Froglet's first word, at the age of about 13 months, was "Cake". Prior to this he was using the sound "neng-neng" to mean food or more often drink from the age of about 9 months, but that robably doesn't count as a real word.
About 4 months ago, Nutmeg started emitting a very piercing shriek if food or drink was too slow to arrive, so we began actively encouraging her to say "more" instead. I can't remember exactly when she first said it, but I guess by the time she turned one she was saying "maaa" and meaning more. (She actually said "more" properly once, but it seems to have been an accident because she hasn't said it again).
Now she has acquired a second word. "Nana", for banana. She says the first n a bit strangely, as if she was trying to get the whole "ban" syllable into one letter.
There seems to be a theme here. But at least banana is healthier than cake - if we had a third child perhaps its first words would be "wholemeal bread"?
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Lent Bible readings for kids
Haven't had chance to blog for a while. Life takes over...
Nonetheless, I wanted to write a bit abut what we're doing for Lent. We haven't given anything up (although I am working on giving up shouting at the children!) but rather we have picked something up: Bible reading. I've never felt like Froglet could really follow the Bible itself, although of course we have Bible story books. But since we enjoyed having daily readings over Advent, I thought we'd have daily readings for Lent too. These are (mostly) from the Gospel of Luke. I tried to pick stories and things Jesus did rather than too many of the straight teachings, because Froglet is, after all, only four. On Sundays we're reading the bits where Jesus talked about his death. We have a great illustrated book that was also mine as a child, published by Ladybird, and called The Easter Story. Froglet loves it. As he already knows about the death and resurrection, I thought it was worth showing him that Jesus knew this was coming. But you could easily just leave out the Sunday readings (or replace them), as they aren't in chronological order with the rest anyway.
We are reading these out of a copy of the Good News Bible which was mine when I was small - it has more pictures than my NIV, although not many, and the wording is a bit simpler.
Today (Wednesday) is day 25. Sundays aren't counted in the 40 days of Lent so I haven't numbered them.
Day 1: John the Baptist - Lk 3:2-22
Day 2: In the desert - Lk 4:1-15
Day 3: Nazareth - Lk 4: 16-30
Day 4: Lk 4: 31-44
1st Sunday: Who am I - Lk 9: 18-27
5: Calling the disciples - Mtt 4:18-22 and Lk 5:27-31
6: Skin-disease - Lk 5:12-16
7: Paralysis - Lk 5: 17-26
8: The Sabbath - Lk 6: 1-11
9: The Apostles - Lk 6: 12-19
10: Love your enemies - Lk 6: 27-36
2nd Sunday: The transfiguration - Lk 9: 37-43
11: The house on the rock - Lk 6:46-49
12: The Roman officer - Lk 7: 1-10
13: Raising the dead - Lk 7:11-23
14: Forgiving sins - Lk 7:36-50
15: The parable of the sower - Lk 8:4-15
16: The storm - Lk 8:22-25
3rd Sunday: Predicting Jesus' death - Lk 18: 31-34
17: Jairus' daughter - Lk 8:40-56
18: Feeding the 5000 - Lk 9:10-17
19: The boy with an evil spirit - Lk 9: 37-43
20: Sending out the 72 - Lk 10:1-11, 16-20
21: The Samaritan woman - Lk 10:25-37
22: Martha - Lk 10: 38-42
4th Sunday: The tenants in the vineyard - Lk 20:9-18
23: Prayer - Lk 11:1-13
24: Don't worry - Lk 12:13-31
25: Healing on the Sabbath - Lk 13:10-17, 14:1-6
26: The lost sheep - Lk 15: 1-7
27: The lost coin - Lk 15:8-10
28: The lost son - Lk 15:11-32
5th Sunday: the rich man and Lazarus - Lk 16:19-31
29: Forgiveness - Lk 17:3-4
30: Healing the ten lepers - Lk 17:11-19
31: Always pray - Lk 18:1-8
32: Pharisee and tax collector - Lk 18:9-14
33: Children - Lk 18:15-17
34: Rich man / widow - Lk 18:18-27, 21:1-4
Palm Sunday: Entering Jerusalem - Lk 19:28-40
35: The blind beggar - Lk 18:35-43
36: Zacchaeus - Lk 19:1-10
37: Parable of the talents - Lk 19:11-26
38: Passover meal - Lk 22:1-23, 31-34
39 (Good Friday): Arrest and death - Lk 23 (I will use the afore-mentioned book here)
40: Burial - Lk 23:50-56
Easter Sunday: the Resurrection - Lk 24 (book again)
Nonetheless, I wanted to write a bit abut what we're doing for Lent. We haven't given anything up (although I am working on giving up shouting at the children!) but rather we have picked something up: Bible reading. I've never felt like Froglet could really follow the Bible itself, although of course we have Bible story books. But since we enjoyed having daily readings over Advent, I thought we'd have daily readings for Lent too. These are (mostly) from the Gospel of Luke. I tried to pick stories and things Jesus did rather than too many of the straight teachings, because Froglet is, after all, only four. On Sundays we're reading the bits where Jesus talked about his death. We have a great illustrated book that was also mine as a child, published by Ladybird, and called The Easter Story. Froglet loves it. As he already knows about the death and resurrection, I thought it was worth showing him that Jesus knew this was coming. But you could easily just leave out the Sunday readings (or replace them), as they aren't in chronological order with the rest anyway.
