Joyeux NOEL

big words!

Breakfast time, if I am fully awake?

My 5-year-old is eating her breakfast waffle, turns and tells me : " mama, we need to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, you know?"

Amazed at the big words, I say to her : " you are one smart cookie, such smart brain God gives you, better use it in a good place when you grow up!"

Noel replies : " Sure, speaking of 'brain,' in ancient Egypt when they made mummies, they put the brains in the canopic jars."

Impressive!  Children have some many resources nowadays.

grow flower, grow

Just when I thought my little girl is so very mature, she has a cute way of reminding me - that she is still 5!

Noel came to me yesterday, had a serious look on her face.  Holding her "flower pot,"  she said : " mama, look, this flower is not growing, I give it a lot of love and sunshine, but it still does not have a flower!"

made in Taiwan

"Mama, look at this, it's made in China, AGAIN!"

Noel did not forget to bring up the tone of her voice when it comes to "AGAIN!"  Noel reads labels (finally, a positive thing for having a peanut allergy!)  and it's not difficult for her to spot the fact that, nearly every household product, big and small, is made in China! 

Nothing new, she had made that discovery a year ago....

"....but I know something I LOVE that is not made in China, but made in Taiwan!"

Noel, took me by surprise after declared her "discovery,"  now I am curious, so I asked " oh, yeah, what is it?"

"You, mama, you!  You are made in Taiwan, and I LOVE you!"

Seriously, who teaches her all that stuff!!!!!!

hey, who kicks me?

Noel says: "mama, sometimes I wake up, I thought it's morning, but it's not, it's still dark outside, so I close my eyes and go back to sleep." a few seconds later, Noel continues : "... and I check if you are still there by stick out my foot to feel you, and I have to do it on both side because sometimes I don't know which side you are."
Mama : " what is why I keep getting all these bruises from you kicking me in my sleep!"

"polar express" bread

So I taught Noel the proper name of this bread in Chinese....and when it comes out of her mouth, it becomes... "so this is a polar bread?  polar express bread, mama?"

for auntie Junny

a piece of green m&m

Noel: "mama, do you remember what happened when we were in the aquarium?"

Mama:" we were NOT in the aquarium."

Noel: "yes, we were, long time ago, and you got mad at me?"

Oh my goodness, Noel is talking about our last trip to the aquarium, almost 6 months ago.... how could she still remember it.

The trip started out so well, we looked at fish, big one and small ones, we looked at turtles, frogs, crabs, sea horses and the beautiful jelly fish...etc!  Until....I caught the sight of Noel bending down, tired to picked up a pieces of (what seems to be) crushed green m&m.  Parents of children with peanut allergy know, m&m is a big no no, even the plain ones.  I screamed literally a second before her finger touched the "dangerous" item : "STOP IT!"  Noel did, but she was shocked, and scared, before she got a chance to say anything, I could not help but continue to yell: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  THAT THING COULD HAVE A PEANUT IN IT, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? "

This is so not me, but I become so helplessly scared and defensive when it comes to this peanut issue.  As a matter of fact, I angered and lost some friends and family because of it.  They think I am way too over reacted.  Well, I am a careful person, and I am not risking my child's life over some people who are not worth to be around.  Anyway, back to the subject, yes, with peanut allergy, you do not need to ingest it to get a deadly reaction, contact reaction just can be as scary. 

After a few awkward moments of quietness.  I came to my senses, knowing this is so unlike Noel's normal behavior - we are talking about a kid  my babysitters look at in amazement; at age one, she could hold and draw with crayons so well instead of putting them in her mouth.  It's odd at age 3 she would try to pick up a piece of candy on the floor (and tried to eat it?)

So I asked: "Noel, why did you do that?"

Noel looked at me with her big teary eyes : " I am sorry mama.  I was trying to pick up baby turtle and bring her back to her mama."

All in a sudden it hit me, my God, the crushed green m&m looks just like a baby green turtle.........

I remember how much my little girl loves me, and how much she enjoys matching up "mama and babies!" (those stuff animals do not come as sets!!!! Noel managed to dig through her toy boxes and match them.) 

prayer tonight

"Dear Jesus, thank you for putting mama in this house, please do not take her away, I love her and this is just right! Amen."

I did not teach her that!

you tell me if this is true?

if you can understand what she is saying!

"I am a big girl now!"

Noel at 1-year-old with mama.

Noel was born in the evening hour.  After doctor and nurses left my room, I walked over to the nursery few doors down to visit with my new born daughter.  Other than thinking : "how ugly, but yet, cute she is" I assumed the nurses are taking care of her for the night and after a long labor, I was so ready for a good night of sleep.

Only did I know, an hour later, a knock on the door, the nurse pushed the bassinet in.....and we were on our own, sleeping in the same room for the night.....

So Noel has been co-sleeping with me ever since.

There is a reason why I am still up at 4 :46 am and digging out old photos.  It all started out with a present my friend Robert gave to Noel  - a set of OXO candela lights.  Noel loves them so much, as soon as it gets dark, she is in her room playing with them.  Here is the "mistake" I made - I told her tonight that little kids used them as night lights so they can go find their mommy or daddy in their room.

So tonight, as I was getting ready for bed, surprised, I found the orange light sitting on my night stand.  But where is the pink one?  And where is Noel?

She was in her own bed, her own room, light was out, but I could still see her under the sweet yet dim pink light.

"Why are you here?"  I asked.

"I am a big girl now, so I am going to sleep in my own bed.  I left an orange light in your night stand mama, if you miss me, you can come find me at night."  Noel replied, did not sound like a 4 -year-old at all.

I went back to my room, thinking - well, it's about time, it's good for both of us to have our own space.

Minutes passed, I felt a sense of lost...I took my orange light and went into Noel's room, finding her still awake.  I asked: "do you want to come back baby?"

"no, I am a big girl now."  Noel insisted.

Another 5 minutes passed, a pink light shined through my bedroom door, I knew it!  But Noel said she is coming just to say hi.....and she left again.

10 minutes later....."mama, I am coming to remind you how to use the orange light, okay?"  She left again.

Now, it's 5: 18 am.  Am I alone in bed?  Nope, Noel is still here.  A very silly mother and daughter team, played that game for over an hour.  both knowing, it's not the time to let go of our sleeping arrangement yet......my sweet and "not-so -big" big girl !