Alita at 19 months

It's getting easier and easier to translate from Alitese to English these days, though every once in a while a Portuguese word slips by us that we can't quite understand...

We are pretty sure that Alita can now officially count (to two). Whenever I put her shoes on, she says "one!" with the first one and "dooo!" with the second one. She also can answer the question, "How many ____ does [mommy] have?" except that the answer is always "faaaahv!" (five). This is a great party trick, because we just ask her how many fingers and toes do various people have, and invariably people are impressed that she knows they have five! Well, tonight at the dinner table I asked her "how many legs does mommy have?" and she responded with an enthusiastic "faaahhv!!"

Alita now loves to do the splits (or at least try) on a slippery wooden floor. She also loves to insist that she do things by herself, which she expresses by saying "seffff!" She uses this for eating (she can now feed herself an entire bowl of oatmeal or soup by herself, brush her teeth by herself, and climb up and down stairs by herself, all with limited oversight by a watchful mommy or daddy.

Alita can name just about any food that she eats on a regular basis, including:
"enom" - melon (not to be confused with "enom" the word for airplane or "enom" for lemon)
"nnnn-gah" - yogurt
"babyboo" - baby food
"maow" - milk
"staaoom" - spoon
"wanini" - zucchini
"pepppo" - peppers
"saaass" - applesauce (or spaghetti sauce, depending on the context)
"noonoof" - noodles (or "pasta")
"beps" - grapes
"bagdiddies" - strawberries or blueberries

Around the couch she likes to point out various things, like "wow" (wall), "ai-do-doff" (fireplace), "dor" (door) and "owtzaie" (outside).

What a joy she is at this precious age!!

Christmas in Patagonia

We had a fabulous trip to Patagonia for Christmas and New Year's. Alita loved the hiking, and the mountains were spectacular.

Alita picked up many new words, including "rivahh" = river, "hola!", and "bridge".

We hiked around some volcanoes in the Pucon/Lake District...

We spent plenty of time just relaxing and enjoying the surroundings.
The colors of the lakes were unreal.

Guanacos grazing in the meadow.
Sometimes it got so windy we had to hold Alita down so she didn't blow away.