Such a big deal for us!

I got exciting news to tell you all – Kaitlyn has not had any accident at nighttime for three days in a roll! You all probably think what a big deal? Just now? Yes, now! That is a big deal for us!

Actually, she was off diaper at night time for a couple of week before she turned four. But during those weeks, she had accidents about once a week. I figure she wasn’t quite ready, and she was little frustrated every time she found out about the wet bed, plus we were too lazy to get up in the middle of the night to train her. So we all gave up, letting her wearing diaper since then, free to eat and drink whatever she wants before bedtime, figure someday, somehow, she’ll be able to do it.

Monday night, she forgot to put diaper on as she went to bed. The next morning, she woke up around 7am realizing she did not pee-pee, she was so excited! She told daddy, grandma, and grandpa… She said it’s her 4th time! ( I don’t know how she counted, anyway…) Then I told her to try it again next day, she did it again. Wow, that counts five! (She got the number right this time. I guess she has her own way of keeping track of her success, haha)

Yesterday was her first day back to school for summer session. The first thing she told me when I picked her up was " I don’t need to nap anymore! I love it! Had so much fun! I did two challenge works!" That is really good news! I planned to ask Ms. Anny on Friday to let her skip nap time getting ready for kindergarten in the fall, but Ms Anny already planned ahead of me! Such considering! Ms. Anny is so far the best teacher I have met. She devoted her whole life in teaching young kids. She has never married but raised her younger sister. She is awesome!

Anyway, Kaitlyn takes Ms. Anny’s word seriously – that she’s a kindergartner! But she also feel sad that other kids complained that she should not be a kindergartner since she is not five yet! Well, my little girl, you’re doing great! You don’t need to care too much about what other kids said about you all the time! Be yourself and trust yourself!

So last night, I told her kindergartner don’t need to wear diaper at night, and she can do it. She was a little hesitated, but she did it again!

Wow, if she could finally get off diaper, that’s will be a big milestone for her, and for us! Now, I think one of the reasons was probably if she knows she has diaper on, she would be so dependent on diaper then pee-pee every night. Now without diaper, she knows she was able to hold on longer and feels much more comfortable. We just need to trust her more and let her do it by herself!

I slept with her last two nights to keep an eye on how she does, and noted she woke up middle of the night (ever since she was a baby, she barely had any whole night sleep ) The first night, she cried "so boring" (that’s another story to write about later), second night, she asked for water and said hungry. I didn’t respond, just let her whine for a minute, then she went back to sleep again. I know if I wasn’t there, she would walk to our room, stand next to the bed in the dark, saying "I can’t sleep, mommy". That scared the hell of me couple of times already…

Gosh, I made such big a deal of her bed wetting, long article without any pictures… haha, but we're all so excited, so relieved!

Big milestone:-)

I got exciting news to tell you all – Kaitlyn hasn’t had any accident at nighttime for three days in a roll! You all probably think what a big deal? Just now? Yes, now! That is a big deal for us!

Actually, she was off diaper at night time for a couple of week before she turned four. But during those weeks, she had accidents about once a week. I figure she wasn’t quite ready, and she was little frustrated every time she found out about the wet bed, plus we were too lazy to get up in the middle of the night to train her. So we all gave up, letting her wearing diaper since then, free to eat and drink whatever she wants before bedtime, figure someday, somehow, she’ll be able to do it.

Monday night, she forgot to put diaper on as she went to bed. The next morning, she woke up around 7am realizing she did not pee-pee, she was so excited! She told daddy, grandma, and grandpa… She said it’s her 4th time! ( I don’t know how she counted, anyway…) Then I told her to try it again next day, she did it again. Wow, that counts five! (She got the number right this time. I guess she has her own way of keeping track of her success, haha)

Yesterday was her first day back to school for summer session. The first thing she told me when I picked her up was " I don’t need to nap anymore! I love it! Had so much fun! I did two challenge works!" That is really good news! I planned to ask Ms. Anny on Friday to let her skip nap time getting ready for kindergarten in the fall, but Ms Anny already planned ahead of me! Such considering! Ms. Anny is so far the best teacher I have met. She devoted her whole life in teaching young kids. She has never married but raised her younger sister. She is awesome!

