February 2007

Chinese New Year - February 18 through March 4

We celebrated Chinese New Year at the big bash sponsored Westchester Chinese Association, Organization of Chinese Americans, Westchester Evergreen Association, Families with Children from China and Huaxia Chinese School. This is the second year FCC has participated in this party with the Chinese American community. I was one of about 15 organizers and it was great fun (and a lot of work) to pull this together. The party was a huge success and we had about 800 attendees in total - 225 from Families with Children from China.

I was so busy at the party, that I wasn't able to take even one picture. I have put a call out to attendees for pictures and hopefully, I'll get one of Katerina. But I did get these great photos.













I do have a couple of pictures from before we left the house which shows her adorable outfit.


Katerina had a fabulous time; the crafts, the lion dance, dinner. But I think she had had it by the time the 1 1/2 hour performance came around at 7pm; young girls playing Chinese harps, dancing girls, magician, older folks dancing and chorus, etc. We had to get up (and of course we were in the middle of a row “excuse me, so sorry, yes us again” ) and leave the auditorium at least 15 times. When we were in our seats she was talking loud (excitement) about whatever was on the stage causing heads to turn around; some with amused affectionate looks, others with slow determination to let us know she was invading their space. I think she was one year too young and will enjoy it much more next year.

Life at Home
It's really been a blessing to be home and have so much time with Katerina. We've really been bonding and it's made a big difference in our relationship. BaBa is still number 1, but I am a very close 2nd. She sometimes even will reach out for me when he's holding her which never used to happen. She did the sweetest thing the other morning. She woke up early and Constantin brought her into our bed. She leaned over to me and stared deeply into my eyes. She took her hand and began brushing the hair out of my eyes. She kissed me on the face twice. It was so tender. Made mush meal out of me!
Although I haven't been working, I've been extremely busy. I swear I don't know how I used to squeeze in a job! I was very busy preparing for the Chinese New Year party, but primarily I've been organizing things that have needed attention for quite some time, catching up on paperwork, basically just getting life in order. It's terrific. I have started working with one client and am trying to build up enough of a clientele that I will not have to look for a salaried job at the end of June when my severance runs out.

Teetah
Our babysitter, Nancy was on vacation for 2 weeks. Popi, Constantin's sister, stayed with us a for a week and it was a big help. She and Rina found lots of time to bond. Rina calls her Teetah (her way of pronouncing Thea, which means Aunt in Greek) We took no pictures. (Boy, am I falling down on the job!!) She'll be back for a week sometime this month and we'll make up for it.
YaYa & Pappous
Rina has really bonded with Constantin's parents. They've been with us since early January and will return to Greece sometime in March or April. It's been wonderful to have them here and they are just so in love. For 82-year-olds, they are amazingly spry. They each walk on the treadmill every day unless it is nice enough to walk outside. YaYa (Greek for grandma) dances with Rina, gets down on the floor and plays, follows her running around the house, each of them pushing a baby carriage with a doll or stuffed animal. They wait each morning next to the baby monitor in the family room to hear her to wake up. They must have watched Mary Poppins 20 times already. They do not speak English, but communication has not been a problem. With laughter, affection, gestures and voice inflections they've been doing fine. Katerina is understanding some greek and responds appropriately.

Birthday Parties
Lots of birthday parties since the beginning of the year:

Olivia turned 3 - awaiting pictures

Katie turned 4 - My Gym in Yorktown












Emily turned 4 - Leapin' Lizards in Portchester












   Jenny turned 4 - Club Fit Briarcliff












Katerina loved her goody bag princess accessories. First dress-up experience.










What's in a NameRina has fallen in love with her full name this month - Katerina. She says it constantly and pronounces it like Cat-Tea-Rina. One evening she went on for almost 1 hour, turning her back to the audience (that would be me, Constantin, his parents and Joseph), writing with a pencil on a piece of paper, then she would turn around throw her arms in the air and yell Cat-Tea-Rina and then clap furiously....and we'd all clap furiously and shout hooray. We were having such fun, I forgot about recording the moment. By the time I brought the camera into the room to videotape, it was a more perfunctory performance. Another great photo/video opportunity lost. So she is now comfortable with her name, and we have her nickname Rina. I was so worried that someone else would give her a nickname before we settled on one. And you know it was bound to happen when you have a name with 4 syllables.

