Six Months

Two weeks ago, we celebrated our six month anniversary of living in France.  And, by “celebrated” I mean that we remembered the next day and one of us mentioned it to the other and we both said “oh, yay!”  We are grateful for the time we’ve had to spend here, immersed in the language, learning the grammar, and preparing ourselves in this way to serve in Congo…and six months down means only four months to go!

Six months here also marks another big milestone…  When we first arrived and learned some French phrases, we began using them at home with the kids.  (Matthew has been using French for a long while, but I was a little behind…)  Levi was always really interested in learning French, but Amelia buckled, scowled and generally was not cool with that.  So, we backed off – there were enough changes in her little life.

Some friends here told us that this is normal, but at around six months their kiddos suddenly started speaking French (comprehension comes a lot quicker, but it is really subtle with little ones).

We, of course, forgot this fact…but sure enough, last week, Amelia broke out of her shell and began speaking to us in French.  Not always understandable French, but always French-sounding babble.  But, SOME of it is real French…and she can name most everything around her (even I didn’t know some of the words, but Levi confirmed them for me).  She even scolded Levi one day for speaking in English.

This is an awesome milestone and we’re so excited for her.  Not only because she’s progressing in her French, but because it also means she is more comfortable with the changes in her life.  She misses her friends and surroundings in Idaho (her only memories), but this is an excellent step!