Grandpa, Troublemaker

If you recall, Grandpa has been teaching Jia how to wink. We are finding that, unbeknownst to us, he often teaches her new things. Whenever she does something questionable, we say, "Jia, what are you doing?" She replies, "Grandpa do that."

To share a few examples:

• It is acceptable to just fall onto someone when going up the stairs and assume they will catch you, because "Grandpa do that."
• When walking and holding my hand, it is okay to suddenly go completely limp (and be dragged along the floor laughing) because "Grandpa do that."
• And, last, but most certainly not least, it is a fine idea to climb up to the bathroom sink, turn on the water and plug the drain because "Grandpa do that."

Thankfully, Grandpa has many redeeming qualities.

Daytime Fun

As I've mentioned before, Jia attends part-time day care. Sometimes while the kids are napping, our day care provider e-mails me photos like these. How lucky are we? It makes my day!

Lost in translation

Until recently, Jia has called us "Mama" and "Baba." Because she has some friends who call their mothers "Mommy," Jia now often calls me that, and we've discussed the various derivatives of it with her.

However, rather than using "Baba" or "Daddy" for Joe, Jia has now come up with her own derivative for him: "Bobby."

I chuckle every time I hear it.

Notre Petite Fleur

It amuses me how quickly things can go downhill with a toddler. I think I mentioned something to her about washing her hair - a sore subject in this house.

I rarely post a poor picture of Jia as she's such a love, but this photo makes me laugh. She looks like the brattiest mall rat around. She has a matching sweatsuit with shiny stripes, a backward hat and a shopping bag. She just needs a bejeweled cell phone and hoop earrings and she'd be set. The best part is that her shirt says "Petite Fleur" - French for "little flower."

Two seconds later...our Petite Fleur reappears:

What a transformation!

Orchard Trip

It's days like today that make fall my favorite season.

Today, Jia:
Picked an apple and chomped away at it for about an hour;
Went on her first pony ride (loudly yelling "Hi Baba! Hi Grandma!" each time we went around) and afterward exclaimed, "Do it again later!";
Grooved to a jazzy version of Twinkle Twinkle;
Sat on numerous pumpkins;
Drove many wooden cars;
Went on a tractor ride;
Attempted to feed some surprisingly disinterested goats; and
Had loads of fun.







On a totally different topic, many of you know that the ladybug has become an adoption icon. A ladybug just bit me today! What does that mean?

It's baaaaaack!

More yummy fiber-filled dinners at our house. Joe opened the grill to find this nest, plus a resident inside. I think the squirrel and Joe both jumped about five feet.


We have a history with red squirrels at our house. A few years ago we spent some time in South America and returned to find that one had eaten through Joe's fuel line in his car. Damage to the tune of $800. Two weeks later we smelled gas again. Another fuel line repair needed. Then, I took my car to the shop and heard uproarious laughter by the guys working there. Yes, a squirrel had also taken up residence in my car - the engine area was filled with black walnuts. We've had squirrels eat through our phone and cable lines, repeatedly. Not to mention many other items in our garage.

After the fuel line incidents, Joe decided to rid our environs of red squirrels. He very decently live-trapped several of them, and then drove them to faraway parks, as he had read that they could often return home from miles away. He was a man with a mission. Thus, one rainy fall evening, he returned home from work and saw a red squirrel sitting atop our open garbage bin. Joe ran over, trapped it with the lid, and then pondered what to do. He ran inside and got a bunch of bungee cords and wrapped them around the bin. Then, what to do? He tried to fit it into our car but it was too large. Our new neighbors, who were well aware of his mission, allowed him to use their Jeep. He loaded the bin into their Jeep and drove several miles to Theodore Wirth Park. He chose tree-filled Wirth because it would be a good place for a squirrel, forgetting that it is otherwise known as "Murder Wirth Park," for its troubled past. It's not so much an open park, but rather a heavily wooded, boggy area perfect for shady behavior. By this time, night had fallen and it was very dark and wet. I can only imagine what someone would have thought, seeing this sweaty man haul a huge garbage bin out of a car that didn't belong to him, which had out-of-state plates, into the dark parking lot, in the rain. Thankfully, no one did.

Given tonight's discovery, I think this is a losing battle.

A tug at the heartstrings

We just spent our first night away from Jia. We had enough points to stay free at a hotel downtown and my parents spent the night at our house. My parents are, hands-down, her favorite people in the world.

We've had Jia for over a year. She goes to part-time day care, loves it, and has no issues with the routine. But again, this was our first night away.

We returned home, she happily acknowledged us and then continued to play with grandpa and grandma. We were encouraged that everything had gone so well. We had a fun family-filled evening.

During cuddle time that night, Jia looked at me straight in the eye and held still. (This is rare; she usually looks at me but then is off and busy.) She said, "Mama, no go away." Then she turned to Joe and looked him right in the eye, "Baba, no go away." Then she said, "Hug Mama and Baba" and, as she was between us, hugged us both at the same time. We, crying by this point, reassured her repeatedly that we were her parents forever and ever and ever. We've said it before, but I think she needed to hear it again, and we will say it profusely in the future.

After a while, I put her to bed. Standing outside her room, I heard her reciting the names of her family members over and over: Mama, Baba, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Susie, Uncle Pat, Cousin Han, etc. Oh, how it tugged at my heart. I think about how much loss this poor kid has experienced, and how very long it must take for her to build up the trust and faith to believe that we will not leave her, as others have.

Well, we have our lifetimes to continue to prove it.