the girl | matching tracksuits

Bilingual Breakthrough

Tuesday 9 December 2008

We’re getting ready to go to the zoo — just L and I, a newly forming bi-Sunday tradition. L is excited: she’s chattering on and on in her own way: 10% Polish, 20% English, 70% L-ese. (One of the problems with raising a bilingual baby is that you never know whether she’s trying a new Polish word, a new English word, or just making up something in her own language.)

In the midst of the babbling, L suddenly says, “Mamma, afant.”

“Afant? I don’t know what that is,” K responds, as always, in Polish.

“Afant!” declares L.

“Honey, I don’t know…” K begins, then L switches languages.

“Slonik!” translates L.

“Oh! ‘Elephant!'”

Stories from L

Sunday 7 December 2008

Part of learning to talk is learning to tell stories, to string together a group of sentences in a coherent, meaningful way. Yet we’re learning that there are many different levels of coherence and meaningfulness.

Take, for example, this story L told me yesterday: “i whee i boom i cry!” (She’s saying Polish “i” — and, pronounced “ee” — and not the English first person singular personal pronoun.) Facial expressions and hand gestures accompanied this lovely story, which I would translate thus: “I was sliding down the slide! I was having a great time when I fell down. It hurt, and I cried.”

When K came home a few days ago, L told her the following story: “i Bida i no no i time out!” Translation: “I was playing and decided to pick up Bida[, our cat,] which is a no-no. Dad sent me to time out.”

Stories with three episodes. We are in the midst of what Stephen Pinker joking referred to as the “All-hell-breaks-loose” stage of language learning.

L Near Ice

Monday 1 December 2008

In the first of many such adventures, we took L to see the latest incarnation of Disney on Ice this weekend.

She sat calmly before the show began. She sat calmly during the show. The only time she showed much emotion — other than clapping — was when someone skated behind the curtain, disappear forever, she was sure.

Does she close her eyes when being thrown around like this?

It was a fairly good production, with a little something for everyone. They stayed with the later Disney films: Lion King, Little Mermaid, and Lilo and Stitch. During the second half they went a little deeper into the Disney catalog, with a fairly long Peter Pan scene.

Unfortunately, they didn’t do any of L’s favorites. Without a doubt, her absolute favorite — thanks to Nana and Papa’s extensive collection — is Dumbo, but no proboscidean adventures were included.

Awake

Sunday 30 November 2008

Writers often keep a pen and pad on their nightstand in case inspiration strikes in the haze of near sleep. Poet Luci Shaw, visiting my college years ago, explained that she can never remember it the next morning, and to prevent that thought from being lost, she keeps writing materials by her bed. Some even keep illuminated pens and tablets, thereby saving their sleep by not having to turn on the light.

Inspiration can even jolt some writers out of a deep sleep, I’ve heard.

Twice in last few weeks, I’ve been jolted out of a deep sleep, but not by anything so pleasant as inspiration. I sit upright in bed suddenly, and there’s not a sound in the house, but within moments, I hear L crying. I rush to her bedroom and find her out of her crib, on the floor, stunned to be there, still half asleep herself. What woke me, K, and even L was the thump of her falling to the floor.

“It’s time we buy the foot board to turn the crib into a day bed,” we both say the morning after.

That night, though, it’s all about calming a confused, half-asleep girl, there is only one question: how in the world did she fall out of bed?

The next morning, she shows us. Pointing to the top of the crib, she explains, “I boom!” (She pronounces “I” as the Polish i, which means “and” and is pronounced like our letter “e”. So in fact, she was not saying “I boom” but “and boom.”)

Afterward, she points to the floor, adding another “i boom” for good measure. She willingly shows us as well.

Haircut

Saturday 15 November 2008

It was not her first haircut, but what a difference it made. A bit off the back and she goes from looking like a baby

to looking like a little girl

“I try to hold on to these moments as they pass”, sings Adam Duritz, and it’s become my mantra. I have to cherish the rare moments that will become ever rarer. When K is vacuuming and L panics, running to me and screaming for me to pick her up, I hold her close; she clings so tightly to my neck that it’s almost difficult to breath.

“Were you scared?” I ask.

“Tak,” she says, relaxing her grip and simply putting her head on my shoulder.

