Ali just saw this photo of herself on the screen and shouted out 'Mine'. She doesn't yet say 'me' but she says 'mine' when she sees herself. Her other new word is 'foo' and it means water or drink. It took me forever to figure this out as it's not Hungarian or English. It's Ali-language. She said it over the weekend and kept pointing at her mouth. Finally she grabbed my hand, pulled me over to the fridge and made me open it. She then pointed at a box of juice. I asked her, 'do you want something to drink?' and she nodded her big nod yes. I wasn't sure if 'foo' only meant drink until yesterday. I asked her where her duck was. She has this little yellow rubber duck that she loves. She carries it around and calls it 'Nana'. Not sure why as it looks nothing like her 'Nana' (Curt's mom). She didn't know where it was and looked at me and asked 'hol a nana?' (see my blog post from a couple days ago explaining her Hunglish language and you'll understand this better). I told her that I didn't know where her duck was but maybe it was in the bath - I was trying to get her towards the bath to join Mia anyway. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bathroom while repeating 'Nana. Foo. Nana. Foo.' In Ali language this means 'the duck is in the water'. Only I understand her. Curt has no idea and she gets very frustrated at trying to communicate with him. He just says 'that's nice Ali' or 'good girl' or 'really?' It's not much different with me now that I think about it... Just kidding!
It's rather unusual for Hungarians to send their kids to nursery school before the age of 2 years of age. A Hungarian woman gets 3 years maternity leave. Her job or at least another job of equal salary / rank must be kept open at her last place of registered employment. Her salary (not 100% the entire time) is paid out for all 3 years. We must have about 12 women out on maternity leave right now. We are responsible for their salary up to so many months then their socialized benefits (which we've paid into during their full time employment) kick in. The Hungarians population is decreasing drastically and it's normal for a Hungarian couple to have only 1 child. Many of them that I have met said that they usually have to make the choice of a home (other than with their families / parents) or a child or 2. The Hungarian government is coming up with many incentives for mothers like the 3 years paid maternity leave. If a Hungarian woman has 3 children, it is considered equal to a full time job and they are paid out a full time salary until, I believe, the children are all over 18 years of age. As of January 2006, the government passed another law that in addition to a monthly payment, a large lump sum would also be paid at the time of the child's birth. I'm not sure what the equation is as to how they figure this out but I know that I benefitted from this new law with Ali and got just under 3 million HUF in CASH via registered mail. Curt signed for it so I think I only saw half of it ;-) Still, it's a huge incentive! (No, I am not pregnant again!)
In addition to all of this, the Hungarians do not have to pay for nursery school or public school in their district. Heidi Ovoda where Ali goes is a private school so there are quite a few German children (they speak Hungarian mostly but all the teachers speak German and they teach about 15% of the time in German) and a lot of wealthy Hungarians. One of them being the most successful, wealthy in Hungary. Ali and their son, Norbi Jr. are inseparable! They hold hands everywhere they go. She calls him 'shoo-shoo'. I included a photo of him with Ali taken this summer at the pool when they went wth Marcsi, Brigi and their family. His father (also Norbi) has become famous by developing a Weight Watcher type program in Hungary where all his foods (sold at all grocery stores) have points and you add up points / day rather than calories or fat. He now is one of the 2 trainers on Hungary's show 'Biggest Loser'. Norbi and his wife (she's also a fitness guru) are huge celebrities here and everyone falls all over them. Then there is me who called Norbi's mom, Rita rather than Reka by accident one day. I wonder if she's aware that their fame in Hungary pretty much stays in Hungary? Nonetheless, their children (they also have a daughter, Lara, that is Mia's age) are adorable!
Here they are with Marcsi who owns and runs the school.
Here Ali is playing with Mia's friend, Keira (almost 4 years old) and then Keira's big brother, Riley (12 yrs).
