Maman fâchée

So you know those shows where some superhuman woman comes into a family home and calmly sorts out the outrageous nighttime routine of screaming toddlers who keep getting out of bed? Well our home is like that at the moment. But without the supernanny.

Yep, it's just me and a crazed 19-month old boy who gets up as soon as I put him down, taking his pyjamas off and running around half-naked giggling and saying "maman fâchée" (mummy's angry) while my 2-month-old son screams until he is blue in the face, pre-empting a full night of crying and unsettled tossing and turning. In fact, in the last 48 hours, I have slept only 3 hours... The big boy bed and newborn baby routine have their disadvantages where my patience is concerned...

In his awake hours (of which there seem to be so many), bambino is talking up a storm. It's amazing how fast he picks up every little word he hears (including "penis", which he promptly repeated all day long to whoever would listen). He can say "tournevis" (screwdriver) and "porte-monnaie" (purse). He can say "tourne la page" (turn the page) and "chercher papa" (find daddy). He can say "happy new year" and "bonne annee", proving he is bilingual, too. He can say almost anything you teach him, in fact.

At first I was almost disappointed - it's like when you hear someone speak a romantic language like Italian, you imagine that they are talking in beautiful rhyming poetry about the wonders of the world, when in fact they are asking what time the next train is. I spent months wondering what Oscar was trying to say - turns out he was just pointing out what was right in front of him.

But then, a few days ago, he said "maman, je t'aime" (mummy I love you). So who am I to say what language is interesting or not?!