Three.

Quynh starts sentences with, "Actually..."

Quynh tells jokes that aren't funny.

Quynh sings songs.

Quynh cackles when you tickle her and begs you to stop.  Then she calms down and says, "Again!!"

Quynh is learning her letters and her numbers.

Quynh will climb anything that looks climbable and hang from anything she can find.

Quynh likes to do puzzles.

Quynh cheats at rock-paper-scissors.

Quynh is terrible at playing 20 Questions.

Quynh takes good care of her (five!) baby dolls.

Quynh is fully potty trained.

Quynh sometimes sleeps naked.

Quynh dresses herself.  Sometimes 3 times a day--she enjoys costume changes.

Quynh has a difficult time making decisions.

Quynh has a voracious appetite......for sweets.

Quynh orders for herself in restaurants.

Quynh's favorite shows are Go Diego Go and Ni Hao Kai Lan -- because she likes to yell at the TV.

Quynh loves music and frequently initiates Kitchen Dance Parties -- especially if she's wearing a good twirling dress.

Quynh feeds the dog.

Quynh likes to help pack lunches and make dinner.

Quynh can be opinionated and feisty.

Quynh is imaginative and loves to play, "Going to California" with her brother, in her closet.  She also plays "Going to the Beach" and "Going to School".  She's always going somewhere.

Quynh loves art projects and frequently wanders into the playroom and helps her self to paper, scissors, glue, etc.

Quynh is beautiful.

Quynh is kind.

Quynh is brave.

Quynh is three.

Economics Lesson in the Toy Aisle

It's important to me to raise thoughtful, generous kids.  This is why I take Tai to the toy aisle at Target and let him choose birthday gifts for his friends whenever he's been invited to a party.  I do this to teach him about giving.  I do this despite the fact that it is hell for me.

He actually did really well the first couple times, when his task was to spend far too long drooling over all the really cool toys that he'd like to have for himself and then choose one to give a (boy) friend.

But last weekend he did.....um....less well choosing a birthday gift for Quynh.  Maybe because it is his sister?  Maybe because she is a girl?  I'm not sure why, but despite me being very clear about the plan he started asking me to buy HIM something just as we approached the toy aisle.  I stopped short of entering the Dreaded Toy Section of Target and said very clearly that we were there to get something for Quynh and that's it.

Upon entering the Toy Section, he immediately needed clarification over the money situation, so he asked, "Am I buying this with MY money?  Or are you?"  I assured him that all he had to do was choose the gift and I'd buy it.  I did not give him a particular price point to work with, but he generally senses that the items in huge boxes on the bottom shelf are way too expensive. He tends to point at them and declare, "I know we're not getting that!"

So we started to browse and he started turning down all my suggestions.  The doll's bed, the mermaid tub toy, the Dora sprinkler, the My Little Pony -- none of them were what he wanted to buy her.  "Mama, I'm NOT getting her THAT!"  was heard by shoppers several aisles away a few times.

Then he got distracted.

"Tai, I don't think she wants a Star Wars Lego set...."
"Tai, we're not getting her a leap pad video game system...."
"Tai I know that YOU want X, Y, Z, but you need to focus and find something for Quynh..."

After a few more whines of the, "But can't we get this for ME?" nature, he got really smart and came out with this one: "If I get something for Quynh that just costs a little money, can I use the left-over money to get something for myself?"

Genius.  Pure genius--I was totally impressed.  And pissed off.  What kind of attitude is that?  Can't you just see him picturing himself coming home with a $1.99 plastic piece of crap for Quynh and a $20 Avengers Action Figure for himself?   I held my ground and said that no matter the price of the gift he selected for Quynh we were not buying anything for him.

The good news is he pulled it together just short of me throwing a My Little Pony into the cart and carrying him kicking and screaming to the checkout.  He zeroed in on a gender-neutral, age-appropriate toy that I really do think Quynh will enjoy playing with (and Tai will too, which seems to have been his criteria all along).

Self Sufficient

Tai and Quynh are different in so many ways, one of which being their willingness to do things for themselves.  I don't know whether it's due to their age, birth order, sex, or just personality, but they differ dramatically on the self-motivation scale.

Quynh is full-on in the "I do it myself!" phase, which can be both adorable and frustrating (like her insistence that she apply her own sunscreen this morning at a painfully slow pace).  Tai, on the other hand, follows the "Why do it myself when someone else will do it for me?" philosophy.  Don't get me wrong, he actually does do lots of things on his own (get dressed, brush his teeth, etc).   But he does seem to be much less excited by the idea of self-sufficiency than his sister.  Actually, looking back I think he had this attitude even as a toddler.  Anyway, last night Quynh reached a new level in self sufficiency that I didn't even know about until this morning.

Having recently mastered the overnight potty training thing, she was pleased as punch to go to bed buck naked last night (as her brother does every night -- I guess they are not that different).  Yet this morning she emerged from her room and had to take off underpants before using the potty.  Huh?

Apparently at some point between tuck-in and wake-up (which she calls, "the middle of the night" but for all I know it was 6am) she woke up and decided she needed bum cream.  But she didn't need any help.

As far as I can tell she acquired the cream (from the top of her dresser, by balancing on tip-toe on the foot-board of her bed), un-capped the tube of cream, applied it liberally to the relevant area of her body, re-capped the tube, replaced it on her dresser, and then (wisely) took a pair of underpants from her drawer and put them on before climbing back under the covers.

Sometimes it's like she doesn't even need parents.

Early Literacy

Recently Tai and some of his classmates have taken an interest in writing letters and spelling words.  The children have been approaching the teachers for help spelling words that are of particular interest to them.  The teacher writes the word on a scrap of paper for the child to then copy in their own hand.

Apparently the teachers really are leaving it to the children to decide which words they would like to practice writing because yesterday Tai came home with a piece of paper that simply said:

AUSTRALOPITHECUS
HOT WHEELS

Boy's Night Out

The other night Minh took Tai out to a concert of classical soloists (think violins, harps, flutes, soprano singers, etc).  We know one of the violinists, and Tai is really into classical music so it seemed like the perfect outing. 

At dinner we managed Quynh's disappointment in not being able to go by explaining that it was late at night -- too late for toddlers. 

We also tried to preempt any misbehavior from Tai by explaining that it was actually a grown-up event and he might be the only kid there, so he'd need to act all grown-up.  Minh suggested he even put on some nice grown-up clothes for the occasion.

Tai *loved* that idea and dashed off to his room to put on the jeans he never wears (which are very grown-up because they have a zipper and a snap)  and his only button-down shirt.  He even insisted on a tank top under the shirt and boxer briefs so he'd look, "just like Daddy."   

After he was dressed, he had abut 15 minutes of time to kill in the playroom before leaving.  During that time I overheard this conversation between Tai and his sister:


Q: Tai, why do you have a Big Grown-Up Shirt on?
T: Because that lets everybody know I am old enough to go to the concert.
Q: Are you going to see everybody there, with the same shirt?
T: Yes.
Q: They might have different shirts.....

He wore the outfit for only a few hours, so he decided to re-use it the next day at school.  Apparently it was quite the conversation starter, and Tai even shared at Morning Meeting all about his outfit and the concert he attended.