Shoes and Socks

I got a cool video, well cool to lame Dads, of Bianca saying 'shoes' and 'socks' and pointing to my, Ewa's and her own shoes in turn; then she did the same when Ewa asked her in Polish. She knew the words, but we had not heard her say them. Daylight Savings Time is playing a bit of havoc with her; she did not want to go down tonight at 8:30pm, but she's got to learn.

Classic moment last night..... Ewa put the bandaid on Bianca's index finger so she wouldn't suck on it to go to sleep (we decided to cut her off at 18 months as her poor finger wasn't growing as much as the others). This process has been working fine at night - she even requests the bandaids now with a Toe Toe Toe (This, in Polish)as she points to it with her finger - but she went down way to easily last night and when we went to check on her before we went to bed - as we do every night - we saw the bandaid had come off and her finger was in her mouth. Ewa, stealthily by the light of her mobile phone, reapplied another bandaid and we went to bed. This morning she reported that she had indeed put the bandaid on the middle finger. Its funny to us.

Doggie

Lots of doggie posts, but Bianca loves doggies, so we're rolling with it. She and I went to the park this morning and I said doggie about 100 times. She kept woofing when I would say it, but she eventually figured out that I was seeing if SHE could say doggie. She watched my mouth very carefully - mind, she's on the swing this whole time and I'm crouching next to it pushing her while facing her - and eventually said 'dog-dee'. Yeah, that's close enough for me. We got to pet a boxer, a yellow lab pup and a black lab mix today. She loved every bit of it. Ewa capitalized on the alliteration and got her to say 'dolly'. Not confusing the two, she would retrieve either "pepper" her black lab rescue dog or one of her dollies - Matilda, Jackie, Carly and Martita.... and "Bobo" her main dolly - depending on what Ewa said.

Smoking Spaniards

I read something very shocking today in a magazine unimaginatively titled Nino. It said that 56% of Spanish women who smoke don't quit smoking when they are pregnant and of the 44% that do quit, 80% of them (37%) return to smoking after their pregnancy. So, by my math, of the Spanish women who smoke before they are pregnant, 93% are smoking when they have small babies. What a beautiful, progressive country. You'd think a place with social medicine and tight knit family structure would give more of a shit about the next generation being smoked upon, but they don't, which is why no spanish woman in a smoky cafe with her baby, or smoking while pregnant, gets even a sideways glance from her countrymen.

When Ewa takes Bianca to the Pan y Moja they always try to sit near the big open entranceway to keep smoke inhalation to a minimum and if those first two tables are taken they don't go in. The other day Ewa was sitting at the second table and Bianca was asleep - and bundled up - in the stroller. The waitress, when Ewa went to pay, asked why Ewa left the baby in the doorway; as if the clouds of smoke emanating from the back 2/3 of the cafe weren't a clue.

Here are my girls watching the Easter processions on Easter Sunday. Such a cute pair in the rain.

Walking Bianca

There are striking similarities to walking around town with Bianca and taking a walk with a dog; no disrespect intended. Bianca wakes up invariably with the immediate thought of going DaDa, outside. She says it 20 times, breathes, then says it another 20. She goes to the front door and picks up our shoes and brings them to us, as if we needed the additional hint. On the walk she has her favorite points of interest on the two pedestrianized streets in downtown Ferrol. She makes "um, um" noises when she passes the San Brandan bakery, hoping for one of their raisin rolls. She stops to look at the dog in the Chinese shop, sits on the step at the fancy shoe store, points out the Pan y Moja where Ewa goes for coffee, goes up and down some of her favorite store steps and barks and looks through the window of the hair stylist's shop that has a pet boxer.

She has also learned how to effectively steer her little trike, using it to 'chase' whoever is not pushing her. Before when we used to just push her and let her steer we would hit walls or trees or benches, but now she can weave among them; though I think she intentionally gets close to old people just to scare them. We're so proud.

Doggies

Bianca can now recognize dogs in all shapes and forms: on tv, in pictures, in books, in real life, in stuffed animals and in this stupid porcelain statue she sees in the Chinese store every day. She never confuses cats with dogs or vice versa, but Ewa said she did bark at a pigeon the other day......so she's got stuff to work on.
With her buddy Leon

At the Chinese shop

Catch up Post

I have no excuse. Every time I try to write a post, umm, real life or work intervenes.

Classic Bianca two days ago. She's learned to blow on things that are hot before she puts them in her mouth. Its really cute, and useful. She loves to help load or empty the dishwasher; she excels in pushing the 'on' buttom and selecting the correct wash cycle. Well, two days ago she was helping Ewa clear the dishwasher, dutifully handing her each plate like always, when Ewa told her to be careful because the plates may still be hot. So, she, the good helper, blows on every single plate before she hands it to Ewa as Ewa is trying to keep a straight face.

Bianca's vocabulary is up to ball, boy, open, mama, tata, dada (outside, in Polish baby talk), zobacz (look, in Polish), bye-bye (with wave) and bag. She says 'yes' in Polish, tak, and 'no' in English.