Raising Bilingual Kids

Ethan is getting so big and stronger. He is now more daring and adventurous than his big hermano. Today (9/27) for example, we went to the park and he was climbing the ladders with more control and ease.  this video  shows how strong and confident he is. Also, I'm loving how he's expressing himself:  "Mami O o o" - Mami help "Que'so" - what's that/this Evan continues to surprise me. He's talking more and more everyday. If I don't pay attention to him when he speaks, he'll make sure to let me know. Today[9/29] we went to Melissa's office - that was so much fun for the kids.We also hung out on campus; the kids rode their bike and were soooo happy.  Today [9/30] we forgot Baba, Evan's stuffed animal at the school, he cried for it but daddy talked to him and calmed him down.  Her are some phrases he said during this time: "Tan 'tor" Evan is a doctor  "Tan quiere" ...

LIFE IS GREAT!!! it has been 2 days of living quarantine free!!! We've been socializing and spending time outside. Today is Friday and I had a wonderful day working of course, and attending my running group dinner event. This morning Evan woke up saying "no ' cuela " he didn't want to go school, but then I mentioned he's a big boy now and that he has to go to school and learn. Then he shows me a mosquitoe bite on his hand, and says " mosca bite manor mamá" - " a mosquito bit my hand" then he grabs a rag to make sure when he arrives to his classroom to look for that damn mosquito and " bang bang" Kill it!!!  On Thursday, we went to a homecoming event and the kids loved it. They picked so much candy!!! Oh Thursday was also Evan's first day of Pre-K. He was actually looking forward to playing with kids his own age. I'm so excited for him. One of Evan's teachers, Sam, knows some Spanish and he'll be working with bo...

New Words and Phrases The boys have grown so much. Ethan has surprised me by speaking so much more. He likes saying: "¿ques' eso? "What's that? And "ta sucio" it's dirty. Evan has surprised me by saying words/phrases in Spanish I never knew he knew:  1. Ropa - clothes 2. 'fuera (he used to say 'ya ya') - outside 3. Vaya 'fuera alla - go outside over there (he says this whenever I go in his room to take his 'coco' tablet away.  4. 'ta clean. Vamos 'fuera - it is clean, let's go outside. He likes to clean up so that everything is clean in the house, which means its time to go outside and play. Quarantining is not good for them! they love being outside.  I'M SO EXCITED, TODAY WE ALL TESTED NEGATIVE FOR COVID-19, SO THE KIDS SHOULD BE CLEARED TO GO BACK TO DAYCARE TOMORROW (THURSDAY). Link to video: playing together Link to video: drawing and writing skill...

I would call the totality of this day "Fish is..." 1. FAMILY 2. LOVE 3. JOY 4. CAREFREE 5. COVID 19 FREE 6. FREEDOM  7. COMPLETENESS  8. PURENESS  9. PERFECTION  10. BLISSFULNESS  Link to videos and pictures P.s.Linguistic note: "Vaya papi aqui Tan" - come over here daddy with Evan.  ***Also, Evan surprised me today, he said "Playa" I had no idea he knew that word =] 

Our surroundings are so full of wonder, and sometimes it takes being a kid to truly enjoy and appreciate what nature has to offer. Today, we explore and went on a stick and leaves hunting adventure. Both Evan and Ethan love the outdoors and having to quarantine for so long, has made them miss all the stuff we get to do after school.  The first half of the day, we took a car ride to get some " bombones" - "blow pops" little did they know, we were going to get tested for Covid 19 again. Luckily the nurse had some lollipops, and that made their morning. They wanted to go to the park, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to stop for a little bit, so we did. We saw Maevee, Ethans classmate - Ethan was happy to see her.  Evan didnt nap today, so after Ethan woke up at 3pm, I let him out of the room and we spend the whole time outside.  -we played with the water table -walked a mile to look for ome sticks and leaves  -on our walk, the kids found sand spots and the...

Another great day! We made "ata  gatos " - a house for cats. Cats = Evan and Ethan This was Evan's idea, so I second that motion. Before lunchtime, the kids had a video conference with their "amigos" from the CDL. They loved all the filters and enjoyed seeing each other. Evan said "Vaya Elli ata" let's go to Elis's house. I think McKenna wanted to go to my house and Eli and Quinn to McKenna's house. So, basically, everyone wanted to hang out again. What a fun first half of the day! Oh, and I even got to run 1 mile before the kids woke up in the morning.  It took Evan 2 hours to finally go down for his nap. First, he played and played and bore himself to sleep. Ethan, on the other hand, fell asleep after 30 minutes.  They both woke up around 4:30pm. I even took a quick one-hour nap- feels great!  After the nap, we went outside to take advantage of the little summer-like days we have leftover. They played with water balloons "bombas a...

