Thursday, March 29, 2007

Secondo is driving me crazy

I'm not sure if it's terrible two arriving earlier or her personality. Secondo has been driving me crazy lately. She's really loud and demanding. When she's drawing, she demands "Mommy sit here.. Mommy Draw"
Me: "Mommy has to cook dinner. Secondo draws"
S: " NO. Mommy sit here"
If I don't sit next to her she starts crying
She woke up by a cough last night and started coughing and threw up all over the bed.
After I cleaned her up and hubby cleaned the beddings, she wasn't able to go back to sleep. She wanted to drink milk but I told her that may caused her to throw up some more.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Home Cooking

Here are some of the dishes we enjoy eating and it takes me 30-45 min to prepare both. I put down the recipe now incase Juliet is interested in making them. Chilli pepper can be replaced with bell pepper if you plan to share the dish with kids.

Spicy Salmon Steak

I doubled the recipe here so that we have left over for lunch the next day. It actually taste better when the sauce seeped into the fish overnight.
I tried this recipe with habanero chili once and it was extremely spicy even for hubby who loves to eat thai chilli with every meal.


Ingredients
1) 2 Salmon steaks
2) 1 table spoons cornstarch
3) 1/4 cup of corn oil
4) 2 red chili pepers or Jalapenos depends on how hot you prefer

Seasoning
1) 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2) 2 table spoons dark soy sauce
3) 1 table spoon of rice wine or dry sherry
4) 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
5) 1 teaspoon white pepper
6) 3 table spoon of water

Instruction
1. Dry salmon steaks with paper towel and dust both side with cornstarch
2. Heat the oil in skillet and add the fish steaks
3. Cook for 2 minutes each side and take fish out of skillet
4. Add chilli peppers, garlic and seasonings along with the water in the surplus oil left in the skillet
5. Bring to a boil
6. Put the salmon back in the chilli sauce and cook for 5 min under low heat.



Stir-fry Gailan (Chinese Brocolli)

Ingredient
1. Chinese Brocolli, 1 bag
2. 2 table sppon of Olive oil

Seasoning
1. 2 cloves of galic crushed
2. 3 thai chilli, thinly sliced
3. Salt or fish sauce to taste

Instruction
1. Heat up the oil and add garlic and thai chilli
2. Add Brocolli in to the wok
3. Add salt or fish sauce for taste
4. Stir fry until the stems are soft enough for your liking

Thursday, March 22, 2007

7 years vs. 22 months milestones

Here is my littleSecondo at the South Coast Winery . She's 22 months old now and is quite a drama queen just like her older sister. I attempted to distract her with the flowers while others were wine tasting at the table. She seemed so... grown up & sad in this shot. The sun was setting and it was difficult to get nice shots.
Here favorite phrase is "Where did daddy go?"
Me: "Daddy sang pan (Dad is at work) "
S: "Sang pan?"
Me: "Yes, Daddy sang pan"
S: " Where did Secondo go?"
Me: "Secondo is here.."
S: "he.. he.."
This is a cute age where she repeats everything anyone says. She says good morning and good by to people that I greet at the stores or school.
Both my girls are growing up fast. When the are not fighting, older one chased the younger one and tickled Secondo like crazy and ran away. Most of their fights are about toys since they don't share yet. Secondo tends to take things apart and doesn't put it back together or loose the accessories for her sister's littlest petshops.

Danielle is at the age where she wants to be a big kid not little kid like her sister. She'll make comment such as " I want to watch Hannah Montana or Phil of the Future. Sesame Streets are for babies" She wants her hair parted her way, grows out her bangs and pick her own clothes.
She's observant enought to read my facial expression.
D: "Mom, are you mad at me?"
Me:" Why do you think I'm mad at you?"
D: " You gave me the look"
Me:" What look?"
D: "You know, the big eye angry look when you're mad at me"
Me: " You are right. I'm mad because I've told you many times to practice piano and you ignore me"
I'm officially a mom now that I've mastered the universal "look" all moms are able to say " You are in big trouble my child if you don't do ______ "
My attempt to pay her a dollar a day to play piano on her own is not working.

With my new found support from some of other multilingual families I meet from blogging, I have been speak more Mandarin at home. One day, I replied in Mandarin to Hubby when he asked me a question and he understood it. May be he knows more Mandarin than I gave him credit for. My favorite word that hubby says is Sue-jiao ku (pajama pants).

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Chinese Footbinding

On my drive in to work on Monday, I was listening to NPR and they had a story titled "Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors" It was heart wrenching to learned that back in 1912, some mothers were binding their daughter's feet, crushing their tiny bones in secret so their daughters have the possibility to marry into a wealthy family. The reason for such torture sounded illogical and idiotic. As I researched more into the topic, I found this article which goes into more scary details on the actual process and pains those poor Chinese girls had to endure.
A friend of my dad's mom had binded foot and I met her in the late seventies. Back then I just thought it was strange that this grandma had the same size feet as my brother bulleye who was 6 years old at the time. I recalled that it was difficult for her to get around.
I must show share this story with my daughters when they are older so they know how lucky they are.


Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Retelling stories

It's weird how my friends and I tell the same stories over and over to the same people thinking it's the 1st time we've told it.
Is it because of my age that I can't remember that I've told story A to person B already yesterday?
Is it because I like the story so much that my brain erased the memory that I've told the story before in order to get the satisfaction of retelling the same story over and over again?
Is it because I need closure on that story so I retell it and solicit input from friends and family until I'm satisfied and able to accept the ending?

Danielle was so excited yesterday when she saw Junie B Jones latest book, Dumb Bunny. We got it for her and she finished it in 30 min. " When is the next JBJ book going to be available mom? I can't wait to read it..."

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Observations

Me:
With this bloody cold, any tiny disturbance in the throat area induced uncontrollably coughing fit. To stay alive, I resorted to shallow breathing and tons of cough drops. Today, I feel better because most of the phlegm are no longer in my lungs but it still hurts when I swallow or burp.
The pass few nights, my cough had waken me many times but luckily, it didn't awaken Secondo who slept next to me.

Hamster:
The hamster cage has gotten really stinky after DJ had been in it for 1 week. Dear hubby cleaned it in the kitchen downstairs on Sunday while Danielle played with DJ in the bath tub upstairs. Next thing we heard "Daddy.. help.... she peed in the tub..." so hubby ran up stairs to clean up after DJ.

Implants:
I recall during one business trip, on a plane, I sat next to a man in his mid thirties who was living in Chicago and asked me where I was going. When I told him that I'm flying back to Orange County, his 1st questions to me was "Do most women living in the OC have a boob jobs?" My immediate reaction was "Of course not" speaking for my self. "Where I live is nothing like the reality show OC house wife where most of the women are rich with have fake boobs and get botox on regular basis".
Since then, I thought about what he said and started to observe the female head of household on my street. Some of are athletic, some a bit over weight, and some are really thin but have unnaturally large breasts. As I investigate further, let's just say that 20% of the ladies on my streets had some enhancement done.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

I hate being sick

I've been sick like a dog for the pass few days. I have Secondo's cold so I've been coughing nonstop day and night, accompanied by blurry vision due to mucus coming out of my eyes. The sad part is I took time off to be home with the kids when they were sick so I couldn't really take more time off for my self. Hubby has the same cold but had to report work today so he looked really tired this afternoon. I sure hope this is the end of the cold season.
We got another hamster name DJ for Danielle a week ago today and it is still alive and kicking (knock on wood). This one is female and much more active compared to Stripey. We fed her carrots to keep her hydrated and left her alone while she adjust to her new environment. We'll continue to the same routine for 1 more week before letting Danielle handle DJ.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Nignt Fever.. Night Fever

On Saturday, Danielle complained about sore throat and feeling cold. I measured her temperature when her red eyes were complemented with rosy cheeks and it was 103.7F. Secondo also had a cold but her version is accented with mucus discharge out of her eyes. Secondo's fever ranges from 101 to 102.5F. Both were lethargic little people with runny noses which resulted in tissue papers scattered in every room. Sounds familiar Michelle? Hubby was working so Mom & Dad dropped by to lend a helping hand.
I took them both to their pediatrician Monday hoping for some antibiotics to cure any infections they may have and found no infections. "The cold has to run its course".. I suppose. Last night at 11:30 PM, Secondo's fever was 102.7F and we had to force some acetaminophen in her mouth now that she's capable of spiting it out. At 3 am this morning, Secondo was restless while crying out for daddy. She also complained about her right cheek and said "Owey.. owey.." I sure hope that Dr did not misdiagnose my child. sigh...
Both girls are home today with my parents and I hope the fever will subside soon..
I have a sore throat with some muscle aches and pain but no fever yet.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Stripey's Story

We bought Danielle a hamster last Sunday and she named him Stripey. Danielle was SO... excited and happy when she got the pet she "wished" for. She went in to the pet store with hubby while Secondo napped in the car with me. 30 minutes went by and I saw a happy smiley face popped up the driver's seat window. "MOM, I got a HAMSTER!"
This picture was taken with Stripey playing in the transparent plastic ball several days ago. He slept with Danielle in her room for the pass few nights and we would hear him running on the hamster wheel. This morning, Stripey wasn't running on the wheel and when hubby cheched on Stripey, it didn't move. We broke the bad news to Danielle when she woke up and she was in shocked and didn't say much. After we removed Stripey from the cage and transfer it into a sandwich bag, she started to cry. " I want stripey back...."
It's unfortunate but death is part of life lesson that we've chosen to learn when we aquire a pet. Hubby promised to get her another hamster this afternoon. After she got dressed for school, she stared at the empty cage for who knows how long.