sweetisu

Do you know what a toddler diet is? Have you heard of it too AND you practice it? For those of you fortunate people who have no idea what I’m talking about, be glad.

A toddler diet is one where your little picky eaters leave all kinds of food on the plate and you, you feel the need to finish it because you feel guilty if you let it go to waste. THERE ARE STARVING PEOPLE IN CHINA (or name another country) YOU KNOW. And I know, because I was one of them. And this happens on a pretty regular basis because, some days they will eat a lot while other days they eat nothing but cheerios. It also depends on what kind of things you’ve made. If it’s bacon - forget it - there wouldn’t be any left for you.

I hope things are different once they start kindergarten.

***
Dear Kids,

Mama love you both lots. But will you please please please try to finish your meals? Or at least, most of the time? When I was your age, I had very little to eat and this is why I’m so tiny. Not that tiny is a bad thing, but you will definitely have a better advantage if you are tall. I want you to grow into healthy tall grownups and you need all the nutrients to make that happen.

Not to mention I wouldn’t be grinding my teeth and going up the wall as often.

Love,

Mama

Our daughter Fiona is 2.5 yrs old and still sleeps in a crib. She has been able to get into the crib if the ledge is down; she’ll climb and go head first and slide down slowly. However she has never climbed out of the crib by herself, whether the ledge is up or down. Ever.

A few days ago Hubby thought what a great idea it would be for our daughter to learn how to get in and out of the crib by herself, when the ledge is down. After all, it’s not like she doesn’t climb everything else with full confidence. Except the crib, until now.

As Hubby watched and cheered on, Fiona cautiously climbs out of the crib, taking every step and move ever so carefully, and making sure she’s gripping onto something before she lets go of another part of the railing. She was SO proud of herself when she finally landed on the outside of the crib! She’s been watching her big brother climb in and out of the crib all the time and this is the first time she’s ever been able to climb out of the crib!!! Hooray Fiona!

Ah yes, you can see where this is going.

For the last 3 mornings, instead of being woken up by a shrilling call of “MaMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”, I found our lovely girl standing by our bedside when I opened my eyes each morning. Yes the railing was all the way UP for the entire night - and it was still up when I took her to her room to change her diaper.

Tonight, after putting her to bed, she climbed out of her crib not once, but twice, to visit us in the office downstairs.

I seriously hope this is not going to develop into a habit. One bad sleeper for 4+ years is really really bad already. I don’t need another one to start now.

Santa made his round at our preschool last week.

The other day I asked the kids if they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Sebastian beamed and said, “YES I did!”

“Did you sit on Santa’s lap?” “Yes,” came the excited reply.

“Fiona, did you sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas?” “NO, I’m scared of Santa.”

o_0 If I was 2 years old and some dude with long white hair and a big belly wanted to carry me, I’d be scared to death too. Further examples that Santa can be very scary for 2-yr olds: just look here, here, and here. (Also? Remind me to tell you the story of how this guy insisted on giving me a hug so I locked myself in the bathroom for hours until he left)

“Yes he’s kind of scary isn’t he. He has a lot of white hair.”

Sebastian asked, “Why does he have so much hair? On his face too.”

“That’s called a beard. Some people have hair on their faces, like Baba does sometimes. And Santa always have a very long beard.”

Deep in thought, Sebastian asked, “Why does he have so much hair?”

Nanoseconds later, “WHERE is his mouth, and HOW does he eat?”

Good questions son. He eats when no one is looking, consuming mostly cookies and milk and then rushes away to other faraway places in his sleigh.

x x x x x

Merry Christmas everyone. May you always believe in the magic, even if Santa isn’t part of it.

Yesterday:

“Mama, I made a turkey at school! My turkey says gobble gobble!” — 26 month old Fiona, proudly showing me her creation immediately upon arriving home from preschool.

Today:

“We’re going to the grocery store. Who wants to go?” is met with silence.
“We’re going to buy a turkey!” I said with a tone of excitement.
“For meeeeeeee?” Fiona grinned and asked.

I hope she’s as enthused when the turkey is actually cooked and ready to be eaten, coz guess who’s the picky eater around here.

A sample of the learning curve of speech for little Fiona.

Fiona used to say “dor dor” when addressing Seb. Now she can say “gor gor.” (Cantonese for “big brother”)

She used to say “peasss” and now it is clearly “please.”

She used to say “thdar” and now she sings “twinkle twinkle little star” with absolute perfection.

And what’s her favorite color right now? why it is lah-lo!

As told to me by Hubby.

