Queen of Hearts

All October, we asked June what she wanted to be for Halloween. A queen, a queen, was all we heard. Then, a week before the Big Day, she told us Angelina Ballerina, a cartoon mouse that dresses up in a tutu. Okaaaaay. Thanks to Auntie Sheebie for the tutu, the leotard, the tiara and magic wand...actually, the entire outfit except for the tights and butterfly wings (every ballerina must have wings, didn't you know?). My favorite moment was when I told June that she had to hold her magic wand up HIGH and she proceeded to carry it like the torch on the Statue of Liberty. My second favorite moment was when she told me we had to go home because her pumpkin was too heavy from all of the candy. She had seven pieces in it. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Who Wants to Put June to Bed Tonight?

Getting June to bed these days is a lesson in patience. First, we have to get her upstairs. Then, brush her teeth to get the "gunk" out. Off to her bedroom where we must read at least three books before we can even think about getting her in the crib. Last night, we read "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" together and I got her in by telling her that the line "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs" meant climbing into her crib. Heh-heh, it worked. At least this time. Then we have to say our prayers, give each other a hug and finally, 30 minutes after this whole bedtime ritual started, I'm out the door...when the demands start. Mama, close the closet door. Mama, put away the books. Mama, move the diaper pad on the floor so it's this way, not that way. Mama, put the little potty back between the orange basket and my reading chair. Everything has to be just so, or else. Pretty funny coming from a kid who's only concept of "clean up" is to clean up her plate.

Favorite Things, according to June

Here’s what she told us the other day:
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Food: Porridge
Favorite Song: Farmer in the Dell

Favorite Toy: Gigaball. The yellow honeycombed thing in the video. I saw it on a blog and sent the link to Masala Papa, knowing full well we’d have to get one asap. We did, less than 6 hours later.
Favorite Fruit: Pineapple

Other June favorites that we’ve noticed lately:
Screaming “Kill Buddy!” while leaping from the top of the couch. At least that’s what we think she’s saying. We have no idea where she picked it up, but she thinks it’s hilarious.
Picking up ants, worms and other creatures.
Green Eggs and Ham. The book, not literally.

Drawing faces. See the video for demo. She's since added ears and moustaches.
Licking cake and cookie batter.
Talking anytime, anywhere about anything. The other day in the car, she and I were talking about big and little. I asked her if Masala Papa was bigger than her, and she said yes. Then I asked her if I was bigger than Masala Papa. “No Mama, you’re not grown up yet,” she said. So true!

Sorry if the video is small. I'm still figuring out my software!

Sand, sand everywhere

Just back from a week in Wildwood. Beach, boardwalk, ice cream every night, what more could a two-and-a-half year old need in life? Somehow we didn’t destroy our 1 bedroom place, despite June jumping on the beds, playing with the TV, throwing food on the floor and casually showing us that one of the kitchen chairs was broken. (Honestly, I don’t think she did it. Can we have our security deposit back, please?) She gave us lots of memorable moments – finding shells in the sand, strong-arming us so we couldn’t get the ice-cream cone out of her clutches, going on the little boat ride all by herself, waving and yelling hello (actually, it sounded more like heh-row) from our third floor room to the fresh-fruit guy on the street (by day 3, he started waving back). And, she’s now as dark as Masala Papa.

On vacation, she started to walk up the stairs like a big kid (not one step at a time) and mastered the new question, “Can I…?” As in, “Mama, my stomach is making some noise. Can I have another cracker?” Can I, Can I, Can I…By the end of the week, all I could think of when I heard her was Canei wine.


We’re starting June’s dictionary. Latest entries:

Ear muffins: Headphones. As in, “Dada-ji (Masala Papa’s dad) is wearing his ear muffins so he can listen to the TV.”
Battery: Cake batter. Coined a few weeks ago: “Are you gonna lick the battery, Mama?”
Airporch: Where you go to get on a plane.
Rami: Salami.

Strawberry Fields Forever

We went strawberry picking on Saturday, although it was more like strawberry eating for June. Her mouth and hands were streaked red after only a few minutes in the fields. Every time we found a good one - and it wasn't easy, given that the season is almost over - we told her to pick it and put it in the box. She listened to the first half of that statement, then shoved the "whole shing" in her little mouth. Couldn't really blame her - the berries were really good. This is what she told us on the way home in the car:

- How many strawberries did you eat today, June?

