AE: I like swimming on my back. That way I can sing at the same time.

AE visibly upset: EV didn’t want to hug me good night. She kicked me instead!
Me: that’s because it’s 10pm and she wants to be sleeping

AE: did you know that God gave me special ears that can turn off sound so I don’t hear NÉ cry at night?
Me: did you know God gave me special ears so that I can hear when you, EV and NÉ cry? Lucky me.
AE: no, lucky me.

Discussing how Nea has a little bit of blood in her runny nose… And that maybe it’s because it’s too dry
AE: my nose isn’t dry because I pick my boogers

Waiting for me to wipe her butt on the toilet
AE: mom, come here and wipe my butt
I get there
AE: no wait, go out. I have more,
I leave
AE: but just wait out the door, ok? Don’t go too far
And shortly after that
AE: moooooommmmm, wipe my butt. It’s getting itchy!!

AE: mommy, can you hold this?
Me: girl friend, you hold it. I don’t have any pockets
AE: I’m not your girlfriend!

AE (singing her school Halloween song): knock knock, dinko-deek, who are you? I’m a ghost! I’m a little ghost.
Me: AE, I think it’s ‘knock knock trick or treat’
AE: no it’s not. That’s not how the 爷爷plays it at school.

Last night she slept five straight hours!today she is feeding like a pro. No gasps of air… And instead of feeding exactly envy 3 hours, she is going stretches of 5 with about 100+cc each time. My baby is growing up:(. We are definitely in the next stage of baby. So sad that it is going by so fast!

Today we went to xiangshan with the elder two. It was way too crowded,,, but pretty. AE said she was happy to leave school at the half day but did not like xiangshan. The traffic to and from was also a nightmare, we passed a lot of military plate cars, we even passed a gas station that was exclusively for military plate cars… Didn’t see the paying for gas, perks man.

AE: what’s that fish, mama
Me: humuhumunukunukuapu’aha
AEsays it.
AE: mama, i did it! I said it!
Me: great, and what is it?
AE: a fish,
Me: and where is it found?
AE: in Octonauts!

Tomorrow yeye and nainai go to the gravesite of the uncle who passed away the day before NÉ was born

AE: Sleeping gives you energy. Sitting down gives you energy too.

Me: AE. Finish your soup.
AE: I only want the carrots. So that I can become a rabbit.

Me: AE. Finish your soup.
AE: I don’t want the onions. Onions belong in the trash.

S (not done making dinner): what’s EV eating?!
Me: oh, I just gave her something small to keep her quiet
AE: mommy, I want something to keep me quiet.

AE: mommy mommy just now the radio said “Stanford”! You didn’t hear it but I did!
AE: did you know Stanford and Snoopy are the same size? (She has a t-shirt)

Me: AE, Stanford is the best school in the whole world. You have to be the best student to go there. It means you have to learn how to read. Are you the best student in your class?
AE: no….
Me: no? Why not?
AE: because I don’t eat my 菜菜. (vegetables)

AE: mommy! A mosquito!
Me: are you sure? It could have been a small fly. Just because it has wings, doesn’t make it a mosquito.
AE: (irritated) a butterfly has wings, but I know this wasn’t a butterfly!

AE: mommy, feel my hair. Isn’t it soft?
Me (feeling her freshly combed hair): yes. It is very soft
AE (feeling my hair): yours is not soft. It’s crunchy.

Me: AE, can you stay 4 forever? Please stay 4 forever. I love you when you are 4!
AE: no, silly. I must turn 5.
Me: no no no. Stop growing, ok? Just stay little.
AE: don’t worry mommy. 5 is a good number. All the numbers are special.

EV: Daddy ah! Daddy ah!…(pause) Mommy?

EV (wanting to eat what I’m eating): daddy, ah! Daddy, ah!
Me (looking cross): who am I?
EV: Mommy?
Me: yes! I’m mommy.
Daddy: who am I?
EV: Mommy?

Me: Is mommy beautiful?
AE: yes, and fat too!

Me: who’s cuter? NÉ or Lauren?
AE: NÉ, of course! She’s smaller!

EV: Baaaaaaaaay-B!

EV: ‘ello gitty! ‘ello gitty!

