New Trick!

What do you do after nap?

Today Keanu brought a note home from school about swimming lessons offered in the afternoons during August. I wanted to know what he would miss at school if we signed him up for swimming lessons, so I asked "what do you do after your nap at school everyday?"

ummm, first I make my blanket little. (fold it)
Then I go downstairs and drink the rest of my water. (pause)
What do you do after that?
Then I go potty.
Then I wash my hands.
And then I eat something.
And I put my bowl back in my lunchbox.
Then I put my lunchbox in my backpack.
And my water bottle, too.
Then I go potty again. (pause)
And then?
Then I go play!

Gosh, I wonder if he'll have time to do all of that if he takes swimming lessons!

Hello, LA!

We're on our pilgrimage to the motherland and are enjoying LA for a few more hours. Here are some quotables from the first leg of our trip:

"Mommy, I want to go shopping."
- Kate, as we were pacing the airport waiting for our first flight. I guess she didn't think looking in the duty free shops was shopping.

"I want to fly my airplane!"
- Kate, as she was stuck sitting in her economy class seat instead of the captain's cabin. This was followed by tears and further attempts to fly the plane. She looked all over for the place to drive the plane. At least by the time we got to the second flight she realized her seat was acceptable and that she wouldn't be flying the plane.

"Where's the slide?"
- Kate, as she was looking around the airplane. The flight attendant told her it was stuck in the door, but that she hoped we wouldn't have to use it. This was somewhere around 39,000 feet.

"The plane is turning... Now we're going down."
- Keanu, from his aisle seat.

"And then we can walk to Grandma's house?"
-Keanu, when we arrived in LA and didn't go right to Grandma's house.

"What kind of plane will take us to Grandma's house? I think it's a green one."
- Keanu, when looking at all the different kind of airplanes in LA. I'm not sure where he got that idea since we didn't see any green ones there.

"When we get to Grandma's new house, I want to be the first one to go in."
- Keanu, in LA

"Mommy, where's my grandma? I want to see my grandma."
- Kate, in LA

Look, Mommy, my baby!

overheard

We're hopping on a plane in a few hours, so last evening was spent in preparation. After dinner I was trying to get Keanu to come upstairs to choose some toys to bring in his backpack for the plane ride.
And then?
and then we'll take a shower
Then?
We'll read a story.
Then?
We'll go to sleep.
(he turns around to go back downstairs to watch TV as if to say "If we're not leaving tonight, I don't have to get ready yet."

Too excited to sleep, he stayed up well past his mother's bedtime!


Today we went out for lunch and have just returned to put the last few things in the bags and then head to the airport in about 2 hours. On the way home, Keanu asked
Where are we going?
Home to take a nap and put the bags in the car.
No! Mine is already here. (He'd brought his backpack along with about 5 toys with him) Let's go to the airport now.

I guess that's all you need for 3-plus weeks!

"Look, Mommy, I found it he mommy!" explained

Obviously no one is figuring this one out. I have to admit, it's pretty tricky.

If you look carefully at the picture, you can see a few pairs: Xx, Tt, Uu and hidden behind her hand there's Ii. She's matching upper and lower case letters together, thus the "mommy" and the "baby"!

Isn't she creative?!

Look, Mommy, I found it he mommy!

Can you figure out what she's talking about?

What do kitties drink?

This post and then this one reminded reminded me of a conversation Kate and I had the other day on our way home:

Me: Kate, look! There are baby kitties over there!
Kate: Yeah, kitties! I like kitties.
Me: (after watching them for a minute or two) Kate, do you know what kitties eat?
Kate: (shakes head)
Me: Little kitties like this usually drink milk.
Kate: Kitties no want it drink my milk (running away) Me no like little kitties.

Perhaps I nursed her for too long, perhaps she was verbal quite early, but whatever the case Kate thinks she has "milk" on her chest. I think she was pretty scared!

"I don't want it cry!"

said Kate, this morning as I combed through her bed head. Yay for a day of combed hair and no tears to go along with it!

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten

feelings a mom can have...

