 | Diary Navigation:
|
March 8, 2004
~It's Amy's baby's birthday today. Wow. ~
Hey guys!
Every two weeks, I'm going to try to get here every two weeks.
Back when I did my Mini-Med programme, I mentioned I'd share some of the interesting things I got out of it. Some of it was impressive, sometimes relevant and often trivial. Starting from the anatomical top for this entry, did you know there is no sense of pain within the brain itself? It's the reason neurosurgeons are able to probe areas of the brain while their patient is awake. It's no accident that telephone numbers are seven digits long. Our working memory, a very short-term form of memory which stores ideas just long enough for us to understand them, can hold on average a maximum of seven digits. This allows you to look up a phone number and remember it just long enough to dial. A child's ability to learn can increase or decrease by 25 percent or more, depending on whether he or she grows up in a stimulating environment. Infants whose mothers frequently spoke to them learned about 300 more words by age two than did children whose mothers rarely spoke to them.
The neurologist said we have 10 billion cells in our brain that want to learn and (with a hand pounding on the table for emphasis) we will lose whatever we don't use. He lectured how important it is to your brain and mind and well-being to accomplish something new now, citing languages and even learning to play an instrument as two fantastic endeavours. Remo speaks fluent Italian and French, he wants to learn how to play the piano. My plan is to learn French, then Spanish maybe, I might dabble in Russian now that Lisa's back. I wonder if the difference between now and every other time I signed up for my courses, is this time I'm doing it because I WANT to. Not only because it'll help my children and me live easier in a French world, or open me up to new opportunities at work or hold onto brain cells I'd just as soon retain, but because it's interesting. Thankfully, I'm not pursuing this venture blindly, my vocabulary is actually decent and I can conjugate many a verb, where I stump myself is in my thinking. I'm shy about my accent. Plus I think in English.
That last month before I started back at work, we had Marcel, one of my most favourite people in the world, doing re-renovations. Marcel speaks only French and he had the pleasure of hanging out with Emmie and I all day long. I talked his ear off and I learned a million things about him. God knows what I told him. When one day, Remo came home and told me Marcel said I speak French quite well, I swear I glowed. Really? Seriously? I asked Remo how bad my accent is and he told me I should get over the accent because I'll probably never get it right. He reminded me of our closest friends who speak English with heavy accents, and for some reason what he said, though not profound brilliance by any account, had a big impact on me.
I'm my own biggest block.
Back in September, we tossed Brandan into an exclusively French kindergarten with about ten French words in his repertoire and we were basket cases. Remember that open house when he was the only one without a juice box because he didn't understand them? Everyone kept saying we shouldn't worry because kids are like sponges and they suck up languages with ease, but deep down? I thought maybe THEIR kids could suck up a language but what if my little boy, clever as he is, maybe didn't have an aptitude for it? What if we screwed up his whole education with the pressure of a different language? It took six months. Brandan knocked our socks off and puffed us up with pride. Already he speaks better French than me and Remo swears by the end of the year, he'll surpass him too. Everyone says kids pick up languages easier than adults. Why? Is it true?
One of the journals I was reading at work had a section on language proficiency requirements for pilots and air traffic controllers and in there I found something interesting actually. One article said that aside from pronunciation, linguistic research does not appear to support the notion that children learn another language more easily than adults. Rather, children and adults learn differently, with adults better able to make use of cognitive learning and study strategies, while children benefit from a relative lack of inhibitions. Children feel more comfortable making mistakes, an important attribute in the language learning process. They say however, that given the SAME conditions (amount of time and opportunities) adults appear to suffer few language disadvantages over children. Hmmm. So if I think I can, I can.
When last I cut myself off, I was discussing Kaillan in great detail. She's the strongest willed person I ever had the pleasure of working with - in such a small package. It amazes me that Kaillan can go from cheerful to falling apart so quickly and that those tears will shoot straight out of her beautiful hazel eyes. While she scores high points for determination, she loses them in being reasonable. She has to do EVERYTHING herself and God forbid you touch something in trying to speed things along or she'll collapse and you have to start all over again. What I love best about her is how cuddly she is in the next breath. Kaillan wraps her arms tight around your neck and never lets go. She'll smooch your face off. I know already this is a girl who will fight tooth and nail for anyone or anything she loves. Kaillan's been in underwear for months now and save for an accident here or there overnight, she's done very well. Her favourite foods? Anything with sugar in it. She drinks milk all day long and loves cereal. Dislikes? Peanut butter. Favourite show? Caillou. Over and over and over again.
