Lindy Li discusses her mommy

I got tagged once or twice with this on Facebook and finally got around to interviewing Miss Lindy Li. It was very entertaining to hear her answers and surprising, too (14 and 15 especially).

Here's what you are supposed to do: Ask your child(ren) the questions and type in their answers as they say them. Tag other folks with older kids who might have fun with this. :)

Lindy-age 3
Interviewed March 20, 2009

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes Mommy happy? When I eat my lunch all gone and when I clean up my room.
3. What makes Mommy sad? Breaking her stuff.
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? By doing silly jokes.
5. What was your Mommy like as a child? A little girl.
6. How old is your Mommy? Mmmm...let me guess. 28
7. How tall is your Mommy? Well, she's kind of short.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Snuggle.
9. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? She works.
10. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? Being a princess.
11. What is your Mommy really good at? Cooking...You're the best cooker.
12. What is your Mommy not very good at? Does it start with a t? Well, I don't know...
13. What does your Mommy do for her job? Go grocery shopping.
14. What is your Mommy's favorite food? The bird? Red R*bin? I don't know. Chinese? What is it, Mommy?
15. What makes you proud of your Mommy? I'm proud of you when you sew.
16. If your Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Cinderella--the best of the best.
17. What do you and your Mommy do together? Sometimes we watch movies, go to T*rget, and L*ttle Gym.
18. How are you and your Mommy the same? We have the same lips, toes, and privates.
19. How are you and your Mommy different? We have different skin, different eyes, different teeth. 20. How do you know your Mommy loves you? By snuggling and hugging.
21. Where is your Mom's favorite place to go? T*rget.

If you have kids, play along if you'd like. It is fun to hear their answers!

What?

The other day Lindy walked into the bathroom (you can't see the princess shoes) looking like this and said, "Mommy, some cowboys look like this."

I'm concerned and a little mortified, too, on so many levels...

February Finale'

For a short month, February seemed VERY full...Since it seems like I keep falling REALLY behind on blog entries, I'm going to do a recap of some more of the February highlights rather than individual blog posts.

Lindy attended two birthday parties...

She helped Bethany celebrate turning three.
We were also privileged to celebrate sweet baby Elleanna's first birthday at a local tea room.


Elleanna's mommy brought special hats for the guests to wear.


Elleanna's brother, Declan, brought flowers for all the ladies and some fun girly things for Lindy. I can officially say that was Lindy's first flower and jewelry from a boy. On a bittersweet note we had to say, "goodbye" to our friends. They are moving back to North Carolina tomorrow because their daddy is scheduled to come home from serving in Iraq next week. We hate to see them go but know it is for a really good reason!

Lindy continues to explore her career interests. She has already told me she wants to be a teacher, a doctor (funny she's terrified of them), and just last week a ballerina. She loves to cook and it is an everyday occurrence for her to pull up a chair and help me cook. On Valentine's Day she helped daddy make pancakes.



She explored her doctor skills with new friend and nursing student, Katie.

She also shows signs of being a photographer. Nothing like having a three year old as the best picture taker in the household.



Let's see what else??? Well, as you can see in the last photo, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. My parents had really wanted to see Lindy in her own element again--cooking, imagining, playing princess, etc. They asked for it, they got it! From the moment they stepped foot into the house until they left, they were playing dress-up, princess, acting out scenes from Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, playing restaurant, and playing part in a half a dozen more scenes. I'm not sure I'd ever seen my dad play a woman before or dance at the ball. Such fun...

We took a couple hours away from the constant stage productions at our house (and in our car) to enjoy a yummy breakfast downtown and the stage production of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. It was a lot of fun! I have to brag on my mom and thank her for making Lindy's darling pinafore.


Lindy also got her long-awaited mani and pedi. I hate how big she looks in these pictures. Where oh where is my baby girl? We had a lovely week together.

She also got a sneak peek at the flower dress she is going to wear for Ashley's wedding. I won't post pictures but I must say she looks very lovely in it and once it came out of the bag, she didn't want to put it back. Here she is after just seeing it.


These are just a few of the things that happened during February. Some days can seem mundane and even a little stressful but when I reflect and look back at these pictures, I also know there are many fun moments, too, and for that I feel so fortunate.

Meeting Grace Lin

A little over a week ago Lindy had the privilege to meet children's author and illustrator, Grace Lin, thanks to our friends Shannon and Bethany. If you aren't familiar with her work, she has written and illustrated many books. Most are about Chinese customs and culture and they are very colorful and fun!

Ms. Lin was speaking at a local elementary school and we caught the tale end of her presentation to the kindergarten group and her entire presentation for the first and second graders. She was great with the kids and we got to hear her read some of her work, learn about Chinese customs, and watch her teach the older kids how to draw an ox.


She was very sweet and accommodating to allow me to take a couple of pictures and autograph books. After her presentation she drew and autographed a picture of a rooster to signify the year in which Lindy was born and a dog to signify Bethany's year.



While I would've loved to snatch up a whole feast of her books and have them signed, I exercised some restraint and limited myself to two: Fortune Cookie Fortunes and The Red Thread (which somehow we didn't have).

Valentine's Day party

One thing I really love about being blessed to stay at home with Lindy is that I can participate in her school functions. Yesterday she had her Valentine's Day party at school.

Beforehand, she had homework--to decorate her treat bag.

So on Wednesday morning she spent time blinging her bag. She was thrilled to use glue, stickers, and glitter glue. Have I mentioned I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to crafting with Lindy? She is a messy child and being messy doesn't bother her ONE BIT.
In the past I've experienced some frustration when doing these types of activities with her because she just won't sit and work on something for very long. (Did I mention she's three?) This time I was so proud that she sat there for a while intently working on her assignment.

