Look what I can do!

Junjun is starting to do a lot more. He is an expert crawler and he is into everything. At 9 months, Henni used to sit in one place for a long time just playing with toys in her reach. But this little boy is so different. He always wants to go away from where I situate him, and just wants to explore. Two joysticks for Scott's old PS2 have been in the bottom drawer of our entertainment unit, and in the last year and a half since we lived in Korea, they never left that drawer, because Scott stopped playing video games since Annelise was born (what other forms of entertainment do we need when we have a fun little girl) and Henni never went into drawers and cubicles if we told her they were off limits to her. I suppose Henni was the "unusual" one but Junjun is relentless when he wants to get something. The things he prefers to play with are anything with electronic cords, such as these joysticks, anything with lots of buttons, like cell phones, remote controls, and DVD players, power strips, and electric outlets. I never understood why people put those plastic covers on the outlets because Henni never touched them. I bought those and put them on just in case, but I always thought they were one of those gimmicky inventions people in the industry came up with for those overly anxious moms. But now that I am a mother to a crazy little boy who sucks his fingers with that teething, drooling mouth before or while he goes for those outlets, I am so thankful for these inventions. Junjun is so different and so fun.

SNOW!

 

We got about 2 inches of snow here on Friday. Henni had a great fun in the snow, mostly trying her hand at shoveling; Junjun sat on the snow for about 5 minutes until he had to go back inside after scooping snow off the ground and stuffing it into his mouth. Our street in an otherwise boring neighborhood looked really pretty with the snow.

Banned Words

 

Two S words are banned in our house now--Scary and Shy. No one is allowed to say those two words in our house because of Henni. I made a mistake of declaring "She is shy," when she hid behind my legs instead of saying hi to one of our neighbors a few months ago, and now, whenever she doesn't want to meet someone, she just says, "I am shy." She also says something is scary a lot, even though it is just a little bit out of ordinary. When she sees a mean shark or a talking camel in Sesame Street or when she hears little sounds from our air purifier, she says "it's scary!!" It caught me by surprise that she would use these two words so often because she is very independent and adventurous when it comes to exploring new things or trying a new experience. She is extremely inquisitive and always very curious (like George!). It is a bit odd because these combinations of traits are not often found in grown-ups. I don't want her to trap herself into thinking she is shy or scared and decide for good that's who she is. I may be blowing out of proportion a stage in a child's normal development, but still, those two S words shall never be uttered in our home until the kids are 7!!! (Now, I act as Pee Wee Herman did when he heard the secret word of the day at his Playhouse whenever Scott says those words--maybe I should worry more about myself than Henni...)

Pictures to words, words to pictures

I wanted to be many things when I was little. When I was 5, I saw my 20-year old cousin playing the violin, and thougtht for the longest time, I'd become a violin player. I loved making clothes for my paper dolls in my early teen years, and I thought I should become a fashion designer. I wanted to be an architect when I was in high school, but after realizing that one needed much training in math and physics to become one, I gave up the idea quickly. I also wanted to be a children's book illustrator at some point, and I still think it must be one of the most fabulous jobs. (I know nothing about how an illustrator gets connected to publishers or authors, what kind of timeline they are given to finish work, how much artistic freedom they have, or how good/bad the pay is--for all I know it could be a very sucky job, but I just idealize the work from the end results I see in printed books.) Henni certainly pays equal attention to both the pictures and the words to the books I read for her. I think that at this stage in their development where words are still such a new realm in their brain, what they are able to see must supersede what they are able to understand through words in some ways. In this video where Henni is reading the all-too-familiar Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, I see her acting out some parts (about the purple cat) and adding different words that are not actually in the text, based on what she sees in the pictures. When I read Henni a new book, it is clear that sometimes she likes it because of what it says and sometimes because how it is pictured. As adults we have grown accustomed to reading books solely based on the quality of texts. We think we are cool because we can "imagine" on our own the worlds the books describe without anyone else picturing them for us. But I think it would be fun if books for grown-ups also had some illustrations. (This must be the art historian in me talking.) Obviously the pictures in children's books are not just straight-forward visual descriptions of what the authors write, but rather an interpretation or an adjacent mode of story telling, and they make the texts richer and more enjoyable. How fantastic it is to be able to put pictures to words and words to pictures. I always read the title as well as the author of a book before I start reading for Henni now, partly because I want to instill in her the idea that all texts have owners (this is the academic in me talking--I am far too sensitive about plagiarism). She is now always asking, "mommy, who wrote this book for me?" when we start a new book. I am considering if I should also mention the name of the illustrator for her, because pictures certainly have owners too. To think that these writers and illustrators are shaping the world in the minds of my children along with me! Salute to all writers and illustrators!

Do you know your Bible characters?--part 2

During one of our conversations about characters in the Bible, I asked Henni if she knew who the sons of Issac were. She seemed clueless, so I said, "Remember, Jacob and Esau, the twins?" Henni said with sparkles in her eyes, "Oh, yeah, Isa the Iguana." This is a character in her Dora book! Talk about being confused!

