Hmmm... How do you say 'pee-pee' in German?

Rosemary didn’t come to German class today.  I think whatever was upsetting her mom last week must still be going on.  So, it was just Shawn and Abby again.  We continued the animals theme from last week.  Abby was great with the chunky puzzles and she’s very quick to find animals posted around the room when Nina asked for them.  Shawn’s pronunciation was right on cue today!  Nina had a bag full of animal puppets and handed them out to us one at a time.  Shawn got a giraffe, Abby got an elephant (her favorite today), I got a lion.  Nina asked Shawn, “Mama hat eine Giraffe?”  (“Momma has a giraffe?”) and Shawn said, “Nooooo!  Mama hat einen Löwen!”  (“No!  Momma has a lion!”)  We were floored!!!!  Later, Nina mentioned that she was impressed how much both have learned in just three weeks. (It’s going to be hard to end our free trial next week.) 

At the end of class, Nina passed Diego on their way to their next classes and both saw us at the front door.  Diego said, “Hola, Momma!” and Nina said, “Auf Wiedersehen, Momma!”  Both giggled.  Then Nina told Diego how much Shawn spoke today and Diego said, “Oh, I’m jealous!”  To which I jokingly responded that because of their teacher inservice, we missed his class yesterday – it could’ve been Spanish class that Shawn was talking so much in!  Sorry!  When we got home, I wrote a thank you note to the director of the program, Craig:

Guten Tag and Hola, Craig!
First, I want to express how much fun Shawn and Abby (and I!!) are having in your program.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to try a few weeks of classes in two languages, which we normally wouldn't be able to afford.  Though I've gotten tongue-tied more than a few times in the Parents and Tots programs, I can clearly see the benefit of Diego and Nina's hard work and enthusiasm when I watch the little ones in class and especially when I see them bring the skills home.  I have to admit that I've gotten many strange looks from people when I rave about having Shawn enrolled in language classes, not to mention two languages recently.  People are surprised, since he's not even old enough for preschool yet; however, I credit Language Stars for so much of his language development and his emerging social skills. Even though he chooses not to talk in class sometimes, which can be very frustrating, it is abundantly clear to me that he's listening carefully, taking it all in, and just waiting for the perfect time to try out his new words.  Your program is wonderful and your patient teachers are truly talented!  Please let them know how much we appreciate all they do.  (It will be very hard to end our German experience with Nina next week!)

We rushed home to drop Abby off at home so she could get to a doctor’s appointment.  It turned out she has an ear ache, but luckily nothing else. 

Then, Shawn and I went to Music class on our own.  Ms. Kim was surprised to see us without Abby.  Everyone missed her - it was strange having just one child in class today!  Though Shawn was much more physically active (he danced and wiggled and moved much more than usual), he still wouldn’t reply during the “Ba-Ba” activity.  Maybe some day!

In the evening, Shawn commented, “Momma go pee-pee in the toilet.  Shawn go pee-pee in the toilet?” So, I jumped at the chance and helped him sit on the toilet.  He was very excited about it and grinned from ear to ear.  After a few seconds, he said, “All done!”  but I’m delighted that he’s showing an interest and wants to try.  I don’t think he’s physically ready for serious potty training, but I’ll certainly take advantage of his curiosity!

While I made dinner, Shawn pulled out the canned goods from the pantry.  He’s becoming quite the architect!

Once Raj came home, he convinced Shawn to help him put his things away.  It was tough work!

What an exciting day!

(By the way, I think 'pee-pee' is 'pinkeln' in German!)