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…

I took off a few hours yesterday to attend Allison’s Halloween celebration at her school. She was adorable in her Minnie Mouse costume– yet another hand-down item from her sister. Allison caught me sneaking in her class during story time; she excitedly waved to me and happily blew kisses at me. I motioned her to pay attention to her teacher, but it was obvious her concentration is now broken. Next, she lead the class in the parade which was actually sad for me since it means she’s the smallest child in the class.

Today, Suzanne took off work to attend Katelyn’s party & parade. Katelyn spent the afternoon after school visiting her friend Chalee. I picked Katelyn up and whisked the girls to their swimming class. Next, I went to a local Thai restaurant to pick up dinner. After bathing the girls and dinner, got the girls into their costumes and we headed out trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with their cousin Malia.

Boy, I’m tired…

Last week, 2 packages I bid on eBay was shipped to my home. I opened them to inspect the DVDs for damages at which point Allison got curious about whom this package is for. She just had her birthday 2 weeks ago. We must’ve mentioned to her that she is growing taller. Allison was probably proud of the compliment and retained it in her memory because here’s the quick conversation I had with her:

Allison: "Daddy, what are these movies?"
Rex: "These are DVDs of very old Chinese movies."
A: "Do you like to watch these?"
R: "These are birthday presents for Grandma, they are her favorites. She watched them a long time ago."
A: "Her birthday is coming?"
E: "Yes, in a couple of weeks!"
A: "Oh cool! I can’t wait to see Grandma on her birthday, she’ll be taller!"

Man, is she cute…

I had one of those insomniac nights this weekend. After spending hours on my computer I peered through the window and saw the first light of day. I knew it was going to be a good and special day. It was my baby girl’s birthday– she’s turning 4!

As I was thinking about Allison, I heard hurried footsteps. It was Katelyn; she woke up at the crack of dawn to remind me to wrap Allison’s presents. She excitedly agreed to help me. We wrapped two presents and left them in the middle of the living room as Katelyn suggested.

As Allison staggered out of bed with eyes barely opened, we were ready for her. Katelyn, Suzanne & I ran to her and showered her with birthday kisses. We led her to the living room where she discovered her presents. We then surrounded her and did a family happy-birthday dance and gave her a family group hug. She liked that.

After getting dressed, we all went to the family’s favorite breakfast place: Hobee’s. After Allison ordered her usual: Mickey Mouse pancake, I whispered some instructions to the waiter. When the waiter brought out her pancake with a birthday candle on top of it, we sang happy birthday to her with the help of some in the patrons of the restaurant. Allison seemed to dig that as she smiled from ear to ear.

In the afternoon, we had a little birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. This year we decided to play it small and low key, so it was just our family & the Tieu’s. We ended the day with Allison opening her presents. She was most excited when she opened the present from her mom: Cinderella’s toy computer. Allison spotted this toy and been asking for it for months!

As I reflect on the past year, the one thing most noticeable about her is her communication. She is much more vocal than last year; in fact she’s always talking up a storm. She’s often the loudest and talks the most in the house! She still can be very stubborn and still is causing much of the fighting with her sister. She constantly testing her boundaries and my patience. I tried to be more stern this past year with her whenever she misbehaves but her mom still accuses me of spoiling her.

She also showed some form of independence this past year, she participated in sleep-overs and spent the few nights away from home and without her parents. She was learning to participate too so she’s not left out as often when she plays with sister & her cousin Malia. She started her second year at pre-school; this year without her sister who is a kindergartener at a different school. She can write her name. She still loves to draw and improved beyond just simple stick figures. She started to color very well– inside the lines and all.

The thing most fun to me is the fact that she loves being photographed by her dad. She became more comfortable and learned to smile and pose naturally in front of the camera. She always ready to crack a beautiful smile for me. Thanks kid for indulging your old dad…

Happy birthday #4, baby!

A few of the pics are posted here…

I came home a few days ago, my dear Allison excitedly ran out and greeted me at the door, proudly showed me her alphabet crown. Her pre-school awards the paper crown when a kid learns the letters and their sounds. Yeah!

I was very happy and proud of my little munch-kin. And as a reward for a job well done, I made her a promise of getting her a toy of her choice.

This is one of my favorite shots of Allison I managed to snap this past summer.

A conversation at breakfast yesterday morning:

Rex: “Allison, please finish your breakfast!”
Allison: “But I’m full.”
R: “But you eat so little, how will be grow big and strong?”
A: “… Daddy, when I’m 54 I’ll be a giant!”

I busted out laughing. Her choice of number and the similar context reminded me of the Beatles’ song “When I’m Sixty-Four”:

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?

Katelyn: “Knock, Knock”
Rex: “Who’s there?”
K: “Nobody!”
R: “Nobody who?”
K: silence…
R: “Nobody who?”
K: silence again…
R: gets it finally & laughs hysterically

Allison was listening and now she wants to participates…

Allison: “Knock, Knock”
Suzanne: “Who’s there?”
A: “Penguin!”
S: “Penguin who?”
A: silence…
S: “Penguin who?”
A: silence again…
S: didn’t get it but had to pretend the joke makes sense and belt out a hearty laugh…

Allison woke up from the afternoon nap yesterday in a foul mood. As Katelyn & I approached her, she threw a tantrum and kicked us. With patience tested by her all day, I promptly ordered her to her room. Of course she balled as she ran into her room.

Katelyn: Daddy, she’s just cranky after her nap
Daddy: Yes, but Daddy doesn’t like her acting out like that
Katelyn: But she’s always cranky from her naps. That’s normal. She’s scared now when you time her out.
Daddy after a pause, relents: Alright, let’s go get her!

