How you make me smile? Let me count the ways

Sophie makes me smile everyday. She makes me laugh. She makes me incandescently happy (to quote the Americanized version of Pride and Prejudice). Which is why I love the weekends because I am made happy all day long. It's only 2.30 in the afternoon and there have already been so many moments of delightful Sophieness:

- She's lying in bed with us after she wakes up and we take turns reading/playing with her so the other can get a couple more minutes of sleep; but our daughter will have none of it, shoving and barking "Get up!" whenever she catches one of us with our eyes closed.

- We sing along to the Firetruck Song and she knows exactly when in the song (around 0:56) to shout "Wheeeeeeee!" Cracks us up every time...

- At various points of the morning, Jude and I sneezed. And after both times, Sophie knows to say, "bless you." We've been making it a point to teach her the special words like "please", "thank you", and "bless you" so this was especially awesome to hear :)

- As I prepare her mid-morning milk, I turn around to see quietly reading to her Elmo doll. She even sits him on her lap exactly the way she sits on ours.

- While we're playing outside in the snow at the play structure, she says to the big kids around her, "careful..." I'm not sure if she means for them to be careful not to fall on the slippery snow, or to be careful not to knock into her.

- This. 'Nuff said...

Random Daycare Daily Report #6

I just love how much Sophie enjoys being at school each day! She always has so much fun! Today, I found out that Sophie knows every verse to "The Wheels of the Bus"- I tested her! We also did art using stampers and stamp pads. Sophie loved the stamp pads, especially with her hands instead of the stampers :)

[There are no horses or fish in the original of course, but Sophie loves to say "bubble, bubble, bubble" and "neigh, neigh, neigh" so we'll pretend for a while that they let horses and fish on buses...]

Not quite Tom Hanks in Big...

... but close enough :)

The hot stuff

Alright Birkam Yoga, bring it on.
Originally uploaded by ghetto of our mind

It was like running the half-marathon all over again. Except in 90 minutes. And in a hot room with 30 other people breathing heavily along with you. By the end of it, I felt light-headed, a little nauseous, and I couldn't speak (I did call Jude to try telling him about it immediately after but ask him, I could barely string a sentence together...)

I went for my first Bikram Yoga class today.

Up until a couple of months before Sophie was born, I practiced yoga for two and a half years and loved it. Loved what it did to my energy levels, how it helped my running, and with just my all round sense of well-being. But when Sophie came along and having to juggle writing the dissertation, research work, taking care of her, and just chores in general, working out (and yoga) fell to the wayside.

Then earlier this week, LivingSocial (a Groupon-like company that offers daily deals) featured 10 sessions at the Ann Arbor Bikram Yoga studio for $20 and I bought it in a flash. I'd never done Bikram before but an old friend of mine, Shirlyn (those of you reading in Singapore may know her and her music), is a certified Bikram yoga instructor and has been waxing lyrical about what a life-changing practice it is. I was really looking forward to it and to how I wanted it to snap me out of this winter lethargy I've been feeling.

Oh god, in Jude's words as I walked through the door after class this morning, "You look like you just got your as* handed to you..." I'm not going to lie. It was HARD. Getting used to the temperature is one thing, sustaining the poses in that temperature is something else. I'm used to Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga where poses flow dynamically into each other, giving you a cardio workout as well as some good stretching. But in Bikram, holding the static poses works your heart just as much, if not more because of the heated room. I've never perspired as much in 90 minutes as I did today and my giant towel was soaked through once I was done.

But as exhausted as I am (I actually had to take a short nap to recover), I'm also exhilarated and invigorated. And challenged. One of the things I loved (and still love) about yoga is how acutely aware of my body I become- my posture, alignment, breathing, reach, strength, etc, and I find that kind of self-awareness very calming. Plus it's all me- the poses don't rely on machines or weights- it's what my body is capable of and comfortable doing at that moment. Every yoga session is a challenge. How much further can I stretch? How much longer can I hold this position?

I have 9 more sessions to go and I'm determined to be feel a little less pummeled with each class. My body needs to first remember all the things it used to be able to do when I practiced yoga more regularly, and then it needs to get used to the whole heated room thing.

