Willa speaks French!

Last night, I was reading Willa one of the French books we bought in Montreal. We read it pretty regularly. Last night, she repeated one of the words to me (toujours, which means always) after I read it. I was so impressed! We were just talking to her old nanny, who used to speak French to Willa everyday, and she asked if Willa said any French words. She will be so excited!

Not to brag or anything, but Willa also knows Spanish. Not really, but she no longer refers to her water as water. It's "agua". She started that in late January and hasn't stopped. Not sure where she picked it up, either. Could we have a budding linguist here?

Markus and I were talking last night about the fact that there are so many international people with their kids at the park. There are several Italians and French, a Spanish couple, and yesterday we met a Dutch woman whose husband is German. Willa should have no trouble learning any languages; what an interesting mix of friends she will have as she gets older. We're thrilled about that, as Markus and I have always been interested in languages, travel, and other cultures.

Willa is blossoming. More new words all the time (tonight it was applesauce, achoo, and asparagus - we weren't practicing "A's", it was a coincidence), and she talks all the time. She's talking in sentences (incomprehensible to us) - she just jabbers while she plays. We can understand her words, but when she starts reading her books aloud or talking while she plays, we have no idea. She giggles like crazy, still loves her new school, has pooped on the potty and peed a few times, got over a nasty diaper rash that started because of a bout of diarrhea, weighs 27 pounds (we're in 24 months clothing now!), likes to dance and sing, climbs the stairs in upright form now rather than crawling, is independent, feeds herself, ummmm....there's more...likes to pick out her own clothing and the shoes she will wear (already?!), has started asking why, has NOT climbed out of her crib yet, ate raw asparagus tonight (3 pieces, so it wasn't just for show, she really likes the stuff), eats like a champ much of the time, loves ice water as opposed to warm or not-ice-water (I think because she likes to shake it), gives hugs and kisses, and is still our favorite little girl in the whole world. Our favorite little girl who will be two years old in just 8 weeks. It's going so fast...which is why we take pictures. Check below - I made a few posts and included lots of pictures to catch you up on the last month.

Willa tries to eat her Tadoodle

So my dad and my sister bought Willa this Tadoodle set for Christmas. These particular Tadoodles have a sponge-like top and they work kind of like stamps - you put the Tadoodle on this certain part of the holder and it activates the ink, then you can color with it.

The Tadoodles are sitting in the office within Willa's reach. She was playing with the Tadoodles. I was doing something, Markus was doing something (he was in the office I think), and at some point, I took Willa in the kitchen for lunch. I looked at her and noticed that her mouth was yellow. She loves to suck on these Tadoodles! She even got yellow ink on the back of her onesie...it made me laugh. Then I grabbed the camera.

200920090308 - Pretty in blue

Mommy goes away

My job doesn't normally require travel, which is a main reason that I took the job. I had to go to London last summer, which was a great place to have to go for work. I don't mind occasional business trips to interesting locations. In early February, I was asked to take on another project, which would require at least one trip to Germany. I said yes, so I was sent to Munich for five days the last week of February.

Markus, of course, is a pro at taking care of Willa alone (though he did confess that he was a bit nervous about this trip because now she's so mobile and full of energy). Everyone was fine here in the US. I was fine in Germany, though tired from long days of work. I'd go to the Munich office and work, then come back and do work with my US colleagues after dinner since it was the middle of their work day. There was only one English TV channel, so it wasn't like I had anything better to do.

My mom was able to join me on the trip, so it was nice to have a travel buddy. We tried a traditional Bavarian restaurant the one night. The sauerkraut was delicious, the sausage was okay. The taste was good, but I prefer a crispier crust rather than a soft (slimy?) boiled sausage...anyway, what was absolutely delicious were the pretzels. Oh, the pretzels...pretzels are one of my favorite foods, and these were not quite life soft pretzels but similar. And you could get them with butter. No wonder my pants were tight when I got home.

I digress. So my mom and I were able to sightsee together on Saturday, so we did some walking and shopping; she had done some sightseeing alone earlier in the week while I worked. We were so lucky - the weather on Saturday warmed up to 50 degrees and sunshine. It was warmer there than it was at home. We flew home on March 1, which is when the pictures below were taken.

Willa hung out with Daddy and Uncle Luke (who crocheted the black beanie that Willa models in some of the photos), and we also have a picture of a school project. Willa's theme that week was community helpers, so they colored a paper about letter carriers, then the school mailed the paper home to demonstrate what the letter carrier does. I know, she doesn't understand all that, but it was cute to open up the envelope. We have lots more art projects now, they do one about every day. We haven't taken photos yet, but there was a doctor's kit (made by Doctor Weidner), a picture with cut-outs of mice, and last week they made aliens (the theme was space). We'll do an art porfolio soon for Willa. For now, here are pictures from March 1.

200920090301 - Willa's mail and laying on the floor

Willa and a friend in the high chair

I don't remember what was going on at the time, but Willa looks exhausted here. She and baby were taking a break in the high chair on 2/17.

From 20090217 - Willa and baby in high chair

Valentine's Day at Seger Park

It's been about a month, so I realized we're due to post some pictures. We spent Valentine's Day doing our usual Saturday morning routine - wake up and get dressed, walk to Reading Terminal Market to be there right at 8 (hey, puts the early wake ups to good use), buy our produce and meat, and then get coffee and scones for breakfast. It's been fun, because there are some regulars there we've begun to recognize and we usually make small talk with our neighbors at the next table thanks to Willa.

After we returned home and unpacked our loot, we took Willa over to the park. She loves the park, which I probably say in every post. I'll say it again - she loves the park. Markus and I were just saying last night that we're so glad we live right across the street - makes it so easy to go. If we lived just a few blocks away, I don't think we'd go as often. And it's so worth it! Willa burns energy, makes friends, we make friends and see people we know, the house isn't torn apart because we're outside, and Willa sleeps better (3 hour naps, people! From a girl whose naps are usually 1 h 45 min, 3 hours is such a treat).

Valentine's Day was really the first time this year that it was warm enough to play, and Willa became very interested in the area for older kids because there's so much more climbing. Wanna see her having fun? Click on the picture below:

20090214 - Valentine's Day in the park