Who is she?

Every time I look at XiaoXiao, she's different. One day she'll have full chipmunk cheeks and the sweetest round belly, the next day her face will be more heart-shaped and her stomach non-existent. At times I see only a squiggle of arms and legs as she scurries past.

More amazing are the changes that are happening inside. Daily, it seems.

We went to visit Uncle Ed and Uncle Steve again last weekend. That meant another horse ride. Her posture was even better and her confidence higher, if that is possible. She knew to ask for a "hat." She wondered if Bunny should also have a hat, but, alas, they did not have one in his size. He rode without it and she just held onto him, mentioning several times that he was doing a good job.

Since the stables were busy when we got there, we had to wait. Not an easy task for an impatient two-year old. Daddy took her around to show her the farm.

But the waiting was still hard and at one point, she threw a fit, then had to apologize to Daddy. The tantrums are Award-winning, but so are the hugs she gives afterwards. This one came without any prodding from me.

We went to see an alpaca farm. She liked the baby alpaca and the fat goats. Daddy loved it all, asking millions of questions. He came away thinking we might raise alpacas, but he is wrong. So very very wrong.

We picked apples in the most glorious orchard. Every piece of fruit was huge and perfect and, best of all, within her reach. XX was pleased that both Daddy and Ariel got to go with us. (Boris missed the ride as he was off roaming, probably in search of revenge on a certain porcupine. Luckily, he didn't meet up with any on this visit.)

It's amazing that such a small person can eat such a large apple.

The trip meant she was tired for her dance class on Monday. And that meant she was a bit hyper, or rather, more overactive than usual (I can't count the number of times someone has asked, in a horrified tone, "Is she always like this?"). Her teacher had to ask her twice to calm down and go back to the blue line. Didn't bother her a bit. Since she'd already got the attention and laughs she craved, she guffawed and zipped back to her place ... for about ten seconds.

She is always the clown. Below is what she calls a "goofball hat." A goofball hat might also be a box, or a bowl, or a sock, anything that will make her laugh. She loves it more when she makes me laugh, too. How can I resist?

She often mimics what I say, repeating along every fourth word or so as John and I talk. It's like having a slurry echo in the conversation. It drives John crazy, but it's hysterical. I don't know if it's such a good idea to laugh when she does this, because it's just the applause/attention/reward she needs, but since her speech is improving, maybe it's okay.

Her new favorite word, "fuh" (funny), started coming out yesterday as "fuh-neeee!" Not every time, but getting there. The word is everpresent throughout the day, always with a vigorous nod of the head and a big smile. Everything is "fuh."

She loves her "eda-ma" but wasn't sure about "kam-boke" (edamame and kamaboko). Multi-syllable words are in the air and John is understanding some of them. I may lose my job as translator soon.

The lesson this week in Mandarin playgroup was "rabbit." Need I say it was a success for this small student? She cheerfully (and loudly) repeated after the teacher, who was so pleased that someone was listening. XX worked hard on the craft project, doing it all herself. Just gluing cotton onto a sketch of a bunny, but she absolutely had an idea of where each piece should go.

She came home and proudly showed her picture to both Ariel and Daddy. I don't know that Ariel thought too much of it, but Daddy was wowed.

She plays house, making meals for her friends. Usually it's "buck buck" (chicken), but sometimes it's eggs or soup.

She suddenly started needing more books. And more books as in storybooks, not picture/board books. That two-year old memory also means that she hears a story once and it's there for her to explore, over and over during her "reading" time each day. She can hardly sit still for a meal, or stand still for directions in a class, but give her a book and she's a happy camper, turning pages and reading aloud, studying both illustrations and words until she's gone through a "stack" - perhaps 10 books, perhaps 20. Whatever she's got available. It's one of my favorite parts of the day - eavesdropping on her reading time. I really get to see and hear what she's learning and what she's thinking. She never fails to astonish me.

Even though she just turned two, the subject of schooling comes up almost daily. We're not quite sure what to do or what she will need. John and I were talking the other evening, and I turned to her and asked, "What are we going to do with you?" To John's complete horror, she smiled sweetly and answered in all seriousness, "Dance class?" I think he was hoping she'd say, "Don't worry, my dear Father. I'll have a scholarship to Harvard Med School ... by the time I'm 14."

Fuh!

What I Love About the Terrible Twos ...

... is that we're not quite into them yet. I hear they often don't start until 3 and while we do have rough days, in general, this is a great period, full of so much learning and enthusiasm.

XX started a dance class. It's a Mommy & Me with a bit of an emphasis on ballet. To my surprise, she listens (mostly), and follows direction. I'm stunned seeing what two year olds can do in a class. She's the smallest and the youngest, but always first in line, anxious to try everything. I love that eagerness to participate. Amazingly, she even waits patiently before class starts.

We're back at Mandarin Playgroup also. She got a new CD with the songs for this year and she's already singing and dancing to some of the music. Her counting has gotten pretty good, though she's easily distracted. Still, she asks to count the bunnies often. I love that she thinks this is all so much fun.

It looks like we'll be going in with Daddy who has meetings on those days not so far away. We have lunch and all come home together. She's learned that when Dada is on the phone, she should be quiet. I love watching her carefully close his office doors, and then yell out in that Ethel Merman-like voice, "Dada work! SHHH!!!"

