Daphne Says the Darndest Things

Here are a few conversations Daphne and I had this week:

Daphne: Do you like the sparkles on your strawberry?
Me: Sparkles?
Daphne: Yeah, there are sparkles on it.
Me: Where are the sparkles?
Daphne: These little things on the strawberry. *points to the seeds* They are sparkles.
Me: Ohhhh, those aren't sparkles. They're strawberry seeds.
Daphne: Oh. They taste like sparkles.

What an exciting month this has been!

This month has been so awesome! I feel like I'm finally getting into the groove of this. I hope this will hold up long after the new baby is born!

I've been planning lessons for Daphne the past two months (ever since June), and this month went particularly smoothly.

Allow me to summarize our lessons (usually grouped by a weekly theme):

July 1-6: Our theme was "Our Nation's Birthday". This week we did a flag craft that required Daphne to color a flag and then attach 50 star stickers in the correct place. She also colored and learned about the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty. We discussed what a symbol was, and how those landmarks are national symbols. I hosted a 4th of July Potluck for a mom's group I am part of on the 3rd. The kids made noise makers, flag cakes and designed their own firework t-shirts. On the 6th, Daphne made a bald eagle puppet, google-y eyes and all! She's so adept at using scissors. Books we read: Happy Birthday, America!, Hats off for the Fourth of July!, and The Flag We Love.

July 7-10: Since July is National Picnic month, Picnics were the theme of this week! On Wednesday and Thursday, we made 2 baskets out of stock paper. Daphne and I explored the differences between fruits and veggies. I then had her cut out fruits and veggies from grocery advertisements and sort them using the baskets we made. Friday was National Teddy Bear Picnic Day so we read, The Teddy Bears' Picnic as well as crafted a little bear with a patriotic shirt (to help reinforce last week's lessons). She glued this onto a brown paper bag and we went on a a teddy bear picnic. Other books we read this week included The Bears' Picnic (Berenstain series) & We're Going on a Picnic!

July 11: We went on a 3 mile hike at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. They had a neat interpretive trail and interpretive center.

July 13-17: This week's theme was boats. We did a sink or swim activity on Tuesday. This activity required Daphne to collect a few items from around the house and predict whether they would sink or swim. We filled a dishpan full of water. Daphne then took each item and placed it in the pan to determine whether her predictions were correct. She then recorded the outcome of her experiment. On Wednesday, we went to the San Diego Maritime Museum. There, we were able to explore a REAL Soviet B-39, a replica of an English Frigate (the one they used in the movie Master & Commander), a ferry, along with many other historic ships. The kids were so thrilled because we actually got to ride on a historic boat! It was an hour-long boat ride, and Lotus held up pretty well! We read Boats, Boats, Boats, and watched a DVD called Paddle to the Sea based on the award-winning book.

July 20-25: This week, we're going to be learning about the earth, the moon, the sun & astronauts to commemorate the first moon landing on July 20, 1969. Yesterday, we read the following books: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle, One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong by Don Brown, Rooftop Rocket Party by Roland Chambers & Man on the Moon by Anastasia Suen (sorry I couldn't provide the authors for the other books, I forgot them). Daphne also colored a picture of the Earth, the sun and the moon. Lol, she pointed out how the Earth had arms. I had to clarify that the earth really didn't have arms. She kept disagreeing, citing her coloring page as evidence! Today (or sometime later this week), we'll be make astronauts using toilet paper rolls and affixing pictures of each girl on their respective astronaut. The top off this week's astronomy adventures, we'll be participating in the Louis Rubidoux Nature Center's Star Party and Evening Nature Walk this Friday at 6:30 PM. Here is a description from the Nature Center's page: Come view the night sky with telescopes from the Astronomical Society! Take a guided evening walk along the creek. Make a scrapbook page! Crafts, refreshments, and much more!

Needless to say, I'm very excited about this all! This morning, I tried on my Babyhawk Mei Tai and discovered that I can still comfortable use it while pregnant! Also, Lotus actually likes it. She was actually very upset when I took it off.

July 25-21: Our theme will be sea life. We'll be learning about octopi, walruses, dolphins and starfish. Crafts this week include making an octopus windsock, a jumping dolphin craft, and textured starfish necklace. This week's theme will actually spill over into the first week of August (3-7) when we will cover, sharks, sand dollars, eels and fish. This two-week theme will end with a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific on August 8.

