Training Wheels

Yesterday I took Maya's training wheels off her bike and spent some time in my parents' backyard with Maya on the bike. It was cold out, but Maya was really so upbeat about wanting to ride her bike without the training wheels. She fell off her bike...over and over again...but she kept getting back up and wanting to try again and again. Once she fell on the handlebars and it hurt her shin so we stopped for a bit and went back inside the house. But about 20 minutes later I asked if she wanted to try again and she said "Yes!" So out back we went. She couldn't really ride more than 5 feet without falling off her bike. But she wanted to try in my parents' side yard which is longer and has a slight hill. So we did...and after a few attempts she actually was able to ride for about 20 feet without falling down. For the very first time of attempting to ride a bike without training wheels, I was quite impressed. Impressed not with just 20 feet, but Maya's willingness to keep trying over and over again. This really wasn't something she had been asking to do....I just decided to give it a try yesterday but she went right along with it.

"In this case..."

I love Maya. Of course I do, I'm her father after all. But I love being with Maya. I love seeing life through her eyes. She is really an incredible person to be around.

As her father, I guess I see part of my job is sort of her tour guide to life. When she asks me a question, I try to give her a complete and honest answer. I try to not only answer her specific question at the time, but also provide other examples how my answer to her question might be applied to other areas of life. And in doing this, I guess I tend to use the phrase, "In this case..." when I try to summarize or reel back my answer to her specific question. I guess I use this phrase often.

A few weeks back she asked me some question....I don't remember now what that question was, but I guess I used my "In this case..." phrase because she asked me why I always say, "In this case...." So I had to pause for moment...and conceal my smile...and to find the words to explain why I say that.

I think the question she asked had something to do with how to spell the number 2. I think I went on to explain how there are a few different "tos" [two, to, too] and cited examples of each. I must have ended by saying something like, "In this case, you spell 2 't-w-o'."

It was actually much harder than it sounds to explain why you use a certain phrase over and over again. But I was so happy that Maya asks me these sort of questions. It makes being her father so much more enjoyable.

WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!

Maya is currently on a two week break from school....it's her fall break.

Since I never really got to take her on a real vacation this summer, I decided to take her down to southern California to LegoLand and the San Diego Zoo. My mom came along too.

I'll [hopefully] write about our trip in another post, but I just wanted to get this one story out.

While at the San Diego Zoo we attended an animal show. You know the one where they have birds come flying out over the crowd and the water animal that does tricks for food? Well this time it was a sea lion that came out and walked around and swam around in a small pool.

The first few rows of seats in the very steep, bowl-like shaped auditorium had been marked as "Splash Zones". I imagined the sea lion would finish the show by splashing audience with water. This didn't happen for some reason. Maya was expecting this as well. The show ended and the three of us walked up the very steep steps toward the top and exit of the stadium. As we neared the top, they announced they would turn on some sprinklers in the front that would get the first few rows a bit wet. Why they waited until nearly all the people had exited the stadium I don't know...but Maya wanted to go back down to get sprayed with water...it was hot out after all.

I didn't feel like walking down the steps so I told her could go and I'd wait for her. She immediately started to whine and say she was "shy" and wanted me to go with her. I resisted and said she could go. Very quickly she started to cry and pulled on my hand and said she was scared to go alone. I attempted to ask her what she was afraid of, but she continued to cry and yelled, "Why can't you understand I'm afraid to go!?!" I was really taken back by this reaction she had. I couldn't understand what she was afraid of....there was really nobody down there and she could do was get down there and walk through the sprinklers.

I actually don't remember what I told her, but she finally decided to go down there by herself. I think I was pretty much unaffected by her crying and simply told her that if she wanted to go get wet she would have to go alone. Being a parent is often like walking on the razor's edge...you never really know if the spot decisions you often have to make are really the best ones for your child. I do sometimes wonder if I'm too hard on her while I attempt to guide her through life....hoping that what I'm doing now is helping her to build her character to be a strong and confident person that is also compassionate and fair. It's the razor's edge I tell you.

