Can't kiss me without permission!

Every morning when i take amy into the day care, one of the directors would ask for a kiss from her. Ninty-nine percent of the time amy would shake her head and say "no no". It's like a little routine laugh for both me and the director.
This morning the director decided to take some any way. So instead of asking amy, she sneaked up on her and kissed her on the face really hard. Amy suddenly burst into this huge cry, as if saying "you can't kiss me without asking!". Plus, i put this new jacket on her today, she looked like a teddy bear. A grumpy fuzzy crying teddy bear.Everyone passing the hallway had a really good laugh over this.

loves auntie

This week my sister's coming over for a visit. Before she came, i was really worried that amy's not gonna play with her, or, even worse, cried every time she sees her. Mommy, daddy and day care teachers are all the adults she knows, after all.
To my surprise, amy loves her very much. Quote my husband, "she can sense who's close relative." The minute she saw my sister, she gave her a gentle smile. They started play together like crazy only 5 minutes after my sister got in the house.
Yesterday, amy even started to get jealous when my sister played with davin in the day care. This morning, she got up before her auntie did. So she just squated down quietly in front of my sister's door, waiting for her to come out to play with her.
I am soooooooooo happy to see they love each other.
Now i am not as worried as before that amy won't play with my parents when they get here.

Word count

ah-oh
灯
POOH
奶
birdie
抱抱
干干
计算器
thank you
bye bye
ball
豆豆
臭臭
藕
面面
HIGH FIVE
come
shoe
toy

体力劳动者

我有把子力气。这可以追溯到很早。比如说换煤气罐。比如说大学里我打四壶八磅的水。上山下乡到了美国，登峰造极，甚至名扬我们小TOWN。话说有一回，帮我ROOMIE去买家具。共两女三男。DEFAULT认为干活的有一女三男。我和胖男一组，两瘦男一组。人家一开始蛮照顾我，说，哎，你们一组抬床垫，轻，我们一组抬写字台，你慢着点儿啊。殊不知抬完这一趟回来，瘦男甲就改了主意，斜次里奔我杀过来，哎我说，不行不行这样不行，还有一个QUEEN SIZE BOX，这个瘦男乙他不行啊，换咱俩一组去吧？我受了表扬，欢欣鼓舞，这半天儿好好儿的卖了卖块儿。
我们家AMY好的她不学，妈妈我冰雪聪明伶牙俐齿她一样儿也没有延承衣钵，到了体格儿健壮这儿，她倒是没拉下。刚刚会走路的时候，步履蹒跚，也要摸到壁橱那里，踮着脚尖够到最大包的DIAPER，帮当一声拨拉到地上，哼呦咳呦的拖到遥远的卧室去，备战备荒那么个意思。走好了更加不得了，到了商场都要帮人家重组货架。妈妈一眼没看住，就摸到最大桶的CONDITIONER，抱起来撒腿就跑。实在是太重了，跑两步蹲下歇一歇，为了防备妈妈来破坏，蹲着都死死的抱着大大一瓶。转眼的功夫就给人家把CONDITIONER拖到鸡汤区，要求这两个配对。上个星期妈妈去DAY CARE接她，在门外偷瞧。但见得这个好汉，袖子挽得老高，脑门儿冒着细汗，推着个塑料大房子就走，完全不顾大房子里面还站着无辜的SEAN。问阿姨，阿姨见怪不怪，说，oh... she's been at it for a couple of hours, rearranging furniture is her business。阿姨们又不知道我们家族的光荣历史，微笑祝贺说，嗯，将来啊，AMY是个DECORATOR。妈妈心里知道，DECORATE个头啊，她,MOVER嘀干活。我们母女两个，搬家公司，都不用再雇老墨了。

Very polite

Amy has been saying "thank you" to everyone for almost a month now. Not exactly "thank you". Dahdu is more like it. Like when she asks for milk, she'd say "dahdu" after we give the cup to her. Even when she's really hungry, she'd rush a "dahdu" before putting the straw in her mouth.

The day care teachers told me that she also kept saying it when they tried to teach sean to speak. They were like, "sean, say thank you". And amy'd say"dahdu" immediately, even when she's really busy with her "funiture re-arranging" business.

Her vocabulary has been growing quite rapidly recently. Bye, beans in chinese, potato in chinese, even stinky in chinese, are among the new additions... Yesterday when i picked her up, i almost knocked over another daddy by the swing door. After i said "sorry", she even managed to say a "sowee". Very polite indeed.