I cannot stress enough how proud I am of my boys. Ethan, went potty by himself while I was working and he even cleaned up some today. Evan continued doing wonderfully in his writing technique and he even started holding his little marker a little bit better.  P.S A spanglish word that Evan says over and over agai is "Agate" which is the combination of "agarrar" and "get" He uses this hybrid word to say the following: 1. Get it  2. Bring it 3. Catch  4. Bought and buy Link to videos

Half way through our quarantine! I have actually enjoyed staying home with the boys. I've taken the opportunity to read and homeschooled them more consistently. Ethan seems to be very interested in books, so I've been reading some texture dinosaur ones.  Evan doesn't seem really interestedby books, but one that he really likes is "Huevos verdes con jamón," Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. I have also decided to help him develop some writing skills. So, today we worked on numbers 1 through 3. He really surprised me!!! Not only is he able to follow the dotted lines to write his numbers, he actually draws the figures presented in the workbook. For instance, he drew two dinosaurs right next to the dinosaur pictures - I'm one proud mama! Ethan was so impressed and excited to see his brother draw some dinosaurs, you can hear him growling in the background.  I'm so blessed for these days home with the kids. I'm even more humbled that their Covid19 symptoms a...

Today is Monday and I had to manage 4 classes online. It was difficult to carry out my work duties and still look after my kiddos. I've created an obstacle course for them in the living room and they did great for the most part - no broken items or limbs =].  Something I've been working on is word recognition with the boys. They don't seem to pay too much attention to learning their numbers or knowing the sounds of the letters, so I've been more proactive in this respect. I'm using the Dr. SEUSS "Huevos verdes con jamón" so far, he's able to recognize the word for HUEVOS. I call this success. Luckily, I was able to record this  today One sad thing that did happened was finding out that they both tested positive for Covid19. Besides having a low grade fever on Friday, the boys are doing well. They're playing and running crazy around the house, so this is a good thing. They won't go back till the 20th to daycare. 

link to video   Days 2 &3 were really nice with the kids. I got to rest a lot and enjoyed the kids coming up with games to entertain themselves.  On Saturday, papi bear cooked and he got evan to help in the kitchen. I didnt get the opportunity to record Evan cracking eggs and preparing breakfast-he was so amazing at it. Ethan, likes helping too, but his thing is washing dirty dishes.  On Sunday, I got to record Evan making his own eggs. We made ice pops and chicken crust pizza, which papi didnt seem to like so much! 

Today was Day 1 of my quarantine period. I was diagnosed yesterday with Covid 19. So, as I was setting my working area and play area for the kids, I was prepping Evan for what to expect for the first half of the morning. I asked him to say "Mami trabaja aquí" he then repeated, "mami 'baja 'qui" then he makes sure to add to what To expect "no 'cuela" no school. Overall, both kiddos behaved for me. The only major thing was Them peeling all the bananas and getting inTo the snack drawer. Fun and learning times.  video link

Reflecting on life and all it has to give Evan wonders about "mutos carros," and "más carros," which means a lot of cars and more cars. He also notices that it is night time "está note" but he doesn't want to go to sleep.  Here's the link to the video moment  click here

Ethan is such a character. He loves playing with his brother. He loves to pretend he is a dinosaur. Some of his favorite words/phrases are: 1. NO!!! 2. Caca ugh! TITI CACA - basically Evan is pooped.  3. Coco: for books and tablet shows 4. Tarro- Carro-Car 5. Cleta- bicicleta- bycicle  6. Ya ya- it's all done.  7. 'Bujas- burbujas-bubbles 8. 'Dios - Adios- Bye

the kids learned how to fish. We were so impressed by this. Cant believe Evan is only 3 and a half and Ethan 2 and already fishing. I'm one proud Mama. 

Today was a wonderful unexpected and unplanned day out with the kids. We met with our amazing CDL family -friends (Melissa, Aaron, Eli and Quinn) at the Stephenson trail.  The kids love playing at the little creek there. So, while exploring the creek, Evan was walking and counting: "Uno, tes (tres), otro tes." Melissa was there to witness this, which I thought was very cute, but I need to teach him the numbers in order. My goal is to practice with him and Ethan every day.  Another thing that was new for Evan this week is being able to recognize his Name, though when he sees it he reads "Tan." 

  Loves to say the following words or phrases: Abajo - under Tan  - his nickname  Titi - Brother's nickname  Coco  - shows and books Auda  - ayuda - help Heado- helado- ice cream Pintar  Pez  pescar  no gusta gusta boing boing = to jump no gusta 'cuela = I don't like school vamos a tienda = let's go to the store  titi go alla = Titi goes over there  vamos mami vamos papi Vaya papi aqui con TAn = como daddy here with Evan.  Loves the Following toys/games/activities: Carros - cars Avión  - planes  Helipcotero - helicopter  Loves the Following: Trampolín - trampoline  Parque - park  La naturaleza  - nature La pezca - Fishing 

  Evan asked today: "¿Qués eso mamá?" - "What's that?" While pointing at a grumpy mad duck picture. I said "el pato está enojado" "the duck is mad" than he says "Pato nojao como mamá" - "the duck is grumpy like mom."  To provide more context, I've been telling Evan that certain things he does makes me mad in Hope's he stops. Like the last time i said this was when he delivery pushed Ethan. I said "No, eso me me enoja!" That makes me mad.  Lesson: need to be careful how I say things to the boys. This moment made me reflect on how impressionable kids are. Quarantining has definitely made me lose patient, but I need to respond to him in a more delicate manner.