My busy life...

I apologize for not being able to write in a while. You know, being boss is a very busy job. And right now, I am extremely busy. My cousin Abigail (or Abby for short) is visiting. My gong gong (grandpa) and ah-ma (grandma) are taking care of her. I find it amusing that everyone keeps reminding me that "Abigail is a real baby." Don't they think I see that? It's quite obvious. She moves and cries like no other baby doll I have ever seen. I want to hold her, but everyone always freaks out. I tell them that I'll "be careful," but they watch me like a hawk. They make me sit in the corner of the sofa and I can only hold her when I am sitting there. I think that Abby much rather I walk around with her. Sure, I am somewhat short in stature, but I have amazing strength. Why, the other day, I moved the step stool from the bathroom to the bookshelf to retrieve a book all by myself. If that's not pure strength, I am not sure what is. Anyways, I digress. Abby is a great gal. I think she has great potential for being a boss, too. She already has all the adults at her beck and call. I am a little worried that she may try to overthrow me, but I have one thing in my favor: she doesn't speak the language the adults speak. She hasn't learned yet that they won't speak her language no matter how hard she tries. I have tried to tell her. "Goo goo gaa gaa baa baa baa," I say. But she just won't believe me. She's a little on the naive side. Well, she will realize it in time. As for now, I am quite content to do the translating for her and secure my place as boss of all. Til next time...

Arranged Marriages...making a come back?

Most of Naomi's lil' friends are boys and like mothers will do, we speculate what it would be like if our sweet cherubs got together one day. So here are her options. You can help decide who would be the best match for her. I am not against finding her a mate now. Then I don't have to worry about "boyfriends" in the future.

Option 1: Jack
A boy who is one year her senior...relatively shy in public (should be a good compliment to her social personality), parents are respectable (father works for a university and mom was a teacher before becoming a full-time mother) and good friends of ours, blond hair and blue eyes (should make fore some extremely cute grandbabies)

Option 2: Jayden
This little boy of Chinese descent is a couple months younger than Naomi, lives right across the street (makes for visiting easy), gets along with her well.

Option 3: Ryan
Another neighborhood boy (just right around the corner) of Chinese descent, parents are long-time friends of Ray's, a year older and out-going

Option 4: Noah
A year younger, but super cute, mom is a good friend of mine, has real good potential of producing cute grandbabies (you know, the Caucasian and Asian mix).

Option 5: Gavin
Quite a bit younger (approx. 1 1/2 year), of Chinese descent, parents are good friends of the family, hard to say what he will be like, but parents are very interested in Naomi.

So...what do you think? Any front-runners? Or am I jumping the gun and trying to bring back a tradition that will never fly with the "boss"?

If you give Naomi her baby doll...

If you give Naomi her baby doll, she'll ask for her stroller. Once she finds her stroller, she'll want a purse to play with. And it won't be any old purse, she'll want my Coach purse. And when she has those things, she'll pretend to go shopping, but she'll remember that it's more fun to do the real thing so she'll ask to go to Trader Joe's. And if you take her to Trader Joe's, she'll ask you to buy some grapes. And as you are picking out the grapes, she'll notice the blackberries and ask for those too. Once you return to the cart, she'll want to hold them (because she wants to be in control). Looking at the blackberries, it'll remind her of her favorite dried fruit, cranberries. Then she'll want to get some of those. So you get her a pack of cranberries. The cranberries will look so good that she just can't wait to eat them, so she'll tell you she's hungry. You'll ask her what she would like to eat and after some "hmmmm"ing, she'll remember how much she loves edamame. So of course, she says, "Edamame." So you go over to the frozen section and pick out a pack of edamame. And naturally, she'll want to hold them. But since they are cold and Naomi does not like the cold, she'll give them back and say, "Too cold, mommy. You hold it." So you put it in the cart. This will remind her that there are other things back there. She'll turn her head and see the loaf of bread, which reminds her that she wants a snack. "Bread! Mommy, Naomi eat bread." You'll tell her to wait until you pay for it, so you rush and get in line. In line, she'll see the cashier and remember that she can ask for stickers. When it's your turn to pay, she'll say, "Stickers please." The cashier will think that Naomi is so cute and give her 20 stickers! Naomi is delighted. She'll say, "Thank you!" and be distracted by them for a while. When you get to the car, she'll remember that she wants the bread. So you give her some. The bread will taste so good, she'll ask for more when she's done. When you finally get her strapped in her car seat, she'll automatically demand to listen to songs. And if you play songs for her, she'll tell you to sing as well. And when the song is through, she'll want it "again" so you leave the song on repeat. And once you get home, she'll think of her baby doll. So she'll go looking for it. As she's looking for it, she'll see her stroller. Her stroller will remind her that she likes to go shopping at Trader Joe's. And that will make her run up to me and say, "Naomi go to Trader Joe's?"