And then maybe it'll realize that I'm working hard to be good to it and wasn't trying to torture it into submission this morning...

Animal cracker love

Sophie loves animal crackers. Loves. And specifically, she loves the animal crackers from Trader Joe's. They're not too sweet for her (with just a hint of lemon) and so I like them too and don't mind even if she has one too many for snack.

And so we were in her play-yard yesterday afternoon having a little late afternoon snack picnic-- milk and animal crackers for Sophie, a Nutella sandwich for me-- when out of the blue, she picked two of her animal crackers up, put them sort of nose-to-nose, and then nonchalantly said, "kiss!", as if she (or maybe the animal crackers) have been doing this everyday her/their whole lives :) It was so sweet and funny and I think I laughed so hard I might have startled her.

I was hoping she would do it again so I could take a photo but she ended up gobbling them both (and then some) up, effectively ending that short-lived animal cracker love affair...

Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink
That is the finest of suppers, I think
When I'm grown up and can have what I please,
I think I shall always insist upon these
-Christopher Morley

Our Saturday

For the first time this year, we had a regular "no one is sick and in need to special attention" Saturday. Little Miss Sophie is recovering from a bit of a cough but nothing we had to stop the clocks for. She did give us a treat by sleeping in till 9am though (!!!) which meant we all got some good rest and woke up all peppy and happy :)

9.30: After rolling around the bed and reading with Sophie a little, we all finally trooped into the bathroom and got ourselves washed up for the morning. For Sophie, this means making sure that she "brushes" both our teeth with her toothbrush before brushing her own teeth. And saying "morning!" to the two monsters on our bathroom door. It's her morning ritual- go figure.

9.45: Breakfast for us is buttered kaya toast, thanks to the Ya-Kun kaya my parents brought over for us over the holidays. Sophie ate some oatmeal. One day, she will out-grow her allergies and we will share with her the comforting goodness that is kaya.

10.30: We all get changed and bundled up for a grocery run. Between all the yummy food my mom made and froze and the Omaha Steak's meat that both Jude and my aunt sent us as holiday gifts, we haven't actually had to do much shopping except for fruit and veggies. But our lunchies (quick and easy items for lunch) were running on low supply and we had to stock up on pantry staples like pasta and broth anyway, so it was off to Trader Joe's. No more balloons for Sophie there (they stopped their balloon-giving policy) but she had a usual grapefruit to hug and gnaw on so she was a happy camper. And she kept herself busy by waving and saying hi to complete strangers.

12.00: We drop Jude off at school so he can clock in some work for the day. Sophie and I head home for lunch (fish porridge for her and pasta salad for me) after which we spend some quality time with her blocks. The architectural project for today- a tall tower built entirely of just the square pieces. Not structurally the most sound but at least now I know she knows the difference between squares and rectangles. Sophie was also in a "dancey" mood so we put on some Pomplamoose and danced to their holiday songs. Sophie loves "Jingle Bells" in particular (she calls it "Jindle Bell") and I had to put it on repeat for at least 20 minutes.

1.30: Nap-time for Sophie. I catch up on my email, read the news, watched an old episode of Grey's Anatomy (don't ask...), and started planning for class for next week.

3.45: Had to wake Sophie up from her nap because we were meeting Jude downtown soon. Recovering from a cough is hard work but I didn't want her nap to interfere with her night sleep. She roused the moment I opened her door so she was probably close to waking up on her own anyway.

4.30: We met Jude downtown to run some errands- picked up some pants that needed alteration, popped into Van Boven to check out their sale (where Jude scored a nice jacket and a wrinkle-free shirt, and where the sales guys were rather smitten with Sophie and gave her free reign of running around the store), and let Sophie run around the children's section at Borders which basically meant her meandering around the shelves, randomly pulling out books she wants us to read to her, grabbing whatever Elmo product that's within her reach, and alternating between yelling "running!" or "coming!" whenever she sees a long stretch of uninterrupted floor space for her to blaze through. Sometimes, I feel like I am unleashing a mini tornado through a prairie.

