Beginning the End of Summer

Maliana ~

So we began this week with a visit to Daddy’s endocrinologist, our annual hurrah with Dr. Larrimer to make sure everything is ok. Then off to dinner with Memaw and Papaw where you were in a great mood and such a chatty Kathy the whole time, asking us to tell you stories of ourselves as babies, and then about you as a baby. In that spirit, we came home and watched videos together from 2009, when you first came home with us. Oh my! You were such a cute and funny little baby! It was really fun to get those old videos back out again.

We also noticed this week that our garden is still coming up with surprises. The sunflowers are beginning to bloom and when I measured them, they stand at a little over 10 feet! Wow! As strange as having ten foot tall sunflowers right outside our front door is, it definitely makes us smile when we leave the house.

It’s been cooling off (finally!) and so you and I decided to take a bike ride in the evening air. You love checking stuff out from the back of my bike and while we didn’t stumble upon any turtles this time, you did make me stop, turn around, and go back to a little field so you could pick me some flowers. You are too sweet.

you are so thoughtful

Once home, our neighbors were out and Mr. Mark began teasing you (as usual), which ended in a water fight. I love that you enjoy being teased and tricked (in good fun of course). You can dish stuff out with the best of them (a huge ornery streak runs through your veins), but you can also totally take it right back as well. This is a plus living next door to Mr. Mark, the “King of Teasing”.

a stand off ~ hose vs. water gun

So, you and Daddy bonded this week over the Beastie Boys. Coming home from an outing with him, you both were jamming to “So Whatcha Whatcha Whatcha Want”. This love for their music has carried over into your telling me you want a Beastie car for Christmas (not quite sure but I think it has something to do with letting you watch their video “Sabotage”. You are too funny. After repeated questioning, I still can’t quite figure out what a Beastie car is in your mind. I guess we’ll let Santa worry about that.

And a little sidebar, I realized this week that you know how to type in my 7 letter password to the laptop, all. by. yourself. WTH? You’re such a smartie.

So, I went to the library and came across a cool craft book and brought it home. We decided to try out the ice catcher craft one night and so headed into the woods with your wagon for a treasure hunt. You (and Abby) LOVED exploring the trails, and you insisted on me calling you Captain Mali as you led the way. I vow next time we’ll leave the wagon behind since it got pretty tough to lug through the weeds and over tree roots.

not even into the woods yet and we've already
found some good stuff for our project

doing a little off roading

Captain Mali ~ our fearless leader

putting all of our goodies together into a tin with some

water and a piece of twine tied to a rock, then stick it

in the freezer, and wait until morning, then...

(we’ll save this in our freezer and then

pull it out in the middle of winter for

a little reminder of summer!)

Our weekend kickoff included a road trip to Marysville for the All Ohio Hot Air Balloon Festival. We had no idea what to expect but it was so much fun! Perfect weather, great music, yummy food, and gorgeous ginormous balloons. I loved watching you get inspired by the music and let loose, completing weirding off to the 80’s cover band. At the height of your silly dancing (you even pulled out your “crazy legs” move) and completely bizarre behavior, just laughing and loving life, it hit me once again…oh, you are so our kid! You even inspired me and so you and I danced together for quite a while, in the middle of the crowd, not even caring who was watching. You were pretty bummed when it was time to leave, and the next morning on the way to Tang Soo Do, you told me (completely unprompted), “Mom, I loved that festival last night!”

look who Daddy found!

the awesome band! all 80's cover music!

this "train" ride was pretty cool, but you refused to do anything
else after we bought you your wrist band for the kids' area...
alas, this was your $7 ride



