Marie's Web Log

Amelia had another bad night last night. She woke up crying at about 2 am. It's almost like she's having a nightmare, which then segues into a tantrum-like episode. I hesitate to use the word tantrum, as to me it implies wilfullness and ill-temper. But it's more like she has very strong feelings and just can't get her message across. Which I guess is an alternate definition.

We don't know why she woke up this time. She is still teething a little, and had had a very active day, so that might have played a part. She didn't go back to sleep until 3:30. She is at the stage now where she can ask for a cuddle, which she did after her crying subsided. Very sweet.

In fact, she is at the stage now where her language is exploding all over the place. She repeats every word I say, and remembers them too. She is starting to say the names of some of the other children at daycare. It's quite fascinating. I only wish we were able to provide her with a truly bilingual household. One of Ian's classmates, a girl from Beijing, came to visit on Saturday, and I'm hoping she will come regularly and talk to Amelia in Mandarin.

My own Chinese course ends in two weeks' time. I have really enjoyed it, though one night a week is not enough to become fluent. (Obviously!) One of the challenges with Chinese is that foreigners learn it through a system of romanisation called "pinyin." Learning the written characters is a separate enterprise. So you almost have to learn it twice.

Wode Zhongguoren pengyou, nimen zenme yang? Women mama huhu - hen mang. Tianqi tebie leng. Shang ge xingqi, xia xue le!

It has been cold lately, almost to Canadian standards. Today it rained, the first time in quite a while. Can't think what else I had to say. Ian got some results back from his essays and was pleased with the marks. I am busy working on the book proposal (much delayed due to me not doing anything on it!) and trying to figure out how to get more editing/writing work.

All for now. Hope you are all well.