another blog 30 01 2010

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30 01 2010

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

Here's an encore presentation
of some growing up stories I wrote down when we were younger.

Ursula (3-1/2) and I are at the office one Saturday -- I doing my work, she busy with her drawings. The building is empty, but for us two, and Carol in the office next door.
Ursula looks up from her drawing and says to me, "Steve, I gotta pee". I reply "OK, just a minute. I heard Carol going into the bathroom. You can go there when she's done." After a bit, I hear Carol emerging from the bathroom down the hall and inform U. that it's her turn. She heads down there and I continue working. Seconds later, I hear choking, gagging sounds from down the hall, and I look up to see U. returning. She's explaining to me loudly (as she passes the doorway to Carol's office) that "Some people were POOPING in there and it stinks REALLY BAD!"

Before Ursula turned three, she and I were staying at my brother Jeff's house for a weekend. U. was fascinated with Jeff's cats and was constantly trying to play with them in ways that they didn't appreciate. Whenever I see this activity, I explain to U. that cats get scared when little girls are not playing gently enough, and they can hurt the little girls with their sharp fingernails. To this lecture, U. always nods and backs off for a while. Jeff and I are downstairs talking, while Ursula is upstairs watching a video with one of the cats. At some point jeff and I hear a scream followed by crying coming from U. I go check it out. I find U. holding her hand, which has some freshly acquired cat scratches. She sobs, "That cat Hurt My Hand!" I ask, "Were you playing a little too rough with the cat?" "No", she assures me, tearfully. I say, "Cats usually have a reason when they scratch people. What were you doing before he scratched you?" She pointed to a grocery sack on the floor and explained, "I was just trying to put him in the bag..."

When Fon was pregnant with Lia, Ursula (3) usually accompanied on prenatal visits to the doctor. Once, the doctor was conversing with Ursula and asked "What are you going to do when you grow up?" Without hesitation and with absolute seriousness, Ursula replied, "I'm going to eat gum."

Ursula vocabulary @ 3-1/2 Sometimes, U doesn't like to eat her "retch-tables".
U has several uses for the word chopstick, often substituting for the word plastic -- so she likes to use her "chopstick spoon" for cereal, and her "chopstick fork" at lunch. But her favorite utensil is the "holes fork" (a camp fork with two holes in the handle).
The screen on the window is the "holes window".
Later Vocabulary.
U@5: "Steve, we played Parrot Shoot in class today". [parachute]
U@6, reading a book to me: "There's a unicorn. He has just one corn on his head..."
Snowflags [snowflakes].

Ursula (4) On the way out of the bookstore, Ursula tries to negotiate for one more book. She and I stop at the discount section, where she spots a Wanna Have. "Look, Steve. LION KING!" "That's nice Ursula", I stall. "We should buy this one". "I don't think so. You already have a couple of Lion King books." "Come on. It's REALLY RARE!" Little old lady standing next to us, with a laugh in her eye: "Did she say Really Rare?" "She's the expert", I reply.

I'm replacing a faucet in the bathroom. Ursula's investigating possible uses for the drain stopper control mechanism. She applies pressure. Her hand slips and a finger gets cut on a small metal attachment. Her face illustrates perfectly the instant of panic and terror, followed by the swift realization that, although it's bleeding a bit, it doesn't seem to hurt much. She shifts into drama mode, and I hear her exclaim as she heads for the kitchen, "Mommy, I was playing with the faucet and I got a REALLY HUGE cut on my finger!"

We are sitting scattered about one evening, eating dinner. Ursula (5) and I are sitting on the floor, eating our rice and reading a story. Lia (1-1/2) finishes her meal at the table and then comes over to participate in the storytelling. On the way, she plants her foot smack in the middle of Ursula's rice bowl. "LIA STEPPED IN MY RICE!" proclaims Ursula. Lia assesses the situation, sits down and starts chewing the sticky rice from her foot. "Gross!" says Ursula. "Lia..." says I. The ever-considerate Lia looks at me, then at her foot. and then offers me her foot with its remaining payload of rice. I decline. She finishes off the rest.

Ursula (5) is teaching Lia (1-1/2) how to take a photograph. Lia's very enthusiastic, but can't quite get the knack of looking through the viewer. So she settles on the technique of holding the view window to her ear when snapping a pic...

Early one morning, Ursula (5) and I are eating our breakfast cereal, she sitting in my lap. [This has long been her preferred breakfast seating arrangement. It is not uncommon for her to go through the day with bits of wayward cereal atop her head]. Lia (2) wanders out from the bedroom and tries to take up a shared position on my lap. Ursula makes it clear that there is *not* room for two. Lia considers this briefly, then walks over to the adjoining room, to the drawer that serves as Ursula's toybox and hiding place. Lia pulls out a dollar bill and waves it slowly over her head in a manner reminiscent of a bullfighter. "HEY, THAT'S MINE!" cries Ursula. Lia sets the bill down, and as Ursula rushes to recover what's hers, Lia casually walks back to climb in my lap and begin consuming her share of my cereal. When Ursula returns, after re-securing her belongings, Lia slides over to make room for her sister, and we all finish our breakfast together.

Ursula (5) and Lia (2) are sitting having a heated discussion/argument. Lia abruptly gets up, walks over to pick up a broken telephone and starts dialing. Ursula, puzzled, pauses mid-sentence and asks, "What are you doing?" Lia replies, "I'm calling the police".

On the way home from swimming lessons, Ursula (5) is clearly frustrated. (She's one of the slower swimmers) She declares "I'm not going to swimming lessons anymore". "But Ursula", I reply, "if you don't learn how to swim well, you may fall into the water someday and sink lika a rock". Helpful Lia (2) pipes up "You'll sink like the Titanic" (Ursula is not amused).

Mom and Dad are sitting at the table, each trying to convince Lia (5) that she should stay with them this weekend. (Dad's going on an overnight trip). On hearing both sides of the discussion, Lia whispers loudly in Dad's ear that she wants to go with him. She then immediately goes to the other side of the table and loudly whispers into her mother's ear (for all to hear) that she wants to stay with her.

Mom is expressing her frustration again. The daughters haven't been doing their work. Mom says she will cancel the piano lessons, the violin lessons, the singing lessons and the dance class (but not the chinese class). This prospect disturbs the daughters. Lia (5) wails to Ursula (9) - "Mommy is going to change MY WHOLE LIFE!"

posted at: 08:29 | path: | permanent link to this entry