6.00: It was getting cold and dark and we were hungry so we decided on some Tomukun ramen for dinner to warm ourselves up. We were planning on having dinner out anyway so I had packed Sophie some cherry tomatoes and chicken nuggets. We ordered her a bowl of rice and she was all set. Jude and I both got the duck ramen and dinner was us taking turns to eat while rolling the rice into little rice balls for Sophie. She likes feeding herself and having little morsels of food to work with keeps her occupied.

7.30: We get home in time to Skype with both Jude's and my family before everyone had to go to church (it was Sunday morning in Singapore). Sophie has come to anticipate these Skype conversations and will say "Yiyi" (what she calls my sisters) once she sees the Skype icon popping up.

8.30: It's the weekend so Sophie gets to go to bed a little later. Bedtime is usually between 7.30 and 8.00 on a school night. Tonight, Sophie was really interested in the Charley Harper ABC book that we checked out from the library. Sophie knows his art from his 123 book that my friend Teresa gifted us with and the Peekaboo Forest app on the iPad and so Sophie had fun identifying the animals in the ABC book even though his stylized take on animal illustrations isn't the most easily recognizable.

The thing about having an early(ish) sleeper is that Jude and I get the rest of the night to ourselves, mostly to do work. Or on Wednesday nights, Top Chef. But today, we actually squeezed in some laundry-folding, which is amazing considering we only did the laundry two days ago and we've once let the folding part wait almost an entire week...

As I'm typing this, I can hear Sophie coughing a little here and there. But I'm hoping it will all clear up tomorrow.

Then we'll see what Sunday will bring :)

The little imp in between bouts of dancing this afternoon.

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...]

We're currently busy but we'll get back to you shortly

This is a placeholder post to reassure everyone that no, we have not in fact fallen off the edge of the earth nor did our house burn down rendering us without access to the Internet. But between coming back from Chicago, Sophie falling sick over the new year, Sophie getting better but passing the bug on to me, me sniffling, coughing, and sniffling some more, and then having to prepare to teach my first class post-graduation while sniffling and being half-drugged out from Dayquil/ Nyquil, I just haven't found time to blog.

But maybe sometime this weekend I will. That is if my nose stops leaking...

Calumet Fisheries

1. Smoked trout, 2. Winter car picnic, 3. Smoked Chubs, 4. Dad & Sherri with our lunch bounty

Christmas has come and gone, my family has been here 10 days, much love has been shared all round, meals have been cooked and eaten, our waistlines expanded as a result, and all eight of us successfully made our way to Chicago in two cars and in the middle of a snow shower. In other words, there has been much to blog about. But between enjoying the family's company, soaking in all that we love about Chicago, and trying to keep up with a rambunctious hellion of a 17-month old, time to ourselves has been too precious to squander on the Internet.

BUT- for what I am about to share with you, I will make an exception. Because something so awesome cannot be kept to oneself, something so mind-blowingly delicious cannot be contained. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Calumet Fisheries. In the city of Hot Doug's foie-gras hotdog, droolsome La Pasadita tacos, and robust dry-aged streaks, the smoked fish from Calumet has shot to the top of our must-eats in Chicago. Yes, humble smoked fish. Old school style. Smoked and sold in a literal shack on the Calumet Bridge on Chicago's South Side. And yet, recognized not only by food experts like Anthony Bourdain but also the James Beard Foundation Awards in the America’s Classics category.

And now we know why. Because the smoked seafood is just downright delicious, *freaking* delicious. Delicious, I tell you. Succulent, toothsome shrimp; flavorful trout; and the chubs, oh, don't even get me started on the chubs- fatty, silken, melt-in-your-mouth awesome. I was having a smoked fish epiphany and I didn't think one could have a smoked fish epiphany. And all this at the back of our rental car in the middle of a parking lot along Lake Shore Drive, with half my mind on whether or not Sophie was taking a good nap. So imagine how much more my mind (and gut) would have been blown had I had all my wits about me and was enjoying my meal sitting down properly somewhere. We might just take a detour and pack ourselves some more smoked fish on our drive back to Ann Arbor. Oh heck, we shall...

People, I kid you not. Calumet Fisheries. On the South Side of Chicago. It will be worth your while. Go. Please.

Merry Christmas, folks!

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...

Sisters pretty much rock

And so do aunts!...

