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

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!

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.

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).

Rhyming

This afternoon on our way home from school Keanu heard the newscaster say something about Germany.

"Hey, they said Germany."
Ten seconds later...
"Germany has the same letter as Courtney."

Isn't it amazing how kids' minds suddenly realize things about the world around them?!

Is it a boy or a girl?

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

Asked Keanu in my response to finding a cockroach in the the drawer last evening.

The salesman

Keanu: Mommy, do you want to buy some balls?
Me: How much are they?
K: 3 dollars.
M: What if I want to buy more than one? How much is it for 2 balls?
K: 2 dollars.
M: Ok, then I'll buy 2.

enough?

After waiting for Keanu to finish playing, Kevin asked Keanu, "Can I have a kiss?" At which Keanu rewarded his father with a kiss on the cheek and then promptly asked, "enough?" Kevin's response, of course, was "one more time." After a second peck on the cheek, Keanu asked again "enough?" This time it was enough.

The joke of the weekend is "enough?" for anything we might be getting or doing!

Did you to-get?

(Upon arriving home this afternoon)
Keanu: Mommy, where are my crayons?
Me: Oh yeah, I forgot we were going to color when we got home. Here you go.
Keanu: Thanks. Did you almost to-got?

This mommy to-gets lots of things!

Overheard

While making cookies last weekend, I had to step away to answer the phone during the mixing process. As soon as I hung up the phone, I heard
"Mommy, I did the eggs!"
What do you think happened?

temperature?

Keanu: I want to check my ears (temperature).
Me: OK
(5 seconds later)
Keanu: My basketball wants to check his ears, too.

Goo My Goot

This post got me thinking about how my German has been pretty much covered with Chinese. Whenever I try to think of something I used to know in German, all I can think of is the Chinese equivalent.

Well, tonight at dinner, I remembered an important phrase for eating: schmeck goot. (I'm sure I didn't spell that right, but I think maybe any foreign language is like Chinese - it doesn't matter how it's spelled). So I dunked the garlic bread into my spaghetti sauce and pronounced it "Ahhh, schmeck goot!" and got uproarious giggles from both kids. After a couple more bites of the schmeck goot sauce, I asked Keanu, who usually eats plain noodles without any sauce, if he wanted some schmeck goot, too.

"OK," as he also dipped some garlic bread into the sauce and declared it "goo my goot!" His sister giggled happily from across the table, which only produced more "goo my goot!" and more spaghetti sauce down the hatch!

Maybe I'll have to come up with other phrases in other languages to get him to broaden his food repertoire. Got any good ones?

Training up a good husband

Not my husband, but my son to be a good husband.

(I turn off the blowdryer after drying my hair)
Keanu: All done!
Me: Does Mommy's hair look pretty?
Keanu: (continues playing with his train) Yeah.
Me: No, you didn't even look at me! You've got to at least look before you say it looks good!
Keanu: (looks up and smiles) Yeah. (giggles)

English is confusing

Did you ever stop to think about it?

Apple sounds like "a ball" and looks like a ball, but you can't throw it.

These are two of Keanu's favorite words to say, but it's hard to tell what he's talking about. Actually, he loves to say several B and P words, like Baba (daddy in Chinese), Ba (bus), Be (baby), Pe (puppy)... Isn' he cute? He doesn't usually do two syllables, but instead he chooses whichever is easier to say - the first or the last. He'll often repeat the last word that someone else says, too. For instance tonight I asked him to say "see you tomorrow" to Grandma and Aunt Teresa. What did he say? "Morrow." It's becoming so much fun because he's saying more and more every day!

Toddler Talk

Last night Keanu and I were looking at one of his books.

Me: Where's the bed? Where do they sleep?

Keanu: hugh-shhh (smile)

I guess someone in our room snores! Then last night Keanu was the little snorer because he's got a bit of a stuffy nose this week.