Sarah and Kathreen

逻辑？逻辑！

2010-04-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sarah很显摆地对Kathy说：Do you know in Hebrew language 'Sarah' means princess?
Kathy: Oh? Really? Then what does my name mean?
Sarah: Kathreen means 'Queen'.
Kathy (掩不住地偷笑): So I am your boss. hmmmm, that's good. That's very good!

Kathy 问我，Mommy, did Dad ever buy flower for you?
我老实回答：当然有啊，不过只有一次。
Kathy：Did he use money from my piggy bank?
老实老妈想不通：啊？为什么这么问？
Kathy: Nothing. Just want to make sure my money are safe.
(你个小没良心的！）

Kathy问：Mommy, why Dad married you?
我，啊？因为我好啊。
Kathy: That's the first reason. The second reason is you can cook? The third reason is you can talk? The fourth reason is you can make money?
我大悟！原来我有这么多优点啊。这么好的闺女。
Kathy接着说，you are only good for 4 reasons. I am good for more reasons than you!
（臭小孩！看低你老妈我？饿着你！)

Sarah对Kathy说，you know, Mom and Dad love ME very!!! much!!! So they picked me as their first born. Then since I love YOU very!!! much!!! So I picked you as my little sister. Now you know why you are in this family?
Kathy, 很sad，yeah, I am here to be your toy.
(于是某人很琼瑶地默默流泪～～～）

water softening system 后续 - 爱思索的人就是爱折腾的人

2010-03-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

话说一搬家来就贪便宜买了Kenmore Water softening System, 才500块钱，这么好的deal哪里找？脑袋一热，我就买了，还辛辛苦苦地自己开车去pick up。

巨大的罐子拖回家了，小气鬼我看着老公，
老公，亲爱的，你有时间把这个玩意给安起来？
喂，你不会真以为我会安那个吧？
当然啦，要不然我这么大胆地买回来干嘛？
Honey, 快告诉我，you are kidding。

我开玩笑？我穷成这样我开什么玩笑？你开玩笑吧？不会装？真的不会安起来这个罐子？好好好，我找人。打电话给Sears，毕竟是卖家嘛，一条龙服务方便劳动人民的事儿总会有吧？蜜声蜜气的customer service 女士接电话，我们竭诚为顾客服务，保证安装质量，价钱公道，接水管起价$699，system安装$299起价，周末也有服务。苍天啊！抢钱啊！一个罐子装起来要1000？！老公也怒了，四处打价，终于找到这个比较合理的。Benjamin Franklin Plumber. 这家的服务真不错，价钱公道，来的plummer非常好。来看了一下，说，就这个周五吧。

第一百次声明，我这个没别的特点，就是爱思索爱折腾。安装前的这几天，我是天天去看看那个大罐子，左摇摇右晃晃，怎么咋就说不出来的哪里不顺眼呢？怎么咋就说不出来的看着不够结实呢？怎么咋就说不出来的看着就烦呢？俩字，憋气！看着那大罐子我就气不顺！就想给return了它。老公就劝了，算了，看着也不错，反正也买了，就先用着吧。

周五plumer准时来了，我抓了人家就问，这个牌子的system，你安装过吗？customer feedback如何？使用寿命能有多久？出问题多吗？修起来cost多少？人家很耐心，说他修过的一般两年以上就有问题出现，问题总有，见过最长寿的有5年，没见过的长寿的不知道，修的话每次几百块总有了吧。啊？这个样子啊。我们以前用过那个什么样的，你们有吗？人家说，有啊？你有兴趣我给你看看，3000，包安装。。。。。。成成成，就它了，这样子长得像我们以前那个，我喜欢。于是约了人家来做water test。

昨天人家又派人来了，测了使用水，给了information，交了钱。老公跟我汇报，2800包安装，labor 5年，timer 10年，tank lifetime。慢着，lifetime 是多久？咱人的lifetime还是它罐子的lifetime？要是按小鸟的lifetime算，那可只有两三年。老公崩溃，earth lifetime！OK? 不要再折腾了，行吗？行啊，行啊，你说啥就是啥。我说的都是参考意见。什么是“参考意见”？得！忘了此人是文盲。

这段时间很勤奋

2010-02-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

两个星期写5篇blog, 创历史最新记录。趁着大雪封门，在家里看完了“跟我的前妻谈恋爱”这种无聊剧种，虽然是一边work at home，但是幸福地偷用着邻居家的internet的时候，对Verizon不肯顶风冒雪来install DSL也是相当没有意见了。

大家都有经验害人的时候吧？新买来的物件，说明书唰地扔到recycle bin，通电，按button，怎么不动？shake一下，还是不动。“老公，这个东西是坏的。今天风水很不好哦，居然买到不能用的东西”。老公过来三下五除二，哦～～～，原来这个小纸片要拉出来。哼哼！居然还有这回事？

今天，Sarah过来问我，Mommy, do you know what Hertz is? 我头都没抬一下，这个Hertz，美国人都知道，当然我也知道，it is a rental car company。自己去玩吧，妈妈忙着呢。60秒没到，Sarah回来找我，Mom，it is a unit of frequency. gee, did you ever learn science before? 真的哦，居然忘了这回事，26，7年前我也知道哦，赫兹呀，居然被美国佬用来做rental car company name。真是世道变了。

晚上问老公，哎，你知道什么是hertz吗？老公头都没抬，继续剪他的脚趾甲，yeah, it's a car rental company。啊？亲爱的，咱们俩可真是有共同语言哦，要不怎么可能这么相亲相爱，多么文盲的一对啊。

Water Softener Systems

2010-02-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

当年搬到DE时，当天晚上领导就说，这里的水怎么臭？我闻了闻，嗯，真有股臭臭的味道，而且洗过的手感觉干干的，水质太硬。没几天就有个走门串户的sales到我们家来做demo，卖的就是一种Water Softener System。于是买了，用了10年。

Water Softener Systems有两种，一种是Resin Tank和Brine Tank分开的，一种是一体的。用料有不锈钢和塑料两种。用的同样都是water softener salt, 几个月refill一次，一次160磅，根据tank大小不同用量不同。一体的不如分开的last long, 原因是salt和水分会慢慢腐蚀Resin Tank，而造成Resin Tank寿命缩短。还有就是一体的基本都是塑料制造，塑料本身比不锈钢寿命短很多。好吧，不罗嗦了，这么techie的东西我也说不清楚。就说说我自己的使用体会吧。

小时候，烧水壶底有水垢觉得特正常，水嘛，本来就应该这样的吧？老一辈的用明矾沉淀水中的杂质，来了美国以后根本就不知道去哪里找明矾，干脆就硬水硬着喝，恶心点滴说，不就是拉出来麽，有什么了不起。可是当父母的不是有“孩子”这个软肋麽，虽然自己用硬水，喝硬水，闻着水里的臭味，可是还是希望孩子用不臭的水，不用再看到水壶里的水垢。

当年安装了water softener system以后，最先的感觉是，body lotion用的少了，慢慢的甚至不用了，冬天居然也不用body lotion。后来发现象印热水器里很久很久才有一点点水垢，洗过烘过的衣服非常的松软，用很少的detergent 就能洗得很干净。据说这样的软水对家里的Pluming System也会有很大的好处，这个我不知道，不敢说。

这次搬家，没有把原来的water softener system 搬过来，倒是买了一个一体的，实在是因为便宜。这个周五才能安好。从搬家进来到现在的两个星期里，我们全家人用了一大瓶Costco买来的Aveeno Body Lotion，半罐同样是Costco买来的Body Cream, 一大瓶conditioner。毛巾隔几天就会有黄黄的污垢，于是两天就要洗一次家里的毛巾，又多用去很多detergent。再加上洗好烘干的毛巾虽然松松的，但是不如以前软了。总之，就是消耗多多，money就这么不知不觉地没了。

广告做了这么多，是不是可以去领一点广告费回来呢？

买房记 – 心急火燎很不淡定的房东

2010-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

小Townhouse卖不出价钱来只能出租。老公有我这么个凡事着急，凡事紧张，凡事过问，凡事打听，凡事分析，凡事计划，且对凡事都能展开丰富想像力，对每个计划都是有N多个backup plan的老婆，他那日子过得真叫一个不容易。

搬家前一个月，我调查研究了周边的rental market，怎样写出租广告，中文几份，英文几份，在哪里打广告，哪几个website是要花钱的，哪几个是免费的，要print out 多少份hard copies, 用哪个phone number, 怎样做credit check，怎样收租，甚至贴小广告的路线我都有plan A, B, C, D。老公从抓狂到泰然处之，一闭眼我就能想象到此人抱着胳膊眯着眼吊着嘴角很不屑地看着我折腾的样子。太愤怒了！一点不帮忙就算了，居然还敢嘲笑我。

搬家前一星期，一回家我就唰唰唰拿出几个folder，告诉老公，folder A，这个是中文的，你按照这张纸上的路线，在不塞车的情况下走A线，塞车的时候走B线，中午半塞车的时候走C线，如果有construction的话，你得走D线。每个点代表一个super market，你每次贴完一家就check mark一下。然后，这些是folder B, C, D，同理哦。老公彻底崩溃，不要这样吧？我有同事想租的，他们明天过来看。

你怎么不早说啊你？是谁啊？一个人还是一家人？美国人还是中国人？男的还是女的，还是男的和女的？咱们家现在怎么收拾啊到处是垃圾袋？人家来看的时候我是在楼上呢还是在楼下？。。。。。。
打住打住，人家来了不就知道了？
他们什么时候能搬进来？你跟人家说了多少钱吗？他家有pets吗？我可是不喜欢太大的狗哦，虽然不是跟我住。咱们什么时候开始清理房子？人家会不会不喜欢咱们这么脏的炉头？他们每个月几号付房租？是用check吗？那还要跑银行哦，好麻烦。
老婆啊，真是什么事儿都不能告诉你。
什么？老婆我不就是唠叨一点点吗？真是的。你说咱们paint所有的墙都是白色的好不好？人家会不会不喜欢？
嗯嗯嗯，去吃饭吧咱们。

看房子的是老公的同事，人家可是有clearance的人哦，我心里悄悄地盘算，credit check的钱可是省了。看房，签约，那边退房都很顺利。顺利到我这么唠叨的人都不唠叨了。可是问题又来了，他们只签了一年哎，明年这个时候我又要开始折腾了。想想都头大，从recycle bin里把我的folder A, B, C, D抢救出来, 虽然这次没有用到你们，不过明年你们可能派上用场哦。

买房记 – 从黑区到白区再到红区

2010-02-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

当初搬进小townhouse的时候，就知道那里的学区差，5年前那边的小学在greatschool上打5分，等Sarah到GT的时候，greatschool上那所小学只有三分了。学校里那叫一个乌哑哑一片黑，而且是一年黑过一年。唯一的好处是，Sarah在学校里显得特别的厉害，从K到三年级，report cards拿回来，除了music，从来没有过不是O（outstanding）或者A的。小臭东西拽得跟什么似的，一年级以后的作业没几分钟就划拉完了。幸福地忙着打DS, online games，看电视。

白区的学校，是Sarah上GT以后开始去的，学校里白花花一片，加上无数多的印度孩儿，一星半点的亚洲孩儿。这个学校的老师在orientation的时候就给家长们一个下马威，从今天起，孩子们weekend也会有homework，project要做，每天的作业没有一个小时是做不完滴，report card上会有不少的B出现，大家要有心理准备哦。我和老公把老师的话当成圣旨，诚惶诚恐地回家教育祖宗，你以后没得时间玩了，不准吊儿郎当，新学校里都是读书很好很好的小朋友，没有像你这样天天在家玩game的人。半年下来我也彻底清醒了，GT不也就是这样吗？Sarah坐school bus一路40分钟，和小朋友联网打DS40分钟。Weekend里的homework, project从来没见过。每天的作业半小时不到就做完了。Project做起来跟玩似的。每天晚上还是大量的时间看电视。冲着白痴一样的sponge bob square pants傻笑。于是，本着网上学来的教育经验，半瓶子水我对白区的GT教育嗤之以鼻，哼！也不过就是这么回事了。咱们很快就要转学了。

搬家前几个星期就开始给Sarah大打预防针，告诉你哈，你以后的新学校里的小朋友就是读书很好很好的新学校里小朋友，没有像你这样天天在家玩game的人，人家每个小朋友都上好多好多课，每天在家里都看好多好多书。你以后没得时间玩了，不准吊儿郎当, 知道了吗？古人说的好，江山易改本性难移，第一天的orientation 咱孩子去问校长，有没有合唱团，有没有啥好玩的sports team。真是不学无术啊！估计人家校长都后悔让此孩子转到他学校。当天下午接回来，Sarah说了，今天的spelling bee, 所有的词我都知道。（你就吹吧，这可是每个孩子都上好多课的红区进步孩子的学校。就你，差远了。）不过我心里话没说哦，嘴上说的都是鼓励的，励志的，上进的。

第二个星期一接回来，孩子说了，老师说，上课的时候我干什么都可以，因为他们现在学的我已经都学过了。什么？还有这回事？为什么？因为我以前的学校ahead of this school, the teachers all know it. 那你有homework吗？有，不过老师说，我可以不用做。第二天就回来再问，今天有homework吗？有。那赶紧做啊，一定很多很多。不多，就两张纸的数学，写一张纸的essay。（不会吧，不要吹牛哦。搞不好一个晚上都做不完。）我这边一包四季豆还没摘完呢，人家作业写完了。这个，就这样了？不行，我对红区还是很有信心的，一定会有很多很多作业把祖宗玩DS的时间夺走！凭什么？就凭着此人写作业的时候我才能享受那片刻的安静！

买房记 – 民生问题很严重

2010-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

本老太搬家的原则是，三光 – 吃光，喝光，用光。能搬一样我绝对不搬两样，少搬一样是一样。

伟大领袖毛主席又说过（他老人家就是这么爱说），虚心使人进步，骄傲使人落后。不是不报时候不到。在我刚刚在比我早买房早搬家一个月，累得跟得了软骨病似的朋友家的大厨房里大言不惭地大夸海口地宣布，我们搬家一定比你们容易多了，我们家东西比你们家的少一倍，的以后的一个星期，帮我搬家的朋友家的孩子可怜兮兮地对着我说，阿姨，你们家东西真！！！！！！多！！！！

好吧好吧，说我东西多（哎呀，其实就是junk多嘛），我认了。搬家当天，家里那三个不会做饭，饿了只会张口哇哇喊的人类，对我的“三光”政策进行了严重的抨击。没到中午三名饥饿人士就开始哇哇大叫，

妈妈，我要吃那个下面是黑的饺饺。

什么东西？

就是上次你给做胡了的锅贴。（当爹的不会做饭，但是不糊涂，这么难猜的都给猜对了。简直侮辱我的作品！）

没有。去找找有没有cookies。

Mom，我要吃面条条，就是细细的有水的那种。

没有，还细的呢，粗的都没有。

可是，I am very very very super hungry.