So, she walked down the stairs....got on the edge of the sprinkler spray and barely got wet and then came back up to me. No longer crying and barely wet. Together we walked out of the stadium and continued our day in the zoo.

First Field Trip

About 3 hours after I picked up Maya from school today, she comes running into my office and says, "Today was the BEST day ever at school!! We went on our very first field trip!"

I guess this school often goes on walking field trips along the levee...today was their first outing.

Yeah, I think we're going to like this school.

First Days

Wow...I really need to update Maya's blog. It's been a rather busy last two months. I have lots to share. But today was Maya's first day of school.

As you can see here, Maya is happy to see her name on the class list. I'll (hopefully) write in more detail her first day back to school, but for now, I'll just leave you with this picture of Maya at her new school.

Cousins

The other night I told Maya that Michael (her cousin) was going to be out of the state for a week...working at some sort of leadership camp. She didn't take this news very well. She really started to cry. She was so emotional. Between her gasps for air she said she didn't like it when her cousins were out of the state because she would miss them so much. And she was upset that she didn't get to say 'good-bye' to Michael. Since it was already late, I didn't want to call Michael (he was flying out the next day) but I did send him a text message to find out what time he was flying. The next morning I asked my dad if he would call Michael before his flight so Maya could say good-bye to him.

I was just very surprised by the amount of emotion Maya expressed about missing Michael.

Life is going to be difficult for Maya, I fear.

A lonely Wonder Woman

Today, Maya and I attended a birthday party for a boy from her old day care. I spoke with the mother of the boy on Friday. She said they might have water balloons depending on the weather and we should bring a towel or swim suit. She also said it was a Super Hero themed birthday party and Maya can come dressed as a super hero. Halloween two years ago Maya was Wonder Woman and her costume has been floating between my house and Linda's house. I asked Linda if she had it and she had most of the accessories....head band, cap, wrist bracelets, belt and boot coverings, but not the actual costume. Turns out I had it. So, this morning we tried on her costume and it still fit ok. We put on a swim suit underneath the costume and off we went to the party. I brought along a change of clothing just in case she did get wet.

When we got there, we quickly noticed none of the boys that were already there were wearing any sort of super hero costume...or costume of any sort....not even the birthday boy. Maya didn't say anything right away, but she told me she wanted to change out of her costume. I didn't blame her. I told her to hold on, that perhaps other kids would show up in costume. Nope. Throughout the afternoon a lot more kids showed up...not a single one of them were in any sort of costume. The only other person that had a costume on was the balloon lady that showed up to make balloon "animals" for the kids. She was in a Wonder Woman type outfit.

This isn't the first time this has happened to Maya before. Back when she was in pre-school, the pre-school would have various theme days....each month would have one day where the kids would wear a certain color....October was orange, February was red, etc. Most, if not all, Maya would wear the color of the day. On a few occasions they would have a certain dress up day theme. On one of these days, Maya was dressed up...I think it was like wacky hat or crazy dress up day...something like that. Well, I was dropping her off at the class room and we looked inside and NO ONE was dressed up in the theme...not even the teachers. She didn't want to go into the room. I didn't blame her. I really felt awful for her. I didn't say anything like that, but inside I really just felt awful. I don't remember what I said to her, but I eventually convinced her to go into the class. Why don't the parents read the posters and calendar and help their kids participate in classroom activities? I didn't get it.

Well, for whatever reason, Maya didn't want to change out of her costume when I asked her after more of the kids showed up. She took off all the accessories but kept the costume on. Oh...they never had any water balloons and Maya asked me why she had to wear her swim suit. I told her I guess I misunderstood the mom...but as we were leaving the party, the mom apologized for not having the water balloons. She did have a lot of activities for the kids so I didn't blame her. Besides, I guess all the kids would have gotten their clothes all wet anyway.

Windows+L key combo

Early last week I showed Maya how to use the Windows+L key combo to lock her computer when she walks away from it. A few days after that, I saw she was leaving her computer and she stopped and hit the Win+L keys to lock her computer. Sometimes you just feel very proud of your children.

