Sana's Sweetness

Tonight, as we were reading a story, one of the story page happened to have a picture of this little character of the book holding a dandelion. So Sana started the game of "I wish". We took turns to do that. There were a few rounds that I need to remember.

S: I wish I wish, Mommy can be sleeping beauty.
M: I wish I wish, Sana can be (she whispered in my ear right the moment hinting that in return of that sleeping beauty she gave me, I should give her the chance of being Cinderella) Cinderella.

That made her happy. Me too, I guess as that might mean that before she finds her prince, she will be taking care of the housework for me. To make it brighter than the real Cinderella's life, I will treat her better than Cinderella's stepmother "really" did in the tale.

S: I wish I wish, mommy can be princess Santa Claus.
S: I wish I wish, Sana can be ballerina.

Noting the game was getting too long and wanting to end it soon, I said:
I wish I wish, Sana will get up early tomorrow.
S: I wish I wish, I will get up not early tomorrow.

We finally finished the story and she went to bed and I went to brush my teeth. She called me to her bed and told me: mommy, I am so happy that you are in my life.

So sweet.

Applying the Formula

"Sana, you are the best thing in my life!" I told her.
"I am!" She happily confirmed it.

Last Friday, I decided to check if Sana really understood what I was talking about when I said that she was the best thing in my life. So I asked her, "Sana, you are the best thing in my life. What is the best thing in your life?" "Daddy and you, mommy."

"Then what is the best thing in daddy's life?"
"Mommy and me!"

Formula successfully applied, I would say. :D

Bring on the show

We went to Elk Lake for a picnic. It just so happened to be the first good day of this summer in Victoria. People were doing all kinds of summer stuff at the lake. We finished our picnic and decided to go for a jog/walk/hike. We walked and walked, with Sana exploring things on the sides of the trail, looking for clues (for something mysterious), we finished around 10 km of walk. And Sana did that all on her own.

When we barely set off the walk, a dog of Sana’s height (or even a little taller) approached us. So I told Sana to be careful and held her hand. The dog passed by and Sana let go of my hand, exhaled, and uttered: That was close.

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Sana put on quite a few shows recently for us. Fishing and puppet show are her favorites as she has done these two kinds of shows for a number of times. She is basically a self-entertainer.

I mean subtle

Our neighbour girl Cindy is of the same age as Sana so they play well together, most of the time. Cindy is a big fan of Dora so she has all her daily essentials in Dora, toothbrush, shirt, dresses, underwear, hairpins, shoes, socks, crayons, scratch books, etc. Sana is not so crazy about Dora but nevertheless likes her cartoons. Cindy has got a raincoat full of images of Dora, in pink. Sana wouldn’t mind this Dora+pink combination of course. So one day when we visited Cindy, they decided to go outside to blow some bubbles. That was some odd time as it was after dinner and it was cold outside. So Cindy lent her Dora raincoat to Sana to keep her warm when they blew bubbles. After bubble time, we went back in their house to play inside a little more. When we were leaving, Sana went to open the door and came back, holding her arms, eyes on the pink Dora raincoat, said, “it’s really really cold outside.”

Cute Remark

I just have to put this one down from today.

I am busy putting together an application for a job these few days. I went into my lab on campus today and worked for a long time. Daddy sent me a message around 5:30 pm saying that Sana stood right in front of the window looking outside and remarked: " I can't wait for my mom to come home." Very cute, I thought. Made me feel guilty too, :)

Daddy and Sana were looking at a picture of the shortest woman in America. Daddy asked Sana, "is she small?" "She is big small, daddy", responded Sana. She seemed to have got the concept that this woman was indeed an adult.

Some words popped out from her mouth today, and I had no idea where she picked them from. "beetle, lullaby" There was a beetle in our patio and she was going to sing a lullaby for her night mates: the massage dog, the dolphin, the bunny, and the bear.

Once again, she managed to grab my lipstick and put it on her lips and all over her face right the moment we were going to bed. It took me literally 30 minutes to wash it off. In bed at 10 pm in consequence.

Before I Foget

Sana was helping daddy folding laundry the other night. She put the towels together then headed for her pants. While folding those jeans of hers, she put on a smile and uttered: "goofy pants!"
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Sana was watching cartoons attentively. Daddy called out and asked her to come downstairs so they could read a story together. "Daddy," said she, " I am reading stories from TV."
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Sana loves dancing. She creates her own steps and is able to follow music of different rythm and still be creative. After consulting with herself, we registered her in a dance class. She did not even move in the class for the first six classes! Last Saturday, she was finally moving along so we were very excited.
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At the mall, in the parking lot. Daddy took Sana out of the car and carried her (just to be safe in the parking lot). She protested: "I want mommy to carry me." I got out of the car right that moment, with a handbag in hand. Before I went on explaining that I could not carry her because my hands were busy, she offered a solution: " mommy, daddy wants to hold your bag."
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The number "4" seems to be a special number for Sana. Not only it is the first number that she can recognize, but also she wants to be 4. "I am 4 and I am a princess." "Mommy, you are not a princess. I am the princess. You are the prince, ok? And daddy is the king!"