妈妈包里有半包瓜子，你和妹妹先吃着。

老婆啊，咱家里一片cookie都没有了吗？

当然没有啦，亲爱的，能少搬一片cookie就能省好多力气。你不是已经很累了吗？

饿死了～～～没有力气了～～～～

不要叫了，我去看看祖宗们上星期的lunchbox里有没有没吃完的东西。

要不说哦，人要是命好了，什么都挡不住。这么艰难困苦的环境里，居然让我在Kathy的lunchbox里找到一小袋小圈圈cereal, 有差不多20个哦。Sarah书包里也有贡献，居然有三片饼干！作为亲娘好老婆，有吃的当然是给老公和祖宗们啦。来来来，有吃的啦。你们吃这些，剩下的瓜子给妈妈。哎呀你们不要用手抓，咱们家有碗，有勺子！老二你头发怎么回事？什么？橡皮筋找不到？算了，散着吧。

后记，搬家的路上买了几个pizza，又从家里的冰箱里翻出半包冰冻饺子。至此大家终于吃上热乎饭了。

买房记 – 买房

2010-02-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

我们的伟大领袖毛主席曾经说过，人有多大胆，地有多大产。撑死胆大的，饿死胆小的。

话说我们也曾经是胆大的楞头青，想当年怀揣着4000美刀全部家当，跟着个从报纸上找来的agent，横挑鼻子竖挑眼地看房。要说我这命是不错，居然被我碰上挺好的agent，不远万里，千里迢迢, 开车1小时从PA跑到DE去看房子。好在是DE地广人稀，在这种兔子不拉屎的地方，用尽4000块钱，close了人生的第一个房子。（搬家进去才想起来，一个月以后要开始repay mortgage。咱家银行里就剩几百块钱，什么都买不起了。）1945年给返乡老兵们建的ranch，foundation 巨牢，院子很大。当年的热血青年， 我要在这里住一辈子，象本街上的老头老太一样，在这里养大孩子，从这里退休搬去Florida。老公嗤之以鼻，就你这么折腾的人，难！

果不其然，5年多点，我把自己从DE折腾到了DC。从大房搬进了比小狗窝大那么一点点的小房。以至于Sarah到现在还怀念她在DE院子里的playground set。小房子到底有多大呢？用picnic table丈量法说，前院两个table，后院两个table，房子4个table（好像多一点点）。从把脚踏进门的那一刻，我就立地发誓，五年！只要五年的时候，我一定要搬出这个小破房！老公在旁边点头如小鸡啄米，咱们什么也不upgrade，省钱买大房子！于是一家N口，在小房子里过着省吃俭用，凑合一天算一天，得过且过的五年。那个家，要说是猪窝，那就是对猪猪的侮辱。大笑三声，终于搬出来了！

人生中的第三栋房子在我们等short sales最无可奈何的时候出现了，第一感觉是，舒服！进来一看，敞亮！搬进来以后，安静！不大，但是够住。关键是上班近，学区好。买！接着忙negotiation, inspection, costing，moving。老太我立地发誓，我要在这里住一辈子！老公激动之余，点头同意我去买了我叽歪了好多年的，重到拖不动的Amish椅子。

买房记 – 抢房 – 怎么那么多人有那么多钱？

2010-02-02T20:10:00.001-08:00

一月二十九号，终于，我们把新房close了。历时一年的看房经历，到此算是画上了一个小小的圆满的句号。赶着给亲戚们打电话，有人很惊讶，有人很纳闷，有人哈哈大笑，你们看了好几年的房了，才买？（祖宗！我们才看了一年好不好？）是啊是啊，才买，刚刚买。啊？你们不是去年刚买换的房子吗？又～～买房子？ （我？很有钱的样子吗？） 那个啊，没买成，是short sale，特麻烦。

我们这块儿，靠近学区好的地方，房子抢的厉害，特别是50到70万之间的房子，只要一出来，马上就好几家抢。怎么那么多人有那么多钱呢？我要是有钱了，我也买一个米的大房子。不跟人抢。哼！刚开始看房的时候，我和老公那叫一个横挑鼻子竖挑眼，这个太小，那个太老，这个朝北，那个西晒。我更是恨不得拿着风水八卦书看房。结果就是，一间都没买到，白白费了心思。半年过后，agent不急我都急了，不就是抢吗？我也抢！

第一间的没抢到，好大好大的房子，好好好好的neighborhood, 一上市当天我们就开车过去看，第二天给agent打电话，我想看那间昨天出来的房子，在那个哪里的，你知道的哈。Agent那边说了，哎呀呀，我也想带你们去看的，今天早上一查，人家已经有contract了。苍天啊！至于吗？才一天耶，为什么连个机会都不给我？

第二间的没抢到，同样是，好大好大的房子，好好好好的neighborhood, 上市当天agent给我们电话，快！咱去看那个！一下班和老公急急忙忙赶过去，在门口agent就把我们堵在那里了，咱不能进去了，已经有人在里面签contract了。无语问苍天！咱们连门都进不去？

第三间的没抢到，老头老太退休后搬家，房子是古老小巧，装饰是50年代的style。我没意见哦，只要能买到。上市第一天，下了班急急忙忙接了祖宗，和老公一起去看房。Agent在门口等着，咱们排在第6位 ，现在第二家还在里面，咱们有得等了。谁说美国经济不好的？出来，我跟你拼了！

再后面看下去，我们都麻木了。直到那个小巧玲珑的short sales出现，我等啊等啊等啊等啊，直到有一天，agent来电话说，黄了，估计没戏了，这间房有second loan, bank要seller出1万才批准交易。Seller说不出这个钱，两口子正闹离婚呢。啊闹离婚？闹什么闹？先把房子卖给我再闹不迟嘛。过分！

我等！我耐着心思地等！终于，2009年11月13日星期五，有房子出来了。在我要的学区，在我的budget中。Friday the thirteenth又怎样？本老太我就是想搬家！

比豌豆还豌豆的人

2010-01-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

年轻时候，我是个“吃嘛嘛香，穿嘛都行”的人。姥姥姥爷视我如天赐宝贝，“居然被咱们家摊上这么好养的小垃圾桶！”要不怎么说情人眼里出西施，隔代眼里没缺点。说我吃嘛嘛香？君不见“这么好养的垃圾桶”我有一长串“不是人吃”的食物单。我，不吃除了肝脏以外的任何下水，不吃任何椒类蔬菜，不吃无数多的调料，不吃辣，不吃太烫，不吃太甜，不吃太咸，不吃太淡。我，不吃的东西多了去了。我，就吃着少数不多的“能吃的”食物，把自己养的这么大，这么胖，这么壮。我可真是个奇迹。

年前，我们家的软水器正式向大家宣告，“本器活不了多久了”！为了不需要再看到每个周末自动出来的咕咕黑水，老公硬生生把用了十几年的软水器关了。第二天，我，过敏了！！！“这么好养的垃圾桶”居然会因为用了硬水，当然也怀疑是因为吃了不该吃的东西，全身起了痒死人的红疙瘩！

当然了，作为一个很会及时，借机，有事没事地，pamper自己的中年妇女，一定是会约医生仔细检查自己到底是出了什么问题的。检查结果是，我，“这么好养的垃圾桶”，差点一跳三丈。本“垃圾桶”对玉米，生菜，土豆，芹菜，大豆，所有绿色豆类，所有树木，所有草类，所有杂草类，过敏！！！对了，还有我那亲爱的舌头，从出生就对不锈钢制品，过敏！！！

从今往后，我这么大只的强壮妇女，终于可以扭捏娇弱地向全世界宣布，“我不能碰那个啊，我过敏也～～～” 哎呀呀，不好，太酸了，我又过敏了！；D

新年新气象

2010-01-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

厉害啊！又一年就这么过来了。前几天外国佬们讨论2010到底念 two thousand ten, 还是twenty ten。闲得啊闲得。念什么都行吧，反正就是大家统统都老一岁，没区别啦。上星期好不容易半工作状态休假一星期，这一年，被这个项目搞得我，忙晕啊忙晕。

闲话少说，我，中年妇女，终于买到好～～～～学区，老～～～～房子了。我呢，想住个比我年轻点，比现在房子大点，学区好点的房子，经历10个月的看来看去，比来比去，抢来抢去，终于就被我买到了。（天天祷告中，一定要凑齐downpay哦。）
好了，等搬了新～～～家，我也每星期写写。（以后，应该不会一年才写一篇喽～～～）

一个goggle引起的故事

2009-01-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

今天老公突发奇想整理basement。老二惊喜地找到goggle一个，于是歪点子就来了。先是带着个goggle满屋子转，看啥都是蓝色的，小祖宗哈哈大笑。然后要求我给她放一浴缸的水，人家要带着goggle游泳。
我说NO，不行，哪儿有大冬天玩水的？
K胖子：say yes please~~~~
我：NO
K胖子：say yes please, pretty please, with a cherry on the top?
我：NO
来回几次，胖子不耐烦了，一掐腰，一噘嘴，一皱眉头，just do it, I'll give you money!

5分钟以后，胖子巡视浴缸，一看没水，崩溃，“you said you'll do it, you didn't." 我说了，“我没说给你放水啊，是你自己想的。” 胖子继续崩溃，“you should say yes to my question, because that's the only way to make me happy~~~~~~~"。接着表演一掐腰，一噘嘴，一皱眉头，俩手搓眼装哭.

给胖子洗澡，胖子问，
where is 姐姐?
我：在做她的school project.
胖子：where is Daddy? Washing dishes?
我：yeah~~~~
胖子：so you are the only one doing nothing?
我：妈妈这不是给你洗澡吗? 正在给你洗澡啊。
胖子：oh, I see, you are doing nothing, because I am so busy washing myself～～～～～～
于是我崩溃！

希望的泡沫

2008-01-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

老二指着书上的字说，S-E-A-H-O-R-S-E, seahorsie~~~ 当妈的我激动得眼泪都快出来了，咱，也生了个天才。咱，也有这genes。拿纸拿笔，写Kathy. 老二念 K-A-T-H-Y, Kathy, that's me! 再写，Dora. 老二念 D-O-R-A, Diego~~~~~. 吧唧，泡沫立马就破了，我就又会到现实中了。

老二三岁

2007-12-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

时间过的就是这么快，我心中的小小宝，明天也要三周岁了。当妈的心里，三岁的小人，又是大宝，又是小宝。
大宝会聊天，心情好了陌生人也能一句一句聊好久。我们不怕生，看着顺眼的，上去就打招呼，顺杆子就能搭上话。在学校里那更是如鱼得水，各个班的老师，大宝没有不认识的。去接孩子我最喜欢了，听到的都是夸我们的，各个班校友的家长都知道我们，everyone loves Kathy. 校长这么说的。大宝人缘看来不错哦，第一次peepee在potty里，全班唱歌跳舞烤蛋糕庆祝。当爹当妈的嘴都乐歪了。大宝人被懒爹妈训练得很是自力更生。全家人去Disney World, 大宝自己配好6套衣服，拎来一包diaper，爹妈乐呵呵给塞了箱子里。 Vacation 回来懒爹妈更乐了，洗好澡大宝自己擦干穿衣服。大宝会唠叨，当妈的给洗澡的当儿，基本掌握了当天学校情况，谁吃得多，谁今天feeling bad, 谁和大宝一起进厕所，等等等等。大宝也是个小娱乐玩具，唱杀鸡咏叹调基本能吓傻1里内的人们，当然，也有不吓人的时候，不多。
当然，不少时候咱们也是小宝。捏捏身上的肉肉，戳戳button就能笑得浑身肥肉飞。亲亲小屁股就能嘿嘿嘿笑得满床打滚。这种日子，要是能多过些就好了。当妈的就这么感慨一下。

有一种孩子，叫做不可雕也

2007-10-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

我们家的这个老二，属于顽固不化，故持己见，无理翻缠的主儿。一点都不夸张。铁证几件如下；

顽固不化，故持己见
大的以前的中文书，我是天天给这小祖宗念啊，念一句我就让她重复一句。结果就成这样了，
- 一只小鸡想过河去外婆家。
- 一只小鸡·￥%#%￥·%（听不懂）婆家。
-哗哗的河水挡住了它的去路。
-哗哗哗。。。。。的路。
-呶，Kathy自己讲一遍。
- Once upon a time, there's baby chicken. （大喘气） She wants need （语法严重错误） go to Grandma's. She can not go there, (大喘气) because there's a big river.
- 这个故事要用中国话讲。
- No, I wanna go to sleep.

无理翻缠
我们俩做workbook中。最最简单的啦，数数，快吧？就那么一两分钟的时间就能搞定。这个人不行，一会儿要喝水，一会儿要juice，一会儿要tea, 一会儿要cookie，一会儿要看看姐姐在干什么，一会儿要peepee，一会儿说外面有人敲门。当然了，这些都伺候好了，人家祖宗也不一定好好给我学。就说上星期吧，

- Kathy, 数数有几个cookies?
- one, two, three, four. There are four cookies.
- Good job! 我们再数一数有几个扣子。
- Can I have my juice?
- 你先数，很快就数好了，然后妈妈给你juice。要不然小扣子们不知道自己有多少个，多伤心啊。
- I don't care. I wanna my juice now.
- 那不行，我们在写作业，不能一边喝，一边写。
- I wanna juice! I wanna juice! DADDY~~~~~~~~
伺候，我伺候你行吗？juice呈上，祖宗没意见了。
- There are seven buttons。
- 啊？瞎蒙的，重新数一遍。
- I just did it. DADDY~~~~~~~~ I WANNA GO TO SLEEP~~~~

今天我们写2，教了整整一个星期了，这位还是不会写，而且一点都不羞愧。怎么了这是？什么世道？

- 你看，2是这样写的。
- Let me draw you an apple. Here~~~
- 很好。那你写个2吧。看，就是这么写的。
- Mommy, I know how to draw pear too. Look~~~
- 嗯，非常好，你该写2了。
- Look, this is a monster。
- 写2，没完了你？
- OK, let me finish dad's picture. uh oh, this is a 6.
- 我不管了哈，你喜欢怎么地就怎么地吧。
- Can I have some honey tea?
你是祖宗！！

小老二爱学习

2007-09-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

老二这个孩子，现在也看是跟着我们学习了。不容易啊这孩子，经常想个法子气得我呕喽呕喽地倒不过气来。

1，拒绝学习
这孩子发音不准由来已久了。父母姐姐奋力校正，目前为止效果甚微。比如，vanilla 和banana，这俩字，校正了一万遍了。老二急了，“banana, banana, all kinds of banana, why I have to say banana AGAIN?"