Full Sentences
She is really in the talking zone. We are amazed at her vocabulary and don't know where she's picked up some words. She's constantly chattering; particularly when she is in her crib at bedtime. The conversations she must be having with Chickaree Chick, Big & Little (curious) Georges, Ba Ba Bear, Mouse, etc. Not only does she talk to them, but she sings to them. Last night she was rocking one to sleep. It's interesting that she has not yet taken to dolls; only stuffed animals.

The other night she rode her tricycle into the kitchen where Constantin, his mother and I were preparing dinner and she said "Hi Guys". As Constantin was putting on her coat recently, she said: "Wait a minute Ba Ba". And the longest sentence to date was this week's "I want that book Ba Ba, please"

She recognizes most letters - upper and lower case. This has come about primarily with the exploration we've done on a particular Learn to Read website - Starfall. It's wonderful. It makes learning ABCs and reading fun. In addition to recognizing letters, she also recognizes some words. She knows her numbers through thirteen, skipping 10 and hanging on thirteen once she gets there. So it goes "eight, nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, etc."

Gimme and Mine
Katerina attends nursery school 2 mornings a week and in addition to learning how to paint, put on her coat by herself, socialize with others, she has learned "Gimme" and "Mine". We've gotten her to soften Gimme with "Gimme, please". I guess someday we'll get to "Please may I have". Sometimes she'll substitute "I want that" or "I need that" for "Gimme". And then we have "Mine". Everything is "Mine". When Constantin's mother went over to give him a hug, Katerina ran over, grabbed his legs and said "MINE!"

I'm Sorry
Rina has learned I'm sowwie from the few times she was on the naughty stool (thank you SuperNanny) for flinging food. She now spontaneously will say I'm sorry when appropriate. Last night she was bringing me something and knocked over a bottle of seltzer which spilled a little..and said I'm sowwie and the time she smacked her head into my nose when we were playing and said I'm sowwie.

Bless You: If she doesn't get a "Bless You" from someone when she sneezes, she'll say it herself.

First snowfall
We had a very mild weekend but had a least one snow storm and that thrilled Katerina. She went tubing in the backyard.













Other Noteworthy Items

Favorite foods: Still macaroni and cheese, fruit, cheese, but she's begun to eat eggs, chicken, and mixed vegetables as well. She loves her "coffee" in the morning ( a shot of decaf in a glass of soy milk) and drinks water or water with a little juice most of the time. Of course, cheddar goldfish/bunnies are still the favorite snacks. She really enjoys Japanese miso soup with tofu and gyoza (fried dumplings).

Oreo Cookies: Major milestone - ate an oreo cookie the right way on her own. Pulled the two halves apart and licked the icing. On to Mallomars.

Potty training: NOPE, not yet. She knows what the potty is for and has observed her friends using the toilet, but has no interest. Diapers suit her just fine for the time being. I really hope she's out of diapers by the time we go on vacation in September.

Things Chinese: She identifies Chinese writing as Chinese, and certain types of clothes as Chinese, and Chinese people. She will point and say "Chinese". At the Chinese New Year party, when we sat down for the evening performance, the curtain opened and the stage was lavishly decorated for the holiday. She pointed and said "Chinese".

Attack of Barney: One afternoon a friend, AnnMarie, and I were stuffing ticket envelopes for the Chinese New Year party when we hear this whining screechy sound from Katerina's room where she was with AnnMarie's daughter, Katie. We walked down there trying to determine the source. We then thought the sound had moved into the hallway and all gathered there looking up at the smoke detector thinking maybe it was coming from there. Rina and her friend went into the living room and suddenly the noise seemed to get fainter where we were and prominent in the living room. Constantin's parents by this time were also trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. We called Constantin at work and he decided he'd better come home. He drove to the house from Peekskill - 20 minutes away - and within 1 minute he located the source; it was the Barney doll that Katerina had been carrying around and was now lying on her play table in the living room! Boy, did we all feel foolish. Outsmarted by Barney...superdeedooper!