*Baby Corner*

[chili74 0]

Hi all-

Maybe this has been discussed elsewhere, but I have started a poll and discussion in "Moving Here & Your New Life in America" about languages in the home. Please vote and discuss! Thanks. (We are starting a family and researching how people handle this.)

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=189588

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

i speak english to zaid and hubby speaks arabic. Zaid is pickin up both.

[caybee 21]

i speak english to zaid and hubby speaks arabic. Zaid is pickin up both.

That's our plan too. We've heard it works very well if you're consistent from the start. My husband plans to speak mostly Darija to him as well as some of his parents' Amazigh language (he's not terribly fluent, but he can get by), and some standard Arabic as well, so that could get interesting.

My sister (sociologist) has read that the children of immigrants, the first generation born here, often will reach a point where they want nothing to do with the immigrant's culture for a while, though they often regain an interest in their 30s or later, and the next generation will often become very interested. Don't know how common that really is, but my husband does lament the fact that his Dutch cousins (first generation born there) know no Arabic and can't really communicate much with their Moroccan relatives. So we're going to help the baby soak up as much of it as possible when he is very little and language is so easy, so even if wants little part of it for a while as he gets older, it will still be in there waiting for him, and he will still have that connection to his Moroccan family.

[Nessa 23]

i'll speak portuguese with the baby and charles only speak english. so he'll pick up on some portuguese, we'll see.

[Chrissy25 0]

hubby just finished putting up the bassinet, we ended up getting the Boppy playard one, i really like it the only thing is the attached changing table is a little low

[Autumnchik 6]

I can't wait to see more new baby pics!!! I definitely have baby fever again

I just talked to my hubby. He and Declan are coming home on Tuesday. Can't wait to see my boys!

[keltic 1]

My wife was positive for GBS at her last appointment. Anyone else have GBS while pregnant before? How did it go?

GBS is VERY common. It is also VERY treatable. It is just something that you don't take chances with.

When you arrive in labor & delivery, they will start antibiotics through your wife's IV. Hopefully, there will be enough time to get in a few doses before the baby is born. If her labor is fast and they can not give enough doses of antibiotics, they will draw some blood from the baby. If the baby shows any signs or symptoms of infection, they will start antibiotics. If they do start antibiotics, they may last anywhere from 3 - 14 days. It all depends on the circumstances around the delivery & how the baby acts afterwards (including how the bloodwork comes back).

Best wishes!!

[Nessa 23]

i feel like i've been pregnant forever!

[Marina-Del 10]

i'll speak portuguese with the baby and charles only speak english. so he'll pick up on some portuguese, we'll see.

I'm not pregnant -yet - but I thought I'd post this anyway.

My parents friends did this Nessa. The man is Spanish and his wife is American. Throughout their children's early early childhood the mother ONLY spoke in English with the kids and the father ONLY spoke in Spanish with the kids. They did this until the children were about 3-4 years old each (they have 4 kids in total). The father told me one time that it was very interesting to see. Because when the kids were small (under 3-4) they would only speak to their father in Spanish and only speak to their mother in English. But when they turned about 3-4 (all individually so it is even more interesting!) the kids began to realize that their father spoke English too...so they began speaking in English with him as well! He continued to speak in Spanish with them and now sometimes they answer in Spanish and sometimes they answer in English.

The oldest of the four kids is about 9 now and the youngest about 4 and they are all completely fluent in both languages. They just got back from living a year in Spain and I'm sure that this helped solidify their Spanish speaking. The father told me that they have always visited his family in Spain for about 2 weeks every year since the kids were born and that the kids totally understand that his family in Spain do not understand English. It's interesting because it seems like the kids just innately knew that they had to speak in Spanish. They were trained from an early age to speak in Spanish when spoken to in Spanish and English when spoken to in English.

I plan on doing this with my kids as well, when I have them. I want them now!! Del will speak only in Portuguese and I will speak only in English!

[Nessa 23]

yeah but i plan on speaking only portuguese mostly at home. outside everybody speaks english so there's no need for us to be talking in a language other people don't understand. i think it's rude.

i also plan on buying some portuguese laerning books, so he'll learn to write proper portuguese as well. portuguese is a much more complex language than english. we have a word for everything, while here you mix words to change their meaning, get in, get up, get out, get down, etc

[Chrissy25 0]

i feel like i've been pregnant forever!

Me too!! i'm sorry but i'm looking forward to having a nice frosty beer this summer!

also O/T but when we do move, which form do i have to file with immigration to tell them of our change of address?

Edited April 6, 2009 by Chrissy25

[Nessa 23]

no idea.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

i also plan on buying some portuguese laerning books, so he'll learn to write proper portuguese as well. portuguese is a much more complex language than english. we have a word for everything, while here you mix words to change their meaning, get in, get up, get out, get down, etc

It may seem more complex but at the same time having a word for everything makes more sense to me. I always get confused with those get in/up/out/down/etc. But I suppose portuguese is like french, you have crazy conjugations too. That is the hardest part of the language IMO.

i feel like i've been pregnant forever!

Me too!! i'm sorry but i'm looking forward to having a nice frosty beer this summer!

also O/T but when we do move, which form do i have to file with immigration to tell them of our change of address?

I believe it's form AR-11.

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Is it true that if you do the double language thing, babies take longer to start talking? This happened to a friend of mine but I wanted to know if it was common for that to happen. I'd love for our baby to speak in spanish because I can't understand baby english

Saludos,

Caro

[Vi Mazzella 4]

My baby is just 3 weeks+ and we are already speking spanish (mommy) and english (daddy). Sofia is doing great, the only thing, is that she sleeps great during the day and at night still the same story,last night she was awake from 2am -6am and even if hubby got mad I put her to sleep with me on my bed,she loves it, she sleeps like and angel.

We are trying everything, formula at night, sing to her, bath to make her tired but so far nothing works.

Mommies@ how long did you wait until taking the baby outside??

I'm so tired, I'm going back to sleep...

good night girls..