Henni-isms3

Me: (seeing how well Henni gargles her mouth after brushing her teeth) Henni, you are a gargle queen!
Henni: Yeah, I am a queen!
Dad: No, Henni, mommy is the queen. You are a princess.
Henni: NO! I am the queen!
Dad: What about dad? What am I?
Henni: You are Cinderella!

Henni: I love George Bush!
Me: (raising an eyebrow at daddy) You know who George Bush is?
Henni: Yeah! He is a Monkey!
Me: (chuckling) you mean like Curious George?
Henni: Yeah!

Dad: (trying to get the booger out of Henni's nose using a Q-tip) Hold still, Henni!
Henni: (crying) Noooo! Q-tips are for ears only!

Henni Loves Gymnastics

Henni is getting better at gymnastics. She is developing good upper body strength, and can do a lot of rolls by herself. She is still a bit hesitant about getting on the bars, but loves to walk and kick on the beam. She is definitely warming up to her new coach , and that helps her to enjoy gymnastics more.

Sledding again

We had so much fun the last time we went sledding, we went again on Monday. After sledding with me a few times, Henni decided that she HAD to sled all by herself this time. While I was dead against it, Scott thought that she should try if she wanted to. So he put her in one of those tubes, and voila! She came down really fast with her legs all the way up in the air. She loved it, and did it at least 5 more times that afternoon. I guess kids get to try new things when dads are around--I hear they also get their first set of stitches when they are with dads. Junjun also got to sled for the first time with daddy. He seemed to like it a lot. He would come down swinging his arms in the air with a very serious look on his face, and then as soon as I call his name, he would make an eye contact and throw me the biggest smile. What speed demons they are!

Happy Valentine's Day

 

I made this skirt for Henni--finished it just in time for Valentine's Day. She really liked it (although this picture was taken right after her nap, and in her dazed state, she doesn't really seem like she does). I didn't do anything for Scott or Junjun. I think boys don't really need anything special on Valentine's Day (or do they??). I am sure I will do something for Junjun from next year. (I actually did buy them cards about 10 days ago, but I can't find where I have placed them. Running around madly with two kids all day long, while still breastfeeding a child that would not take a bottle, I can barely remember where things are in this house.) Scott got me 15 roses, and he also got Henni two roses, because Henni is 2 (I am certainly not 15--I think he just didn't want to pay for 20 more roses). Scott says he will continue to get roses for Henni until she turns 18, "so she doesn't fall for the first boy who gives her flowers!" What a cute daddy. We put the two roses in a vase for her room, and whenever she sees them, she says "I got two roses from daddy because I am two!" It was kind of amazing how much she enjoyed receiving these flowers. She is such a girl.

She is a funny one even when she is pooping

When we catch one of our children in the middle of doing their business, Scott and I always exchange a look and say "somebody is pooping" (mostly to urge the other person to go ahead and change the soiled diaper). Today after lunch, Henni stooped over while holding onto a chair with a bright red face, barely managing to utter the following words very very slowly, "some...body...is...pooping!"

"My brother"

 

It just tickles me to death to see how much the two love each other. Although they aren't really playing together, they interact constantly, laughing at each other, crying together, hugging, and kissing each other. These days, Henni is fascinated with everything Junjun is starting to do, and I often tell her that she used to do the very thing that Junjun is doing when she herself was a baby. "Oh, Henni, you used to love that giraffe toy when you were a baby." "Henni, you used to giggle just like that when you were a baby." Today, she said to me after Junjun had a little spit up, "Mom, I used to be a throw-up too, when I was a baby?" I couldn't stop laughing. "Yes, you used to throw-up but you were never a throw-up." She seemed puzzled for a second but was quite satisfied that she used to throw-up just like Junjun. She calls him "my brother" or "my baby brother" rather than calling him by his name, and I find it so endearing.

Henni-isms2

 

In this picture, Henni is sitting around with girls that are either 3 or 4. Doesn't she look like she is one of them? Yet she is only 28 months old! This was at a mother-and-daughter tea party. All the girls were asked to bring their favorite doll along. On the way to the birthday party, I asked Henni what her doll's name was, and she said "I don't know." (It is her favorite phrase to utter these days.) I suggested, "How about Sophie?" "Okay." After the party was over we were packing up to come home, when Henni remembered her doll. "Where is Sofa?" It took me a long time to figure out that she was looking for her doll. I laughed and laughed, and said to her, "Ha ha, Henni, her name is Sophie, not sofa!" She thought about this for a minute, and realized the mistake she made. She sheepishly said, "I like couch! hehehe.." I couldn't believe this! She was making a clever (for a 2 year old) joke out of her error using a word play! I just had to give her a big squeeze.

Reciting a Korean Nursery Rhyme

I used to say this when I was a little kid... Every self-respecting Korean child should learn this one.

"Monkey's bottom is red
Red is apple
Apple is delicious
Delicious is banana
Banana is long
Long is train
Train is fast
Fast is airplane
Airplane is high
High is Mt. Baekdu!"

Henni-isms

 

Henni is verbally advanced. She speaks quite well for her age. I think it’s because I stay home and read and talk to her a lot throughout the day. Recently she has said many things that just made us laugh and laugh. Sometimes, what she says are quite shocking because they are long and perceptive. Sometimes the tone in which she speaks surprises me because it seems so grown-up. Sometimes it is disturbing, because it sounds just like what I’d say to her, and I realize she is listening and absorbing EVERYTHING I say (scary!!). Here are some recent Henni-isms.

Me: Hey, Henni, look at the airplane in the sky!
Henni: (nonchalantly) Mom, when you go to the airport, you can see many airplanes.

Henni: (giving her toy thermometer to her babysitter) Why don’t you use this and see if I am hot?
Babysitter: Oh, you have a high fever. I think you might have to go to the hospital.
Henni: (quickly snatching away the thermometer) Gimme that. You are NOT a doctor!

Junjun: (pulling on the DVD player) bah bah bah bah.
Me: Hey, baby, get away from there. Come back here.
Henni: (rolling her eyes) Mom, Junjun is not listening.
Me: I know. Hey, Junjun, come back here to Mommy.
Henni: (feigning mom’s voice) You get back here, or else you will make me very sad!

Junjun’s Babysitter: (calling out to Henni who is just going out the door to go to her ballet class with mommy) Henni, have fun!
Henni: Oh, Helen, when the baby wakes up, give him two pears and a carrot, okay?

Sledding

 

We went sledding over the weekend, and had a great fun. At the end of the afternoon, both kids were completely knocked out in their stroller. As soon as Henni woke up from her nap, she said, still half asleep, "can we go sledding again when I wake up from my nap?" That means she really had a lot of fun.