For the boring month in-between Christmas and your birthday, January was busy and fun. We started off by having our first ever family portraits taken. You did a good job sitting still and smiling for the actual pictures, but waiting around afterward was pretty boring. That's the downfall of advancing technology. You used to wait weeks for your portraits to be developed, so after they were taken you just went home. Now it only takes 20 minutes for the digital files to be ready, but you end up spending those 20 minutes hanging out in a department store. Sometimes modern conveniences only fool you into thinking they are convenient. The pictures turned out to be quite nice, though, so it was worth the trouble.
Even though there wasn't a formal occasion for gifts, you still acquired a new favorite toy. We watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon together. A couple of days later, you counted out your piggy bank to put the money into your savings account. I'm not sure how it happened, but you and Grandma made the deal that you could take some of your money and buy a toy from HtTYD. So you and I took some rolls of quarters to the bank, changed them into dollars, and went to Toys R Us. It was the first time that you were shopping for something for yourself, with your own money. I made you count out the dollar bills and do the whole exchange with the sales person. You don't often see me using cash, so I thought it was a good opportunity to emphasize that you don't always have to swipe a card. Although, by the time you're buying things routinely, you'll probably be looking in a retinal scanner. Anyway, Toothless the Dragon came home with us and has been a favorite toy ever since.
Toothless had to come with us when we drove down to the Birch Aquarium on MLK Day. You were off of school and your Dad and Uncle Alex were off of work, so we thought it was a good day for a little trip. Dad and I had been to the aquarium a long time ago, so long that we can't quite remember when it was. So it was nice to go back and see it again. You enjoyed looking at some of the fish. You had more fun in the children's area, floating boats down the water tables. You also liked the tide pools. We had planned to be there on an afternoon when they fed the tide pool tanks, so that was pretty cool. You and Dad got to see that, but poor Miriam was overtired and terribly unhappy, so she and I had already headed out to the car. When you all followed, you took the chance to show off Toothless to Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena. It was nice to see them--that's definitely one of the best parts about living here now. When we were leaving, we drove past part of the UC San Diego campus. I told you that you could go to college there, and do your laundry at your uncle's house. You thought that was a fine idea.
We also went down to the Cabrillo Aquarium twice this month. Once, just to have a fun visit, and a second time to go to their annual Whale Fiesta. The California coastline is part of the migratory path of the gray whales. The aquarium was doing some fun activities, like building a life sized gray whale out of sand on the beach. You and I built a volcano, of course. Then you made a whale and dolphin mobile and did some scrimshaw, which I thought was pretty nifty. One of these years, we'll go whale watching. I went once when I was a kid and really enjoyed it.
The weather is still warm and dry, which is great for playing at the park, but terrible for the environment, of course. It also seems to be terrible for your shoes. For some reason, all of your shoes are wearing out at the same time. It makes me wonder if those are going to be the most expensive part of your wardrobe now. Instead of buying all new winter clothing every year, we'll be buying you new pairs of shoes every six months.
This month ended with Back to School Night, followed by Chinese New Year. In Minneapolis, students did not attend Back to School Night, so when I walked into your classroom and saw several of your classmates, I was rather dismayed. It's not the first time that we've been lucky to live so close to your preschool--it only took me five minutes to come and get you and bring you back with me. Your teacher gave us a piece of paper which mentioned two activities that you wanted to show us on your own, and then one activity that you would demonstrate to the group. You showed us Equilateral Triangles and the Teen Number Board. Then for the group, you did the Sandpaper Letters. It was nice to see what you're doing, and what other students are doing. The number of mornings that you tell us that you hate school have not decreased, so I keep hoping that as you learn more skills, you'll enjoy school more
For Chinese New Year, we went up to Santa Monica, where they were having a Dragon Dance. I thought we wanted to get there early enough to see some other performances, but it ended up being much too early. We walked up and down the whole Promenade, and then spent a long time playing in the children's area of the food court. You did get to make a paper dragon, which you took to school for your next sharing day. Dad was able to meet us for the actual Dragon Dance, so you had a good view from his shoulders. You even got to touch the dragon, which is good luck. The day before CNY, we had this conversation:
[I told you that you couldn't play a computer game just now because I was applying for a job.]
You: I hope your next job is in China. I love China.
Me: I think you just love Chinese food.
You: Oh, yeah!
It would please me if you were able to enjoy your Chinese heritage, if only through your love of fried rice.
Love,
Mom
Shades:
At Cabrillo for fun:
At the Whale Fiesta:
School work--the Teen Board:
Equilateral Triangles:
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