I was working on my laptop computer the other day in the family room. The girls just finished playing and they both decided to pick up a book and started reading. A few moments later, I over-heard Allison commented to Katelyn how she doesn’t like the idea of polar bears chasing and attacking poor penguins.

She’d made similar comments to me in the past, but the general response I usually gave her is how that’s just natural. You know, the circle of life thing… Apparently, that wasn’t a satisfying answer for Allison because she’s repeating same question to her big sister. A few days earlier, we also had watched a PBS nature show where David Attenborough was narrating a piece about polar bears going hunting for beluga whales trapped in the ice. Watching this probably triggered the concern about polar bears going after penguins in Allison’s head.

Then I observed a remarkable sisterly act from Katelyn…

She asked Allison to go to the living room and bring back a globe. We have a wooden medium-sized world globe that sits on a stand. Allison lugged the globe back for her sister. Katelyn put the globe in her lap and asked Allison to sit next to her. She pointed at the top of the globe and explained to Allison that it’s called the Artic and it’s where the polar bears live. She then inverted the globe and pointed to Antartica and explained that’s where the penguins live.

Katelyn went on to explain to Allison how it’d be impossible for polar bears to attack penguins because they live in the opposite sides of the earth. She explained:

The polar bears would have have to swim very far from north to south to get to the penguins!

Allison just said “Oh!” and seemed relieved.

I didn’t say a word– partly because my jaw just dropped. Couldn’t believe what I witnessed; I got a big kick out of what I just saw. Katelyn not only was addressing her little sister’s question but also tried to prove her point with a visual aid! And she did it with the intent of soothing her sister’s “concern” for the penguins.

It didn’t even occur to their ol’ dad that polar bears and penguins live on opposite poles. Smack on the head! No wonder I never ever saw any video footage of polar bears chasing after penguins. Man… my own daughter made me feel dumb. Katelyn did a better job then I did trying to make Allison feels better about polar bears going after penguins. She truly impressed me and made me a proud daddy.

I don’t expect Allison to ask the question again, thanks to her je-je (big sister).

Allison woke up early this morning and she spent the morning with me watching a little TV. She agreed when I asked her if she wanted hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. As I was putting the eggs in the pot, she stooped up from the couch and yelled out cooking instructions:

“Daddy, cook the eggs 15 minutes and then 15 minutes. Okay?”

That’s her way of telling me that she likes her eggs extra-boiled.

Our family was at our favorite noodle house a few weeks ago for lunch. While waiting for our bowls of noodles, Suzanne & I were entertaining the kids. I tried to plant a kiss on Suzanne to which the kids usually get disgusted and go “Yewwwwhhh.” Suzanne playfully refuses the kiss, to which Allison surprisingly threw up her hands and suggested:

“But Mommy, it’s all about love!”

One night many months ago, I was re-telling the story of the Tri-county pie-eating contest to Katelyn & Allison. Most people probably remember it from Stephen Kings’s Stand By Me– the barforama scene was both funny and gross to me when I watched it 20+ years ago. I had to rename the character from “Lard Ass” to “Fat Art” to do away with a “bad” word. Anyway, I grossed out the girls but they enjoyed how Fat Art got his revenge and got back at the people who were cruel to him. I told them that the story was from a movie.

So earlier this week, I caught Stand By Me on cable at the train scene which is just right before the barforama scene. So I called the girls from their room to watch the scene with me. I figured it’d be cool to make good on my promise of letting them see that part of the movie. When it was done, they thought it was pretty gross with all the barfing but they also thought it was funny too. As I turned off the TV and asked Allison:

Rex: “Did you like it?”

Allison: “It’s funny Daddy!”

Allison was impressed: “But how do you know these things?”

Rex: “You mean the story? Daddy watched the movie a long time ago. But I remember the story because it’s one of Daddy’s favorite movies!”

Allison: “Oh… I like it too Daddy!”

I think she was impressed that the story was “real” and that her old dad didn’t make up it all up…

Coming home last night, I was greeted by my my 5 year old:

Allison: “Hi Daddy”
Rex: “Hi Allison, what are you doing?”
A: “Just playing…”
R: “I miss you…”
A: smiles…
R: “Daddy was at work today and Daddy was thinking about you, wondering what you were doing!”
A: looks at me puzzled…
A shrugging her shoulder: “But Daddy, I go to school! Don’t you remember?”

