Interesting Stories

Story one:
I was reading to Kaitlyn last night in bed. One page was talking about people have different hair color, different skin. I asked her where do children get their hair colors from. I was expecting the answer “mommy & daddy”. But she said “God?” I looked at her very curiously, asked why? Then her story kept going on – God has a big big belly, with all kinds of people inside, like a kangaroo. He hops around, and people felt out of his pocket, then a baby is born. Then more and more babies were born… then on and on… Interesting, how imaginary a child’s mind!

Story Two:
Two nights before, Kaitlyn woke up in the middle of the night to our bed, said she can’t sleep. (Then we all can’t sleep anymore…) Daddy hid in another room right away, she slept next me. I don’t remember for how long, she kept saying she doesn’t want to close her eyes, she can’t sleep. I was too tired, and told her go find daddy then. (what a great mommy!) Then I heard she cried in daddy’s room, that she dreamed about monsters, green monsters… Ohh, that’s why, now I know, but I was too tired to respond. The next morning when I woke up, she and daddy slept in “L” shape in the other room with lights on. I’m glad that’s a king size bed and I should take a picture, haha…

I asked her what does monster looks like in her dream and what did they do? Then her story starts again – many monsters, big and small, green and red, a big monster with many small ones, they’re coming after me, etc. I randomly pointed to a monster picture in her book, she said yes, just like that, expect this part is red, this part is green, and head is bigger, tail is longer… I was too scared to say anything to them but ran away… Ohh, my gosh, whatever! She turned my sympathy into a chance making up stories for fun! Should I tell her no more crawling into my bed next time if you dream about these kinds of monsters again! Haha…

I even talk to these letters...

haha...What are you going to do with me?!

A new problem

While I was cooking the other day, Kaitlyn wants to watch TV. Noggin was playing Dora at the time. She told me she doesn’t like Dora anymore, the only reason she will watch is she likes learning Spanish.

That night, I mentioned about a new girl in her classroom. She is Chinese who can barely speak any English. I asked Kaitlyn if they’re friends. Kaitlyn told me no, she doesn’t want to speak Chinese at school, and that girl always bug her when she is doing her work. (well, that’s a different issue we talked about later about helping others). I asked her why she doesn’t like Chinese. She said she does’t know, but she likes Spanish better, it’s more fun. Then I realize we have a bigger problem.

It wasn’t long ago, she told Ms. Anny she “doesn’t speak English” (in English). Which I know it’s probably 70% correct. Now, she speaks English everyday, everywhere, to everybody, unless you ask her to speak Chinese. Sometimes, she even forgets about the Chinese words. She prefers to talk to grandpa better than grandpa, probably because grandma speaks better English ;-) Amazing how fast kids pick up a foreign language at this age! Part of this is our fault, we respond to her in English more and more nowadays, simply because it’s easier. We need to change that habit – pretend we don’t understand what’s her talking about if she speaks English at home! Or I need to practice my Chinese here more...

Secondly, there is no good Chinese program teaching kids overseas at all! I only hope she could read and speak when she grows up, forget about writing part, unless I send her back to China for some time. One reason I’m hesitated to take her to a Chinese School on the weekend is because 1)all kids speaks English there, 2)teachers use textbook from China that doesn’t make sense for kids here, 3) there are no training on teachers themselves! Why should I waste money and time? We could do a better job at home if we have time.

Why can’t anyone create learning tools like “Dora the Explorer” allowing kids enjoy learning a different language? Learning should be fun for kids, not as punishment. I have to admit this is part of the culture/education system difference. Under current education system in China, kids are taught to study for exams, not to think and ask, of course not to have fun. I’m always so amazed about all kinds of creative materials used by schools here. They are not complicated, but kids enjoy it. The kids in China are taught to copy good things better/faster but not create themselves. Well, even if these material were given to a Chinese teacher, the outcomes are still different, we’re more focused on academics than socially/creative skills. If someone could develop a good program promoting learning Chinese, they might make good profit in business, haha...

Does this mean western culture has stronger influence in today’s world (of course) than Asian cultures that may gradually faded out? How many influential scientists/philosopher/artists were Chinese in the past hundred years? How many students in China know much traditions/literature at school? In China, how much of today’s lifestyles are influence by western technology rather than traditional culture? I may be one of those who don’t know much of either, and I’m sure I’m not alone out there. So what should I tell my daughter, to learn a culture/language she doesn’t use it much, doesn’t know much about it, only because of her ancestor, or she should go forward with what she likes?

surprise work, special memories

Found some old pictures of artwork keke had done, some of the "first" I forgot to mention. I took more pictures than I thought but never posted?!

A lego ship

First dance recital - backstage

First beer? naa, first crawfish boil. Mommy's finger nails still hurts after two days, haha...

My lifelong friend from the very first day I was born, and my very first boyfriend?...

Dragon puzzle - I had painted for many days, the first things to do when I got home from school

Ducklings hatched out of my school -

Things to write down

In less than two weeks, Keke will be five!

Today, we're staying home cleaning up toys. Since so many toys laid here and there, new and old, I just give up organizing them, except finding more and more containers to hide. haha... Hopefully after this, I can have some old ones boxed up, some trashed, and some organized.

I noted some things about Kailtyn, but always forgot to write down:

1. When sharing food, she always picks the smallest one for herself, because she said she is the youngest. Even if it's something she really likes it, she doesn't feel wronged, and she tells herself (and us) is because she is the youngest one. I'm very touched, what a sweet girl!