2, 胡乱篡改
今天晚上洗好澡，套上小裤头，老二低头一看，高兴了。嬉皮笑脸跟我说，I am sleeping beauty. (低头一指小裤头上的） She is sleeping 鼻涕。

3，一意孤行
昨天整理房间找出来大的以前的中文故事书，我就开始给老二讲了。今天晚上讲得是"小老鼠的新家”和“小猫和朋友”。刚讲完，大的近来让我给她检查作业，就这点功夫，小的拿起书来念了。我这一听，没晕过去，人家居然把每一页都翻译成英文了。天呢！中文教育天天失败中。

倒气儿去，以后再写。

家家有本难念的经

2007-09-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

我们家的目前最难搞定的就是这个poo in the potty的问题。每天定点，但是人家祖宗就是不给我好好地坐着。一般在吃过晚饭以后，小祖宗开始自己换上diaper，diaper外面套上小裤头，小裤头外面再套上小短裤，小裙子，要不就是漂亮裤子。打扮妥当了，这个K胖子自己找个没人墙角一趴，开始用力了。我这半箱子剩下的diaper估计就全当了马粪兜了。

另，今天给老公买了一本cook book，老公看了几分钟，说了，这个周末，我给你整只chicken吃吃。好了，我的任务来了，到哪儿去找只便宜鸡给这位折腾呢？用小的的话说了，那叫做，this is very (s)cary啊。

小挑衅者

2007-09-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

自从potty train了，小祖宗就不得了了，拽的跟什么似的，在学校里见了老师们，家长们就炫耀了，I am potty trained. I don't use diaper any more. 指指自己的屁股，see? 那意思，看到了吗？没以前的鼓包尿片了。结果今天就尿裤子了，回来居然还兴高采烈， I peepee in my 小裤头 one time。

看见我的V8, 小的想喝，我说不行哈，你根本就不喝那个，不能浪费。小祖宗一脸不高兴，Why? Why I can not have it? Because you said that? 我，就是我说的，怎么滴吧？

她爸在热菜，小的一指头就把microware给戳停了。老公赶紧过去，no touchie! no touchie! 小的咚咚咚跑过来抱着我告状，Daddy 欺负 me. I am sad。

菜做好了，不用大人吩咐，小的爬上楼叫姐姐吃饭。姐姐，you come downstairs 吃饭饭，understand? You don't come now. You don't have 饭饭！下~~~来~~~~~now~~~~~!

太高兴了

2007-09-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

自从两个月以前在家里potty train彻底失败以后，我就放弃了。最多不就是花钱嘛。钱这东西咱有点儿。上星期小的在学校里peepee in the potty, 全班老师同学唱歌跳舞吃蛋糕以后，小的再也没尿到potty里一滴peepepp。我已经不伤心了，但是，人家老师还是不断的安慰我，she will peepee in the potty for you at home. No worry.

直到昨天，daily report上说了，我们家的这位，peepee 在potty里两次，一天只用一个diaper，没有accident。我哈哈一笑，嗯，昙花啊，又是。小的估计很不愤，今天又是没有accident。晚上全家出去吃饭，回家的路上，还有差不多5分钟到家的样子。小的问了，Are we going home soon? I need go potty. 赶紧地对着小的唠叨，不要尿啊，千万不要尿啊，我们很快就到家了。忍着哈。

冲进家问，一把我就把小的放到Dora Potty上了，咱们Kathy还就真得peepee在potty里了。我和她爸这叫一个激动啊，抱着小的又唱又跳，连potty带着peepee 我们统统照相留念了。半小时以后，小的又在楼上自己peepee在potty里一次。

我们太激动了。这个就是trained了吧。咱们以后就不穿diaper了吧。小内裤咱们穿着就放心了是吧。语无伦次了我。

笨孩子

2007-09-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

晚上出去吃饭，等菜的工夫我就问老大了，

- 一个树上有5只鸟，妈妈用枪打下一只来，树上还有几只鸟？
- Four. (想了一会儿). There is no bird on the tree. But there are four birds on the ground.
(基本上这个时候我和老公都半傻了。再问，）

- 你有5个苹果。然后你吃了两个。现在还有几个苹果？
- Three.

- (我哈哈哈哈哈。。。。）No, there are still five apples. Two in your tummy and three outside of your tummy.

然后祖宗就哭了。

What Kathy knows

2007-09-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have been working with Kathy on her pre-school workbook. The little girls know quite a lot of stuffs that we have never taught her at home. This reflects that she did learn something at school.

As of this evening, I found that Kathy knows the following,

Counting objects, not only purely counting from left to right, but she could count the mixed objects separately. For instants, on a page with several cats, dogs and pants, she could count each object separately without error.
Comparison. Kathy knows big vs. small or little, more vs. less, tall vs. short, hot vs. cold.
Major Colors.
Basic Shapes.
Link two same objects together.
Link baby and mother animals.

I am still analyzing her for stuffs that she understands. The little person surprises me time to time by naming stuffs that I did not think she knew.

左右分清

2007-09-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

昨天发现老二居然左右部分，做workbook的时候，问她哪边left, 哪边right, 小人完全惘然。还好学得快，一两遍教过，小人记住了。今天再问，还没忘，不错不错，很欣慰。

今天再教点什么呢？小人不会的东西太多了。伤心啊！

Writing improvement strategy - 2

2007-09-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

I have to post the pictures of Sarah's diaries here to remind me about my own strategy.

Instead of having her writing her diary everyday, I asked her to write every other day but with more detail on some thing that happens on that specific day. To give her enough time to finish a completed article, she is also allowed not to have to do her writing and reading workbook on the days when she's writing her diary. We started with adding weather. My plan is to let her include some sentences on weather for couple weeks then include the second topic on her thought. By the end of this year, Sarah should be able to write the meaningful couple pages long diaries.

NO RUSH, LET HER TAKE HER TIME. - I will remind me this time to time.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1278/1367611817_730623abed.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1296/1367611145_8db1220a4e.jpg

Performance Plan

2007-09-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Words from teacher. We will have a busy year.

I want to start by saying thank you for your email. I appreciate you informing me of Sarah's accomplishments. Also let me add that it was very nice meeting you also. Please accept my apology for not responding to you sooner but I wanted to gather information regarding Sarah so I could make the best decisions for her. I looked through Sarah's records and spoke to many teachers that have worked with Sarah. Everyone shared positive comments.

After looking at Sarah's records, we will be placing Sarah in a math group that will be taught third grade objectives. We will assess her knowledge on the second grade concepts as well. We want to make sure Sarah has a firm foundation on which to build more complex and abstract math skills. You asked how you could support Sarah at home. I would suggest that Sarah do several things at home. You can pick and choose these concepts. If you believe Sarah has mastered a particular concept, you may want to just review that strategy every few weeks. These are the concepts I would suggest: telling time, elapsed time, counting money and making change, basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills, adding and subtracting numbers up to three digits and with and without regrouping. In addition, I would suggest work on measuring items, talking about attributes of shapes both plane and 3-D, and solving word problems. Make sure Sarah can explain how she solved a problem both orally and in written form. This is just a start of the concepts and can share more as the year progresses. Also, the books that you are speaking of, I believe are the basic books that you find in educational stores. While these are certainly great practice tools, the skills covered in those books are not necessarily as rigorous as MCPS' curriculum. MCPS also requires students to be able to explain their thinking in both oral and written form.

This week, I will begin my Class reading testing. This will allow me to assess Sarah's reading level as well as her comprehension level. This is a test that is mandated by the county and requires both oral and written comprehension skills. Once I have determined Sarah's reading level, I will begin to plan my instruction so I can best serve Sarah's needs. If Sarah needs third grade reading materials, I will be using their texts. At home you can support Sarah by having her read at least 20 minutes a day. The text needs to be on her instructional level in order to best serve her needs. The way to determine this level is to look at texts that she does not know all the words but is not struggling with most of the words. In order for students to practice their reading skills, they need to actively engage in using these strategies. If she reads all the words without using reading strategies, then she is not engaging in text that is challenging enough for her level. Sarah must also be able to demonstrate comprehension in oral and written form. Be sure to ask her about the text and have her elaborate on the text. Again, the practice books aren't hurting Sarah's skills but I am not sure they are challenging her in the way that MCPS requires students to do so.

Ms. Liu, it was great to meet you at Back to School Night and I thank you for your active participation in Sarah's education. I hope I answered all of your questions and if I did not, please do not hesitate to email me again. I look forward to corresponding with you in the future regarding Sarah and her accomplishments.

Help Sarah to improve her writing skill - first draft

2007-09-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

After reading Sarah’s diaries for two weeks, I am on a mission to help her. The reason is simple; I can not stand that I’d have to take several deep breaths to hold my temper while reading her several “then”, “after that” repeatedly. It is time to stop the free writing and for me to step in to help her.
Not being a good writer myself would definitely hold back the progress. However, a mission is a mission, I am determined. There are several steps that I am planning to take,

Explain to her constantly on how important writing skill is, in term of laying out the thoughts on paper to communicate with others, using the correct terminologies to express the ideas without letting the readers misinterpreted, and more.
Spend quality time together on writing one event per day. Explain the art of language while editing her work.
The last but not the least, give her time to improve, encourage and applause her, lower the standard.

I am looking forward to a six-month evaluation. Hopefully Sarah can write some meaningful short essays then.

lunch box

2007-09-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

大的现在很拽地每天带Blooms买回来的现成lunch, 很拽地装在流行卡通人物的lunch box里，最后很拽地装到带拉杆的书包里。小的也学会了，拎着姐姐去年的Tickle Bell lunch box, 很拽地跟我说，I am going to school with my lunch box. See?

今天早上，小的给自己lunch box里放了一小袋cookies, 一袋juice。怎么装着去的又怎么给装回来了。小人物居然没舍得吃。放学回家把cookie袋子让我打开，吃了两片，人家又给放回lunch box。估计明天又拎着上学了。

这孩子啊，也挺好玩的，一个lunch box也能拽起来。

美好的陪睡

2007-09-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

享受的陪睡。对我来说，真的就是一天最美好的半小时，一小时，哪怕只有几分钟。从凌晨5点半起床开始一天没停，终于可以躺在床上，陪着旁边的胖子宝，讲着不用动脑筋的故事，指使老公端茶送水。多美好的日子。

长周末-2

2007-09-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

我觉得吧，我们家就是热闹，热闹地我头痛。真是盛赞full time mother，不得不佩服，那种和孩子24/7作战的能力。我是不行了。

我们家大的，永远都在说话，我就问她，你说这么多话累不累啊？人家说不累，一点都不累，而且，还有不少话都没来得及说就被time out了。

我们家小的，也不知道从哪里学来的，从楼梯上往下走着唱歌，下两登楼梯人家就高举双胳膊，吼几声杀鸡咏叹调，听得我啊，只有两个字可以形容了，痛苦啊。今天尿了裤子以后，这咏叹调也暂时休息了。天呢！

小的和我都感冒了，Steve喉咙不舒服。讨厌的天气，什么时候才能正常。一会儿热一会儿冷总搞得人浑身烦。

长周末

2007-09-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

一大早Steve报告，1998年再Macy's买的衬衣袖子领子都破了，9点钟全家出发直奔Hagerstown Outlet Mall. 大的一路上不停地唠叨，瞎编的故事烦得我想打她屁股板子。小的一如既往地吃手指头，打岔，吃喝。到了Outlet, 她爹带着俩小的一头就扎进Playground。顺顺利利买了不少刚过中午就胜利返航了。
下午睡起来开始整理小老大的房间，小的激动地一件一件穿了脱，脱了在穿姐姐穿小的留着给她的衣服。最后挑了一件背带top, 美了吧唧地穿着去吃饭。这衣服不是大嘛，一边的肩带总往下掉。她爹一边给往上拉一边教育，

- You cannot be this sexy.
K: What sexy? Me?
- Yes, 穿好了，不能露出来。
K (伸手就把两边肩带都拉下来了）：Like this sexy?

这孩子到底是懂还是不懂呢？我怎么糊涂了。她不应该懂。

对了，老二班里送旧迎新。三名三岁的老将升班，三名两岁的小小人加入。一对金发双胞胎cute得让人见了就想咬一口。白天玩得高兴，一见他们妈来接了马上热流盈眶痛哭惨烈。另外一个中国小女孩，两岁三个月，不懂英文又怕生，一个老师每分钟盯着，一步不离。小女孩不会自己吃饭，问她吃饱了没有，中文英文问都没反应。上周五我看了她10分钟，正好大家吃snack的时候，我这通喂啊。看着也吃饱了，问也没回答。于是把剩的一点杯底儿的奶准备倒了，这不是赶着全班都出去玩嘛。小女孩嚎啕啊。感情还要喝奶。那您这说话啊孩子。感慨啊，做daycare teacher真是不容易。

btw, 发现我真是一点都不会喂饭了，特别是喂水，孩子喝得累，我喂得更累。

As of 9/1/07, Sarah weighted 53 lb and Kathy was 33 lb. Both are around 75%.

potty train的第一小步

2007-08-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

昨天的report上老二的老师激动地写了，hooray! Kathy peepee in the potty. We danced in the bathroom. 今天送孩子，每个人跟我打招呼都不一样了，

Did you know she pee in the potty yesterday?
She pee-ed in the potty yesterday afternoon.
Hooray, she pee-ed in the potty.
I heard Kathy pee-ed in the potty yesterday.
Did she pee in the potty this morning? She did yesterday.
..........

我们家的这位的peepee issue 看似已经学校里声明远扬了。

名字

2007-08-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

老二终于记住自己的中文名字了。累死我了，整教了半个月。天天唠叨你叫刘力瑄啊，你叫刘力瑄。开始的时候老二曾经痛哭反抗，幸好我坚持不懈。这不，现在明白了。

我：你叫什么名字？
K: Kathy.
我：中文名字叫什么？
K: 刘力瑄 Kathy.

但是，第二遍就开始不正经了。

我：你叫什么名字？
K: Cookie.
我：中文名字叫什么？
K: Crocodile cookie.

基本到第三遍就彻底乱了。

我：你叫什么名字？
K: poo-pee. 嘿嘿嘿嘿嘿。。。。。。。
我：中文名字叫什么？
K: Dinosaur poo-pee. 哈哈哈哈哈。。。。。。

气晕了我了。

Grade 2 plan

2007-08-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sarah's writing is at a very low level now. "No professional business skill in her writing", according to Steve. Our goal is to improve her writing skill to a formal and standard level with correct spelling and grammar.
Wish her luck.

凄惨的文盲

2007-08-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

这一个星期的vacation就有后遗症了，老二今天晚上居然找不到曾几何时那么熟悉的“play" button了。吃饭的时候我把电视关了，连带着dvd一起都关了。老二吃完饭开了电视就噌地跳上sofa等~~~~play Elmo dvd.