Having your son rush to your arms with a grin the size of the moon after school on Friday saying, "Guess what? The card I made for you is in my backpack!" No surprise. No delay. Just pure excitement over something that he made for me.

Happy Mother's Day!

Again?

Kate: What's that?
Me: it's a sweet potato.
Kate: Sweet potato again?
Me: Does Ahma give you lots ofsweet potatoes?
Kate: Nope, you.

Where are the fish?

They've been gone for close to a year, but Keanu remembers helping Teresa feed her fish.

Keanu: Where are Gugu's fish?
me: She took them to (her husband's) shop, remember?
K: Why?
Me: Because she spends more time there than she does here.
K: Why?
Me: Because she loves him. You know what? Someday when you get really big you might find someone to love and marry, too.
K: You mean like Kate?

No, you're not going to marry your sister!

Why do we have to wear seatbelts?

That's the question I heard from the back seat one day last week coming home from school. So we went home and did our own version of the Crash Test Dummies with Legos. Conclusion: without being properly attached a bear and robot will fly out of the back of a truck.

It's a girl -

and she's wearing a dress!

It doesn't happen often, so we've got to document it when it does!

April 1

2007 - A gorgeous Sunday in which we took our newborn out wearing shorts!

2011 - A chilly Friday (but nothing compared to the frigid temps earlier in the week!) in which our preschooler is spending the evening playing with the fishing pole that his school gave him for children's day (4/4). You might also notice the remote controlled helicopter sitting beside him. That's his newest favorite. More on that one another day!

Where 'd he go?

Here's a fun game for you. See this bird?

Can you find him/her in this picture that Keanu took when he kidnapped my camera?
We were at CKS Memorial hall a couple of weeks ago to feed the fish when we saw several bird watchers with giant camera looking for something. I figured out it must be that bird and that was the best shot I could get of it with my little point and shoot.

Now, here's the next question, what kind of bird is it and why was it attracting so much attention?

Best Buddies

Keanu: Mommy, Kate's playing with my computer!
Me: That's OK. Why don't you play with her?
Keanu: Oh, OK. Kate, can I play, too?
Kate: Yayyyy!

If only this weren't the rare exception to the rule...

Who knew?

Who knew that cleaning the toilet could lead to an arguement?

Tonight as the kids were finishing baths, I decided to clean the toilet. That got Kate out of the tub so she could help scrub the toilet. And when Keanu saw she was having such a great time scrubbing the toilet, he needed to help, too.

so...

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 Keanu's turn"

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Kate's turn"

... Until it was time to bruch teeth instead of tiolets!

I'm a ...

This evening after dinner:
Kate: Mommy, I'm a boy.
me: Oh really? How about Keanu?
her: He a girl.
me: oh. Are you sure?
her: yeah.

(30 seconds later)
Kate: Mommy, I'm a frog. (as she "jumps" on all fours)
me: Jump, Frog, Jump! Are you still a boy?
her: No, I a frog.
me: Good! Jump, Frog, Jump!


(2 minutes later)
Kate: Mommy, I a butterfly (as she "flies" around the room)

Funnye thing about this conversation is that I remember the exact same conversation with her brother 2 years ago. Only difference? He claimed to be a girl!

Wordless Wednesday

Oh what a wonderful weekend!

We had so much fun this weekend, there wasn't time for taking pictures!

We had fun on the slides, story time at Keanu's school, tennis, fun at the "farm", lots of time at the park, golf, more time on the slide. First of all, it was gorgeous weather. Second of all, it was a long weekend as we "celebrated" 2/28.

The only picture I've got to share is this one. I love it because none of the 8 that I took of all 4 kids on the swing had everyone looking at the camera. In this picture, no one's looking at the camera and everyone's happy doing what he's doing. Second, it's a great picture of Teresa's growing belly! Sure is nice someone else can wear my maternity clothes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kate had a great time making valentines on Friday. When Keanu got home from school, he helped add the finishing touches. Watch your mailbox!

I Did It!

Grandma brought Keanu a great floor puzzle for his birthday. He loves it, but he also loves to have his sister help. The other day he did Lighting McQueen, she and I did Mater, and the kids did Sherrif together. Keanu finished his his part and was patiently waiting for his sister. You can see why he needed to wait so long. She had to take a break every time she got a piece in.