mmmm...frozen cheesecake on a stick

dancing and spinning with Mommy

still feeling a little dizzy...ha ha

As for other things talked about on the way to Tang Soo Do, I got a little more insight into why you are so averse to dresses or other “pretty” or “fancy” things. It started with my wanting you to wear your flip flops (with the pretty jewels on top) to TSD (since they’re easier to slip on and off). You agreed to wear them but said you didn’t want to wear them into the do jang. When I asked why you said it was because everyone will say, “Aww, they’re so pretty!” We talked a little more and while you do like to “be pretty”, I realized that you get embarrassed by compliments. I guess I should clarify that a bit though. You seem to love compliments when we talk about something you can do (remarking on your ability to hide while playing hide and seek (with you even exclaiming at times “I’m the best hider in the world!”), playing guitar, break-dancing, or otherwise rocking out, running, riding your bike, kicking or punching in TSD, etc), but you dislike when the focus is solely on your appearance. With all of the gender stereotyped pitfalls that are out there, limiting kids (and adults alike) and putting them in boxes instead of letting them spread their wings and embrace all aspects of themselves, I love that you seem to be building your self-worth from your abilities rather than your appearance. I hope you can continue to do this as you grow older, and particularly maintain this ability in your teen years. It’s a more important skill than you could ever imagine. Once again, you amaze me child. You really do.

After we wrapped up your TSD lesson, we relaxed for a bit before heading off to Innis Woods with Lao Lao. We had such fun there last weekend, we just had to go back on this gloriously mild Saturday afternoon. You discovered the joys of doing tree rubbings as we brought your bug box and plenty of paper and crayons. You had quite the collection of textures captured on the papers by the time we left.

water fight!

bringing me a black-eyed susan

Lao Lao teaching you how to sniff herbs
in the beautiful herb garden

Finally by Sunday, we were pooped. Daddy had worked all day and night on Saturday, so we all stayed in and had a lazy day. Daddy and I did chores around the house while you worked on your art projects and played with your toys. By late afternoon, and after a wonderful family nap (ahh, I love lazy Sundays), Audrey Ayi came over and we all had dinner together. Once our bellies were full, we had a rousing game of hide and seek, complete with “monkey bombs” (which is basically figuring out where someone is hiding, then taking this obnoxious monkey that wiggles and maniacally sings “Jingle Bells” and throwing it into their hiding place and running away) and lots and lots of screaming! It was the perfect end to a super week.  

yeah baby, this is how we roll...
"normal" is definitely over-rated!

Love,
Mama



Baseball and Badasses

Maliana ~

We started the week with some comic relief. Puzzles have been our new thing recently in an attempt to transition to an earlier bedtime. It’s the perfect quiet activity to help you wind down after a long day. The one on one time is a nice way to cap off our days and you appear to enjoy it so much that you don’t even really mind the earlier bedtime, well almost anyway. You even requested it on Sunday night before bed, “Mom, can we do our quiet activity?” It was very sweet. But back to the comedy. One of your puzzles is a map of the United States. It’s great because your vocabulary is growing to include all of our 50 states with some of them even appearing in your imaginary play. For example, you proudly told me the other day that you not only had traveled to New Mexico, but also OLD Mexico as well, solemnly nodding your head as you did so. You are too funny kid.

Now, when I say that you ALMOST don’t mind the earlier bedtime, I am referring to the inevitable bumps that occur in transitioning any kid to something new. For the most part, we’ve all done much better with earlier bedtimes across the board. I’ve had more patience all week (Daddy said I only sighed in exasperation a couple of times) and you’ve been in better moods each morning with very little fussing, which in turn helps Daddy tremendously as he tries to get you out the door and to school in one piece. However, there was one night in particular where, basically, all Hell broke loose. It was ugly, with a capital U. Eventually the tears subsided, the kicking stopped, the teeth got brushed, and all were sound asleep in bed at a not so horrible hour. All’s well that ends well, right? But the best part, the really good ending to that episode came when I picked you up at school the next afternoon. As we piled into the car, you looked at me as you buckled yourself in and said, “I’m sorry Mom”…when I asked why you said, “For not cooperating last night.” I couldn’t believe that you not only remembered but also felt compelled to apologize completely on your own. Wow. You consistently amaze and pleasantly surprise me kiddo. Seriously.