Children's birthday parties

 

Children's birthday parties are an entirely new and different world to me. Henni was invited to a party over the weekend where the theme was "snowflakes." Rachel, who was turning two, is really into ballet these days, and apparently loves to watch various performances of different ballet theaters on TV. So her mom made tutus and prepared matching tiaras and wands for all the girls that got invited. All the girls, dressed in pinks and purples (Henni happened to wear all black, but her purple tutu still looked pretty on her dress) were so cute, sharing their pink toys, eating nicely with their forks (for the most part), and just fluttering about like little fairies. They got to eat snowflake-shaped PB and J sandwiches and a yummy cake with pretty sky-blue icing with marshmellows on top. It was a very nice and wholesome party with lots of attention given to what kids enjoyed doing. Henni played with the wand and the tiara for many more hours even after we came back home, and continued talking about the party. I realize one could get really creative with children's birthday parties, and I am sure I will get accustomed to this new world real fast. Thank you, Rachel and Rachel's mommy, for inviting us to a nice party!!

We've been to and have heard of all kinds of children's parties by now, some that are quite extravagant and not necessarily focused on the birthday child. Growing up, I never got birthday parties like the ones we get to go to with our kids these days. I only remember one birthday party from my childhood days, and that was when I got to have 5 friends over for a special lunch at home. I felt a little guilty, after having been to Rachel's party, because Henni's 2nd birthday was not as nicely thought out. She just had a store-bought cake with Elmo on top, with some Elmo balloons and Elmo stickers strewn around. Then I wondered whether or not Henni will even remember this party down the road. My earliest memory is from about when I was 5, and even that is with the aid of some old pictures. People keep saying I can't compare what I got and got to do as a child to how I am going to do things with my children because they now live in a different world altogether with different audio and visual overloads. Perhaps they will remember more of their early childhood days than what I am able to. I still don't want to be one of those over-the-top parent who has to give my child the best and the most fabulous things and experiences in everything. In the end, what they will cherish about their childhood will be whether or not they were loved unconditionally and consistently, right? (Some aspects of mothering is not at all about parenting, but about self-imaging, especially when things get competitive and cliquish between a bunch of (well-educated, stay-at-home) moms, but that is another topic for another day.) I hope I will stay vigilant in getting the important things right as Henni and Junjun get older and I am required to parent in the community of other parents and kids with all kinds of different ideas and standards for things.

Bye-bye Christmas

 

We saw the Christmas decoration being cleared away from the streets this morning, and Henni was alarmed at the sight of snowmen getting loaded up in a truck. So I told her now that Christmas is over, we will have to put away our Christmas decorations at home too. Then Henni asked nervously, "Where is Christmas going, mom?" I know, I wish it was Christmas everyday too, but we have to wait to welcome a new Christmas in 2009, dear.

Do you know your Bible characters?

Henni has read through her Bible twice already since September, and now is reading two chapters every night with Scott, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. She is recognizing some of the more well-known Bible stories and is remembering the names of the characters from each story. Scott often asks her questions at the breakfast table from the reading they did the night before, and Henni sometimes recalls what she had read. Here are some sample questions.

Scott: "Who lived in the Garden of Eden?"
Henni: "Sneaky snake!!!" (She yells out "sneaky snake" with such passion each time.)
Scott: "Who else, who else?"
Henni: "Adam and Eve"
Scott: "Who spent a night in the lion's den?"
Henni: "Ummmm, Daniel!"
Scott: "Who was Abraham's son?"
Henni: "Hmmmm.... Jesus!"
Soo: (laughing) "No, his son, you know the little guy who was.."
Henni: "Zacchaeus!"

Some of the stories are all mixed up in her head, I think.

(Do you like the way her hair looks in the video? It is her favorite hairdo these days. "Mom, I will put on my hairband. No, Mom, I can do it! No, I, I will do it!")

Sweet Tooth

 

I once knew these parents who caught their children squeezing toothpaste into their mouths in the bathroom. They strictly controlled the children's diet, and I think sweets were never allowed in the house. Henni gets very little sweets on a regular day. She may once in a while get 4 or 5 animal crackers as her afternon snack along with a small box of raisins. We bribe her with candies to get her to drink medicine if we have to, but for the most part, getting sweets is a real treat in our house. Scott and I are not real dessert people ourselves, and we don't see the need to indulge in a lot of sweets. Scott celebrated his 38th birthday about a week ago, and these are the pictures we got of Henni finishing up the leftover cake. I am afraid we've created a child who goes crazy whenever something sweet is offered to her. She scraped the container that had the icing from the leftover cake so clean we practically didn't even have to put it in the dishwasher. I don't want to find Henni hiding in the bathroom, eating her toothpaste for whatever sweet flavor she can get in her mouth. But then again, I don't want too much sweets to be part of her regular diet either. She certainly gets enough sugar from her fruit intake. How can I successfully help Henni to not perceive these sweet yummies as the exotic forbidden fruit?

The sound of their laughter

I love, more than anything else, the sound of my children laughing. From those little giggles under their breath to the all out explosive outbursts, I love them all. Junjun has the most contagious laugh of all--when he starts giggling (for nothing at all, really--in this video, it is just me acting "surprised"), I just have to start laughing myself too.

Today we had a dinner date with our friends Alex and Bea, and their two and a half year old, Alejandro. We were all driving back together in our van, and after someone said, "oh my goodness," we all started saying "oh my" and then added something, something silly. I think it was Alex, who said, "oh my applesauce," and it all started. Henni and Alejandro started cracking up uncontrollably and repeated "oh my applesauce" over and over again, all the while gurgling such joyous sounds. Of course listening to their happy laughter, we, adults couldn't help but follow along.

Oh, how I wish them to always laugh and laugh all throughout their lives. I hope they will always find reasons to laugh, even when, or perhaps, especially when things are not perfect. Even if those reasons are as silly and irrational as "oh, my applesauce."