K: play~~~~~~~~~~~ play~~~~~~~~~~~~ (以为咱们家那是声控的，太先进了）
她爹： you need to press Play.
K: Where is “play"?
她爹： P-L-A-Y
K: Where is "P-L-A-Y"?
她爹： the triangle button
K: OK~~~

我太激动了，居然还记得什么是triangle。

同情 Dora and Diego

2007-08-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

老二刚开始看Dora, Diego的时候很老实，Dora, Diego 让找什么咱们老二就找什么，超级认真还跑到电视前面给人家指，深怕人家不知道。几个月下来，小老二也老道了。Dora, Diego现在也经常挨个训什么的。

Dora: We need your help.
K: I helped you last time!

Dora: Where do we go next?
K: The lake! I told ya!

(song) go Diego go........
K: Go fast Diego! Hurry up. You are too slow!

(whatever song)
K: That's not right, Dora. Sing it again.

Diego: Is that a bear or baby chinchilla?
K: YOU DON'T REMEMBER?!

Day Seven August 24, 2007 – Epcot and We will be back!

2007-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

The heat index was 105 this morning. We were made extremely tired by the heat.

The Epcot was not a place for rides for people with young kids. There are only 9 attractions in the park and 4 of them have height restriction. Sarah decided not to get on them without Kathy. We only went on three rides then decided to head back to the resort. Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into imagination and The Seas with Nemo and Friends were all great. Kathy was a little scared by the jungle with dinosaurs at the Ellen’s show at the beginning. Then she was so anxious to understand what the show was about by looking around herself so that she told me to "stop talking" when I tried to explain to her. Sarah went on stage to assist a Kodak digital instruction. The lines for taking pictures with Mickey and friends were way too long. We decided to skip the picture taken.

By the time we got up from nap, it was raining cats and dogs outside. For the next several days, there will be T thunder storms in every afternoon till evening. How lucky we were to have nice weather for the entire week. Of course, except the heat.

We are planning to come back when Kathy reaches 48 inches, and definitely before Sarah starts junior high and still can act like a kid. I saw some teenager in the park. They are not crazy about the shows as younger kids. The water parks and Orlando Universal Studio will be on the schedule next time. Magic Kingdom will take two days if the girls are still interested in the events and shows. We may skip most of the MGM, Epcot and entire Sea World next time. Animal Kingdom, hmmm, we’ll think about it. We may also go to the Busch Garden if there the schedule allows. Only because I can see the girls love activities more than just sitting and watching.

I think we did just fine not purchase the hopping choice. Only because the girls were too energetic and curious to get on every ride and visit every playground. As a six and half years old kid, Sarah could enjoy almost every ride, show and event. As for a two and half toddler, Kathy was scared several times by loud voice / noise and the worst, the combinations of darkness and sudden loud noise. Good thing was that she would not be scared for long, nor to cry. I'd say 90% of the time Kathy enjoyed the shows and understood a whole lot of them. She'd ask if she's lost in the show. Many times she had her own little mind what she wanted to do and made sure that we let her do it. Both girls love the playground with web climb, or called net climb, or stuffs like these which could challenge them. The Toontown tiny little playgrounds were simply too baby-like to them. Neither of the girls were much into taking pictures with the princesses. Somehow they don't believe those characters were real, which I think it's pretty sad for kids at their ages. Anther challenge to Kathy was the 3D movies. It took her couple times of try to not be scared by the objects flying right into her face. Mickey’s PhilarMargic was the third 3D vision that we watched, and was the first one Kathy really started to enjoy.

To conclude, seven days at Disney is definitely not enough. At all! It would be nice to extend to a two-week vacation so that we didn't have to stay in the parks till they closed almost every single day except last day at Epcot. Kathy asked where we were going tomorrow. I said we would be flying home. So she said, "are we going to Disney tomorrow tomorrow?" yeah， that'll be wonderful.

Day Six August 23, 2007 – Magic Kingdom AGAIN

2007-08-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Boy! I am crying for some good food! Ate twice in the park again today. Kathy threw up on the diner table. I’d do the exact same thing. The little girl was craving for fruits and 面条条. The grapes that we got for her could not satisfy her much. Tomorrow we are on the mission to hunt for good food.

Anyway, we were back to the Magic Kingdom today to go through the attractions that we did not have time to visit the other day. Our first stop was Fantasy Land. We all loved the “It’s a small world” musical indoor voyage and the 3D Mickey’s PhiharMagic. It was so funny to see Kathy trying to grab the banana coming to her and was confused that she only caught air in her fist. She took off the special glasses and looked around for where that banana went. The Queen in the Snow White’s Scary Adventures scared Kathy a little. For a short while after the Snow White journey, the little girl refused to go on any ride in dark. It took me a heck of time to talk her into the Peter Pan ride. Ended up she loved it. Though the ride was in dark, Kathy was still excited to see the sight of the city lights, the little mermaid (wondering why the mermaid was there), tinkle bell and some other little people that I had no idea what they were called.

In the afternoon we came back to the Tomorrow Land AGAIN and got on some rides there. Buzz light ride was absolutely the best. It was just way too much fun watching Kathy busy turning the cart with right hand, and trying to shoot with another. Monster's Inc. laugh floor was a new added. Sarah laughed from beginning to end. Kathy was cracked out by what some people said and repeated the words that she thought was funny. The blue ride was great to get on. Though Kathy was not happy when she tried to knee on the seat to see the objects, and was shouted to sit down by Sarah. After those I took the girls to the playground. Goodness! They were so bored! The Pooh Play lot and the tiny playground next to the Donald Boat water play area were purely designed for babies. Kathy came to me said, “I wanna go home.” She always says this when she’s bored. Sarah wondered around for couple minutes and told us that she wanted to leave. But both of them got soaked wet at the water area and again it was hard to drag them out of there. The Jungle Cruise at the Adventureland was pretty neat. Kathy imitated Monkey's noise and made people around cracked out. It worth the time waiting. Sarah was anxious to try the race car but turned down by not meeting the height restriction by just a little bit.

We had lunch in a Café at the Tomorrow Land. It was so crowded. There was a bird like animal playing music. Of course Kathy danced with music again. There were a couple of love birds feeding each other reminded me about the time that Steve and I fed each other with junk food in the mall’s food court, and felt that we were so much in love. Boy, we were so young then. Ten some years later we do like, “hey, eat healthy please. If you don’t live long enough, you’re in trouble.” We are still in love, just in a different way.

On the way out of the park, there were people sitting on the side way along the Main Street waiting for the fire work. One guy shouted out “Maryland!” I was like “yahoo! Maryland!” Yeah, people do silly things at Disney. I was sillier. LOL.

Day Five August 22, 2007 – Disney MGM

2007-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the family was exhausted from the last several days’ activities. MGM supposedly to be a relaxing place since Steve and I thought that the girls may not be interested in how movies were made and the stage shows. But the girls approved that we were wrong. They loved the shows!

Both girls were excited to have pictures taken with Goofy and Minnie, except Kathy was scared away when Goofy tried to give her a hug. After that we did not get any other characters to take pictures with.

We passed the entire Echo Lake area since the attractions were more for grown ups from the descriptions. For the nine hours we were in the park, most of the time we were running to catch show after show. The girls were excited to see the characters that they knew came out from TV to talk, sing and dance right in front of them. The Disney MGM Backlot showed us a tour on making a Harbor Day movie piece, and some other movie-making magic. The Great Movie Ride was an introduction on the American movie history. I was so moved again by the Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart’s kiss. Girls shouted out excitedly the names during the ride. However, they were not so much into the old western cow boy films. Muppet show was hilarious that I laughed the entire time. But again Kathy was not so much into the 3D vision. Sarah thought the show was just so-so, coz it was talking almost about nothing. Well, I was naïve, OK? Later on both girls were so excited to see the Mermaid in the Little Mermaid Musical show. The Bear in the Big Blue House was another stage show that the girls got really involved. They went to the front and danced right below the stage. Kathy really wanted to go to the Beauty and the Beast stage show. But we ran out of time so we had to disappoint her this time.

Our day ended with the Fantasmic. The show was a big deal to the visitors coming to MGM. People started to enter the stadium an hour and half prior to the show. We were there an hour before the show time, and it was hard to find a seat already. Luckily enough the assistant directed us to the row so close to the very front, almost right facing the center of the stage. People were bored while waiting, so we started a wave in the audient. Several rounds later, people got bored again. Started from somebody at somewhere, we began couple rounds of applause. Well, gonna have to entertain ourselves. Kathy sucked fingers for a while and bored by doing nothing. She stood on the stairs and danced with the music. People behind waved to her. Finally it came the show. Wow! It was nice! The girls shouted out the name of the characters. Kathy was scared a little by the bad dragon and the witches. But soon she was cheered up by the dancing princesses on the boats.

In conclusion, the girls said that they loved the “Honey, I shrunk the kids” playground the most. Why I am not surprised. That’s my girl. Right after stepped on that ground, I lost both of them in a blink. The next thing I knew was that they both were at the top of a three-story web climb. Then I made a wrong decision to try to grab them from the holes under the big mushrooms. The tunnels were half of my height, and were almost totally dark inside. I lost myself before I could catch either one of them. Yeah, go ahead laugh at me, Steve.

Today we hit the lottery to order the worst Chinese food ever. When it was lunch time, we did not know any good Chinese food around; I got in this Chinese place seeing no customer at all at lunch time, I should know something was not right. Being hungry definitely did not help. I ordered anyway. “I don’t like it. Yucky.” According to Kathy. The name of the restaurant is China Star located at the Publix Shopping Center on the orange lake road right off Rt. 192. Then in the evening we could not get reservation in the Play N Fine at Hollywood & Vine. I do need some good food tomorrow.

Day Four August 21, 2007 – Sea World Adventure Park

2007-08-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Our plan yesterday was to the MGM. But we double checked the park schedules this morning and changed our mind to spend a day in the Sea World, simply because the next two days MGM and Magic Kingdom will open till late in the evening. The two girls were curious to see every event, check out every exhibit, get on every ride that they were allowed too, and of course go wild on every playground. We sure do need more time in each park.

Shamu was right at the entrance to let the kids taking pictures with him. The girls did not know Shamu before and called him “the walking big whale”. Kathy got a big kiss from Shamu on her head. The picture came out like Shamu was biting on the little girl’s head.

Stingray Lagoon was our first stop. The girls spent me 8 bucks for only two tiny boxes of the frozen fish for the stingrays, and gave out all the fish in one minute. That’s quite some expensive breakfast. The girls enjoyed touching the stingrays so much that Steve had to carry the struggling Kathy out of that place.

Dolphin Cove is right next to the Stingray, and we can spend money to feed them! Talking about spending money, the girls got excited. Gave out 10 bucks and got 10 fish in two tiny boxes. Next time I would bring some fish from super market. I’ll treat all of those cute dolphins breakfast. Yeah right, even more expensive. Just kidding. Both girls were upset after the fish were gone. One of Sarah’s fish was taken by a bird. Kathy’s arm was not long enough to pat the dolphin. Neither one of them wanted to leave. Guess what? As parents, it was our responsibility to drag them out of that place, and move on in the life. LOL.

We cared less about the Alligators. But definitely curious to see what Manatees were. The girls were not excited about seeing Manatees. They both walked out of the underwater view and headed to the Whale and Dolphin show next door without Steve and I hollering them. The Whale and Dolphin Show was telling a story about a little girl’s dream of swimming with the big ocean creatures came true. It was very well performed. We were lucky to get the center seats close enough to see every dolphin clearly, but far enough not to get wet. Interesting enough was that there was a Japanese TV station shouting right behind us.

At this point, all of us were ready for a nap.

Our afternoon at the park started again a little after 4 PM. It was steamy hot then. We decided to stay in the Wild Arctic for a while before heading to the playground at Shamu’s Happy Harbor. The line was not long at all. It only took us couple minutes to get inside. The introduction film was not attractive to the girls but at least gave them an idea what they were about to see. The bear was sleeping; dolphins were busy swimming; and the sea loins (or were those sea loins?) could care less about our visitors. Sarah was busy hopping up and down on those fake rocks. Kathy was not happy that she was not allowed to climb all the way up to the cave, so she started counting dolphins to kill time. The bad thing is that the exit of the Wild Arctic was in a gift shop. The girls running around picking up stuffs they liked and acted like step children when I said “No, you can not have it.” Again, we showed them who was in charge.

Net Climb was something new to Kathy. After she spent the first five minutes running up the stairs and sliding down the slides, this little girl discovered the cool Net Climb. The first time she climbed on the nets and moved for several feet only. After couple tries, she was experienced and walked quite a long way on the robes. She got half way to the other end before decided to head back. I seriously did not see anyone like her age on the Net Climb but kids at Sarah’s age. I have to give her credit on daring to try. After the Shamu show we came back to take the Swishy Fishies, which was the only ride Kathy was tall enough to get on at the Shamu’s Happy Harbor. I loved to see her exciting face. The day before she was turned down couple times by the height restrictions at Dino Land. When I took her to a gift shop to wait for Sarah and Steve riding a roller coaster, Kathy asked me, “Where are Sarah and Daddy?” I said that they went on a ride. Kathy looked at me with the saddest eyes and face, “I can not go?” Right at that moment, I decided not to come back before she reaches 48 inches. Lucky her 36 inches is not too far away from the target height. Anyway, I took her to the Swishy Fishies again just to see her happy face.

Oh, almost forgot to mention. When I saw the famous sand play ground that Dian Dian had good time couple years ago, I invited Kathy to play there. The little girl turned me down and ran up the stairs to the Net Climb.

Sharks Encounter was the other place that the girls like very much. Sharks and fishes swimming around was quite an exciting experience to them. The only disappointing part was the shark feeding place closed. I bet that if they let the kids pat the sharks; my girls will definitely touch those dangerous creatures without a second thought.

We dined at the Spice Mill Café with water view. The fish sandwich was really good. The girls discovered and immediately fell into with this plastic Shamu shaped cookie containers and forced me to buy food for the containers, otherwise, they’d make me miserable. The result was that I paid almost 10 bucks to get these two cheap Shamu shaped containers and ate couple cookies to generate extra fat on my body. I will time out them whenever they are not going to use those cheap containers back at home.

Day Three August 20, 2007 – Animal Kingdom

2007-08-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

All four of us were exhausted after a long day. Kathy woke up the earliest around 7, and then fell asleep soon after climbed up to our bed. We arrived at the Animal Kingdom shortly after 10 AM. We rented a stroller again today. Here I have to say that Disney staffs are really nice and helpful. While we were waiting in the line for the stroller, I asked a lady where to pick up the park map. She gave me the direction. I thanked her. Soon she came back with 4 maps and wished me a happy day in the park. I shared the maps with the parents behind me. Thought maps could be found at a lot of places; the thoughtful lady will be remembered and thanked by us for a long time. During the entire time we were in the park, no matter where we went, staffs were extremely helpful. I have to say that those people make the Disney more attractive to the world. Kids were greeted warmly everywhere. Strollers were right at the exit after every show we went at the Animal Kingdom. Staffs were pretty much everywhere at the playground to ensure the safety of the kids. The parks were made so convenient for the parents with young kids.

