a difficult week

This past week has been very difficult. I have been counting on this week to write my paper for the conference, and Ming Ming started having a fever last weekend. She vomitted several times on Sunday and Monday. Took her to the doctor's on Monday, again, ear infection (this is her 6th ear infection), fever, coughing, congestion. No day care on Monday and Tuesday because of her fever. But her sleep was horrible during the night, she would wake up and cry for hours without apparent reason. Back to the doctors on thursday, said that she was doing a lot better. On Friday night, when she started crying again, we put her down in her own crib and left the room. She cried for more than an hour, and finally fell asleep on her own. But it was like miracle, since then she has been falling asleep on her own without any problem. She would cry a little bit (less than 2 mins), but insist on saying goodbye, we would leave the room and she would fall asleep and stay asleep until the morning. Thanks to her sleep I finally got my paper done on Monday. phewww..

with Rafael on Sunday evening...

red nose..

Monday night, finally I got time to take a few pics..

Spring is here, so is sesame street

Listening to "There is a monster at the end of this book" - she loves the story, though i am not sure if she understands...

random pics of Ming Ming at preschool

Piano, butterfly, and a bed

video: loving the music

here she makes the bed...

and decides to sleep on it herself...

Ming Ming's long-distance relationships, and virtual reality

Having breakfast with my brother... through skype...

showing popo how she plays with blocks... through skype...

talking to Yiyi Selina and Momo at the same time... both my laptop and desk-top are connected to skype... that is how Hong Kong, Paris and Charlottesville communicate...

Ming Ming's preschool life

Tuesday 4pm, pick up time for Ming Ming

Today I have seen the happiest day care scene every parent craves to see: Miss Danielle and Miss Emily and about 8 children sitting in a circle singing songs. Everyone is at their best behavior, singing (well, murmuring when they know the part of the song) and gesturing and just being HAPPY. Miss Danielle would ask one of them to pick a song, and everyone would sing together. Apparently they really like that, and it is hilarious when they follow the gestures. Ming Ming really likes the "clap clap clap our hands as slowly as we can", she got hysterical when the song changes to "clap clap clap our hands as fast as we can". I and two other parents sit with them while they sing, nothing is more assuring than seeing something like this, and it allows us to persuade ourselves that despite the occasional tears when we drop them off, our children are in good hands and they do enjoy day care.

Wednesday, 8am, drop off time

Today is a bad day. Among the four children who arrived early, one has a sprained ankle and cries from pain each time another child touches his foot, another one is developing a fever, Ming Ming is especially clingy this morning and does not want to see me leave. The other babies' crying makes her anxious. I stay as long as I can, but still can't avoid the crying when I finally leave. A house of crying babies!

Thursday morning, drop off time

I asked Miss Erin if Ming Ming eats a lot compared with other children, and she told me that Ming Ming is usually the last one who leaves the table during meal time, and when she likes the food, she would meticuously finish every tiny bite.

Also, it is funny how she does not sing the same song at home and school. She sings the "clap your hand" song to herself a lot at school, but I have never heard her singing it at home. And her teachers said that she speaks English at school. I always worry about her speaking a lot in Chinese and French and no one understanding her, but apparently she is doing a lot better. At home she is doing really well in terms of languages, she would say to her dad - "le chat est pas content" and then turn to me -"媽媽這個猫猫不高興" (both mean the cat is not happy).

from head to toe - funny video

From head to toe - how we imitate animals
this video is a bit long (I cannot edit it), but it gets more and more interesting.

business/preschool dress code

at first she tried to change her doll's diaper, then decided to change her own... it would be great if she can really do it on her own!

the sing-song girl

Ming Ming's attempt at singing "ABC," "Twinkle Twinkle little star", "dans la foret un grand cerf", and "兩隻老虎"...

Sunday brunch..

Saturday without papa