"Mom, we have lots to talk about."

So, when I get bigger I'm going to live in an inpartment all by myself. And you and dad can visit me. I will live down the street so you can walk there. And I will eat hard candy and drink coke and drive a motorcycle. But that's not for a long time.

Remember when I was two, mom? I didn't know good manners. Now I know good manners but sometimes I forget. Hey, wait a minute! I'm not a man, I'm a girl. I have good girlers. And you have good lady-ers.

Mom, how 'bout we sit here and talk about bugs? Ladybugs and spiders and mosquitoes and stuff like that. Do you like bugs, mom? Ladybugs are painted red and black. God must have markers just like me.

Mom, did you go pee at work? You did?! I'm sooooooo proud of you, you should have a Smartie.

Today I'm going to eat all my vegetables. Just for a change.

I would like a bigger house. When I get stronger I will pick up our house and take it to another little girl who needs a house and then we can get a bigger one. It's good manners to share, right?

Jessie, we can't jump on the couch 'cuz those are the rules. Mom, why are there so many rules?

If I pee on the floor or the rug or the couch or sumthin' like that, that's okay 'cuz that's just a accident and I'm just little.

When will dad be home? After lunch, Bryn. Then I will eat fast so he comes home earlier.

Everybody can't be a boy, right? 'Cuz then there'd be boy moms and boy grandmas and all people would be boys. If I was a boy and dad was a girl that would be different.

Mom, you're special. But why are you so old?



It's been awhile since my last post. Our computer died a few weeks after my last entry, along with our external hard drive, so I've been trying to retrieve files, photos, email, etc. for the past few weeks. Since Bryn has absolutely no patience when I sit down at the computer it's been a long process.

We're still trying hard to potty train Bryn. She is, to say the least, not very interested in doing her part to get out of pull-ups. We've had her potty for well over a year, which is when she first showed an interest in being trained. I was convinced she'd be trained quickly -- I had hoped by last summer for sure. Then I figured Christmas. Then her 3rd birthday. People tell me not to worry about it because she "won't go to school in diapers". I'm beginning to think she'll be the only 8-year-old in Kindergarten.

A few weeks ago, in an attempt to delay her bedtime, Bryn wanted out of the tub 3 times during her bath to "try to go pee or poop" on her potty. I knew it was all just a stall tactic and nothing would come of it but I can't very well say no when she wants to try, just in case she's actually telling the truth. It took us almost an hour to have a bath that night. Three minutes after I got her pjs on her she announced she was peeing. Arrgghhh! I thought I'd try a little reverse psychology and told her if she wasn't ready to use the potty that was okay but we were going to pack away all her potty training stuff -- the potty, her pretty panties, the books she reads when she's on the pot and the Smarties she gets as a reward if she does happen to go. "OK, but don't forget to put away my good job stickers, too," she said. Arrgghh again. I don't think I'm going to win this one.

Bryn continues to be a chatterbox. From the minute she hits the floor in the morning til at least 1/2 hour after she goes to bed at night, she is talking. And singing. And counting. And reading to us. Considering Girard has always said he has a quota of words for each day (a small quota, though it is a lot larger since we've had Bryn) and when he runs out he doesn't talk anymore, and I'm pretty much incapable of making small talk, I don't know where she picked up her gift of gab. Rhyming everything is her latest thing which can be a little risky in public because sometimes she ends up saying a not-so-nice word.

One of Bryn's favorite conversations lately is how old everyone is and what she was like when she was "little" and the things she will do when she is big. How old will you be when I'm 20? Was dad 25 yet? When I was half I lived in China. Remember when I was one and I said goo goo gaga instead of thank you? Can you believe I'll be four on my next birthday?! When I'm bigger I will ride a bike with two wheels. When I'm 12 or 16 or 30 or sumthin' I can stay all by myself with no babysitter. Mom, when I'm six I'll go to school, will you miss me?

Yes Bryn, yes I will.

Bryn loves her new trampoline.

Whadya mean they're too big?!

"Mom, I need privacy when I'm peeing."

A rare non-talking moment.

Yay! I can ride my bike!

Performing to an audience of two at the bandstand.

Despite the fact a spider can send her screaming in fear to another room, Bryn will pick up a canker worm and carry it all over the place.

It's finally summer!!!!!

Storytime with Bryn

2nd Annual Xinyu Mini Reunion Part 1

Last weekend Beth, Helena and Ava, one of our Xinyu families from Edmonton, came for a visit. Shea and Caia came to hang out too, and we were also at their place -- we spent as much time together as we could.

A happy crew: us with Shea and Caia, Helena, Beth and Ava.

(Hopefully one of these times James will be able to join us.)

We had a great time but the weekend flew by too fast. We went for dim sum, played in the park and enjoyed watching the girls play together. It was a hoot seeing them interact, all three of them are such characters and have such fun personalities -- they kept us laughing the whole weekend. It was a great few days of catching up, hanging out and having fun. We also got to see Shea's mom, Grandma Dar, and we always love seeing her.

Looking back at last year's photos it's amazing to see how much the girls have grown and changed. I managed to get all three of them to stand still long enough to weigh and measure them (surprise!!). Bryn is 32 lbs. 37", Caia (the youngest of the three born April 21) is 29 lbs. 35.75" and Ava (March 10) is 28 lbs. 36". Three or four pounds makes a big difference at this age -- Caia and Ava seem so light compared to Bryn. I think she also looks a lot bigger because of her sizable noggin. :)

Thanks, Beth, for making the long drive out to see us again! We loved having you and hope you make it an annual visit. Maybe next year we can talk some more of our Xinyu families into joining us!

