A mothering journey with my two beautiful girls
Baby girl found her new skill by accident today. She was quite surprised by herself at first, and then she continued to do it just because her audience put up such an uproar clapping sessions for her.
The best record is about 10 seconds today, but I’m sure it will get over written in a few days.
Dear Livy,
You had quite a few accomplishments this weekend. First of all, you mastered the skill of climbing up the stairs. It took you three minutes the first time, but now you move like a little monkey.
I made daddy put up the gate by the stairs next to the playroom. He made it permanent like a wall (we will talk about that in another post), but it didn’t stop you from shaking it violently and sticking your arms and legs at all the places that nearly give me heart attacks.
You had your first frozen lemonade. It wasn’t my choice, but you wouldn’t give it back after I let you have one lick. The kicks, the screams, and the slapping around… I had to choose between giving you the pop or having to clean up a sticky screen porch, a mad baby, and yucky mommy. It was clear to me that I need to choose my battles wisely, and this wasn’t one of them. You made a beautiful southern girl when everything is going your way.
The way you took the whole pool thing amazes me. It appears that you didn’t mind being a fish. You observed Maddy during her whole swimming lesson. While she was timid and really had a hard time blowing bubbles under the water, you just laid back in your little simming ring and enjoyed the chill water that mommy didn’t even want to get into. But I think your favorite part of the pool is the break time. You got to eat un-cut grapes for the first time like how jiejie eats them. You were so proud and delighted, and stuffed yourself like a chipmunk.
Then during bath time, you picked out the right bubble container amongst five different bottles (shampoos, soaps, etc) and demanded me to open it. It dawned on me that you are a lot smarter than I give you credits for. How you can pretend like you don’t hear or see mommy and daddy; how you got a hold of jie-jie’s necklace and knew exactly what to do with it; how you can be the most impossible stubborn baby in one minute and then switch to the sweetest child the next (getting your ways of course AND making me unable to be mad at you)
You’re turning into such a wonderful little person: Witty, charming, yet feisty and willful. People say good things come in small packages, and I couldn’t agree more.
Love you always,
mommy
Dropping the baby off at school this morning-
Ms L: I can’t believe how well Livy transitioned to sleeping on the cot yesterday. She just covered herself with her blankie and went to sleep.. didn’t even sit up once. She is such a great baby!
Me thinking: Are you talking about my stubborn, rude, and nearly impossible baby?
Ms L: We’re so proud of her. She didn’t roll, crawl out of it or anything. Just laid down and went to sleep… not a sound or anything.
Then…I am 100% positive that Livy had casted spells on her teachers.
The baby has been extra fussy these past couple of days. At the first sight of her crib after bath, she sqirms and screams and refuses to stay in her room. She out-cries eternity. The other night we finally gave in and brought her into our bed. She gave us this “I won” grin so mischievously I know instantly that my life is going to be full of challenages and headaches. The child then proceeded to play footsie with us. Smiled here and smiled there and she got away with her crime once again.
The baby has been protesting for the past two days since then. It’s like a war zone at night. We’re retreated all the way downstairs to the guest room, with the window wide open so the water fountain and the froggy croaking sounds cover most of her stubborn howls. We stayed outside on the screen porch before going to bed so I can keep my sanity.
I did find out… somehow her four molars appeared out of no where, four humongous back teeth broke out. I suppose it’s part of being #2.. the milestones are not anticipated with focus by her parents.
I feel a little bad… just a little. The war shall go on, with a bit Tylenol and baby Orajel tonight.
“Mei-mei, Er-Duo zai na li?”
The baby points to her ear, gives you a smile, and waits for you to clap.
“Livy, Bi-zi zai na li?”
The baby points to her ear, gives you a smile, and waits for you to clap.
“Livy, Toe-fa zi na li?”
The baby points to her ear, gives you a smile, and waits for you to clap.
We will be sticking to showing off our “Er-Duo” in public for a while.