And the grandparents are here!

You should have seen Sophie at the train platform- first all shy, nuzzling into my shoulder coyly smiling. But less than a minute later, she opened her arms wide and moved towards my mom, wanting to be carried :)

It's only been 3 hours, but I think Sophie's already loving having her grandparents here, showering her with all this attention. She's been in the best of moods, all smiles and giggles, running everywhere and knowing that she now has four people's arms into which she can collapse :) And she even managed to coax Grandpa into playing with stickers with her after dinner.


My sisters and brother-in-law arrive in four days. If Sophie's excited now, I don't think she has a clue just what a treat she's in for in when everyone's piled into the house on Monday!

Christmas presents 2010

With the exception of last year-- when taking care of a 4-month old and getting ready for a 22-hour flight home were our main priorities-- we've given out handmade Christmas gifts to our friends here in Ann Arbor every year since 2005 (2005- cranberry hootycreeks; 2006- peppermint hot chocolate; 2007- chocolate truffles; and 2008- kaya).

So it was time to revive the tradition this year with homemade chocolate bark. I adapted the recipe from here- instead of saltine crackers, I used graham crackers, and I also made a white chocolate-cranberry version on top of the bittersweet chocolate-nut recipe.



I'm pretty happy with the final product- it's not the prettiest of Christmas presents I've made, but I think the rustic feel of the pieces has its own charm :) Oddly, even though I'm a huge dark chocolate fan, I've been quite taken with the white chocolate-cranberry combination. I think there's something about the sweet creaminess of the white chocolate (which is precisely the thing that usually turns me off) and the tartness of the dried cranberries that comes together really well with the the buttery graham cracker base. I liked it so much-- so does Jude-- that I made sure to set some aside for ourselves, and also for my family, who btw, ARRIVES IN TWO DAYS!!!

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

Use your words

So it was like any other evening, driving home after picking Sophie up from daycare. I was singing "Wheels on the Bus" (which she's been making us sing over and over again these past few days) when I pulled into our parking lot. And then it happened.

Sophie said "home".

And when I stopped the car and opened the door to take her out, she said "light" and pointed to the light in the car as it came on. I thought they were both flukes but as we were walked towards the house, Sophie pointed to our door and said "Mama, home" and "light", now pointing to the light at our doorway. OK, so not flukes.

I started keeping a list of words that Sophie knows (and can say) and at 16-months exactly today, it's like I'm adding new words everyday. It's a conservative list-- or at least I'm trying to make sure it is so I don't inflate her vocabulary-- i.e. these are words we know for a fact she can say and have heard her repeat enough times and in the right context to show that she knows the meaning of.

Dada
Mama
hi
bye
water
Elmo
doh-doh (doll)
ball
flower
dog + oo oo! to distinguish it from...
duck
more
milk
walk
book
read
hold
no
night night
bah-bah (抱抱 ("bao bao", which is "carry" or "embrace" in Chinese)
baby
ah-pool (apple)
see you
tan-tyou (thank you)
yiyi (what she calls my sisters)
I woo oo (I love you)
pea (please)
bock (block)
pee-a-boo (peek-a-boo)
hah-lo (hello)
ah-den (all done)
hat
told (cold)
pah (puff)
sit
watch
tow (throw)
shoe
light
home

And these are just examples of her expressive vocabulary- I'm assuming her receptive vocabulary (words she understands but can't produce) is also growing day by day. It's such a delight hearing her talk-- both the real words and the rest of her jabbering that's just as wonderful. It's almost like communicating with a real person now- she can tell us what she wants, what she doesn't, when she wants more of something, when she's done with what she's doing, and most importantly, she's also using words (and gestures) to show emotion, like joy, love, anger.

Of course, we don't understand everything that Sophie says but we try our hardest to take the time to watch, listen, and respond to her regardless. I think it makes her feel like she's a good communicator and reinforces her self esteem by letting her know that she's worth listening and paying attention to.

Sophie phones Jude

OK, so not really. She was actually playing with the toy phone that's attached to her play-yard. We had just dropped Jude off in school after a fun morning at the farmers' market together. I guess she was missing her Daddy and so she picked up the phone and said, "Hi Dada. I woo oo. Home."

