Iris at 2 1/2 years

Each day I marvel at the small and big developments in Iris's life. What does she like/dislike? Why does she do or NOT do things? What's behind the crying and whining? Yeah, yeah..I know that she's two years old and that explains a lot, but not all. Before time gets away from me, I want to put down all the fun facts about Iris at this age:

Books: Her current favorites are "Red is a Dragon", "Cordoruy", "Ten Apples up on Top", "Green Eggs and Ham", and she's starting to like the Charlie Brown "Peanuts" comics.

Songs: "It's raining, it's pouring", Ring around the Rosie", "Joy is like the Rain", "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Jesus Loves Me",

Foods: The 4 C's- cookie, cake, chocolate (Thanks to Dale F.!), cracker. She also associates donuts in the large hall where we see friends between worship services at the church. She continues to enjoy milk, juice, yogurt, all kinds of fruit, and noodles. She has eaten and enjoyed avocado, papaya, and hummus at different times. Getting her to eat vegetables still seems to be the challenge, but I've discovered a food item called "Yottabar" that has 9 kinds of vegetables with apple mixed in. They're convenient to pack and don't taste too bad.

Activities: watching videos, painting, finding roly poly (a.k.a. potato) bugs or worms outside, splashing in puddles with her boots on, and "reading" books. Popular videos include "Snow White", Kai Lan or Blues Clues (Nick Jr.), and "Nemo". Dad also likes to watch Wallace and Grommit, "Babe", and "Toy Story" with her.

Sleep: It's great when she finally gets down. She's definitely getting more particular about how many books we read before laying down, where she sleeps (crib or futon bed), and whether she has her sleeping bag, many blankets, a tissue, or a book, OR all of the the above when she is going to sleep. I'm planning to read a book on healthy sleep habits that another mom recommended.

Language: "No" is still prominent, followed by her name "Iris". She started saying "mine", as she grabs things. I'm trying to explain that she should ask by saying "May I..." before "taking" things. She says, "Sorry" even when I should be the one saying it to her. (She must hear it a lot from me.) It's funny when she randomly refers to things that happened hours or days before, such as needing a bandaid for a "boo boo". She is understanding so much because she repeatedly tries to say a word that I may not understand. For example, she says something like "umber" for "umbrella". I find it fascinating how she mixes Chinese with English. For example, she says "fang here", which means "put (something) here".

Of course, crying and whining are part of her communication, but it's hard to train her to calm down and use language to communicate what she wants. In one Kai Lan video, there is a lesson about calming down when one of the characters gets mad. I say that to her as she sits in a corner (my attempt at timeout) before I can respond to what she wants. It's tiring for her, as well as for me and Dada.

Dressing herself: She has one favorite purple tank top that she wears as an undershirt. She has a fascination with wearing tights, too. She has been noticing more things about people's appearances like colored fingernail polish, earrings, buttons, and tags (I tell her "tag in back").


We're very thankful for her happy nature, resilience, and neatness (When there is a crease or crumple, she flattens out one quilt that is laying on the floor of her bedroom.) Just how long these tendencies/preferences will last? God only knows, and it is in Him that I put my trust for her development and well-being. That's about it for now!

Enjoy these photos from recent outings:

Spring is here!

I can't believe April has ended. I had so many intentions of posting more than once. So, what happened?

First, Easter came. The Saturday before Easter Sunday, we met some friends (Lynette and Bobbie) at a park for a candy egg hunt, complete with a 6-foot tall bunny. There was a raffle of prizes, but we didn't win anything. On Easter morning, Iris dressed so nicely in her white dress. She fell down and scratched her chin. It was a rainy day, so after church we stayed home to have our own Easter egg hunt with plastic eggs. In the afternoon, Dada worked long and hard on the "Wendy House" (a.k.a. a playhouse) that he's building for Iris. It's going to be soooo nice and will be big enough to last several years. The materials cost a lot, but we think it will be worth the fun and laughs Iris will have. She already loves it, and it's not all put together yet!


Second, Iris has been enjoying playgroup, park visits, and visits from A-ma and A-gong (even though she says, "no, thank you" when they first come over.). The Monday playgroup met at our house the Monday after Easter, and it was the largest showing ever! There were about 13 children and 10 moms in our modest-sized home. It was great to see sunshine because then the children could go outside and explore our backyard vegetable garden and toys. Sometimes after her preschool time, Iris and I go to the park for awhile before I go to work and before Dada comes home. Several times, my parents helped out with babysitting while I attended work meetings. It's great to hear Iris laugh with them. It's even nicer when they come over because A-ma brings or cooks good Chinese food AND washes dishes. I want Iris to hear the lovely songs that A-ma sings, too. On April 17, there was a Spring social sponsored by the local moms club. Iris liked the food and the balloons. Before we left the event, we noticed the great sculpture/stature of Schroeder and Lucy from the Peanuts gang. What a cute photo op!

Finally, there was the celebration of Dada's birthday. Although he would have rather forgotten it, we had a great excuse to indulge in a delicious mocha chocolate cake, courtesy of my mom. Auntie Ruth stopped by for a quick visit and delivery of a hand-knitted poncho. It is beautiful! On the Sunday of his birthday, Dada decided that it would be good to go to the beach. After attending early worship service, I came back in time to pack up the car to go to the coast. The water was cold, the weather was sunny, and the sand was hot! There was just enough wind to see kites flying. Iris totally loved it and increased her vocabulary to include beach words. We didn't find any good seashells or crawling creatures, but she truly enjoyed splashing and jumping into the water as the waves came close. Playing in sand is always a hit with Iris, too. We were hoping that she would sleep on the drive back in the afternoon, but she only slept 10-15 minutes before we had to take her out of the car and put her in her room. She absolutely did not like that! She cried for over 1/2 hour and never went back to sleep.

Some side notes:
I had to be the single mom for one week early in April and will do it again next week, as Dad goes on business trips. This is new for me, but I thank God for friends who help and in whom I can trust to love Iris. Also, this past weekend, I was away for two nights, so Iris and Dada had some 24/7 bonding time. Through it all, she still seems to smile when we are around. I guess she likes us...a little.
Also, I sewed some curtains for Iris's room. I really need to take sewing lessons because it took a loooong time and the curtains are way too full. Oh well, they add a splash of color to her room, as well as block out the sunshine during naps and early morning.