I love you, sweetie. Now go to sleep.

One of the nicest outcomes of having a Chinese babysitter is that the kids learn a bit of Mandarin. One of Kean's favorite lines is "Wo ai ni" (pronounced woe-I-knee), which means I love you in Chinese. His favorite time to say it is at bedtime, after he's climbed into his crib and we're about to call it a night. Thing is, after he says it, he expects us to say it, then he repeats it back and expects us to repeat it back, and the circular conversation goes on and on and on. After a few "wo ai ni"'s back and forth, I inch toward the door to sneak away. Sometimes this works. But every now and then, as I head downstairs, he'll start screaming, "MAAAAAAMA, SAY WO AI NI!! SAY WO AI NI!!' Which, when you translate it, sounds very funny.

June's favorite things, August 2010

Rainbows, hearts and all things purple (could you write this about any 4-year-old girl?)

Kid gum (aka Starburst)

Sharing kid gum - "just a teensy bit, Mama, don't worry" - with her brother

Drawing pictures of our house. This one shows me in my office in the attic. She's in the window on the left. Kean is the other face (she forgot to draw a window around him) and Daddy is outside. The square at the bottom is Pepper's "dog door." She saw a pet door at our friend's house and obviously thinks we need one too.

Watching cooking shows (Giada is her favorite)

Asking me to make the food she sees on the cooking shows

Pretending to make the food she sees on the cooking shows ("...then you sprinkle a little salt on the tomato and top it with fresh cheese. Awesome!!!")

Wearing mismatched flip-flops

Braiding her hair (unless I'm doing it)

Successfully tricking her brother into giving up a toy by pretending that there's something even better for him someplace else ("Kean, don't you want that cool choo-choo train over there?")

And doing funny, silly things all day long!

Update: June just heard this list and told me I forgot some:

Making funny faces at her brother

Going to swim lessons (this from a girl who wouldn't go near the water when a boy lifeguard was her teacher for three weeks. All is well in the world now that she has a girl lifeguard.)

Making beautiful pictures for her mom

Listening to Itsy, Teeny, Weeny, Yellow Polka-dot Bikini

Helping mama do her chores