The Van

Keanu has a little matchbox van. It holds a special place in his life, maybe because it has cool sliding doors, maybe because his beloved teacher gave it to him for his birthday. He picked it up today and saw it had a chunk missing from the side door. Here's the conversation that followed:

Him: Do you know why its broken? 'cause that's where the ramp goes.
Me: Really?
Yeah, like Grandma's van. That way Grandpa can get in because he needs to sit in his chair.
oh.
The middle part is empty so Grandpa can sit here. Grandma sits here (driver's seat), Daddy, Mommy, Kate and I sit here (back seat), and Ahma sits here (front passenger seat).

First haircut!

Our little tomboy doesn't like to keep barrettes or anything in her hair, so to keep it out of her eyes, we decided she should have a bang trim. She went to the same place Keanu had his first haircut and really enjoyed driving her car and watching TV while she got her first haircut. I was amazed at how well she sat through the whole ordeal! Stay tuned for further pictures of the end result!

Look who's playing tennis!

Happy Birthday, Keanu!

Last week Keanu celebrated his 4th birthday!

He'd asked for a Diego cake, so I found a place that would make a Deigo cake if I provided a picture. No problem. That's what the internet is for, right?! So, we picked up the cake after school the day before the big day and I mentioned the fact that the kids in his class would love the Diego cake. And that's when he got crabby.

It turns out that he didn't want to take the Diego cake to school. Not only did he not want to take the Diego cake, but he didn't want to take a cake to school to share. He's going through a phase in which sharing is difficult, if not impossible. Of course another factor could have been forseeing being the center of attention while everyone sang happy birthday to him at school. That's pretty intense for a shy kid like Keanu. We figured these are fears that should be faced, so Kevin brought another cake to school and all the kids sang to him and he was super embarrassed for a few minutes. Then he was happy again.

Anyway, back to the Diego cake. Angela (Yoyo) spent the weekend with her aunt Teresa so they came over for cake, too. Keanu sure was excited about showing two of his favorite "older ladies" his beloved Deigo cake. It turned out pretty nice, didn't it? I wish I could take more credit for it beyond providing the picture!Oh yeah, and there were a couple of presents, too!

He also asked to go to Friday's like Kate did, so maybe that'll be on the agenda for this weekend.

Merry Christmas!

Finally, I'm getting around to posting about Christmas! When the kids came downstairs on Christmas morning, they saw that the tree was piled with gifts and Kate found one with her name on it even without reading! She couldn't be bothered by anything else under the tree or in her pile of gifts on the couch later. She just wanted to play with that stroller!

Keanu loved opening all of his. By noon, we were ready to go on our next adventure - the Lakeshore Hotel in Hsin Chu. Kevin had made reservations to spend the night there and we had a great time.

First of all, there's heat in the hotel rooms.

Second, there was a pool with a fabulously warm kid's pool.

Third, the kids had a great time with their new toys. This is what they looked like everywhere we went: Hope you all had a great Christmas, too!

Happy birthday, Kevin

Much like I was surprised about Kate's lunar birthday the week before, I think Kevin's mom was surprised when I brought out a cake for his birthday. Keanu picked it out because it had a bunch of strawberries on it. Then he was happy that Ah-ma had bought some strawberries earlier in the day, too.

Look what the post man delivered!

Ok, so he just brought be box. The original contents were placed under the Christmas tree and replaced by a busy toddler.

Happy Birthday, Kate, part 2

One day in the week leading up to Christmas, Keanu and I stopped at the department store after school to do some last minute shopping. We got home kind of late, but rather than heading straight to bed, we had to have some birthday cake first. Little did I know that I'd choosen Kate's Lunar birthday to go shopping with her brother instead of spend the evening with her! She was evidently quite happy about the event anyway, wasn't she?

Hiatus is finished...

OK, so it's been a while since I've posted anything here. We got busy with Christmas, New Year's, and life. I've got a lot of catching up to do. We'll see how it goes!