When E. has woken up in the morning and I go into her room singing the following song while pulling up the blinds:
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
Good morning Ms E…. cock-a-doodle-do
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
Good morning Ms E…. cock-a-doodle-do
Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do
Good morning to you.
In the original song there’s Mr Rooster, but I changed it to Ms E.’.
Even if D. goes in to her first he sings this song too. Though he continues talking to her in Hungarian.
If E. wakes up late and D. has already gone to work we start the whole day in English. So, for instance, I change her nappy and night clothes while talking in English to her:
- asking about what she dreamt (I always wait a little for her answer)
- what the problem was during the night (if she was up)
- tell her milk is on the way
- while changing the nappy we have a rhyme that I always chant several times:
Baby’s got a dirty nappy
What shall we do? (What shall we do?)
Clean it up, clean it up
For Mommy and for you
She likes it a lot and smiles, what’s more, stays on her back patiently instead of turning onto her tummy or standing up. The rhyme is from here. You can find other games you can play, songs or rhymes to chant while your baby is on the changing table.
- we play peek-a-boo with her textile nappy (I cover her with the nappy then ask “Where’s E.? Where’s she gone?” then she takes the nappy off – or I do it) “I see you.” or “There you are.”. Another variation is I hide behind her feet and ask “Where’s Mommy?” or “Where’s Mommy gone?” Then I open her legs and say: “Here I am” or “Peek-a-boo”
- there’s a shelf over our changing table and at the bottom of it I stuck up wooden, painted animals, so I name them, make the sounds they make, or sing a song about them. E.g.:
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,
your house is on fire, your children are gone
All, but one her name is Ann,
and she has crept under a frying pan.
(I couldn’t find the tune online,but I’ll link it as soon as I do or please put it in a comment if you know where to find it)
or
Five little ducks went swimming one day
Over the pond and far away
Mommy duck said: quack-quack-quack
But only four little duck came back
Four little ducks went swimming one day
Over the pond and far away
Mommy duck said: quack-quack-quack
But only three little duck came back(on the changing table I usually start with 3 ducks and by the time I finish changing the nappy or clothes we’ll get to the end)
- still on the changing table we play “This little pig went to market“. E. likes this most on her toes. I grab each of her toes on one foot one by one and wiggle them a bit as I say the rhyme.
This little pig went to market;
This little pig stayed at home;
This little pig had roast beef;
And this little pig had none;
This little pig cried, “Wee, wee, wee!
All the way home. (I tickle the bottom of her foot)
- While I’m putting on her clothes I usually name her body parts and what clothes go where:
“Here’s your left arm, it goes into this sleeve”
or
“One foot goes into the tights, then the other foot goes into the tights” etc.
- at the breakfast table we play with the coffee cup and the matching teapot. Both have four fruit on them and I name them; she loves the grapes and screams with joy when we get there. And of course, we can’t miss singing “I’m a little teapot” (4 or 5 times – in fact, this is MY favourite song)
- E. didn’t use to like brushing or combing her hair, but when we sing along she enjoys it:
This is the way we comb (or brush) our hair
Comb our hair, comb our hair
This is the way we comb (or brush) our hair
Every day in the morning(I sing it twice as she expects me to comb my hair too)
- she often watches me brushing my teeth while she is sitting in her high chair after breakfast. Then we brush her teeth (or rather she just plays with the toothbrush) and I sing “This is the way we brush our teeth” (same as the combing song, the tune has several verses – see an example here )
- she sometimes watches me clear the breakfast table. I always tell her the name of the objects I put into the dishwasher, and I also tell her what I put into the fridge (the latter is more fun for her as I see because of the colourful things she can have a look at)
- if E. is whiny in her high chair then I put her into her playpen where she plays alone. This is the time when she listens to her collection of music (compiled from youtube and added the Helen Doron songs). In the meantime I can do some housework.
Yeah, I sing a lot and keep talking all the time. Sometimes by the afternoon I can hardly talk, am totally tired of speaking, not to mention singing. Thank Goodness for coffee. It always gives a little energy back.
When we have our Hungarian sessions we do more or less the same. The morning routine is the same, the games are the same, only the songs are different. Sometimes I sing the combing/teeth brushing song or “I’m a little teapot” in English as I don’t know any good Hungarian versions of them.
Non-native Mommy 