Catching Up

I haven't really kept up Maya's blog lately. Sorry about that.

Let's see...what has Maya been up to?

The Train Museum

Back in February...on President's Day, Maya had off of school and I decided to take her to the Train Museum. My sister, Diana, joined us too. I had never been to the train museum before so I was sort of looking forward to it too. I must say, I was quite impressed with it.

Here are few pictures from our trip:

This is Maya telling us something about the bell in this display case.

Here is Maya sitting in the engineer's seat of a very large train. I think Maya had a good time at the museum. We got to walk through a few of the train cars, including one that made it feel as if you were on a moving training as it slightly moved back and forth and had outside lighting that simulated passing cars and rail road crossing. It was a pretty cool effect. Maya even wanted to go through that car twice.






Step-Up Family Night

Maya's after school program had a family night one afternoon. They had some arts and crafts and some snacks. I made a bracelet out of small beads while Maya made a necklace. She also painted a small wooden box. They also hid (plastic) Easter eggs around the room and the children were supposed to go look for them. However, that event didn't go off so well. The sound system they were using was that great and we couldn't really understand the directions and so the older kids just started looking and finding the eggs. Maya was very upset she didn't find any eggs and started to cry. I really felt bad for her but there wasn't anything I could really do for her. Another event they had was to celebrate Chinese New Year and they hid dragon parts (drawn on sheets of paper) around the room. The kids could trade the parts for a toy from the treasure box. Maya's after school teacher say Maya was upset and crying so she gave Maya a dragon part. Maya was able to get a toy from the treasure box, but she was still very sad about the Easter egg thing.

Les Miserables
Maya's cousins have been involved in the drama department at their high school and this year they were doing the musical, Les Miserables. I was sort of hesitant on taking her to this play as I thought it might be too complicated but since her cousin was acting in it and it was lots of songs, I thought she still might like it. And did she like it! I thought she might get bored since it was so long, but she sat on my lap and stayed focused through the entire play. I'm always amazed at her ability to remember songs. Since the musical, we have been listening to Les Miserables songs in the car and she remembers which scenes that songs come from. It helps that I had video taped a dress rehearsal of the musical and we've watched parts of the musical a few times. It's so exciting for me to know that Maya is interested in these plays. She says she wants to act in play but also says she would "be shy on stage." For some time now, Maya has wanted to write her own play and have her cousins and school friends star in her play. She has even talked about this play to her cousins and friends at school....already casting them into parts. This past week she wanted me to start on the program for her play. I'll keep the title of her play a secret for now.

Jack the Dog

Last Friday Maya brought home a stuffed dog from school. I guess her teacher has been passing this stuffed dog to each student to have for the weekend. The directions that came with the dog said the students were to take Jack along with them for the weekend and then write a short story about their time with Jack. As expected Maya got really attached to this dog and took good care of him. You see more pictures of Maya and Jack here.










Snow Trip

This past weekend I took Maya up to the snow. Two of my friends and their kids came along on the trip. Oh, and Jack came too. It was a perfect day to be up in the snow...they sun was out and it was all fresh snow. However, Maya didn't exactly have a good time of it. Her feet got wet and that just made her miserable. After only about 30 or 40 minutes she was ready to go home. We ended up going back to the cars and Maya sat in the front with her friend Paul, playing cards....they actually seemed to have a good time just hanging out in the front of the car. I think if we go to the snow again, I need to get much better shoes for the snow. Shoes that keep her feet warm and dry.

This is Maya and her friend climbing back up the hill with their sleds.









Bike Riding
In the past when Maya went biking riding, I would just walk beside her while she rode her bike, with training wheels, on the sidewalk. However, recently she's gotten faster and has better control of the bike so I decided I would have start riding my bike next to her. So earlier this week we went for our first bike ride together....and Jack came along for the ride.

Make-Up

Maya went through a drawer in her bathroom and found some girls' makeup she got in a birthday gift bag some time ago. I had stashed it away in a drawer when she got it. Well, this morning she found it and is now starting to experiment with the makeup.

