Xuân Turns 4

Our third born turns four today, and yet in my mind he is much older. Xuân started talking the earliest out of our four boys. By two or two and a half, he already spoke in full sentences. Having two older brothers made him catch up fast. He can argue with them and make them go berserk.

Xuân is expressive and talkative. He communicates clearly and eloquently. For example, instead of telling me, “Daddy, I can’t finish my food,” he would say, “Daddy, it is impossible for me to finish my food.” When talking to him, I often threw in as many big words as I could. For instance, instead of asking him to “show daddy your lion dance moves,” I would ask him to “demonstrate your lion dance moves to daddy.” To my surprise, he picked up the words quickly. He also has good ears for sound and tone. He can sing along Vietnamese pop songs or rap along JAY-Z effortlessly. I loved getting into verbal arguments with him. When he could not reach for the words he wanted to say, he would use his favorite word: stupid.

Xuân is passionate about lion dance. For his fourth birthday, I bought him a paper lion head and a small drum. When I was a kid, my mom bought me a small drum and I learned to play by ear. I still can play today thanks to that little drum. I am trying to teach Xuân what I know so he can play as well.

As far as his behavior, Xuân has his ups and downs. At daycare, he gets along with his teachers and friends. At times, he likes to play with his friends. At other times, he just wanted to be alone to play by himself. I am glad that he is comfortable to be alone. He also whines quite a bit. I am still waiting for him to get past his terrible-three stage.

Now that he is four, I want to teach him to read. I should be wrapping up reading time with Đán soon. I hope that he will pick up reading as fast as Đạo. We’ll find out.

Xuân is a wonderful kid. He is kind and loving, especially toward his baby brother. It is a joy seeing grow each day. We love him so much.