I’ll always want to hold her when she’s scared; I’ll only be able to for a few more years.

In the Mountains

Sunday 9 November 2008

About a week too late, we headed to the mountains of North Carolina today. Last weekend the leaves were at their color peak; after a windy Saturday, there were few left on the trees. Still, we found a spot with good light and a lot of leaves and went at it.

L and I ran,

fell,

rolled around, and covered each other with leaves.

Except for the covering-with-leaves portion, it was continuous “more!” from L (and it came out as sweetly as always: “mo!”).

And while most of the leaves had fallen, there were still some magnificent views, particularly of one lay down.

Of course, what would an outing be without some quiet moments, sharing a snack.

Trick or Treat

Sunday 2 November 2008

We took the Girl trick-or-treating this weekend. We’d been preparing for a couple of weeks, for L was initially not thrilled with the idea of wearing a Pooh Bear suit, although Pooh is one of her favorite characters. Little by little, evening by evening, we convinced her, though (with a lot of modeling from K), and we slipped on the costume early Friday evening and began our short adventure.

First stop: our neighbor.

Despite our best efforts, though, getting L to say “Trick or treat!” proved to be more difficult than we’d anticipated. We suggested “Treat!” alone, and then tried “Candy!”, but none of them appealed to L’s sensibilities.

After unwrapping the lollipop L chose, we headed to Nana and Papa’s — they were waiting, thrilled to see L. As always.

Papa and K took the girl to the neighbors’ condos while I snapped a few pictures. L came back with a modest collection of suckers, mini-candy bars, and assorted fruity snacks.

It’s times like this that L’s growth is so evident.

Last year, L was a non-talking, bottle-drinking, virtually-toothless, not-yet-sleeping-through-the-night pumpkin. What changes await us during the next year? By then, she’ll be fully communicating and ever more independent — a blessing, which occasionally will make us long for the toothless, crying-at-two-in-the-morning version of L.

Pumpkin

Friday 31 October 2008

We took the girl to a pumpkin farm last week. She enjoyed hiding behind the pumpkins.

I enjoyed taking pictures, of her and the pumpkins.

Pumpkins II — Taken with the 10-20mm Sigma

The fields were largely empty. We’d waited too long.

We’d waited so long, in fact, that we often encountered the not-so-recently departed.

Still, we all found a pumpkin, even the Girl. “Zrob moj moj!” K suggests (Nana might have said, “Love the pumpkin!”), and L willingly complies.

Afterward, the Girl rode about a while,

and I took a few more pictures.

Pumpkins I — Taken with the 10-20mm Sigma

Helper

Sunday 26 October 2008

Eating on the Floor

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Pasta, yogurt, and fun.

In the Orchard

Monday 20 October 2008

I don’t understand why the apple had to take the fall. It’s not a terribly exotic fruit, and it doesn’t seem to inflame the passions like, say, a mango. But perhaps that’s the point: sin isn’t supposed to be exotic — it’s the everyday things that get you.

But the everyday can be miraculous, and I suppose that’s what Thoreau was getting at in Walden.

Maybe he had an apple orchard nearby. (I can’t recall. I haven’t read Walden since college. I set out to read it again, but my timing was off: I was coming back after two years in Poland and I got absorbed in the sit-coms shown during the flight and I ended up leaving my copy of Walden in the seat pocket in front of me. I’d like to think that brought some joy to the next passenger, but I know full well that the cleaning crew got it first. Hopefully someone read it.)

Apples in an orchard become out of the ordinary — exotic even. After all, a day spent in the orchard can end with a bag of Pink Ladies in your kitchen and a feeling of satisfied exhaustion.

We spent the day at Sky Top orchard in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Our goal was simple: arrive when the Pink Ladies are ready. K called earlier in the autumn and we planned a visit for mid-October.

Pink Ladies are tough to get: they appear late in the season and disappear quickly. K and I discovered these slightly tangy, crisp apples in Asheville, and we always bought as many as we could as quickly as we could.

Today, we had our pick — literally. We met a group of friends (I represented exactly 50% of the non-Polish delegation), had a picnic,

and then set off in search of Pink Ladies.

Kasia and Brian head out on the quest with us

We passed by Golden Delicious, Fuji, Rome, Stayman, and other varities. Good apples, each and every one, but not as multidimensional as a Pink Lady.