Daphne's Brother

Yesterday, Daphne introduced me to her brother, Donut Carly. She interacted with him throughout the day. Emmanuel even witnessed it.

Today, she wanted me to make a tiara with her. I was really tired, so I asked her to have Donut (as she often refers to her brother) to help her. She interjected, "But...but, Donut doesn't have skin. He's only pretend."

SO HILARIOUS.

Our Emmanuel-less Sojourn to Huntington Gardens

So, we got Free Day tickets to Huntington Gardens, and I took the kids ALL BY MYSELF! We stayed for about 2 hours, and then we went to the El Monte Library to return some books that we had borrowed a few weeks ago.

Enjoy the pics:

Making Money Jars

Today, Daphne and I made money jars. Hopefully, I find some time later to post pictures. It was a pretty fun craft. Crafts are becoming increasingly fun to do with Daphne.

We also went to Barnes and Noble. We're going to participate in their summer reading program. If Daphne reads 8 books, she gets a coupon for a free book from the store. Pretty neat.

Most Barnes and Nobles have stages set in a Winnie the Pooh theme. Daphne loves to dance and sing on the stage. I heard her sing some pretty hilarious lines today:

Little mermaid...wanted feet. She talked to the octopus and became a woman!!! She had no clothes.

Yes, she was singing quite loudly.

She also made a funny comment when I was dressing to leave.

Mommy, I like your fing (thing). I like your white fing. Your white boob fing. That white fing for your boobs. It's nice.

Yes. She was admiring my bra.

She's so hilarious.

Lotus was pretty cool today, too. She was so cooperative in the bookstore. She sat with me and watched Daphne perform, and she'd even clap at the end of each performance. Today, she actually did something she usually doesn't do--she returned a book on the shelf after I asked her to! Of course, I clapped, and she beamed with pride.

My girls are so awesome. I love them so much. I have a feeling they are just going to get funnier and funnier.

Daphne's Dream

Today, Daphne woke up and told me that she was in the jungle but "only in her eyes". I assumed this meant that she DREAMT that she was in the jungle. I told her to tell me more about it. This is more or less what she said...more or less verbatim:

I was in the jungle, but only in my eyes. I was with the jungle people. The animals were biting me. No one helped me. Then a squirt went into my mouth. A squirt is a bug. It was a sad, scary dream.

The humor in this lies in the fact that when she recounted this dream to me, she said it all quite matter-of-factly. Maybe she understood that it wasn't real!

In any case, it was really cool!

Videos in the Making & Lotus' New Phrases!

I have a crazy amount of videos I still need to edit. We've had lots of adventures the past few weeks, but I have yet to edit the videos.

I feel so ashamed about lagging in reporting this, but Lotus is now using phrases!

She's has been able to point and name her body parts for the past two months now, and it surprised us about two weeks ago when she woke up with Emmanuel, and while they were making breakfast together, she declared, "So hah-pee, so hah-pee, so hah-pee (so happy)!" This morning, when we woke up, she cuddled up next to me and said, "Hah-pee deh, hah-pee deh, hah-pee deh (happy day)!"

I think she does understand what she's saying because she repeatedly says "happy" over and over again whenever she seems pretty happy.

Here are a few other words/phrases she's been using the past three months:

I huh-gree, I huh-gree (I'm hungry)
Hurrt, hurrt (She says this when she's hurt)
Butt! Butt! (She says this because sometimes, she wants us to rub her bottom--go figure!)
Shoe (I don't know if this counts because I think it was her first word)
Whenever she puts on new clothes she still likes to rub her belly and say, "Preh-tee, preh-tee (pretty)!"

She's still is quite demanding when it comes to being read to (a few of my readers know this). She shoves books right in people's faces and says, "Read! Read! READ!"

I need to go because Daphne wants to go outside and ride her bike!

Dinner and a Movie

The whole family went to go watch our second movie together! Here's a clip to summarize our evening:



Enjoy the pics, too:

Fiesta Village

We went to Fiesta Village. Here's the video to summarize our afternoon. It says we went on February 29, but it was actually March 29!



