Transferred from my other blog: The Adventures of Sisterhood.
First published: 5-21-12 at 11:25 PM EDT
Kylie knows how to say banana now. And umbrella in Chinese. And she
knows the possessive word (the 's in English) in Chinese. Her sentences
are almost coherent and today when Mom came inside from the backyard
with Kylie perched on her hip. I almost thought she looked too big to be
doing that. As a teammate pointed out last week, Kylie has grown so
much since we moved here to North Carolina. Unlike me, who over ten
years of her life in the peachy state of Georgia, Kylie is officially an
NC kid.
North Carolina gives me the impression of
being hillbilly, if that's a proper word. The Raleigh farmer's market is
phenomena. The air is crisp and fresh except when it's hot and
stuffy... you know what I mean, at least it's clean. Greenways, paved
paths that don't allow motorized vehicles, provide safe ways for
recreational exercise to the NC communities. In Georgia, we practically
had a library in our backyard. I was never allowed there on my own, for
two reasons. One, the walk was apparently too far, though it was less
than a mile. Two, it was unsafe. And indeed it was. Despite being
located in a well-off, suburban area of the greater Atlanta Area, our
community has had multiple encounters with sexual predators.
A
close friend's little sister is in 8th grade this year, and was
approached in her neighborhood (a pretty expensive, clean, new
neighborhood) by a questionable man in a ratty car. He asked her where
she lived and other personal questions. The girl, very smart, ignored
him and walked to her friends at the school bus stop to the local middle
school. Another instance occurred when I had a friend over. We were
crossing a small street to go to a local Menchie's and Kroger on a
grocery run for my mom. Guys in a white truck slowed and stopped near us
multiple times, whistling and yelling suggestive things, as well as
asking for personal information.
I'm not implying that
Cary will be unsafe. In fact, it's ranked number 43 as the best places
to live in America, out of the bazillions of towns and cities we have
here. I'm just wondering, what of a town isn't reflected in it's
statistics? We've been here nearly a year and everything has checked
out. However, we lived in our last house for 5 before anything
extraordinary happened. Only time will reveal Cary's character.
-Chichi
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Sissy's Purpose
Transferred from my other blog: The Adventures of Sisterhood.
First published: 5-14-12 at 11:26 PM EDT
Mom: "Say hi to Sissy."
Kylie: [looks away]
Me: "Hi Yaoyao! Will you say hi to Sissy?"
Kylie: [shakes head] No.
Mom: "Yaoyao, say hi to Sissy."
Kylie: No. [points to kitchen counter]
Mom: [gives her what she wants - a packet of garlic green peas]
Kylie: Oooh, dou dou! [Translate: Yay, green peas!]
When we came home from my clarinet lesson, Kylie came and greeted Mommy and I at the door. Well, she walked right by me and into Mommy's arms. Same difference. It's the beginning of the Terrible Twos, so I'm told. I always thought that the Terrible Twos were something that affected parents, not siblings.For those closer in age, what was the worst years to share with a younger or older sibling? Usually, if I ask that question, I get the answer as four or five. Agreements? Disagreements?
Currently, I perform few roles for Kylie. I cut up her dinner for her occasionally, I provide the medium on which she watches her beloved Elmo's World, and I provide the lap on which she'll plant her tiny butt while indulging in reruns of Elmo's World. I don't mind, really. It's absolutely adorable. And with her talking so much, life is just so much more interesting. Our parents like to tell a certain story of me from when I was about Kylie's age. Some lost in time naughty task was performed, and some lost in time person asked: "Who did it?" Just learning to respond and speak when prompted, I answered immediately, "Chichi did it!" Kylie's response to that right now is just "Yaoyao!" No frills, no furs, just to the point. But it's nice to think that I wasn't the only toddler stupid with her responses. Silly kids.
-Chichi
First published: 5-14-12 at 11:26 PM EDT
Mom: "Say hi to Sissy."
Kylie: [looks away]
Me: "Hi Yaoyao! Will you say hi to Sissy?"
Kylie: [shakes head] No.
Mom: "Yaoyao, say hi to Sissy."
Kylie: No. [points to kitchen counter]
Mom: [gives her what she wants - a packet of garlic green peas]
Kylie: Oooh, dou dou! [Translate: Yay, green peas!]
When we came home from my clarinet lesson, Kylie came and greeted Mommy and I at the door. Well, she walked right by me and into Mommy's arms. Same difference. It's the beginning of the Terrible Twos, so I'm told. I always thought that the Terrible Twos were something that affected parents, not siblings.For those closer in age, what was the worst years to share with a younger or older sibling? Usually, if I ask that question, I get the answer as four or five. Agreements? Disagreements?
