Yesterday, at 21 months and 2 weeks, Martin could successfully read a few flash cards with words like: Martin, Simon, baba (Grandma), diado (Grandpa), vujcho (uncle), nos (nose), ushi (ears), ochi (eyes). These were the flashcards my mom was showing him when he was about 10-12 months old while she was thinking we were starting him late. I have to admit that I was very sceptical about this activity - well, until yesterday when I heard him read the cards and later I made him read them again to make sure he was not cheating... You go, my boy!!!
Also, about a month ago, Martin could recognize the following letters: M - Martin's letter, D - Mommy's letter (Deyana) , I - tati's letter (Israel), S - diado's letter (Strahil), P - baba's letter (Penka), V - Valentin's letter, E - Eze's letter, N - Niya's letter, O - he would say 'Oh', U - he would say 'U', W, X, Z, A, B. This was with the help of an alphabet puzzle that Isra bought him. In no time he learned to solve the puzzle although it looked difficult for his age being the letters had drawings underneath that you can match them to (instead of the letters again)...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Loved
Yesterday, while walking on the greenway and Martin riding on his dad's shoulders and eating a banana, we stopped so that I peel his banana further. I gave it back to him and a lady passing us in the other direction said: "Everyone should be so loved!"
During the same walk, another lady we passed by looked at us and said 'He is soo adorable!'. At which I whispered to Isra 'Which one of the two?' meaning Valentin or Martin. Isra's answer: 'Oh, no. It was for me!' :)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
19 months and a Little Brother
Martin officially became a big brother on February 1st 2010 at 9:10am. At this point, it is only fair that I include Valentin in my blog as well. Which is why I am starting this new blog - The Two That Make My Day.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
18 months
At 18th months you are a 54'' tall (over 95th perc), weigh 29.6 pounds (80th perc.) and you have a 20.25 inches (over 100 percentile) of a head full of brain!!!
You say more than 80 words - and that is not counting the numbers from 1 to 10 that you know in English, Spanish and Bulgarian. You counted for Dr Smith from 1 to 10 in English missing only number 8 (this is new for you). You still need help for counting in Spanish and Bulgarian, but you say sooo many words it is amazing:
- Kak se kazva mama? De-ya-na (you pronounce it better than anyone I have heard pronounce my name here in the US). You also know the names of: Ese, Moni, Simon, Isra, Ivan, Penka, Mia (Mariela). You say your name now with the accent correctly on the last sylable Ma-tin. And you prefer calling Nadia - Anya (good thing she does not mind). Nadia also taught you to respond with 'I wow you' whenever she told you 'I love you!'
- borovinki, sokche, mako (mliako), eche (leche), supa, apche (hliabche), mi-ina (mandarina), banana, apple, med (almost always you say 'dado med' indicating this is your diado's med), aqua, voda, kafe, Cheerios, cookie, wi-wa (for tikva), guba
- trash, garbage, schoolbus, kola, kamion, buy, ciao, hi, computer, flush, Santa
- masa, stol, toplo, kuche, decata, momiche, obuvki, shoes, zapatos, ukavici (rukavici), shapka, baloni, topka, polota (pelota), vunka, aide, vamos, gore, dolu, kosa, ami sega/i sega?, niama, dealo (odealo), gledalo (ogledalo), baseina (also: piscina), mecho, bebe, noni, waaa (to indicate someone is crying), piano
- mii, pii, yaj, sedni, vzemi, dai, doide, OK
- tio, tia, abu, baba, dado (diado), tati (also: papa, papi), mama (mami), ucho (vuicho)
- mushata or bushata to mean 'musika-ta'. And we hear this a lot - whenever you want us to play music on the stereo downstairs, the small stereo upstairs or whenever you want to hear all ringtones on my cellphone.
- You also LOVE to repeat the curse words your father occasionally uses (coño, joda). One morning you started saying 'coño' out of nowhere and looked at your father and laughed while saying it over and over. You so knew this was a bad word!!!
The biggest surprise a month ago was me realizing that whenever I read to you and stop in a middle of a sentence - you correctly say the following word. And this is reading from your English books (My Shoes Take me Anywhere, Aladdin, Pooh & Eeyore, etc), Bulgarian books (Diado Vadi Riapa) or Spanish books (Donde Esta el Umbliguito)...
Me: Eeyore is feeling very sad...
You: today
Me: He's lost his...
You: Tail
Me: Eeyore looks up and sees...
You: Pooh
Me: Hello! says...
You: Pooh
Me: Eeyore doesn't...
You: answer.
And we finished the whole book in the same manner with you saying for the first time words like: friends, garden, now, contest, bounce, story, book, hide and seek, happy, etc. and with a very clear diction and correct pronunciation... You absolutely floored me!!!