As we went to get Allison from her room, Daddy smiled and felt particularly proud that big sister stood up to her old man for her lil’ sis!

We dressed the girls in their traditional Chinese outfits and took them to the lunar New Year parade in downtown San Jose this past weekend. It was the girls’ first time watching a parade. Despite the cold & gray morning, the girls seemed to enjoy it. The lions & dragons came up right next to the girls! Katelyn & Allison even got to pet a few of them.

There were a lot of photographers there, some of them pro’s wielding very impressive equipment around. I definitely felt inadequate. But here are some of my snapshots. Interestingly, I encountered more Nikon than Canon users…

I’m normally up with the kids in the morning, and so I usually get the task of getting the kids ready. When it comes to doing their hair, they usually tell me how to do their hair– be it just brushing, a simple pony tail or “funny hair” as Katelyn calls it (pig-tails). My aunt who takes care of the kids sometime braid their hair for school.

So as of late, Allison prefers her hair braided. This is a problem for me because Allison’s hair is very thin (as is everything else with her). Last but not least, braiding is always challenging for my big fat fingers. My attempts always end up looking a bit weird.

Yesterday morning, again Allison asked her hair to be braided. Uh oh… I tried to talk her out of it. “Are you sure Allison? Wouldn’t you like funny hair?” I asked, hoping for a nod. But no luck– she insisted braiding. So I finally pleaded to her: “sorry Allison, Daddy is not good at braiding your hair. I can’t do it.”

To that, Allison replied:

“But daddy, you try your best okay?”

Ouch, “use that one back at me won’t you” I thought. Can’t say no to that! So Allison patiently waited as my fat fingers going through her hair. When I was done, sure enough, her braid looked weird as pictured above! But Allison didn’t care, she happily trotted off to show off her braided hair to her sister and her mom.

Recognizing I need help, I google’d around for instructions. Here’s illustrated instructions I you’re braiding-challenged like me.

KTEH started running a pledge drive this past week. On Saturday evening, the station aired a concert by Celtic Woman, a group of 5 lovely Irish women artists with amazing talents. Suzanne tuned in and an unexpected thing happened. We left the TV on and when we returned a bit later we discovered Allison sat quietly on the couch intently watching the concert– I’ve never seen her watching with such concentration. When I tried to change the channel, she made me turned it right back. She told us that she liked the music.

Her favorite seemed to be Máiréad who’s petite (perhaps that’s why Allison took a liking?) & plays a fiddle.

Suzanne got her hair permed this past weekend. When she got home, the kids took notice immediately. Allison wanted to touch her mommy’s hair and since it was lavishly hair-sprayed, she said “your new hair is crunchy.” Earlier this evening, after she again commented on her mommy’s crunchy hair, Suzanne corrected her that her hair is wavy, not crunchy. Allison paused and then wave her hand and said “you mean your hair likes to say bye bye like this?”

Looks like the hottest toy heading into this xmas season is TMX Elmo. It’s basically another tickle me Elmo, but this one has some pretty “extreme” motion– complete movement from standing to rolling on the floor & getting back on its feet. Check out the video here.

Alright, I’ll bite & get on the bandwagon. I am going to get it for Allison’s birthday next month. I can’t wait to see her face when she gets it. Now, if only I am able to track it down. It’s sold out every online & local retailers I can find.

And I’m not shelling out $200 for it on eBay (that’s the going rate!).

This past weekend, our family went down to LA. While we were there, we took the kids to Pharoah’s Lost Kingdom in Redlands. The place is a huge: rides, miniture golf, games and a water park. It was a hot afternoon, so the kids spent all the time in the kiddie pools. Katelyn & Andre were hitting the water slides non-stop, while the younger kids, Allison & Justine, spent most their time in the wading pool & float around the lazy river.

Of course, I brought my camera and spent most my time snapping shots. I was a bit nervous with all the kids splashing water all around, but in the end I managed to keep my camera dry.

Here’re a few of the shots.

This past weekend Kyle, the Jedi-in-training (also, the birthday boy), lead the young rebels in the fight against Vader and the darkside. Katelyn & Allison relunctantly joined the rebellion. Yes, they have much fear in them. Who wouldn’t fear Vader in his full suit and sandles? The padawans valiantly fought their way to Yoda’s swamp where all young rebels eagerly took a refreshing dip in celebration. May the force be with the young rebels…

Here are the visual newsreel documenting the younglings’ efforts.

Yesterday morning, Allison & I were watching the openning scenes of the Wallace & Gromit movie. Allison was puzzled when Wallace & Gromit chased a rabbit around at the openning scenes. She expressed “concern” when Wallace finally nabbed the bunny by the neck. I explained the scene to her with the following exchange:

Allison: Why is he hurting the bunny?
Rex: Because he’s been bad; he steals oher people’s vegetables.
Allison: Why?
Rex: Because he likes to eat carrots.
Allison: Oh, he’s a bad bunny!
Rex: That’s right. Do you go around & steal carrots?
Allison: No… I’m not a baby bunny.
Rex: Good…
Allison: I stay home with Mommy!

I came home from work last evening and I quickly grabbed dinner. Then, we prepare the kids to go to local park and while I was dressing the kids, Allison & I had this little exchange:

Allison: Daddy?
Rex: What is it, baby?
Allison: I miss you when you go to work!
Rex: Ohh… thank you sweetey, I miss you when I’m at work too!
Allison: I love you too much…
Rex: (heart fast melting…)
Rex: I love so much too.

I often tell her “I love you so much”, but for some reason she likes to say “I love you too much.” It almost sounds like a complaint! At any rate, I’ll take what I can get from her…