The girls enjoyed the DinoLand so much that they almost got on every ride. There were couple rides had height restrictions. Kathy was sort of confused why she could not ride with Sarah. The big orange dinosaur is a great landmark when we got lost. Discovery Island is famous for this big huge fancy fake tree. Well, there was also a 3D show called “It’s tough to be a bug”. Both girls were scared by the loud noise and the objects brought right in front your face by the special glasses. This is definitely too much for young kids. Lion King Show at the Camp Minnie-Mickey, and the Finding Nemo Musical Show at the DinoLand were two must to see. Both kids enjoyed the shows every much. The girls even sang with the performers. I could tell that Sarah came out some tunes, and Kathy sang purely without a tune at all. But she enjoyed. After the show, the little girl insisted to say good-bye to the big fake animals. I had to follow her around the big room to wave bye-bye to those unreal things. Laugh.

Animal Kingdom is much smaller than Magic Kingdom. One day in the park should be enough to cover all the rides and shows. Kathy took a good nap on the way from the Rafiki’s Planet Watch to the Finding Nemo Show, and half of the show. She woke up in the middle and enjoyed the rest of the show happily. The discovery play ground is a must go for energetic kids. I was afraid that I would end up asking the staffs there to find my kids for me. Coz in a blink, the girls were high somewhere on the third level, or one girl was running to the left and the other hopping to the right. It is a good place to burn kid’s energy to put them to nap.

There was no good restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Park. Burgers and Pizza were pretty much the main stream. Dining outside of the park tends to be a good idea. And the park closes at 6:30 PM anyway. We went to Black Angus Steak House on Rt. 192 for diner. My, I have to say that this restaurant had just the right steak I love. Steve was surprised that I finished my Cowgirl Cut. It was my first time ever that I ate up the whole piece of the steak in any restaurant or at home. Steaks here were much better cooked than those from Outback or Lone Star. Black Angus’ services were above average, and more important, it was kids friendly. 15 % off coupon could be found in the coupon book at Billy Boy’s or the visitor’s centers. The restaurant brought back the memory of Okalahoma.

Oh, and by the way, I found the best way to loose weight. Put on that Mickey Mouse outfit and do the Mickey dance everyday for couple weeks in the temperature of 95, I could lose all my 50 some pounds of fat without any problem. And will never get them back again. LOL.

Day Two August 19, 2007 – Magic Kingdom

2007-08-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

The girls woke up around 7 AM this morning and were not very excited about the Disney deal today. I guessed it could because of the fact that they have not seen any real Disney stuffs yet. Steve cooked his famous scramble eggs, which, of course, is one of the hand full things that he could make in the kitchen. By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom right before 10 AM, it was already very hot. The girls were grumpy because of the heat. On top of this, we forgot the park’s map in the car and did not take one from the gate. Without a navigator, we choose to follow the crowd, which later on was approved to be a very bad decision.

The Liberty Square could be skipped if one is not crazy about riding boats and American history. With young kids, I’d pass rides at Frontier Land as well but take some time to enjoy the Country Bear Show. The girls would go back for that show in a heart beat. After these two lands, we decided to go out for lunch and take a nap back at the resort. On the way back, we watched part of the Princesses dance right in front of the Castle. Kathy danced wherever there was music. She got people stopped and watched her dancing, and sometimes applauded.

We came back in the late afternoon around 4:40. This time we were all equipped with map, water, snack, and we even recharged our energy from nap. Here I have to change the topic a little to say something about Kathy. Today she made me to re-evaluate her. As a two and half year’s old child, she enjoyed every ride that she could get on, and behaved very well while waiting for her turn. She could name most of the Disney characters, and greeted them with cheerful voice and big smiles. Almost all the time she walked with big kids when stroller was not permitted.

Back to the topic on the park. We spent the entire afternoon and early evening in the Tomorrow Land. Both girls enjoyed the rides and the show very much. Only that Kathy was disappointed again by the height restriction to the Lilo and Stitch ride. I had to take her to the blue ride again. If we’d go back again, which might happen someday before we head back home, we would definitely start with the Tomorrow Land then move on to the Fantasyland. Advenrureland seems to be very attractive with quite some young kid’s friendly rides and activities, but we didn’t have time to visit it today. Mickey’s Toontown Fair seemed more for younger kids. Neither of the girls was much interested in that section. The firework was nice but way too later for toddlers. The parade was fantastic but crowded. I’ll see if we could watch these two the next time.

Couple more things need to be written down. Staying till late at night in the park and with a long afternoon nap, it was impossible to have diner outside of the park. There was not much choice in the park, but good enough to fill up the stomachs. Stroller rentals were available at rates of $18 for double, and $10 for single. And couple bucks of discount if purchase multiple days.

Tomorrow we are going to the Animal Kingdom. Let's get ready.

Day One – Disney, we are coming!

2007-08-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

August 18, 2007 started beautifully with both kids woke up very early in the morning happily. Checking in at the airport was smooth. If I did not get lost on Rt. 66, the starting point would have been perfect.

Air Tran offers much cheaper tickets comparing to its competitors. Even I was short of time, I still could get pretty good deal from Air Tran. In the couple week I did the research, the airfares fluctuate to the lowest points on Friday then start another cycle from the upcoming Monday with the high figures. So does the car rental. However sometime could be opposite. Air Tran’s service is about average. The assistants were nice to the customers. The plane was almost full on the way to Orlando. For a short flight from DC to Orlando, the airline serves drink and a piece of cookie. Zippy cups are allowed to bring with the young kids. The flight assistants even asked if we’d like to fill the cup with juice. Kathy fell to sleep shortly after we took off from DCA and woke up about 20 minutes before we landed at MCO. At only two and half, she behaved very well for her first flight.

The day was taken down by the Payless car rental. Our first car had one tire leaking air till it went to flat. Steve had to change on the spare tire, otherwise we were stocked. Should I appreciate that they actually had a spare tire? Fortunately Payless examined the bad tire and replaced with another car without any hassle. But anyway I will skip this car rental company from now on. Their cars are old and most of them are in below average conditions.

As I planed, we stopped by the First Oriental Store. On the same street with this Chinese grocery store, we saw quite a few Chinese restaurants. There must be a pretty big Chinese population in that area. The store is big but does not have a variety of inventories as the stores in DC metro. I don’t see milk, 油条, and quite some other common Asian snacks in that store. But in a place thousands of miles from home, this store is good enough. There are many grocery stores along the US Rt. 192 in the area that Windsor located. Publix seems to be the major supermarket in Orlando.

Billy Boy’s Discount Tickets is about 10 miles from Windsor. Their services are good. Just don’t be rejected by its look. The store looks pretty creepy from outside. I ordered 3 four-day Disney tickets and was updated automatically by Billy Boy’s to five-days. The lady at the registration gave me some brochures and introductions on the Disney World. Now that I can save one of the one of the Sea world /Busch Garden / Sesame ticket for later. Sesame Street at Northeast Phila will be our next destination soon.

By the time I picked up the tickets and finished my grocery, I was hungry and tired. Felt like that I could faint anytime to scare the other three. Steve cooked some pan fried dumplings and steamed shrimps for dinner. And by the way, First Oriental carries very affordable seafood that was pretty fresh too. I started planning for the next day at Magic Kingdom.

Couple others things to keep in mind. The water condition in Orlando is not very good. I could feel how hard it is. And boy, it smells bad. Next time I will invest some good shower gel and shampoo. On US 4 highway, though it is local right within Orlando area, we had to pay tolls several times within one day. Some roads could be confusing. Even with GPS, I still made couple wrong turns today. Good thing is that the Orlando drivers are not as aggressive as drives in Maryland.

Windsor locates in a nice quite area with houses and condos. The houses here have the attached outside swimming pond. Steve and I joked about if we should pay some extra money for an out door bath tub. See how small the pond is now? In the following days we saw quite some lizards, grasshoppers, and other kinds of bugs in the yard.

showoff

2007-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

一个夏天的成果。
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=772503938790715706&pr=goog-sl

纯属捣乱的。
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7186220482498924155&pr=goog-sl

该挨屁股板子的老二

2007-08-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

这些都是今天晚上这位小祖宗做的。

添乱
我这边刚刚宣布洗澡水放好了。转身叫老公端上金银花水，身后只听小老二噼里啪啦往水里扔东西。仍完了咚咚咚跑到姐姐房间，一会儿手里拿着什么出来了，一拐就进了bathroom。赶紧跟进去一看，我的天呢！！bath tub 底沉着几条塑料鱼，水上漂满了鱼食，给真鱼吃的玩意儿那是！！！啊~~~~~~~~~，我就惨叫一声，全家其他三人全给我吓傻了。接着一阵打捞，累得我到现在腰疼。

改编
好歹把老二洗好了，穿上衣服。老二一高兴就给我唱歌了，两手一撩起上衣，指着肚脐眼儿，
Where is my button? Where is my button? Here it is. Here it is. I have two more, I have two more. (用力再把衣服往上拉），here they are, here they are。
这歌，咱孩子在学校里也唱过吧。

Dora 水鞋
下楼给小人冲茶水的功夫，人家就给穿上了，然后告诉我，
- No comfortable. (眉头皱着小嘴撅着，声情并茂）
- 那你还穿？
- Yeah~~~~~~, because I like Dora.
- 那我也没办法了。臭美就要付出代价。Understand?
- Understand? No understand.
- 女人啊，等你长大了就知道了。
- 。。。。。。。 I wanna watch Arthur's Chicken Pox.
最终，还是没understand。

发音， S

2007-08-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

这个音，小孩子还真的发不出来。Daycare问一问，老师说了，孩子到三岁才能发好这个音。不过我急，在家里就不停地remind, “错了，S~~~~~~~~~~呢？” 骄傲地说，老二会发这个音了，忘了这个音还知道补上。

I wanna read a "tory". (眼珠子一转，想起来了, 冲着我龇牙咧嘴），S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

That's my "poon".(三秒钟之后，一脸献媚状） S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~poon. Yeah!!!

2007 年 8 月 14 日，晴，热

2007-08-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

好像写日记一样了。；-）

这几天老二迷上luggage了，每天晚上推着比她小人家都大的箱子唠叨，
“I am going to a vacation."
"I am going to the beach."
"I am going to Disney World."

All of these sounds like a friendly reminder to me, "pack for the vacation, lazy mom."

逗我乐呢

2007-08-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

小老二洗澡的时候跟我说了，

"Mommy, I have one 屁（恩，我们家的叫“屁屁”就是简化的一个字“屁”，读“bi"四声）. Daddy has one 屁. 姐姐 has one 屁. Mommy has one 屁. 。。。。。。。"

全家四口都说到了，该说同学们了。老二眼睛鼻子都挤到一起了，

"Sophie has TWO 屁. Michael has TWO 屁. Vicky has TWO 屁........."

我差点从凳子上摔下来之前，老二说了，

"I am just kidding. hahahah..."

中文教育

2007-08-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

我在家里，那真正的是一支独树啊。“说中国话！讲中文！中国话怎么说？” 口干舌燥外加脑袋疼。结果呢，我们家老二也说“中国话”了。

K: I wanna some fish. (特指小鱼干）
我：说中国话。
K: I wanna some 说中国话 fish.

K: Mommy, can you read me some books?
我：说中国话。
K: 说中国话Mommy, I wanna read book.
我：说中国话，“妈妈，我要看书”。
K: NO!!! Not Mommy 要看书. Me 要看书.

Preparation - 07 Disney Vacation

2007-08-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

OK, finally our family is going to Disney World Orlando this summer. The trip to this wonderful, fantastic, dreamful land was first brought up by Steve years ago, well, when we were dating. Guess what, I had to work during that summer. Then it was proponed many times for various reasons. Now we are heading there on August 18, 2007, a family of four rather than two single students. Well, let’s get ready.

The packing list was modified from what it was last year. Car, flights, tickets to Disney World, Sea World and Busch Garden were all booked online. http://www.kayak.com/ is a terrific booking engine with links to many other travel websites and agents. I’ve got the car and flights from this site and the prices were not bad at all, given that week of August 18 will still be the peak travel week in the destination. I was not lucky enough to get all the tickets at my planned prices. What can I say? That’s the Disney World where we are going! It’s about the magical power. It’s the place where the dreams come true. Discount prices? Yeah, 20% off. Come on, people would pay full price to see those famous cartoon characters. 695 USD will give four of us four fabulous days at Orlando Disney. The happiness is priceless.

Global booked me a two-bedroom at Windsor Palms resort. It seems to be quite nice in the pictures gallery on its website. Just hope our stay will turn out to be a quite pretty memory to the kids. The weather channel forecasts a 92 degree everyday that week. I guess an inside pool would be a big plus. But it seems that we’d have to arm ourselves with SF 50. Not too bad though.

On the day we arrive, we seem to have the entire afternoon to kill. Billy Boy opens till late afternoon so that we can pick up the tickets after the nap. 1st Oriental Supermarket at 5132 W Colonial Dr is about 19 miles from where the resort locates. It’s rated a full 5 stars by some customers. I am planning to fill up the refrigerator with quick breakfast, juice, milk and fruits. And of course some Chinese cookies, snacks, and most important, my sunflower seeds. On the way back, we can stop by the Publix Super Markets at 5350 Central Florida Pkwy to pick up a box of ice-cream and maybe something else depending on what in the mind then.

There are quite a few restaurants along the Irlo Bronson Hwy，not far from the resort and Disney World. I am planning do some research on them and pick up 6 that we will have a taste on each day.

Harry Potter

2007-07-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

大的终于开始看了。好嘛，墩厕所，洗澡都看。够用功, 和她那上班看Harry Potter差点被老板抓的阿姨一个战壕了。

新眼镜

2007-07-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

晚上吃了饭去拿了回来。我就戴上了。小的呆了，

Are you my Mommy?