- Two.

- Only two?

- Yeah, just two.

That was the last sane conversation in the car. Moments later, she launched into an ear-splitting scream to "Get out!" which lasted all the way home. Arms flailing, tears flowing, complete meltdown in the backseat for the next 15 minutes. Overheated? Exhaustion? Two pounds of strawberries swooshing around in her belly? Probably all of the above. We prefer to remember the happier part of the day frolicking in the fields.

Where's the Party?

June's Favorite Things, as of 1:12 p.m, June 19, 2008:

Cookies, Witul Bear (translation: Little Bear), 'rami (salami), beans of any variety, broccoli (still a winner at dinner!), Pinky Bear (which looks more like Grey Bear since he desperately needs a wash), MMs, feeding the farm animals at the park, finger-painting, blowing bubbles, swinging on the big kids' swing all by herself, playing with her next door neighbor, Sophie, singing her ABCs, telling me what CD to play in the car, making silly faces when we take her picture, keeping the paper industry in business by using at least 5 napkins at each meal (ribs the other night took at least 10) and lots of other things I can't remember right now.

Not-her-favorite things: Flies. She panics whenever one flies by her. Yesterday, she found two in the den. One was limping along on the rug--I think Pepper got a piece of it. I opted not to smoosh it in a tissue, figuring she would freak out, so we took him outside to "play." She found the other fly "sleeping" on her little green chair--Pepper strikes again. We brought it outside to finish its nap.

Funny story: A couple weeks ago, when June wasn't wearing any socks or shoes, I told her that she had bare feet. She looked at me oddly and said, "No Mama, June no got bare feet. June got June feet." Bare, bear, all the same to a two-year-old.

Spring Snippet

June got her first haircut last week. She didn't know what to make of the fire truck chair or the lady cutting her locks, but she was mesmerized by the Thomas cartoon on the TV. Hence the dumbfounded look on her face. The blow dryer really freaked her out, no surprise since she's never seen or heard one.

She went to her first Memorial Day parade last weekend and scored a little American flag (and loads of lollipops from marchers - a toddler's fantasy come true). The next day she walked up and down our street waving her flag in her own little parade. Too cute.

Yesterday, she took the tiniest piece of waffle outside to feed the ants. She put the crumb on the driveway and yelled, "Come on, ants! I brought you waffle!" When no ants showed up to her feast, I casually suggested we find an ant to feed. "No mama, the ants come here," she insisted. A big ant named Pepper helped himself later.

A Pixie in Pigtails

June's Favorite Things, as of May 8, 2008, 1:18 pm:
Fingerpainting
Sitting on the front stoop eating an ice-cream cone
Worms. She calls them No Feet. She picks them up and brings them over to her swingset for a ride down the slide. Masala Mama tries not to flinch when June dangles them inches from her face.
Where is Thumper, Pointer, Tall Man and Pinkie song. She can't do Ring Man, so she skips it.
Little Bear cartoon on Noggin. Totally. Transfixed. By. Brown. Little. Bear. Not. Blinking. Not. Talking. Little. Bear. For. President.
Playgrounds. The bigger the slide, the better. This child knows no fear.
Flossing. Actually, it's more like sucking on a white string, but hey, never too early to instill good dental habits.
Strawberries. As long as they're sugarized.
Chalks. It's plural in our house.
Picking out her own clothes.

And some of her Least Favorites:
Sitting in her car seat. It's like Wrestlemania in the back seat and I'm losing big time.
Sitting in her booster seat. I sense a trend here...
Cold, uncooked vegetables.
Coming inside on a bright sunny day.

The Soup Dragon Strikes Again!

Who is the Soup Dragon? The Soup Dragon is a friendly character that appears in a BBC children’s program called the Clangers. It’s one of many zany British children’s shows that I watched when growing up in England. I recently purchased a bunch of them from England and now watch them with June – yes, I’m re-living my childhood, it’s my main incentive for having children! She loves the Hangers, as she calls them and is fascinated with the Soup Dragon Character. The Soup Dragon lives in underground caves and supplies soup to the Clangers. Check out wiki for more details on the Clangers – I love Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clangers

So now Pepper, our dog has officially assumed the name Soup Dragon. And last Saturday Grandma Lach made June a double layer sponge cake with chocwut-as June says-frosting. The cake was made lovingly and placed in the sunroom overnight. In the morning Grandma Lach put the Soup Dragon in the sun room for two minutes so she could come upstairs and wake us up. When she returned to the sunroom to let the Soup Dragon out she was shocked to see that the Soup dragon eats more than soup! The cake was half eaten!!!! The Soup Dragon loves cake! Long live the Soup Dragon!!!!