When we went to church on Christmas eve, you did not stop talking and we could hardly contain our laughter. Every time the priest stopped singing you clapped hands and loudly said 'Bravooo!'. You found someone to look at you and then you start pointing at us and telling that person that this is 'mama' and that is 'tati'. When people get up as part of the mass, you tapped the bench next to me and told the guy that just got up 'Sedni! Sedni!' ('Sit Down! Sit Down!') . And when I gave you cheerios and cookies so that your mouth is full and you stop talking, you said loudly 'Cheerios! mmmmmm' or 'mmmm. Cookie! Am-Am'...
Friday, October 23, 2009
Polyglot (15 months)
So far, you have been great in mastering all three languages. Here is what you say and do so far:
We: Hablas Espanol?
You: Si
We: Govorish li Bulgarski?/ Govorite po Russkii?
You: Da
We: Do you speak English?
You: Yes
We: Como estas?
You: Mien (for Bien)
We: Kak se kazvash?
You: Ma-ti.
Baba: Ti kakuv si?
You: Mij (saying muj = man)
You repeat iazh when we tell you to eat and occasionally you would ask by yourself by saying 'am-am'. You say by yourself mii-mii-mii when you wash your hands or see someone washing the dishes. You say djish for toplo. You say Gore when you want to go upstairs in your room (mostly when you are ready to go to bed - this started since our trip to the Outer Banks 13 mo old), or you say noni. You say booo to anything that makes loud noise - the blender, the dishwasher, the washer and dryer, the trucks, the hair-drier... You are fascinated with bikes and you always say bici when you see one. Same with babies - you say bebe as soon as you see one even if it is a kid 2 years older than you (only if it is a girl of course)...
You say correctly Ciao (pronounced Shaaao) and Buy and you say Aye when you want to say Hi. And every time you flush the toilet or you hear someone flush, you go in look at the water and say 'Bye'.
You identify on pictures and in person: mama, tati, baba, diado (you say gago), vuicho (you still cannot say it, but you know who we are talking about), tio Eze, tia Moni, Simon.
When your father was in Vienna and Prague for a week, you would ask for him every day: Tati? niama. Tati? Niama.
During that week I had to go work from the office and you would miss us so much that you would grab the photo that we have on the refrigerator (the one of us in SF where we've just biked across the bridge), walk with it around the house and say Mama - Tati - Mama - Tati...
You made the association that when your father is not in the house, then your baba is. So now every time your baba leaves in the evening you start: Baba? Niama. Tati!!! (knowing that he will come in a little bit)... And when your dad leaves in the morning your start: Tati? Niama. Baba!!!
My recent discovery is that you count in Spanish. One day I started counting to you:
Me: Uno
You: Dos
Me: Tres, Quatro
You: Cinco
Me: Seis, Siete
You: Ocho
Me: Nueve
You: Diez
Mommy's smart boy!!! Counting at the age of 15 months! In Spanish!
Lately, you started saying aqua and bako (meaning mliako). Cannot help but compare with Simon who also talks a lot and started talking very early - he started with the basic words, however, ensuring his survival - aqua, tete, teta, jugo, carne, etc... Whereas with you, it still costs me to figure out what exactly you want.
You know most of the songs your baba sings to you and you help her with the lyrics with incredible timing:
Baba: .... sedem palavi kozleta i edna koza/tia be maichica grijliva stavashe v zori/ sveji klonki i kopriva da gi nagosti
You: Mamo
Baba: Mamo, mila mamo, etc... Vulcho shtom pochuka nie tuka shte sme skriti
You: Aww
Baba: Aww ot glad umiram... etc. S hitrost i vzlom shte vliaza -
You: Azz
Also, there is this opera in Bulgarian going 'Tiho-tiho, subudihme deteto s nashata kavga. Ami sega? Ami Sega? Shte triabva da mu peem i da go luleem... "
And you continue: Nani
And your baba: Nani-Nani, milo detence.... etc.
You've mastered almost all animal sounds: Kucheto? af-af. Koteto? niaw (for miew). Kravata? muu. Kokoshkata? ko-ko-ko. Gargata? ga-ga-ga. Koncheto? ta-ta. Magarenceto? iaa-iaa. Vulkut? awww. Tigura? khkhkh. Pilenceto? pi-pi-pi. Pateto? pa-pa-pa... Agunceto? beeee. Buhala? whoo-whoo... Actually, you are a little bit afraid of the owl. One evening we were playing on my bed and you heard it outside and you started hugging me. When you could no longer hear it, you kept repeating whoo-whoo niama. whoo-whoo niama... until you fell asleap in my arms...
You know and correctly point to the following body parts (either on yourself or on me or on a drawing in a book): boca, ojos, nariz, pelo, cachetes, umbliguito.
You love your books and often you would grab one and bring to me to read it outloud. You also love the laptop of your dad. Every time someone is using it, you would ask to be picked up a
nd then press the Windows button (next to the left Alt key) and say Goool when the shortcut menu pops-up and you see the icon displaying a soccerbal and a football and basketball behind it. And you love if we play you music videos on YouTube. You love music! You start moving your hands as if you are the conductor. And we cannot but hope you will be the next Venezuelan (-Bulgarian) Dudamel (you already have the hair for it :)). 
