Words of affirmation from my 4 y.o.

"Mum?"

"Hah?"

"I love you. Every time. I love you every morning, afternoon and night."

On the way to school, Beth asked me one of her famous random questions.

It arose from my remark that I had been really miserable on my first day back at work 7 years ago after taking a year off to look after her. She said she probably was too. :-)

She then asked: "Did you have to dress like Zhen Ying?"

Xu Zhen Ying is the name of the female lead in the K-drama Hotelier, which Beth and I love (except she hates the ending and would rewrite it if she could!). In the drama, XZY is a dedicated hotel assistant manager who constantly puts work first, even ahead of relationships. Her uniform is black jacket, black skirt and white blouse.

So I said yes, in my first three years working with the Legal Aid Bureau, I did have to dress in black and white nearly every day. I talked about court appearances, the difference in dress code between "in chambers" and "open court", how nervous I was when I had to stand up in the courtroom and say "May it please Your Honour, my name is Serena Low..." and the sort of clients I worked with.

It wasn't a long conversation, but it was nice having my 8 yo to share such intimate details with, and to remember a time past when my vocab and social circle wasn't all about parenting, school work and fellow moms. A time when I actually had A Life Of My Own.

Big Words

The girls are watching Man Vs. Wild with Dad.

There's a scene where the main character jumps from a helicopter on to the Sahara Desert.

Dad does a mock scream as Mr Tough Guy free falls.

"Parachute," says Jordanne, trying to assure Dad that the hero will be fine.

PARACHUTE.

Big word for a newly minted 3 y.o.

We're impressed.

Play Acting

J has taken to playing the teacher/the mommy.

"Say 'stormy'," she instructed.

"Stormy," I replied.

"Good gal!"

Tells me a lot about what goes on at daycare.

The Beginning of Articulation

J is putting simple sentences together.

She can even respond appropriately, as our pastor discovered this morning.

J came up to me as I was grabbing a quick bite before service.

Pointing at my bread, she demanded, "Sandwich." (Not "bread"!)

"Where's my sandwich?" asked Pastor.

"Daddy got it," was her reply, without missing a beat!

Her latest - and most endearing - achievement is "I love you Mommy", which she first said on 7 March.

The "love" is quite mangled, but to quibble over a 2 y.o.'s enunciation would be being fussy, no? :)

More Words

J is so adorable.

When CA left to go to the shops, J turned around from where she was watching Bob The Builder and said in her sweet singsong voice, "Bye bye! See you!"

She can call her friend Jackson by his name now.

"Jack-shen!" she said yesterday when she saw him at the Twilight Fair at church.

And how she loves her cuddles.

Sitting on the kitchen countertop, she said "Huggy?"

Cue for a big hug.

This was followed by "Kiss?"

And she gave me two big fat kisses, one on each cheek.

She's a happy affectionate sort of child who smiles with her eyes and loves to giggle and laugh. Hanging out with her (when she's in the mood) always makes me feel young and happy and blessed.

Dear Zoo

J picked up Dear Zoo yesterday, a gift from our pastor's wife when J turned one.

We read the book several times together at J's insistence.

I would introduce the name of an animal, and she would copy me.

After a while, she got quite good at remembering what's what.

Today, she was able to identify

• the monkey (pronouncing "monkey" perfectly + bonus "ooh ooh ah" sounds),
• the snake ("nake!" + swirly hand motion to signify snake slithering),
• the lion ("bah!!" to mimic its roar),
• the frog ("fog").

J Can't Stop Talking

CA wants me to keep a record of what J is saying.

Which is very hard when she says new things all the time.

Yesterday, she spoke her first words in Mandarin.

She managed all these without hesitation: ba ba, ma ma, ge ge, jie jie, di di, mei mei.

And here's the best one: she can say ni hao - very clearly too!

I am absolutely thrilled that my Aussie-born offspring can speak Mandarin at all.

She can also say: apple, ball, hug (and stretch out her arms), pain (and point to her head or whichever part she's injured), kiss, Bob (for Bob The Builder), clock, watch, car, duck, plane...

She can give a high-five, do the Head and Shoulders song, Mr Knickerbocker, and the Wiggles's Everybody Clap song.

A-B-C

CA borrowed a Smart Baby video for J from the City Library.

It's very Baby Einstein in its concept: classical music played with floating images of A-Z.

J loves it.

She can now say "apple" and "bubble" and "elephant" quite clearly after watching the video several times.

I love how she goes "air air air" after being prompted, "A is for apple...?"