Considering the girl has inherited her athletic ability from her mother, I was only expecting a girl who freezes with a dull look on stage. I wouldn’t have minded it if that was the case. She will look cute anyway.
To my big surprise, the girl did exceptionally well during the dress rehearsal, on top of looking pretty of course. Perhaps, just perhaps, she does have some coordination genes from daddy deep deep down, on the very bottom part of her DNA composition.
Maddy is the official “computer monitor” in her P2 class now. I thought her new responsibility was to ‘turn on the computers’ each day, but apparently it is more glorious than the actual job title. She is the IT support for her classmates. Ms G howled the other day “Madison our computer monitor, your friend needs help”. The girl ran over immediately. She clicked the mouse, picked a game and showed her new friend how to use the computer with such a serious mannerism. It was halirious to watch!
While daddy griped about how sad it is that her destiny is deemed “nerdy” when she is only three, I thought about how blessed we are having wonderful teachers for our girls along each step of their development.
In all the three and a half chaos, they notice every bit of Maddy’s strength and weakness. They couldn’t have given her a better responsibility in class. The girl is quick and confident when it comes to computer. Her new title has given her good reasons to be more open and assertive (she is slow to warm up and on the shy side in a large group)
When Ms G annouced her new title during the class party to all the attending parents, the girl lit up so much a fuse would surely burn out if she were an actual computer monitor.
Conversations in the playroom-
Maddy: Mommy, can you help me color?
Mommy: I thought daddy was helping you (just came in from putting Livy down for the night)
Maddy: I want you to help
Mommy: Is daddy not doing a good job?
Maddy: No. He is not doing nothing
Daddy: OooooKay. I’ll help (with some guilty laughes)
Maddy: It’s not funny, daddy. It is not even funny. Don’t laugh when I say it.
Bring my two girls back to Cornell during our road trip was very special to me. Even after 12 years, there is that familarity when I walked around the campus, the college town, and the small city that pretty much exists because of the university.
We attended the commencement for college of human ecology, the college where Joe’s half sister graduated from. It is a little bit ironic because out of all the colleges in the university, Human Ecology is just about as opposite as college of Engineering. The two are located on the opposites of the university. I don’t even recall knowing any one from HumEc in my college years. Dave and Joe laughed at me because I couldn’t tell them what building is what on ‘that side of the campus’.
However, I became quite touched and almost teary (and I am not a sentimental person) as I listened to their dean and the valedictorian spoke. They spoke about always remembering the supporting staff and friends in their Cornell communities. They spoke about making differences in other people’s lives, even if it meant one at a time.
I can vouch for both. Even after a dozen years apart, the friends I had made during the college years are still ‘in their own class’ till today. They were my greatest support during the difficult times after college years.
When people asked me what is the one thing that Cornell has given me, my answer has always been “Cornell taught me what it means to be humble”. It is hard not to be when you are surrounded by amazingly intelligent, well-rounded, diverse groups of people and they are also the most real, down to earth and compassinate friends you can ever asked for. None of them ever had the tendancy to ‘flash their Ivy League status’ (and many of them hold multiple degrees from other schools I can only dream to be accepted). We were all given the life lesson one way or the other to value virtues far more important than a piece of Ivy League degree.
I am grateful to see that after all these years, the institution is still in the business of developing young individuals with solid inner characters. For that.. I hope my girls will consider Cornell their college choice when the time comes.
Shopping in Target.. daddy paced back and forth and finally put one tissue box in the cart. Ten minutes later he got another box of tissue box:
Mommy: I guess you finally broke down and have to get another one
Daddy: No. I usually get the pack of three boxes, but they don’t have it today.
Mommy: Why don’t you get three boxess then?
Daddy: No. They don’t have the right ones.
Mommy: What’s wrong with these?
Daddy: They are out of the green ones.
Mommy: They’re out of green tissue boxes? That is how you decide on your tissues? The BOXES have to be green?
Daddy: I don’t ask for much. Can’t a man have tissue boxes of the right color? Maddy can have the blue one I just got.
They say you learn something new about your marriage every day.
