Philosophy

On my search for bilingual info, I found this:

Appiah: Well, you know, one of the things about the United States is that it is a country that is very self-consciously diverse now and that's good, but you have to remember that that diversity comes with a great deal of shared American stuff. For example, 99.something percent of Americans understand and
speak English. Now in the country I grew up in, in Ghana, there is no language that 99 percent of the people understand. Barely fifty percent of the population can communicate reliably in the government language, which is English. So we think of ourselves as very diverse, but in many ways, we're actually less diverse than we think we are.
What holds the United States together in many senses is the fact that, despite this acceptance of the diversity of identities, people are in fact, you know, remarkably similar. If you come from outside the United States, one of the first things that strikes you, I think, is, on the one hand, they all keep saying how different they are. On the other hand, they all seem, to the outsider, so American.
When Americans go abroad - and this is one of the reasons why I think Americans should go abroad more - one of the things they discover is that people who think of themselves as very different
here - African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans, for example - you put them both down in Nairobi and suddenly they recognize that they have a great deal in common. So it's good, I think, that we accept and celebrate our diversity, but we have to remember that it's sort of within a certain framework.
I'll give you another example. When religions settle in the United States, they tend to become Americans in a certain way. For example, Islam in the United States. The broad majority of Muslims in the United States believe in the separation of
church and state. The broad majority of Muslims in many other countries don't. They think that it would be better to have (unintelligible). Most American Muslims are not after that. They're like most American Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Buddhists. They think it's just fine to have religion be something that you do and make decisions about privately and the government not be religious at all.

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200602/20060210_appiah.html

Bilingual

So as the worrisome mother that I am, I am starting to get worried about Handsome still not being able to speak. I decided to do some research and found the site http://www.bilingualbabies.org/ which states:

"Do bear in mind that it isn’t unusual for multilingual children to reach their second birthday with four words in their vocabulary."

Grr.

But then there is this:

"Speech disorders do occur, however, in bilingual children as in monolingual children, so if you are truly worried that your child is not understanding you (in any of the languages) or able to carry out commands by age 2, you should ask a professional’s advice."

He is already able to carry out commands in both languages, so at least we have that going for us.

And then:

"By halfway through your child’s third year, you can expect to have heard a few first words at least, and in other children you may have as far as the two-word stage or the telegraphic stage. Next you can look forward to the development of grammar and structure – a new and exciting adventure that is fascinating in that it reveals so much about your child’s thought processes and hypothesis-building strategies in the world of language. Hang on tight – it’s a rollicking ride!"

Rollicking? Really? Sure doesn't feel that way right now.

New teeth, Scrapbooking, Handsome

Random stuff because I never have time to blog anymore.

Handsome now has two new teeth bringing the grand total to 10. Beautiful teeth - minus the chipped front tooth which I still have no idea how it happened - and stinky breath. We really need to stop feeding him food with garlic in it.

I finally started my scrapbook! I grappled my fears and now have nine pages done!! Yay!! Now that's only up to the time he was a month old, so I have quite a ways to go, but it's a start! And this one looks SOO much better than last year's already!

And yesterday I had to go buy new sleepers for Handsome. He has grown out of his 12 month clothes so I had to buy 18 month clothes. I'm so proud of him for growing. And the lady checking us out literally said when we were leaving, "Bye bye Handsome!" Seriously!! I was walking away and I kinda paused for a minute kinda taken aback. I was wondering how in the world she knew his nickname. It did actually take me a little bit to realize she didn't actually know what I called him and it was merely a common nickname for kids. Yes, sometimes I'm slow.

Oh, and I cut Handsome's hair even shorter last night. DH says it's uneven though so I'm going to redo it tonight.

Understanding Words

Handsome now understands words. These are what he knows so far in English:

Milk
Water
Sippy Cup
Grandma
Grandpa
Mommy
Daddy
Toes
Foot
Ears
Nose
Food
Hungry
Bye bye
Sit
Kiss
Stand
Goldfish
Hug

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones where I can say things like, "Where is your nose?" And he can point to it.

