I know the research says there are millions of neural connections forming per second in a newborn’s brain. I know they sleep so much because they are learning so much and are exhausted from it. Still. Until you get that eye contact, that smile, that squeal in response to something you said, it can be lonely and deeply unsatisfying to provide rich linguistic input for your newborn baby. During the day I’m great at connecting, talking, and interacting with Bilingual Baby 2, and I know she hears me read books to her big sister. But I’m not the mom that reads her poetry when we are up early morni ..read more

Bilingual Baby #2 arrived 6 months ago. And my mind has been a flutter with how to raise a bilingual child–again. How it will be different In some ways it will be easier. I have a bigger Spanish vocabulary, and I’m more fluent than I was when Baby#1 was born. This time, I’m not scrambling to find community, books, music to help me raise my baby around Spanish. I’ve been building that all slowly and always will be. I spent countless hours in the months after Bilingual Baby #1 was born combing through Baby Center’s Spanish language site just to try and internalize how to talk about and to babie ..read more

A consistent thread in our language journey has always been to find what works and lean into it. Protecting the positive relationship that Bilingual Baby has with Spanish is our number one priority. If speaking Spanish becomes a chore, all is lost. She has always loved explaining things to people: the rules of games (both invented and traditional), how a toy works, how to get places (the most unreliable backseat driver ever). So when her grandmother, Mimmy, in Massachusetts asked for help with her Spanish homework, we set up a Zoom right away. Mimmy’s second language is French, so she’s brave ..read more

Bilingual Baby has had the ability to sound out letters and read words aloud in Spanish for at least a year. But she’d never held a book completely in her own lap and read it front to back on her own. We found the book “Mimi Dice Que No” Yih-Fen Chou (Author), Chih-Yuan Chen (Illustrator) at the library, and it’s a perfect children’s book for pre-kinder and kinder kids, in my opinion. Mimi is probably 3 years old and wants to do everything herself. Sound familiar? The desire for independence will likely resonate fiercely with your little one. Mimi is defiant and indignant when h ..read more

Bilingual Baby: “Daddy, today I got to watch Daniel Tiger.” Daddy: “Oh, cool. In what language?” Bilingual baby looked at me inquisitively. But I shrugged and let her answer. She replied confidently, “In English!” I scrunched up my face, and Bilingual Baby’s dad said, “Are you sure?” Bilingual Baby was sure, “Yeah! English!” Finally I chimed in and let her know that she’d actually watched two episodes of Daniel Tiger back-to-back in Spanish. “But,” I told her, “you didn’t even notice because you understand it just as well as you understand it in English.” But she wasn’t convinced. “No!” she sa ..read more

We have been playing this game called “The Salon Game.” I work in a salon and she’s a client. I do her hair, I bring her breakfast, I take her around the hotel where she’s staying. Luckily the characters in this game (we both call each other “señora”) speak Spanish. We started playing it towards the beginning of the pandemic. And it’s been a window into her deteriorating ability to speak Spanish. This morning at breakfast she said “Pause the game,” and then asked in English, “Mama, how do we say “where are you from?” In what language? I asked incredulously. “In Spanish,” she replied. “You know ..read more

It’s time to talk about how we’ve made it through this year. When I look at Bilingual Baby, I see a kid who is growing and learning, despite the pandemic. I wish that were the case for every child. So many have carried the weight of this year around in their little bodies, and when this is all over, we will find that many children have fallen behind, both academically and socioemotionally. Broadly, American society and government has not taken care of its people (especially here in Texas). In our small corner of the country, we are living in a community within a community within a community. I ..read more

In collaboration with our local bilingual music school, Mi Casa Es Tu Casa, Bilingual Baby and I made this video! We’ve been attending bilingual music classes for years, and the “Chocolate” song is one of our favorites. Right before the Chocolate track, you can hear the happy sounds of a mother and her child clapping along to this rhythmic song and game, “Choco-choco-lala, Choco-choco-tete, choco-la, choco-te, CHOCO LA TE!” Watch the video and learn the hand-clapping game! Enjoy ..read more

I know the title of this post sounds like an oxymoron. How can kindergarten be online? It’s supposed to be circle time, messy activities, recess, bites & scratches, and hugs from a loving teacher. The other day Bilingual Baby and I walked by a neighborhood school and a crossing guard helped us through an intersection. We waved and said “thank you” through our masks. “That’s a crossing guard,” I said, realizing my daughter had probably never seen one since she’d never walked to school before. “I know,” she said. “How do you know?” I asked. “From Ramona,” she replied, holding my hand and ski ..read more

Emotionally, my daughter is doing well considering the collective stress around the globe. At the beginning of the pandemic, when we knew so little about the virus and it was all her grownups could talk about, Bilingual Baby lugged her life-sized unicorn up the stairs to her lofted bed. Penny, the pink unicorn, used to live under her bed where we read books. But now she serves as protector at night: blocker of bad dreams, barrier between her and the door, possessor of magical powers. Penny the unicorn But like many kids, Bilingual Baby has adapted. She feels safe, and she knows who to keep six ..read more