Yesterday, Mama and I went for my third appointment at the Centre d'Action Medico-Sociale Precoce (CAMSP). The CAMSP is a centre for extra special people like me, where lots of magic people help me overcome some of my difficulties and make the most of some of my qwerks. My paediatrician there is just great - a real Lady - and Mama likes her a LOT. Quite uncharacteristically, Mama has placed absolute trust in this fabulous Lady's abilities, thoughts, advice and medical stuff. Wow! is all I can say! Good on ya Doctor! and I must say - I've taken a shine to you too! And the place is like a dream for an adventurous little Princesses like me!!
I've been on a waiting list for a place at the CAMSP for just over a year now - over half my life!!! Well, yesterday's appointment was very fruitful for a number of reasons, but mostly because
they offered me a place, starting from September! Mama is over the moon cos she knows this is a wonderful opportunity for me to make
loads and loads of progress. Its also precious in that Mama and Papa will be plunged into regular contact with people who can share lots of invaluable advice about ME ME ME ME (to which I offer no objection of course!) and remind them about things that wouldn't otherwise occur to them. Mama finds this very, very useful indeed.
Yesterday, for example, the doctor helped Mama to realise that she needs to stop mollycoddling me a bit. OK, so I can't spell mollycoddling properly - but my Mama sure can
DO it properly! Things like doing stuff
FOR me, rather than
letting me think about how I could do it myself. Apparently this is classic behaviour for parents of Princesses like me, but Mama was really pleased at having someone gently jolt her into the reality of the fact that I can, actually, be
encouraged to do things for myself. 
You don't think you're smothering me there, do you, Mama?
Another example : I love Mama to give me my nice warm bottle in the morning. Its such a precious moment, and we both love to snuggle up to each other, still half asleep, as I guzzle and guzzle and guzzle from the large teat. But we were reminded that I'm too old for drinking from a bottle ... instead, it would do me a world of good to sit at the table and have a proper breakfast, and importantly, solid food which I can (try to) eat by myself and chew on.
(methinks a British breakfast is a tad ambitious Mama)
Mama had no idea that feeding oneself and chewing food are actually directly linked to learning to talk. Yes these are all part of an important milestone for me, particularly as I am starting to utter my first words :
Bye Bye (Baah Baah)
Au Revoir (Ravwaaaahr)
Mama (Mumuh)
Papa (Bubuh)
Mama was so AMAZED when the Doctor told her all this!!!
Eureka - WORDS are so important for me right now! Let's go for it BIG TIME!!
We also got confirmation of the fact that it is probably best to speak to me in just one language. As some of you already know, my Papa is French, and he speaks to me and my brothers in French. My Mama is a native English-speaker, so she speaks to us all in English.
Or at least, she did.
Yeah! Victory to the French language!!!
Based on some expert advice we were given, she is trying very hard to speak to me just in French, so that my brain only has to focus on one language at a time, not two. (if we had been living in an English-speaking country, we would have opted for the English language).
I know its not easy for Mama, and instinctively, she starts all her sentences in English, and then quickly switches to French (she thinks I don't notice! oh come on!!!), but she's getting there. And it must be said, since she has started speaking to me in French, I have suddenly started taking a keener interest in language and in making noises which ressemble the ones the Bernard Bunch say. I promise to try to learn English when I'm older, Mama, ok? Deal???
So now we are going to focus lots more on my learning to eat for myself, on learning to chew (no more pureed dinners that Mama lovingly prepares for me!).
You guys need to leave me learn to eat all by myself.
My way.
and you, Mama, have got to start realising that I am NOT your little kitten anymore, but I am a BIG little girl!!!!
(except when I cry, have a smelly bottom, need a bath, wake up at night, get bruised, have a hospital visit, get pushed around by my brothers or am generally bored - then I can be your baby again)
Also the whole family has to
talk to me more, and talk me through everything
they do with me so that I can start picking up some vocabulary. Its true, the Bernard Bunch does tend to assume that I can't understand and so they get on with things for me, like getting me dressed for example, without talking me through it. In fact, a kind of osmosis effect is launching into operation in my brain at the moment, so the more they talk, the more I will pick up ...
... this might seem obvious to most people, but it hadn't dawned on the Bernard Bunch AT ALL. This could be a mixture of being the third child, being a little girl after two boystrous boys, and being considered fragile by everyone which makes them tend to just do everything for me.
William PUT ME DOWN : I CAN walk you know!!!
Well I tell you what :
Things are gonna change around here Bernard Bunch!!!Keep plugged in to witness how well the Bernard Bunch does in remembering all the precious advice!!! I plan to grade all members of the Bernard Bunch at how well they do ... stay tuned folks!!!
OK Mama, no need to overdo the stimulation thing now ...
I think we are all driving Mama potty - erm ... literally. She a tad fed up with cleaning up the smelly mess the Bernard Puppies are leaving behind them wherever they go ...
