Year: 2008

I figured if I ever wad to post this article I better make 3 out of it: We were in Oahu for 5 days 2 weeks ago. The very first thing we did – after pitching our tent and waiting for Leilani’s nap to end – was to visit the Punahou Carnival.

We had gone there last year and all of us had loved it. It was pretty rainy and very muddy this year, but we still had a lot of fun.

Look, there is Kauai!

Helicopters are fun!

But Merry-Go-Rounds even more so

Andy took this one while riding on the horse next to her (while yelling wave to Mommy, fortunately Leilani was smarter than that and did not let go of the pole…)

She had called that one the “Dancy” or “Tanzi” last year. This year she referred to it as the dragons or the dinosaurs.

At the end of the day Leilani demanded the camera, we were in a hurry and I was weighted down with lots of books and things we had bought at the “White Elephant Sale” and was not in the mood to put the stuff down and find the camera to give it to her. I asked what she wanted to take a picture of, she pointed to the little church with the late sunset behind and said “The tower, the castle”. That moment I realized that she did not just want to play, but had artistic vision. I did not help her frame it (although I cropped it later in photoshop), and right after she had taken it she asked me to show it to her in the viewfinder, and seemed very pleased with the result.

I have not put a video on YouTube in a while. I tried 3 times, the quality want from unusable to awful to bad. Then I tried 3 more times and it stayed at “bad”. I guess that’s it, and I’ll try to find a better way to publish videos…

Leilani brought me a book to read. “How Fletcher Was Hatched”. Before handing it to me she looked at it thoughtfully and remarked. “This book is really old.” I said (in German but for the benefit of my readership I’ll translate :) “Yea, it comes from the thrift store.” Leilani looked at me. “I not giving it away!” I did not understand, and she tried again to explain, until it dawned on me that she viewed the thrift stores as long term libraries – we get stuff there, and we bring it back when we are done – Andy’s and my recycling and reusing philosophy viewed through brand new eyes.

So first I explained to her that I would not force her to give away her toys before she was ready, and they were hers until she decided she was done with them. Unlike library books, that caused tears many times before. There were actually books that we renewed 3 times in a row, brought them back and checked them out with the other card right away again.

I felt the need to explain how we need to let go of old to make room for the new – if your shelves are all full of old toys where will you put the new ones – and also reminded her how sad Puff was once Jackie Paper didn’t come any more – how much better to find another child who still likes to play with dragons. She asked if Puff was a “real dragon” and I struggled some more. Some of her questions and interpretations of the world seem so far out for a 2 year old – and some are so obvious once I try to put myself into her shoes and look at the world without the big database of experience, knowledge, interpretations and prejudices that one builds up over the years.

On a lighter note: Who needs legos? Leilani, advanced as she may be is a little behind in her fine motor skills – tested by “Tutu and Me” because she can’t build a tower from 7 blocks less than an inch (2.6cm) side length (and no, I don’t worry about it.) But she sure can build high lego towers and even higher cat food towers. (Disclaimer: She picks out her own clothes.)

Poor battered child. Actually these were 3 different incidents. She threw a tantrum, and while still raging with anger, not paying attention to anything, she ran into the kitchen in socks, slipped, and fell against the “Learning Tower” (her chair like super high steping stool). The very next day, while walking Maka the dog, she ran down the hill on the pavement, I warned her to run slowly, carefully or walk, but she did not listen. Got up, cried a minute, ran again, and fell less than 70 feet (20 meters) from the previous spot. She then ran much more cautious, in a jogging pace.

Andy took her to the coconut marketplace:

She likes colored baths a lot.

Oh, and some last links for advertisement purposes: don’t click this one but, that’s a good one.

