Ironin' chat

This evening I got out the iron for the first time in ages.  Kate, in her inquisitive 3-y-o fashion, extictedly brought over a chair so she could see what was going on.  After the whole "this is really hot, be careful, we don't want to go to the hospital tonight" spiel, we had the following conversation:

Me:  When you get big enough that you don't need a chair, maybe you can help with the ironing.
Kate: Yeah, and when I'm a mommy and you're a grandma then we can do it together.  I can do one and you can do one. 
Great idea.  When you're a mommy, how many kids do you want to have?
Two.  Two boys. (thinks for a minute) Like Rick and Jerry.
Oh, you mean twins?
Yeah, twins.
But if you just have boys then you won't have any girls so you can't put pretty things in their hair and maybe they won't like shopping.
That's ok.


I guess doing 'girly' things isn't very important for this little girl!  Surprise, surprise!
 

Kate's 1st Haircut

As you may be aware, Kate's been a reluctant potty-trainee.

Or maybe we should say she's got a toilet phobia. 

Imagine crying about not wearing a diaper.

And screaming about the idea of sitting on the toilet.

But at school, she'll relent to sitting on the kiddie-sized toilets for 5 seconds before proclaiming, "I can't get the pee out!"

Around the end of June Keanu was due for a haircut and Kate expressed her interest in a haircut, too.  My response:  "Ok, when you pee in the potty, you can get your haircut!"   Next day, no such luck.  Nor the next day, or the day after that.

About 3 weeks later, she proudly proclaimed upon my arrival at school "Mommy, I peed in the potty!"  Of course we made a trip to the hair salon on our way home from school to get the reward.  And here are some pics of the process and the result.

Look at where the curls start. 
Can you tell why I was reluctant about cutting off those baby curls?

Almost done!

Finished!

It turned out a bit shorter than I'd thought, but still, we're all happy with the result.

She loves the shorter hair.  It's so much easier to maintain and tons cooler, I'm sure.  Even though it happened about a month ago, she still looks in the mirror and says "Oh, I still have my new haircut!"

Learning about days

They say kids are like sponges, picking up everything around them.  Kate's been trying to understand how time works, but it's just kind of complicated.

A few weeks ago on Friday evening:
Everyone:  Tomorrow we're going to the beach!
First thing Saturday morning:
Kate:  Mommy, is it tomorrow?

On Thursday this week:
Me: Guess what?  Tomorrow is Friday!
Kate: Why?
Me: Because today is Thursday.
Kate: But my teacher said today is the four day.
(translation note, days of the week in Chinese are Monday, day 1; Tuesday, day 2...Thus, making Thursday day 4, not the "third day" like I'm assuming she understood!)

On Wednesday this week:
Me:  Kate, did you pee on the potty at school today?
Kate: No
Me:  Did you pee on the potty yesterday?
Kate:  (blank stare)
Me:  Did you pee on the potty a few days ago?  
Kate:  Yep!
(editors note:  It was Tuesday that she had so proudly told me upon pick up "Mommy, I peed in the potty today!  Either she's having trouble remembering what happened when or she's not understanding the concept of yesterday yet,  Whatever the case, she sure is a cutie!)

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, 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!

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.

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!

Want Don't Want

Mommy, no. I want don't want it.
- Kate in response to her green beans at dinner, jacket when it's chilly, socks that don't have puppies on them, bath before bed, and pretty much anything else that she doesn't agree with.

Ahhh, the joys of toddlerhood!

Tails

Kate: Look, Mommy, Kitty have a tail.
Me: That's right. Do you have a tail?
Kate: Noooo. Kate have a de'butt!

Three things to learn from this conversation:

1. Kate loves kitties.
2. Kate is combining English and Chinese a bit (de is the equivilant of the 's showing ownership. She must often hear things like Kate's kitty, Kate's shirt... in Chinese and has incorporated that into her English at times.)
3. We should stop calling it a butt and give it a more kid-friendly term!
   

Favorite words of the day...

Dank you, Mommy
- Kate, while helping her wash her hands.

Overheard

Keanu and I were finishing dinner while Kate was playing on the floor nearby when she got a certain look on her face.
Me: "Are you pooping, Kate?"
Her: "No."
Maybe 10 minutes later I was washing dishes when she comes over.
Her: "Mommy, I fart," proudly patting her behind.
Me: "oh."
Her: "Nooo, I fart. Yuck," pushing my knees so I move away from the sink.
Me: "Oh, so we need to change your stinky diaper?"
Her: "yeah."

Overheard

If the kids are up while I need to take a shower, I'll sometimes give them a bowl of cheerios or something else to occupy them while I'm busy. The other evening, it was ominously quiet so I called (from the shower) "Hey, you two" hoping to figure out if they were getting into mischief.
The response I received was from Kate, "I wuv oo!"
I guess she misunderstood my meaning, but I was happy to know she loves me!

Toddler talk results

Yes, Jen you got 60%.
#1 was Chinese for SpongeBob Square Pants (HaiMienBaoBao) and for Telitubbies (TienShienBaoBao). #4 is Minnie.

Can you get this one? E-Amo

Toddler talk

Kate's getting so big and loves to copy everything her brother does. Because she's got a bit brother, she's also exposed to quite a few cartoons that Keanu didn't see at her age (at least as far as I know!) Can you figure out these cartoon characters? I should really record her voice saying them because it's so cute!

• BaoBao (This one's hard because it's actually Chinese for 2 different characters)
• E-A-go
• Icky
• Mee
• Dola