Birthday Weekend

Eva had a birthday party at daycare on Friday. I loved that she had it at daycare since all her friends are there, and because I didn't have to clean up my house for it. However, I did spend Thursday night at the church/daycare kitchen making her cake. Do you recognize who it is?

When I got home late on Thursday, Eva had been waiting up for me. So I told her what I was doing and showed her a picture of the cake I made for her. She looked at the picture, at me and back at the picture. With just a hint of confusion in her voice she asked me "You say you make me a carrot cake mommy?" I told her I did... Thomas was a carrot cake. Then in a voice akin to that which a teacher would use to explain the most simplest of concepts to a student told me, "No mommy. That not a carrot, that a train."

David and I bought Eva a camera (Fisher Price) for her birthday. We gave it to her on Friday morning so that she could take it to school and take pictures of her party.

These are some of the (better) pictures she took trying it out:

(Enoch has a nice leg, doesn't he?)

Here are some of the pictuers of her party that were taken on her camera. I don't think it's difficult to figure out which ones Eva took. I love seeing life from her perspective.




She got some birthday presents which she loved. Here she is showing off one of them. (View finder discs)

Pre-School

This is the "toy" that David bought Eva late last fall. It's been sitting in the downstairs all winter and finally she was able to take it outside. She's afraid of it.

I turned in the application this morning for Eva to go to pre-school--at the elementary school--two mornings a week this fall. I'm not for sure if she'll be able to go because it is a first come, first serve situation. Also, her age is borderline... she's suppose to be 3.5 years old and she'll only be 3.39 years old. In any case, it was a very strange feeling...

It's a boy

Okay, I know she looks a mess in these pictures, but I thought they were really cute and funny anyway. She was having a good time with her messy face.

So, yes my daughter thinks she's a boy. At least that is what she will tell you. It is delightful to listen to her and David argue over the fact. I am thinking it's because she plays with the boys at daycare who tell her that some toys are "for boys." She's decided to overcome that obstacle by declaring she is a boy also. The other day, I walked in to help her in the bathroom to find her standing in front of the toilet with her hips thrust forward. I asked her what she was doing and she said that was how boys go pee... and of course, she's a boy. I told her that she's a boy who's going to sit down on the toilet. sigh...

Birthday week

Eva turns 3 next Saturday, so we're celebrating a birthday week. We had our meeting with our Families with Children from China group last Saturday. Another girl in the group, as well as Eva, have birthdays this month. Eva had to wait for her before she could blow out her candles.





It's starting to turn into summer!!!

Alphabet Song

First Sunny Weekend

Yes, this weekend is the first of the season that was passably warm (40 degrees) and the snow in the yard has melted (85% anyway). Eva spent Sunday afternoon outside playing. She took her "Arctic Cat #1" outside to ride around in. She played in the sand box and she swung on her swing. She informed me that she even went down the slide by herself. Eva did not want to come inside. It was fun to watch her play, although, I did get nervous once.

Eva took her piece of pizza outside to eat and every single chicken in the yard clustered around her to watch. I told her she had to eat her lunch herself and NOT feed it to "her chickens." (Nothing belongs to David and I anymore, it all belongs to Eva. Too bad the cats haven't realized that yet.) So, when she had only crust left she asked me if she could give it to the chickens to eat. I told her she could, so then I watched her trying to chase down a chicken and hand it her pizza crust. Not a single hen was interested in eating the crust out of her hand, and were all rather concerned about this little girl-child chasing them all over the yard. So, of course, Red (the Rhode Island Red Rooster) decided he would get involved. He marched in between Eva and the hens and fluffed his neck feathers at her. Before I could get there, Eva just squatted down and handed Red her pizza crust. I think he actually would have taken it from her, but just as was about to, she figured he'd had long enough and ate it herself. I thought for sure Eva was about to get attacked by the Rooster, but instead, he didn't really know what to make of her and I think he was actually disapointed he didn't get to eat the crust himself.

Eva made up another story for us this weekend. She told us about a sticker (I forget its name). The sticker bit his own finger, then his elbow and his head... We asked Eva how and she just said, "He bit it, that's why." The sticker did some other things, but I don't remember them all. It was a really cute story about the sticker though.

On Sunday, Eva wanted to watch the movie of when we went to China to get her again. She fell asleep watching it, and we left the room while she was sleeping. She woke up 15 minutes later crying histerically. She held on incredibly tight to me for at least half an hour just sobbing afterwards. I think she had a nightmare, or a sad memory recollection. In any case, she isn't allowed to sleep by herself anymore after watching the China movies.

Shades

These are the shades that Eva picked out from the Mall of America.... the non-girly ones. She wears them all day long, even after dark. Indoors and outdoors. She's very fond of them, and likes them especially because they have flame decal on the sides. She thinks she looks like a rock star when she's wearing them. Personally, I think she's much prettier than any rock star I've ever seen.