Currently, I perform few roles for Kylie. I cut up her dinner for her occasionally, I provide the medium on which she watches her beloved Elmo's World, and I provide the lap on which she'll plant her tiny butt while indulging in reruns of Elmo's World. I don't mind, really. It's absolutely adorable. And with her talking so much, life is just so much more interesting. Our parents like to tell a certain story of me from when I was about Kylie's age. Some lost in time naughty task was performed, and some lost in time person asked: "Who did it?" Just learning to respond and speak when prompted, I answered immediately, "Chichi did it!" Kylie's response to that right now is just "Yaoyao!" No frills, no furs, just to the point. But it's nice to think that I wasn't the only toddler stupid with her responses. Silly kids.
-Chichi
Monday, May 7, 2012
Pepper Jack Cheese
Transferred from my other blog: The Adventures of Sisterhood.
First published: 5-7-12 at 10:28 PM EDT
Chinese food, Indian food, Moe's queso, Flamin' Hot Cheetos. What do all of these have in common? They're often considered spicy. It's nothing extraordinary that a Chinese teenager would have a fairly high tolerance for spicy foods. After all, spicy food is delicious. However, it is a bit odd that an 18 month old baby loves spicy food almost just as much as her big sister. There are some things that I can handle but she can't, but she's 18 months old, for goodness sakes.
Target's brand, Market Pantry, sells these pepper jack cheese sticks. I personally think they're the most amazing things on the planet. I eat one with my salad for lunch every week day, if there are enough in the refrigerator. Kylie has her own cheese. Kraft American, 2%. After dinner, if we're wrapping up leftovers and the refrigerator gets open, Kylie will undoubtedly poke her head in. She'll eye the contents for a moment, ignore our requests for her to come out and close the door, and turn to look at us sweetly. "Cheese," she'll assert, pointing at the pepper jack.
Once she sees it, she won't allow denial. Because sometimes she doesn't finish it, and sometimes we try to leave enough for me to have it with my lunch the rest of the week, we'll try to offer her other things. "How about Yaoyao's cheese?" Grandma will call. "Come eat watermelon," Mommy will coax. "Kylie, get your head out of there," I'll yell from the sink two feet away, where I might be doing dishes if my mom is lucky. Our words always fall to deaf ears. Kylie will ignore our sadly inefficacious work and toddle up to someone. She'll hold up the cheese stick and plead, with her eyes, for it to be opened.
This pepper jack cheese isn't exactly the world's mildest. Even our mom thinks it's a bit too much. Today, just a little bit after dinner, Kylie spotted it and asked for it. Our grandmother tried to distract her, but finally relented and held it just out of Kylie's standing reach. Kylie actually jumped to grab it, giggling the whole way and and down. Honestly, I didn't even know she knew how to jump. Ah, well, there's one more cheese stick in the bag. She can have it. I'll eat an apple with my lunch tomorrow instead.
-Chichi
First published: 5-7-12 at 10:28 PM EDT
Chinese food, Indian food, Moe's queso, Flamin' Hot Cheetos. What do all of these have in common? They're often considered spicy. It's nothing extraordinary that a Chinese teenager would have a fairly high tolerance for spicy foods. After all, spicy food is delicious. However, it is a bit odd that an 18 month old baby loves spicy food almost just as much as her big sister. There are some things that I can handle but she can't, but she's 18 months old, for goodness sakes.
Target's brand, Market Pantry, sells these pepper jack cheese sticks. I personally think they're the most amazing things on the planet. I eat one with my salad for lunch every week day, if there are enough in the refrigerator. Kylie has her own cheese. Kraft American, 2%. After dinner, if we're wrapping up leftovers and the refrigerator gets open, Kylie will undoubtedly poke her head in. She'll eye the contents for a moment, ignore our requests for her to come out and close the door, and turn to look at us sweetly. "Cheese," she'll assert, pointing at the pepper jack.
Once she sees it, she won't allow denial. Because sometimes she doesn't finish it, and sometimes we try to leave enough for me to have it with my lunch the rest of the week, we'll try to offer her other things. "How about Yaoyao's cheese?" Grandma will call. "Come eat watermelon," Mommy will coax. "Kylie, get your head out of there," I'll yell from the sink two feet away, where I might be doing dishes if my mom is lucky. Our words always fall to deaf ears. Kylie will ignore our sadly inefficacious work and toddle up to someone. She'll hold up the cheese stick and plead, with her eyes, for it to be opened.
This pepper jack cheese isn't exactly the world's mildest. Even our mom thinks it's a bit too much. Today, just a little bit after dinner, Kylie spotted it and asked for it. Our grandmother tried to distract her, but finally relented and held it just out of Kylie's standing reach. Kylie actually jumped to grab it, giggling the whole way and and down. Honestly, I didn't even know she knew how to jump. Ah, well, there's one more cheese stick in the bag. She can have it. I'll eat an apple with my lunch tomorrow instead.
-Chichi
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