Goals for 2011

I’ve just finished a yummy lunch of black eyed peas for good luck. I hope you are having a Happy New Year’s Day.

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Why do kids learn language so easily?

I’ve been observing the growing language skills of my 2-going-on-3 year old. I’ve been taking notice of how he has moved from one and two word sentences to expressing more complex ideas like supposed events that will take place in the future.

Watching him acquire the English language has made me reflect on my own second language acquisition of Spanish. Not only is he quite talkative around people he knows well, he also experiments with sounds and sentence structure. He freely talks to me. When he makes a grammatical or pronunciation error, I correct him, and he enthusiastically will repeat the correction.

What my son has is a lack of fear in learning English. He knows that I will not ridicule him for saying something incorrectly. He has confidence in his current abilities, too. This is the key, so I will repeat: he is confident and lacks fear about learning English. We should all be this way when we learn a second language.

It’s interesting to note that my son is resistant to me speaking to him in Spanish. He’ll say, "Oh, mama, don’t say that." or "I don’t like that." He has a basic need to learn English because of his environment. He doesn’t need to know Spanish, and is not really motivated to learn. I can get him to watch Plaza Sésamo with me. But, I think, for my son, that is really the motivation of seeing Elmo, not learning Spanish.

I personally don’t buy into the common notion that as we age, our ability to learn a second language decreases. I have read recommendations on parenting websites that you should start exposing your child to foreign language learning and experiences before age 2 or else the brain will not be capable of acquiring a second language as easily.

One person who has learned multiple languages as an adult, and debunks this theory, is Benny Lewis. He has a wonderful website, Fluent in Three Months, where he tracks his 3 month language missions and travels around the world. If you are interested in learning a second language, or need a confidence boost, Benny is the man to read. I have just downloaded his Language Hacking Guide, and I’m looking forward to reading it this weekend.

With inspirations like Benny, I know it is possible for me to become fluent in Spanish. And I will continue to watch and admire my son as his English proficiency grows, and will model his enthusiasm and confidence as I work towards my own fluency in Spanish..

Look for an opportunity to be remarkable

Inspired by Srini Rao’s talk, Don’t Look for a Job: Look for An Opportunity to Be Remarkable, I reflected on the many opportunities to be remarkable. If you haven’t seen this video, I recommend you take a listen to what Srini says. His remarks are valid for both college students as well as seasoned professionals.

I’ve thought about ways I’ve tried to be remarkable in my own life, and what might apply for other situations as well.

Work life:

• Look for ways to stream line processes. Oftentimes, a certain process exists in a company, because “that’s the way we have always done this.” Be an innovator and a problem solver and look for ways to automate tasks, or cut out the fluff. I’m a software tester by profession, and I really try to automate 80% of my tasks. This lets me focus on the remaining 20%, which is usually the really hard stuff.
• Question whether you really need to be at that meeting. Unfortunately, some companies have many meetings, and there exists the culture of having pre-meeting meetings. If you don’t really think you need to be there, say so. Ask if you can just get the summary of decisions made. This way, you will have more time to...
• Focus on your most important project. If you don’t know what this is, ask your manager or boss. Find out what the most important thing is that you need to be working on today, and work on fulfilling that. When I arrive at work each morning, I ask myself this question. I periodically will discuss this with my manager to make sure that our goals are synchronized.

Now I realize that these tips are probably not what Srini had in mind. I assume that you already have a job, and are looking for ways to be remarkable there. I also believe that there are ways to be remarkable beyond the 9 to 5.