Little mommy

Eva's tendencies to mother everyone have not dissipated as she has gotten older. Every time I walk out to the chicken house with her, she reminds me to watch where I step so I don't hurt myself. She tells me to stay warm, eat my food and go to bed. She pats me on the back when I hurt myself and tells me "It okay mommy." She insists on putting bandaids on all of my booboos and she tries to pick out my clothes for me. It's rather sweet in a very bossy sort of way.


Another thing Eva likes to do is use words she's not suppose to, while telling me that she's not suppose to use them. For example: "I no suppose to call you 'butt crack.' That a potty word. It naughty to say 'butt crack,' so I no say 'butt crack.' You say 'butt crack' mommy? You no suppose to say 'butt crack,' it a potty word." It continues for quite a while, and how am I suppose to tell her she's saying something wrong when she is the one telling me it's wrong to say?!

Gameboy

Last summer, when Eva's cousins visted, they had gameboys. Eva wanted one. Then, ever since Eva started going to the pre-school daycare she has been exposed to the older kids who come by after school and who all have gameboys. Eva really wanted one. So, David dug out his old gameboy that he hasn't used for several years and we bought Eva a game. (Mousetrap) that doesn't take a lot of skill or reading ability. She is so in love with the idea of playing the gameboy, I think more so than the reality of it. She loves to turn it off and on and adjust the volume. She only plays the first 2 minutes of the game before getting tired of it, but it is really cute.

Girls day out

We had faculty inservice day on Monday, and I decided that my life would be much more enriched if I spent the day with Eva instead of at meetings. So, I took a personal day and Eva and I spent some time together. We went and got our hair cut... Eva just a trim. Then we went out to lunch (the China Buffet, of course. That's the only place Eva wants to go), to the library and then Walmart. It was a great day out in Thief River. It was the first time I've taken Eva to the library actually. She really liked it, but was so busy exploring that she wasn't really in the mood to sit down and listen to a story. Usually she does so good with story time. In any case, I was impressed, because it is the first new environment that I've ever taken her to that she did not spend the first hour stuck on me. Progress is being made in the right direction.

So, last night, Eva wanted to play with her baby doll stroller that Granny bought her for Christmas. There is a spot for a cup or bottle for the baby doll. She asked for some milk so that she could put it on her stroller and look "official." I gave her a small glass, but when dinner time came and she wanted some of Ba Ba's iced tea to drink, we told her no because she hadn't drank her milk. And really, it is wasteful just to use it for play. She didn't want to drink the milk because "It for the baby, Mommy." So, she didn't get anything to drink. After trying, unsuccessfully to change her daddy's mind, she asked me if she could drink the water from the green beans. I didn't really think she would drink it, so I poured it in a glass for her. She took a big drink, looked at Baba with a smile and said, "It really good." Then a moment later, grinning enticingly at her daddy, she pushes her drink towards him a little and says, "You want some, Baba?" I know exactly what was going on in that little brain of hers. She knows that when we go out to eat, she can sometimes trade drinks, and she was aiming at getting Baba to trade his tea for the green bean water. Needless to say, he didn't fall for it. But, it was definitely cute.

Eva told me that she liked going to the library before she went to sleep and asked if we could go again, so I think I will be visiting more. It was a lot of fun spending the day with her, I wish that we had more of those days.

Personality

Eva did tell me the other day "I look like Heaven." I definitely had to agree with her. Although, most of the time she simply looks like my daughter to me.

Easter Pictures

I've given up and conceeded defeat to a very opinionated young girl who does absolutely NOT like to wear dresses. So, for Easter this year we forfeited the dress and let her wear her Chinese Pant Suite.

Eva enjoyed her Easter and really digs the idea of getting more candy. Unfortunately she is still slightly allergic to chocolate and if she eats too much she has side effects. She got a runny nose and a rash following Easter this year.

Silicon Oxide

Since you all are so encouraging (thanks) I thought I would bring you something entirely new for the blog: a video. In this video you can see just how brilliant my Chinese "Queen" really is. (If you call her a Princess, she will tell you, "I not a Princess, I a Queen." Because, of course, the Queen gets to tell the Princesses what to do. I tell her that I'm the mommy of the Queen, so she still has to do what I say.)

By the way, for the purists out there, glass is technically made up of Silicon Tetraoxide, as well as several other additives that have been fused together. However, I'll bet you couldn't answer this question when you were two years old.

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Baba's Hat

Sweet and Wild

She looks sweet doesn't she?






Until we get to the next picture & she is transformed into her wild woman self:

Come on now... don't we all feel like this once in a while?

She have her own mommy

I dropped Eva off at daycare a couple days ago, and stopped to talk to one of the other little girls while I was there. Eva immediately grabbed my face and turned it to hers, she looked me in the eyes and said: "You my mommy. She have her own mommy to talk to." Eva is so very possessive.

We took this picture at the Chinese New Year's celebration this year with our Families with Children from China group. We put all the girls on the couch and took their picture. They all smiled and grinned, except for Eva. She still hasn't given up that whole crying on the couch picture thing:

Spring break

Last week was spring break at the college, so I got to spend some extra time with Eva that didn't involve one or both of us being sick. On Thursday, Granny, Eva and I took a trip down to the cities, just to get away and help Granny with her frustration at being stuck in the house all winter. Eva did great on the trip down, Granny sat in the back seat next to her and acted attendant the entire way. Of note, she did not have a single accident. So, we are encouraged about the potty training. However, she did manage to collect a souvenier rock from the landscaping of every restaurant we went to during the trip. They weren't particularly pretty rocks, just important to her.

