' sounded more like 'wovo,' which is good enough, especially when you were pointing directly at an egg, but the way you pronounced 'butt' was perfect. Papa and I were so excited, that we asked you to point at the butt of your stuffed animals, as well as ours. You gave each a mini spank, and said "butt, butt."


Here is the complete list of words you say:
Buh bye
Mamma
Papa
Boob
Hot
Bubble
Uovo
Butt

Papa's birthday and your new crib

Baby Zoe,

Last week we got you a new crib, and celebrated Papa's birthday.

Aunt Bernadette needed her crib back for her grandson. Papa and I were already talking about moving you to an independent sleeping arrangement where you can get in and out of bed at will. So off we went to Ikea, like the rest of the population, and ate Swedish meatballs at the cafeteria with all other shoppers. Americans like collective lifestyle and we hoped not to assimilate, at least by eating some place else. But Ikea is a universe, with nothing else around. And between the entrance and exit, there is at least half a day. By the time we reached the cafeteria, it was already your lunch time. We all got Swedish meatballs - two adult and one kid's meal. Lucky for me, you liked the balls so much, that you ate some of mine. When you grow up, you will wonder how you could possibly like them. Maybe you just were too hungry.

We found the crib we had in mind, as well as a nice mattress, and Papa put it all together. Having gotten used to sleeping with us, first few nights you woke up crying, and we ended up bringing you to our bed, since you didn't figure out how to slide down your new bed yet. Then it was Papa's birth day. We dressed you up, and went to a Japanese restaurant we haven't tried before - Uchico. You enjoyed your bites of tuna, scallops, in flavors considered fit for adult palate, though you enjoyed the ice cream as well. By the time we left, you were exhausted, since it was past your bedtime, and fell asleep in the car. Not to wake you up, we put you straight in bed, and in the morning, we woke up to your cries. We rushed to the door, and found you running down the hall way, screaming, with your arms up in the air, still wearing your evening dress. It was a funny scene, and we don't know what you were thinking, but we were proud that you got off the bed on your own. And for the first time in months Papa and I slept an entire night without a foot on our face or a kick in our stomach.

Your linguistic repertoire

Baby Zoe,

You talk and sing like a happy bird, although most of what you say makes sense to you only. Here are the words that you pronounce clearly, in the order you mastered them:

Buh bye
Mamma
Papa
Boob
Hot - when you say hot, you also shake your hand, as if to fan off the heat.

You've been trying to say "more," but for now, you represent that word better in sign language than in speech, since "r" is a difficult sound to say.

News from your teacher

Baby Zoe,

Friday afternoons I'm excited. We leave work a little earlier, so I see you a little sooner, and I look forward to our weekend together.  I curse, grumble and leave my soul in traffic before I finally make it to daycare. You welcome me with a happy face, and your teacher tells me about your day. Yesterday was one such Friday. Your teacher told me that you had a good day. You ate, pooped, played, napped some... but that you poked kids to wake them up from their nap. Even when she asked you not to, you went around poking to wake them up . It made me laugh, because both Papa and I didn't like napping.

Last week your teacher told Papa that you were a smart baby. Not that we haven't noticed, but it feels nice to hear it from others. The teachers were looking for a missing cup of one of the babies. You overheard the conversation, found the cup, and brought it to the teacher. Later, the teacher asked one of the girls to bring her shoes She didn't understand what the teacher was asking, so you went and brought her shoes. You amaze us with the amount of language you understand. How do you know who owns which cup or which pair of shoes belongs to whom?

Love,

Mommy

A day without nursing

Baby Zoe, you made it! We spent an entire day without nursing. October 2nd, 2011. When it was time to nurse, I went to yoga and left you with Papa. When I came back, it was dinner time, followed by bath, reading, singing and sleeping. You avenged me the next morning, but October 2nd opened a new chapter for us. From then on we have been nursing every other day. In a few days let's stop nursing all together. Toward this goal, Papa and I decided that in a week or two, Papa will pick you up from daycare every day, since that's when you want to nurse most. We are hoping this will help break the habit.

Kiss, Mommy - or as you say, Mamma!