What the sisters have been saying these days...

Polly's beginning to really string words together. Today I heard for the first time "on light" and "mama, sit there." The other day she said "I want that." She can also verbalise the first syllable (at times only inchoate-ly) of many words--and only her closest caregivers can make out what she's trying to say. This evening she kept saying what sounded like "eight nine" as she pointed to her scribbles on paper. It was only because I was so sure she couldn't possibly be referring to her favourite numbers that it finally dawned upon me that she was praising her own work. Yes, Polly, "It's nice!" Her favourite term of self-reference these days is "mei mei" which comes on almost everytime someone offers "che che" something she is also eager to get a share of. One of the first few times she did this was when I shook out a dinosaur vitamin for Pepe and she gestured with her hands and quizzed, "mei mei?" I would agree with Uncle Rueben who visited this evening that Polly's getting more and more adorable :) "Night night."


More memorable lines from Pepe:

Tonight: I started singing a personalised lullaby beginning "Little Pepe and Polly (instead of baby) go to sleep, close your eyes and don't you cry..." and when I sang "time to rest your tiny head," Pepe was surprisingly alert (at bedtime) and corrected me "heads, not head."

The other day:
"The sunset sky is so beautiful, just like a brand new painting."

"First she hugs her bunny tight, then she reads the story right." (referring to Polly reading to/wih Bunny her attachment toy)

"This story is encouraging me to finish my bowl of rice and be a good girl."
(We had just read the story of Ashley, the girl who loved, a true story of a Singaporean girl who loved food and loved God, was struck by a terminal, debilitating illness and who was taken home. Many thanks to Aunty Chiou Yunn for the book! Even Polly likes it and we have successfully baked some of the yummiest chocolate chip cookies by loosely following the recipe included in it.)

... I can't right now recall many more, but Pepe surely says rather interesting things sometimes. An extra note: Pepe's finally getting much more receptive to using mandarin, many thanks to Nai Nai primarily (who sort of gives her and mei mei Chinese immersion morning and afternoons two days a week) and to Grandpa who has been encouraging much in this direction.