She was very proud of the end result and if you'll notice the shiny streak of glitter glue, that is NOT a mistake. It is a very intentional #1 according to Miss Lindy. They've been studying numbers in school this month.


The mothers take turns volunteering to help with the parties. The first station was a food activity. YUM! She LOVED frosting and decorating her little heart cake and subsequently savored every pink morsel!

After the food station, she went and played games and sang songs...

Here she is showing off her Valentine bead heart that she made.


Then it was time for some fun on the playground. I'm glad she stuck to the swings since she was wearing a dress (thanks Grandma & Grandpa) and tights and maryjanes...

I really have to hand it to teachers. After 90 minutes in a school environment, I'm EXHAUSTED! I feel so thankful for the love and commitment they show for kids on a daily basis!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One can only wonder...

...how this happened at preschool.

BTW, anyone have any tips on removing Play-Doh from clothing?

San Antonio Asian Festival

Last Saturday while Mommy was away, Daddy took me to the San Antonio Asian Festival downtown. We met up with my little friend, Lily, and her mommy and daddy. I got to wear my pretty Chinese dress and Daddy even put a matching red and gold bow in my hair. I liked hanging out with Lily. I'm quite the helper when it comes to Lily and Miss Elissa is very patient with me when I help.

Our first stop was to watch the Chinese Lion Dancers. Truth be told, I was kind of scared at first...Between the big scary lions and the loud drums, I got kind of worried. Daddy took care of me and after a while I had lots of fun watching and listening. The lions are so colorful!


A big part of the fun was eating some yummy food! I am a big fan of Chinese food and I frequently request it. I especially love dumplings, wonton soup, egg drop soup, and fortune cookies. I also love to eat sushi but we didn't get any at the festival. Confucius says, "Wise man steers clear from sushi sold at festivals..." My daddy is pretty wise, no matter what Mommy says sometimes.


There was a lot to see and do at the festival--more than we could fit in during three hours. Daddy decided it was time to go when the REALLY big men in REALLY big diaper-looking outfits came out and were hugging each other. I thought that was pretty silly. I have already been asking to go again. Maybe next year Mommy will get to go. I'm really glad my daddy is so much fun and took me out for a fun Saturday outing.

The End

Words...

How can it be that three months from today, my baby will be four years old? That sounds REALLY old to me. Okay, okay, it might not be really old but it sounds less like a baby and more like a kid. I haven't been blogging as much recently because we've been busy with life and sometimes it doesn't seem like there are as many milestones to record as when she was a baby and toddler. Neither my photography skills or equipment are good enough to warrant just taking and posting a bunch of pictures of her. However, every day I'm amazed by my sweet child and fully aware that she is changing and showing more signs of being a bigger kid...

One of the areas I see Lindy growing by leaps and bounds is in her language skills. Lindy is a very verbal child and has been that way for what seems like forever. If you've met her, you know I'm not exaggerating and I don't say that to brag. She speaks very clearly and uses big words and long sentences. Hmmm...somewhere in the recesses of my memory I remember a chubby little girl who got teased at school for that very same thing.

Lindy cracks me up with what she says and lately I've really noticed that she isn't just talking in such a random manner but that she's carrying on(and dominating) very full, deep, and long conversations. She also experiments with words and sometimes she uses certain words in perfect context, other times she's not quite there...
Within the last couple of months I've heard her exclaim, "awesome," "that's cool," and, much to my chagrin and surprise, "that's BORING," and "I hate this." BIG NO NO! She also says, "whatever" but not the sassy version. Just the laid back, go with the flow version...The other night over a Philadelphia cheesesteak, she saw a picture of the Liberty Bell (which she still calls the Crackin' Bell) and said, "Don't look at me, I didn't do it."
I really felt the twinge of her big girl ways when I heard her make mention of H*nnah M*ntana not too long ago in a store. What?! Where on earth did that come from? Since then, she's mentioned H*nnah M*ntana several times and commented that she has long, straight, yellow hair and that she sings. Not sure who is sneaking this stuff to her but so far the J*nas Br*thers haven't come up as a topic, so I feel pretty safe that we haven't been completely infiltrated by Disney.
As I hear Lindy adding more words to her vocabulary, learning how to use them, and wanting to know what they mean, I am reminded how important it is for me to make good choices with the words I choose and how I use them.

There are so many challenges that come with raising a child and one of them is the added accountability. I think this verse in Proverbs 16:24 is perfect to dwell on and share with Lindy, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones."

So, here's to sweeter souls and healthier bones for all of us!!!

A very princess Christmas

Although we try not to be excessive with gifts, it would be impossible to cart them to where ever we are for Christmas. So, while Santa had located Lindy in Colorado, we celebrated our Christmas at home on New Year's Eve. Santa, Mommy and Daddy, and some of Lindy's other gift givers were all on the same page when it came to Christmas 2008. The theme was definitely princesses, princesses, princesses.





Lindy also got a great art easel from Grandma and Grandpa.

She still LOVES to cook in the pink kitchen she got last year and was happy to get some new gadgets for the kitchen.


It would be easy to have a complete priss on our hands but we also want to appeal to her athletic side, too.

While most of the presents were for Lindy. Mommy and Daddy got a couple, too...



For years I always heard people talking about how kids make Christmas fun and what a blast it is experiencing it through their eyes. After having Lindy for three Christmases now, I totally get it.