Where's C?

I took the day off last Monday and joined the W family at Sesame Place. Baby K had a great time playing with C, and it gave me a chance to catch up with WC, whom I haven't seen all year. We even got to take a group picture with everyone's favorite furry red monster:

My conversation with baby K in the car this morning:
Baby K: Where's the blue car?
Me: What blue car? Who has a blue car?
Baby K: C has a blue car. Where's C?
Me: C is at home. You'll see him next time, okay?
Baby K: Okay.

We had driven to Sesame Place together last Monday (NW was following me in his blue Camry) and baby K had kept asking where the blue car was to make sure they were still with us. I can't believe she remembers it from a week ago!

My Hurrican Irene Experience

As told from baby K's perspective:

"I don't know what all the big commotion was about hurricane Irene. All I saw was a lot of rain, so I couldn't go outside to play. I don't exactly know when the hurricane started, so I'll just start from Friday since that's when everyone started talking about it.

Mommy had promised to come pick me up early from school on Friday, but she didn't come until 5:30pm... later I found out it was because she was out trying to find a backup battery for the sump pump in the basement. She shouldn't have bothered, since everything was sold out... she should've just came to pick me up early like she said she would.

On Saturday, daddy made me pancakes for breakfast. I love the weekends because I get to hang out with mommy and daddy all day. After breakfast, I was playing happily in the living room and putting together my Thomas trains until mommy and daddy made me go out. I didn't want to, but soon changed my mind when they told me I could ride on my favorite shopping cart at the red store [Target]. We made a pit stop at the supermarket first. It was so crowded, but good thing we didn't stay there for long. Mommy and daddy only got a few items, but we had to wait on a long line to pay. When we got back in the car, I started complaining because I thought we were going home and they had forgotten all about the red store, but then mommy tells me we're going to Target, so I was fine. When we got there, all the shopping carts I like were outside and wet, so I had to wait while daddy got some paper towels to clean it for me. I liked riding in the shopping cart, but it got boring after a while so I told mommy and daddy I wanted to go home. For lunch, mommy made me chicken nuggets and gave them to me on my Elmo plate. Yummy! Then after lunch, mommy made me go take a nap. I wasn't even sleepy, so I had her read me two Olivia books. When I asked for the third one and she said no, I started crying. Then daddy came in and read to me instead. After my nap, they gave me my favorite panda bear cookies, then I asked to watch TV. Daddy had the channel on the news the whole time (BORING!) so I made him turn on Fresh Beat Band for me. It's so much more fun watching Marina, Kiki, Shout, and Twist sing and dance than to watch the boring reporters talk about rain. Mommy and daddy only let me watch one show, then they made me turn off the TV and told me to go color with my markers. At some point in the afternoon, it started raining. Mommy and daddy kept looking out the window, but I don't know what the big deal was. I went upstairs to practice my numbers and letters. Daddy came with me, but mommy stayed downstairs to prepare dinner. She made beef with peas and corn. Daddy said I had to eat more vegetables, otherwise I have poopy problems, so I was a good girl and ate lots of peas and corn that night. I didn't get all sweaty that day, so mommy said I didn't have to take a bath. Instead, I watched Curious George. Then I got tired and went to bed, but not before mommy and daddy made me brush my teeth. I don't like brushing my teeth, but they make me do it all the time.

I slept through the night and didn't even know that daddy woke up every few hours to check on the basement until the next morning when I heard mommy and daddy talking about it. I guess he was worried the power would go out since we didn't have a backup battery for the sump pump. Mommy and daddy saw on the news that there was flooding in a lot of places, people lost power, and there were down trees everywhere; they said we got really lucky. Mommy and daddy were praying about it, so maybe that helped?

We didn't go to church on Sunday; mommy checked online and saw that it was closed. We also got a call from the township and there was a travel ban where we lived, so mommy and daddy said we were stuck at home. It stopped raining by mid-morning, so I don't understand why we couldn't go out, but I didn't complain. Being at home wasn't too bad... I played with my blocks, my Thomas the train set, I colored with markers, I pretended to go shopping with my shopping cart, I looked at pictures on the camera, I sang all the songs I knew, I took a nap, I watched TV (but mommy and daddy only let me watch one show)... before I knew it, it was bedtime already. Mommy took a picture of me playing with my blocks. I was so proud because I put them together all by myself."

Random Phrases

A few months ago, baby K started saying, "that's a GREAT idea!" (where the "great" would be in a slightly higher octave). It was so cute the way she said it, but that turned out to be short-lived, as I never heard it again after a few days. Maybe it's something she picked up from AM, one of her teachers, so when AM went on medical leave, so did the phrase. AM's been back for a few weeks now, so let's see if it re-surfaces.

More recently, baby K started telling us, "don't say 'no thank you' to me" when she asks if we want something and we'd respond with a "no thank you." She'd continue on that cycle until finally she asks, "do you want paper mommy?" (or it could be a variety of other items like Cheerios, Chex, crayons, markers, coupon, hair tie, etc) and I'd say, "okay, I want paper." Satisfied, she'd give me the paper and all will be right with the world again.

Something that totally made me laugh:
Baby K: Where's my purple ball?
Me: It's in the family room. I'll go get it for you.
Baby K: Okay. You have to hold the handrail mommy. Be careful, otherwise you fall down.

She knows me and my clumsiness so well. I didn't even realize she had the word "otherwise" in her vocabulary. Kids... the things they surprise us with.

WHY?

I thought I'd have a few more years to go before I hear those annoying three letters, "WHY?" in every single response I give to baby K. Silly me, what was I thinking?? I guess kids do grow up faster than we expect them to. As I was driving to daycare/work this rainy Tuesday morning, we passed by a soccer field and there were kids preparing for a game. Here's the conversation that followed:

Baby K: They're playing ball.
Me: Yes, they're playing ball. They're going to get all wet.
Baby K: Why?
Me: Because it's raining.
Baby K: Why is it raining now?
Me: Because it's been so hot, and we need the rain.
Baby K: Why?

Fortunately, it doesn't take much to distract baby K, so I was able to redirect her attention elsewhere. I am fearful for the day when the endless "whys" come and I won't be able to change the subject as easily.

Numbers

After my last posting about baby K's reluctance to learn her numbers, I was really getting discouraged. Then recently, I woke her up one Saturday morning and the first thing she said to me was, "I want to do my numbers." No "hi," no "good morning mommy..." Just the words, "I want to do my numbers." Well, who am I to say no to my little girl? So we spent a few minutes going through numbers 1-10 before starting her morning routine. Since then, we've practiced her numbers almost on a daily basis (most of the times with her actually cooperating). She's mastered all the single digits and I am now starting her on 11-25. If we keep this up, with any hope, I can get her to memorize the multiplication table by the time she's four (though I guess I'd have to teach her the numbers in Chinese first). Full scholarship to Princeton University, here we come!