That was how Beth learnt phonics too.

The Tao of Ta

'Ta' is what Aussies say when they mean 'thank you'.

When you hand someone something, they say 'ta'.

Not everyone uses it, though.

I've encountered it only in two places: church and the supermarket checkout.

When Tricia first taught J to say 'ta', CA and I were nonplussed. Surely 'ta' meant "goodbye', as in when kids say 'ta ta' and wave?

Then Vicky started teaching J to say 'ta'.

Now that J goes to daycare, she is so throughly assimilated in the ways of Oz that she has started saying 'ta' on her own.

Like when she plays give-and-receive with us.

The first time she uttered 'ta' was a shocker.

We hadn't realized how Aussified she has become.

CA and I still prefer 'thank you', but we're resigned to our girls doing what they need to do to be understood.

Beth has managed to get through kinder and Prep without a 'ta', so maybe 'ta' is for bubs and toddlers.

J learns to speak (not just babble)

Yesterday, J spoke her first complete sentence.

"Daddy come home," she proclaimed, as Daddy walked into the bedroom to get changed.

He had just arrived home.

It's astonishing how the floodgates of understanding have suddenly been opened.

J isn't just babbling anymore.

She's actually making sense and demonstrating that she understands what is being said to her.

Like when she was watching Play School just now.

The presenter said, "Jemima received a call on her mobile phone this morning."

Eyes still on the TV screen, J picked up our cordless phone, put the receiver to her ear and said, "Halo".

Then - "Okay, bye" and put the receiver back on the table.

And resumed watching Play School.

Amazing.

Last night, Annie called.

"Would you like to say hello to Auntie Annie?" I asked, and offered her the receiver.

"Halo," she said clearly into the phone.

It was a first.

Normally she just smiles and refuses to speak into the receiver.

She must have just made a connection between the the receiver and the voice on the end of the line.

She can copy sounds very well too.

I have said countless words and phrases to her.

Some she manages to mimic.

Some are beyond her grasp for now.

But she makes a valiant attempt, which shows she is trying.

She can understand instructions very well.

If I tell her it's time for a diaper change, she walks into her room, lies face down on her Winnie-the-Pooh change mat and stretches out her legs.

If I ask her to give Beth a hug, she reaches out and gives Beth a huge hug.

I love watching them cuddle and hold hands.

I pray the girls will always love and look out for each other.

Home with the flu (again?)

Just when I thought the girls had regained their health, Beth is sick again.

She couldn't have chosen a "better" time.

I'd just parked at the school's unofficial drop-off zone and walked round to her side when she declared, "I feel sick."

"What do you mean you feel sick? You weren't sick this morning. What kind of sick? Is it because you're hungry? Do you want to start on your snack? Is it tummy pain?"

If there's anything I hate, it's being caught by surprise and having my plans changed last minute.

"I don't know," Beth winced. "I just feel sick."

The absolute irony (or humour) of it all was that here she was, just five minutes from her classroom, all dressed for another day at school.

And she hadn't said a word the whole morning about not feeling well.

I thought, should I be firm and just send her to school?
Is she trying to wag?
But it's not like Beth to want to skip school.
Beth loves school.

So we turned around and joined the queue of departing cars.

As I type this, the girls are having brekkie and watching Sesame Street.

Ah...all the old favourites are still there.

• Elmo and his infectious giggle and readiness to give hugs,
• Cookie Monster who just can't resist a cookie, even when blindfolded
• Oscar the Grouch and the story of Trash Gordon
• Ernie who must wake Bert in the middle of the night to reminisce about the times they've spent together
• The Count announcing the number of the day...

I lurve Sesame Street, and I'm glad my kids get to watch it too.

As for In The Night Garden....(frown)....I find it a bit too twee.
The language.
Even the names
Upsy-Daisy? Macca-Bacca? Iggle-Piggle?
That is SO Teletubbie.
Eewww.

Do people actually talk to their babies like that??

I hope J doesn't start talking in that high-pitched way.

Fruit For Thought

Today, J was watching a Barney video, Barney At The Zoo.

There's this scene where the kids watch monkeys eating bananas.

Right away, J pulled me away from the DVD player into the kitchen, saying "nana". That's her word for - you guessed it - "banana".

In the kitchen, she pointed to the fruit basket and again went "nana".

She was happy only when I gave in and unpeeled her a banana.

Of course, that meant another soiled diaper to change soon after.

Babies have the best digestive systems in the world.