Be careful what you wish for

I think ever since D was born I'd been saying, "I can't wait 'til she can speak!!" And all the other parents would say, "Uh-no. You don't want that. Then they don't stop and they keep asking questions and they talk back.." And I would respond, "No way, I can't wait to hear what fun things she comes up with as back talk!"
Well, D is not quite at the back talking or questioning stage yet, but she does certainly know her words. And while she can say some things, she can't finish her thoughts sometimes.
For instance, the other day she kept saying, "Owieeee!" when I put her shoe on her foot. (Okay, D, I know your shoe is a bit small but we don't have one size bigger yet. Just deal.) But then after repeated "owies", I took her shoe off only to find a large pebble stuck in the front. Whoops! See, if she could only have just said, "Owie! My toe!" Then I would've known right away.
And now that she knows how to say, "Walk" and "tsu chuee" (outside, in Chinese) she will use it when we are somewhere (usually in a group of friends or at a friend's house) and she is bored of her current state.
Case in point, the other night our friends, R and M had us over for dinner. Of course, being the lame mother that I can be sometimes, I neglected to bring any toys for D and R and M don't have kids and kind of have a very clean house so nothing laying around for her to play with. D was fine for the first hour or two but shortly after dinner and before dessert, she kept saying, "Tsu Chuee. Tsu Chuee" That's when I know it's time to go...she's bored.
Imagine being younger and being bored and not having the words to express that she wants outta here! Hmm, perhaps life was a bit better before she knew her words...Just kidding. I really love that D can speak. Even if she is always saying, "Mama, walk." when she wants outta certain situations.

She's your very own personal playmate

The nanny. Yes, she is! It's a revelation for D today. For the first time in I don't know how many weeks, D has actually taken to her Chinese speaking nanny and has been playing with her all morning! I was JUST going to write an entry complaining about how I can't seem to get anything done. Before having a child I was great about doing the laundry - getting it all cleaned, folded and put away on the same day. Mopping the floors every week...ironing..
And yet, just yesterday I was staring at the pile of clothes that had been laundered and folded (last week), but not put away. And then I walked into the closet and sighed to see the laundered pile of clothes from months and months ago that needed ironing. I thought to myself, "Why can't I get anything done?? Laundry sits around for days before getting folded..ironing sits for months."
And now, this morning has been so productive! Got my work done, put the laundry away and finally ironed the clothes! It's a wonderful feeling. I'm finally benefitting from having a nanny twice a week.

A little sweetness

But first an Uh-oh...D fell asleep in the midst of biting into a piece of apple! This car-riding to sleep thing is like an Ambien! It lulls her right to sleep. And I thought it was really cute that she fell asleep with a bit of apple in her mouth. Thought it would be funny to keep in her mouth to show to her daddy when I got inside the house. Well....turns out not such a great idea. Dad was on a conference call and then she started kind of chewing the apple and now she's sleeping in her crib with a piece of apple in her mouth!! I tried to pry it out but every time I moved it around in her mouth, she would start chewing a bit. Oh goodness. Will try and go in again soon to dislodge it. Ayayayay...
Okay, now onto a bit of sweetness. Yesterday morning as D was playing around in her room, I was on the ground with her and I said, "Ching-ching!" (Kiss in Chinese). So she saunters over to me and ever so sweetly kisses me. Then says, "Ching-ching nose" and kisses my nose. Then, "Ching-ching eye!" and kisses my eye. Then, "Ching-ching head" and kisses my head! D then stands back with a big proud grin on her face and I, of course am beaming from happiness!
Then at breakfast, she is eating some oranges with yogurt. So she has yogurt all over her face and mouth and she says to her daddy, "Kiss! Kiss!" So he leans in and gives her a kiss and when he stands back up, she is all proud and says, "I loob you daddy!!"
Awwww!! G and I just looked at each other and were like, "Awww, that is so cuuute!!!"

Hippo

D has a great sense of imagination! We have this wooden bench on our front porch and to her, it looks like a hippo! One day as she was playing on it, she just said, "Hippo. Hippo dah ha chien." Which means, "Hippo yawning." How cute is that?
Now sometimes she will just refer to the bench as Hippo! Check it out for yourself!

Round and round...

I don't know if any of you have checked out DM's blog lately. If you have, you'd see that she has this nasty little mosquito bite on her cheek that has become a terrible looking scar and then another boo-boo right by it that also has scarred. This scab thing, open wound has been plaguing us for at least a month!!! Darn Mosquitos! Wouldn't have this mess to deal with if we were living somewhere sane like LA...or SF...
Anyhoooo, D has this terrible mosquito bite that just doesn't get better because, 1) she picks at it as she is falling asleep (no bandaids can keep her from it) and 2) she often sleeps on her face and then rubs her face on the sheet and that irritates the scab too.
So, in order to avoid excess face picking I have now been relegated to driving her around and around until she falls asleep for her naps. Otherwise, if I just put her in her crib, she will just pick and pick as she is talking, singing, what not until she tires and falls asleep.
We still have the problem of her possibly picking at the scab when she awakens (in the morning or from her naps) but while I do go in there and put bandaids on her face while she is asleep, they are almost never still there when I go to get her. Sigh.
It kills us. We hate the thought of her forming a scar because of stupid little mosquito.
I have heard of parents who would drive their children around so they could fall asleep, but I had never been one that had to do it. Now I have become one and yup! It's just as I would've imagined - Annoying.

Who's your daddy??

Who cares? "mama" is the word of the day, month, maybe year. :o)
When D was born, I was sure she was going to be "Daddy's girl". Not only because G is certainly the cooler of the two of us, but because truly he loves her more!! His heart hurts when she cries. I just shoot daggers at her. Okay, I don't. My eyes just glaze over cuuuuz..I don't care when D cries.
But, nonetheless, D wakes up every morning and every naptime calling out MY name. When she is playing, she often calls ME over to sit with her.
I ain't gonna lie, it certainly is heart-warming. I love this child. :o) How egotistical of me, I know.
This was never more apparent than on our recent trip out to SF. We were at a friend's house and I passed D to G because I had to use the restroom. Surprisingly, D started wimpering and crying despite G's reassurance that mommy was coming right back. Shocking, really.
But more surprising was what happened to today. She had come out from her nap. We were hanging out and then G came to hang out with us. He asked her if she wanted to watch reading, which is to watch her "Your Baby Can Read" DVD and she said, "Yes."
So, D and G are watching the video and I walk across to the couch and announce, "I'm gonna take a nap."
Shortly after I shut my eyes, I guess D started crying. We didn't know why. And then she was saying, "Mama. Mama" And I would just open my eyes and say, "Yes Bao Bae" And then G would say, "Mama is napping" and then that would set the tears flowing again! That is so weird.
And G tells me, "It was so weird. She was just standing at the table, watching the video and her eyes just started welling up and then she started crying."
Awww...pooor baby! She's just yummily adorable.

Putting two and two together

I don't know why I find babies so fascinating! The other day D and I were at the community center where we've taken her skating before. Usually, the cc has their gym open on Fridays for open skating. So D says to me, "Lio bing, lio bing" (which, obvi, means "rollerskating" in Chinese).
And I replied, "No, sorry baby. They are closed today. (The cc was getting their floors redone).

D thinks about my reply for a second and says, "Chiao Chiao" ("Knock", as in knock on the door in Chinese). And then says and motions at the same time, "Kai men. Kai men" which means "open the door" in Chinese.

Isn't that amazing?! It's crazy how they can put two and two together!!