Serena the Dancer

I’m very proud of my 7-year-old daughter.

Serena is working on a Flexibility Progress Program as part of her dance program with Dansko. The FPP consists of three stretches (right splits, left splits, and straddle splits), and little dancers have to hold each stretch for three minutes every day for 31 days. She forgot to stretch the night before. After I tucked her in bed, she remembered she didn’t stretch and got up wanting to stretch. I told her it’s too late, and it’s more important that she gets a good night of rest and we would do double stretches tomorrow.

The next morning, I went on my daily routine – hitting the gym at 6:30am. On my way back around 7:45, I figured I would ask Anya to remind Serena to stretch in the morning, just if she has time, to make up for the session we forgot yesterday. Anya told me on the phone that Serena had already done that before Anya even got up. When I got home, Serena told me excitedly that she woke up at 6:19am and couldn’t got back to sleep, so she brushed her teeth, washed her face, stretched and read her book until mom got up to make breakfast.

I was so proud tears almost rolled out of my eyes.

Why

Serena is in this “why” phase.  She just can’t stop asking, “why?”

“Serena, please stop moving around.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m trying to put your shoes on.”

“Why?”

“Because we are going to the park.”

“Why?”

“Because you wanted to go to the park.”

“Why?”

“Okay, stop asking why?”

“Why?”

The following conversation happened after bath today.  I finally broke the unending whys.

“Serena, I need to dry your hair.”

“Why?”

“Because it doesn’t feel good going to bed with wet hair.”

“Why?”

“Because you asked why.”

“Ooooh.”

Yesss!

Mt. Washington Family Trip

We spent the past three days at Mt. Washington with my mom, Anya’s parents, and Aunt Corrie’s family.  It was a lot of fun.  I like going on family trips.  The weather was a bit too cold for my mom’s bones, but she was glad she went.  She was admiring how beautiful the mountains and trees were when they were covered in snow.  We were lucky that the backyard of the chalet was right next to this hill that was perfect for tobogganing.  Mike, Jackson, Ryan, Matt, Aunt Corrie, Anya and I had a lot of fun sliding down the hills overs and over again.  Back in the chalet, Jungle Speed was definitely the game of our stay!

We took Serena to her first skiing lesson, but she refused to continue after two rounds.  S was really looking forward to it before the lesson.  I think the instability of being on the skis shocked her.  She looked pretty darn cute in her skiing gear.  I thought she did well, considering she’s only two.  To be honest, I was secretly hoping she would love it and had a ton of fun and didn’t wanna leave and we would take lots of selfies at her first ever skiing lesson.  Despite the early finish, I was really proud that Serena put on them skis and went down the hill with her teacher, Kailey, twice.  I love it when she’s brave, curious, and willing to try new things.  I was a bit upset when she wouldn’t walk back to the rental office on her own.  I forced her to walk for a bit, but she forced me to carry her, with her loud and innocent cry.  I looked like a child abuser dragging this two-year-old in the snow.  There were some tears shed and feelings hurt.  That night when I tucked her in, she whispered in my ears, “I’m sorry Daddy. I’ll try skiing again next year.”  Tears were filling up.  This time, they were in my eyes.

Here is a clip I posted on Instagram of Serena going down the hill with Kailey’s help: https://www.instagram.com/qwy35/

iPad

It was 8:45pm.  I just finished giving Serena a bath.  I was putting pajamas on her in her room before story time.  We were talking about the movie The Lion King.

“I watched the Lion King on my TV.”

“Right. Simba was in it.”

“Mable watch that movie on her i, iPad.”  Mable is her friend from daycare.

“Oh yeah?  Cool.”

“But, I don’t have an iPad.”

“You are right.  You don’t have one.”

“Oh?  We should go to the store and get one.”

I burst out laughing at first, and then I was quiet.

Oh no, this is how it all starts.

 

Potty Progress

I was not there when the following two incidents happened.  Anya told me about them.  I felt the need to record these.

Sunday, January 24

Serena and Anya met up with some buds at the playground on Cook Street near Dallas Road.  Serena was playing with other kids.  All of a sudden, she stopped and ran to Anya and said, “Mama, I need to go to the potty.”  Anya was surprised, didn’t think Serena was serious, but took her to the bathroom anyway.  Serena peed, in the big girl’s potty.

Monday, January 25

It was after dinner.  My Mom, Griffin and I had left the house to Crownwood.  I have basketball on Monday nights.  Serena and Anya were playing in the living room and just listening to some music.  Suddenly, Serena ran to the bathroom.  A couple of minutes later she came out smiling.  Anya checked and found out S had pooped in the potty.

When Anya told me about these stories, I was overwhelmed with joy and pride.  My little baby girl is growing up.

Daredevil

Almost every Monday night we have dinner at my Mom’s house.  Mom cooks good food for us.  We laugh and tell stories.  Serena has a good time playing with new toys.  Everyone is just generally happy.

Today, my Mom tried to discipline Serena.  S has been a bit loud in her highchair, talking a lot, and not eating her dinner.  In Chinese, Mom yelled, “Serena, you are not being polite.  It is now time to eat your dinner.”  Serena squinted her eyes and softly said, “You are not my Mom.”

Serena did give Nainai a hug later and said she was sorry.  What I was wondering was that at the age of two, how could she come up with such clever response?

Dentist

Serena is going to see the dentist with Anya tomorrow for a regular checkup.  Anya has been getting S warmed up to the idea of teeth checking.  She’s pretty excited about it when I tucked her in bed.

“I’m going to the dentist tomorrow.”

“That’s good.”

“They will check my teeth and say Open Your Mouth.”

“That’s right.”

“Because I have tiny, teeny, lil teeeeeth.”

“Good night.”

Three seconds of silence later, Serena whispered, “open your mouth.”

She ended up staying up way too late, singing and making excuses to get out of her bed.  I hope it will be a good trip tomorrow at the dentist.

Mommy Bear

Serena got some princess toys from AC (Aunt Corrie) for Christmas.  These princesses include Elsa, Anna, Cinderella, and Ariel.  One of them is Merida from the movie Brave.  I realized that she hasn’t watched Brave yet, so we watched it together this morning.  In the movie, Merida had a disagreement with her mother and wanted to change her mother’s mind.  Merida visited a witch and turned her mother into a bear by accident.  I was concerned when we watched this part.

After I came back from playing basketball, Anya told me that Serena was fighting her again and did not want to nap.  While Anya was trying to hold her down to nap, Serena pulled her arm out and pointed towards the ceiling.  Anya asked, “what are you doing, Serena?”  She whispered, “I’m turning you into a bear.”

I’m afraid of what she will become when she turns into a teenager…