Anyway, Kaitlyn takes Ms. Anny’s word seriously – that she’s a kindergartner! But she also feel sad that other kids complained that she should not be a kindergartner since she is not five yet! Well, my little girl, you’re doing great! You don’t need to care too much about what other kids said about you all the time! Be yourself and trust yourself!

So last night, I told her kindergartner don’t need to wear diaper at night, and she can do it. She was a little hesitated, but she did it again!

Wow, if she could finally get off diaper, that’s will be a big milestone for her, and for us! Now, I think one of the reasons was probably if she knows she has diaper on, she would pee-pee every night. Since she knows she doesn’t have diaper, she feels comfortable, and was able to hold on longer.

I slept with her last two nights to keep an eye on how she does, and noted she woke up middle of the night (ever since she was a baby, she barely had any whole night sleep ) One night, she cried "she is so boring" (that’s another story to write about later), another time she asked for water and said hungry. I didn’t response, just let her winning for a minute, then she went back to sleep again. I know if I wasn’t there, she would walk to our room, stand next to the bed in the dark, saying "I can’t sleep, mommy". That scared me to death couple of times already…

Gosh, I made such big a deal of her bed wetting, long article without any pictures…

Discussion from the Earthquake

這場災難影響的絕不是一個人﹐一個家庭﹐而是千千萬萬的心系中國的人們。連續多天的報導讓我一次又一次地感慨萬千﹐感慨人在天災面前的渺小無力﹐感慨一瞬間生命的脆弱與頑強, 感慨那麼多普普通通人的愛心聚沙成塔的力量﹐更感慨我(們)現在擁有的看似理所當然的﹐平靜的生活是多幸福。不珍惜現在“乏味”的日子﹐難道要等到沒有時才想到要珍惜嗎﹖

剛才看中央台“愛的奉獻”演出時﹐女兒也被一首“祝你平安”的歌吸引了﹐說喜歡聽。 然後貼在我身旁坐下(其實是爬上爬下﹕-)。同她的對話讓我覺得女兒特有慧根﹐也許是孩子的純真天性。 她看到歌手屏幕後的災難畫面時﹐反復說”他們好可憐呀”“他們好慘呀”。 還問 “什麼是平安﹖”﹐“為什麼有地震”﹐“那是for real嗎﹖”當我告訴她是真的時﹐她認真地告訴我“但不是Texas, 不是我們住的地方”。 我連忙說我可不想在這裡發生﹐在哪里發生我都不想。 小丫頭點點頭說“我也不想”。

“那他們為什麼要開會﹖”我說不是開會﹐是演出﹐希望大家來幫助那些受災的人們。“那怎麼幫哪﹖”我告訴她很多人捐錢﹐捐血﹐幫他們買吃的﹐用的﹐穿的﹐住的﹐讓他們可以繼續讀書﹐不生病﹐有房子住。。。I can see from her eyes that she's wondering why all these things that seems so normal, so common to her everyday life? Such a lucky girl, she is so taking granted of everything in her life! One day, some day, she will realize, there is a cause for everyone come to this world, do not take granted for anything in our lives, not even the freedom to breath, cherish our everyday life!

She then told me, "everyone needs to help others, or others won't help you!" Then she complained that some of her classmates are not nice, sometimes even her best friends like Christian, Hunter and Maria laughed at her when she said "poor thing!" to someone or something. Ohh, my sweet little girl! Real life is not always as pretty as your princess stories!

