Emma Talks to Dog

Here's a screenshot of that conversation.

Emma's 3rd Quarter Grades

The kid's 3rd quarter grades are now posted online.
For 2 quarters in a row, she received all A's.
Granted that they only receive grades on 4 classes, it is still pretty awesome to see that she aced all 4 classes.
On top of that, her teachers are just all praises with regards to her school behavior.
Just really make me wonder more if she is mine and Jay's!

I've heard from someone that the only grades that matters is what they earn during their junior year in high school. I am not disputing that information, but the people who told me that were definitely NOT Asian or even married to one!

Also -
1) I'm a firm believer that good studying habits need to start at a young age;
2) Kids need to start early to like that feeling of pride for a job extremely well done;
3) If the kid feels that pride, the more he/she will feel the shame of producing sub-par grades.

I am not even close to being a "Dragon Mom" but I grew up believing that a big part of a child's responsibility is to do their best in school and in anything that they do.

Yes, I failed miserably a few times in the grades department.
I have earned lots of "Asian F's" and real F's in grade school and high school.
That was me then, this is me now.
A Mom.
With the same expectations as my parents, but probably a bit more open minded and willing to find the balance that can sustain my child's love for learning (and earning As) until she becomes a mother herself.

"Castle on a Cloud"

For the last eight months ago, she's used Christmas, Disney, and children's songs for her voice lessons. As we grew tired of "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, I suggested that she sings "On My Own" from Les Miserables. Her teacher thought that the content of that song was too mature. She then suggested "Castle on a Cloud." The kid's been working on it for the last 3 lessons now.

Here's a video of her singing "Castle on a Cloud".



She had come a long way from when she started her voice lessons 8 months ago.
Gone was her mumbling when she talks and she has more confidence now than I've ever seen her.
Also, having me and Jay as parents, her being able to sing is short of a miracle and a real major improvement.

Next song she'll be working on - songs from the musical "Annie".

A Swift Moment

EJT's Allergy Test - 2012

EJ had her allergy test done again last night.

Skin test still showed positive for peanuts and shellfish, but tree nuts was negative.

The Allergist wants to do a blood test as well, so we are doing that Saturday.

If tree nuts shows negative on the blood test, then we will be scheduling a food challenge test for her.

Keeping our fingers cross!



SKIN TEST COMMENCE








TWENTY MINS LATER



Art Work by EJT

Created by: EJT (July 2012)
Crayola Markers - "Super Tipsy w/ Silly Scents"

Goodbye 2nd Grade

It is hard to believe that the school year is almost over.
In a few hours, EJ will leave 2nd grade behind and in less than 3 months it is "Hello 3rd grade!"

Every start of the school year, I always take a picture of my little girl.
I always forget to take one during the last day.

Well.. today I REMEMBERED!

So here's my soon to be 3rd grader now and what she looked like at the beginning of the school year.

EJ - last day of 2nd grade

EJ - first day of 2nd grade

Spring Break 2012



Proud Bowler



Today is day 3 of EJ's spring break and my first day off work to spend it with her. After a yummy pizza lunch at Mellow Mushroom it was bowling time. EJ's bowling skills were pretty impressive for someone who only had bowled once before today. Not counting of course, the countless hours she bowled on Wii. The 2 games we did, she managed to do numerous spares and had 1 strike - much to my surprise. I, on the other hand was pathetic.

EJ and Creed

My first game was not too shabby, but EJ and I tied during our second game (102)! I mean really, how sad is that? To my defense, my wrist was getting tired and I actually broke a nail. Playing sports is really such a health hazard. That's why I try to limit my exposure to it.

After bowling, the darn kid was still raring to go. Next stop was The Mad Potter where we picked a piece of pottery and painted/decorated it. We had to leave our painted pottery since the store had to clear glaze and fire it up for us. I will post a picture of our finished product.

We were probably at The Mad Potter for almost 2 hours. If you thought that the kid was done - you thought wrong! We arrived home, had a quick dinner and without any argument - practiced piano for over 20 minutes. This was followed by a couple of rounds of various Wii games.

Tomorrow, both Jay and I will be off.

I still have no clue what we'll do.

Must take advantage of having Daddy as driver.

Going to the zoo is out - I'm not a big fan.

Children's museum in Lexington - eeehhh hmmmm not too keen on it.

Red River Gorge - too much nature!

Never been there so I might just do it.

Hmmm...let's just hope that it won't storm again tomorrow!

Growing Pains

"Mommy, ______ won't let me play with her."
"Mom, _____ said I'm annoying!"
"Mom! ______ everytime I try to play with her she tells me to go away!"

It breaks my heart whenever EJ comes home from school with those comments.
At the same time, it makes my blood boil thinking that someone can be mean to my child like that.
I know kids are kids, and I have not forgotten my own experiences when I was my age, but as a parent, of course, you hope that your child or children will not have to go through that.
But it does happen, and unfortunately I know the worse is still yet to come.

The question now is how should I handle it?
What advice should I give her?