:)

I had a great day full of friends and play
But my favorite part is always coming home to you, Daddy-O
Did so many things, where do I start
Gonna tell you everything and not leave out a single part

D-A-D-D-D-Y, oh how I love ya
Oh, how I love ya
D-A-D-D-D-Y, oh how I love ya
Oh, how I love ya

Riding our bikes through the park
Camping in the summertime
Walking to the waterfalls, Daddy-O
You teach me things without saying a word
The time we spend together is worth more than all the silver and gold

D-A-D-D-D-Y, oh how I love ya
Oh, how I love ya
D-A-D-D-D-Y, oh how I love ya
Oh, how I love ya

-"Daddy-O", Frances England

First snow, again...

February 2010

December 2010

Sophie couldn't have possibly remembered anything from earlier this year so as far as she was concerned, today was the first time she's encountered snow. We stood her by the window when she woke up and showed her the light blanket of snow outside the house- she was intrigued and kept wanting to press her face against the window. Our little parrot then tried saying "snow" but it came out more like "no" :)

When we walked outside on the way to daycare, a couple of snowflakes landed on her cheeks which sort of perplexed her a little, like what *is* this cold, stinging, pretty, fluffy thing? She also tried grabbing the snow as it floated down around her, wanting to catch it in her hand, and that was pretty funny (which may also explain why in school, she refused to keep her gloves on and just wanted to touch the snow with her bare hands- see evidence here and here).

I woo ooo.

That's how Sophie says "I love you." :) I think she might have started saying it back to us a couple of weeks back but we didn't quite figure out that that was what she was saying till sometime this week. She says it at the most unexpected moments, like in the car on the way home from daycare or when she's in the grocery cart at the store. Or today during bath-time. There I was soaping her and rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, and the next moment, she clings on to me, snuggles into the crook of my neck and says "I woo ooo" over and over again while patting my back softly with those chubby little palms of hers. At that moment, nothing else mattered- we could be destitute, living in squalor, jobless, homeless, and inflicted with some morbid permanently debilitating disease and it wouldn't matter a whit. My daughter was telling me she loves me.
1. Our sweet Sophie, 2. Bunny ears, 3. Channeling Pebbles Flintstones, 4. Lunch laughter

I woo ooo too, our little one.

Random Daycare Daily Report #5

Sophie was in a really happy mood and had a great day with her buddies! Sophie was saying "Thank You!" a lot- so polite :) Sophie also asked to read the book Oops! over and over again. She just loves those David books! Have a good night!

And an adorable thing that happened today during both drop-off and pick-up: goodbye and hello hugs. It's not like we've had a hard time dropping Sophie off but in the past, she would sometimes need to be distracted in one way or another (breakfast, toys, being carried by her teacher, etc.) when we said our goodbyes. But today, when it was time for bye-bye, Sophie just walked to me, hugged my legs, walked to Jude and hugged his legs, and then went off happily to the toy corner to play with her friends. It was amazing- both the individual goodbye hugs and the breezy, easy manner of it all. It was like her way of saying, "I know the routine now, Mama and Dada. Don't worry about me- I'll have fun. You take care too. Bye!"

And when we went by to pick her up, it was the same thing- she saw me walk in and broke out into that heart-melting smile of hers, waddled to me, and gave me a tight hug and a snuggle. Then she caught a glimpse of Jude, beamed even more widely, stumbled into his arms, and laid her head on his shoulders plus a few loving pats :) And then she just sat down and waited patiently as we put on her jacket while yabbering on about something (I assume she was telling us about her day and the pizza she had for lunch...) I was about ready to tear up! I'm not quite sure how to begin explaining why these hugs mean so much- I think it's more what they represent than the actual hugs themselves. It's her growing up and having developed the trust and faith that her parents love her and will always come back to get her at the end of the day, her joy when they do, the confidence and contentment with her surroundings, and a level of independence that we're beginning to see in her in other ways as well. She's made a transition and I'm so proud of her. And while there's an element of wistfulness once in a while for a time when she never wanted to leave our side, I know this is all part of her journey to toddlerhood. We just have to allow her to grow up...