Joyeux NOEL

imagination overtime

4 years old, in my opinion, defines the biggest change for far for Noel.  Over night, she becomes a "real person!"  She understands well, communicates well and there are many "tricks" I can no longer fool her.  Noel's drawings, in ideas, compositions and narratives...etc, everything has gotten so intricate and I am having hard time keep track of what she is doing.  There was just that big cat in the center of the paper, in the past, that would be it, and few minutes later, she had add on so many more.

Now, is this little girl's imagination working overtime or what?

hot dog!

music appreciation 101

Thanks to baby and little Einstein!

sweetest birthday note

....makes aging a bit less painful!!!

my piggy bank

Remember Noel's short-lived love affair?  It kind of slipped away for a while, and in the last few months, piggy made his way back into Noel's life - the little girl has been asking for a piggy bank!

And I have been looking for that perfect one, not just any piggy bank, but one that is 1) unbreakable 2) transparent so Noel can see the inside of the piggy 3)a cool color.

Simple?  Why don't you try it?

This weekend, we finally found it at the "Container store."  Noel was sitting in the shopping car and suddenly yelled with joy - "mama, the piggy bank!!!"

She picked out this special one and we are all set for the "money management 101 for preschooler!"

As now, she has one little quarter in it, a hard earned first deposit (she got 3 immunization shots in the doctor's office today for her check -ups)  It's a reward for being so brave.

Some people still ask me: " how did you come up with ideas to 'educate' Noel?"  "do you have a home school curriculum?"  The answer is NO.  Noel shows me when she is ready and what she is ready to do, I simply follow her developments.  So now she is telling me she wants a piggy bank.....and what can I throw in there?  Teach her what money is and how it works.

Hmmm, perhaps she will save up enough to buy me a Christmas present this year?!

a bottle of kisses

I know I have a great daughter, even though I complain sometimes.
"Mama, would you kiss me again?" 
It was dark in our room, I stopped using a night light after Noel turned 1. 
I made a kiss sound, and even in the dark, I can see Noel's hands reached up high, she whispered to herself: " put it in the bottle...."
This is the second time she said that.  I had to ask: " what bottle, Noel?"
"a bottle of kisses, mama, I am putting your kisses and my kisses together in the bottle of kisses, so when we want kisses, we will get them from the bottle."

Silly child, you will never run out of kisses from mama, but the idea of the bottle of kisses, is still - so sweet!

not your little athlete

Beautiful and sunny day, so far, we are having a very nice and mild June weather. 
"Hey Noel, wanna go ride your bike?"  I asked.
"SURE!"  a cheerful answer from the little girl.
But there is only one problem.... did I say ride a "bike?"

Not even close! 
At 4 years old, Noel is still riding a ......baby tricycle, and she is okay with it, no desire or motivation to "upgrade" herself into a "big girl bike."
I am starting to get a bit embarrassed following along with her around the neighborhood.
My dear child, just like me, not athletic at all.  Auntie Junny, we need your help!!! 

My sister, Junny, is the big time athlete in the family.  One of the plans that was not accomplished while we were in Taiwan, is having Junny teach Noel how to swim - a private and professional swimming coach, we could not have asked for a better one....but, well, next time.
Noel: " Mommy, don't worry, look at me, I am not your little athlete, but this.... I can do!"

being ordinary....

...is really not too bad.
When I was younger, I used to think being ordinary is a bad thing, it's sad, it's just, too.....ordinary.
Last night, I was about to write a post about Noel's illness and the hospital stay in Taiwan, but realized that I am just not quite ready yet.  I woke up 3 times in the middle of the night, the memory of my little girl being so sick, so helpless and so far away from her own doctor and home, left me with chills all over.
Soon, I will be ready to write about it.
For now, I am glad to report that Noel is back to her normal self, in every way.  She is as sweet as you can imagine, eats her "All American food" (and please.... no Taiwanese milk!)  and from time to time, drives me completely bananas. 
We have been living a very simple life since we came back, simple, and ordinary....and really, it's not too bad.  Here is a picture of Noel, just playing, happily in her room; a simply and ordinary photo, but it's my Noel!