Yum, yum, dim sum! Rowan, Lorraine and Adia joined us for our delicious lunch. They traveled to China the year after we did and live in Saskatoon.

Jessie enjoyed some loving from Helena.

Bryn loves Helena and followed her all over the house. Thanks Helena, for being a wonderful big "sister" to all our girls!

Thanks to Skype we were able to have a visit with another one of our Xinyu families. Carolyn and Marvin live in PEI with their beautiful daughters Kennedy and Jaida. Unfortunately their girls were already tucked in for the night when we were having our virtual reunion so we didn't get to see them. We miss you guys and wish you could have been here in person!

Budding artists hard at work.

After they were finished painting the girls moved on to sculpting.

XMR Part 2

More photos from our fun weekend.

Beth was making faces at the girls trying to get them to smile for a photo, so Ava and Bryn decided to make silly faces right back at her. Caia, bless her heart, was the perfect little model (she looks like she's trying hard to be serious despite the goofs sitting beside her -- the look on her face is priceless!). 

Xinyu sisters.

One for all...

and all for one!!

Fun in the park.

Ava trying very hard to help Bryn up after she'd fallen.

Helena and Ava.

Beth, Caia and Blankster having some loves.

Some bonus video.

"Mom, can I ask you a question?"

That's what I hear over and over every day. The first time I heard it I laughed and thought, "How cute is that?!" Now, not so much. Oh, it's still cute but after that question comes another one which, quite often, I don't know the answer to. My three-year-old daughter has made me realize how very little I really know. Thank goodness for the Internet and Google.

Bryn's "why" stage started a few months ago. I thought she asked a lot of questions before but the past few weeks it's never ending. Non-stop. All. Day. Long. I've come to the conclusion the reason she doesn't sleep well is because her mind never stops. She's constantly thinking. I hear her talking in her sleep at night about things she's done during the day. When she's awake she's constantly asking questions -- why this, when that...it never ends.

Some of her questions are easy to answer. Why can't I have chocolate for breakfast? Can I have coffee when I'm bigger? Why do I have to go to bed? Are you old? I'm newer than you, right? Am I your baby? Was that good manners, mom? Can I have a goldfish?

Others require a little more thought and explanation ("because" isn't an acceptable answer anymore). Why can I see the moon when it's daytime? Why doesn't Jessie have hands ? Why can't babies walk? Why is poop stinky? Why does Jessie chew with her mouth open? Why do my fingernails grow? Why doesn't Pubba have hair on top his head? Why are you my mom? Why does Jessie have a hole in her bum?(!!) Why does the water go down that hole (in the tub) -- is that its home? It's hard to keep up!

The other day she asked me something and when I answered she replied with "why?" For every answer I gave her she asked why again. After a few minutes of that I finally said "Bryn, you can't ask why again every time I answer your question." "Why not?" she said. Sheesh.

Yesterday when I was answering one of her many questions of the day she interrupted me and said "Mom, what are you yakking about now?" Well, my sweet girl, I am not yakking I'm answering your question. "But why are you, Mom?" she said.

Fun with fingerpaints.

All dolled up for Chinese New Year celebrations.

Bryn has been a busy girl the past couple of months. She started another gym class in January and is having tons of fun there. She's had her first salon haircut (believe it or not, she has still only had her bangs trimmed), her first eye exam and her first dental appointment. The weather has been horrendous so we haven't spent much time outside this winter but we managed to take her skating for the first time. She spent the whole time watching her feet and asking questions about her skates but she seemed to enjoy it. 

She also started at a new day care at the beginning of February and loves it. She surprised us by adjusting quickly to her new place and is always coming home with all sorts of stories of what she did that day. She loves her new caregiver and has lots of fun with the other kids there. 

Potty training continues to be a challenge. I've tried everything -- stickers, Smarties, M&Ms, reverse psychology, pleading, even threatening to give her potty and Smarties away to someone else -- nothing works. The only time Bryn wants to sit on her potty is when I tell her it's time for her bath. Then she decides she wants to "try to go pee." She'll sit there and read and sing and accomplish nothing, sometimes for 1/2 an hour or more. Every time I try to take her off her potty she says she's not done trying and since I'm always trying to get her to sit on it, I can't very well insist she comes off. It's a stall tactic, I'm sure, because after her bath is bedtime and she's never in a hurry to go to bed.

"Lookit dad, I'm skating I'm skating!"

Bryn's very first professional haircut. Girard was so excited.

Helping great-grandma eat her birthday cake.

Bryn's imagination has really taken off and she loves to play pretend. She plays with the little people in her dollhouse and they have some very interesting conversations. She pretends to cook for us and has invented some delicious recipes, like mushroom dessert. She makes up her own words to the tunes of the songs she knows and she reads her books "different" a lot of the time with her own stories, which can be really entertaining.

Every day she says something to make me chuckle. One day she told me she doesn't like when it's snowing, she likes it "better when it's grassing." It took me a minute to figure that one out. A few weeks ago she was standing in front of the TV, which wasn't even on, just looking at her own reflection. I asked what she was doing and she told me she was "watching the Bryn show."

Here are some more things Bryn has said over the past while that have made me chuckle:

•  that's kinda weird
  
•  that's hilarious
  
•  speaking of which
  
•  for some raisin I'm not tired
  
•  I don't mind vegetables
•  I was working too hard to pee in my potty so I peed in my pants instead
  
•  I will be back in five-dee-five minutes. Is that a long time?
•  I'm s'posed to listen to mom and dad and you're s'posed to listen to me. So listen!

I can't argue with that.