Two mornings ago was the worst for AE. The night before I told her that if she could get dressed and teeth brushed by 6:50, she could have breakfast at home. You see, Qiyuan serves breakfast if you get there by 7:40. Kids who don’t partake in breakfast can arrive at 8. The problem is that she’s the slowest pickiest eater so if she eats at home, it’s actually a hassle for me.

Two mornings ago she woke up at 7:11.  “Go make me breakfast!”  Nope, you’re eating at school.  “I’m not getting out of bed unless you make me breakfast.”  After about 10 minutes of this, at which I even told her what would happen (“there is going to be crying.  you will finally get up at 7:40 at which point you’ll be too late for breakfast and daddy will get up.  He will be angry and ask why you didn’t get up.  You will get spanked. You will cry, still stubborn. At about 7:45 we will leave but you’ll get to school at 8.  Too late for school breakfast. You will be hungry and grumpy all day.”)  At that point, having heard nothing but “Go make me breakfast NOW.” All morning I told her I was going back to bed. She could ask her dad to send her to school.  I was tired and climbed into EV’s top bunk.

“Mommy, get out of bed! Go make me breakfast.”  No. Maybe dad will make you breakfast. I’m going back to sleep. So she ran off to wake up Stephen… That’s never a good thing.

Not sure what ensued but she came back in a minute and said “please, mommy get up.”  At this point it was probably 7:30.  I’m not making breakfast.  “Just get up!!”

I got up. We left at 7:40 and got to school at 7:55.  Apparently they still gave her breakfast.  I got multiple SMS’s from her teachers saying she was really behind. Needs more study. Her teacher even said she was going to give ME homework to help AE every night.

Oh, the night before, after school got out (5:30-after basketball), we went to piano.  Piano teacher was super said. She said AE wasn’t even responding to what she asked her to do.  It was a wasted day for AE. I scheduled an extra piano class for the week to make up for Monday. I made her practice only to realize Tue morning that she didn’t do her Chinese homework. Guess that’s why her teacher was talking to me so much.

Anyway, yesterday I woke her up at 6:40. She jumped out of bed. “I want breakfast!”  By 6:50 she was changed and brushing her teeth.  I told her she could have breakfast if she was at the table by 7.  She had breakfast and was happy all day.  Piano teacher yesterday even said she did GREAT (she’d better, after the hours I spent with her).

This morning AE woke ME up at 6:40!!  “I want breakfast!”  I cuddled her for a 10 minute snooze and we got up and changed together. She got to eat the chocolate bread she had bought the night before. We even managed to practice her Chinese writing for her 听写 quiz.  We prayed together on the scooter ride to school.  Got to school at 7:58.  

On days like this, I have the best daughter in the world.

me: will you be sad if I have to leave again?

AE: yah

Me: should I take Nea or leave her here?

AE: leave her here. She’s a trouble maker.  You should bring me.

Me: are you a trouble maker?

AE: yah, but I’m just a little trouble maker.

EV: I love you mommy

Me: I love you too

EV: I love you ten

Me: Nea, touch your nose

(Touches her nose)

Me: Touch your hand

(Touches her hand)

Me: Touch your fingers

(Touches her fingers)

Me: Touch your toes

(Touches her head)

Two days ago, at the end of seimming class, I asked EV to jump in the pool to show me. She turned around and leapt in. Suddenly teacher and I realized she had no floatie and started yelling “come back! Come back!”  Luckily she was able to swim back. We breathed an sigh of relief. Teacher said “it would’ve been fine, just that she jumped too far out!”

EV: daddy, tomorrow I am going to make you a mushmashmishmashmush

AE: I don’t want the jelly beans. Nico says some are good but some taste bad, like booger.
Slo: but you like booger
AE: no I don’t
Slo: but sometimes you eat boogers
AE: yah, but that’s because I don’t have a tissue.

AE: Um, excuse me, daddy. I’m really scared of those trucks. The ones with the top and bottom. They have no box around them. The ones with cars on top. I’m afraid the last car will fall out.
Slo: you don’t need to worry about that
AE: but that’s what happened to Lightening McQueen. He fell out the truck.
Me: but his truck even had a box around it.
AE: yah. But his garage was open.