看到下一個節目是姜昆等人詩朗誦歌頌“祖國”時﹐她問我什麼是“祖國”時﹐我告訴她是一個人的國家﹐我試探地問她的“祖國”是哪裡。她眨眨眼睛問我“是Houston嗎﹖”我說"Houston"不是國家﹐是城市。 小丫頭想了想﹐又問我“那是美國嗎﹖”我說是﹐但還有一個國家你跟她也有分不開的關係的。她問“是中國嗎﹖是姥姥外公住的地方嗎﹖”“那地震的地方離我們很遠﹐離姥姥外公比較近嗎﹖”(邊說邊用手比劃她想象的距離的遠近﹕-) ...

真想不到短短三個節目的時間﹐談到這麼多話題﹐一場振災的演出可以引出她這麼多問題。她的每一個問題其實都可以是一個倫理道德﹐自然科學﹐或是信仰研討的延伸。我不想延伸太遠﹐我給不了她一個正確答案﹐也不想讓她覺得有一個唯一正確答案。 以後慢慢引導她去想﹐去了解吧。。。

希望大災中的逝者走好﹐幸存者活好﹐god bless everyone!

when to get off diaper???

昨天問她決定什麼時候不帶尿片﹖ 她不急不慢﹐眼皮都不抬地說“Starting FIVE..." OK﹐我記得她說過從五歲生日那天開始﹐然而後半句卻讓我和爸爸同時噴飯"to practice."

What?! Can't believe this! 真是有條有理﹐滴水不漏﹐不做律師是浪費人才了﹗受不了﹗

haircut

在商量討論多次後﹐終於斗膽親自操刀幫女兒剪了頭髮。 珂珂第一次剪頭髮是3-5個月時。與其說剪不如說剃﹐爸爸越剪越短﹐最後剃了個光頭﹐花了至少一年才長回來:-(後來爸爸無論如何也不讓剪了﹐只能修理劉海和髮梢。直到三歲後我才終於帶她去理髮店了兩次﹐也只是修理而已﹐ 珂珂還挺配合的﹐臭美嗎:-)

這次我實在忍受不了她頭髮的凌亂﹐而她又特別不願意扎辮子﹐平時上學早起爸爸沒時間打理。經過多次誘勸﹐算是願意了- 條件是只能剪到肩膀上﹐還要帶她出去吃好吃的。 到了上週末﹐不知為何又不想出去了﹐媽媽想算了算﹐ 剪短有什麼難﹐試試吧﹗

Before - I won't get any business with this kind of setting, well, at least it's one-to-one attention:

Work in Progress: 放了盤VCD﹐開工了。爸爸趕緊躲到樓上﹐免得見女兒被“毀容”﹕-) As long as long I have my Disney, I don't care how I look like for now.

After: "Haha, I love it!" (I'm not kidding, this is the comment from my customer:) 效果還不錯﹐這真是人漂亮﹐穿什麼﹐怎麼打扮都好看:0) 看﹐自己臭美者呢 - 使勁親鏡子里的自己。(不過﹐樂極生悲﹐鏡子給摔破了﹕-)

Thanks to my only customer - let me practice on her, and still gave me big positive feedback:-)

第二天帶她去Easter Egg Hunt, 她也挺開心地。

剪了頭髮的女兒﹐似乎長大了許多﹗

難道剪了頭髮回讓人從淑女變瘋女﹖ 有這麼興奮嗎﹖

(looks like she is standing on top of pillow, but she's jumping, half way in the air:)

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

Let me tell you a story about "a little rabbit foo foo"... Not exactly as what should be told as below :-)




The moral of the story is:HARE TODAY, GOON TOMORROW

Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head
Down came the good fairy and she said
"Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don't want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head.
I'll give you three chances,
And if you don't behave
I'll turn you into a goon!"

The next day:

Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head
Down came the good fairy and she said
"Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don't want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head.
I'll give you two more chances,
And if you don't behave
I'll turn you into a goon!"

The next day:

Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head
Down came the good fairy and she said
"Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don't want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head.
I'll give you one more chance,
And if you don't behave
I'll turn you into a goon!"

