ElMi logs

In the morning, the girls went to a new library to explore. Mimi decided to take a book with her. She held the book through explorations. They saw all the decorations, and they found a giant lego display. Mimi and ella tried to sneak beyond the curtained area, but dada said “if you touch it with your hand, we have to hit that hand”. And then they stood as close as they could do it, and thought about sneaking in. They were warring with themselves. On the 2nd floor, the girls explored couches and chairs. Mimi left her book on a chair. The adults called her for the book, but she bounced forward without looking back. She went straight to a book shelf and took a big fiction book. She was forced to hold her picture book instead. On the 3rd floor the girls found pcs. Mimi abandoned book for "看电视" and chair workouts. The girls were taken to dimsum. Lao lao and lao ye found them at the table. The girls saw lao lao and lao ye and couldn't stop giggling and cackling. They tur...

Mimi and Ella went outside to play in the snow. Mama made a little snowball for Mimi and Ella to hold on to. Dada made tiny snowballs and threw them at the girls. Ella didn't really like it, she would shuffle away as dada readied a throw. Mimi hated it, when dada got ready to throw she would yell out NO and then try to run away. One time she covered her face with her tiny mittens to hide. We then built a snowman. Dada rolled up the snow into big round balls and stacked them. The girls were studying the process, Mimi also wanted to help a little. She brought a little clump of snow for dada which he added to the ball. Once assembled mama got a hat, scarf, eyes, and nose to finish it off. Dada named it Peter. Mimi and Ella realized at this point that it really is a snowman. They said hi to it and waved. They didn't really get too close to it, perhaps dada's snow homunculus was waiting to strike. It was getting chilly so time to go in. Mimi and Ella waved goodbye...

In the morning mimi had her stuffed bear and hugged it around the house. She walked all over the house with it then saw the big white car. She said "熊开车" and opened the car door and tried to put the bear in the driver seat. After some struggling she managed to get the bear in, and then she got into the car. Dada asked "where is the bear driving to" and mimi said "hawaii". The girls went out to have lunch at a korean chicken hotpot soup restaurant. They seemed happy to see listerine, smiking here and there. One of the restaurant people is Augis mom's friend, so they gave us a chicken appetizer on the house. The girls loved the fried chicken with the sweet dipping sauce. Mama and dada cut it up into tiny pieces and the girls wolfed it down. They ate 2.5 pieces each. The girls were taken to hmart. They walked around, narrated about the abundance of "瓶". The girls were taken to a bakery. The adults shopped. Then turned around and saw a ...

Lao lao reported when she got Mimi out of bed this morning, xiao E was still fast asleep. Lao lao said "Mimi 不说话", Mimi repeated "Mimi 不说话" all the way down the stairs. Lao ye reported Mimi brought the remote control to him. Repeatedly said "红摁钮, 绿摁钮", until lao ye acknowledged her. Ba ba reported Mimi was extremely territorial with the car this morning. When Xiao E walked towards her, she aggressively howled "NUUUUU". Tipping her head high up in the air. When Frank got into her eyesight, even far as the cupboards, Mimi yelled "GO TO YOUR BED!". Ba ba reported Xiao E was offered both poppers. She duel wheeled poppers and ran around the house popping her heart out. After Mimi got up from nap, she was taken downstairs. She saw lao lao changing, said "lao lao 脱 ei fuuuu/ (衣服)". She then pointed downstairs and said "mao mao". When asked where mao maos were, she hesitated, then pointed upstairs and said "mao ...

The girls were eating snack. Lao ye went out the door. Mimi said "老爷遛狗". The adults laughed how cute she was. After a few minutes, the adults noticed xiao Frank quietly standing under the high chair waiting for dropped food. The adults asked where did lao ye go? Xiao E said "遛狗". The adults questioned if so why is Frank here? The girls looked at Frank, looked at the door, looked extremely confused. They looked from frank to door to the adults one by one for a long time. Xiao E went back to eating. Mimi suddenly said "老爷上班啦". The adults bullied xiao E for eating slow and Mimi for stuffing fast. The adults said because "Mimi 嘴大". Mimi said "Mimi 嘴大". Xiao E looked up from food and said "ella 嘴小". Ba ba tried teach the girls canto for grape, tai ji. The girls turned it into "鸡鸡呱呱叫". Ba ba performed his chicken croaking dance. The girls cracked up. Xiao E was offered a coffee bottle. She happily offered everyone to...