哦，原来只认眼镜的啊。

生煎包

2007-07-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

下班顺路去美心买了人家的最后一盒生煎包，只有6个。另外要了两个菜，其中一个是豆腐皮包肉。俩孩子一回家洗了手，当妈的我就开始献宝了。快看看，有包子吃喽~~~~~~~~~~
没承想俩祖宗不领情，大的说了，I don't wanna eat anything. 小的说了，I wanna ice cream.
怒了，都饿着，我吃。拿了盘子我就正经坐下了。小的凑上来刺探军情，Mommy, is that 肉肉？I wanna 肉肉, Mommy。大的闻声也过来了，I wanna 皮皮。
结果6个包子馅全都进了小的tummy。吃完了盒子见底儿了，小的不高兴了。Where is more 肉肉？Mommy, ah~~~~~~~~~~. Daddy, ah~~~~~~~~~~~。感情以为我们给吃了，大实话一个肉星儿都没进我们俩嘴里，啊什么啊？！
半点肉肉都没找到，小的很郁闷。瞪着两只酷似难民一样的眼问我了，where is the 肉肉？斜眼我一看那碟子豆腐皮包肉，就它了。夹了一下块儿给小的，来，吃这个。小的左右看看，问了，Is that 肉肉？吃了一小口，小眉头一皱，that's not the same 肉肉。
得了，明天还得去买。

哇！半年多没写东西了。

2007-07-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

实在是太懒了。
这么长的时候，大的没什么变化，一年级结束的时候拿了outstanding student award。然后就是在summer camp里晒得成了African American。
小的变化比较大，话多了，会顶嘴了。一句话，管不了了。

Thu Jan 18

2007-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

领导昨天去interview，小老大问她爸，so you went there to beg people to give
you a job? is it closer to home?(我，经常说，经常说，洗脑了） how much money
will you get then? can you give me some?
我份特！

toothfairy is on vacation now

2007-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

Mon Dec 11
我们家小老大切磋的通。上次掉牙，我从5刀砍价砍到1刀。这次掉牙，说是不要钱了，
给我一张珠宝店广告，小指头一下就给我戳到一2000多刀的钻石戒指上，Mommy, this
one, I will ask toothfairy for this ring. 领导说了，it's holiday season,
toothfairy is on vacation now. so, you will have no ring this time. 偶狂笑。

出问题了

2007-01-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

2006年12月4日
小老二今天在学校挨罚了。罪名有2。
1 是把玩的豆子撒了一地，故意的。老师让捡起来，小人居然和老师顶嘴。实在没办法
之后，小人一边唱着小曲一边捡，捡一个豆自己鼓一次掌。ft! 老师告状的时候都哭笑
不得的。刚刚还给她爸告状，no play (with) Cheryl.
2 是在Sophie被timeout的时候大声狂笑，且故意进行挑逗，拿着玩具诱惑Sophie,
Sophie play, come on, let's go. 结果是Sophie没把持住，挨了第二轮的to. 小老二
一边陪着。

人就是这么被气死的

2007-01-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

2006年9月7
祖宗今天花了一个小时的时间写了五十几个字的小作文，整个就是一个瞎编烂造结构混
乱，字写得惨不忍睹比烂地瓜都烂。数学题的分数部分做一道错一道。数coins倒是都
tnnd数对了加对了。
这么笨的孩子怎么会是我生的？

东风吹，战鼓擂，革命小将谁怕谁

2007-01-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

2006年8月28
我要
赤裸裸地showoff
showoff完了我还绝对不敲木头

我们小老二
今天
穿着同一件衣服上的学
穿着同一件衣服放的学
我们小老二
也有
一天只要一套衣服的时候

抬头180度！哼！小姐我
本星期也能少洗两件衣服！！！

报应

2007-01-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

2006年8月27
总有一天会来滴。
我这个人，最讨厌无缘无故地哭，很烦孩子whine，特别是不说话给我嗯嗯地。
报应呢，就是酱紫来滴。
我和领导在车前排说话，忘了什么话题了，我呢，就嗯~~~~~了那么一下。
结果就被后排的祖宗教训了，
shush! stop that. that sounds PU. was that you, mom?
never ever do it again. if you don't know how to talk, i'd love to teach you
.

我狂怒！！！！！！！！

罢工正式开始

2007-01-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

2006年8月22，一个从进家门就没停嘴，一个刚洗完澡自己套了3条长裤一条短裤，还差点喝了409。
我不管了，各顾各吧。

被人打了

2007-01-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

2006年8月18，小祖宗上来就是一巴掌，然后哈哈哈哈，sorry~~~~~~~~~~~~

生活，就是这么惨酷！

都知道？！

2007-01-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

2006年8月16，吃完饭，小老二要抱抱，我这么孝顺的妈，就抱了不是。老公一皱眉头，小的
鼻子上有饭粒。我这还没来得及给小祖宗擦呢，人家小人自己俩小指头把饭粒从鼻子上
抓起来放嘴里吃了。我说老公你教她鼻子在哪里？老公说没有。1？难道小祖宗是神童
？再问，你耳朵呢？眼睛呢？嘴？头？头发？后背？屁屁？腿？丫丫？
份特啊！都知道？全家一共4口人，三个都没教她。难道家里有鬼不成？那个那个测鬼
的，哪里有卖的？
555555555555555555555555

小老二几件事

2006-12-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

假哭一般来说都是由真变假，假而更假。想要的东西没拿到，抢别人的东西没抢道，挨了批评，等等等等，对这些地反应都是咧嘴嚎啕。爸爸妈妈统统以不变应万变，两个字，“不理”。小老二自己哭得无趣但是有不甘心就此罢休，于是哭也有真变假。这个时候，千万不能心软。只要大人一投降，小祖宗立刻换上更嘹亮的声音哭。妈妈说了，有你这么哭的吗？一滴眼泪都没有。小人于是拼小命眨眼。穆哈哈哈哈。

好好路不走，偏要和讨狗闲的姐姐一样倒着跳着走。结果没几步就摔了。嘴里还念叨“啪唧”“help”.真是自找啊。不理。

当爸的以为他是谁，小老二吃虾捞面吃得眉开眼笑，爸爸笑咪咪凑上去问，“Kathy, 给爸爸吃一口好不好？” 小老二两只小手抱着碗往旁边一挪，“go away please, Daddy.” 哈哈哈哈，还用了please，挺有礼貌。

小老二对爸爸是非常好的。每天一听到门响，马上跑过去迎接亲爱的爸爸。爸爸一开门，小老二立刻扑上去，“come in, 老公。”“I love you, 老公。”

指着卡片上说了，“Santa, ho ho ho. I love Santa.” 你这么love Santa，那让你和Santa照像你怎么哭得比谁都响？说bye-bye说得比谁都快？

上星期受了刺激的妈妈从Toys R Us 买回先进写字板一块，狠心立志俩星期教会小老二26个字母10个数字。结果现在是被小人指挥着每天画无数碗“面条条”和许多个Arthur脑袋。看来我们家雄心壮志是不缺的，缺的是好学上进的心。

讨狗闲的姐姐是小老二的眼里的英雄，保护姐姐那也是小老二的责任。姐姐写作业要关门安静。爸爸妈妈稍有想进姐姐房间的企图，只见一个小人飞快冲到姐姐门口大声喝道， “doing homework”. 不过这位小保镖只严以待人，对自己采取的绝对是宽松政策。经常自己大摇大摆爬上床，指挥姐姐 “do this one!”

贵死人的书

2006-11-29T08:48:00.000-08:00

最近花在买书上的钱真是无限多，恐怖啊！

小老大自从爱上chapter books以后我就没什么好日子过了。借书买书的速度完全跟不上她小人家看书的速度。上个月刚买了20本的 Junie B. Junes, 两个星期的时间全看完。7，80页的书，一天最多看到两本。上星期去library借来的书，两天看完了。臭小人闲的惹得小老二哇哇叫。希望ebay sellers寄书寄得快点吧。救命的心声！

今天再去library借一些，希望能安稳祖宗。

Three ears

2006-11-24T18:59:00.000-08:00

Kathy likes counting stuffs. She surprises the families by counting all the way to ten sometimes. However, please, do not take her to compare with real genius. Let me tell you why.

Tonight, somehow this little person enjoyed so much on counting others’ ears, and of course, her own’s. It was the time when I took my vitamin tablets from the jar, the little person pulled my left ear and started counting, ONE. Then turned my hand, found another ear and counted, TWO.

Hmm, how nice, Mommy has TWO ears. And let me say how many I have. Little person touched her left ear, ONE, then right ear, TWO, and then left ear again, THREE!

Grabbed Daddy head, started with left ear and then right, ONE, TWO. Sarah’s was the third to count, also, ONE, TWO.

That little person got excited, “Mommy TWO, Daddy TWO, 姐姐TWO, Kathy THREEE!!!!”

Questioning Always

2006-11-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Can not remember when things started to become different to us, things like automatically answering the questions “what’s that” popped out from the tiny little mouth, things like automatically saying “ok ok sure sure” when the little person tells us to “stop it”.

Regardless when and how, my tiny little person is growing into a big girl. Surprised to find out the little person can sing more than 20 songs though not word by word, likes to draw curly lines, enjoys telling stories to herself while playing with the toy, and remembers all her favorite characters from Arthur’s series and Disney princess stories.

On top of all above, I have to give credit to this little person for her good table manner, politeness and sweetness. If life can go on without the little one acting like the worst devil sometimes, I’d say that the world is the most beautiful place with Kathreen.

The third lost tooth

2006-10-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

ANOTHER DOLLAR!!!!!!!!!
17 more dollars to go. ;-(

Sarah lost her second tooth

2006-09-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

Got a dollar from the tooth fairy. ;D

手机

2006-06-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

我的，找不到了，从上星期天开始就失踪了。
问老大，答曰，不知道，没见过，妈妈你为什么自己不看好自己的东西，问K去。
问老二，孩子，妈妈的cell phone，哪，就是可以 hello~~~的那个，在哪里？知道吗？老二答，嗯。顺手一指经常藏东西的抽屉，“这儿~~~~~”。老妈子我找！翻了个底儿朝天，没有啊。
二问老二，宝啊，妈妈的cell phone，哪，就是可以这样的（我俩手还一张一合地比划呢），铃铃铃铃，hello~~~~, 在哪里？知道吗？老二二答，嗯。小凳子搬过来，一把捞起她爸的，“这儿~~~~~”。
三问老二，错了，那是爸爸的。妈妈的是黑色的。知道什么是黑色嘛？老二三答，嗯。咚咚咚咚，跑去把她的小花狗书拿给我，指着跟我说了，汪汪汪。。。
四问老二，孩子，妈妈的cell phone, 可以按键，滴滴滴滴，然后就可以hello~~~~，在哪里？知道吗？老二四答，嗯。转身从玩具堆里搜出disney mini mouse cell phone一枚，“这儿~~~~~~~~~”。“mine~~~~~~~~~~~"。
家有傻孩子是酱子啦，所以，我的cell phone到现在还是了无踪迹，我还节约用电呢，到家就关机，多欠呢。美女帅哥们有事儿找我，call俺家领导吧。

Record Sarah's first tooth lost

2006-05-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

at school in the afternoon. bottom front right

some other milestones

birthday: 11/7/2000
first PED office visit: 11/10/2000
first shopping day: 11/11/2000
one-month well baby checkup: 12/13/2000 at 12:30 PM
two-month well baby checkup: 1/9/2001 at 12:30 PM
first portrait taken: at home 1/17/2001
first real word: 饿， 2/13/2001
well baby checkup: 3/7/2001 11AM
first rollover from back to tummy: 3/19/2001
first time put foot to mouth: 4/28/2001
well baby checkup: 5/10/2001
started to crawl: 5/19/2001
first baby tooth popped out: 5/27/2001, bottom front left
first time sat up by herself: 6/21/2001
first time visited China: 8/16/2001
first step: 11/3/2001

Record Kathy’s ear infection

2006-05-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

poor little thing, hope she gets better soon.

活到老学到老

2006-05-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

fun, fine, 这两个词怎么就听着都一样呢？
以前经常被老公校正发音，f, v, s, sh, th, o, u, 很多年无数遍以后，老公痛心地发现，本小姐实在是不可教也，逐放弃。本小姐继续一通乱发音，满嘴跑舌头，美国佬都能被我气得翻白眼。真真是糟蹋文化。
没想到啊没想到，气完了老公接着能气翻亲生女儿。昨天晚上小老大不厌其烦，淳淳善诱，翻来覆去地校正fun, fine俩字的发音，直教的老妈我舌头都不知道该放哪里了，报告小老大，妈妈要去找水“嚯”，小人痛心摇头，妈妈你还是先把中国话说好吧。

兴奋一下午

2006-05-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

好不容易，一家四口里三个有看牙医资格的约了医生看牙。Waiting Room里Sarah唠唠叨叨自己填表，笑得一边的白大叔胖肚子一抖一抖地。啰里啰唆，三口人终于在半小时后把所有的表都填好了。进到里面，Sarah先来，要乐Buble Gum味道的洗牙膏，20 颗牙，颗颗洗得放光。牙医压轴，一数牙，21颗！长牙了！小时候最先出来的那颗牙，右下边第一颗的后面，冒出一个比小奶牙大的牙头。老爸老妈就没那么好命了，两口子加起来一共查出大大小小8个洞。3个大洞都是老爸的，5个小洞在老妈嘴里。想着吱吱响的钻头老妈我就耳鸣眼花双腿无力，多拖一天算一天，打算明年再说。
一下午的时间，Sarah兴奋地逢人就说，我，有waggling tooth，waggling tooth后面还有一颗在长的，那是我的big girl tooth。我长出big girl tooth, 我就把我的baby tooth放在枕头下面，tooth fairy就会给我stickers。到了晚上，check email, 发现一封从未见过面的Auntie Gloria的email, 也不管人家写什么，两个手指头戳了半天，凑出一封email, 大致内容就是小人我长牙了。
明天，首要任务是找个小瓶子，装她这20颗一颗一颗就快掉下来的小奶牙们。

自由的日子里

2006-04-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

夏天以后一定会很忙很累，父母回国两年的时间，倒是真的让我有机会享受自由繁忙和充实。想做的事情很多，能抽出的时间却很少。打算做几件漂亮的装饰换下超俗的“恭喜发财”。两个女儿的房间也该从新布置一下，每个宝来一个可爱的十字绣。Basement的地毯需要清洗，做成family room，摆上两个秀气的书架，几个舒服的椅子，一家人有时间的时候人手一本书，也算是一种难得的温馨时光。织毛衣的手艺不能丢下，女儿们今年冬天每人一件毛衣或者背心。女孩子就当女孩子养，做妈的也跟着自我提高一下，社交礼节，手工女红，家庭装饰，美食厨艺，不必刻意去教，潜移默化中希望女儿们能出落的淑女一些。自己心知肚明是个要钱没商量的人，事业为家庭服务，我做不到最好，只希望尽力。

管不了了

2006-03-27T05:14:00.000-08:00

怎么乖宝宝我就培养不出来呢？这个星期六在libary里，我忙着选书的时候，老二居然和一4岁的小姐姐抢小椅子，还居然让她给抢来了。脸皮厚厚滴抓起一本书来高声朗读，A~~B~~ BOO GER(BOOK), BABY~~~, 汪汪汪。害得我向人家一个劲地道歉，夹着老二往外急跑，老二异常愤怒，高叫着“牙七”就是下去的意思，一路跑出LIBARY。
这可怎么教啊？和她讲道理吧，小人嬉皮笑脸，TIME OUT把，我又不舍得，这么小的人她也不懂。

周末学会了说巧克力，昨天晚上，小人居然就把巧克力这三个子变成了小曲儿，调是Old McDonald改编的，唱起来是这样，
巧克力
巧克克克克克力
力哦力哦力哦

这个小东西，整个就是魔鬼和天使的综合体，让我欢喜让我忧。；）

小老二学数学

2006-03-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

当然是从1开始教。

- 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~~~~~~~~~~~~， 1块鸡肉，小宝，（老妈我手指头，食指，一伸），这样就是 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~。
- #￥#%·#%·#￥（老二不理）
- （老妈我弃而不舍）1~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~~~~~~~~~~~~（食指再一伸），这样就是 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- ￥#—#%……—%#￥· 拿！耐！

鸡肉入老二口，老妈我投降。

教育，就是要坚持不懈，第二天继续教。两天以后，小老二也学会了。只要是想吃东西，右手高举食指一伸，1~~~~~~~~~~，拿奈！

对于吃，小老二是很能干的，知道cheese在大冰箱，拿奈！巧克力在小冰箱，拿奈！Icecream载小冰柜里，拿奈！

老二唱歌

2006-03-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

全家人齐心协力共同思索，终于翻译出小老二经常哼的两支小曲儿。

<>Baabaa baabaa baabaabaabaabaa –
Baabaa black sheep have you any wool?

