Attack of the killer tomatoes

1. Snuggling, 2. Sitting on the laundry basket and covering her ears, 3. Distracting her with pretend camping with our camping equipment

It was Sophie's first tornado (or in her words, "tomatoes", which she distinguishes specifically from the vegetable/fruit) warning. Things started when I picked her up from daycare- Ann Arbor was already under a tornado watch so adhering to standard practice, all the children were in their designated shelter areas within the building. Sophie and her classmates were in the babies' napping room and when she saw me, Sophie excitedly shouted, "We're having a tomato drill, Mama! Come join us!"

I don't think she had any clue what a tornado was then and just knew it was something for which they'd occasionally have a drill to prepare. I bundled her into the car and by then, it had already started to rain and the sky was darkening threateningly. In the car, I explained to Sophie that tornadoes are huge funnels of wind that can sweep things away and that when we get home, we have to go down into the basement for a while just in case a tornado came by the house. She got really quiet and just watched the rain come down outside. By the time we reached our parking lot, the city-wide tornado sirens were already going off and bits of hail started pelting down on us. That was when Sophie started getting a little scared and shouted, "Tomato sirens, Mama! Tomatoes are coming! We have to go to the basement! Hurry! Hurry! Protect me!" I had to laugh as visions of projectile cherry tomatoes came to mind...

We got home and I managed to grab some milk and crackers for Sophie and my phone before heading down into the basement. By then it was about 6.00pm and the National Weather Service's statement was that the tornado warning would only be till 6.30pm. We sat as far as we could from the basement window as Sophie clung tightly to me. Between the tornado sirens, the rattling of the windows, thunder, and the pounding wind and hail, she was petrified. We listened to a bunch of Jack Johnson and The Beatles on my phone just to drown out the weather sounds and I think that made her feel better for a while. She was still clingy and scared though and kept her fingers in her ears for most the hour that we were downstairs. She would try to be brave and say, "I'm not scared. Mama and the basement protect me." But then she'd hear a rumble of thunder and bolt into my arms again. Poor baby...

I kept checking the local newspaper reports and found out that not only was the tornado warning extended to 7.15pm, a tornado had actually made land in Dexter, a town about 20-minutes from us (click here for images of the destruction it caused). Funnels were also being spotted all across the county. To make things worse, Jude was at that time, sitting in a plane in Minneapolis, not being able to take off to come back because of the bad weather here. We texted back and forth to keep him posted and he even took a photo of himself making a funny face to make Sophie feel better. It worked :) He also suggested that I take out some of our camping equipment and do some pretend camping to distract the poor girl. So out came the sleeping bags and a couple lanterns. They worked like a charm and before I knew it, mischievous, giggly Sophie was back as she rolled around the sleeping bag, playing peek-a-boo and pitching a pretend tent.

It was finally 7.15pm and I checked to make sure that the warning had really expired before bringing Sophie upstairs. I looked outside and while it was still raining, there were no signs that a tornado had hit any where near us. Sophie was fine by now and it seemed like she had almost forgot how scared she was just barely an hour ago. Thank god.

So there-- our first near-tornado experience. It got quite nerve-wrecking there for a bit and I really was half-expecting a tornado to make land closer to us. And while I'm relieved that none did, I do feel for the folks out in Dexter. News reports say that there are no deaths or serious injuries there from the tornado but I can only imagine how hard it must be to see your home in ruins like that. Our warmest thoughts go out to the folks out there.

I think Spring is here

There is just something so viscerally irresistible about piles of crunchy crackling leaves. It's like they're calling out to you, "Jump in us! Throw our leaves! Have fun!"

And so Sophie did :)

Who says you can't have fun when it's snowing out?

Unless it's extremely frigid out or if the snow is coming down too hard, Sophie spends some time outside everyday, even in the winter. That's what she does at daycare and that's what we do over the weekends as well. She just needs the fresh air and runabout time, even if it's cold. We tell her she can't be outside too long and she needs to wear her hat and gloves if she wants to go out (optional pieces of winter gear for our child if given a choice...) We got her new winter boots this year so she's been relishing stomping in the snow and slush- something she enjoys doing even more than sledding.

Tea party with Dodo and Tess

So this past weekend, after a rather delightful (if gastronomically eclectic) tea party where all present (including Jude and I) had the pleasure of being served "toast" with a side of "onions", "fish", "mushroom" and "candy", we bundled the munchkin up and headed outside.