As for other bumps this week, Daddy and I got some disheartening news about what’s happened with a particular child at your school. Evidently, there is one boy in your class who has been grabbing your chest lately. You informed me one afternoon that he was “grabbing your boobies” and that it made you mad. We talked about it and then Daddy immediately called the director of your daycare to address the issue. I was shocked to hear this, and then hurt that you were dealing with something like this already (for crying out loud, you’re four!), and Daddy was basically just pissed. Luckily, the staff at your daycare is very good and immediately addressed the situation with teachers, and then talked with you kids the next day in class about respecting each other’s space and bodies, appropriate and inappropriate touching. I asked you about it every afternoon after and luckily it did not happen again the rest of the week. But it really bothers me that this kind of thing is already happening. I thought we had a few years before this kind of behavior was going to rear its ugly head, but I guess I should have known better. I’m just glad we have you in Tang Soo Do (which by the way you are kicking ass in lately!), and you better bet your bippy you will be taking more self-defense classes as you get older. I’m so glad that you felt comfortable enough to tell Daddy and I right away when something like this happened, and I hope you always do. I hate that I can’t be there to protect you at all times. I just hope I can arm you with enough self-confidence and the right skills and tools to speak up and protect yourself when I’m not right there. With your strong personality, I think you have a good start.

On a more fun and upbeat note, we harvested (aka it fell off the vine) our first squash this week! I don’t think it was quite ready, but hey, it’s still cool!

not sure if it's actually ripe, but here's the
first squash from our garden!

Audrey Ayi also completed her summer term this week and so we celebrated by heading to our favorite Chinese buffet after you and I got our hair cut after school. It was so nice to spend time with Audrey again and you were so excited to see her. When we all came back to our house, you insisted on changing into an outfit of black shirt and black shorts. Only later, after you had made another wardrobe change, did I realize that you had wanted to wear a matching outfit to Audrey’s black on black clothes. It was pretty cute. I just wish I had noticed that sooner so I could have snuck a couple pictures in. In fact, I didn’t notice it until Daddy had made the comment when he came home that you looked like a couple of “Sprockets” (google Saturday Night Live Sprockets and you’ll understand). Ha ha.

As for our haircuts, I decided to do something a little different with mine. And unfortunately, our hairdresser had something even different pictured in her head than I had in mine, so needless to say, I was a bit dismayed at the initial reveal of my new hair. As we walked to the Chinese buffet, and I kept checking my hair in the reflections of storefronts, you sweetly said, “Mom, I like your hair. I like it even better than mine!” Aww. You were so sweet to try to cheer me up like that. As I’ve said before, your awareness of the world around you goes beyond your years sometimes.

Later this week we had some more comedy as you decided to take over mowing for Daddy.

MP3 player? check!
Lawn mower? check!
Shirt off? check!
Ready to mow like Daddy!

Funny thing ~ when I sent the above mower picture to Wai Gong, he texted back  "Where's her beer?" Which is ironic because when I picked you up from school that same day you were sitting with friends playing with a brownish colored liquid in a bottle...when I said "Put your juice away, it's time to go home",  you replied, "It's not juice, it's beer!" Ha! Oh boy!

On Friday Lao Lao came over to watch you while Daddy and I had a date and went to a baseball game with Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina and another couple. You of course spazzed when Lao Lao came over, always happy to see her. And you even gave Aunt Tina and Uncle Joe some big sugar when they came to pick Daddy and I up. Aunt Tina was so excited to get a BIG hug from you before we left. You and Lao Lao headed off to play games at KDB at Easton, spread lots of smiles as you insisted on (both of you) leaping to only the white squares throughout the mall, then of course took the obligatory photo booth pictures. Always a fun time. I think we are up to 16 different photo booth pictures in your collection with various combinations of people.

goofy girls

baseball and beer!

silly grown ups

On Saturday we met up with our Fu Group for a play date at Inniswoods Metro Park. You all had a TON of fun together. It’s the best medicine to see you kids smiling together, a great mix of many different kinds of strong and unique personalities with one big thing in common ~ you all REALLY enjoy life. As you crazily ran around the park, laughing and being silly, I couldn’t help but think to myself that it is going to be SO much fun to watch you all grow up!

you with Delaney at the water feature
(aka Supergirl and Popeye)

you "hiking" with Laney

"psst...Freddy. I can bust you outta that wagon
if you want me to!"

searching for roly poly bugs

you with Mia at the "Earth on Turtle's
Back" sculpture near the Children's Garden

all of you kids LOVED the bridge

After we left Innis, a few of us families (the Lawrences, Neuhausels, and Metz’s) headed to Fazoli’s for lunch and turned that place upside down! We were one of the few patrons in the restaurant so we all shrugged our shoulders and let you kids have a blast. It’s so nice to get together with any combination of these families, get to know each other better and be involved like this…it never disappoints when we spend time together. We may not make it to every gathering, but I am so grateful for this play group for so many reasons.

