Time flies

I’d like to add while you’re having fun but unfortunately, it’s just work. Which I guess isn’t so bad in the big picture.

Max is 6 months old and amazing. I feel lucky to have been able to spend almost 6 months with my baby. It made me realize how much I missed with Suzanne having gone back when she was 3 months old.

Max obviously can’t speak. Yet. But I can see progress. I mentioned a while back that his sounds were more gutteral than Suzanne’s were and I still wonder if the result of his hearing so much more English in utero. But I’m also wonedering now if it’s because he’s a boy and boys grunt.

I also realize that I speak much less to him than I did to Suzanne. I remember having a running dialogue with her at all times which I attribute to her good language skills (but I also remember feeling like I didn’t speak enough to her so not sure which memory is the right one). But Max definitely gets less time hearing me than Suzanne did because he goes to sleep an hour earlier than Suzanne did. On the other hand, he gets stimulation from Suzanne so I hope it balances out in the end.

I’m trying not to pressure Suzanne but a lot rides on her shoulders in some ways. If she chooses to speak to her brother in English, that’s a bonus for his English. If she speaks to him in French, then, well, his English will be minimal. But so far, she speaks to him in French when her father’s around and in English when I’m around. This is more or less the model I hope to keep – English with Mommy and French with Papa. I’m fairly confident that if we stick with that, I’ll have two sucessfully bilingual kids (this is assuming Suzanne doesn’t decide not to speak English one day which I’ve read is natural).

So far, besides grunting, Max is learning to express himself well. He coos and cries like all babies, but he also seems to be a big communicator. He “calls” us. And yesterday he starting saying “mmmmm” which I was surprised to hear so young. I’m under no illusions and don’t think he was actually trying to saying “Mommy”. I think it’s because he’s heard a lot of “m” recently between Max, Mommy, Mom and Grandma (my mother has been visiting so lots of “m” in the house).

As for Suzanne, she is as talkative as ever. She is mixing languages again but I’m no longer concerned because she understands English and the grammatical pattern. My personal favorite is, “Lola perded her souris”. I asked her if she realized when she mixed languages and she said she didn’t. Another interesting franglaism of the moment is adding the word “me” for emphasis, “me, I want some water.” (as in the French, “moi, je veux de l’eau”). And she can recognize a few words.

What can I say? My kids are just plain awesome. Work on the other hand...