I lub you mommy

Ahhh...the words that melts all mommies' hearts. In between all the "no's, I do's!" and "mine's" are the those precious words. As we rock in the glider (one of the best buys of all time), she turns to me and looks into my soul with her big brown eyes. She takes my face in her pudgy hands and says, "I lub you mommy." She gives me a kiss and snuggles back into my chest. I sing her a lullaby and she holds on to me, with an arm tucked behind me and another fist holding onto her blanket. Then she requests her "I love you" song and I get up from the glider. I sing to her as I place her in her crib, tuck her blanket underneath her chin, and kiss her good night. "Night-night Mommy. Sweet dweams." "Sweet dreams gorgeous girl," I whisper back. I turn out her light and slip away, leaving my little girl to dream her dreams.

No talking allowed when singing

I can not tell you how annoyed I am when my parents talk to each other when I want to listen to songs in the car. I tell them to sing if they insist on flapping their lips through the car ride. My mommy will start singing as my daddy continues to jabber on about whatever it is he is jabbering about. But he always seems to get her to stop singing to me and get her to talk to him after a few notes. How frustrating! Doesn't he know that that's MY MOMMY and she does what I want her to do?!?! Then today they did the weirdest thing (of course, thinking I wouldn't notice). They sang talked to each other. What is this you ask? Well, let's just say I am listening to the "Eensy-Weensy Spider," one of my favorite songs, and I tell them to sing the song with me. Well, they talk to each other in the tune of the song, thinking that I would not notice!!! Of course, I noticed. What dummy wouldn't? It's obvious that there is no such lyric as "My day at work was tiring, I really need to go to bed. How was your day? And how is your head?" Ridiculous I tell you!! Once I can reach that volume control, I am going to use it to drown out all that annoying talking. They better watch out!

Bargaining Queen

I think Naomi will grow up and be great lawyer and/or be an excellent shopper at flea markets. She has become a master negotiator in a short span of time (as she is only 20 months) and I feel my grip of control loosening ever so slowly and surely. When she takes a nap, we negotiate how many books we'll read (if left up to her, the number of books would be never-ending, followed by an infinite amount of songs). When I say, "One only," she'll say, "No, two only." We negotiate which shoes she'll wear and luckily, for now, she isn't choosing which outfits she'll wear or how she'll have her hair. Though I see those days nearing all too quickly. Trust me, I only give her options when options are appropriate. However, she has found a way to make everything a deal. When she says, "Eat edamame only" and looks at me as if to really say, "Meal or no meal?" what do I do? Of course, I take the meal. *sigh* I'll be lucky if we make it through her "terrible twos." I hear those are just awful.

Being bossy isn't easy

Being bossy isn't as easy as it looks. And I would prefer using the word, "assertive" as "bossy" has such a negative connotation. It's a hard world when you are only 2' 7" and weigh about 27 pounds. So being assertive is a must. What would you do if you had to sleep in a bed that had railings all around it and climbing out is not an option (as I am also a very cautious person)? And it's difficult when they make everything in this world so tall. Shouldn't I tell people what I need and when I need it? It isn't my fault that I can't reach the things I want. Everything is an inconvenience to me and so, inadvertently I must rely on these people, whose names are "mommy" and "daddy". Though I find it interesting that the person called, "daddy" also has several other names, depending on the mood of the "mommy". When she seems to be in a good mood, she calls him, "honey" and if there isn't a response after a few a attempts, or if she is in a bad mood, she yells out, "Ray". However, she insists that I only call him, "daddy". And since there are no other short people around like me, I also have to depend on "mommy" and "daddy" as playmates. They're ok. They will read me books and daddy is good at playing hide-and-go-seek, but I think I would be much better off with someone closer to me in height and age. I need my milk now, so I better find that "mommy" and get her to get it for me. Until next time...