2. She has been complaining about lonely and boring a lot recent months, even though she always finds things to do, especially after we come back from outside or on weekends. Maybe we need to start thinking about getting her a playmate.

3. She has many imagination friends. Sometime it's a secret friend. Who knows? So far she told me a wide variety of imagination friends - her white tiger, whale, Genevieve (from Barbie movie), monsters, Presidents, friends/teacher from school, a flower...

4. She likes helping me with housecleaning. Especially since a few months ago, I told her she need to take responsibility on certain housework, or she will loose one toy or one book at a time. Two duties she accepted - one is wipe/clean the table every time after dinner, one is feed the dog. After a week long effort, we both forgot. Recently, she remembers that, and reminds me not to help her but let her finish her job by herself. I'm so proud of our little girl!

5. She likes to write/draw things in her diary (what she called a "diary"). Amazingly, whatever she drew many weeks ago, she remembers the story behind the pictures! (What I called chicken-scratching :-) She made books of her stories and flipped page by page telling me the exactly the same story. I guess there were meanings to those pictures, even though they don't mean anything to me.

6. She understands joke much better now. Doesn't take daddy's joke seriously, she would laugh, make silly face, and even make a joke back to daddy. It's so funny. At the beginning, she felt confused, or hurt by daddy's silly jokes. Now she takes it calmly.

7. She takes Ms. Anny's word seriously, like bible. Whatever Ms. Anny taught at school, she emphasis it with "for really!".

8. She likes braids and pony tail, but no piggy tails. I don't know why... But she still prefers putting hair down.

9. We went to movie together the first time last week watching "KungFu Panda". Before that, we watched many movies at home, not sure how she would act at a movie theater. Because at home, she laughs loud, jumps up and down, pause to go to bathroom, I do not want to feel embarrassed in public, also it's much cheaper to rent movie. But she did great. After that, we watched another one "Wall-E", she is not into robots at all. At least, daddy and I enjoyed that movie a lot more, haha. She likes silly movies with animals and history (with kings and queens).

10. Due to daddy's influence, she likes history. She is so excited to watch movies / hear stories about Presidents, queen Elizabeth, etc.

11. She hasn't pee at nighttime at least two weeks straight... Ya-pee... And she doesn't take nap anymore, getting ready for school.

12. Not until this very last departure of grandma and grandpa, she never showed any sadness of seeing any relatives/friends leaving. Asked her why, she always says "I don't know, we'll see each other again."

13. She still like kids song. Her new favorite music channels are now classical and country music.

14. She has teeth decay, urrr... way to early than I expected:-(

Butterfly from July 4th celebration

My new entertainment - reading Sunday Chronicle comics

Yee ha, field trip tomorrow!

Kaitlyn is so excited about the field trip to horse ranch tomorrow. Since Monday, she has been telling me to get things ready - jean, boots and cowboy hat...

Here she goes... in her pajama, jean she picked, bare foot, and daddy's hat. Haha...

I found Texas...

Anyone wants to joint my party

Yee ha...

Riding horse?

Belief

We went to San Antonio over the weekend. Besides Sea World, we went to visit two historical missions. I'm really glad we went, especially on a Sunday morning.

It was steaming hot outside, but it's cool and peaceful inside the church. This is the first time I took Kaitlyn to a Catholic church. She likes it a lot, especially the music. When we sat inside listening to prayers, she laid her toy next to her, pat her, and listened to choir quietly. She asked me what's a church, why do people go to church, and is Jesus a real person??? She is working hard inside her head...

When we got home that Sunday evening, she whispered to me that she likes church! She seems so exciting and anxious to go again. I was so happy to hear that - because I've been thinking about going to church recently, but not sure if she is willing to go with me. Maybe God is trying to tell me something...

Then yesterday morning after I took her for a doctor's visit, we went to eat lunch. When she saw the food on the table, she spontaneously put her hands together and started praying "thank you for the food, thank you for everything..." I was really shocked, because we're not Christian and we don't pray. I asked her where did she learn that, she said she doesn't know, maybe at school. But I know her school doesn't do this, maybe she has seen some kids doing this.

Anyway, I was really surprise and happy to see that. Now I'm further convinced that I should take her to church.

mommy going green

Kaitlyn and I were brushing teeth the other day, I left water running while brushing my teeth. She told me I need to turn off the water, do not waste it, because many people living on the earth have no food or water.

I looked at her and said I totally agreed. Umm, the things we taught her are now being used back on us. I'm glad stuff we taught her actually stay in her mind, but any side effects down the road?

She is right, even though we don't purposely waste stuff, but resource in this country is so abundant that we don't think about conservation in a lot of times. We shopped at HEB the other day, I thought about buying those recycle shopping bags, but had second thoughts, what if I go to Kroger, do I still use HEB bags? And does that mean I should wash them every time coming back from grocery shopping? Will I remember to bring them every time when I go to grocery? Or is it just looks trendy to carry green shopping bags?

I remember, when I was little, my parents used to bring couple grocery bags to the market. As economic grows, more and more plastic bags are offered at the markets. We thought that's so convenient, and it's a sign of better life. Now, we're going back to the old times, eating food that used to be considered "low class", using reusable bags instead of plastic bags, driving less polluted smaller cars, looking forward to the opportunities go out to the nature... isn't it ironic? But, hey, we're in Texas, where things are the bigger the better, haha... Maybe this is the way our universe is rebalance itself, and human being are changing behaviors to adapt the change.

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!