Congratulatory/welcome phrases in Ukrainian

[Skrej]

Hello everyone.

I'm an ESL teacher here in the US. I had a former student call me yesterday asking about returning to class. She has been out for a while on maternity leave, and now has a six month old boy. When congratulating her and asking how the baby was doing, she said he was doing well, but then laughed and said "He's getting so fat".

She is also bringing a Ukrainian friend who has recently arrived in the US, who's interested in enrolling in some college classes to study computers/information technology. I teach at a local community college, so I frequently help our students enroll in non-ESL classes as well. We'll be meeting in my office to see how I can best help them.

So, I have a couple of questions.

1) Can anyone suggest some phrases or terms in Ukrainian that would be appropriate to specifically commenting on the baby in a congratulatory way? Are there any particular phrases you might say when you see someone's baby for the first time? As mentioned, she called him 'fat', so perhaps a funny (but positive) term to refer to him that way? Any suggestions welcome. Any other terms of endearment one uses for babies in Ukrainian? If there's a funny term or phrase, that would be great, but even a straightforward 'congratulations' would be fine. Even something I could direct towards the baby like "Hi little guy".

She speaks very good English, but I'd like to offer something in her native language.

2) What are some common or traditional welcome phrases I could offer to her friend (who I'll be meeting for the first time). Something simply like "Welcome" or 'Nice to meet you". I've always believed that even just attempting a few words in someone's native language is appreciated, even if they speak your language as well.

I speak no Ukrainian, so please keep in mind I need relatively short phrases to have any chance of not completely butchering the language!

I appreciate your suggestions.

[linguoboy]

Omniglot is a good first stop for basic polite phrases: https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/ukrainian.php.

I can check with my friend Дмитрий about specific phrases for complimenting a baby.

ETA: Reply from Дмитрий.

Вітаю ваше янголятко! (Congratulations to your little angel!)

If the goal is to greet mom, letting her know that she has a wonderful boy:
Який файний хлопчик! (What a fine boy!)
Який файний карапуз! (strong baby)
Який файний товстунчик! (fat but it's good)
Яке миле янголятко! (what a cute little angel).

For addressing the child directly:
Мій любий карапузе! (My dear tot!)
Дитятко моє! (My little child!)
Крихітка моя! (My little crumb!)

[Osias]

Olá, bem-vindo ao fórum Unilang, espero que você curta o site e escreva em outros lugares além dos seus posts iniciais. E que participe dos jogos de línguas e tente aprender português brasileiro. Sugiro também preencher os dados do perfil com quais línguas estuda ou fala e se apresentar neste tópico: https://forum.unilang.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37190

Hi, welcome to Unilang forum, I hope you enjoy the site and write in another places beyond your initial posts. And that you play the language games and try and learn Brazilian Portuguese. I suggest also you to fill your personal profile with the language you study or speak and introduce yourself on that thread: https://forum.unilang.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37190