We are reading these out of a copy of the Good News Bible which was mine when I was small - it has more pictures than my NIV, although not many, and the wording is a bit simpler.
Today (Wednesday) is day 25. Sundays aren't counted in the 40 days of Lent so I haven't numbered them.
Day 1: John the Baptist - Lk 3:2-22
Day 2: In the desert - Lk 4:1-15
Day 3: Nazareth - Lk 4: 16-30
Day 4: Lk 4: 31-44
1st Sunday: Who am I - Lk 9: 18-27
5: Calling the disciples - Mtt 4:18-22 and Lk 5:27-31
6: Skin-disease - Lk 5:12-16
7: Paralysis - Lk 5: 17-26
8: The Sabbath - Lk 6: 1-11
9: The Apostles - Lk 6: 12-19
10: Love your enemies - Lk 6: 27-36
2nd Sunday: The transfiguration - Lk 9: 37-43
11: The house on the rock - Lk 6:46-49
12: The Roman officer - Lk 7: 1-10
13: Raising the dead - Lk 7:11-23
14: Forgiving sins - Lk 7:36-50
15: The parable of the sower - Lk 8:4-15
16: The storm - Lk 8:22-25
3rd Sunday: Predicting Jesus' death - Lk 18: 31-34
17: Jairus' daughter - Lk 8:40-56
18: Feeding the 5000 - Lk 9:10-17
19: The boy with an evil spirit - Lk 9: 37-43
20: Sending out the 72 - Lk 10:1-11, 16-20
21: The Samaritan woman - Lk 10:25-37
22: Martha - Lk 10: 38-42
4th Sunday: The tenants in the vineyard - Lk 20:9-18
23: Prayer - Lk 11:1-13
24: Don't worry - Lk 12:13-31
25: Healing on the Sabbath - Lk 13:10-17, 14:1-6
26: The lost sheep - Lk 15: 1-7
27: The lost coin - Lk 15:8-10
28: The lost son - Lk 15:11-32
5th Sunday: the rich man and Lazarus - Lk 16:19-31
29: Forgiveness - Lk 17:3-4
30: Healing the ten lepers - Lk 17:11-19
31: Always pray - Lk 18:1-8
32: Pharisee and tax collector - Lk 18:9-14
33: Children - Lk 18:15-17
34: Rich man / widow - Lk 18:18-27, 21:1-4
Palm Sunday: Entering Jerusalem - Lk 19:28-40
35: The blind beggar - Lk 18:35-43
36: Zacchaeus - Lk 19:1-10
37: Parable of the talents - Lk 19:11-26
38: Passover meal - Lk 22:1-23, 31-34
39 (Good Friday): Arrest and death - Lk 23 (I will use the afore-mentioned book here)
40: Burial - Lk 23:50-56
Easter Sunday: the Resurrection - Lk 24 (book again)
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Happiness is...
Watching my four-year-old chase my just-turned-one-year old so he can snuggle her, then seeing her turn round and throw her arms round his neck delightedly.
Snow sparkling in the lamplight outside our bathroom window.
Time to do lots of reading (most recently John Ortberg "Everyone's normal till you get to know them")
Nutmeg having her check-up and MMR jab without crying or complaining at all, then waving her cookie happily at the doctor afterwards, as if he hadn't just stuck a needle in her arm.