<>哔吧把哔吧哔 –
1，你拍一，我拍一
2， three blind mice, three blind mice

白眼狼

2006-03-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

昨天晚上，小老大问我，what's good to be a dentist?
老妈子我狂喜，乖宝啊，这不是给老妈我机会做一次高燕定吗？赶紧的我就教育了，you will make everyone happy by giving them beautiful teeth. People repect dentists alot. Also you will make a lot of money.
老大眼珠子一转，oh, that's very good. I will then have a lot of money. When Kathy become a lawyer and I am a dentist, we both will have a lot of money. .
当妈的我老怀甚慰，then you will buy Mommy and Daddy something, right?
只见小白眼狼眼珠再一转，actually, no, I will not give money to you and Daddy. Well, ok, fine, I will buy you a diamond necklace for your birthday, but I will wear that necklace.
老妈我傻在那里，那你要把那么多钱放哪里呢？

今天早上，老公带老大去芭蕾学校。路上老大说了，Daddy, when I grow up, I will be a dentist and Kathy will be a lawyer. And we will make a lot of money. We will buy a long car. But you and Mommy can not drive it because you have your car. We will put our money in the bank to grow little moneys.

好好好，小白眼狼，自己打工挣钱付学费去！哼！

看图识字后遗症

2006-03-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

今天带老二去图书馆给姐姐借书。我们老二，真是social啊，颠颠颠跑到这边给小帅哥say hi, 颠颠颠跑到那边给小美女hug 一下。帅哥美女都在看书，哪有闲情接受调戏？老二无聊地也抓一本书念。一页一页地看，咱们也不是文盲。我念给你听，
- A~~B~~系这个
再翻一页，
- A~~B~~系这个
一本30几页的书，每一页统统都是
- A~~B~~系这个
老妈我一拍脑门明白了，这个，读书识字后遗症啊。每天晚上都来一遍，苹果，是这个。衣服，是这个。球球，是这个。可怜我们老二，就学会了， A~~B~~系这个。

汪汪之家

2006-03-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

小老二终于学会了小狗叫，汪汪汪。
问她了，小狗狗怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪
哇赛，天才啊。在问了，
- 小猫猫怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪
嗯？狗猫？
聪明的姐姐会意了，接着问，
- 小Kathy怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪
- 妈妈怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪
- 爸爸怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪
- 那姐姐怎么叫啊？
- 汪汪汪

很好很好，全家一个不落，统统汪汪汪。

Sarah 的阅读能力让人担忧

2006-03-13T06:13:00.000-08:00

以前我总以为小老大聪明，很多事情一点就通，其实不然。小老大从上Kindergarten起就开始做阅读，总结中心思想。这个学期开始读书回，一星期两本书。这么几个月下来，我发现小老大记忆力很好，通常一本书读下来，小人能一个细节不漏的重复一边书的内容，不过，summarize the story briefly却是个大问题。简单的故事还可以，复杂一些的，小人就不能用一两句话概括书的内容。这个weekend我们一起读了Mighty Jackie. This book is about Jackie Mitchell， the famous woman baseball player who struck NY Yankee Babe Ruth in 1931. 当我问小老大，what did you learn from this story? 我是一直希望她能说she learnt that to set her mind on something and work hard on it, she would be successful. 不过小老大绕来绕去就是没离开什么 Jackie learnt how to struck a man. She started playing baseball when she was little. She was the only woman playing baseball at that time. 为什么这么长时间的阅读训练以后，还是不能看到一本书深层次的意义呢？

Kathy got stomach flu

2006-03-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

老二从3/7号晚上发烧，拉稀，吃了Motrin，喝过whole milk + pediasure就睡了。半夜2点，哭醒，有热度，再灌Motrin，吐，换过衣服，一觉睡到天亮。早上没胃口，不停喝水，10点半，又吐，老公回家带老二看医生，检查下来是 stomach flu，回家后喝了一点对了水的pedialyte,吐一点。3/8好下午只给pedialyte。老二饿得嗷嗷叫，晚上喂稀粥，吐一点。3/9中午再次给稀粥，喝光，没吐。晚上继续稀粥。睡觉前给了formula,冲得很稀。半夜饿醒，再给冲稀的formula，凌晨5点再次饿醒，再喂formula。3/10，开始吃cracker,rice cereal, 粥。今天，白天还比较清淡，晚上终于恢复大鱼大肉，desert是
ice cream。
昨天晚上开始给了wholemilk with Pediasure. 喝的很好。

老二念书

2006-02-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

别看人小，那这本书念倒是很老道了。最喜欢念的是 Duck's Seasons, Bunny's Numbers and Disney Farm Friends.
星期天，老妈子三陪，小老二说什么也不nap啦。起了劲的折腾，喝水，喝奶，喝juice, 吃cookie, 吃饭，举手跳舞，满屋子转。老妈子我忍无可忍，在换下当天的第3片臭臭尿片以后，小人被送进crib, 扔几本书，咱也倒头午休。只听那边哼叽两声，撕心裂胆三四声，安静，消停了。老妈子我一口气还没松过来呢，小人那边传来朗朗读书声， #￥·#%·#￥#$%@$^, 啊卜啊卜啊不， #$^%#$&%#%@$#, 啊卜啊卜啊不， #$^%#$&%#%@$#, 啊卜啊卜啊不。。。。。。。。。。。无限循环中，当妈得我闭着眼都知道，这每次一个啊卜喷出来的唾沫星子有多少，憋不住笑得我肚皮抽筋。老二扭头一看笑得倒不过气来的老妈更来劲了，书是一本一本的忘地上扔，扔一本还不忘提醒我，掉掉，捡捡。没反应？再扔，再报告，掉掉，捡捡。统统扔到地上，没的扔了，小人痛哭流涕。当妈的我不忍心，抱起小人，开始第二循环的折腾，喝水，喝奶，喝juice, 吃cookie, 吃饭，举手跳舞，满屋子转，换尿片，送crib， #$^%#$&%#%@$#, 啊卜啊卜啊不。。。。。。。。。。。
这一下午，整个什么都没干。瞪眼中~~~~~~~~~~~~~

纪念小老二撕的第一本书

2006-02-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dr. Seuss ABC, the first page, 呲~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~的一声，就下来了。
趁着我在卫生间里的那么一分钟功夫。那天有时间修补一下。

会折腾的老二

2006-02-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

昨天花5分钟教老二写字。老二
1，用1分钟仔仔细细上上下下前面后面地研究了一下圆珠笔
2，用1分钟仔仔细细上上下下前面后面地用舌头舔了一边笔
3，用1分钟仔仔细细上上下下前面后面地把一本本子翻了个遍
4，用1分钟仔仔细细上上下下前面后面地敲敲桌子以确定其稳定性
5，用50秒钟的时间猛灌一小杯apply juice以增加体能
6，用10秒钟画了3，4道横杠，点小黑点无数。
当妈的我欣慰，孺子可教。

另，昨天晚上某人嘲笑我管不住老二，某人接手不出一分钟，老二已经踩在某人的桌子上手握电话听筒一只脚踩在keyboard上，准备向monitor攀登。哈哈哈哈哈哈哈。。。。。。。。。。。

变魔术

2006-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

我们家的变魔术就是这样的，一只手了拿一个小小的mickey, 握在手心了。另外一只手也握成拳。两手在胸前交替转圈，嘴里还的念念有词，变变变。然后一伸手，咦~~，在这里。
小老二学会啦，夺过mickey，小手拿着眼前上下拼小命晃两下，嘴里也念，瘪别~~一~~~。然后手一松，报告大人，掉掉，不捡。

小老二的衣食住行

2006-01-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

衣，当然一定是姐姐小时候的衣服，要不就是妈妈给买的降价货。两个星期前, Sears Big Clearance Sales, 当妈的我冲了进去，小背心6件，今年3件明年3件，小衣服小裤子一堆堆的往家里搬。当爸的说了，is Sears going out of business? 7，我想把商店买空，你也得挣那么多钱回来。昨天在Disney买了几个99 cents的帽子，回家给老二扣了头上。抱着小人镜子前一站，小人美得摸着头上的帽子咯咯地笑。才美了没几分钟，姥姥说了，怎么一带帽子就不象中国人了，象个西班牙人。难到说我们戴帽子象老墨？生气，不带了。

食，都说能吃的小菜姐姐谁人能比，那是小老二我没出场呢。我们家的老二，我还真没发现有不吃的东西，从鸡鸭鱼肉，到粗茶淡饭，甚至于衣服鞋帽，只要能放进嘴里了，没有不想尝尝的。每顿饭都能吃的肚儿圆。早餐一般是半个苹果一瓶奶，snack就是cookie, juice打发了。中午花样就多了，米饭，馄饨，水饺，面条，统统一碗一碗的往肚里塞，nap前再一瓶奶。下午4点半吃dinner，和lunch差不多的一碗。6点半再捡点大人的dinner。睡前一瓶奶半夜一瓶奶。对了，下午的snack是香蕉一根。小老儿还喜欢翻厨房里的cabinet, 一包透明塑料袋子里的花生，小人企图打开塑料袋未果，嘴馋之际，只好用两只小指头隔着塑料袋做式捏一个花生，小手指头塞进嘴里咂咂嘴吧，好像味到不错。等小人练就隔袋取物，老妈子我就忙着数钱了。多么美好的未来啊。

住，这个老二不挑，那里都能睡。都一岁多了还睡在小crib里。这个比姐姐节约多了，小老大当时9个月就不能睡crib了。中午的nap一般会在半个小时左右醒一次，不用理她，扔一本书，小人看着看着就又睡着了。

行，老二出门很简单，小外套一穿，diaper bag一背，就可以上路了。不过diaper bag里面的内容可就多了， diapers, baby wripes, spare set of clothes, bibs, napkins, lotion, hand wripes, cookies, drink, and a tiny toy. 小老二这个weekend开始在家里横冲直撞的走了，标准姿势是这样的，左胳膊高射炮，右胳膊红卫兵胸前紧握红宝书，向前，向前，向前~~~~~~~ 小老二一出门就开心的嘴裂到耳朵根，笑的那个鲜花灿烂阳光明媚。一看到谁穿上外套要出门，小小人儿一定扑上前来，嗷嗷的要求被带着出门。两条小腿交替着左右跳，两只小胳膊伸得比头高抓着大人的外套做引体向上式，整个一个小猴子。小人也不容易啊，等长了估计除了吃饭睡觉就在外面疯了。

开心宝宝小事几件

2006-01-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

会走了
发挥好的时候，可以自己走10步。不过，爬还是比走来的快。：）

臭脾气
故意往地上扔东西，仍完了还报告爸妈说，“掉掉”。告诉她“开心捡。”小人马上不高兴，摇头如拨浪鼓，“不捡。” 扭头就走。

犟脾气
想要的东西一定会详尽办法得到。最喜欢玩得cell phone被姐姐抢走，小人爬行如飞，在姐姐身上连扑带咬，双手齐下，号啕大哭也要把cell phone夺回来。Christmas收到的Little Touch, 只听音乐，不好好学习，妈妈把Little Touch关了，小人冲上来小指头一点，再开开。

模仿力
说话还不会，不过总算可以顺着大人溜音了，发音最准的是Bear, ByeBye. 前几天居然听着ABC Song, 发了个w的音。

Sarah's Outstanding Award

2006-01-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

The past Tuesday, Jan 10 2006, we went the Outstanding Award ceremony at Sarah's school. Looked at her standing on the stage, we could not be prouder.

小本事

2005-12-27T06:12:00.000-08:00

开心一岁了，大孩子了，没什么本事，就会摸爬滚打，话不会说，路不会走，连站着都要扶着东西。

我们家，dinning room和living room之间有两登楼梯，示范了两三次，开心终于知道爬到那里不能勇往直前了。怎么办呢？小身子先专个180度，小屁股一扭一扭往后蹭，一登一登地蹭下两层楼梯。这下不得了了，小人居然想蹭14级台阶，从楼上蹭到楼下，勇猛精神及其可嘉，不过具体实施要等老妈我批准之后才可开始。

开心喜欢玩纸，一张facial tissue一条一条地撕成条，在一点一点地撕成小片，最后一个动作就是往嘴里塞了。通常塞了几片以后发现不如想象的好吃，于是在吐出来，两个小手指头捻成球，顺手弹掉。发挥好的时候，能象我们小时候弹玻璃球一样，一弹好远。大部分时间发挥并不好，小纸球弹不远，还搞得自己满身纸蛋儿。

不知道发明制作小椅子，小凳子给宝宝的人们有没有想到过，小椅子小凳子的不只是用来坐的，有时候，甚至是很多时候，小椅子小凳子的功效不是大人所能想象的。开心路还不会走呢，就已经发现了小椅子的特殊功效。我们家的Entertainment Center的第二隔，经常放了写老大的画，做craft的东西，这些都是严禁开心玩的。怎么办？小人有办法。先把小rocker推倒 Entertainment Center 前面，攀上rocker, 站直了，刚刚好能够到姐姐的东西，顺手在把彩纸划一地。这叫什么来着？气人，嗯，就是着两个字了。

Merry Christmas

2005-12-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

Santa and Reindeer

我这个人，做事情总是拖拖拉拉，给孩子的礼物也能拖到最后一分钟，居然还没买到。没办法，写信吧，就说是Santa写的。
Christmas Eve, 老大开开心心地在桌子上放了cookie, milk, 还有一封信，

Dear Santa,

I have been very good this year. I like to have stickers and Pony necklace.