AE: mommy I just wanted to tell you something! The sun is shining and it’s almost blue up there.

S’s first words this morning: AE peed in her trash can.
Me: AE why did you pee in the trash can!!!!
AE: Just because I will be lonely.
(Guess we need some night lights)

This is very unpleasant for daddy as he is achy and bedridden. This is very unpleasant for mommy because she has 3 kids on her own. So what do we do? We watch TV. Lalaloopsy was good. Clever characters. Caillou was bad. Any show with a mom doing downward dog is just going to be about first world problems.

Mommy, EV, and NÉ are squeezed on a twin bed in AE’s room: the Nest. I think this violates every SIDS guideline. Just praying G is in control :). EV is annoyed by NÉ’s grunting and is whimpering in her sleep. Thank goodness AE didn’t insist on joining in. She cleaned the house while I was putting EV down. Feeling blessed. I told her I would take her for an ice cream tomorrow.

Went to Gl’s 10/1 gathering. So many people! NÉ slept through most of it. Panic I think. EV was clingy. At one point she plugged her ears. I think she was overwhelmed by the crowds. Thank goodness for Ayi’s help. A lot of friendly faces of people I don’t know too well but wouldn’t mind getting to know except I’m too exhausted these days. I think S was happy to have the house to himself. AE went to YY’s house to play afterwards. She came back with a lot of random odd shaped half-deflated balloons and various candies. Uh, and a rose tattoo. She was super happy.

Oh! There goes AE for her 3am bathroom break!

Well, we were supposed to celebrate EV’s birthday outside. Weather reports said 27•c and sunny but all that was dashed by a pollution report of over 300. So at the last minute, much to daddy’s dismay, we moved it to our house. While daddy, AE and chenzhen were at ch, Ayi and I quickly cleaned and decorated the house, stashing things in drawers and cabinets (which will be fun to undo later). I ordered pizzas and Coke, which is about all I could handle. No activities or games planned but thankfully the kids entertains themselves (mainly by quietly reading!). 8 families (24 kids!) celebrated together. I think S never thought we would ever be crazy to host something like that. It was good that he put a movie on in back for them. EV and Lucy, who were born a few hours apart, enjoyed playing iPad/iPhone away from the crowds. EV still can’t answer how old she is, unlike AE when she was 2, but if you ask “how old are you” and say “2?”, she’ll say “doo!” She also has learned to recognized Hello Kitty and gets excited to say “ello gitty”! She’s not good at hard consonants yet.

NÉ panicked and slept most of the time. Her eat sleep schedule got all screwed up by the excitement so she ended up being a mess yesterday. It didn’t help that I was eating pizza and laksa for the first time since confinement. S says we have opened the door for junk food again, a fit tastes good. Lp ordered a HUGE tous les jours cheesecake. Gabe blew out the candles the first time :). They always do that. When EV was supposed to do it, she looked clueless for a minute with all the kids yelling at her to blow out the candles. Finally S lifted her directly to the candle and we said “EV! Hot! Hot!”, which then makes her blow on things.

Teri left. I was nervous about having a guest stay with us so soon but she was awesome. It was lovely to catch up and the kids loved her. It makes me sad that we aren’t more in touch (and yet we are more in touch that I am with others) but it was nice that 5 days together helped catch up 15 years of not so much contact. Well, I guess she did visit me in Singapore in ’04. I’m glad she was really good with the kids… I know they will forever like her. AE said she didn’t want the Aunty to go. She was a huge blessing… Especially at a time when we are still adjusting to NÉ and weekends without Ayi.

NÉ’s conehead is starting to shrink down (or her face is getting rounder). Just now I had to wake her to do 3am feed. I had too much. It makes up for the disastrous sleep I had last night (and needed a 3 hour nap yesterday afternoon) – bad days she’ll do a 2-3 hour stretch and then wake up every 30-60 minutes after that for another 4 hours. I really hope she starts to laugh soon. Her default face is annoyed and seems pretty stuck there, even as I tickle her or make all sorts of stupid faces at her.

AE had “growing pains” in her feet again which caused her to cry in her sleep. I think it’s her new version of night terrors. Too much excitement in the day and sleeping too late.