poem and variation #1 (or is #2 more apropos?)

Binbin is a fan of "Flamingos on the Roof," a collection of poems by Calef Brown who writes and paints in Brunswick. He's memorized the following:

Peas peek out of the pod
They ponder, they whisper, they nod
Everything is new
The sky is a dazzling blue
The wind is in the willow trees
The sun is on the sod
Peas peek out of the pod

The variation, inspired by his obsession with potty language, is:

Peas peek out of the poop
They poop, they pee, they fart
Everything is poop
The sky is a dazzling poop
The wind is in the potty
The sun in on the toilet
Peas peek out of the poop

[They say this stage will "pass," right?]

favorite things

Binbin has settled into the whole being a five-year-old thing, which means he's got a hold of physical and communication skills, but raring to get to the next new thing. Usually that involves testing boundaries, and something tells me that this is the brave new world that we'll be in until 2025.

Onto the favorite things:

new nicknames: bobbi for baba; mommy for mama
Harry Potter: finished reading books 1 and 2; cruised through movies 1, 2, and 3 in a weekend
addition flashcards (the anti-favorite is subtraction, "too hard")
"I don't like you" and "I hate you" to express frustration and anger (we all need to vent sometimes, right?)
playing star wars, ambushing parents with his light saber
playdates with Amy, Cameron, Ian, Coco
"battle" (world war ii reenactments on the computer, it's Americans against the Germans, this time let's be the Germans, disc 2 has the Russians against the Germans)
Being right (some things never change)
Eating candy
Sleeping in the buff
Sleeping in his new North Face sleeping bag
black, white, silver, and brown

Not so favorite and "I'm over it" things:

the color lime green
drum lessons
leaving the house on the weekends (playdates are an exception)


Just discovered:

images projected from a slide projector -- hey! it's like a movie!

Jedi Binbin in training

Binbin has been working hard at his jedi training. Here is just a taste of his new moves. (Sometimes jedi drop their light sabers during training.)

last day of 2009

A couple of days ago, Binbin went to see his cardiologist. She listened for his heart murmur...



Binbin was very still and cooperative, earning Dr. Hourihan's praise. Everything checked out normal, and so...



we headed to the rock climbing gym. Here climbing with Baba on belay...



Here, bouldering



All in all, Binbin did great and is looking forward to the next trip to the gym!

Merry Christmas

Warm holiday greetings to one and all! We are all very grateful to be celebrating the holidays together at home this year. Santa was extra generous to Binbin this year (more on the loot and the loot sled later).

I did squeeze in a quick (too quick, really) trip to Los Angeles to visit my newborn nephew, Kieran Lee Xia'an Furlong. He's a keeper, even though he's keeping his parents up all night.



Debbie gave me lots of hand-me-downs, which is always an extra bonus. This lavender fleece hat was perfect for this year's snow man, made on Christmas Eve.



Also, on Christmas Eve, Ah-Gong and Ah-po sent a gift basket of crackers, cheese, and fruit. Binbin promptly took possession of the basket and transformed it into a nest for his many convalescing action figures (missing limbs and so forth).

snow, for real

Last night we had our first real snowfall of the year, about 6 inches. We came home after sauna and dinner at my friends Amy and Spike's place, and even though it was well past bedtime, we indulged Binbin's request for playing snowball fight. He woke this morning, and his first thought was to look out the window to see if the snow was still here. A resounding, yup! Even more than the night before. The sun was up, the sky was blue, and the white fluffy stuff had coated all the tree branches and trimmed all the rooftops and windowsills. Gorgeous! The perfect day to get our Christmas tree. We'll be heading over to Hummer (undoubtedly a name a pre-dates the gigantor gas-guzzling auto-beasts) Tree Farm just as soon as Binbin can change out of his pajamas...lickety split.

1 bedroom, 1 bath, split level in nice neighborhood on 1 square foot.

Binbin decided that with the arrival of the winter season it was time to build a gingerbread house. (Yeye and Nainai gave him one, but he's allergic to it and can't touch it or eat any of it.) After long discussion on how to proceed, graham cracker sheathing with cream cheese icing were chosen as the building materials, along with decorative sprinkles and candy. As you can see it's a sustainably built and designed house ready for move-in at any time. Only serious offers please.