Gracie....or Puppy

I finally got a picture of Gracie...Maya's new puppy. She's an active little pup. Maya really loves her and seems to do well with her. Maya named her Gracie, but still continues to call her "Puppy". Maya does a pretty good impersonation of Gracie yelping and crying. It's pretty cute to hear her.

Casper, the friendly ghost

For quite some time now, Maya has had this imaginary friend....named Casper. Well, maybe she's had two friends...Casper and Ghostly. The funny thing is that they're not...you know...people...they're ghosts. The friend started out as "Ghostly"...but now he's become "Casper". She'll remind me to put on Casper's seat belt in the car or to pour a drink of water for Casper.
I was thinking if I ever had an imaginary friend at any point in my childhood, but I really don't think I did. At least I have no memory of one. Perhaps my sisters would remember.

Sometimes Casper has his friends and/or family around too so we have to accommodate them as well.

I guess I just think it's odd Maya's friend is a ghost and not...well, another person.

I think next time Maya brings up Casper I'll ask more questions about him. Like how old is he and if he has a last name or not. Or if he wears clothes or just a white sheet.

"I can't calm down"

Just before bed last night Maya said she was hungry...no, "starving" was her word. This has become a regular thing for her. She says she is hungry at night. Now, usually at dinner she says she is done eating even if she has a few bites left on her plate. So i know she is really not starving later that night. So I try to not indulge her by giving her a late night snack. I tell her that she should have eaten all her food at dinner and she'll have to wait for breakfast to eat. She is not happy with this and usually starts to cry.

But last night was a whole new level of crying. She went from a playful mood into an all screaming and crying mood in a matter of seconds. And then she got angry. Since she hadn't brushed her teeth yet, I told her to go brush them. She was just very defiant so I told her I would brush her teeth for her. So while she continued to cry I brushed her teeth. I pretty much ignored her mood.

She continued to cry and cry. Finally I reminded her that she left some food on her plate and she there is no reason for her be upset like she is. I never raised my voice or even told her to stop crying..just that this wasn't a reason for her to be so upset.

She tried to stop crying and calm down but was just emotional that she couldn't stop. She eventually said, "Dad, how can I calm down...i can't stop."

At that point I picked her up and told her I was going to count to 100 and she could join in with me when she was ready. So I carried her around the house, gently patting her on her back and slowly counting to 100. (Recently, she's been interested in counting to 100, so we have doen this before.) Eventually, around 65, she started to join in and as we walked around our darken house we continued to count up to 100. Actually we ended counting to 160 before she calmly asked me to put her into bed...where she fell asleep after I massaged her back for a few minutes.

Let It Snow - 2009

Diana offered to take Maya and I up to play in the snow this past week. So that's what we did. Diana's friend and her son also came along. We were worried about the weather and road conditions, but they turned out to be ok.

I think Maya had a good time but her feet and hands got really cold. I need to get a better pair of snow shoes for her. Poor thing.

New dynamic - new dog

Maya's Christmas gift of a new puppy has added a new dynamic into Maya's life.
As expected, Maya has grown quite attached to Gracie.  The night Linda brought Maya to me for my week to have her, Maya was already crying as I answered the door.  She gets really emotional when she misses her puppy.  In bed later that night and out of the blue, Maya just started crying a lot.  She could barely speak when I asked what was wrong.  Between her tears she said, "Life is going to be really hard now that I have dog."  She went on to say that she's worried her puppy might get hit by a car or get sick and die. It was amazing how she had all the feelings I had when Maya was first born (actually still have)...just worrying about all the bad things that could happen to a child.
I've had her all week and throughout the week she still thought and asked about her puppy.  She'll finally get to see her puppy later today when she goes back with her mom for the week.

Right now, two neighborhood kids are at our house playing with Maya.  They keep coming and going inside and out...playing with all of Maya's toys...and making a general mess of the house.  But it's nice Maya has someone to play with.