See How She Grows

One year ago today, we met Junebug. It was probably the longest day of our lives, starting with a 4 am wake-up call in Beijing, followed by a 2-hour flight to Wuhan, an hourlong bus ride to the hotel, showers, lunch, and then an hour to sit around staring at each other in our room until 3 pm when we finally took the elevator downstairs to the conference room to meet June. Actually, it was probably more like 3:30 by the time she was in our arms. It was such a wonderful, crazy, emotional, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants day. In the first hour of parenthood, we screwed up her formula. We changed her diaper without the changing pad (and subsequently cleaned pee from the duvet -- sorry Best Western of Wuhan). We held her and rocked her and tried to soothe her as she cried, cried, cried. We tore into the Gerber Puffs I lugged from home and miracle of miracles, she loved him. Scoffed them down. Stopped crying. Started feeding them to me and Masala Papa. All was good in the world. In fact, everything was beautiful. Happy first anniversary, Junebug. 

P.S. The top picture was taken April 9, 2007. The bottom one was taken today.

June-isms

June has quite a collection of favorite phrases these days. 

"Whole sing." You can probably guess what this means, given June's non-stop appetite. Yeah, she wants the whole thing. The whole banana, the whole pancake, the whole rice cracker, you get the picture.  

"Ma feet down." She has a real problem with crossed legs. Crossed ankles, too. Two feet, flat on the floor, that's the way she likes it. Masala Papa gets the same treatment, too. She won't stop saying it until you fix your feet.

"Something special." Said in a sing-songy, I'm-gonna-get-something-good voice. Expectations run high. Last night after dinner, Masala Papa tried to pass off two little gingersnap cookies as something special. Uh, no, daddy. Where's the ice cream, the jello, the lollipops? Now, that's something special. Gingersnap cookies? Lame-o.

"Chocwut." Chocolate, in any shape or form. She'll have the whole sing, please. 

Happy Birthday, June!

I'm a little early with this post, but what the heck. June turns two on Monday and she's totally ready to blow the candles, eat the cake, the works. Here's her dress rehearsal. Notice the bending of the knees in time with the song. Cameo appearance by Pepper who wishes it were HIS birthday, but he'll be happy to eat some cake at June's party. If she shares it, which is a big IF. 

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

We celebrated Chinese New Year with our new friends--June's babysitter, her husband, son and parents. It's amazing to see the changes in  June since I first dropped her off at Yuan's house in October. She would cry as soon as I turned into Yuan's street, then break into a full-blown wail when I pulled into the driveway. When I picked her up, she'd cling to me and say home, home, home. Broke my heart. Now I can barely get her coat on because she wants to stay and play with "ge-ge" (older bro' in Chinese, pronounced guh-guh). She calls Yuan "ai" - ah-eee, which means aunty -- and her parents, po-po and gong-gong (literally, old woman and old man, but apparently they're also used for grandma and grandpa). That's them in the bottom picture, and Yuan is with her mom, June and ge-ge above. June's picking up more and more Chinese--the other day, she walked into the house and said "ni hao, pepper!" I nearly died from the cuteness.

 

June's Favorite Things, Take 22

This is June's latest accessory: Her $2 stool from the thrift shop. She carries it all over the house so she can reach whatever she can get her little hands on. She loves to stand at the kitchen counter and watch me cook. She's also fond of grabbing utensils out of the sink -- we've made a few dashes to keep away the knives. 

More of her favorite things: croco (who maintains his #1 status among the small army of stuffed animals that have invaded our house), hershey kisses, the color yerow, Toma (as in Thomas the Tank Engine), Tubby (either the bathroom variety or the silly ones on TV), broccoli (most of the time), applesauce (which she says with gusto whenever she gets to eat it -- video coming soon), singing Deck the Halls, finding the moon in the sky (and getting irritated when the clouds are in the way), feeding Pepper, watering the plants, moving the laundry basket (hey, when is she going to learn how to vac?), pretending a french fry is a phone (demonstrated the other night at dinner), making pretend eggs and toast with her pots and pans, climbing in and out of her crib (when the railing is down--at least for now), unzipping her blanket sleeper for her Elvis look (that snap at the top? who are they kidding?), and all sorts of other wonderful things that I can't remember right now. 