Slo: say “Goodbye, Legoland!”
EV: No!! Hello, Legoland! Hello, Legoland!

Poke: So, AE, what do you like better: Disneyland or Legoland?
AE: Legoland!!

AE: Wow! So all these rides are FREE?!

Me: ae, do your pinyin homework!
AE: you never let me do whatever I want to!
Me: someday when I’m dead, you can do whatever you want to
Ar: like play iPad all day?
Me: yes
Ae: but you’ll be dead. I’ll never get to see you again.
Me: yes
AE: I just wish we would never die so we can always see each other
Me: yah, that would be nice. But when we die we will get to see God
AE: oh yah. maybe we can ask him to make us back into people.

…

AE: mom, when I grow up, I won’t need any more math!

Evia still can’t talk and she’s almost 3. I’m a little worried that there is something more developmental going on. She can’t pronounce “s” and I think she is generally frustrated by the lack of communication. At the same time, she is often in her own world so she doesn’t really mind. Every night she puts herself to bed around 8:30 and every morning at around 7, she climbs into our bed and just lays with us. She is very sweet… Not to mention cute as heck. She says “awww man!” sometimes which cracks us up.

I remember a few months back when she used to hop around spinning. She’s flap her forearms and sing “doob doob doob doob”. It was super cute. Now she loves animals. Some favorites are “-aroo! E-fent! Theep! Dawfih! Baovin (rabbit)”. She can say some nouns. She can’t yet put together sentences.

AE is growing up. We are working on her math. She still can’t really do single digit addition, meanwhile nico is doing multiple digit subtraction. AE is very fat behind. I’m also starting spelling lists with her but she’s not good. The thing she does do ok is read. We are slowly going thru a book called The Boxcar Children. It’s a bit above her level but as long as she keeps trying, I’m ok with it.

NÉ is like a little puppy. She had two bottom teeth and the top ones will probably come in this week. She is a very fast crawler and will walk earlier than her sisters, I guess. She loves standing and cruising. We have a little yellow plastic ikea stool which she likes to push around. She can clap. She doesn’t like mushy food and prefers firmer solids. Her favorite is still probably cooked plain penne pasta. Last week we went to Isshin and I ordered her a zarusoba. Oh my!! She ate it in record time by the fistfuls. That one eats more than Bella… and probably as much as EV too.

Last week we joined the Chung’s on their staycation. We went to the Water Cube. The kids loves the kiddy pool and wave pool. They were too small for all the big slides. We also did two rounds in the lazy river. The water cube is small… Perfect for their age. It’s just a little expensive for the adults, considering that we can’t ride anything because we are watching the kids. Still, they were super happy and that made it worth it (we didn’t bring NÉ)

S accepted a job offer that will send him to Shanghai every week. That will be interesting, having all 3 kids to myself on the weekdays. Guess that’s why God kept me unemployed.

We are doing green smoothies every morning. It’s been a month. Today’s was my favorite. 2c 小白菜, 2c 豆浆, 2 small nectarines, 1 mango and 1/2 a beet. Looked so ugly. S said he thinks of it as chocolate.

Today is Kira’s birthday party. It starts in 30 mins. AE needs to go make a card soon.

Me: Someday, AE, you have to be the best student in your class. And then you have to do that all the way until 12th grade. And then maybe you’ll get to go to Stanford.
AE: Does this mean I have to eat my 小虾?

AE (to NÉ): You’re so cute! I wish I were cute like you.

Me: ok, AE, it’s time for us to purge the room of mosquitos.
AE: yay! I’ll get the spanking stick!
Me (after she gets it and whaps it around): AE, I don’t think the spanking stick is effective in getting rid of mosquitos. Why don’t you go put it back?
AE: well, I’ll keep it here. Just in case I do something bad. You might still need it.

Slo: Hootenanny!
AE: Don’t say that!
Slo: Hootenanny! What does that mean anyway?
AE: That’s not nice! Stop saying that!
Slo: Hootenanny?
Me: I think she only heard “Annie”
Slo: oh.
AE: Hooten-daddy! Hooten-mommy!

AE: God, I pray that my eyes will get better so I can watch lots of TV and play lots of iPhone and iPad.