面面

我爸南方人，我妈北方人。生我和我姐的时候，他们两地分居。我妈一个人带大我们俩，在陕西的山沟沟里面。所以，一直到今天，为什么我姐只吃米不吃面这个课题还是没有得到解答。遗传的作用真的这么强大？我妈怀孕的时候吃遍了各式面汤，生出个娇气包儿我姐来，是面做的东西就不吃，甜食除外。

到我家AMY了，基因上面又是她爸比较强大。吃面条，她爸爱吃宽的或者粗的。本来我一直给AMY吃龙须面的，星期六我们俩剩了口粗面条，懒得给她做饭了(我接受批评，穿也不给家穿好，吃也只是剩的。。。)，捡了两根儿给她吃，扔给她的时候，说，吃面面吧。星期天早上，一睁眼睛，人家就高呼，面面！面面！扔了奶瓶，要攀高椅，从CEREAL BAR到WAFFLE到PAN CAKE。。。什么都不吃，就是要面面。时间紧迫，在她拍桌子示威的压力下，我匆忙的下了一把龙须面，图个熟的快。人家不要，胡噜胡噜都抹到头发上，好像假发一般。终於作了她想要的面面，欢呼3秒钟示意。

Shapes

Amy now knows different shapes.

My mom bought her this book when she was really little. It has a big picture of a type of shape on one page, and then a small picture of the same shape on the other page, hidden among other things. We used to "read" this book to her every day, told her "see? this is a square, this is a square, too".
Yesterday, i pointed at the big square, and then asked her to pick out the small square on the other page, she did it! she can also tell triangle, round and oval. But if it's too complicated, like a star, she can't. she'd point at some other small pictures which interest her, like a hipo. :)

小笨笨

AMY今天早上死命攥着一块大饼干进了DAY CARE 的门.从此就被SEAN盯上了.
她坐在墙边儿玩儿玩具,SEAN就不动声色的蹭过去,假装友好坐在旁边.
AMY一个不留神,SEAN就掰去了一大半,疯狂的塞到嘴里拼命咽下去.
AMY只是死命的攥着而已,对SEAN的举动没察觉,突然低头,咦?怎么好像少了一块.便举起来问我,啊啊啊啊啊啊?
我说,给SEAN吃一口嘛,没事的.SEAN听到了,得意得更狠了,又去抢AMY手里剩下的一小牙.
最后,AMY手里什么都没有了,还是不知道,死命的攥着小胖手指头.

Crazy busy recently

My parents are gonna come this coming december. so i am trying to get more work done. haven't got time to keep recording amy's growing up.

She didn't learn much recently, execpt now she can say NO NO while she's shaking her head. She does that all the time. When i dropped her off at the day care and asked for a bye-bye-kiss, she'd say nono. When i ask her to finish her dinner, she'd say nono. Or, when she's doing something she's not supposed to do, she'd say nono while she's doing that.

Her daddy said she can say cat in chinese, now... i didn't notice, though... Sigh... bad mommy ah.

Bossy Girl

I guess all girls are bossy. Amy is one of the proofs. She likes to make us do this and that . Like when she can't put the stackers back onto the pole, she'd demand us to do it for her. Or, when she wants some crackers, she won't quit till we give it to her. I didn't think all these as "bossy" until i saw her in day care. The other day when i picked her up from the day care, she was playing with Davin. And i saw her point at davin and say "Davin! Come! Come!" at the same time. That's when i realized she's one bossy little girl. Well, i was, too, when i was little. So i guess i've nothing to complain.

Play with Crayon

About 10 days ago, Liz told me they draw/paint in the day care. I was really surprised that they can play such complicated games at this age. So i bought some crayons home to play with amy. She just loves it! Of course she'd try to lick the crayon everytime i gave it to her. But once she started to draw her little lines, she just forgets all about the urge to taste. She can sit there filp the deck of paper i give her and draw or dot little things on it for 10-20 minutes without any complaints. Sometime if i praise her, she'd have this really proud and shy impression on her, which makes me just want to "bite" her little face...
I just love her day care. Sure, she got virus from time to time, and maybe they don't hold her as often as i would at home (she is just toooooo heavy. :p). But they teach her all these things that i couldn't think of. That little brain surprises me every day. And most of them are because of the day care.

Also, after about 1 week's patient observing, today amy tried to play with her stacker for the first time and she actually succeed in putting the rings back there!

nonononono

Yesterday i took amy to my office after day care. Normally she's really friendly, waving at everybody who's passing by. But not yesterday. Everytime i told her say hi to my collegues, she'd shake her head. It's like "i will say hi when i want to. i wont say it just cuz you ask me even if i want to myself." I really didn't know kids are gonna be like this so soon. I thought it's for teenagers.

Then during the night she woke up by this cough and refused to sleep. Everytime i told her "night night" she'd shake her head again and again, even if she's so sleepy that she can't open her eyes. We fought like this till 3 am this morning. Towards the end i got really mad at her and yelled a little. Of course i felt sorry and bad for that. But i just couldn't help. I comforted myself by saying that every parents do that once in a while. But still... especially this morning on our way to day care, amy yelled a little, too. I can't tell what she's saying but i know she learnt that from me. Sigh.

Strong personality

This morning when i dropped amy off at the day care, Alma and Nareen told me she has been a little bit 'out of control' recently. I actually have noticed that at home, too.

