Happy New Year

For those who follow CNY, Happy New Year.

It's been awhile, so we'll do the bullets update.

• the economic situation has hit home, Stew is being laid off in a month.
• LG is talking ALOT. Starting to say 3 word sentences. a fave right now is "daddy, MY (insert word)
• the "my" is getting dropped from "mommy," who is now about 50% of the time being referred to as "Mom" Remember, she's not even 2 1/2 yet!
• She likes using her "chop-chop" (chopsticks) but gets frustrated after 10-15 seconds and reverts to the spoon
• Potty-training is still in progress; she can keep a dry diaper, and sometimes will tell you when she needs to pee, but when in training pants, she just pees and then tells you she pee'd.
• She started eating chicken drumsticks right off the bone.
• doesn't cry every single time she falls down anymore.
• Fell down the stairs the other night when she was running away from me (down the stairs) while I was insisting that she hold me hand. After 2 stairs somersault and 4-5 stairs of Superman slide; me throwing down the food and scrambling after her without stepping on her, I was able to hold her and comfort her a bit, and reprimand her for NOT holding my hand on her way down the stairs. She was more scared, and only suffer a small rug burn on her nose, and definitely slowed down and held my hand for the 2 flights of stairs.

That's about all I can come-up with, and that we're going to be eating Chinese food for about the next month non-stop. In the exact words out of LG's mouth - "Why?"

"Because we're Chinese."

"Why?"

"uhh...because we are."

More sick

Well, I was off work on Monday because I got a cold; I didn't even lift my head off the pillow until 11AM. It would have been a good day to do some blog posts, but I barely got up to take some A!rborn, the 'proven, non-effective supplement'. Went back to work yesterday, with some congestion, but runny nose gone.

Last week LG had diarhea. Luckily, she's been doing some potty training, so the first episode was on the toilet (we use a potty seat on the toilet, not a self-contained potty chair). She was still unhappy about it, though. Early the next morning she had another episode in her diaper. Whew, stinkyyyy!

Anyway, she was still eating, and had no fever, and generally seemed OK, but we stayed home and she napped for about 1 hour in the mid-morning and then again in the afternoon for about 2 hours. I guess she needed the rest.

Later that night, she had another BM; solid this time. But it was whitish color (or absent of color). I've heard of this before; for people with nasty colds, but I know that not everyone looks at and discusses their BMs. Especially not the color or shape or consistency of it. (except for new parents, and then it's only about the kid's BM, not their own)

Each day has progress with more and more color, so it appears to be more normal now. A couple of days ago I g00g led 'white BM' and found some link to forums where people mentioned it might be mucus, and just montior it for a few days - if it persists to call the ped then. so I think we're OK, the BMs are solid and somehwat colored again. sorry if it's TMI,

Bullets

2 bullets because there are 2 topics...

• We bought some small chopsticks for LG. Just to start practicing with. Some things, we are just REALLY old-school about. And using chopsticks (for me) is one of those things. DW sent me video link a couple of years ago about ‘making trainer chopsticks’ with some paper and a rubber band, and I flat out told her – “no way is a kid of mine going to be seen using something like that. Back in the day, no one in China ever used ‘Trainer chopsticks.’ As a matter of fact, did you use trainer chopsticks? Because I know for a fact that I never had a rubber band around mine.” My mom actually had a homemade set of small bamboo chopsticks (cut down and sanded smooth) for us kids to learn with. I think in Asia kids start using chopsticks around the age of 3 – so up until now, we’ve been using fork and spoon with LG, but one night, at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, we saw a father with his 2 daughters eating dinner. And the youngest (who looked smaller than LG) was using chopsticks (!!). So a few days later we went to the Ichibankan (Japanese $0.99 store) and found some small chopsticks that even had little grippy bumps on the end (helpful since the Japanese chopsticks are tapered). So far, she has had a couple of successful uses – noodles and a piece of chicken. No pressure, though, she can always switch to her fork or spoon (or fingers), if necessary.

• Last night I asked DW if LG was Happy. She looked at me as if I were high. I couldn’t put my question into other words. I mean she’s got a killer sweet demeanor, hugs, kisses, she shares (not main foods, but snacks). She smiles, and laughs, loves to tickle and be tickled. She loves piggy-back rides, gives and receives massages. She plays with shoes, often wearing DW or mine and shuffling around the house. She plays with her dolls and stuffed animals. She loves looking for choo-choos as we drive around town. She’s friendly and outgoing (but sometimes a little shy or bashful). What I’m wondering is, is she happy? I mean her life, like is she happy with her life? With us. Because on some level, this union as a family was a choice. Which seems a weird way to put it. But if LG were able to choose, would she have chosen us?