For those of you who’ve never had the treat of crunching into a Pink Lady, it’s an apple that starts of slightly sweet but has a tang that appears moments after the first bite and seems to grow as you eat the apple. It’s sweet without having the cloying flavor of a Golden Delicious and it’s tart without the alum-esque qualities of a Granny Smith.

The Pink Ladies were all the way at the back edge of the orchard. Past the newly planted grape vines and the empty McIntosh trees.

We were about the only ones out there. Does no one else know about Pink Ladies?

After walking, picking, and more walking (the second installment being more difficult carying a basketful of Ladies), we had break, led by L.

Then we had a pumpkin photo session, also led by L:

And now, finally having a bag full of coveted apples, we’re all so sick of apples they are still sitting, disrespectfully, by the door, right where we put them when we came home.

Words, Shortcuts, Longcuts, and Sentences

Sunday 19 October 2008

It’s 5:20 on a Saturday morning. K wakes me up: “Can you go get some milk for L and make sure she’s covered up?” If K goes, L starts fussing and crying when she leaves the room; it works out better for everyone if I go.

I stumble downstairs, warm some milk, and head to the Girl’s room. She’s asleep in the corner of the crib, blankets strewn about her but not a single one on her. I pry her sippy cup from her hand, causing her to wake up. With the refilled cup in her hand, L is about ready to go back to sleep, but she has one more request. She raises her head and says sleepily, “Banket.”

As I start to spread a blanket over her, she begins fussing. “Tata, no! Banket! Banket.” “Banket,” you see, is not just any blanket, but her favorite blanket, a soft yellow blanket she’s had since birth. It’s a bit too think for a chilly evening like this, so I spread the blanket over her, wait for her to drift to sleep, then cover her with a second blanket.

L’s vocabulary increases daily, and she’s begun making sentences and even her own shortened versions of words. Often, I’m not “tata” but “tat.”

“Chodz, tat!” she’ll say to me when dinner’s on the table and K’s sent her up looking for me.

Our cat, Bida, is sometimes “Bid.” “Trzymac” (“hold”) is “trzym,” pronounced “cim” (“chym” in English transliteration). “Jacket” is simply “Jack.”

And yet she’ll also unnecessarily extend some things. “Bida” can also beÂ — indeed, usually is — “Bida kicia,” which would roughly be translated “Bida kitty.” And all cats, in books and in real life, become “Bida kicia.” We recently met a new cat named Kissy and tried to explain to L that this was “Kissy kicia,” but to no avail: “Bida kicia!”

“Kupa” and “siusiu” (“poo-poo” and “pee-pee”) are always said together. In fact, L likes to call Bida to the door, open it, and encourage her to go relieve herself in the yard. It sounds like this: “Bida kicia, chodz! Idz! Kupa siusiu!”

When Bida is outside and we ask L, “Where is Bida?”, the reply is always the same: “Kupa siusiu!”

In the Park (Redux)

Monday 13 October 2008

Cleveland Park in downtown Greenville has undergone a renovation, and it’s a favorite destination for the Girl.

The first stop — always. || 1/800, f/7.1, 10 mm, -2/3 EV

We only took the Sigma 10-20mm lens with us. It’s a challenging lens to use because it’s so difficult to fill the frame.

It also severely distorts some things: lengthens noses (for all the obvious reasons) and generally does weird things to body shapes.

But it can certainly provide some interesting perspectives.

Make a Face!

Saturday 4 October 2008

And she did…

Back to the Zoo

Monday 22 September 2008

It had been some months since we went to the zoo, so this Sunday, we packed up the Girl, some snacks, and something to drink and went to visit the animals.

Such a difference between this visit and our first visit. The Girl has developed a sense of independence, learned to walk, and begun communicating verbally.

She decided when she’d had enough, calmly telling us “dosc” (“enough”) when she was tired of the elephants,

the giraffes, the reptiles,

and the leopard.

She has an opinion and preferences and she can express them.

It’s the beginning of the end…

Carnival

Sunday 21 September 2008

We took The Girl to her first carnival today — a small gig that was part of a local festival.

She seemed to enjoy it.

The only problem came when the carnie told us, “Time’s up.” On one occasion we literally had to drag the girl screaming from the attraction.

