Three years ago...

I was getting ready to be a mom. October 26 was Thomas' due date (he was born on the 28th), and the whole giving-birth experience wasn't exactly what I had expected. I had not expected that it would take so freaking long to deliver a baby. I'll spare you the details, because it's long and hard and will probably make you not want to have a baby. I'll just tell you that the whole thing, from the first real contraction to when Thomas finally came out, took about 86 hours, during which I got 20 minutes of sleep. To be honest, it wasn't really that great (a bit traumatic, in fact).

But then we went home, and got to see this everyday:

And three years later, we get to have this everyday:

Happy (almost) birthday, Thomas! I'm so glad I'm your Mama.

Your big bum

As Thomas was doing a number two on the toilet tonight, he asked me an interesting question--

Thomas: Mama, why do you weewee with your big bum?
(I think he was asking why I didn't pee standing up.)

Later on, as I finished helping him brush his teeth--

Thomas: Mama, I think I have a cavity. Right here.
Me: That's terrible. We had better make an appointment to see the dentist.
Thomas: What's her name?
Me: Dr. Ivy.
Thomas: No! I don't want to see Dr. Ivy. I want to see a superhero dentist! With a superhero out the window.

Art

Thomas has recently gotten into doing lots of art. Finger paints, watercolours, pastels. My mother says he is opening a "print factory". His favourite thing is to make Rorschach ink blots.

There are now several piles of his works around the house:

Yesterday afternoon he started drawing faces, and by the end of the evening he has gotten the hang of it and has produced several "happy" faces, one "worried" face, and two "sad" faces ("with one tear only," he said).

This one is "a man".

"This one is you, Mama," he said. "You're smiling!"

Understood

One of the best parts about having more than one kid is to see them love on each other. I love Thomas. I love Jane. AND they love each other. That's a lot of love!

Thomas loves it when I bring Jane to pick him up from kindergarten. He says, "Jane! Jane!" and grabs her head with both his hands, and shoves his face into her face. She is sometimes less fond of this, particularly when his (very hard) head bumps into her (very delicate) head.

It also makes me feel wonderfully understood by my children. Thomas understands how I love Jane! Jane understands why I'm so in awe of Thomas sometimes! We are all on the same page! Awesome.

(This feeling of mutual understanding is helpful in counterbalancing those moments when we are not on the same page about snacks, baths, bedtime, or TV.)

I don't want you to do that

No one can more effectively teach a lesson than a little kid on how to be parent a baby.

I was nursing Jane in bed this morning when Thomas crawled into my bed. Of course Jane completely abandons boob and turns to look at her brother. After a few many unsuccessful attempts to get her to focus on her morning milk, I was exasperated. I needed to get out of bed, dress myself and Thomas, get his breakfast, pep him for school, and actually get on the road. (For those who do not have kids, you calculate the amount of time it takes you to accomplish said tasks, and multiply that time by two, then add another 10 minutes.) Of course, you can't get too mad at a 6-month-old for preferring her brother to boob.

Me: (half jokingly) No Jane, don't do that. Focus on milk. Focus.
(My words had no effect whatsoever.) Jane, that's just no good right now.
Thomas: (still lying in my bed) I don't want you to do that.
Me: Do what?
Thomas: I don't want you to talk to Jane like that.

Thanks you Thomas for teaching me how to be a better Mama. I love you.

Facebook export and old quotations

Did you know that you can export all the content of your Facebook account? This is fantastic news, because I can now archive all of Thomas' funny quotations from the past. It's amazing to see his verbal development since he turned two. This one was from age 2 years 3 months.

January 27, 2011
Thomas: I'm bill-ning a bid ripey robot.
Me: You're building a big stripey robot?
Thomas: Yes.

Poons

Thomas: I need a poo.
(I scramble to get him to the toilet. He looks at me as I lift him onto his Buzz Lightyear toilet seat, bewildered.)
Thomas: I don't need a poo!
Me: I thought you said you needed to poo.
Thomas: No. I need a poon.
Me: A poon? There are plenty of Poons around here.
(My maiden name is Poon. And we're living with my parents. So there are several of us Poons around the house.)
Thomas: Not a poon. A 'poon.
(Silence)
Thomas: I want a fork.

Hi

Hi. I'm Bonnie.



I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and I married my college best friend from the US. We have a three-year-old and a six-month-old. Both of them were born in the UK. We spend a lot of our time travelling between these three places. Between my husband, my children, and myself, we have nine passports.

This is my better half, Simeon, and our two year old, Thomas. (He's almost three, but if you asked him he'll say he's two.) This photo was taken by our friend Collin. He's a good photographer.



Our almost-three year old, like lots of other kids this age, says some funny things. I try to write them down here so our friends can read about them. I also try to record our lives a little bit because sometimes when the days are long and hard (like the days of lots of other moms with young kids) it helps me to remember the fun times.

This is our six-month-old, Jane. (Isn't she a sweetheart?)



I never feel like I have much to say, which is why I don't blog. But most people seem to enjoy hearing what my almost-three year old says, so I'm writing it all down. And I'll probably throw in some snippets of our lives as we travel with our nine passports.