1. Kiss break on the way up the climber, 2. Swing, 3. Ice at the end of the slide, 4. Letting the sensation set in :)

I sometimes wonder if it's worth the trouble for everyone to layer up the winter clothes just for 20 minutes outside; and then I see how much fun Sophie has and how much she savors every second of that time, and I remember why we do it each and every time :)

It doesn't matter what the climate

A beach is a beach whether it's almost freezing cold in Saugatuck, Michigan or tropical humidity in Changi Point, Singapore...

For picking up sand and shells

For playing with sticks

And for pictures with Mama...

Last hurrah for the year

Why, hello there!

I guess it's fitting that two days before we leave for the sunny, warm, and humid tropics, we should spend the morning frolicking (and I mean that fairly literally) in the wintry snow and bracing cold. It had snowed a couple of days ago and even though there isn't that much snow out, it was enough for one last sledding attempt for the year. The last two times we tried sledding with Sophie weren't the greatest of successes (the first of which was almost exactly a year ago actually...), but today, what with being much older and even more fearless, Sophie had a whale of a time and couldn't get enough!

Click for more photos

When Jude brought her down the first time, I swear the entire neighborhood could hear her squeal of delight :) And all the "wheeeee!"s that came after too, of course... She tried to make a snow angel like what she's seen in one of her books but we had to tell her there wasn't really enough snow to see the full effect.

This time Wednesday morning (Singapore time), we'll be basking in 90F/33C weather in a city 2 degrees north of the equator. Snow and cold will almost literally be half a world away.

Random daycare daily report #20

I've never seen a child more excited about playing in the snow than Sophie was today. All morning long, she kept going over and trying to put her snow boots on. Then we were finally getting ready to put on snow clothes, we had a hard time convincing Sophie that her boots has to go on last. She was excited about those boots! :)

Incidentally, at drop-off this morning, Sophie basically burst into her classroom and shouted out loud, "ARE WE GOING SLEDDING??!!" I guess they sort of did :)

The Flip!

It snowed today. Yup, first snowfall of the season. Brilliant.

And just in time for that, guess what skill Sophie learned at daycare today?



Our daughter is officially the coolest person in this house.

What do you mean it's October 1 already?

Oh, did I mention it's also 47F (8C) outside?

Thanks, Irene...

We're all safe- thank you everyone for your emails, text messages, and calls. We've been in the Boston area for the past 3 days and now caught in the wide bands of Irene's path. We had plans to visit Cape Cod today and tomorrow but that isn't going to happen by a long shot. We're staying put in our hotel in Westborough (about 45 mins outside of the city) until later this afternoon when there might be a pocket for relief from the wind and rain, and then make it out to Boston itself. Things are nasty, of course, but actually a little better here away from the coast than forecast.



Let's hope the airport won't be too insane on Tuesday.

Here comes the sun

What do you get when you add a Dada who has successfully defended his dissertation (yay!!), long summer days (sunset at 9.30), and scorching hot temperatures?


Well, evenings at the swimming pool and picnic dinners after, of course!

Random Daily Daycare Report #13

1. How much fun do you reckon our little water bug is having?, 2. Just letting the water shoot up her back ;), 3. Sitting "on" the sprinkler, 4. Sprinklers rock!

Sophie had so much fun doing water play today. She walked over and stuck her hand right on top of the sprinkler and got herself soaked! And that she decided it would be even more effective if she just sat on the sprinkler :) Such a clever girl. Then, of course, she went directly to the sand box afterwards.

"Sledding, Mama?"

That's what Sophie quizzically asked me as we looked out the window yesterday morning after she woke up.

Yes, Sophie, it looks like you can go sledding, doesn't it? Mama totally understand why you're so perplexed. We were just building sandcastles last weekend when it was 78F and now it's snowing. This is what we call a cruel joke. You thought winter was over, didn't you? So did Mama. Mother Nature is saying, Gotcha! She likes to toy with people's emotions like that. How are you supposed to learn about the seasons this way?...

Okay, I didn't really say that to her but you get the point. You think after being here for 8 years, we'd be used to this freaky excuse of a spring that Ann Arbor has by now. But no, every April, as if our memories were wiped clean of the disappointments of years past, it takes just one nice sunny weekend and we all foolishly believe again that winter is over, that we can finally put away our boots and down jackets, and bust out the flip flops and tank tops. And every year, we can almost always count on it to snow one more time before May arrives.

