What is Lina up to?

To my little Lina<3

Hello baby! How are you doing? You are two years old now. You have been two for less than a month, and it has been tiring. It is just the beginning of your "terrible twos." There had been so much whining, and crying about every little thing. It is useless to find a middle ground for you, because you will whine, and cry til you get what you want. You can be incredibly obstinate which can test my patience but I do love watching you. At times, it can be really cute, and can't help but laugh, and smile at your stubbornness.

Besides your daily "terrible two" events, you have been developing very well. Your speech development has been incredible- learning two to three words daily, and putting words together in English and Chinese. These last few days, your favorite phrase was "oh my god" and I still do not know where you learned that from. The other phrase is "Jingle Bells".
The day starts (for the last few days) off with a "good morning" to us and your sister. It had changed from "morning", which you started saying this month. The day ends with a "good night" and "ai ni" (which means I love you in Chinese Mandarin). You have learned to express yourself more and more even though at times, you do not speak the words. You can tell us when you want food or a snack; or when you or something that falls down; or when the pacifier comes out of Serena:) mouth; or when you want to sleep; and when you want  to read or play or color. You can answer close ended questions but your answers are always "no", lol. An open ended question can cause you to be silly, giggles, and, smiles. I usually ask open ended questions when we are reading books, and you answers well; and as well as throughout the day. You are learning how to count in English and Chinese. In Chinese,  you count, 1,3,5,8,9,10, lol. You can count along side with me. In English, you count from one to five, all by yourself.

Jie Jie is what you are, Lina<3 jie jie- big sister. You can help me with baby Serena:) when you want to. When it comes to diaper changes, you can help me by throwing the dirty diaper away. When you hear your sister crying, you tell me, we go together, and check on her. When Serena:) pacifier comes out of her mouth, you help put it back, but you had learned to pull it out over the past weekend. There are times when you get extremely jealous. We try not ignore you at all but you need to understand that Serena:) needs us more urgently, and immediately.

When it comes to food, you have good days and bad days. When you absolutely refused to eat, then that is it! When you get obsessed about a specific food like an bagel or crackers, you would not want any other food. No matter what foods were offer are out of the question, then a tantrum would start, tears comes, screaming, and crying. It almost seemed like there is no way out. This last week, you have been eating well, by yourself - feeding yourself. I love watching you eat but there's an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) tendency - you do not like it when your hands get dirty, and when the area around the table gets dirty; and needs it clean right away, otherwise you won't eat. To avoid picky eating, Mama is trying to add a variety of different foods during meal time.

You play well, and I can not wait til Serena:) is big enough to play with you. You two are going to have so much fun together. Sometimes, you look so lonely playing by yourself but it also looked like you did not mind playing by yourself for a little while. You  love to play with Daddy and I. Everything becomes food to you when you play - blocks become food, and drums set. You like to play with your phones, and pretend to or actually call everyone from PorPor to Daddy. The last few mornings, we call  PorPor (grandmother in Chinese), GongGong (grandfather in Chinese), uncle and aunts. You have a habit of throwing things which I try to stop you from doing. You love to run back and forth from your room to the living room, which is a long stretch. There's so much running that we are always afraid that you are going fall or trip over something, because you run so fast.

Potty training is going well :) Lina<3, you are learning how to use the potty (both for pee pee and poop) on your own by telling me when you need to go without any reminders. We had not had an accident since the beginning of the week. We have two potty chairs, but you only like to use the potty inside Mama's room.

There are so many moments that I will always treasure :) I know that sometimes you get anxious about Mama taking care of Serena:) and not being able to play with or give you enough attention, but I want you to know that Mama will always love you and will spend as much as time as possible with you when I am able to :)

I love you always my Lina<3
Mama