Sometimes I forget 5 year olds can be very literal conversationally… So very cute!

We spent two nights at my sister in-law’s on a short trip to LA after Christmas. On the last night, Suzanne was out late seeing an old friend. I was putting the girls to bed when they asked for a story as they often do. At home, sometime instead of reading books I would tell them stories– some true accounts and some I make up. So, I was looking around at the new surrounding for things to work into my story (I usually make things up as I go) when I saw a ceiling fan. That gave me an idea.

So I made up this story of a boy who woke up and discovered himself all sweaty on a sweltering summer day. He got ready for school, but grew increasingly uncomfortable in the hot morning. He kept complaining about the heat to his mother and didn’t want to go to school. His endless whining throughout breakfast gave her an idea. She gave him a shoe box and told him that it was magic! This magical thing in the box will instantly make him cool and comfortable. But there’s one condition: he cannot open it until he gets to class. Otherwise, the magic will not work. The boy got excited, grabbed the box and sprinted out the house. Along the way, he bragged about the magic box that will make him cool to every friend he encountered.

By the time he got to school the entire class knew about the magic box. As the boy sat down in class, anticipation built and all eyes were on him. The boy excitedly put the magic box on his desk, took a deep breath, surveyed the entire class and then calmly removed the cover. His eye bugged out, mouth gasped as he reached in the magic box with his hand and grabed its magical content: a paper fan which his mother made and inscribed with crayons “I love you, mom!” The boy raised the fan to show all his friends in pure delight. The collective excitement of the students exploded in a thunderous applause.

The end…

Katelyn and Allison were cracking up as I finished the story– just the feedback I was looking for. Allison then excitedly jumped out of her bed, made a fist with her hand, put it on the middle of her forehead and excitedly said to me: “Daddy, when you were telling the story I see everything in my head!”

Well… with a response like that, I guess that story was magical to me too.

This is cool if you have children like me. The full Wikipedia for Schools selection has been made available on a DVD. It’s a free and community-based alternative to Microsoft Encarta and the likes. Very cool…

K&A may be a bit too young for this, but I’ll make them a copy and check it out.

You can download it via BitTorrent here.

At 9:47AM this morning, Allison turns exactly 5 years old. She’s such a happy and lovely child. She makes up for her petite in size with her stubbornness. She loves to color, draw and dress up as princesses. She knows how to melt your heart and has her daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Happy birthday kiddo, I love you…

Even at an early age, Allison exhibited stubbornness. She was born in 2003, the year of the goat/ram in lunar calendar. So we sometimes try to explain her stubbornness by attributing her as “stubborn as a goat”, an old saying.

So I was working on my photo book last night when Katelyn and Allison both came running and screaming into the computer room. Katelyn was especially upset and started swinging her arm out of frustration. Though not intentionally, she hit Allison. I promptly sent her to the corner. Intentionally or not, she violated rule #1 “no hitting.”

Later on, I sat down with both to understand what went on. Katelyn claimed Allison started it all by snatching a toy Katelyn was still playing with, without asking. I gave Allison a stern look and I can see her immediate panic in her eyes. Seeing the attention has shifted to her, she quickly sprung up for damage control.

Rex: “Allison, did you grab Katelyn’s toy without asking?”

Allison: “Daddy, but I’m learning…”

Rex: “But you know it’s not nice to grab things without asking!”

Allison: “But I’m learning…”

Rex: “You know it’s not nice, but why did you do it?”

Allison: “But Daddy, I’m the year of the goat! Remember?”

Priceless…

Earlier this year, I resurrected the girls’ fish tank. Took the girls to the local pet store, Allison chose an orange guppy and Katelyn chose a gold fish.

Katelyn named hers Fred; Allison named her fish Rose.

I set up the fish tank in their bedroom and made it a ritual for the girls to feed the fish before going to bed each night. While I still have to remind them, Allison is always happily feed the fish. Katelyn on the other hand isn’t always keen about it. And it shows…

Rose is doing well. On the other hand, we’ve gone through Fred I & Fred II already. I promised Katelyn we’re going to take her to get Fred III later today.