Still, it was a pleasant day: we did all the carnival-esque things, including sharing ice cream.

After a few rides and some general frolicking on the playground, we went to watch the hot air balloon and the guy-tethered-to-an-enormous-pile-of-helium-balloons take off.

One has to wonder about the wisdom of such flight, but it draws a crowd, and I guess he gets something out of it.

Rock Hill Visit

Sunday 7 September 2008

Might as Well Jump

Sunday 7 September 2008

The Girl loves jumping, so we did the logical thing: bought an exercise trampoline.

She wasn’t always as successful as that, though.

One thing is certain: she’ll jump until she’s drenched with sweat.

Table Rock

Monday 1 September 2008

I’ve been writing all day. Planning lessons (putting the finishing touches on a unit about the memoir in which we study Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) and preparing materials for my PAS-T notebook. The former I don’t mind; the latter is a hastle.

PAS-T is an acronym for “Pain in the…” — no, rather it’s “Performance Assessment System for Teachers”. It is, in short, a pile of paperwork that I am to provide three different evaluators as they come through my classroom two times each throughout the year for formal observations. My PAS-T notebook is to include things like,

Summary of plan for integrating instruction
Class profile
Annotated list/samples/photos of instructional activities/materials/displays
Lesson/intervention plan
Summary of staff consultations
Syllabus
Lesson plan(s)
Differentiation
Annotated photos of class activities
Sample handouts/transparencies/Thinking Maps
Student samples of technology integration
Record-keeping/monitory system
Labeled and dated grades
Teacher-made tests/assessments
Example grading rubric
Grading procedures
Student work with feedback
Progress reports/letters for parents/students
Survey and summary
Class rules with description of development procedures/reinforcement system
Classroom diagram with comments/alternative room arrangement
Class schedule
Explanation of behavior management philosophy/procedures
A printed copy of the teacher’s home page
Log of rapport building efforts (notes, calls, conferences)
Copy of newsletter
Agenda from orientation/fieldtrip
Documentation of Technology Proficiency or letter of intent
Resume
Certificates, agendas, support materials from presentations given
Certificates, agendas, support materials from presentations attended
Documentation of membership/participation in professional organizations
Performance goal setting forms
Chart of student progress throughout year
Analysis of grades for marking period
Log of collegial collaboration
Documentation of meeting established annual goals

It is difficult to think of this as more than busy work. I mean, how useful can a classroom diagram with comments be to an evaluator who’s sitting in my classroom?

I’m all for accoutability, but this is starting to feel like an extra burden.

Still, I will perservere, and I will get only “Exemplory” ratings because anything else would drive me mad. If I’m to jump through hoops, I want to jump through them while juggling chainsaws and lecturing on Kant — I want to blow people’s minds.

Fortunately, I didn’t spend the whole weekend at a desk; we spent some of it at a table, so to speak: Table Rock State Park, which means more hiking and more waterfalls.

Such a burden.

A few more pictures are available at Flickr.

Talking

Friday 15 August 2008

The Girl has been talking more and more, though the developments are slow. She is, after all, learning two languages. She mainly favors English, but she does use a few Polish words, and as any child her age, she has some of her own inventions:

Polish Words

dać
uwaga
tam

English Words

hug
socks
shoe
milk
baby
juice
hot
wet
help
more
dog
pizza
down

L-isms

“Ba-ba” is banana.
“Moo-Moo” is her favorite cheese, aptly named as there’s a drawing of a cow on the package.
“Meow!” is cat.
“Shhhh” is sleep.
“Sha-sha” is outside.

The budding bilingualism can lead to amusement.

When K went to pick L up from daycare, L’s now-good friend, J, helped L gather her things. It’s a daily occurrence, usually looking for “Baby.” L, however, has become particularly fond of a little teddy bear (“miÅ›” in Polish) and that’s her daily companion.

K entered the room and immediately J, helpful as always, began running around the room, looking for the teddy bear, saying, “Misio! Misio!” And so our daughter is only 19 months old and already a language teacher.

On the way out, K told L she should say goodbye to the frog on the door mat.

“Powiedz ‘bye’ Å¼abie,” K suggested.

“Bye, frog!” L responded.

Matching Tracksuits