Because Granny was with us, our first stop in the cities was to a quilting store. Then, we checked into the hotel. We went out for Indian Food on Thursday night, after checking into the hotel. Eva liked the food, but was upset that she had to wait for it. They made the mistake of bringing us our empty plates early on, while we waited for the food. As soon as that plate was put down in front of her, Eva started asking, forcefully, "Where my food?!" She was very excited at the hotel and absolutely did not want to go to sleep. I think it was midnight before she actually fell asleep. I went to sleep before her and let her and granny visit for a while. She kept wiggling the lamp next to Granny. So my mom told her to stop wiggling it, to which she informed Granny that "The hotel no care that it wiggle." We both want to know where she came up with that reasoning, because it is definitely nothing that either of us told her.

The next day we went out for breakfast, and again Eva demanded her food as soon as we sat down. Then we went to my favorite asian market in the cities (United Noodle). Eva picked out some candy that was in the shape of Thomas the Train's face. I let her hold it, not realizing that she can actually open up her own candy now. I told her that she had to save some for Baba so he could see how cool it was. She assured me over and over that she would save him some. She didn't. Then, she tried to tell me that she saved him some of the candy in her mouth. Let me tell you, that is not a safe place to save candy.

We visited the Mall of America next. We were there five hours and did a complete circuit on all three floors. However, we did not visit the amusement park in the center of the mall... that's a job for Baba. I pushed my mom around on her wheel chair, and Eva rode on her lap. I was the only one really working, yet both Granny and Eva still wore out before me. I must admit that both of them lasted longer than David does at the mall. !/4 way around the first floor is all he can handle before he's ready to go. In any case, Eva got some new clothes and shoes. She officially wears a size 10 shoe now. I think I've figured out why her feet are extraordinarily large for her size and age... it's because her toes are really long. In any case, she also picked out a very cool pair of hot wheels sun glasses... they are not the prissy kind at all. She got a couple of stuffed animals at the Disney store and some wierd gooey wormy things that light up in the middle. I also let her pick out three types of candy at the candy store. She thought that was the best and wouldn't let anyone else carry that bag. She insited on carrying it herself. We had a snack of Cold Stone ice cream, which she actually told Baba that she had for breakfast after we got home. Apparantly the ice cream made a more lasting impression than Perkins did.

We stopped at a fabric mall before eating and heading back home. At that point, Eva was pretty tired. She fell asleep watching Mulan with Granny in the car. On the way down, they watched Finding Nemo, which disgusted Eva. In the inital scenes where Nemo's parents are talking, Eva looks over at Granny and says, "Fish don't talk" with all the expression of a child being disgusted that anyone would try to pull something that silly over on her. She wasn't going to fall for something that obviously wrong. Eva takes her pretend very seriously.

Last night while Eva was getting ready to go to sleep, she made up her very first story for me. It was great. It went like this:

"There a poopliana (don't ask) on your cheek, mommy. It go in circle. Then it jump down on pillow, then it jump on floor. It run on floor and Ginger (our cat that Eva has claimed) chase it. She eat it."

I thought it was a pretty good piece of fiction for a two-year-old (almost three).

Eva girl

It's been a while since I've had time to post... I have been very busy.

Two weeks ago, Eva had another bout with RSV. She gets it every three months, and so she spent the week with temperatures of 103 -104. Tylonol does nothing for it, the Motrin would bring it down to about 100. So, she spent an entire week sitting on my lap, being miserable and being held. I missed a full week of work, and have been trying to catch back up for the last two weeks. Her Pediatrician says that she should outgrow it with time, as her immune system improves. Meanwhile, its rather frightening for me.

Eva is becoming such a big girl. She has started to throw temper tantrums this month. She screaches, throws things and yells at me that "I no like you Mommy." I put her on time out for speaking disrespectfully to me and then she repents and wants held, telling me repeatedly that "I love you now Mommy." I don't know how long this will last, but David and I are working hard to make sure that it is not successful for her. She has also taken to deliberately pooping outside of the potty chair when she's mad at me. So, I have begun to make her clean it up herself. I don't think this is going to last long... she really doesn't like the whole "touching poop" thing. I don't blame her.

The other day, David asked her where milk comes from. She told him "Cows." He asked her where eggs come from, and she replied "chickens." So, then he asked her where honey comes from, to which she replied "Pooh bear." I don't blame her for thinking that.

Eva has been learning how to cook with me. She made Baba some scrambled eggs for breakfast recently. However, she lost attention when they were only 2/3 of the way cooked, so I had to finish it for her. She likes to make coffee with Baba... she likes to drink coffee with Baba. She helped me make a cake, but it didn't turn out so well. She still needs to practice her measuring skills. In any case, I absolutely love doing things with her. She is a truly brilliant and beautiful little girl.