Commuting

As much as I complain about being the only one to drop off and pick up the kids, truth be told, this is one of the highlights of my day.  I love spending that extra hour in the car with them, listening to them jabber away about anything that cross their minds.  Of course, there are times when they fight, and this would inevitably lead to screaming and/or tears, but for the most part, they get along and keep each other (and me) entertained.

In the mornings, the two of them often count the number of school buses they see on the road.  Baby M has expanded this to include dump trucks (which is surprisingly a lot) and garbage trucks (he would also specify the color of said trucks).  Big sister K treats it like a contest and often tries to spot the vehicles before her little brother does so that she can count it first.  Then she likes to tell him how many school buses he's seen (and it’s never more than hers), to which he would respond, "NO, JEH JEH!" (jeh jeh = big sister in Chinese).  She can be bossy at times, but he can totally hold his own ground and doesn’t let her get away with it.

On the way home is probably one of my favorite pastimes.  I get to hear how their day went (at least from big sister K). The kids like to play pretend in the back seat... it's amazing where their imaginations take them.  Lately, the game has been to pretend they’re at a restaurant.  Sometimes they involve me in the game, other times they are content in playing with each other.  Yesterday, big sister K took the role as the consumer and baby M was the restaurant owner.  After determining there was no menu available, this is the conversation that followed:

Big sister K: Do you have any pineapples and apples?

Baby M: Yes.

Big sister K: Can I also get some pizza?

Baby M: With meat meat?

Big sister K: Umm… can I also have a salad?

Baby M: Lettuce?

Big sister K: Yes.

Baby M: It’s on sale.

I just started cracking up when I heard baby M say it’s on sale.  I am going to miss this once big sister K starts camp for the summer and when we switch daycares for baby M.  We haven't quite worked out the routine yet, but chances are, I won't have both drop-off and pick-up duty for both kids.

Class Pictures

The kids recently had their pictures taken.  Here is a preview of some of them.  ABSOLUTELY LOVE my cutie pies!

Can't believe big sister K is already graduating from kindergarten!  How time flies!

 Big sister K posing in her dance costume.  Looking forward to her recital in June!

Reading and Imitating

It's amazing how much big sister K has progressed in her reading and how much her vocabulary has expanded.  There are times when we're going through a book together, I would expect her to ask me how to pronounce a word, but she often surprises me by saying the word herself without difficulty.  Over the weekend, she read all the store signs we drove by.  Baby M, being the typical toddler that he is, repeated everything his big sister said.  One restaurant we happened to pass by was Red Lobster.  Big sister K said, "I see Red Lobster!"  However, instead of repeating that, baby M goes, "I see red fishies!"  M and I just started laughing.  He's learning from his big sister, but is also constantly sending us little reminders that he has his own personality and is not afraid to show it!

Take Your Child To Work Day

Yesterday was Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.  My department was planning an all-day event for the kids, so I brought big sister K in (the recommended age range is 8-13, but I made sure it was okay with the coordinators before registering her).  I was a bit skeptical at first on how she would do, since she was going to be left alone with a bunch of older kids and a few grown-ups she didn't know for a few hours straight.  It turns out I had nothing to worry about.  When I picked her up at 3:45 (when the program ended), she was patiently waiting for me in the conference room watching some of the older kids play hangman on the white board.  All the event planners came up to me individually and told me what a pleasure it was to have her.  They said she was the youngest child in the group, but she was very well-disciplined, very mature, followed directions without any problems, and was the most well-behaved.  I was beaming with pride hearing the consistent messages from everyone.

This is big sister K's second year participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.  Last year, I helped organize the event for the Corporate Controller's group, so I was able to bring her even though she was only 4-years old at the time (and I was with her throughout the entire day).  I don't think she learned anything from it last year, but she enjoyed spending the day with mommy, getting a goody bag, and meeting some of my co-workers (whose names she still remembered).  This year, she learned that mommy's company makes medicines for people who are sick and she got to tour the fire house on site (I didn't even know we had a fire house!), which she pointed out to me as we were leaving the facilities.  Hopefully I'll be able to continue this tradition in the years to come.

Easter Egg Hunt

The kids had fun looking for Easter eggs in the backyard this morning.  Totally made staying up until midnight to stuff the eggs worth it!  Baby M looks so happy, you can't even tell he was up more than half the night with a fever (he woke up at midnight, right when we were going to bed, so it was a sleepless night for us).

Daycare Woes

When I went to pick baby M up at daycare last week, I found him in the playground by himself.  There were no teachers or kids around at all.  I pretty much freaked out, went to get him, and we stood there for about a minute, waiting to see if anyone would come.  When no one did, I walked around the corner of the building with him just in time to hear his teacher yell out, "Where's baby M?"  I asked why he was totally by himself and she said they had just walked over to that side of the playground (apparently baby M didn't follow along) when she noticed he was missing.  It felt like a long time to me, when we were standing there with no one around.  Anything could have happened to baby M - it only takes a second for things to go wrong!  I wanted to mention something to the Director, but didn't know if I was overreacting, so I didn't.  On the way home, I called M and told him what had happened.  He said I should've said something on my way out, so I pulled over to the side of the road and called the Director to let her know what had happened.  She said she would look into it and update me the next day.  True to her word, she did.  She admitted it was the teacher's mistake and they will be retraining everyone in the toddler wing (kids should be in front of the teachers when walking from one area to another so that they have a visual on them at all times).  Ever since then, I noticed a change in this teacher's behavior towards me.  In retaliation for ratting on her, she blocked me from Facebook, which I'm sure was so that she can bad-mouth me through social media.  Some of the other teachers at daycare (her cronies) have also started ignoring me.  The tension is high when I drop off and pick up the kids and I feel very uncomfortable.  I haven't mentioned anything to the Director because I don't know what good can come out of it.  These people are taking care of my kids and I don't want this immaturity to be taken out on them.  M and I are considering pulling the kids out once big sister K graduates from kindergarten (doesn't make sense to take her out now).  That gives us about two months to look for another daycare, so maybe by then, things will blow over.  We have to pray for God's wisdom to help us make the right decisions for our kids.

ABC

All these posts on big sister K's musical abilities recently... well, just so baby M doesn't feel left out, here he is singing his ABCs:

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Big sister K's piano lesson before her dance class.  She has mastered this song:

As happy as I am with the progress she's made, I still feel that me teaching her how to play the piano is not ideal.  Hopefully I'll be able to find a real piano teacher for her soon.