A Real Mom

I guess I'm a real mom now, baptized by vomit. Several times.

The strange thing is, it wasn't as repulsive as it seemed it would be. Not that it was pleasant, but your mind just goes to taking care of the miserable little geyser in front of you.

We all had the stomach flu this weekend, unfortunately the weekend Aunt Steff came to visit. She stayed about an hour and then checked into a nearby hotel. She'll be back Friday, we hope, before she goes back home.

The three of us got sick within a few hours of each other. John was done in 24 hours, XX and I got a second round so took 48 hours.

But we're all fine now. Perhaps a bit more bonded for having spent the time glued together sleeping for days on end. You have to look hard through the stomach flu for a silver lining, but it's there. Covered in vomit.

Spring

We can't paint all day. So we run errands, we play. On our Costco trip, McGee, XiaoXiao's bear, came with us. And he, too, wore a tutu.

It's warmer, so we can wear lighter jackets and leave them open now. XX hangs up her own jackets and puts them on "all by self!" We like to celebrate "artistic expression" in this house, so when she says with pride, "XiaoXiao do little bit odd," I say, "Great!" And odd it is.

There's also tea time with Ariel. XX serves sticks and Ariel always takes them.

Spring.

The Best Helper

XiaoXiao helps me all day long. My chores take a lot longer to finish, but at least I'm able to get them done. Even painting. Who would have though I'd be able to paint for half-days at a time while in the company of a two-year old? A few tools of her own and she's right there, proudly working for as long as I do.

As long as no one ever tells her it's not cool to help your mother, I'm in good shape.

Eating

One of two highly stressful subjects for parents of infants and toddlers. I can't count the number of times I've been asked, "How is she sleeping?" or "How is she eating?" I can't count the number of times I've complained about both.

The truth be told, I can't really complain too much about either. I'll talk about sleeping another day. That hasn't gone so well lately. Eating, however ...

Her tastes run to the extreme. Spicy is fabulous. Salsa, ground pepper, lemons, even wasabi peas and Chinese mustard. But she also enjoys her tofu and plain yogurt.

Color is all important, purple foods tasting the best. Purple grapes, raw red cabbage, even eggplant. She'll pick around the meat in a dish to get to the eggplant. We often come home from the grocery with a red pepper or a yellow pepper or the greenest broccoli or a red mango, chosen for the vibrant colors. Whether or not she ultimately enjoys the foods, she is always anxious to taste and she does so carefully without judgement. Tasting the colors.

She still spits out mouthfuls of various foods at times, or holds a mouthful for up to 50 minutes. No rhyme or reason I can comprehend. Cheese or banana or orange or meat or cracker or bread. Everything gets spit out or held at some point. I put it down to teething. Tooth number 17 just made its appearance. Her fingers are in her mouth again, so 18 must be on its way.

We make pizza often. It's hard to shape the dough after she's played with it so one day we made an "X."


And playtime is often about cooking. She stirs, she makes pies, she makes pasta (only XX would pick the asparagus, yellow peppers and olives out of her dinner, leaving the pasta), she makes broccoli or meat (though she now says, "XX does not eat meat. Only Daddy. Daddy eats 'ever-fing.'"), she makes "green" (all the green crayons put together) or "purple."

Pouring coffee and serving can keep her busy for quite a while.

At the end of her playtime, she came to tell me she was all done. I said we should go get her dishes and bring them inside. I got a funny look and then she took my hand to show me she had brought in the tiny teaset and stacked the pieces nicely inside the door. "XX clean already."

She'd also called Ariel in (the two of them go out together on Daddy's porch) and closed the door.

Now if only sleeping could go this well ...

The Zoo

Now that the weather is warmer, there are more exhibits and more animals to see. We had a great time yesterday and XX and Daddy got some special bonding time.

They fed goats ...

... tried on big fox ears ...

... sat in turtle shells ...

... looked at wild mongolian horses ...

... even rode a big spiral slide.

Definitely father and daughter.

You might notice the unique outfit. Everyone at the zoo certainly did.

XX doesn't just get dressed by herself now: she gets into costume. She likes to wear my clothes best, because as she says, "XiaoXiao JES like Mummy!" Often, like this day, she will wear two of my shirts and then one of her own. Sometimes there might be pajama bottoms or tops, or a tutu and a Japanese vest. She can do buttons and snaps and even laces her sneakers in fantastic ways. She's not quite up to tying them yet, but she tries every day.

XX and I went up into the prairie dog domain and waved at Daddy.

There was a lovely duck who kept coming up to give kisses to XX and to me. Probably hoping for some popcorn!

And at the end, XX rode the carousel. Last week, she and I rode on one of the up-and-down bugs. XX was so proud and wanted to show Daddy, but opted out at the last minute for the safer carriage.

Daddy had so much work to do and we really had to pull him away from the computer to get to the zoo, but I think he had just as much fun as XX and I did. He agreed that there was no better way to spend a Thursday afternoon. Can't wait to do it again!

Asian Hand

In one of my prior lives, the words "Asian hand" meant tight, precise drawing - perfect for creating tiny, intricate artwork.

It's really interesting to me to watch XiaoXiao "write." She wrote the above letter to JuJu and Obachan, leaning over the napkin, working so incredibly hard. She draws with a looseness I envy, but her writing is with a sure Asian hand.

Today was the first time she drew with a purpose. She drew a person:

She told me as she sketched, that there was a face, eyes, mouth. She drew with intent and concentration (though sadly for my ears, not quiet concentration). Other incarnations had hair, arms and legs.

It's all too wow for me.