Hip Hiep Hoera! Elena 2 jaar!
May 8, 2006.
With 2 amazing years under her belt, Elena isn’t showing any signs of slowing down!
These last few months have brought big changes. Elena is very verbal and speaking in 4-5 word sentences. She is in that stage where she comes up with words that we can’t figure out how she learned! Elena is approaching bilingual in Dutch. She speaks Dutch at school and they speak very little English to her. Since her parents are language impaired, Elena doesn’t speak very much Dutch at home or around us.
Elena loves imaginative play. She will make you snacks, offer you drinks, or give you medicine. Her favorite toys right now are a kitchen set and some old plastic canisters that have lids of. They often contain sap (juice) or peanut butter to make sandwiches on. Elena also has her imaginary friend, Doobie, to keep her company. You have to be careful when you sit on the couch that you don’t sit on Doobie. During story time, there is a little space reserved for Doobie and sometimes he needs the blanket put on him.
At school, Elena has lots of friends, Valarie, Jocum, Anna May, Lieka, Oliver, Anka, Jesse, Milo, and Owen. They like to play in the kitchen and cook food and make thee and koffee for each other. Another popular activity is playing ‘tiger’ and crawling around on the floor growling and roaring. Now that the weather is nice, the front doors are often open at Ukkie and the kids yell ‘hello’ and ‘dag’ to people walking by. When we pull up on the bike, the kids come running yelling, ‘Elena! Elena’s momma!’ Elena starts to scream, ‘Jocum! Owen! Anna May!’ and then we rush inside to play. They also dance a lot at school, so now at home we get some time on the dance floor with Elena. Her moves are pretty unique; we call it the ‘butt strut.’
It is hard to say what Elena’s favorite books are right now. There was a distinct ‘Duck in a Truck’ and ‘Seals on the Bus’ phase. But now it is anything and everything. She’ll clean off her bookshelf. She loves books about animals and often picks those. Elena is starting to learn numbers and colors. She has a sense of what they are and stand for but hasn’t quite mastered the patterns and sequences. Thought she appears to be able to ‘read’ it is only because she has memorized many of the lines in her books and will say them as you turn the pages – especially for ‘I am a Bunny.’
Elena’s world has expanded a great deal this year. In one year she went from only really knowing her nanny, Mimosa, to going to daycare with lots of other kids. She started at the Infant Toddler Center in Santa Cruz, and made many wonderful friends, and has continued here in Holland at Ukkie. Elena is extremely social and loves to talk about her friends and misses them when they aren’t around. Very affectionate, she hugs and kisses babies all the time (especially when they are sad). Elena has also learned, along with us, how to live in a different country. She loves her bike seats. The car seat, which sits in the corner, is an exciting thing to talk about, but we wonder how much she remember about actually riding in cars. Elena loves trains. Every child should come to Europe and just get to ride the trains from town to town. On a train, there are snacks (usually crackers and ‘fizzy water’ – Elena has developed a taste for imported sparkling mineral water!). Staring out the window you see horses, sheep, houses, flowers, water, cars, everything a toddler could dream of. Instead of Sunday morning hikes in Wilder or afternoons on the Natural Bridges Beach, we take long bike rides into the country and have a picnic lunch watching horses. Elena has learned to adapt to larger crowds as we shop at the market and speak Dutch to the vendors who give her treats. She has learned to run errands in the wonderful, bright sun as well as the cold rain. Sometimes in the afternoon we go visit the animal park and visit Bella and Dona, the sheep. Other times we run errands in the stroller along Oudegracht for groceries or household items. She has new favorite things – she loves different kinds of Dutch cheese and will eat the imported Turkish olives from the market. She loves Dutch butter cookies and slagroomijs (Dutch icecream) and vla (Dutch pudding). And, like a good Dutch child, she drinks a little tea of out her teacup every morning!
Elena had a good birthday. We had croissants for breakfast (buttery bread dipped in jam, what’s not to love). She was ‘queen for a day’ at Ukkie, they had a crown for her, a button, and balloon wand. The birthday child gets to sit in a chair in the middle of the room and everyone sings to them and then ends yelling, ‘hip hiep HOERA!’ (raise your arms ups!). Then the birthday child gives out presents to all their friends (beach balls and animal masks from the US and raisins). There were even chocolate butter sandwiches at lunch. As we rode home from Ukkie, Wilhelmina Park gave Elena little present. We saw a blue heron sitting in a willow over the water catch two fish (Elena - Heron open mouth! Fish go in!). All of the geese were out in the water as a float parade AND we saw 6 baby ducklings with their momma. The birthday balloon wand, which was blown into the pond by the wind, floated all the way over to the other side and was retrieved and transported home without any additional mishaps. When she woke up from her nap, the house was covered streamers, balloons and flags. Both parents were home early from work AND a package from Nana & Grandpa had arrived. She opened all of her presents, lots of clothes, train set, music box, swimsuit, and ball. Then Elena had Fristi while playing with her new train set. For dinner we had minestrone soup, one of Elena’s favorites. Her birthday cake was strawberry shortcake. Short on the cake, long on the strawberries. She even passed up the whipped cream for unlimited berries.
We have realized over this year that our baby is not longer a baby, or even a toddler, she is a little girl. Even though there have been many challenges in this year, she seems to approach everything as an adventure. From starting daycare to cross country flight to shopping in a foreign language, she is always up for what ever is next. It has been a gift for us to see Holland through her eyes. We are blessed to have such an amazing, smart little girl.