Froglet finding words for me to help him read wherever we go.
Lying on the floor with a happily-squeaking Nutmeg crawling all over me.
Froglet stroking my arm and saying "I love you Mummy".
Nutmeg wandering about saying "yeah, yeah" and "oo-ah-oo". If she says it fast enough, it sounds like wow.
Getting a little box to store paperclips in, complete with paperclips, as a free gift from the pharmacy. I'm always short of paperclips.
Watching Nutmeg dance to the strains of Cuban music.
Nutmeg following Froglet wherever he goes.
An elder brother's love for his baby sister: "She is my little sister, Mummy. Don't smack her."
(For the record, I had no intention of smacking her. I must have looked like I was gearing up to it though!)
Going to our first German-language parent-teachers' meeting to find out what school will be like for Froglet when he starts in mid-August. Evidently it will be wonderful. The Swiss are remarkably Waldorf in their attitude to education. (In fact the school down in our cantonal capital is named after Pestalozzi, who once worked in the canton).
Snow sparkling in the lamplight outside our bathroom window.
Time to do lots of reading (most recently John Ortberg "Everyone's normal till you get to know them")
Nutmeg having her check-up and MMR jab without crying or complaining at all, then waving her cookie happily at the doctor afterwards, as if he hadn't just stuck a needle in her arm.
Froglet finding words for me to help him read wherever we go.
Lying on the floor with a happily-squeaking Nutmeg crawling all over me.
Froglet stroking my arm and saying "I love you Mummy".
Nutmeg wandering about saying "yeah, yeah" and "oo-ah-oo". If she says it fast enough, it sounds like wow.
Getting a little box to store paperclips in, complete with paperclips, as a free gift from the pharmacy. I'm always short of paperclips.
Watching Nutmeg dance to the strains of Cuban music.
Nutmeg following Froglet wherever he goes.
An elder brother's love for his baby sister: "She is my little sister, Mummy. Don't smack her."
(For the record, I had no intention of smacking her. I must have looked like I was gearing up to it though!)
Going to our first German-language parent-teachers' meeting to find out what school will be like for Froglet when he starts in mid-August. Evidently it will be wonderful. The Swiss are remarkably Waldorf in their attitude to education. (In fact the school down in our cantonal capital is named after Pestalozzi, who once worked in the canton).
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Conversation with Nutmeg
She's too young to have a real conversation but nonetheless...
Scene: Nutmeg is carrying her nappy (diaper) to the bin in the kitchen. The Engineer is holding the bin-cupboard door open for her.
The Engineer: "Come on, in the bin!"
Nutmeg drops the nappy, and sits down next to it.
TE picks it up and holds it near the bin. "Come on sweetie, come and get it."
Nutmeg gets up, retrieves nappy from TE, drops it next to bin, sits down by it. Looks at her father and shakes her head very firmly.
Nutmeg thinks: "My intention is to play with this nappy, and hopefully chew it a bit. I'm not putting it in there. I know you won't let me have it back afterwards!"
Scene: Nutmeg is carrying her nappy (diaper) to the bin in the kitchen. The Engineer is holding the bin-cupboard door open for her.
The Engineer: "Come on, in the bin!"
Nutmeg drops the nappy, and sits down next to it.
TE picks it up and holds it near the bin. "Come on sweetie, come and get it."
Nutmeg gets up, retrieves nappy from TE, drops it next to bin, sits down by it. Looks at her father and shakes her head very firmly.
Nutmeg thinks: "My intention is to play with this nappy, and hopefully chew it a bit. I'm not putting it in there. I know you won't let me have it back afterwards!"
Saturday, 16 January 2010
More conversations with Froglet
Froglet is four years and 3 months.
Yesterday I taught him how to peel carrots. As I stood behind him explaining how to hold the peeler so that it works properly, he said "You sound like Granwen" (my mother). This to me is a compliment, and I think he intended it as one too. Then he volunteered to teach Uncle Luke, my brother-in-law, how to peel carrots too*.
Today The Engineer received an in-depth explanation of tectonic plates:
(Froglet holding up two hands parallel with the floor.)
This hand is Switzerland and this hand is Haiti. Then they go like this!
(bangs hands together vigorously)
And it makes Haiti wobble.