This afternoon the kids were playing threading with their Baba. They both like to do things with their hands and threading beads is a perfect activity to keep them busy and occupied, not to mention it greatly helps with hand eye coordinations, fine motor skills and patience.

They were using this Haba Threading Beads set. It comes with 72 pieces (6 different shapes) and 3 long strings, just the perfect number of strings.

Things were going good, until they (Seb) decided it was too quiet…

Fiona “Look! This is a necklace,” proudly showing off her creation to Baba.

Seb “No, that’s a budoodah.” (he likes to make up words, and he also likes to aggravate little sister from time to time like a brother would, knowing this will definitely irritate her).

Fiona “NO! It’s a necklace!”

Seb “NO it’s a budoodah”

Fiona, now frustrated, screams “NOOOO! It’s a neck-LACE!”

Seb, smiling, fully aware of what he’s doing, “NO it’s a BUDOODAHHHH.”

Fiona CRYING/SCREAMING “NOOOOOO it’s a NECKLACE” and then proceeds to strike Seb with her hands, in an attempt to quiet him.

***
Glad I was not there doing the referee work. So when do siblings stop fighting like this?! Never?? SIGH.

Last night I was reading stories to Fiona and Sebastian (Chinese storybooks, read in Cantonese). As usual, they have a million questions to ask regarding each page, especially Fiona. She has been asking WHY for the last month or so already. I don’t recall Sebastian started with the WHY stage until at least 6 months older than her.

One of the pages showed a pair of tigers. One tiger didn’t have ears, while the other didn’t have his tail — I promise, the story is not violent at all! Being the observant girl, Fiona pointed to the tiger and questioned (in English) “why he has no tail?” in which I answered, (in Cantonese) “maybe he was born without a tail.”

She was deep in thought for a moment. And then asked again. I answered again.

I thought everyone was ready, so I proceeded to turn to the next page. Fiona then turned the page back with a slight force, and said “LET MEEEEEE TALLLLLLLK” and then asked yet another (similar) question.

Little Miss Fiona has been singing to a lot of tunes.

The very first songs she ’sang’ was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I quoted ’sang’ because she only sang the last word of each sentence, while I sang the rest of the words. She’s been doing that since last Winter, I think it was around Christmas or prior?!

Now at 22 months old, she sings many songs. She can sing most of the letters in the alphabet song, often times breaking out “now I know my ABC, nest [sic] time won’t you sing with me”? She also knows words to Marry Had a Little Lamb, Row Row Row a Boat, I Love You, Round and Round the Garden (THE coolest finger play song!), Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc etc - I can’t remember all of them at the moment - but she’ll sing and hop / jump around dancing for us. Of course I’m partial, but she is just DARLING when she does that. She’s a bit soft spoken / gentle / on the feminine side despite having a very rough big brother, so that just makes it extra Princessy.

I wrote the previous paragraphs few days ago. Today I realized she knows all the words to “Sing A Song of Six Pence”!!! I would start the sentences a few words at a time and she finishes them for me. She just wowed me away.. all the time. It’s amazing how fast this age group picks up things (is it that, or it’s just they are finally verbalizing everything they already knew for months and months??).

One of our routine stuff is I sing to her every day, most of the time nursery rhymes, and mixing in a few made-up songs as well. She lies down quietly in my arms and we rock and sing for a while before bedtime / nap time, apparently capturing all the words into her very busy brain.

I love this stage! She is still very obedient, not very many tantrums (all of which are easily thwarted) or meltdowns, no smarty pants talk-backs, and no negotiating techniques yet. Oh so sweet.

One of Seb’s (3.5 yrs old) masterpieces:

Fiona (16.5 months old) is not to be outdone! Below are some of her fine paintings. Her use of colors is especially noteworthy! My amazing abstract artist.

What are we going to do today Mama?
We could paint after your nap.

Why do I have to nap?
Because you’ll be tired and cranky if you don’t.

Why will I be tired and cranky?
Well, you won’t be if you take your nap.

Why do I have to nap?
. . . . . . . .

************

Hey look Mama. All the leaves are all gone from that tree.
Yes they are all gone from the tree now.

Why are all the leaves gone Mama?
Because winter is coming and it’s too cold for certain trees.

Why is it too cold for certain trees? Why is winter coming?
Because there’s the four seasons and now it is wintertime.

Why are there four seasons?
. . . . . . . . Uhh, let me get back to you with the accurate answer, OK?. . . . . .

********

These are just a tiny tiny snippet of what comes out of our almost 3.5 year olds’ mouth on a daily basis as of late. Often times it goes in circles for several minutes. And if you dare to answer with a “I don’t know,” he will scream.

It’s driving me crazy!