because they taste different

Ask any Taiwanese who live outside of the island the question: " what are you looking forward to the most when visiting home?"  You will definitely get the answer : "FOOD..... I am going to eat and drink like there is no tomorrow.... and yeah, see my family too."
That used to be me.
But now I am taking with me a 3-year-old who is allergic to peanuts, visiting a country that peanuts are used commonly in foods; and even more troublesome - a country where people just don't know and will not get the idea of peanut allergy. 
I was extremely confident that I can manage that in spite of the difficulty, Noel loves milk and yogurt, and they are good sources of many nutritions, so pack up some mac and cheese and cereals, we would be in good shape!
This particular post is about Noel's diets in Taiwan, so we will skip many details and move on along......in short, Noel and I are probably the only people from America visiting Taiwan for over two weeks and lost the totally of 6 pounds together (Noel 2 pounds and me - 4 pounds!)  
My little princess simply refused to eat since day 1.  It turned out that she's sick (details?  wait for the later post.)  But days later, she still would not eat or drink (milk.)  Guess what she lived on when she was in Taiwan?  Water, she drank plenty of that, chips and cookies I brought from the US, some apples and jelly on the breads. 

We were able to find bakeries that is peanut free for Noel.... and really, children's taste buds will not lie, the breads are sooooooo yummy.  Seriously, American bread, Italian bread, even French bread?  Stand aside, you cannot even compare.  But really, a sick child cannot live on bread alone.  How about some milk? 
Noel took a sip of the milk, and handed it over :"no."
"Why?"  I was upset, worried and exhausted from taking care of her.
"Because they taste different....."

Need I say more?  Again, a child's taste bud will not lie!

My poor mother would not give up.  She went to countless stores and brought at least 10 different brands of milk for Noel to try.  Nothing works.  Noel's stubborn about her milk.
So here you have the short and stress-free version of her diet in Taiwan.  But in reality, there is a reason I lost more weights than she did.  I was worried, super worried.  How could a little body handle a month of jelly bread and water? And with her allergy, we could not take any chances of letting her try new and "weird" food.  The only solution is to call the airline, we are coming home early.

Needless to say, we are now drinking gallons of milk and eating like we had been starved for decades.  Is there a way to ship milk oversea next time?

4 years old Birthday girl

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Noel
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

We were not supposed to be singing the English version this year, the plan was to celebrate Noel's 4-year-old birthday in Taiwan; and of course, sing the Mandarin Happy Birthday song.

There is a Chinese saying goes something like....." you can plan all you want, but in the end, the heaven above does the planning...."  Ouch, what an awful translation, but you get the gist.  Well, our trip to Taiwan was eventful, in short, we had to cut the trip short and I had 2 days to prepare for Noel's birthday.....honestly, there was a moment I kinda wanta "skip" it, God knows how exhausted I was and definitely not in the mood for a party.  But my sweet daughter remembers her 3-year-old birthday party so well, she talks about her Thomas cake, the birthday hat, her friends and presents, I don't have the heart to ignore this special day.

So I made my second cake -DON"T LAUGH (especially you Junny!)  Yes, yes, I stuck the dinos on the cake, thanks to Mattel!  Noel was really concerned at first, she worried that we are eating her dinosaurs, ha, cute!  If you think of this cake as a  product of an exhausted mom who just got off a 20+ hours airplane rides,  you will find it more lovely!

The size of the party is not even close to what we had last year, just a couple of friends, our famous babysitter Jenni (and her baby in the belly!) and Noel's dear friend Grace.  But we surely had a great time!

Cheers, my big girl!  I cannot believe you are 4 years old.... mommy loves you; and don't hate me for the cake when you grow up!!!