Just look- this is Sophie at daycare last week:

[Painting with fly swatters in the sun]

And this is her yesterday:

[Snowball fight in the middle of April anyone?]

I rest my case...

Kite runner

Literally, I didn't know what to do with myself (and Sophie). After all the cold, snow, rain, and hail we've been getting since November, faced with a gorgeous, sunny 78F day, I was dumbfounded.

For the past few months, we've spent Sunday afternoons either at the Hands-on-Museum, the Museum of Natural History, some bookstore or another, or one of the indoor gardens. It was like I had forgotten how to enjoy a sunny day. But thankfully, my husband didn't. He had the foresight to get us a kite a couple of weeks ago and yesterday, with a good strong wind blowing, into the blue, cloudless sky, we launched our $7.99 Toys R'Us kite. And it was magnificent.





We tried to involve Sophie in setting the kite up and flying it, showing her what it means to hold it up against he wind, and the mechanics of tugging at the string lightly to keep the kite in flight...







...but no, the little imp was more interested in running after the other kite that was being flown. In fact, she was just happy to be running, period.



I don't think it mattered to Sophie very much what her parents were doing-- or how much fun they were having with the kite-- she was just happy to be able to be run around outside as fast and as far as she can without 1) stumbling into snow; 2) being encumbered by a down jacket and three layers of clothes underneath, or 3) one (or both) of her parents chasing after her hollering at her to keep her glove/hat/socks/boots on. It was a truly beautiful, beautiful day. Oh, and made even more special by the fact that Sophie saw the moon (sort of) for the first time! It was such a perfectly cloudless sky plus it was probably close to 6pm so you could just barely make out a hint of the moon in the sky. It occurred to us that after reading about the moon, seeing pictures of it, and singing about it, Sophie has never actually seen the moon in reality.



She was transfixed.

Spring is for...

Running outside in the sun,


swinging on swings,


sliding down slides,


feeling the wind blow across your face,


hanging out with friends,


and chasing after leaves while searching for water fountains :)

Random Daycare Daily Report #8

Sophie had a terrific morning. She was so excited to go outside and play in the snow. She went right to the shovel and started "shoveling" the sidewalk. Her method of shoveling consisted of holding the shovel in one hand and dragging it behind her while she walks up and down the sidewalk :)

Well, at least now we know who to put to work when the next blizzard hits... :)

Really? That's all you've got?...

1. Riding the playground toys in the middle of all that snow, 2. Scooping snow onto herself, 3. Trying to trace her hand, 4. Books and blankie

In the end, it was more "meh..." than "oh man!". I think people were expecting to get totally plastered (like Chicago. Now that's what I call a blizzard...) and in the end, even though we did get a lot of snow and the temperature was truly, truly cold, Snowmageddon 2011 didn't quite live up to its hype. In the words of our friend, Lana, "The weather around here is starting to be like a bad boyfriend- huge promises of epic adventures jerked out from under you at the last minute." ;)

Not that we didn't enjoy the snow day though. Like we planned , there was plenty of snuggling under the blanket, reading, imaginary feeding of stuffed toys, sticker-peeling and attempted consuming of said stickers, and the watching of more TV than we usually allow Sophie. The winds even settled down enough in the afternoon for a short jaunt in the snow. Sophie's still not particularly enthused with the whole sledding business so we just stomped around the snow a lot (ok, tried to stomp around the snow- in some parts, the snow came up to her thigh, which did not make for easy stomping...). She also saw her first real snowman and wanted to give it a hug. That didn't quite happen although she did give it a high five on its twiggy hands.

And how happy was our little lovebug with having her parents all to herself pretty much all day?

Snow, schmow

[All that blue? That's blizzard area.]

Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. Snowtastrophe.

All the words used to describe weather I'm looking at outside our window right now. We're experiencing a blizzard (yes, a blizzard- 7 years here and we've never had a blizzard warning before) and that's basically all that anyone here has been able to talk about for the past 3 days. Someone at the office even said we get weather like this only once every 15 years. This is the real deal, folks- not just a lot of snow, but very high winds (I can hear it rustling the trees), low temperatures, and blowing snow that reduces visibility. In other words, don't mess around with a blizzard.