The girls woke up early. They were pampered by lao lao. The adults woke up to find their face covered in orange, from yam and orange. There was a little car track that lao lao was showing the girls how to use. Mimi would put the car on top of the track and push the car down. Ella learned to use the little flip launcher to lift the car so it slides down by itself. The girls were offered the little blackberry as music player. Ma ma took xiao E and the blackberry to fix her hair. Xiao E held the blackberry and turned left and right, examined the bathroom she haven't seen in a long time. Ma ma took her down, confiscated her blackberry. She sounded urgent grunts. Ma ma promised upcoming little apple. Xiao E temporarily stopped grunting. Her brows farrowed until she was brought upstairs, ma ma's cellphone set up, and the video loaded. Xiao E came downstairs to find Mimi holding the blackberry and grooving in the car. Xiao E came at Mimi with vicious face. Mimi was taken to hair sta...

The girls said bye bye to lao lao. They vaguely repeated about "lao lao 去surrey". The girls were taken to trader joe's. Mimi has been calling 南瓜 西瓜. She was offered some produce to examine closely. She was most interested in the apple. The adults were trying to find sesame nuts. Ma ma said "芝麻坚果在哪里". Mimi opened her hands, said "没有啦". The girls went to a little party with plenty of adults today. Mimi initially was pretty scared from all the people. She stuck to dada's arms sitting on a chair snacking chips. With a little tear falling down her cheek. Ella was with mama at the table spying on people. Xiao E pointed at every bag of chips on the table, asked "这是什么". After a while Mimi recovered and came down the explore. Mimi came to the table, pointed at ma ma, said "这是 mimi ma ma". The girls liked chili meat and spoon bread. They explored the house a little, explored the fire place and the ornaments on the tree. Xiao E cont...

In the morning, mimi and ella were playing with blocks and took turns playing with the bag that holds the blocks. They wanted to put it on their head like a hat. Mimi put it on first and ella wanted to take it from her. Dada told her "let mimi play first and then you can play when she's done". Ella watched mimi aggressively and gritted her teeth. Mimi muffle "no!"'ed ella through the bag. Mimi took it off but didn't want to give it to ella yet, so she was holding onto yelling screaming "NO". She eventually relinquished it and ella wore the hat, but mimi was trying to take it. They are getting better at waiting for their turns after a couple rounds of play. After they were done they ran to the gate and ella saw grandma in the back of the room. She yelled out "我看到你!". Lao lao reported she didn't have her glasses on and was reading a book. She saw a picture and asked 这是大象么? Xiao E said "不是大象. 是猴ooo". The adults came ...

Lao lao reported the girls had a happy day. When they saw ma ma, Mimi said "no! no! no! no!", xiao E said "nononono". They tried to hide into lao lao. Ma ma inquired if they'd like to eat. Mimi stood up and extended her arms. She was sat and served cereals. She ate the cereals. Lao lao hid away. Xiao E said "站站站" and lingered at the fence. She was noticed to stand on the ledge of the fence and stayed there silently. She was offered a lift to the high chair, she accepted. She was served cereals, she slapped them away, ma ma slapped her, she cried one long cry, said "妈妈不许哭", and started eating. She was corrected 妈妈不许扔. The girls had lots of ba ba's fried rice, lemon cake, and persimmons. Mimi collected juice on her head, from slapping herself to please ma ma. Xiao E collected rice under her chin, from drinking from the bib. The girls were served a bubble bath with squirt bottles. They both washed ma ma's hair with bubbles. The gir...

Lao lao asked the girls where gor gor went. Mimi said "坐飞机". Lao lao asked where gor gor flew to. Mimi said "hawaii". Lao lao asked where did trash go. Mimi said "hawaii". Lao lao reported the girls performed circle dance with her. They gladly held each other's hand. Ma ma whined the girls only held ma ma's hands and 打架. Lao lao attempted to show ma ma circle trick. The girls looked at lao lao, looked at ma ma, looked at lao lao, refused to hold hands. The girls were taken to Microsoft 36 to meet the adults. Once inside, Mimi ran to the reception phone, picked it up, put by her ear, said "喂喂". Xiao E ran around and squatted at random spots. The girls were taken to cafeteria to eat. On the way to the cafe, Mimi petted all the tree wall decors. Xiao E ran into the cafe with ba ba, saw the greenhouses of vegetables, asked "这是什么". Ba ba lifted her to examine, she said "菜叶". Xiao E pointed at the big menu on the wa...