On Sunday, Memaw and Papaw came over and babysat while Daddy and I headed off to try something new with Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina. You were looking forward to seeing Memaw and Papaw and so I knew immediately when they pulled up because not only was Abby whining like mad, but you were squealing at such high decibels I think Abby was the only one that could hear you. There’s nothing like hearing your kid jubilantly yell, “Grandma! Grandpa!” as she runs for the door. I didn’t experience a lot of that as a kid, so I’m even more grateful that I can live it vicariously through you. It’s pretty cool.

While you played with Memaw and Papaw, the four of us adults got to try out a shooting range. Tina and I had never shot any guns before, and I have to say, it was way more fun than I thought it would be. And that says a lot from two girls who did NOT like guns. My lesson learned that I can pass on to you? Always try new things, even if you are nervous or scared. You’ll likely be surprised by your experience and gain some confidence in the process. Basically, never pass up an opportunity to channel your inner badass ~ you'll discover things about yourself you didn't know were there and will never regret it.

Aunt Tina getting used to the feel
of the shotgun

check out your mama!

we did it!

The one drawback from the weekend is that I noticed that I missed you something fierce as I lay in bed with you on Sunday night. Aunt Tina made the comment that it was unprecedented that Daddy and I had two “grown-ups only” outings this weekend. And it was. While our time away gave us some much needed “let our hair down and get good and silly” time away, it also left me with a desire to do something new and fun with you this week. Now, the fun part is going to be figuring out what that “something” will be…hmmmm.

Love,

Mama

Does it have to happen so fast??

Maliana ~

This week had a bit of a super hero theme to it. Your current obsessions lately have been Ironman (still not sure why but you have now chosen this to be your Halloween costume so far this year), Bob the Builder (not really a super hero but interesting all the same), and also Super Why (from PBS). I had actually ordered you some play capes in the mail and they arrived this week. You were so excited and had a blast “zooming” up and down the hallway at home. Of course, I had fun encouraging you by saying I really thought you ran much faster WITH the cape on.

cool AAA advert at the fair that went right with
our theme of the week!

We surprised a couple people at work this week too. We got to visit Lao Lao’s new office which has a receptionist who made us wear visitor badges. You were so thrilled that she actually gave you one too, and even wrote your name on it yourself (and were SO proud of that fact too!) You strolled through her office and waved to everyone like a little princess (a huge change from hiding behind my legs like you used to do). You are growing up kiddo.

nice job M!

one proud little girl

We also surprised Daddy at work too, bringing his office DQ dilly bars since it’s been so hot lately. It really perked everyone up and I loved walking in and seeing all of your cute little artwork up on Daddy’s desk, displayed for everyone to see. It really warmed my heart. You paraded around the office, just being yourself and in effect, making everyone smile and laugh.

mark this date in your calendar - you
actually chose a dress for school!

Later that night we danced to one of my favorite songs in college, “Jump Around”. Evidently it’s timeless because you still got a kick out of it, close to twenty years later.

look at those moves!

As I mentioned before, it’s been so hot lately so we cooled off by washing my car this week too. You took care of the outside, while I cleaned out the inside. You loved it and in my opinion got the better deal since you were completely soaked by the end and I was still all hot and sweaty.

all you needed was a sign,
"will work for popsicles and hugs"

Being the first weekend of August and the last weekend of the fair, Lao Lao, Daddy, and I headed out (in spite the heat) and made our traditional trek to the good ol’ Ohio State Fair. If nothing else, it’s great for people watching and this year definitely did not disappoint. We had fun doing the usual fair stuff, but I think the coolest part was a display called “Back to Recess” sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Evidently, recess is being phased out in some schools (horrible, I know), and so they pitched a tent on the midway and had all kinds of traditional recess games there for people to play. It was remarkable too, because no matter what peoples’ ages or backgrounds, everyone was picking up a jump-rope or a four square ball, playing hopscotch, shooting baskets, or playing shelf ball (that one was new to me)…and they ALL were interacting, laughing and wearing smiles from ear to ear. It was nice to see all of these people become kids again right before our very eyes. It reminded me of how important simple play is, and how you kids really do have your priorities straight over us adults who end up preoccupied (usually with silly superficial stuff) most of the time.

