CACA

Here are a few pics of Alex and his friend "Caca" Camille during recent playtime together.






She lives just across the hall from us, and although she's 3 yrs older than him, they play well together. Alex gets SO excited to have someone around to play with, and cries any time they have to part ways. Every time we pass by their door, he points and says "Caca."

Yes, he actually does call her Caca. (That's French for "poop.") Luckily she understands how he could derive "caca" from "Camille," and isn't offended by it. Nor is Erica, our superb babysitter and cleaning lady, whom he ALSO enthusiastically calls Caca. To his credit, this isn't the same word that he uses for poop; we call it "po po". That's another variation that the French use with kids, but which always kinda makes me laugh because I know some American little girls who use "po po" for their private parts. Anyway, today we wondered if he wasn't getting a few things mixed up, because when he pointed to the neighbors' door he called out "Pee Pee." Then it all became clear when we realized he was referring to Camille's father, Pierre-Marie. ("Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to meet our lovely neighbors, Pee Pee and his daughter Caca.") Too funny!

Actually, his language has really been developing over the past month or so, both in French and English. He repeats a lot of what we say, but is showing that he's retaining lots of it, as well. Case in point: good 'ol "po po." Although he's by no means potty trained yet, he's starting "announcing" to us sometimes when he's going po po. Once while playing in his bed after a nap (which quite often he'll do quietly for OVER AN HOUR -- we're SO lucky!), I even heard him announcing "po po" to his stuffed animals. Sure enough, when I came to get him out of his bed, I found out that he'd meant business.

We have gotten a potty out and started having him sit on it occasionally to get used to the idea (although usually he's not interested), thanks to the inspiration of WonderChild Claire who visited last month. (At only 7 months old, she was already using the potty whenever placed on it, and had been for a couple of months. She was also already pulling to stand and crawled up several steps. Bravo, WonderMom Amy!) Here are a couple of pics from that first potty experience.