Yesterday Leilani and I took down all the christmas ornaments off the tree. Leilani was extremely good and very careful, but still one ornament broke. That brings the toll from this entire, long-lasting Christmas season up to two, and I broke the first one. This time it was one of her favorites, a Santa with 2 little dogs and it broke after it had been taken down and put away safely because Leilani wanted to look at it one more time and dropped it while unwrapping. She was very sad (at least she said so) and did not touch any of the thin glass ornaments after, which was just fine with me. She then sorted the other ornaments into wooden stars and shiny small things and put them in 2 separate bags. After about 10 more minutes she lost interest and ran off.

She had taken down about a dozen or so glass balls before the Santa broke, and I was in another one of my parenting conflicts. The main stream parenting magazines advise to keep Christmas trees away from toddlers and preschoolers (fences in your living room yay!) and even my own mom was angry at my grandma for letting me play with glass christmas ornaments, some of my friends and acquaintances don’t let their kids handle any glass or china including dishes (never mind the orange juice on the carpet, as long as it’s spilled from a plastic cup)… you get the picture.

My own theory is, that she needs to learn at some point, preferably at exactly the right time. I do not want to discourage her from things she thinks she can do herself, that are not likely to land her in the emergency room. Think about it: how dangerous is glass break if you are right next to it and watch carefully? At least compared to a typical 2 year temper tantrum that makes them throw themselves against or at random things, or running at full speed and in socks around the kitchen corner, or swinging, or jumping on the trampoline with 4-year old friends or sitting in a car. Or living and breathing in a polluted, contaminated environment or talking to strangers…

Leilani knows since she is less than one year old what glass is, and that you’d better not throw it. She knows that fragile things break even when we squeeze them too hard, and she remembers these things. I don’t believe the theory that toddlers can’t remember; maybe if you only tell them, but if they experience the sound of glass breaking (terrifying to Leilani btw), the sadness of a toy being crumpled or stepped on to breakage they do remember.

And no, Christmas Tree Undecorating is not one word in German, but two :-)

Leilani is into naming and personalizing her things. She has lots of easter bunnies, named Didi and Mimi and Papa… a fairy was recently named Klezila.

All nice. Then she named one of her Chinese New-Years dragons Jet Li. In case this does not ring any bells google “Jet Li dragon” for a list of bad movies with a good martial artist. Andy immediately contested the name, and said it was spelled Chetly.

I think it is pretty amazing. I’m also sure Leilani could never have seen even a minute of his movies at babysiters or friends homes, she doesn’t even watch Snowwhite, and makes me skip great portions of the book now, because it is too scary, but maybe one of the kids in preschool talked about Jet Li?

Or maybe I, Andy, heard her say “Chetly” and said “Hey, that sounds like Jet Li, how appropriate for a Chinese dragon.” Anyways, all of these names, including the dragon’s change each time she plays the naming game. Some of the bunny names are consistent, but they are never for the same bunny. But it’s still an interesting phase, combining both her discovery of the “power” to name things and the ability to create words.

There are so many THINKS a thinker can think!
Would you dare to yank the tooth of a RINK-RINKER-FINK?
And what would you do
if you met a JIBBOO?

Just a little quote from the “Oh The Thinks You Can Think!” book by Dr. Seuss. Leilani loves this one as much as all his other books, and recently started to make up Dr Seuss words. Had I thought about this before I’d have hidden the book for a few more years.

“Are you a plaza?” I answered that in German “Pluzer” is close enough. Italian Plazza might have worked too. But then she came up with more elaborate and longer words like “Lilyupdadidi” or … I’ll write them down right away next time, I forget them too fast… clearly happy about her brand-new and fresh words – I mean it’s not like Lisa’s de-lumpify or just verbing something, Those are brand new words, not related to anything else, thrown into a conversation by someone who still insists that it is a perfectly acceptable to pronounce spoon “Foon” and who, if a word seems too long in English just switches to German in the middle of the sentence… But it still is funny.

Another funny thing: We make her ask before she can get up from a meal. “May I get down please?” is the magic formula. But then it’s boring for a while, so sometimes she tries to make us get up too and play with her. Today she took my hand, looked me in the eye and asked “May you get down please?”