She comes to senses lately and acknowledges me as the queen instead of the prince.
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I had to work so daddy was going to put her to bed one night. She disagreed with the arrangement and spoke out: "daddy, I want mommy. Mommy wants to sleep with me. Daddy, please turn off the light when you leave. Good night, daddy."

But daddy knew what to do. He simply offered:" I have a big PINK story." Sana was all his.
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After the night routine of drinking milk, brushing teeth, changing into pajamas, reading stories, and exchanging "good night", Sana turns around and tells me, "mommy, you are my best friend in the whole wide world."
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We were doing some craft work one week ago. Sana offered the idea, I cut the shape, she glued the shapes onto the cardboard. She said, "mommy, I want a butterfly and a baby butterfly. Oops, a baby butterfly is a caterpillar. Can I have a caterpillar please?"
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Daddy heard Sana telling me that I was her best friend in the whole wide world and got a little jealous. He asked Sana, "what about daddy?"

It did not take a blink. Sana put on a big smile and responded, "daddy, you are my best friend in the whole wide world."
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I went to the daycare to pick her up one day because daddy had been working overnight to meet a deadline and was making up the sleep lost. Didi was surprised to see me and asked where Sana's daddy was so I told her that daddy was taking a nap at home. In the car, Sana initiated a conversation with me about her daddy: " mommy, did you tell Didi that my daddy is sleeping at home?"

It didn't even look like she was listening.
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Sana Banana (nicknamed by Didi) loves life. She enjoys seeing the green grass, the colorful flowers, the bugs, the worms, the animals, and the ocean. She gets excited at almost anything. The other day I started using a new brush which happened to be pink. She got excited and started singing in her own tune and lyrics: " mommy, you have got a beautiful PINK BRUSH!" The word "brush" was sung with her arms stretched outwards, eyes closed, and face facing the ceiling. What a bathroom superstar!
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It was three months ago that she stayed in Diane's place in Toronto. We were not really talking about Diane in front of her but she seemed to remember not only Diane but also what her place looked like.

I had one webpage open when she walked near so she saw a picture of a kitchen on that page. Then she said to me, "Diane". Diane's kitchen looked like that picture. Diane was happy hearing this story and said, " she is my baby. She remembers everything!"

Memory

Sana and daddy arrived in Toronto this past Tuesday. It was a really long journey (almost 36 hours counting from the time they left grandparents' home), we decided to let Sana take a rest there with our wonderful friend Diane. Once again, of course, Diane took very good care of this lucky little girl. Also, knowing that I haven't seen Sana for four months, she skyped me the moment I was available, so I could see her.

There comes the beautiful time. Sana totally remembers me! We spent more than 1/9 of her lifetime so far away from each other, no face-to-face conversation at all, she still remembers me! What a moment in motherhood!

They arrived in Victoria last night. Sana was sound asleep then. Daddy told me that she would wake up around 2 am to get a bowl of cereal and then doze off again. The time came and I went to get this bowl of cereal up for her. You could see the happiness in her eyes that her mother was finally by her side.

I have also got a very good opportunity to help her maintain all the languages she is speaking now as she still is able to follow my words in Chinese.

Talk

Sana has been away for almost four months now. She was talking to me on the phone in the first few days. Then she got busy with the immediate life she was in and kept telling me that she was busy and couldn't talk at the moment.

She is picking up some languages: Punjabi, Urdu, and Arabic. She is joking around with the kids in these languages. She is both loving her life and loved by it. She amazes family and friends by her sense of humor.

Daddy took Sana to a street circus performance. Before leaving, she gave 50 rupees to daddy just in case there would be ice cream selling on street. They enjoyed the circus and a monkey was then sent out to collect money from the audience. Daddy took 10 rupees out and put it in the hat the monkey was holding. Sana saw daddy taking out the money from the same pocket that she put money in earlier, she ran after the monkey shouting: "that's my money!"

So I guess she can make a good judge, and with some work on being flexible, she can also be a businessman.

Another time, daddy came home to find the kids playing not so nicely. Cousin Hussain reported it was Sana who started the game this way. Then Sana invited Hussain to come outside to play a "new game". Poor Hussain forgot what he had just done to Sana and followed her. Then Sana showed him her fist and punched in his shoulder.

It did not stop there. Sana came back and asked daddy to take her to the market because she wanted to buy a toy car for Hussain as he really loved playing with toy cars. Now Hussain is playing with a toy car that runs "for real". He would also do whatever Sana wants him to do.

Maybe a politician?

Whatever she may become, this just tells me that a small-sized human being is indeed a complete human being. I have got to talk to her as an equal counterpart.