Let’s hope we can fool Rose with Fred III. Perhaps she’s wised up about the situation already…

Last week, the girls helped their mom making me an omelet on the morning of Father’s Day. We then head out to the backyard to snap some pictures before heading out to Suzanne’s sister’s for lunch and then a movie. Caught Indiana Jones finally…

Here’s a snapshot of me & my 2 girls on Father’s day.

We were driving yesterday and explained to the girls that we were going to look to buy a house.

Suzanne: We are going to look at a house because we’re looking to buy a house.
Allison: We’re going to buy a house?
Suzanne: Yeah…
Allison: Are you kidding?
Suzanne: No.
Allison ponders then said: But how are we going to bring it home, Mommy?

I was helping Allison finishing up her bathroom “duties”, when Allison stepped on the stool in front of the sink and looked at herself. Then she grinned and said:

“Hello gorgeous!”
Then she bursts out laughing…

That girl is too much!!!

Allison is known to be the drama princess in the house. Here’s proof from yesterday when the sisters got into a small arguments:

Katelyn: “Stop that …”
Allison: “You stop it, Je Je (big sis)”
Katelyn: “I said stop it, Allison!”
Allison: “No…”
Katelyn: “Keep your balloon over your side…”
silence… then Allison: “Je Je… you broke my heart!”

We kept it pretty simple this past Mother’s Day. The girls dressed up and posed for some pictures with their mother before heading to a BBQ with our relatives.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather this past weekend, we took the kids & their cousin to a local park for a “bear picnic.” They each grabbed their favorite teddy bears and we spent the afternoon eating, flying kite, taking pictures, biking, reading and playing. I can’t remember the last time I got to nap in a breezy afternoon in the park like that…

I came home today to find Allison distraught, yelling at the top of her lungs. I learned that she was arguing with her sister and mis-behaving. After she refused to apologize to her sister as ordered, her mom promptly sent her to her room– she was told not to come out until she calms down. She balked when I offered my help, so I left her alone in her room.

As I walked away, I heard her screams:

Nobody loves me in this family. My sister doesn’t love me. My mommy doesn’t love me and my daddy doesn’t love me. And I don’t like anyone!

What drama princess! And stubborn. Took another 10, 15 minutes for her to calm down. I came in to sooth her and gave her a nice talk; then I carried her out to the family room. Then she did something nothing short of being miraculous; she walked up to her sister, started bawling and apologized (I didn’t even prompt her to apologize) with rivers of tears down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry JeJe (big sister). bah…”

See what I mean about stubbornness? She refused to apologize when ordered and did it only on her own terms. Katelyn gave Allison a big-sisterly embrace, wiped away her sister’s tears– telling Allison that everything is okay. When asked why she is crying, Allison then said:

I cry because it’s very hard for me to say I’m sorry. bahh, bahhh…

Her mom & I looked at each other in total amazement. I mean total shock since we never seen an admission like this from Allison, ever. Suzanne almost cry right then & there. Me? I’m a rock!

bahhh, bahhhh….

My youngest daughter Allison has a favorite pillow. It’s actually a throw pillow, but it’s made of this super soft material. She doesn’t actually sleep on it, but uses it as a body pillow. She places it on her right side of the bed every night. She really loves the pillow– so much that she’s become very protective of it. Here’s a telling episode…

We let the girls sleep with us on our bed on Saturdays– it’s a treat for them and us! A few times we’d asked Allison if she wants to bring her favorite pillow with her to our bed. To our surprise, she always declines. Odd, but whatever… So this past Saturday, Suzanne grabbed Allison’s pillow without asking. Allison objected, but relented since it was late and Suzanne didn’t want to go back and get another pillow.

The next morning, Allison got up. First thing she did was stealthily got off the bed, grabbed her pillow and put it back on her bed before heading out to the living room. Little did she realized that her sly actions were being observed by Suzanne who was already up but been laying still in bed. Curious, Suzanne asked Allison later that morning why she took her pillow back rather than just leaving it behind (she’s not the tidy type)– to which Allison replied that she didn’t want her mom to starts liking her pillow and then keeps it.

Unbelievable! So it all made sense to us now, all this time she didn’t want to take her pillow into our bedroom on Saturday nights because she didn’t want to risk the chance that we decide to keep it after we “discover” how soft the pillow is. It’s so funny how a 4 year-old can get so paranoid & protective of their things.

Too funny…