you and I peeking through an Ohio sign

making a sand creation

voila!
(out of all the bottles, you insisted on
the Jose Cuervo...oy vey!)

hopscotch

shooting hoops

jumping rope

thumbs up for the Bob the Builder ride

stopping in the Department of Natural Resources section on the way out

We got some rain on Saturday night and upon seeing this, you proclaimed it “Worm Day!” on Sunday morning. In jammies and all, we headed outside and collected some critters for the bug jar that Wai Gong made you a couple years ago (and that we are STILL using ~ thank you Wai Gong, Memaw Lisa, and Uncle Blaize). I love that you are the kind of kid that gets excited about worms.

got my shovel ~ let's go!

While we started the morning well, I think the craziness of life lately had taken its toll since you developed a major attitude and melted down as we tried to get ready for the day. It was one of the worst we’ve had with you, so out of character that I know it had to be sleep related (or maybe a growth spurt?) Anyway, it was rough, but you surprised us all by what you chose to do afterward. Among other things, you had refused to get dressed. Once the major meltdown had passed, we decided to let you “cool off” for a bit in your room before attempting to dress you again. As I finished getting ready, you stayed quietly in your room. About 5 minutes later I opened the door, expecting to see you exactly the same as I’d left you. But instead you were sitting on your bed, fully clothed in the outfit that we had been fighting with you over just a few minutes before. I couldn’t believe it. When I went in, we talked about what happened and how attitudes needed to improve, and then I said something to the effect of how we need to work together because we’re on the same team. To this you replied, “No, I’m on a different team. I’m on Lao Lao’s team.” I had to suppress a giggle. Aaahh…that explains a lot now. Ha ha. You then apologized for your behavior all on your own. Let me say that again, you apologized. all. on. your. own. It really is phenomenal how well you are able to self regulate your behavior and take responsibility for your actions if given an opportunity. Seriously, how old are you again?

Once we were all dressed and ready, we headed off to the Garrabrant family reunion where you had fun playing on the playground, running through the grass and starting a crazy water fight. I love that you can not only dish it out, but you are so good-natured about taking anything that’s given back to you too. You had a ball. In fact, you had so much fun it was really hard to get you to leave. Thank goodness we had Lao Lao there, (who Daddy dubbed the “Mali Whisperer”), to more easily get you into the car without another historic meltdown.

helping Lao Lao keep minutes for the meeting

watching the softball game with Dad

uh oh, here comes trouble!

loading up

got Lao Lao!

found another accomplice to help you

got her again!
will Lao Lao ever learn?

my silly girl

pouting because we have to leave

Lao Lao = the Mali Whisperer

You fell fast asleep on the couch not long after we got home, without our even having a chance to properly get you into jammies or teeth brushed. Some days are like that.

As I lay in bed Sunday night, I actually had a hard time falling asleep. Carrying you from the couch to bed, I noticed just how long you are getting, legs and arms dangling every which way as I maneuvered you into the bedroom. Our snuggles are already changing too, harder to keep your entire body on my lap and it seems like it’s harder sometimes for you to find that perfect spot in the crook of my neck into which you can nuzzle your face (although I hope it never gets too hard for you to find that spot). You are just growing up so fast right before our eyes. In less than a month, you will be 4 ½ and then 5 and then kindergarten! I can’t believe it. Where has my baby gone? There are reminders every day of how much you are changing, nearly by the minute. Like the other day you made a joke with me when I asked how one of your shirts got in with your Tang Soo Do sparring gear and you said, “Maybe it walked in there?” It was the first time I really noticed how mature your sense of humor is getting. I loved it, and at the same time it was bittersweet. Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond excited every time I notice something new. I am thrilled and eager to see the kind of girl and woman you will become. The only nagging question, the one that tears my heart strings to pieces and keeps me up at night is, “Does it have to happen so fast?”

Love,
Mama