The next day:

Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head
Down came the good fairy and she said
"Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don't want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head.
I gave you three chances
And you didn't behave
Now you're a goon! POOF!!"

三毛的启示

爸爸无意中找出“三毛从军记”的漫画，我俩轮流讲给珂珂听, 现在又从网上找到“三毛流浪记”的片段故事。从一开始偏重好笑的情节，到后来教育她不浪费粮食，小丫头都接受得特快！小丫头虽胆小善良，但一点不缺少喜欢整蛊人，看人被整蛊的调皮细胞：-) 无论是电视还是书，凡看到这种情节，是特别开心，大笑不已。自然对三毛苦中有乐的生活独有情中!

这不，告诉她像三毛，还有许多人没饭吃，没新衣服穿，被人欺负，她现在的生活多幸福，她还真的记住了。吃饭时，但凡告诉她不要剩饭，不要挑食，她会尽量吃完，或试一试本来不喜欢的食物。或许最近比较懂事，帮我们做家务，也与这有关？ 也许这就是人之初，性本善，可教也吧? 没想到我们小时候的连环画，不是完全不能适用她这一辈人:-)

不一样就是不一样

最近几周珂珂没学滑旱冰，因为新鲜感过了，我猜更主要是怕摔跤，没成功感。今天碰巧看到对门邻居小女孩也在学滑旱冰 - 可是同样是学，同样年龄，学的“待遇”可就完全不同了！

Kennedy 大珂珂不到一岁，说话时特能气，跑得快, 性格外向。 听她妈妈说，她已经参加soccer team 很久了，十分喜欢体育运动. (或许像她妈妈，她妈妈看上去性格也是心直口快，大大咧咧)。 这不，Kennedy 要学滑冰，十有八九是看见珂珂玩，心痒痒了。穿上旱冰鞋，短衣短裤，在家门前的马路上玩上了。 完全不会，怎么办？没问题，她妈妈抱着小妹妹(还不会走呢) 站在家门前的walkway上大声提醒她如何做，Kennedy 自己踉踉跄跄地，一步三打滚地在路上滑。我站在家里还能听见她大声叫，因为听不清楚说什么，不知她是跟妈妈说如何滑呢，还是害怕而尖叫。几次见她摔倒，一次又一次的试着站起来，有一次更是连滚代爬地上了草地，才终于站起来。总之我看得心惊胆战，是又佩服又担心！ 而她妈妈若无其事地看着，聊着。邻居做garden work 的另一个妈妈也是看着，一点不担心。

想珂珂第一次学时，全副武装，胳膊漆盖带上护器，在车库里，爸爸手牵手带着滑，教她要领，生怕摔了。 是我们太娇她了，还是她太娇自己了，还是她胆子比Kennedy小太多，还是我们比较注意安全，还是东西方父母的教育方式和态度就是不一样？！

总之每一天，从许多带珂珂教珂珂的点点滴滴小事中，我也在了解琢磨到底这里教育长大的孩子和中国长大的孩子会不同在哪里？东西方教育方式的不同给珂珂这样的ABC有什么样的影响？而我，同时也在重新回味一个童年，学习她童年中我没经历过的事情...

Spring is here!

Spring is finally here! I can smell it, I can see it, and I enjoy it so much!

Yesterday after school, we stopped by our community park for a while, we had so much fun, swing high, slide fast, yeah! We even caught a ladybug home. And you see it...

We went back to the park again this morning. There were lots of kids there on Saturday morning, playing soccer and baseball. I enjoyed everything I had seen and heard - kids laughing, screaming, running, climbing up and down and arguing; daddies and mommies chatting, cooking, coaching, or just sitting on the bench watching kids running around. Such a sweet and lively picture!

未来的网路人气妹妹 :-)

看我自己的照相水平如何？

昨天整理照片簿时发现这张，不知丫头什么时候偷偷自拍的。 既然如此，暂且用来
做她的楼顶 ：-)