I love her unshakable belief that Dada can fix anything. She often tells people when we're out and she sees something amiss, that "Dada fix later."

We went to pick apples with some children from the neighborhood. XX, as always, picked then carefully examined each apple. I love her attention to detail.

She checked out the pumpkins.

We all had lunch afterwards.

She watched Daddy make pancakes on Sunday morning. She pulls the chair over by herself and is very interested in everything that takes place on the counter, wanting a bite or a taste of everything.

I love that adventurous nature that lets her eat salsa, beans, curry ... whatever we're eating, she's eating. And what she's eating, we get to eat. She always shares her snacks. The more she loves the snack, the quicker she is to offer some to me, to Dada, to Ariel.

We saw her walking slowly across the deck outside John's office with the big barbecue spoon in hand, balancing a leaf on it and then dropping it in the dog bowl. She did this over and over, concentrating on each leaf until the bowl was full, then called Ariel over because she'd made some food for her (Ariel loves to chew on leaves when she sits on the deck with XX).

She's starting to get a real idea of what is and isn't proper behavior. As in "Boris eat eat cat? No no Boris. NOT NICE! Calm down, Boris."

If you want never to take a shopping list to the grocery store, yet never forget anything, find a two year old. XX remembers everything. I'll ask her on a Monday to remind me to get, oh, blueberries, and she'll say, "Next time store, more blueberries. Mmm hmmm, yes. More blueberries." And on Thursday, when we get to the store, she'll call out, "More blueberries, Mama!"

One word she likes now is "both." As in "Mama read, XiaoXiao read, BOTH read!" after she plops a book into my lap and opens one in her own. If she gets a stamp on her hand in dance class, she makes sure Mama gets one as well. Yesterday, we walked the dogs and I loved seeing her run so joyfully, a cheap plastic necklace around her neck and a small bag over her arm so she could carry seed pods, acorns, dropped flowers, and rocks. We said hi to a number of neighbors and at the end of the walk, I noticed I had a funny plastic necklace around my neck - she'd put it on me earlier so that we "both" had a necklace.

If I wear blue pants, she wants blue pants. Green pants, green pants. Pink shirt ... you get the picture.

But there are days we eschew the pink for a more urban look. Note the little chain necklace and the cell phone in hand, her additions, and I think they're perfect. Definitely a girl with some fashion sense. Love that!

What We Did
on
Our Summer Vacation

Thanks to XiaoXiao's Uncle Ed and Uncle Steve, we were able to take part in this great American tradition of "end of summer vacation." Admittedly, John and I brought our computers and, ulp, did a lot of work, but we still managed to fit in lots of fun.

XiaoXiao and I went to pick blueberries. She worked diligently, picking over a pound by herself.

She's wearing the jacket that AI sent for her birthday ... last year. She almost fits into it now. How times flies.

She rode a horse. John grimaced seeing how much she loved it. Horse-riding isn't an inexpensive pastime.



We went to a dog fest.

You might notice that Bunny got to do and see a lot also.

There were plenty of animals to be fed.

Dog bowls to be washed and doors to be opened for dogs who wanted in or out.


There were cats to be petted and counted. (Three, though one disappeared for a few days, sending my stress level sky high.)

Someone always needed XiaoXiao's help. Here she's helping Quincy to talk on the phone to Juju. She tells him to say "hi" and "bye bye, love love." He wasn't that into it.


Boris and the head cat, Caleb, finally made peace.


This was nice because when Boris tried to get Caleb, Caleb would in turn make Ariel's life miserable, chasing her around the house until I thought Ariel would pass out from hyperventilation.

The reason Boris calmed down unfortunately, wasn't a new-found good will toward cats. More like pain and drugs. He found a porcupine and then spent a day at the vet.

This is only a small portion of the quills. I'd yanked most of them out, but as he had them up both paws, front and back, and all around his mouth and inside ... it became a job for the vets who had to put him under to clean the poor dog up. He's only just now recovering, a week later.

Still, he had a wonderful time. Lots of roaming, lots of swimming, lots of lying around as King of, if not the house, at least the Lawn and all the surrounding acres.

Ariel also visited the vet with a loose - and by the time the appointment happened - missing tooth. Otherwise, she enjoyed the company of Ethan. They went out together, played and came in together.

XX was always busy. There were floors to be cleaned (Uncle Ed's broom and dustpan were favorite toys) ...


... Dada's shirts to be ironed ...


... grocery carts to be driven ...


... and corn to be shucked (to my delight, she is excellent at this task!) and then eaten. McGee wanted corn too.




At the end of the day, there was still time for reading. She takes a little dance break in there, too.


It was exhausting but exhilarating. Wonderfully, as I was putting these vids and pix together this afternoon, XX watched and exclaimed "Blueberries!" "Horse!" "Quincy!" "Caleb!" She's now able to look at this blog and relive a bit.

We can't wait to go back.

Big Day, Big Girl

XiaoXiao has finally hit the big 20. Twenty pounds, that is.

I guess most parents don't vid their kids at this point, and it certainly didn't matter that much to XX, but her Dad and I were pretty excited.