He knows a similar amount of words in Dagaare.

Now my question is, when will he actually start USING these words??

Poor Blog

My poor blog. DH's school is in full force so I never get the computer anymore. Boo.

I've had my fair share of more family drama - DHs family of course - but no time to post about it. I had a really good day on Sunday at Cox Farms with Amy! If I ever get a chance I'll post a few pictures.

But I have noticed that my comments have dropped significantly lately... :(

Chipped Teeth

I chipped my front teeth on my fork last night. Seriously? I made it almost 30 years and NOW I chip my teeth?!

I'm afraid to smile now.

I'm going to call my dentist and see what he can do. I can't afford much right now. Don't know if insurance pays for this.

Grr.

Chipped teeth. Not cool.

A friend's plea - Diabetes

A friend of mine found out she had diabetes when we were in the second grade. She always tested her blood and took her insulin shots like there was nothing out of the ordinary that she was doing. She never thought of herself as being sick or being different, and therefore neither did the rest of us. It's only recently that she has gotten married and desperately wants children that I am starting to realize that her juvenile diabetes is going to affect her.

We grew up in a very red state, and she still lives in that red state. She sent this email out yesterday and I thought I would pass it along. I never thought about these issues to the depth that she has, but they are obviously important to her. Please don't think I wrote this. Hopefully from the writing style alone you will see that it is not me.

Again this is political, so if it is going to cause a problem, then don't continue. It deals with the health care plans of those running for president:

------------

Friends and family, regardless of your political leanings (and I know
they are not the same as mine in many of your cases), please excuse this as my
ONE political email this election cycle. Those of you who disagree, fine. But
when you write me back with something inflammatory, remember that there are some issues on which more than a flag pin depend.

Please read this editorial describing the McCain / Palin healthcare reform plan: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html?th&emc=th

For those that doubt the legitimacy of the claims in Herbert's column,
please consult McCain's website here.

I have been denied individual private health insurance as a juvenile
diabetic throughout my adult life, regardless of my ability to pay. As a
self-employed private contractor, I relied on my parents' COBRA plan until it
kicked me off at a certain age and then had to look into the state risk pool for
the "medically uninsurable." (Only 34 states offer high risk pool insurance,
btw.) If it weren't for my husband's insurance through his job, I wouldn't be
able to afford the medical care I need. My prescriptions for 2 vials of insulin
and 400 test strips with insurance this month - $52.40. Without insurance? Over
$650. My doctor visits this month with insurance - $40. Without? $400. The list
goes on. Not to mention thousands of dollars a year in insulin pump supplies.
That's on top of the wage reduction my husband agreed to to get insurance
benefits through his contract company to begin with.

The Obama plan is not watertight either, you might argue, but it is not this. The McCain plan is to drive consumers into the individual private insurance market by taxing our employee benefits as INCOME - triple dipping, as it were. Once for the premiums you already pay to the health insurance company, twice for benefits-as-income, and really a third time for the right of the company to offer you less pay in
the first place for paying a larger portion of your health care contributions.
This is supposed to push us into the individual insurance market and drive
prices down. It's not that I don't understand Republican economic policy - take
restrictions off of businesses and the market will flourish and we will all bask
in the warm golden ooze of prosperity. It sounds great in theory - but I'm not a
business. I'm a consumer, an individual, a worker, a human. And I don't know
about you, but I don't see Exxon trickling any of their nice little windfall
profits to my corner of the market.

The "don't raise my taxes" crowd is going to tax me right off my
healthcare plan and then into a market where I am "medically uninsurable."
Natural selection brought to a new low. My husband is young and "healthy" by
conventional standards. He could probably find individual coverage at a high but
manageable rate. But some of us... McCain has said that his goal is "to restore
control over our healthcare system to the patients themselves." I sure hope the
a-hole sends me a first-aid kit and a flashlight.

~M