Joyeux NOEL

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!!!!!!

LOVE

So I asked : " Hey Noel, why do you love mama?"

Noel answered : " Because you love me!"  with a mouth full of mac and cheese!

love notes

What happens when your kid learns to read and write? 

I thought receiving love notes is a high school privilege ( at least it was when I was younger.)  Lately, I could be doing dishes, and as I turn around, there will be a love note left by my feet.  Or I could be getting ready for bed, and there on my pillow, another love note :)  Without fail, each time those carefully composed note brings me a big smile. 

 

What a sweet child!

unconditional love

By nature, Noel really is a very sweet child, I have not, so far, witnessed the fierce temper such as mine (sometimes,)  although I have seen plenty of stubbornness that is no doubt, coming from her mama.

Perhaps it's the age thing, when I am not getting enough sleep, my temper fares up, and I become pretty...hmmm, unreasonable, this weekend was eventful, from the lack of sleep, to the drop of the temperature, the breaking down of the sump pump in the basement...... I am telling you, I even called Starbucks and complained their employee. 

During moments like this, my sweet daughter is always on my side, she might drop a few tears when mama got mad at her (well, sometimes it's necessary because someone misbehaves!)  but for the most part, she is the one brings me that unconditional love : "mama, you are not mad at me, you are just tired, right?"

And the next thing you know, she "brews" me a cup of coffee or tea to cheer me up :)

My real cup of coffee might be the one that wakes me up; but this tiny cup is the one that warms my heart, and it's always filled with lots of love from Noel.

 

Noel : " mama, here is a drawing of me being bad at first, but after I apologized, you are happy!  and I love it when you are happy."

"and.....

...this is me bringing you a cup of tea!"

She did not mention anything about the writing on her shirt, but I know..."

I have lots to learn from my little girl.

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!

"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 !

message on the computer screen

...it really makes you realize, it's 21st century, there is no more message in the bottle!  ha!

in competition

Noel: "mama, I love you."

Mama: "I love you too."

Noel: "I love you 3."

Mama: "I love you 4."

Noel: "I love you 5."

Mama and Noel....continue....

Not a bad way to learn to count!

I am buying....

Noel earned 3 coins from mama today!

"Mama, my piggy bank is getting full, soon, the coins will come all the way up!"  She excitedly exclaimed. 

Indeed, Noel behaves so well today that she deserved every single one.  And she is learning the fact that "coins(money)" buy things!

"So Noel, what are you going to buy when the piggy bank is full?" I asked.

The answer.......

Dinosaurs?

Nope.

She said:

"I am buying books for you mama!"