Love,

Sarah L

Stickers, 老妈我去Costco晚了，没买到。 Pony necklace，这东西我见都没见过，哪里买去？到是小人念了很久的Double Easel本来是想买的， Toys R Us 没货了，星期三进货，这可不能怨我了。
礼物包好了，Kathy的Little Touch挺大的一个包，Sarah的Leapster game小小的一个小包。光看大小，也知道老大一定不高兴了。怎么办？和老公一商量，打个letter, 就说是Santa给老大的。

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for the cookies and milk. But I am very sorry that we do not have Pony necklace this year. However, I will have my reindear Rudolph come here to delivery your stickers on Monday night. I have another surprise for you but your parents have to pick it up on Wednesday night.

Be good and nice to your sister Kathy. I will come back next year to bring you more gifts. Please keep in mind that writing a letter to me with your wish list one month before Christmas will give me more time to prepare the gifts to you.

Love Santa.

信写完了，老两口捧腹大笑，what kind of Santa is this?!

教育的迷惑

2005-12-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

我的老大，很happy的一个孩子，从来我就不忍伤她的心，每每都是有求必应。今年的birthday party, 老大说想请她以前的一个小朋友。可惜人家妈妈说，小朋友每个星期六上午是dancing, 下午是piano, 所以没时间来。回家跟老大说，老大眨眨眼，i see, but she is still my friend. 事过境迁，现在都在不同的学校，半年里只见过一次面，你把别人当friend, 别人还不一定记得住你。怎么和她解释才不伤她的心？只好说，宝宝，listen, now she and you are going to different schools, you have new friends and she has new friends too. she can not come to the party, but mommy believe that she wish you a very happy birthday. 今年的christmas card是小老大自己设计，指挥我帮她做的，要我寄给她以前的老师和她见过的一些小朋友们，送过她礼物的叔叔阿姨们。孩子自己做的card很粗糙，和外面买的精美的卡片不能同日而语，不知道收到card的人们会怎样想。
孩子长大的过程中，会经历friendship, 背叛，刺伤，被忽视，种种世态炎凉，希望在经历了各种不愉快以后，我的孩子们还能有一颗爱世人爱生活的心。

关于学习，我一贯主张，分数不是唯一的衡量标准。当年她妈妈我不就是靠着一点小聪明混到master的？对孩子，我可不能过分不现实地要求门门满分。可是人呢，就是虚荣，真的要看到孩子的成绩单上的数字低的时候，心里要求得就是门门满分了。小老大的期中考成绩单是11月拿回来的，kindergarten 得各项成绩都是满分，当妈得我乐得嘴角都裂到耳朵根儿。可问题是，她那个学校就成心和我过不去，好好的kindergarten考不就是了？不行，非要用 Grade 1的中考题再考一遍满分的kindergarteners，这下好了，我们老大5/12，不！及！格！。白纸黑字地列到小人的kindergarten成绩下面。我这嘴啊也恢复正常size了。晚上等老大睡了，和老公说了，你说咱老大怎么办呢？这个5/12，这不及格啊。怎么教啊我们？得对孩子负责啊咱们。老公白眼球抛过来，闲得你，她kindergarten啊，1st grade得考成那样很好了。看来，做父母的心理承受力也得不断地提高。

checkup 归来

2005-12-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

老大，height 44.5, 90%, weight, 42 lb, 75%
非常奇怪中，小神仙也能75%？难道是骨头和皮重？

老二，height, 30.24, 90%, weight, 19 lb 10 oz, 25% (with 5 wagon wheel cookies
), head, 18 inches, 75%.

小老二又会说几个字了

2005-11-29T06:23:00.000-08:00

叭 - 爬
叭不抵 - 爬楼梯

俩宝贝的成长瞬间

2005-11-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Sarah's teacher's conference

Mrs. Myers said that Sarah is advanced in writing, reading, letters, logical problems and hear-and-write. She will put Sarah in the first reading group which will be guided by Mrs. Myers herself for about 30 minutes a day or so everyday. The only issue that Mrs. Myers pointed out is that Sarah had been bossy with another older girl in her class. However Mrs. Myers seems not concern this issue too much. Though others kids seem to be ok with her bossiness, I am still a little worry on this.

Kathy falled from the bed in our room
sigh, 人生就是这样慢慢地完整的。好在小老二24小时后一切正常。

Sarah 晚上对我说，when Kathy grows up, I will let her sleep in my room and in my bed. I'll sleep outside and she'll sleep inside, so she will not fall from the bed.

不心
老二11多月乐，总觉得也该开始学说话乐。于是先从小人自己的名字开始。
我说，Kathy，你叫什么名字啊？叫，开心。开心。你说，开心。
唠叨了半天，老二眼皮都不抬，专心致志地看她的塑料书。老妈我生气乐，抬头对老爸说乐，这孩子，怎么傻啊。老爸还没来得及回答呢，只听老二张口乐，不！心！
老爸老妈相对望一眼，嗯，是傻。

娃娃
老二对姐姐是又爱又怕。和姐姐一起玩的时候呢，就恨不得让姐姐leave me alone. 姐姐一跑开了呢，有啊啊啊滴叫姐姐过来和她玩儿。这几天聪明乐，以前只会啊啊啊，现在叫姐姐都有内容乐。啊啊啊，娃娃！姐姐是Sarah, 咱发音不准，当然就是娃！娃！

无法抗拒的魅力
老大昨天再做monthly activity，有个问题是， If you could invite a person to
your Thanksgiving dinner, who will it be? Why?
老大的answer 是，Alex, because he will play with me.
多好的宝啊，深的妈米遗传。我赞！

这五年的日子

2005-11-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

老大今天整五岁。老妈我回头一看，好像什么都没做，小人已经长大了。吹气儿似的，噌得一下，她就上学乐。不可能吧，总的吃喝拉撒是吧？养个孩子，哪那么简单？要真的这么简单，我就十个八个二三十个得养。真的，我也挺忙的，忙着把下面写的这些事都做了。

1，瞎担心

这个我可称的上是Expert。没怀老大的时候担心自己不孕。怀上乐开始担心葡萄胎，兔唇，侏儒，唐氏，still birth等等等等。没生的时候担心难产我byebye乐。要不是老公拦着，我遗嘱都能写好了。生了以后担心饿着撑着冻着热着。抬不起头来担心缺钙，不会翻身担肌无力，会坐以前担心脊柱问题，会爬以前担心手脚不协调，会走以前担心骨质松软，说话以前担心是哑巴，会说了担心话痨，不说话了开始担心childhood depression, 说话乐就担心唠叨半天没point, 属于思维混乱智力低下。上学以前担心不适应，上学了担心小人学坏了，说中文的时候担心英文不行，说英文乐又担心中文不好。学习不好担心以后挣钱少，学习好了担心变成书呆子。。。。。。五年乐，穷担心瞎操心都成习惯了。

2，勤俭持家

没办法，小孩子的东西贵给逼的。等deal, 找coupon, 我不是expert, 不过很自豪地说，咱给家里节省了不少钱。老大还在听命于我的时候，5，6块钱的小衣服，那里有sale那里就有我。买衣服的钱从utility里抠。家规里明文规定，楼下没人要关灯，不到三伏不开冷气，不到冻死人我就不开heater。曾几何时，全家人一人一件大棉袄裹着还直打哆嗦，真真是何苦来的？！买sale 外加自己做，一直以来我爸妈总觉得我那天可能就得吃救济乐。

3，一切行动听指挥

做妈的当家作主的时间到底有多长？没多长，真的？小人从奴隶到将军，人家也说了算了。我傻啊，刚开始还愣是没反应过来，咱家宝，有主见啊！大加赞赏另带见天showoff。没过多久傻老妈我明白了，这以后，还有我说话的份儿吗？老公和宝是一个战壕的，咱是敌人。买衣服老妈你还想省钱捡便宜？不要想得太美，想得太美是有苦头吃滴。宝的兰花指头一翻，that one。贵吗？宝我不认字。不买？宝我就穿漏肚肚的，老妈你谁见都说你虐待祖国的花朵儿。

4，准备打好持久战

这事儿呢，就是这样的，别开头，开了头就没完乐。生宝容易养宝难。Daycare, elementary, junior high, senior high, college, graduate school, wedding…..你说那个不是钱堆出来了？谁说不谈钱，钱俗。我都想这么飘然，超然，脱俗，不食人间烟火。咱行吗？咱有家要养，咱得挣钱回来给宝吃饱穿暖住舒服不是？这可就不是一天两天得活了，持久战，咱算是打定了，咱得为宝健康赚钱5，6，7，80年。健康，这个关键，咱可不能给宝拖后腿，咱宝打拼事业的时候家里哪能有病歪歪哼哼唧唧的老爸老妈？所以，自从有了宝，老公和我活的特仔细，维生素见天一片，30小几开始补钙，保险咱也买齐乐，开车咱比老爷爷老奶奶开的都仔细。我的宝啊，你就开开心心无忧无虑健健康康滴长吧，你有老爸老妈做你坚强的后盾呢。咱啥都不怕。

he 是河还是黑

2005-10-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

昨天从Costco抱还家children's world map 和 Solar System Map 各一张。老公和老大两个人兴冲冲滴把原来墙上的画摘下来，贴上新地图。贴好乐以后，两个人就开始研究了。这里是DC, 这里是Canada，那边是Asia, 这一片是China. 那个是黄黑。我这边就奇怪了，Asia 那个地方叫黄黑啊？这么有名，都上美国的世界地图乐，我怎么不知道。悔不该当初不好好学地理，出丑乐现在。
抱着老二咱也过去看看，长长知识。老大一看我来了，忙不迭地showoff. Mommy, look, here is DC. Up there is Canada. There is Asia. All of this is China. That curly blue thing, you know what, it's called 黄黑。
我当时立刻就地晕倒。两个大文盲啊，怎么就都在我家呢？

置办冬装的慢慢长路

2005-10-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

星期六下雨，取消采购粮草的原计划，抓了老大去mall里开始了给祖宗置办冬装的慢慢长路。祖宗从Sears开始一路看下去，路经Children's Place, Gmboree, Hecht's，Limited Too 等地，其间老妈子我苦口婆心滴游说，看看这个多好看啊，宝宝穿上一定漂亮。老妈子心里不住祈祷，祖宗啊，你就选几条3刀一条的裤子行吗。祖宗一律No, No, No! 前面就是Disney, 祖宗欢欣雀耀蹦了进去，巡视下来，祖宗小指头一指，I Like that Princess sweat shirt. 25大刀一套，老妈子我心头一滴晶莹剔透的血就这么掉到了这套sweat shirt and pant上。出来之后祖宗说累了，JC Penny 不要去了。不过旁边的Dollar Ocean要去看看，抱了一堆stickers, barbie，puzzle出来。中午回家睡觉，下午老两口去Costo暂且不提。

星期天，阴。再不出去连菜都没得吃了，于是决定豁出去再开远点儿，去看看Osh Kosh有没有降价。这一次不要紧，祖宗连挑带选，老妈子我75大刀出了荷包，换回来4件Jackets, 1条裙子，1副9刀的小手套。这是什么手套啊，9大刀，金子做得不成？打劫啊？！算了，我也是愿打愿挨不是？看着祖宗美得嘴裂到耳朵根儿，值！75刀一掷我为红颜。下午回家，老公和祖宗开始刻南瓜，洗瓜子留着做Project。祖宗画南瓜，编好南瓜头的故事。晚上作业再看一边，为了stickers，千万不能漏掉任何的一道题。睡觉前请示祖宗，宝宝啊，妈妈去年给你买的sweat shirt，那个红的，妈妈明天去再给你买今年穿得好不好？祖宗说好。行了，咱有鸡毛令箭了。

星期一，阴，有时有明媚阳光。送了老大上学，等的老二睡醒。老妈子我进军Target。去年4.99一个piece的sweat shirt，今年5.99了。什么世道？不让穷人活了？算了，总比那25刀一套得好多了。总的吃饱穿暖吧，咱怎么也算个低收入中产阶级吧。买！一天一套还的准备一套换的。回头看看啃bib的老二，怪可怜的，算了，给你也来两套吧。乱七八糟再一买，结帐一算一百多差点二百大洋，我连血都舍不得滴了这次。回家喂老二，哄着小祖宗睡着，立马出门接大祖宗。老大今天拿回来report card，看了看，不错，老师评价挺高的。老妈我立刻忘了那200刀的心头之痛。咱孩子出息了，200大刀算什么，20几年以后，咱孩子几分钟就给赚回来了。喜气洋洋我领着老大上楼写作业，老二一看妈妈被姐姐领走，小脸一皱，马上做痛不欲生我不活了状，回头再哄老二，转头跑上楼指导老大。一个晚上的routine又开始了。

今天一早来office, 泡上一杯coffee, 懒洋洋地看看email, 上上bbs，生活，还是挺美好的嘛。

ps. Sarah的第一个report card昨天拿回来。所有的项目都是Very Satisfied. 最后Mrs. Myers 写到， I am so pround of my only 4-year-old. She is doing so well at school.
The report card made Steve and me proud of Sarah very much.

开心宝宝10个月之屁挨着床科学实验 2

2005-10-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

不想在booster seat做的时候，怎样让妈妈抱我起来？

试验步骤如下

拍手。呱呱呱，小手拍得响，宝宝笑的甜，妈妈，妈妈抱抱我。糊涂老妈说了，“小宝宝，我们一起来唱拍手歌。”白眼球赏妈妈一个。
拍桌子。啪啪啪，小桌拍得晃，我不耐烦了，妈妈，妈妈抱抱我。糊涂老妈说了，“小宝宝，拍桌子手会疼的，咱们不拍了，咱们吃cookie。” 垂螓首，我痛心疾首。
嚎叫，发赖，撒娇。

试验结果是，嚎叫，发赖，撒娇是三件法宝，小老二我永记心中。

开心宝宝10个月之屁挨着床科学实验 1

2005-10-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

水杯里的juice喝完了以后水杯里还有什么？

试验步骤如下，

吸。小水杯举起来，靠在妈妈腿上，上身成10度，30度，45度，75度，和90度，各吸3下。小水杯发出孜孜响声，无任何物质吸出。
摇。先左手，再右手，各摇5-10下，小水杯未发出里面装有流体的声音。
挤。小水杯倒过来大头朝下，先用右手拇指和食指，再五指齐上，在吸嘴处做挤压各5-10次。歪头看看，妈妈没有生气。

试验结果是，水杯里的juice喝完了以后水杯里就什么都没有了。要想再喝juice的话需向妈妈再次献媚。

小老二练站

2005-10-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

小老二只会被抱着站起来。从上个周末开始，小老二被要求自己抓这东西站。笨老二不是很勤奋的练习站，不过却是很勤奋的唠叨。最经常唠叨的是，“姐姐站站。” 再然后是，“爬爬站站”，“厌厌（小老二被叫做小讨厌）站站”，“站站厌厌”，“站站站站”。小人也很不容易得。：）