These days, Brandan is VERY into discussing private parts and I swear if he really KNEW what he was saying, he would die. Last week my aunt spent a day with him and at one point they were building impressive snow castles outside. They carefully built walls to separate the rooms when Brandan suggested they should build a bathroom so they could look at their privates. We've been dreaming up make believe stories and Brandan includes wheenies in most of them. Can you imagine? We're trying to speak matter of factly, with proper names, but I can see where Brandan throws some of these things out there to gage our reactions. Remo wants to videotape him so we can dangle this tape before him one day. I forget who it was who asked Brandan if he had a girlfriend at school, he nearly choked. Girls? Yuck!
Emersan is awesome especially since this weekend we graduated to three hour stretches overnight. Maybe I shouldn't actually spell that out. Emmie babbles all the time, the type of baby who will go to and smile at anyone. She's crawling really fast now and for the first time in my whole parenting career it makes me nervous. Keeping track of two is way easier than three, I'm so much more distracted this time round. There's more reasons to run out of a room, more things on the floor, constantly more juggling. It's important to me that they all have their special times, that I get to whisper in each of their ears how much I love them. Right now, while they're more baby than big, there's no question, it's a lot of work. But it's also the cutest time, the phase that people always long to go back to. I'm trying to live it and not race through.
We've gone out for many Saturdays in a row and I have to say it's been fun. A few of those weekends, Remo rented an ice rink and we organized a pick-up hockey game for the guys, with the wives getting together for some girl bonding. What I like is we get the whole day with the kids and then we bring them for supper at Remo's parents, Nonna makes the best pasta and the kids would go there any day, any time. We rent them movies (therein lies the only crisis) and everyone is recharged. This weekend we're going at it again with a great mix of couples going for beer and fish at a Cape Cod-ish restaurant, then when the guys go to play their guts out, the girls are going to come back to our house for Mona Lisa Smiles (coming to DVD March 9th).It's actually Remo's birthday on Thursday so I guess that's how we'll celebrate. He wants an ice cream cake this year and announced it with a crocodile smile, knowing full well every ice cream joint is still in hibernation. Brandan bought him a back scratcher from the dollar store, choosing it very carefully. I bought him a sweater and cool wall hangings for the pool room we'll have one day. Kaillan bought herself a ball and a strip of lollipops.
I believe in traditions and it's important to me that I find some my children will cherish. Enter my latest plan: Sunday Supper. What could be a better memory than a lovingly prepared meal we all have a hand in, say a roasted chicken with knock-out mashed potatoes, buttery vegetables and a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake stacked too high? Though we eat well all week, I want that Sunday meal to be full of pomp and circumstance. A meal full of warmth. Where extra people are always welcome and they'll beg us to be invited back. We were supposed to kick it off yesterday but we went to Disney on Ice. Great show, thank you Annie. We did have a nice meal (pasta primavera, potato and tomato salad and rappini) at Remo's parents afterwards. Problem is we went home after a crazy weekend and had to organize for hours. I have to find a way to eliminate THAT part of the Sunday plan or my beautiful memory will fizzle.
The vacation schedule started circulating around the office and nothing makes me cringe more. First off, it's awkward given that everyone seems to want off the same little bit of time and worst off, I hate the commitment. I don't know yet when all Brandan's camps will be, when Remo will be able to swing some extra time, what the weather will like, when our friends will be off. We're in a serious pickle this year because we have two weddings back home we desperately want to go to, one of my oldest friends, who was in my wedding and my step-brother, who though I didn't grow up with, I adore. A month apart. Worse, for every pull that has me dying to go, I have a yank on the other side asking me how? Remo's cousin is getting married here one of the same dates. Brandan's in school. It's Remo's worst possible time of year. It's far to go and it's going to cost a fortune. Way more than we have in the vacation budget. We bought a week's timeshare with RCI we also have to use up. Anyone ever do this before? We're considering Maine or New Jersey, somewhere we can drive to in say seven or eight hours. Seems to me anywhere nice is already booked and over my dead body am I staying in a cookeracha place. Not even on the same street.
Speaking of creatures, we're what, two weeks from the official kick-off to spring and last weekend I found one of those teenie-tiny ants at my front door. It walked kind of drunkenly so I'm assuming the mission of this scout was to figure out if it's time to wake up the rest of the gang. For anyone just joining us, ants moved in with us last year and I nearly lost my friggan mind. Picture a swearing mad, wide-eyed preggo ripping her house apart in the battle against a bug that big. In the end it was my babies versus theirs and I think I won. Maybe it's a good thing I saw that first one so early. I'm going to fight them off before they check in. Maybe I should oil my armour.
Hey, quick question, I remember reading somewhere there's a new Disney movie for kids hitting movie theatres sometime soon. Anyone in the know?
A big HUGE thanks be to ShelleyandFreddie for posting up a bunch of great Barefoot Contessa recipes on the board, as soon as I've had a chance to try them out I'll offer a review. For those not in the know, these recipes are usually pretty easy yet impressive. Entertaining with ease.
Have a great week,
Allisun
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