With 2 amazing years under her belt, Elena isn’t showing any signs of slowing down!
These last few months have brought big changes. Elena is very verbal and speaking in 4-5 word sentences. She is in that stage where she comes up with words that we can’t figure out how she learned! Elena is approaching bilingual in Dutch. She speaks Dutch at school and they speak very little English to her. Since her parents are language impaired, Elena doesn’t speak very much Dutch at home or around us.
Elena loves imaginative play. She will make you snacks, offer you drinks, or give you medicine. Her favorite toys right now are a kitchen set and some old plastic canisters that have lids of. They often contain sap (juice) or peanut butter to make sandwiches on. Elena also has her imaginary friend, Doobie, to keep her company. You have to be careful when you sit on the couch that you don’t sit on Doobie. During story time, there is a little space reserved for Doobie and sometimes he needs the blanket put on him.
At school, Elena has lots of friends, Valarie, Jocum, Anna May, Lieka, Oliver, Anka, Jesse, Milo, and Owen. They like to play in the kitchen and cook food and make thee and koffee for each other. Another popular activity is playing ‘tiger’ and crawling around on the floor growling and roaring. Now that the weather is nice, the front doors are often open at Ukkie and the kids yell ‘hello’ and ‘dag’ to people walking by. When we pull up on the bike, the kids come running yelling, ‘Elena! Elena’s momma!’ Elena starts to scream, ‘Jocum! Owen! Anna May!’ and then we rush inside to play. They also dance a lot at school, so now at home we get some time on the dance floor with Elena. Her moves are pretty unique; we call it the ‘butt strut.’
It is hard to say what Elena’s favorite books are right now. There was a distinct ‘Duck in a Truck’ and ‘Seals on the Bus’ phase. But now it is anything and everything. She’ll clean off her bookshelf. She loves books about animals and often picks those. Elena is starting to learn numbers and colors. She has a sense of what they are and stand for but hasn’t quite mastered the patterns and sequences. Thought she appears to be able to ‘read’ it is only because she has memorized many of the lines in her books and will say them as you turn the pages – especially for ‘I am a Bunny.’
Elena’s world has expanded a great deal this year. In one year she went from only really knowing her nanny, Mimosa, to going to daycare with lots of other kids. She started at the Infant Toddler Center in Santa Cruz, and made many wonderful friends, and has continued here in Holland at Ukkie. Elena is extremely social and loves to talk about her friends and misses them when they aren’t around. Very affectionate, she hugs and kisses babies all the time (especially when they are sad). Elena has also learned, along with us, how to live in a different country. She loves her bike seats. The car seat, which sits in the corner, is an exciting thing to talk about, but we wonder how much she remember about actually riding in cars. Elena loves trains. Every child should come to Europe and just get to ride the trains from town to town. On a train, there are snacks (usually crackers and ‘fizzy water’ – Elena has developed a taste for imported sparkling mineral water!). Staring out the window you see horses, sheep, houses, flowers, water, cars, everything a toddler could dream of. Instead of Sunday morning hikes in Wilder or afternoons on the Natural Bridges Beach, we take long bike rides into the country and have a picnic lunch watching horses. Elena has learned to adapt to larger crowds as we shop at the market and speak Dutch to the vendors who give her treats. She has learned to run errands in the wonderful, bright sun as well as the cold rain. Sometimes in the afternoon we go visit the animal park and visit Bella and Dona, the sheep. Other times we run errands in the stroller along Oudegracht for groceries or household items. She has new favorite things – she loves different kinds of Dutch cheese and will eat the imported Turkish olives from the market. She loves Dutch butter cookies and slagroomijs (Dutch icecream) and vla (Dutch pudding). And, like a good Dutch child, she drinks a little tea of out her teacup every morning!
Elena had a good birthday. We had croissants for breakfast (buttery bread dipped in jam, what’s not to love). She was ‘queen for a day’ at Ukkie, they had a crown for her, a button, and balloon wand. The birthday child gets to sit in a chair in the middle of the room and everyone sings to them and then ends yelling, ‘hip hiep HOERA!’ (raise your arms ups!). Then the birthday child gives out presents to all their friends (beach balls and animal masks from the US and raisins). There were even chocolate butter sandwiches at lunch. As we rode home from Ukkie, Wilhelmina Park gave Elena little present. We saw a blue heron sitting in a willow over the water catch two fish (Elena - Heron open mouth! Fish go in!). All of the geese were out in the water as a float parade AND we saw 6 baby ducklings with their momma. The birthday balloon wand, which was blown into the pond by the wind, floated all the way over to the other side and was retrieved and transported home without any additional mishaps. When she woke up from her nap, the house was covered streamers, balloons and flags. Both parents were home early from work AND a package from Nana & Grandpa had arrived. She opened all of her presents, lots of clothes, train set, music box, swimsuit, and ball. Then Elena had Fristi while playing with her new train set. For dinner we had minestrone soup, one of Elena’s favorites. Her birthday cake was strawberry shortcake. Short on the cake, long on the strawberries. She even passed up the whipped cream for unlimited berries.
We have realized over this year that our baby is not longer a baby, or even a toddler, she is a little girl. Even though there have been many challenges in this year, she seems to approach everything as an adventure. From starting daycare to cross country flight to shopping in a foreign language, she is always up for what ever is next. It has been a gift for us to see Holland through her eyes. We are blessed to have such an amazing, smart little girl.
posted by Erin K. | 12:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home