Oct. 27th: Joseph says “ice” for “lights.” He says “spices” and I can’t transcribe it, as with most of his words. He gave me a kiss unasked for for the first time. He found Daddy’s stash of paper for recycling (piled under his desk) and he put it in the recycle spot one piece at a time without any prompting! We’d been giving him paper to put away for a while now, but this was the first time he did it on his own. He can put books back in their shelves.
29th: I spent a lovely day in Holderbank where we have missionary friends. Stephan looked after Joseph, was it was lovely to just relax, enjoy good company and good food. What a luxury!
31st: We live in a Catholic canton so Stephan got the day off and we were able to visit the Swiss grandparents. Stephan and I got to spend some romantic time at the Basel Herbstmesse (oldest, biggest, longest, etc. etc. fair in Europe or something like that) while Joseph enjoyed visiting the zoo for the first time! Again, talk about pampering . . .
Nov. 3rd: I’ve been experimenting with making our own peanut butter since it is rather pricy here. From a bag of peanuts in the shell I made a batch for half the price the store sells at and we all liked it. If only I could find unsalted shelled peanuts it would save a lot of the work.
4th: Joseph signs “play piano.” His signs are getting quite accurate. It’s fun to watch! More words: mouse, fish, squawk, and tea. The last two are from a British book from V that is one of his favorites. In the end they have a scrumptious tea and Joseph always supplies the last word. (Now he has many such words he supplies in various books, I doubt I’ll write them all down.) This morning he woke me up by giving me a kiss and then giving my belly a kiss! How can you be upset at that?
7th: Joseph officially doesn’t crawl anymore. Of course he can, but walking is his preferred mode of transportation. That means he’s slower at stairs, but is much more like a little boy than a baby. Where did the time go? It’s the shortest years and the longest days . . .
He signs “bread” and “banana.” Swimming time is going very well. I’ve been saying “one, two, three, jump” and letting him jump from the side of the pool into my arms. Today he supplied his own “one, two, three” (with only the three sounding anything like the number) because he couldn’t wait for me to count to jump in. I’m still working on teaching him that he shouldn’t get in the water without me there. Pool time takes a lot of vigilance! He can also consistently swim when I launch him from my arms to the stairs and pull himself out. He is good at catching himself when he falls so he doesn’t hurt himself – even if it is slippery inclined tile. This session he accidentally fell head-under twice and came up without a cough for any sign of surprise.
“Hot pot” and “pepper” sound similar, and both sound like “Bappe” (Daddy in Swiss German) but he still says “Mama” for Stephan and me. “All gone” sounds like “kaka” which is also his word for “cracker.”
9th: Joseph says trash (“ksh”) while holding a plastic bottle. He wants to throw it away but I point him to the recycling. Since then he grabs trash whenever possible (and mostly he’s right!) and throws it away in the kitchen trash, opening and closing the door appropriately. What a help!
10th: Joseph says “poo” when he needs to go #2. That’s a great help, as he can usually wait until we can get him to the potty before he soils his diaper/underwear/whatever he’s standing over. Said “bath” (ba). He got out the AquaDoodle and then came to me saying he word for house/mouse/mouth (“auf”). He was clearly asking me for something. I then guessed he was saying “mouth” and by that he meant he wanted the AquaDoodle pen which we don’t let him put in his mouth. I was right. What a smart dood!
He can blow into a tissue. (Yes, we’ve been sick.)
12th: We visited D+A S. It was a great pleasure, but oh, how a new place is so tempting for a toddler to explore!
13th: Joseph walked down three steps without holding on to anything.
14th: Joseph is now a help with laundry, and not just in spirit. He can empty and load things according to instructions. He doesn’t always follow, but he does enough to be counted a help since I can hang up laundry while he fills the washer with the next load. What fun!
At dinner he asked for some cheese (signing) then he held his piece of cheese out to me and said “chs” (cheese) and then turned to Stephan and said “ka” (for Käs – cheese in Swiss German if I knew how to spell it). He’s used German and English words before, but this was the first time he showed us that English is Mommy’s language and German is Daddy’s. Raising a bilingual baby is amazing! He understands as much of what Stephan tells him as he does of what I tell him – even rather complicated sentences. I don’t know why it amazes me.
He knows his body parts in German and when we read the book that talks about them he points to each part, including his bottom. So cute!
15th: Tante A gave us some money to spend at the fair on Joseph. We bought a wooden Alphabet puzzle. Joseph loves it. He knows a number of letters from his signing book, but needs prompting from us to say the letter before he can say it. However, the other day he picked out the “I” and said “eye” and he’s done it a number of times since.
He says “muesli.”
He says “ppph” and does a very good “potty” sign if he notices he’s peeing. Unfortunately, he doesn’t use the sign much when he needs to go. I have to read other clues (taking off the diaper, hopping off my lap, suddenly getting still, grunting).
Notes from Stephan:
Says “ma” while holding a fist to his mouth for “mommy milk.” Says “please” (psh). Climbs up on chairs and then tables and beyond . . .
When it’s time for the Bible readings and prayer he becomes very excited, holds his hands in the air and says “maaaay!!!!” for “Praise the Lord.”
He blows kisses.
He loves to pick up the pot after going and walk it to the bathroom himself. This is a dangerous affair, but he often makes it there without spilling and then dumps it in the toilet as well.
