Wordless Wednesday - Clowning Around

Big Change!

My little man Tae is gorgeous.

He has bucket loads of personality.

He can charm the birds from the trees.

He has such a gentle nature.

He is also very stubborn.

However, I have talked about his communications skills before.

He always gets his message across, whatever he wants, with as little language as possible.

However, we have now hit a problem. Since last summer his Norwegian has been in decline, and it was never that great to begin with:( There has been many changes in his daycare after it burnt down in the summer with a new location and staff, and I expect this is a contributing factor.

His English on the other hand has continued to develop and it is fair to say it is now his first language. It is strange and I don't understand it. We live in Norway. He goes to nursery 5 days a week where the only language is Norwegian. Tig only speaks to both boys in his native language. It is only Tim and I who speak to him in English and he watches some English cartoons.

So - what can we do?? It is very important that his Norwegian catches up! 

He is a sweet natured child who quietly gets on with whatever he is doing. He is not one to be loud and seek attention at nursery, more like the one quietly playing with the cars. I have spoken to them and they have now taken positive action to make sure they address his needs too (or not let the bossy/noisy ones dominate). They have noticed that his language skills have come a long way since Christmas. That would be when the main group leader returned and took control again and I got very proactive;) However, they are also quite clear, it is only a speech issue and no other problem, he is as sharp as a needle on everything else.!!

However, we have decided to take action at home too.

It is with a sad and very heavy heart I have decided (with Tig) to ask Tim to go over to Norwegian with his brother.

This is a big step......huge.

Now, they both only communicate in English. Do you know how unusual this is? I do not know any of my friends whose children communicate with each other only in their mother's language and not Pappa's and their country language.

The reason why Tim initially began speaking English with him was due to Tae hearing Korean for the first 7 months of his life. Since, he would be living and attending nursery and school in Norway he would need all the help he could get to master English. He needed English as this is our other language at home and the only way for him to communicate with half his relatives.

Hopefully his English language will continue to develop as I will continue to talk English with him and he will still watch a few of his favourite shows in English. Since he now has a solid base Im certain he will be fine, but it is still a big thing for me.

I love that my boys chatter away in English.

However, I love my Tae more and if this help him, it has to be done. I know that he adores Tim and I expect with Tim speaking Norwegian with him it will really help and speed up his progress.

Tim, said he is happy to switch over, but agrees we may need to keep reminding him as he is so used to speaking English with Tae. When we told Tae, Tim would start to speak Norwegian with him his answer was very clear 'no'! It was very funny listening to them in the back seat of the car.

Tim: Tae, Jeg skal bare snakke norsk med deg,ok?

Tae: NO!

Tim: Jo, det vil jeg.

Tae: NO!

Ok, it may take a while, but we will get there eventually. 

Love my little English man and my big bilingual man who will do whatever is best for his little brother.

Organising Boys!

I may have been teased by friends in the past about my need to be organised and match/coordinate things.

I don't 'do' clutter - try putting that together with living with 3 males = epic fail.

Tig may have made have made comments that have a great deal in common with Monica from friends;)

What can I say, I just like order! It's the little things going right with the world that makes my day easier to deal with.

It is a good ideology to have order; tidy, organised, well presented children.

From babies both boys have been dressed with matching boxers (yes, their pants are chosen to colour coordinate their outfits) and socks:0. They have had completed outfits hanging in their wardrobe ready to pick out each morning. I mix and match them all on rotation when I'm putting the washing away. (Yes, I'm totally that OCD)

Easy ..... but then they go and grow up and you have to deal with respecting their choices and encouraging responsibility. 

Ouch!!

For quite a while I have made Tim responsible for putting away his clothes and putting together what he wears each day - (he would be more than happy for me to lay out clean clothes the night before to make mornings easier).

On the occasions Tim's clothes move from the dresser into his wardrobe and drawers, its not pretty. Let's just say coordination, mix and matching are not happening - don't even mention hanging or folding!

He does have very clear idea of the clothes he wants to purchase and it has been a good couple of years since I could just buy things for him without him with me:(

So in order to let him grow up and be more responsible I have to take a step back and accept the state of his wardrobe and his choices of clothes and coordination.

Generally, it is not too bad, but increasingly there is a definite scruffy look. (training/jogging pants and baggy hoodies are not meant to be worn e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y.)

I can certainly see a new chapter in our lives beginning and one I am learning to just take a breathe and smile through (sometimes with gritted teeth;)

But, I still get to insist he has new jeans (of his choice) and make an appointment at the hairdressers for him when his hair gets too messy and needs a cut!!! Yay for small victories;)

Wordless Wednesday - Tae's Favourite Things

(Peppa Pig, Airplanes, Sleep)

Cousin Fun!!

Both my boys adore their English cousins and love any time they can spend with them.

Tim tends to spend an increasing amount of time on the X-box online playing and chatting with cousin T.

Tae gets all his love and fun when we visit - and he certainly makes up for it when we are there.

My camera disappeared on Sunday when they came over for a visit and I loved to find these photos that they took!

Cousin B. is gorgeous! Not only is he smart, talented in all aspects of music, and rather handsome to boot, he has the most beautiful personality ever!!! (a very proud aunt here;)

The boy also has a serious guitar collection!!

The delightful H. simply loves the fact she has a little cousin to watch over and takes the job of being older very seriously. Apparently when my mum took Tae to pick her up from school, he had to be introduced to ALL the children in her class.

(Ooops, I have only just noticed the spilt cup of tea in the photo ... might want to call my mum later and have her check for a stain)

H and Tae play very nicely. I sneaked up on them and snapped pictures of them role playing together with an ambulance and spaceship. They were content playing like this for such a long time.

Tae loves his cousins T & C too, I didn't manage to get a shot of T, but managed to get C while he was sitting having a chat with his Nana.