Gretchen's House informed us earlier today that they will be closed tomorrow which is just fine by us- I probably would have kept Sophie home anyway. I don't want to have to worry about not being able to get to her in severe weather conditions. I made a quick Whole Foods run (and got the last shopping cart there- everyone had the same idea) and stocked up on essentials like milk (soy formula for Sophie), bread, fruit, veggies, pasta, and broth. And chocolate :) We also have flashlights and candles all ready. Thankfully, our furnace runs on gas so we don't have to worry about losing heat if there's a power outage.

We'll all be staying home tomorrow, likely hanging out in our PJs all day surrounded by blankets. Perfect for snuggling :) We have back episodes of Ni-Hao Kai Lan, Clifford, Sesame Street, and Curious George on the DVR, all of Sophie's toys have been alerted to what will be a day of committed indoor playing, and the sled, her snow suit, and boots are on standby if the wind and cold lets up tomorrow afternoon and we can go outside to tumble in 18-inches of freshly fallen snow :)

Alright blizzard, bring it on!

And we're back...

And by we, I mean me. Back to the land of the non-sniffling, non-coughing humans, where things don't sound like they're operating underwater, and where I'm not constantly hacking away at night while swiping at my nose with my fourth box of Puffs (yes, I was sneezing so much, I went out and actually bought the expensive tissues that I would never buy otherwise. That's how much my nose was hurting...) It took about a week but I think things are slowly blowing (pun FULLY intended) over. And I finally gave Sophie a proper kiss and hug today after avoiding doing that for the past week. The poor thing was so confused as to why I would be playing with her but not snuggling like I always do.

Speaking of the little human, she's been having fun amidst all the precipitation we've been getting. Between jumping into snow piles whenever she thinks we're not looking and biting off her gloves so she can "tatch" (catch) the falling snowflakes, Sophie's really enjoying snow in general.

[Snowflakes are tasty!]

[Now that I teach on Monday and Wednesday evenings, Jude and Sophie get some quality "Dada & me" time with each other on those days. They usually try to have a little adventure before dinner...]

Second sledding- much better, but I don't think we're quite enthused yet

In the end, even though Sophie gamely sat through her first sledding experience with her Yiyis and Mama with no cries or complains, she was probably most happy just sitting on the ground, playing with the snow and watching the fun her Yiyis and Uncle Piao were having from afar.

With a little more snow coming our way over the weekend, we're thinking of trudging out to the Huron Hills Golf Course and taking advantage of the steeper slopes there. It's a public course and open to everyone to sled in the winter for free. My dad is particularly thrilled at the prospect of sledding in a place at which he once golfed. Maybe with Gong-Gong in tow, Sophie might be able to muster a little more enthusiasm for this whole sledding business...

First sledding- FAIL!

No, there was nothing wrong with our camera lens. The photo is not blurry from any equipment malfunction. This is just what happens when you try taking a photo of your husband and daughter in 9F plus windshield (-15C). The snow was not only coming down hard, the blustery winds basically blew them every which way *and* made them feel like stinging needles against your face.

Which is why we had no luck taking Sophie on what was supposed to be her first sledding adventure. We knew we were going to get at least 7 inches of snow and had the sled all ready for her. But it was not meant to be. First of all, Sophie hated being bundled in all those layers- turtleneck tee, fleece pants, sweater, snow overalls, boots, winter jacket, hat, and gloves (it was like being in Froggy Gets Dressed). Then, after bringing her outside, she couldn't walk because of all that bulk and also because she was probably too bewildered by all that wind and snow. The combination of the billowing wind and stinging snow really made Sophie quite upset-- poor baby-- and we barely walked round our building before we decided to go back in, barely 10 minutes after we had come out.

You should have seen the look of happiness on Sophie's face when we relieved her of all the winter clothing- she visibly brightened up :) In the end, it was more fun to cart snow into the house (in the sled) and have her play with it while keeping warm and dry (and bulk-free). And for all that distress we put her through, she earned herself her first hot chocolate (made with soy milk) which she slurped up with such gusto, it looked like she was going to dive into the little mug.

We'll definitely try the whole sledding thing again-- maybe when my family arrives next week!-- and this time, let's hope it'll be a clear-ish day out and our daughter won't feel like she's being attacked by maniacal flying snow needles...

1. Not a happy camper, 2. Stinging snow, 3. Indoor snow, 4. First ever hot chocolate