Mood: happy, chatty, playful.
Enjoyed: story time, outside/gym

Notes and reminders: “Whenever we do anything and requires getting dirty he cries and don’t want to do it. We still try to keep him interested so he will get to play with different things.”

You must have picked up your grandma’s gene. You even refuse to play in the snow because you afraid of getting dirty.

On a different note, today is Vietnamese New Year. You received gifts from Co Tam. Although she is not your primary teacher, she loves you and takes great care of you. She is a very sweet teacher.

You also received your first “li xi” of 2011 from Bac Quyen tonight. Let’s wish bac and her family a prosperous new year.

You talk nonstop nowadays. You talk as soon as you wake up in the morning and your first word with your eyes closed is “sua” (milk). You talk throughout the day at school and you talk before you go to bed. Your last word of the day is also “sua.”

Keep yakking away, baby. We take great pleasure in hearing you talk and building up your words. You started out with “xuong” (down). Then you added “xuong lau” (downstairs). Mom was surprise that you could say three-syllable “di xuong lau” (walk downstairs). She didn’t realize, however, that you had already mastered five syllables: “The train is coming.” I am still not sure where you get that from.

Bedtime reading is a bit different now then before. You pull out the book and read to us. You read the pictures instead of words. No wonder you’re a son of a visualgui.

Isn’t she a sweet teacher? We’re very glad that she’s your teacher. She’s energetic and very caring.

One morning I dropped you off to the romper room (small indoor playground at school), but you clung on to me and didn’t want to take off your jacket and shoes to join your classmates. She sang you something and both the shoes and the jacket went off. You crawled yourself into your favorite spot.

Another morning, she got about 8 kids in the room with another teacher. You came in, didn’t want to stay and clung on to me. She held you in one arm and made the phone call as the same time to get some help. She often referred to you as “my love” and gave you a kiss on your cheek. Seeing her taking good care of you makes me feel very safe to leave you with her.

Another morning, you were holding a truck in your hand. I asked you to give it to me before we leave the car, but you refused. I let you held on to it. As soon as you see Ms. Ester, you showed her your toy. She asked you to hand it and you did. You had learn a great deal from Ms. Ester who holds a degree in Psychology, worked with special needs children for 15 years and speaks Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew. You’re very lucky to have her as your teacher. Treasure every moment of it, my son.

The last couple of days you spent most of your time with grandparents while your mom and I were at work. We got wonderful reports about you. You took naps with grandpa and behaved yourself. Grandma told us that you spotted a popcorn bag in Bac Tram’s house. You brought it to grandma and asked her to make you some popcorn. At first grandma didn’t even know what the bag was, but you insisted that you wanted it. After she read the label carefully and realized what it was, she made you some. You sat back watching TV with grandma and enjoyed your pop-corn.

We’re still trying to figure out how did you know about the pop-corn bag. We do not have any popcorn in the house and I don’t recall making you one. Did you learn it at school? Did Ms. Ester, your favorite teacher, make you some? In any rate, you’re very glad that you’re learning many new things. You already learn how to count from 1 to 2. That’s not bad considering you’re not even 2 years old yet. You’re already counting ahead of your age.

I pointed to the dog and you said “con cho”
I pointed to the cat and you said “con meo”
I pointed to the cow and you said “sua” (milk)

Sure, you have always liked train, but it has become your obsession lately. We spent hours on Saturday at Curiosity Connection with your buddy May and all you focused on was a red train. We did have a great time though. Co Linh was very sweet. I was in awed watching you and May eat the pretty food she prepared for the two of you. I was also very happy that you and May getting along so well even though you two have complete opposite personality. May ran all over the place and you just glued to the train table.

After saying goodbye to May and co Linh, we went to visit grandma and your cousins. You picked up Eric’s Thomas train and didn’t let go even when you went to bed. Sunday we met up with May and co Linh again at the Hands-on House. You didn’t seem to enjoy the place too much because you didn’t get to take your nap and the place also had no train. After about an hour and a half, you went back to the front desk to play with the little trains that were for sale.

The long week went great until we went to bac Tram’s house for dinner. You misbehaved and didn’t want to eat your dinner. The result was that you got your first timeout. You will get more standing and facing the wall if you keep that up.

Unlike your distance “twin,” you understand the meaning of “cay” (spicy), but you don’t believe us when we tell you so. At several Pho houses, you kept pointing to the Sriracha hot chili sauce bottle and say ketchup. You insisted on dipping it with the meatball. Mom finally let you tasted yesterday at Pho 495 and now you know not every red-looking condiment is ketchup.

The other day, I poured out some wine and said “ru” (my southern style for “ruou”). You repeated as “lu” and pointed to the pomegranate, your favorite fruit for the moment.

Yesterday, you broke the music box and told mom “uh oh.” Mom said in Vietnamese “I have to ask grandpa to fix it.” You heard the word “sua,” which means fix, but you associated with, “sua, sua, sua, sua” and pointed to the refrigerator for your milk.

You recognize family members through pictures. If I point to my mother, you would say “ba noi.” If I point to your mom’s mother, you would say “ba ngoai.” If I point to mommy, you would say “ma.” If I point out your baby pictures, you would say “baby.”

Not only you know what you want, but also you know who can help you to get what you want and you do it in the way that is hard to refuse: by holding the person’s hand. Whenever you want milk, you would hold my hand, walk to the refrigerator and say “sua.” Whenever you want to read, you take me to the bookshelf. When you want to go to sleep, you grab mommy’s hand and say “ngu” (sleep). When we go to Bac Tram’s house, you would pull out fish’s food, grab Bac Ky’s hand, point to the fish tank and say, “fish an.” When you want to play with the train under the Christmas tree, you grab Bac Tram’s hand, point to the controller and say “chocho train.” The first thing you wake up in the morning when you’re at grandparent’s house is running over grandparent’s room. You grab grandma’s hand and point to your favorite ginger candy. At your other grandma’s house, you grab her hand and point her to the pomegranate. When it comes to pomegranate, you do not need any personal assistant. You just pick out each piece one by one. When you want juice, you would say “juice” with your lips stick out longer than Angelina Jolie’s.

At this stage, you already know what you want. You prefer your milk cold. Last night, mommy warmed up your milk. You took a sip, returned the bottle and said “nong.” Whenever we give you Raisin Bran, you would pick out the raisin from the cereal. With sneakers, you prefer to pick your own even though you only have two choices. In reading time, you come to the bookshelf and pick out the book you want me to read to you. I usually read in English and then quickly translate the text to you in Vietnamese as well. Right now you use both languages simultaneously and I hope that you will maintain your bilingual skills. You sure are a good communicator. You mean “no” when you say it out loud and clear. The best thing you do now is putting away your toys when you’re done. The teachers at the daycare train you well. The thing you still need to improve is brushing your teeth.