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!

Tiger Mom Syndrome

I've been called "Tiger Mom" by a few of my friends (in reference to the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, which I found to be a very good read in case any of you are interested), and I am not offended by it. I don't feel I quite live up to the term, but I am at the moment second-guessing my disciplinary ways with baby K. Although she's mastered her ABCs and can count from one to ten with ease, she has difficulty identifying what the actual numbers are on paper. As a result, M and I have recently started "forcing" baby K to learn her numbers on a daily basis, much to her chagrin. Like a typical toddler who'd rather be doing something else (anything else!), her concentration is not there and she often picks a number randomly without looking, therefore getting it wrong. Our patience wears thin and there are few nights where the lesson does not end in tears. Tonight was no exception (my ears are still ringing from the crying), and we even told her that she is forbidden to watch any more television until she's gotten all her numbers right (if I were a real tiger mom, there'd be no tv-watching in the first place!).

Baby K is not three yet; she knows her alphabet and her colors, her vocabulary is growing each day, she can communicate with us, she can tell you who all the Disney princesses and Sesame Street characters are, she can even spot a Honda Pilot (2011 model) a mile away... so I'm wondering, are we being too hard on her? M didn't think so, but baby K has a stubborn nature about her and I don't want our strict parenting style (which in my defense still pales in comparison to author Amy Chua's) to deter her from learning something. I don't suppose there's a right or wrong answer, but I'm just wondering what other parents out there are doing. Any thoughts?

Trip to Ikea

We were originally planning to have a garage sale yesterday, but decided to cancel due to the heat wave. Instead, we made a trip to Ikea in Elizabeth and met up with the M family (my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew). Baby K got so excited when I told her she was going to see her cousin AM. As usual, she had a blast with him. The great thing about going to Ikea is that she loves playing in the store, especially the children's bedroom section (much cooler than going to an amusement park, and just as much fun), but the downside of it is that she tends to run a bit too wild (not a good thing in a crowded store). One of her highlights was seeing all the planes land and take off from Newark International Airport while we were eating at the restaurant.

M and I haven't mustered enough bravery to let baby K play in the ball pit by herself yet, so we still drag her around the store as we shop for furniture. We picked up a dresser and a book case for the new baby's room, but also unexpectedly got two armchairs (one for baby K). We saw the toddler version first, and baby K loved it. It was so cute I couldn't resist, so we decided to get it plus the matching adult version. The black one is for us and the cream-colored one is baby K's (it's much smaller than the black one, but you can't tell from the picture). M put them together last night and they're still sitting in the family room, but we haven't figured out where we're going to put them long-term yet.

Baby K In Concert

One of our favorite past times recently has been to watch baby K "perform" for us. She'd take the step ladder (normally used so that she can reach the kitchen sink to wash her hands), place it in the middle of the kitchen, and climb up to the last step. Then she'd order M and me to sit down, face her, and she'd start to sing, using her markers as a microphone. We were able to enjoy a full-blown concert last night, which even included a period of intermission when she took a break to finish her cup of juice. Some songs we heard from my little girl:

- If You're Happy And You Know It
- Father Abraham
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- A-B-C
- The Wheels On The Bus
- Jesus Loves Me
- The Papaya Song

Here's one time where I was fortunate enough to capture a video of baby K singing (but without the pretend-microphone). Knowing she was being filmed, she says "I see it" at the end of the song.

Breakdowns

Baby K has been having breakdowns pretty much on a daily basis when I drop her off at daycare (and this is considering she never cries during drop-off!). It's been going on for the past two weeks or so. The waterworks come out the second I tell her I have to leave. It starts off with her shaking her head, followed by a pout of the lips, then the eyes get all watery, and then the full-blown bawling comes out. Sometimes I'm able to get her to stop crying before I leave; other times I'm force to walk away with my little girl still in tears. Even though I know she'll be fine once I leave, it still doesn't make it any easier.

One factor that I believe has been contributing to baby K's breakdowns is the fact that both her primary teachers are gone (one left permanently and the other is on medical leave, not due to be back for another month). Baby K has had to adapt to two new teachers in the last few weeks and probably doesn't understand why Miss A and Miss S aren't there anymore. Nowadays, I'm trying to prep her each morning at home and in the car so that she doesn't cry when I drop her off. I wasn't very successful this morning... we'll have to see how it goes tomorrow.

Potty Training

It's been a few months since baby K has stopped wearing diapers during the day, and other than a brief regression a few weeks ago, she's been pretty good. I think it helped that we instituted a punishment for each time she has an accident: no TV for the rest of the day. Cry as she might, we've stayed firm on the rule and it's worked.

Baby K still wears a diaper overnight, but it stays dry half the times. Once in a while, she'd wake up in the middle of the night and ask to go pee pee. I'm not sure how to wean her off the nighttime diaper yet. Not that I'm in a hurry, but let me know if you have any ideas.

July 4th Weekend

We spent Saturday at Sesame Place, and I did get to take advantage of the maternity bathing suit I just bought. Unfortunately, our fun in the water was cut short when baby K got injured. She was running a little too fast and slipped, ending up with a big bruise and scratch on her knee. We went to the first aid office where the nurse cleaned the wound with some peroxide, then applied some Neosporin and band aid on her boo-boo. Baby K was just obediently sitting there, no expression on her face. I said to M afterwards that had it been us caring for her wound, she'd be kicking and screaming, refusing to let us do anything. Baby K also got an ice pack for her bruise, which she wouldn't let go until it completely melted and all that was left was a puddle of water that ended up soaking M's shirt.

There were a series of nasty thunder and lightning that night. M and I woke up to the rumbling sound and couldn't go back to the sleep. We were commenting on how surprised we were that the noise hadn't woken baby K up when just then, we heard a pair of tiny footsteps scurrying into our bedroom. Needless to say, baby K stayed with us for the rest of the night. She went back to sleep fairly quickly and didn't get woken up again, but unfortunately I couldn't say the same for myself. Baby K kept kicking my stomach (I'm sure her baby sibling didn't appreciate that very much) and by the time she got up in the morning, her foot had landed on my face at least three times. I made M get up for solo daddy duty that morning while I tried to get some extra zzz's.

Sunday was fairly uneventful; we couldn't do much due to the torrential downpours that kept coming. We went to church in the morning and shopping in the late afternoon to pick up food for our barbecue the next day, but other than that, it was a good day to stay indoors and help baby K brush up on her ABCs.

M's mom, brother, and sister came over for a barbecue on Monday. As usual, we had too much food and not enough people to eat it. We didn't even get a chance to grill any of the burgers we bought (guess we'll be having another barbecue very soon). In the late afternoon, the S family came over and baby K got a chance to play with KS. It was good to see the kids interact together. I only wish we can do it more often.