About La Mother Tongue


La Mother Tongue is my medium to share the joys and challenges of being a new parent as well as to share how we make a conscious effort in our daily life to bring baby up bilingual.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Looking For Carros


Did you ever think that the juguetería could be so much fun?  We needed to make a “quick” trip to ToysRUs.  Quick?  іJa ja jee jee!  As we are comparing and contrasting the vagones, Sofía discovers the motorized carros.  She and El Oso played and tried out EVERY carro. 

Maybe it’s a Latina thing, because there were other Little Latinos doing the same thing! She wouldn’t leave. She keeps asking to go back…..which we did and she then she added a new dimension to her pretend play—mecánica!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Un Retrato

We’re driving down the road when Sofía tells me that she drew a picture that I HAVE to see.  When we reached a traffic light, I turned around.  She was right!  It definitivamente was a retrato that I HAD to see!



Friday, April 13, 2012

Clase de Ballet


In a previous post, I mentioned that Sofía LOVES Anelina Bailarina.  So we signed up for Clases de Ballet.  Sofía was sooo emocionada to go to her first Clase de Ballet!  When we got there….she wouldn’t go in without me.  She wouldn’t go in with me watching her from 2 feet away at the window.  She watched the other little bailarinas from outside the class and REALLY wanted to go in….but not without MAMI.  I was really frustrated by this at first.  My thinking was that she is three years old, so she should be ok with attending a class without holding my hand.  Then after I spent the ENTIRE day thinking about it, I came to a conclusion that really put me at peace.  Sofía IS only 3 años.  She doesn’t know the teacher, and she doesn’t know the other girls.  I spend a LOT of time teaching her to NOT go to or talk to people she doesn’t know, so why would she want to go into a room without me?  She IS only 3 años!  Soon enough, she won’t want to go ANYWHERE with mi esposo or me…..so for now, if she doesn’t want to go into a class without me…SO BE IT!  J  The next class, with a little azucar and cariño, Sofía participated in the Clase de Ballet.  I had to stand at the window the entire time where she could turn around at any moment and look at me for reassurance.  Like Celia Cruz said, “іLa Vida es un Carnaval!” and La Clase de Ballet es maravilloso!


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Sofia Writes Her Name

One day while we are outside playing with tiza, Sofía starts writing and announces to me that she has just written her nombre!  And guess what?  She did!  ііBravo!!


Sunday, April 8, 2012

Feliz Pascua

іFeliz Pascua!
Although neither mi esposo or I grew up with Easter Egg Hunts or the Conejito de Pascua, we certainly do embrace the tradition in our house.  It seems so neat to me, that I have to join in the festivities!  So EVERY year since mi esposo and I have been together, I always make him hunt for eggs and his basket on Easter morning.  So of course…..while Sofía’s Primas the Trillizas were here…there were lots of Egg Hunters! 



What would a celebration be without celebratory centerpieces?? 

Before our Pascua dinner later in the day, all the familia went outside to search for más eggs!


Hmmm....El Conejito de Pascua doesn't always give chocolate?
Pero como normal……it seemed like Sofía’s favorite part was el postre!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

¿Cuatrillzas?

Well…YOU probably are only seeing triple BUT….Sofía was definitely seeing cuádruple when her primas the Trillizas came to visit us! Sofía thought that she was the quadruplet of the Trillizas (if that makes any sense). She LOVED having herprimas visit and was soooo very sad when they had to return to their casa in Connecticut. Luckily we can see them on their Mami’s blog, It’s a Trip to Raise Triplets!
Another plus for us was that their Mami understood us en Español!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Conejo de Pascua

We went to the mall to see El Conejo de Pascua.  The display was FABULOSO!!  Flowers and hidden egg treasures everywhere!  We didn't actually snap a foto with the Conejo, but we did see him and guess what!  He spoke ESPAÑOL!!!


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Plastilina Primavera

We have varios tarros of Play Dough in our house, but that never takes away from the delight in making our own Plastilina Casera. 























We used our Plastilina Primavera to make Esculturas Primaveras which we wrote about on SpanglishBaby.  Click here to read about how to make your own Botero Inspired Esculturas Primaveras.

We usually make our Plastilina seasonal.  In the fall, we made Plastilina with an aroma of cloves and cinnamon with a speckled brown color.  Since it is Abril, we used an algodón dulce flavoring which gave our plastilina a deli aroma and a sharp aqua pastel.  

To make Plastilina Primavera, you will need the following ingredientes:

















 Plastilina Primavera

¾ Cup Boiling Water
1 Cup Flour
½ Cup Salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon Cream of Tartar
(For our Plastilina Primavera, we added Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Flavor Mix.  I used the entire envelop of 3 gramos, but I recommend only using half the envelop.)


Mix dry ingredientes together first. My Sous Chef assisted. 















Add the liquids.  Stir together in a large bowl.

























Stir together until the masa forms a ball. Add flour as needed to decrease stickiness and voila--¡Plastilina Primavera!









Making Plastilina Casera is a fun activity in which your whole familia can participate….it is really difícil for anyone to resist playing with it!  Once the dimensions of color and aroma are added…well…I would say, Plastilina Primavera is addictve!
















Just a reminder to check out further actividades to create with your Plastilina Primavera.   Click here to read about how to make your own Botero Inspired Esculturas Primaveras.