Junior: June 2006 Archives

And so it begins... Today, Magda asked, for the first time, "Why?" I don't think it's necessarily inquisitiveness, but more of an easy way for her to get a longer conversation going. Granted, a bit of a onesided conversation, but it's a conversation with the potential to go on forever.

Also, to my delight, she now occasionally refers to Jfer as "maminka", which is the Czech diminutive version of "mama" (think "mamasita" in Spanish). That's how I refer to Jfer when I talk with Magda in Czech, but she uses it even when I'm not around. Pretty neat.

Finally, I'm continuing building Magda's English vocabulary in other ways. She has the annoying habit to "need her momma" whenever Jfer goes to the bathroom. She can be perfectly happy playing with her toys or reading a book, but if Jfer gets off to the bathroom, Magda often gets up, follows her and hangs out at the bathroom door, demanding access. It annoys the heck out of Jfer and there's isn't much I can do about distracting or "redirecting" Magda (which is actually what annoys Jfer even more). So I took this opportunity to teach her to yell "push" when she feels that Jfer's taking too long. I figure it's better than her tears and -- at least from my side of the bathroom door -- it's more fun to watch her yelling "Push Momma, push!" (or "push, maminko") than banging at the door in frustration.

Like any toddler, Magda likes her Os, goldfish and crackers; she also loves her dried peas and corn. The problem with all these things is that they're tiny and can be a mess. When she's in the car or in her stroller, letting her hold the bowl usually leads to a spill. The Snack-Trap bowl helps preventing spills, but you still end up with lots of little bits in the car seat. And if you don't want to deal with a bowl, you'll end up constantly hending her the stuff a few pieces at a time; not the safest occupation while driving...

We discovered that the mess-less alternative to crackers is to let her have a breadstick. We like the United Bakery Sesame Breadsticks that Whole Foods carries, but pretty much anything that's not heavily salted works. She can hold the stick and munch on it without making a mess and without parental interaction.

And she's getting pretty good about keeping it away from the dogs: "No Rose -- Magda's stick!".

Jennifer is busily working on expanding Magda's vocabulary. Yesterday, when Jfer dropped her off by the office, I could hear Magda coming down the hall, greeting my coworkers ("Hi Tim!") and then hapily explaiming "I love you táta" when she saw me. That is totally cool. And then she quickly told Jfer to get on her way by saying "bye bye mama" and closing my office door in her face. :-)

I often wonder how much of what she says is just parroting of stuff we teach her. It's probably much less than what I sometimes think. When we got home, she was happy to see the doggies. At one point, she walked up to Rose and giving her hugs and kisses told her several times "I love you Rosie, I love you". Homer doesn't get that kind of treatment from her...

BTW, I occasionally manage to add a contribution to her vocabulary, too. Magda now calls watermelon (her newest favorite fruit) by its Czech name "meloun". Speaking of watermelon -- cut into half-inch cubes, it's the perfect food for a toddler to practice using her fork on. It's easy to spear, doesn't slide around, and stays nicely on the fork.