Not her favorite thing: Getting blood drawn. We went over two weeks ago and she's still talking about it. She rolls up her sleeve and says nee-al, pointing to her vein. Then she gets this pained look on her face. The worst part? We didn't get enough blood out of her, so we have to do it again. Anyone wanna volunteer? 

Beijing 2008

June has been training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She can be seen here with her sparring partner Hovan, and their coach and mentor Aleni in the middle. All three had a fabulous time jumping, running and bumping into each other last month. Yes, there were small scuffles over TV programming…with Hovan being adamant…”I don’t want to watch spongebob” and quite frankly, who can blame him? We all ate cheeeeeese, and some delicious chowder soup made by Mama Patricia, and finished our meal with chocolate cake. It was great to see June's friends again and we look forward to another whiz bang session. 

Moo-Moo June

First costume, first lollipop, first encounter with a gorilla...oh yeah, June wants Halloween everyday (maybe minus the gorilla, aka Masala Papa). The big, bad gorilla is available for parties, parades and banana feedings. Please contact the zookeeper, aka Masala Mama.

An oldie but a goodie

I finally figured out how to use YouTube. Welcome to 2007, Masala mama. Here's a short video I made a few months ago when June first learned this nursery rhyme.

200 times and counting

I couldn’t wait for June to call me Mama. When we first got back from China, she called everyone Mama except me, of course. Then she dropped it and, over the summer, she started saying Daddy, much to Masala Papa’s happiness. We baited her to say Mama, showing her pictures of Masala Papa and me, pointing to me in the picture and asking my name. No way. June would just look at the picture, look at me and smile. But somewhere in August, she finally gave in and called me by name. Now she won’t stop. Masala Papa half-jokingly suggested that I count how many times she says Mama in a day. So I did. By 6 pm, she was up to 100 times—and in the last two hours before bedtime, once Masala Papa got home, she clocked at least 100 more. She says Mama so many different ways that the word now has multiple meanings. To wit:
ma-MA? ma-MA? ma-MA? ma-MA? – four Mamas in quick succession, accent on the second syllable means “Mama, do it!” with “it” being anything from sticking out my tongue to wearing sunglasses while we dance around the living room.
MaaaaaaaaaMaaaaaaa – one looooong pronunciation, said upon seeing Mama again after a prolonged absence (more than five minutes)
Mama-mama-mama-mama-mama-mama-mama – this one can actually go on forever. In August, June marked another milestone when I put her down for a nap and she started crying for me. Now she does it all the time, although Masala Papa gets his share of Daddy-pleas, too.

Mama. Come. Sit.

Yes, our little girl is starting to string words together. The other night, she came and got me out of the bathroom, then ordered, "Mama. Come. Sit." I was so floored that I had to comply and sit in her room and read "Good night, Gorilla" for the 10,000th time.

Did I tell you that I have a butler? June stands next to me while I pee, ready to close the lid and flush as soon as I get up. She's a little impatient. Most of the time, she whacks the lid against my back while I'm still sitting. She's also happy to provide toilet paper--enough to wrap a mummy. Today, she stuffed a huge wad in the toilet while I looked away for, oh, I don't know, five seconds.

Quick update to her Favorite Things list: Broccoli (still loves it, four months later!), ice cream, turtles, bubbles, Pepper's paws, crackers, climbing on the dining room table (oh yes, she is), sunglasses and cheese, which she screams every time she sees it in the fridge.

Do you have kids?

The question threw me for a loop. There I was, getting my hair washed by a sweet 20-something at the salon who was just trying to make small talk. She probably saw my wedding ring and the grey hairs that have sprouted all over my head and figured it was a safe question to ask. I laughed out loud, then explained that she was the first person to ask me that since we got June. How many times before had I been asked that question, I wondered in the car later, and said no or, the more hopeful, not yet? Too many. Now I finally could say yes and it felt…good, but weird. Not because I don’t love June or love being her mom. But after years of saying no and quickly changing the subject, it’s surreal to say yes. I think I need more practice.

June and I took this picture at a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, where a monk blessed all the children. It was a beautiful ceremony.