(wobbling Haiti-hand to demonstrate)
*This is admittedly funnier if you know Luke and are aware that he and the kitchen are not always on first-name terms.
Yesterday I taught him how to peel carrots. As I stood behind him explaining how to hold the peeler so that it works properly, he said "You sound like Granwen" (my mother). This to me is a compliment, and I think he intended it as one too. Then he volunteered to teach Uncle Luke, my brother-in-law, how to peel carrots too*.
Today The Engineer received an in-depth explanation of tectonic plates:
(Froglet holding up two hands parallel with the floor.)
This hand is Switzerland and this hand is Haiti. Then they go like this!
(bangs hands together vigorously)
And it makes Haiti wobble.
(wobbling Haiti-hand to demonstrate)
*This is admittedly funnier if you know Luke and are aware that he and the kitchen are not always on first-name terms.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Conversation with Froglet
We had this conversation at bedtime after reading Guess How Much I Love You.
Froglet: I love you as far as the moon and the sun.
Mummy: I love you as far as the moon and the sun and back again.
Froglet: How much else do you love me?
M: I love you enough to make your breakfast, and make sure you have clean clothes, and wash your hair even when you don't want it washing. How much do you love me?
F: I already said I love you as far as the moon and sun!
M: Well I said that too, but you still wanted to know more.
F (thinks carefully before answering): I love you as far as God.
One happy Mummy. :-)
Froglet: I love you as far as the moon and the sun.
Mummy: I love you as far as the moon and the sun and back again.
Froglet: How much else do you love me?
M: I love you enough to make your breakfast, and make sure you have clean clothes, and wash your hair even when you don't want it washing. How much do you love me?
F: I already said I love you as far as the moon and sun!
M: Well I said that too, but you still wanted to know more.
F (thinks carefully before answering): I love you as far as God.
One happy Mummy. :-)
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Blogs I like
This year we are trying to simplify, scale back and other similar-sounding things.
One of the ways we're doing this is by not buying anything other than what we need (raising the interesting question of what exactly does constitute a need and what a mere desire).
Another way, for me personally, is by scaling back my blog-reading. I have found that with a newly-toddling eats-everything baby and a very wriggly 4 year old I'm not getting any chance to do crafts, so I have removed from my blog-roll a bunch of the craftier blogs along with those whose headlines I tend to peruse without actually reading the post itself. This should save time when I am taking a few minutes to glance through my reading list. However, I don't want to forget where those blogs are in case one day I do have time for crafts, or need an idea. After all, Froglet starts school in August and by then Nutmeg may be interested in messy things to do with Mummy! So here they are:
http://4crazykings.blogspot.com/ 4 crazy kings
One of the ways we're doing this is by not buying anything other than what we need (raising the interesting question of what exactly does constitute a need and what a mere desire).
Another way, for me personally, is by scaling back my blog-reading. I have found that with a newly-toddling eats-everything baby and a very wriggly 4 year old I'm not getting any chance to do crafts, so I have removed from my blog-roll a bunch of the craftier blogs along with those whose headlines I tend to peruse without actually reading the post itself. This should save time when I am taking a few minutes to glance through my reading list. However, I don't want to forget where those blogs are in case one day I do have time for crafts, or need an idea. After all, Froglet starts school in August and by then Nutmeg may be interested in messy things to do with Mummy! So here they are:
http://4crazykings.blogspot.com/ 4 crazy kings
http://www.acrossthepage.net/ Across the page
http://adventuresofaflake.blogspot.com/ Adventures of a Flake
http://babymakingmachine.blogspot.com/ Baby Makin(g) Machine
http://infantbibliophile.blogspot.com/ Chronicle of an infant bibliophile
http://growingandlearningbyleapsandbounds.wordpress.com/ Growing and Learning by Leaps and bounds
http://lettersnumbersandbooksohmy.blogspot.com/ Mommy's little artist
http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/ Muffin Tin Mom
http://raisingsmartgirls.wordpress.com/ Raising Smart Girls
http://filthwizardry.blogspot.com/ Filth wizardry
I now only have 17 (!) blogs on my bloglist. Several of these only post once a week or less, others are still worth my time because they provide specific wisdom, encouragement or help with what I'm dealing with right now. To all the ones I've had to set aside (for now!) as well as to all those I'm still reading - THANK YOU!
And a very Happy New Year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