So far my usual spiel are -
1) Just because you and her share a homeroom teacher or girls scout troop, does not mean that she's a friend.
2) A person who is mean to you is not worthy to be called a friend.
3) There will always be a mean girl or boy, it's how you decide to handle them is what will matter.
4) Never, ever throw the first punch since you can never claim self-defense if you do.
5) If one person doesn't want to play with you, find someone else. The playground is never without a child willing to run around.
6) Just because you want to play or do something, does not mean the rest of your playground buddies will want to do the same thing.
7) Always walk away from the bitches mean girls with your head held high.
8) Who cares what she/he thinks! Never let anyone's comment diminish your self worth.
9) There is no shame in playing by yourself. It is actually the best way to use your imagination.
10) If all things fail - sit quietly and READ A BOOK!

It is hard for a 7-year old to comprehend all this or even think it's worth a dime to follow any of my advice, but hopefully, somehow they will sink in.

Lent 2012: Days 4 to 14

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. It was so busy, I did not even have time to think of Facebook!
So far my days were all about work, work, and work.
While the evenings and weekends were occupied with Words with Friends on my Kindle Fire, marathon of Brothers & Sisters via Netflix, and lately making pom-poms.

Last Feb 26-28, I experienced my very first Due Diligence site visit.
My employer is looking into purchasing a company in sunny FL, and I was lucky enough to be one of the 10 people who went on site. We left Lexington in the morning of the 26th and returned late in the evening of the 28th. The rest of the week flew by, catching up on work that piled up.

Saturday (3/4) was "Read Across America" day, and the kid's 2nd grade class performed at the mall.
Here are 3 videos that I took during their performance. Kind of hard to see where she is, but she is on the 2nd row.

One more thing that the kid managed to do this weekend is to ride her bike with no training wheels! I am so proud of her!

Ode to Joy

Music to my Ears

Today, Emma made her piano debut.
Her piano teacher invited Emma to join her other students in their Summer performance at a nursing home.
In lieu of doing an actual recital, Ms. Dian takes her students to Taylor Manor and they perform for its residents.

Emma started her piano lessons in December.
She wanted violin, but we told her that if she can stick with piano, then we will reconsider violin.
So far, despite her complaints about practicing, she did say that she enjoys the piano and looks forward to her weekly lesson.

Apparently, the kid has good rhythm and "counts well."
She's no child protege, but even when she was barely practicing, her piano teacher said that she's actually good. Which is a bit shocking and makes us wonder if she really is ours.

One more awesome part of this performance is that she (and all the students) got to play their piece on a Baby Grand!

So without further ado. I now introduce you to the first public piano performance of Miss E J T.

Celery

Performed by: Emma

The Monkey and the Banana



Story by: Emma
Narrated by: Abbie
Starring: Jay and Emma

Halloween 2010 (Vancouver)

The Cat's Meow!

Hula Hoop

On March 2009, I took a picture of Emma hula hooping. She can barely do it at that time but from the picture she looked like a pro. See below.



Last night, was a big shocker for me. We went to the YMCA Fall Fest and they have a hula hoop room. So we went in and when she started hula hooping, my jaw dropped! Last night was the first time I've seen her after March 2009 actually use a hula hoop.

Allergy Report 2010

Emma had her every-other-year visit with the allergy doctor.

Peanut skin test is DEFINITELY positive.
As you can see in the photo.

Shellfish is still positive, but not as bad as the peanut. According to the allergist, if she accidentaly eat or get exposed to them she may not even have a reaction at all.

Finally, the tree nuts and sesame seed. Two years ago her blood test came out negative. The result of today's skin test is.. :drum roll: NEGATIVE! Yay!

So, I asked the doctor if I can spread Nutella on her toast now. He said no. Until we do an oral challenge in a control setting (which will not be until 2012 - or if I switch allergist...), I am not to feed her any tree nuts. The negative result just means one less thing to worry about when it comes to accidental exposure or ingestion.

Oh well. I'm still a bit peeved that the peanut thing looks worse than last time. Also, I cannot believe that she still cannot eat crabs and lobster. On the flip side, apparently her peanut allergy is only just for peanuts and does not include other members of the legume family.  So YAY for that.

A Future Beach Bum?

Emma saw a preview of "Phineas and Ferb" where the family went to Hawaii.
It was followed by a Magic Kingdom commercial.
As the mother of an almost 6 year old little girl who watches a lot of Disney channel shows,
Disney World ads make me nervous. I'm always holding my breath and expecting the question,
"Can we go there Mom?"
So the commercial was finally over.
"Shark Boy and Lava Girl" was back on the screen.
She turned around to look at me and what came out of her mouth was...

"Mom, can we go to Hawaii?"
"Hawaii?"
"Yes, Hawaii!"
"Why Hawaii? Why not Disney World?"
"Coz I love the beach!"

HA! Beat that Disney World! My daughter prefer the beach over you! *blew a raspberry*

Traitor!

After eating a very big late lunch at Neely's in Memphis, we decided to head down to the river front area for some photo op. During the drive down my Mom kept on looking at the picture that we took before entering Graceland. I told her that in the picture we were almost the same width. The comment made my Mom lament about how much weight she's gained in the past few years. Not to be left out, Emma asked if she can see the picture. While she was looking at it I asked her who is bigger, me or Mama Mia.

Emma looked at me, then to my Mom, then back to the picture and then she said, "you are still bigger than her Mom" to which my Mom said, "oh Emma I love you so much!"

Vision

Emma's vision on how she can transform herself to Selena Gomez. She wasn't particular with how her hair should look, but definitely she described her clothes to the T.