Enjoy the pictures, too:

Santa Monica Beach

We went to Santa Monica. We had fun at the beach and the surrounding area. Reading about our adventures isn't nearly as fun as seeing it, so here's a neat little video that summarizes our time:



Hope you enjoy these photos, too!

Daphne Cooked Dumplings with Me Today

Today, Daphne helped me seal the edges of the dumplings that I made. She did a superb job. She was very proud of how careful and thorough she was. I'm so glad I had a little helper! It helped speed up the process a bit, and it kept my hands just a tad bit cleaner than usual. When asked about how the dumplings tasted, she responded, "It's sooo good!"

Lotus ate a few so they must have been decent!

No pictures, but I'll be getting my camera tomorrow. So prepare for a flurry of images then!

Potty Training Lotus

Yesterday, Lotus informed us three times that she had to pee. "Pee-pee, pee-pee," she would say. Two of the three times she urged us that she needed to use the bathroom, she actually peed in the toilet! The other one time, she pooped!

I guess this means toilet training has commenced...at exactly 18 months! I wonder how long it will take until she doesn't need diapers at all.

Hsi Lai Temple

Today, we visited the Hsi Lai Temple with our friends Eliza and her kids, Jiufu & Nikki. Daphne and Nikki had great fun running up and down the courtyard. We all enjoyed the monastery's vegetarian buffet.

Daphne and I were able to watch three women make these wonderful little red bean & vanilla filled pastries outside the tea and reading room. I just realized I failed to take a picture of it! They were delicious, though. Emmanuel was (finally--after our third visit) able to enjoy a cup of Bodhi tea in their tea room in quasi-quiet repose.

Daphne forwent the purchase of a beautiful, red Chinese bracelet with rose quartz for a key chain with a pink stone attached to it.

When asked about her visit to the Buddhist Temple and about her favorite part, Daphne responded, "It was really good...wait a second. The blocks." I believe she was talking about running up and down the courtyard (pictured below).

After our visit to Hsi Lai, we went to the 99 Ranch Market in West Covina, and we bought some crab.

Pietro's Italian Cuisine

Tonight we had dinner with Masa, Cheryl and their daughter, Liberty-Belle at Pietro's Italian Cuisine, a restaurant that was voted as having the best pizza in the Inland Empire.

I ordered Daphne mostaccioli (essentially penne without ridges) pasta, but she was displeased, so I ended up ordering her spaghetti. We packed up her mostaccioli, and she promised to eat it tomorrow. Lotus loved her mostaccioli. She split her time between feeding herself and walking around the restaurant. She's a peculiar one. She sort of just wanders about, comes back for a bite of food, wanders around some more. I always wonder she could possibly be thinking.

Daphne started to rhyme during dinner. She's getting quite good at rhyming.

We were swimming in soiled napkins ten minutes after receiving our food (courtesy of Daphne and Libby), but we had great fun.

Lotus demanded to sit on Cheryl's lap a majority of the time, which kept Cheryl from eating. Sorry, Cheryl, but like I said at the restaurant, if you don't want to be so popular with the kiddies, you should consider not being so nice. Your motto should be, "Think twice before you're nice!"

The place was totally empty which allowed us to let the kids to run around after they finished with their dinners. We got to finish our dinners in peace! Well, at least I did.

I had the yummiest Veal Picatta!

You may be asking yourself how eating out can be mildly educational. Well, it gives children the opportunity to learn and apply a myriad of skills such as table etiquette, indoor & public behavior, etc.

"I want to be dirty!"

Daphne: I want to brush my teeth!
Emmanuel: No, not right now, we'll brush our teeth after you take a bath.
Daphne: ...I don't want to take a bath! I WANT TO BE DIRTY.
Me: Are you sure you want to be dirty?
Daphne: Yes, I WANT TO BE DIRTY!

Daphne is Fighting Monsters!

For the past few days, Daphne has been fighting monsters who have been trying to make their way into our living room. What amuses me is that they are all vegetables. Two or three days ago, she said she was fighting broccoli. I told her that she should eat him. She paused momentarily and said that he had an ugly face, so she couldn't.

Just a second ago, I asked her what monster she was fighting, and she replied, "Carrot." Before I could say more, she added, "I don't want to eat him."

What a ham. She's sooo hilarious. She's fighting the carrot with water. While she was hosing him down, she was chanting part of a fire truck song that goes, "Shoot that water! Shoot that water!"