The key "symptom" is that she has to be the one who decides everything. Like when i give her a cup of water, she'd shake her head vigorously. And then no more than 5 seconds later, she'd ask for one. When i finally give it her on her demand, she'd have this impression, like "i say when!", on her. She does that to everything.
In addition to that, we can't push her into doing anything. The more we push, the more she fights. They have this music lesson every Thursday. Amy loves it a lot. She'd sit there very quietly and smile, or dance a little. But she'd never touch anything the teacher put there. They tried to make her play the drums or other instrument. Everytime it ended with her scream. Actually she started to do that even when she's really little, like 4 or 5 months. Everytime when i tried to hold her hand to touch something, she'd fight really hard.

I talked about it with Alma and Nareen for a while. And the conclusion we reached is that Amy's like her daddy, has a strong personality.
Not long ago i was afraid she might become a push-over like me. Now that i found out she has a strong personality, i am still worried!
sigh, I am such a typical mom!

Confused bi-lingual kid

Now amy knows 7 words, some english, some chinese (light in Chinese, ah-oh, pooh, birdie, calculator in chinese, milk in chinese, and cracker in chinese). I know she'd face the bi-lingual confusing situation sooner or later. But i didn't expect it would happen so soon. About 1-2 weeks ago, amy learnt how to say milk in Chinese when she's hungry. For some reason she likes to say it twice at the same time. I've got used to it pretty quick and thought it's really cute. What i didn't realize, though, is that if you repeat milk in Chinese twice, it sounds exactly the same as "night-night". The other day when i was chatting with Nareen, i told her amy can say this and that... Out of curiosity, she asked me how to say milk in Chinese. After i told her, she thought for a second, and said, "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so that's why she kept saying night night these days". All of them burst into this huge laugh. It turned out amy has been saying it in the day care for quite some time. And everytime she says it, they take it as "night-night", and thought she wanted to take a nap. So they put her into her crib instead. My poor amy, starving in her crib... :p.

To be frank, i am rather amused than worried. I guess i am really bad in term of protecting amy and stuff... I just have confidence in her. She'll figure it out sooner than later.

Go on her regular diet recently

Amy has this regular dieting period. She just decides she doesn't want to eat anything from time to time. One of the reasons i guess is that i am not that good a cook. Another thing is that she is picky, both on flavor and on texture. Babies are so sensitive to things that it amazes me. I'd make exactly the same thing for her. Even if i put in just a touch more salt, she'd refuse to eat it. She also is lazy and very reluctant to chew on things. If the texture is a tiny bit too hard, she'd spit it out.

After the cold, the diaper rash, now the picky diet. She is really driving me nuts from last weekend. Maybe today i'll take her to the playground to have some fun.

Lazy girl

Amy now has passed the phase during which she's really interested in walking. She's become this lazy girl. Everytime we went out, after we got to downstairs, she'd walk directly to her stroller and wait there. Even when we got to the trail outside our apartment complex, she refused to walk by herself, just sitting in her stroller very comfyly and contended. The only thing that can make her stand up is the ants. So i have to cheat her by yelling "ants" even there is not any to get out of the stroller. Fortunately when she gets out of stroller, she's easily distracted. So hoefully she won't feel betrayed.

A little cold again

Amy's waking up last week was actually for a reason. I falsely accused her of being bad.... Not a good mother. She got this cold and passed it to both me and my husband. It's really painful at the beginning of this cold. We appear to be ok. But actually our throat is killing us. So i guess amy suffered the same uncomfortableness last week. No wonder she kept waking up during the night.
Now her cold is getting better and she sleeps much better.

This morning she tried to say "Daven" and "Thank you". Of course not very clear. I guess only me and her daddy can understand her. Now she's at a stage that she likes to repeat everything we say. But she can only pronounce "b" and "d" well... so her vacabulary is quite limited.

After a weekend, this morning at day care she was extremely happy. Me, too. :p.

Sigh...

I guess amy just had too much fun at day care that she doesn't want to be left alone any more. Yesterday night around midnight she woke up for no reason at all, AGAIN! This time i learnt my lesson. I didn't cave and go to check her at all. It's just during the whole 1.5 hours that she's fuzzing around, i became really furious about her, about myself, about the situation... She did fall in sleep by herself eventually. But i found out she had bad diaper rash this morning. She had a bowel movement during that awake hour. Now i am really not sure if i will go in next time she does this. Sigh...

Alma said Amy's smart

But what i sensed is that she's the geek in the group... Here's the story. Alma taught all the babies some sign language, like thank you, i love you... which i don't even know. Yesterday she showed them "more". During lunch, amy kept doing that. The other girls are looking at her, like she's a weirdo or show-off or something. This totally reminds me of my primary school time. Some time i'd even make some mistakes intentionally in the exam, just to be more like others. I guess that's my problem.

I can use a straw cup now - 09/25/2004