Life in general:

• Give your stuff away. This last weekend, I was gathering up our old baby gear, and was planning on taking it to a local resale shop to see if they needed any of it. Some things, like portacribs, are not accepted at Goodwill, so, I might as well try to make a buck if I can. I have also asked other expectant parents if they needed any of this, but hadn’t found a good home for everything. But, then my partner, D, asked an expectant co-worker if they needed anything. She said yes, and was so grateful for the offer. Her husband has been out of work, and they only had bought a crib. I feel so helpful that I can give them our old car seat/stroller combo, as you need a car seat to leave the hospital with your newborn.
• Invite people over. Whether for a meal, or to stay the night, people thrive on human interaction. Make memories for your family, and have a great time.
• Learn a foreign language. You will not only gain the ability to speak to more people on planet Earth, you will also expose yourself to new cultures and new ideas. And this makes it more fun to...
• Travel. Everyone loves to travel, right? The best way to do it, though, is to avoid packaged tours and cruises, and get into the daily lifestyle of your destination. This, again, expands your mind as you learn how other people live and think. You will find that this exposure will change you on the inside. After living in Germany for three months, I again yearn for another opportunity to submerse myself in another culture.

I’m sure there are lots of other ways to be remarkable in your life. I’ve only scratched the surface.

Disneyland 2009

Part 5 of 5. (Finally!)

Dana Point with mi prima

Part 4 of 5. The little man loved the beach! Well, he loved the water, but not the sand so much. He doesn't really like dirty hands or dirty feet, so it was a bit of problem at times. And he was having so much fun playing with the little dump truck, he wouldn't eat very much. Too busy! After the beach, we were all going to go somewhere for lunch, but the little man fell asleep in my arms as I was about to put him in the car seat.

Friday night at the Angels game

Part 3 of 5.

In Anaheim

Part 2 of 5. The little man loved spending time with Abuela, Grandpa and his uncle. There were new toys to play with, and a new "outside" to discover and explore. He loved picking up and examining leaves on the ground. And watering the plants with Abuela.

On the way to LAX

The first in a series of our vacation to Orange County, CA.

Strolling through New Orleans, November 2008

Updated Xmas 2008 photos

I updated the Christmas 2008 slideshow with some of my mom's photos: Christmas 2008. It includes this photo, which I call, "I AM the camera!"

Christmas 2008 in Orange County, California

New Orleans 2008

On our way home from Mississippi, we took a quick detour to the French Quarter in New Orleans. I just had to have beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe Du Monde, and D indulged my whim. (BabyBoy had a much healthier snack of spaghetti with meat sauce.)

Mississippi 2008

Trip to Corpus Christi

Saturday, we went to Corpus Christi. Here's BabyBoy in the car seat, holding his bottle all by himself. He did really well for the long car ride.

Here is the memorial to Selena:

And here we are at the waterfront:

Brandenburg Gate

From a different angle than you usually see it. Taken 21 November 2005.

Boston, 2006

Time for another photo flashback...

Me near the Tadpole Playground in the Boston Commons, 13 November 2006.

The sun

For the first day of summer, a few photos of the sun:


A napkin decoration from a restaurant in Saltillo, Mexico, taken 13 August 2005.


A local holiday in Heidelberg, Germany, 6 November 2005, involving the children carrying lanterns.

On vacation

I'm excited to be taking a week-long vacation to visit family in California now that I'm in between jobs. Traveling with a 5 month old on an airplane for the first time will also definitely be an experience. We have been strategizing for weeks now. Do we check in the car seat and stroller frame? (Yes.) Do we buy 2 seats or 3 seats? (2 seats.) Do I nurse or take the easy way out and bottle-feed? (Bottle-feed. My son is quite the noisy, arm-waving nurser, making it difficult to cover up and be discreet.) Do I take the electric pump or manual pump? (Manual.) How many diapers, clothes, burp cloths, toys, etc. do we take? (Whatever clothes, burp cloths and toys we can fit in the suitcase, but buy diapers when we get there.)

I plan to also try to keep up with daily posting to this blog. I'll have internet access, and I also figured out how to blog from my mobile phone. Yay, I'm a geek!

Laredo, Texas

Taken on a very hot day in July 2005. We went to visit Laredo and Nuevo Laredo (just across the border). I remember thinking at the time, I wouldn't mind coming back for another visit. This was right before the drug gang wars and violence got out of hand. So, it might be a long time before I go back there.

Heidelberger Weihnachtsmarkt

J and I eating bratwurst at the Heidelberger Weihnachtsmarkt. Taken 27 November 2005 in Heidelberg, Germany.