How To Deal With Strangers

We drove to Maine after attending my cousin's wedding in Ottawa.  While we were in Portland, Nana Ruthie Pooh (Jared's mom) took the kids to the playground at a nearby park.  Here's what went down.


Kids:  Ah-Pooh, we're thirsty.

Nana Ruthie Pooh:  [In her head, probably thinking, "Again???  You've already had 10 drinks."].  OK, you know where the water fountain is.  You can go by yourselves.

Kids:  OK!!

Nana Ruthie Pooh:  Wait.  What if a stranger comes up to you and says, "you're cute.  I have some candy in my car.  Do you want to go get some?"  What do you do?

Rocky:  I kick them in the privates.


That's my girl.

Bikes, Hugs, and Kisses

I know, it's been a long time since my last post, but I'm back.  I'm sending everyone lots of hugs, kisses, and happy wishes on Valentine's Day.

Since Peanut learned to ride his bike in September, he's grown into a dare devil cyclist (kind of like his mom) by standing on his bike, riding down hills way, way too fast, popping wheelies, and more.  Sister Rocky moved from the balance bike to one with training wheels in order to get used to pedaling.  She's great on the balance bike so we're hoping she'll be riding without training wheels before summer.

Here are some recent photos of us at Butler Park in downtown Austin.

Peanut loves standing on his bike

Some fun shots of us goofing around on a beautiful February day

Jared borrows Peanut's bike.  He's already broken one, why not make it another?

Secret Conversations - Part 2

The Spanish story continues with my 3 year old daughter.

Around 7 o'clock this morning, I am looking at the back of Rocky girl's head as she stares out of the sunny crack I left open of her door.  (Remember, the light sleeping girls are bunking together.)  

Rocky:  [repeatedly saying something out the door crack that sounds to me like]:  "Blah blah, por favor.  Blah blah, por favor.  Blah blah, por favor.  Blah blah, por favor."

Kim:  [in Vietnamese and half asleep]:  "Stella, what are you saying?  Who are you talking to?"

Rocky:  [in English with very wide eyes and lots of factual expression on her face]:  "Mommy, I'm telling the birdie to get down so he doesn't hurt his foot.  There's a bird in our hotel.  The birdie is walking around in our hotel."

Kim:  [First thought, we're staying in an apartment, but I choose not to correct her.  Then not sure what to expect, I peek out the bright door crack and see a pigeon!  He's precariously perched on the living room window sill which we leave open at night to let in cool air.  I go out and he flies right off of the window sill.  I got back to our room.]

Rocky:  "Mommy, I was telling the birdie to get down so he does not hurt his foot."

Kim:  "What were you saying?"

Rocky:  repeats, "Blah blah, por favor."

Kim:  "What does that mean?  And why were you saying it in Spanish?"

Rocky:  "I was telling the birdie to get down please because the birdie speaks Spanish."

Folks, if you didn't know this already, birdies in Madrid speak Spanish.

Secret Conversations Between Siblings

Peanut and Rocky just had a "secret" conversation in Spanish in front of Jared and me.

-- Rocky is in her room and supposed to be sleeping.

-- Peanut just finished his homework so he gets a little bit of free time before bed.  Today, he got a new Lego set, so he's playing with it on the living room floor.

-- Rocky can see Peanut from her room because our tiny Madrid apartment is only 65 sqm (700 sq ft).

-- From her room, Rocky says something in Spanish.

-- Peanut says back in Spanish, I can't hear you.

-- Rocky repeats in Spanish with something about having play-dough.

-- They have a short conversation with at least 4 sentences each entirely in Spanish!

We have NEVER heard Peanut speak Spanish in the 4 years he's been in Spanish school and Rocky has had one year and says a few words, but nothing like tonight.  One month of school in Madrid, and they're having a full blown conversation.

Happy 21 Months, Rocky!

Rocky is going to look at this blog when she's older and think, "man, the second kid really does get shafted."  I missed her 20 month update and am a little late with month 21, but better late than never.  Having two kids has more than doubled the work.

So, what's up with Rocky these days?

She just got over Roseola.  It started off on Sunday with a high fever (up to 105 degrees) lasting about 3-4 days, then an all over body rash to top it all off.  It came and went in a week.  We survived and one childhood infection down.

Nana Ruthie Pooh has been here for over a week and I've seen a significant increase in Rocky's vocabulary in that short time.  Rocky primarily uses single words and there are about 30 she says consistently.  Here are my favorites:

-- Ah-Boo = Ah-Pooh (nickname for Nana Ruthie Pooh)
-- Eye-Bah = iPad
-- Booty = booty as in buttocks
-- Ah-Pee = ca pique (literally means "it's prickly" in French, but we use it to refer to sparkling water)
-- Cheese = cheese, which is yelled loudly and accompanied by a huge smile when a camera is pointed toward her.

Peanut was speaking in short sentences at this age and people outside of our family could understand him.  Rocky's further behind, but completely understands everything we say in Vietnamese and English, so I'm not too worried.  She did surprise me last week when we were at the library.  Sitting in her stroller and trying to compete with her brother's constant chattering, I heard her pointing and saying, "Ah-Moe".  I thought she was just making noises, but her persistent yelling caught my attention.  It took me a minute, but it hit me, she was saying, "Elmo"!  How the hell does she know Elmo?  Whatever Peanut's into usually dictates what's on the TV or discussed at dinner ... and he's way past the Elmo stage.  It made me question what else Rocky may know and guess what?  I think she may know how to count to ten in English and Vietnamese.  Rocky's also learned the art of negotiation.  She's great at ignoring commands, but complies if there's something in it for her.

Words cannot describe how excited Rocky gets when she hears her daddy come home.  The moment she hears the squeak of the doorknob being turned, Rocky takes off toward the door to greet him.

Rocky weighs under 25 lbs and has dark hazelish eyes.  Her hair is medium brown and doesn't know if it wants to be straight or curly.  Corn, peas, rice, eggs, pasta, raisins, crackers, cereal, milk, dried apples, apple sauce, and those squeezable baby food packets are all she'll eat.  I'm still pushing fresh fruit and other vegetables, but haven't had much luck.  She loves baths and story time.  Rocky watches everything her brother does and takes full advantage of every opportunity to play with him, but also likes to push his buttons.  She's obsessed with hair bows, jeans, furry jackets, and shoes.

Dinner Comedy Show