As the year begins

It is already the 12th day of 2014.  What have been happening besides the crazy weather with a lot of snow to start off the new year, heavy rain, windy and chilly weather, cold and warm temperatures...  In our household, it has been a little wild with Lina<3 being very active, and throwing tantrums daily, and Serena being quite tranquil, crying when she needs something.

Lina<3 is two now, and can tell you so when you ask “how old are you?”  Temper tantrums are daily with whining, crying, pretending to cry, stomping her foot, saying “no” and screaming. My trick to calm her down is to hold her, when she is crying and talk to her when she is not crying hysterically.  When she is crying hysterically, I would let her cry it out, and walk away from her (but not too far), but that does not always work as it is hard to heard cry, and I always want to hold her when she gets that way. There are some many words that she uses daily, to form to short sentences/questions (three to five words) to express herself. Also, so many words that she is learning every day. She is polite, and has manners (and that how we taught her to be) by saying thank you, and please; greetings in the morning with ‘good morning” and at night time with “good night”; and showing her how to sit properly in her chair.  My little girl is growing up so fast. She is such a big girl that she wants to do things on her own, such as learning how to take off her clothes, and put on her clothes; how to button her buttons; zipper her zipper; brush her teeth, and how to spit when brushing her teeth; how to blow her nose; how to blow her hot food; how to eat food on her own; how to cover her mouth when she coughs or sneezes –sometimes, lol; and how to wipe her tears after she cries and tell herself “Don’t cry” in Chinese. Within the last week or so, Lina<3 has become less whiny, which is good for all of us – as she is learning to express herself more :)

My little Serena:) is so cute! She has grown so big, and so fast. She also three months old. There was smiling since the first few weeks of birth. Alertness began after the 3-4 weeks old. After she turned one month old, she started to develop her social smile whenever we play with her. Her first laugh was over the Christmas holiday (in 2013). She had coo-ed the week before 2013 ended. Now, she is smiling, laughing, cooing, staying up longer between naps, and want more attention as well as playtime and tummy time. Tummy time is going well – she is picking up her head more, and holding it up longer. She is beginning signs of wanting to reach for her toys while on her tummy. She recognizes her daddy and I. The last week or so, there’s a cry that just seemed to have no reason for, from what I can tell, which led me to believe that she could be teething when nursing, diaper change, holding, does not seem to soothe her.