We: Hablas Espanol?
You: Si
We: Govorish li Bulgarski?/ Govorite po Russkii?
You: Da
We: Do you speak English?
You: Yes
We: Como estas?
You: Mien (for Bien)
We: Kak se kazvash?
You: Ma-ti.
Baba: Ti kakuv si?
You: Mij (saying muj = man)
You repeat iazh when we tell you to eat and occasionally you would ask by yourself by saying 'am-am'. You say by yourself mii-mii-mii when you wash your hands or see someone washing the dishes. You say djish for toplo. You say Gore when you want to go upstairs in your room (mostly when you are ready to go to bed - this started since our trip to the Outer Banks 13 mo old), or you say noni. You say booo to anything that makes loud noise - the blender, the dishwasher, the washer and dryer, the trucks, the hair-drier... You are fascinated with bikes and you always say bici when you see one. Same with babies - you say bebe as soon as you see one even if it is a kid 2 years older than you (only if it is a girl of course)...
You say correctly Ciao (pronounced Shaaao) and Buy and you say Aye when you want to say Hi. And every time you flush the toilet or you hear someone flush, you go in look at the water and say 'Bye'.
You identify on pictures and in person: mama, tati, baba, diado (you say gago), vuicho (you still cannot say it, but you know who we are talking about), tio Eze, tia Moni, Simon.
When your father was in Vienna and Prague for a week, you would ask for him every day: Tati? niama. Tati? Niama.
During that week I had to go work from the office and you would miss us so much that you would grab the photo that we have on the refrigerator (the one of us in SF where we've just biked across the bridge), walk with it around the house and say Mama - Tati - Mama - Tati...
You made the association that when your father is not in the house, then your baba is. So now every time your baba leaves in the evening you start: Baba? Niama. Tati!!! (knowing that he will come in a little bit)... And when your dad leaves in the morning your start: Tati? Niama. Baba!!!
My recent discovery is that you count in Spanish. One day I started counting to you:
Me: Uno
You: Dos
Me: Tres, Quatro
You: Cinco
Me: Seis, Siete
You: Ocho
Me: Nueve
You: Diez
Mommy's smart boy!!! Counting at the age of 15 months! In Spanish!
Lately, you started saying aqua and bako (meaning mliako). Cannot help but compare with Simon who also talks a lot and started talking very early - he started with the basic words, however, ensuring his survival - aqua, tete, teta, jugo, carne, etc... Whereas with you, it still costs me to figure out what exactly you want.
You know most of the songs your baba sings to you and you help her with the lyrics with incredible timing:
Baba: .... sedem palavi kozleta i edna koza/tia be maichica grijliva stavashe v zori/ sveji klonki i kopriva da gi nagosti
You: Mamo
Baba: Mamo, mila mamo, etc... Vulcho shtom pochuka nie tuka shte sme skriti
You: Aww
Baba: Aww ot glad umiram... etc. S hitrost i vzlom shte vliaza -
You: Azz
Also, there is this opera in Bulgarian going 'Tiho-tiho, subudihme deteto s nashata kavga. Ami sega? Ami Sega? Shte triabva da mu peem i da go luleem... "
And you continue: Nani
And your baba: Nani-Nani, milo detence.... etc.
You've mastered almost all animal sounds: Kucheto? af-af. Koteto? niaw (for miew). Kravata? muu. Kokoshkata? ko-ko-ko. Gargata? ga-ga-ga. Koncheto? ta-ta. Magarenceto? iaa-iaa. Vulkut? awww. Tigura? khkhkh. Pilenceto? pi-pi-pi. Pateto? pa-pa-pa... Agunceto? beeee. Buhala? whoo-whoo... Actually, you are a little bit afraid of the owl. One evening we were playing on my bed and you heard it outside and you started hugging me. When you could no longer hear it, you kept repeating whoo-whoo niama. whoo-whoo niama... until you fell asleap in my arms...
You know and correctly point to the following body parts (either on yourself or on me or on a drawing in a book): boca, ojos, nariz, pelo, cachetes, umbliguito.
Other things you say: ah-ah (meaning 'dirty' or poo-poo), pish. When you see flowers (both real or on a picture) you inhale and exhale with aaahhh... You also do this whenever you see us drinking our morning coffee - you grab hold of the empty cup, smell it and say aaahhhh... If you drop something you say o-oh...
You love your books and often you would grab one and bring to me to read it outloud. You also love the laptop of your dad. Every time someone is using it, you would ask to be picked up a
nd then press the Windows button (next to the left Alt key) and say Goool when the shortcut menu pops-up and you see the icon displaying a soccerbal and a football and basketball behind it. And you love if we play you music videos on YouTube. You love music! You start moving your hands as if you are the conductor. And we cannot but hope you will be the next Venezuelan (-Bulgarian) Dudamel (you already have the hair for it :)). 
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