Language

We were told that since Juliet would be learning two languages, her speech would develop more slowly. But we've found that, just as she runs instead of walking, she talks, sings, babbles and laughs continuously. Most of what she says is in French, but she does a lot of mimicking in English. If we ask her a question in English, she will often answer in French. "Are you hungry?" "Oui!" And she sings several songs in English, though I doubt she knows what she's singing. She sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star" to Tom for his birthday this summer, and now the two of them sing it together. We bought the adorable recordable story book of the same name, from Hallmark, and we will read it to her while we're here, then record it before we leave. We've done two other recordable story books and she does listen to them.

Matt and Jeanne want to send Juliet to a bi-lingual school; there are ten in Paris, and they're expensive. But in talking with other grandparents it seems that pre-school is expensive everywhere, at least in big cities. Matt and Jeanne have been considering moving, but they'll wait to see what school Juliet will attend. She's really not eligible for pre-school in January; only those who will be two by January 1 are eligible. Juliet will be two on January 5, so they'll try to get her a special dispensation or something.

Meanwhile, Juliet is working on her own. The other day she was practicing the word "non" and saying it time after time, very loudly! Non, non, non, non, NON! (I suppose 20 month old kids hear that word a lot, and just can't wait to use it on someone else.) Two of her other favorites are "tien" which means yours, (she uses this when she hands you something, which is often and most of the time she wants it right back) and "encore" which means again, (she uses this when she wants another piece of cheese, another crayon, or she wants you to sing again or swing her again or read the same book again, etc., etc., etc.). Nearly-two-year-olds love repetition!! And new grandmas don't at all mind doing the same thing over, and over, and over, just for the smile of a nearly-two-year-old.

Once More into the Fray

Here's the thing about blogging: you do it every day, you're faithful to the people who read your blog, and you're faithful to recording your feelings every day (before you forget them, mainly). Then you don't have wifi for a few days, you resolve to blog when you return home, you get home and you're way too busy catching up to blog, then you feel guilty and resolve to "catch up" the next time you see your granddaughter, and, well, you get my drift. I've missed some chances to record my feelings, and I've forgotten some things, but I have greater resolve to blog whenever and wherever possible! So here I am, composing on a French keyboard, so much slower because the a, m, q, w and all the punctuation are in different places. Or, to put it another way, the q; anz qnd qll the punctuqtion qre in different plqces: It's hard to break those old habits of the qwerty keyboard!

Juliet has changed so much since May, the way every child changes between 16 and 20 months. She's an entirely different person. She's fearless. She runs at full tilt and we're constantly dreading a fall. She has an infectious laugh and she has learned how to tease. She wants to do everything herself, and she gets frustrated with you if you try to help her, and she gets frustrated with herself if she needs your help. When she succeeds at something she raises her arms with clenched fists as if to say, "Watch out, world! I am here and I am invincible!" And sometimes she will just come up to you and lay her cheek against your neck or your knee, so sweetly and gently that you feel faint with how much you love her. Then again, if you ask for a hug, you may get a resounding "no" and she may go tearing out of the room.

Tom and I had Juliet all day today. I slept the entire two hours that she slept; Tom wasn't able to sleep during that time, but he regrets it now! A trip to a new favorite park was fun except for a fall from some playground equipment, resulting in a few bumps and bruises. All in all a very good day except for the occasional fall, and some teething pains. We will have her all day tomorrow as well. The weather has been absolutely beautiful and we hope it will continue. Tomorrow we leave for Belle Ile! That will mean a long car trip, an overnight in a hotel and a ferry boat on Wednesday, but the island is worth the trouble. We will join Jeanne's parents there, for some shrimping, some hiking, lots of eating and laughing and reminiscing and playing with Juliet. Can't wait!

Skype

Of all the technological advances of the last few years, all the Ipods, the Ipads, the Iphones, the non-I things, of all of it, none can compare to Skype. When your children live far away, i.e. any place that's not just across town, Skype is a life saver. It's free, and just by installing a small camera on your computer (your kids already have a camera on their computer), you can actually see your kids and grandkids when you talk to them. And did I mention it's free?

Through the miracle of Skype, we saw Juliet take her first steps. On what started out as a normal Sunday afternoon phone call this spring, we innocently asked if Juliet was walking yet. Matt replied that she had taken a few steps at the creche, but he and Jeanne hadn't seen her walk yet. Just then Juliet took four or five halting steps toward her Dad, right in front of Jeanne! Jeanne ran to get her camera and I think I probably screamed something understated like, "She's walking! She's walking!" It was a little bit surreal, as if Juliet had heard me ask about walking, and decided to show everyone what she could do. I mean, we know she's brilliant, but...

What a gift we were given, seeing some of Juliet's first steps! Tom and I were positively giddy. We thought about contacting the Skype people and telling them our story; maybe they would want us to make commercials for them! "We saw our granddaughter take her first steps. What miracles will you witness?" or "See your grandchildren do amazing things without bothering your children with a visit!" But I guess Skype doesn't need any advertising; they seem to do quite well by word of mouth. I know I've given them a lot of free publicity.

It's a good thing we saw those first unsteady steps; Juliet went right from barely walking, to running. She goes everywhere at full tilt. We always marvel that she isn't bruises from head to toe.

We were so lucky to share a very special "first" with Juliet's parents. Seeing her take her first tentative steps was just a matter of luck; if we lived in the same town, we probably wouldn't have been that lucky. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though we live far from our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, the times we share are special. Ordinary or extraordinary, every hour spent together, Skype or in person, is cherished and relived in pictures, journal entries and our memories.