Xiao E woke up early. Whined all the way downstairs until milk was put in the microwave, she said "妈妈$@#%奶奶$#@ DING", looked at the milk spin until microwave ding'ed, then continued whining. She was offered milk and left alone. She played by herself while the adults got a little more sleep. Until Mimi siren was sounded. Mimi was taken out of bedroom. She saw the pile of blankets outside the door, said "小白狗". She was requested the look closer. She looked and looked and looked and stayed silent. In the car the girls were offered cereals to snack on. Mimi dug in and grabbed a fistful. Ma ma stopped her and asked to only take one. She lowered her fist, carefully got one, looked at ma ma for approval, then ate it. Xiao E grabbed one as usual. The girls took turns. One time Mimi grabbed two, she looked at ma ma and her fist back and forth, then turned towards the window and stuffed the cereals in her mouth. Ma ma allowed the girls to take two. Xiao E still took ju...

In the morning the girls got ready to travel to surrey. The girls played with panda backpacks, they got into fight. The girls bounced on the big ball, they got into fight. The girls bounced on the small ball, they got into fight. The girls held ma ma's hands and charged at each other, they were super happy. They said "打架!", let ma ma bump their fists together, cackled wildly, backed apart, charged again. The girls ate a banana in the car. Xiao E angrily groaned every time Mimi took a bite. The girls then ate some gold fish. Xiao E babbled while eating. Mimi became quiet, fought to keep her eyes open. For fun ma ma offered her a fish, she suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed the fish, then her arm fell as suddenly, her eyes closed, she stopped moving. For fun ma ma stuffed the fish in her lips, she woke up and started babbling. The girls were taken to 85c. Xiao E spotted the "雪人儿" on the counter window. Mimi looked sleepy and unfocused, couldn't spot the ...

The girls helped ba ba sweep. The tools were hard to maneuver. Xiao E slouch troll walked, Mimi had trouble moving the rake on the pavement. They were offered branches. They discarded the branches and picked up the tools. Ba ba finished sweeping, the tools were confiscated with a promise for bubbles. Ma ma put the tools away. Mimi followed. Ma ma came out, xiao E was at the door under the ledge where bubbles rested, expectantly "en"'ed at ma ma. When xiao E was playing, if gor gor stared at her, she would say "ella 在做什么?". When the adults asked Mimi to do something, she would say "No!", stare at the adult, then say "为什么no ah?". When the girls see gor gor, they would say "gor gor 摁摁". Sometimes "摁键", at first ma ma thought they were saying en ji, the pushing chicken. Ba ba reminded ma ma the girls wanted to say 摁键盘. Mimi loved saying hey row (hello) to all objects. After the girls came back from playing outside, they sat ...

Today was travel day, so the girls got up early and started packing. Mimi hugged long cat, took it and walked all around the living room and bedroom. Xiao E followed her saying "chang mao chang mao". And tried to take chang mao. Mimi swiped at her, sounded her high cry Mimi siren, yelled "不给, mimi 的". Xiao E was offered the tiny hello kitty, she was happy holding it, poking kitty cheek and said "ella 的猫猫". Xiao E wanted to play with the clothes, the adults directed her to help pack the xiao clothes in the bag. She finished one pile. The girls were offered some sweet 圈圈s. They loved them. Then the adults switched them to less sugary bao baos. Then ate a little. Mimi said "Mimi 要这个", and pointed at the sugary quan quan bottle. Ma ma took it and asked if it was what Mimi wanted, Mimi pointed at the ground, stumped her foot, ordered sternly "放下来". Ma ma obliged. The girls feasted on the sugary quan quans until they were herded to the c...

The girls were taken to DTF. Mimi was offered a blanket on her lap. She accepted it happily saying "盖被". Xiao E rejected hers. Mimi stuck her hand inside the folds of the blanket and said "戴手套". Xiao E stretched forward to look at Mimi, said "要手套" and whimpered. She was offered blanket, but she whimpered and threw it away. After hearing more happy squeaks from Mimi, xiao E eventually accepted blanket. Din tai fung noodles and red bean bun pleased the xiao ones. They were taken to bellevue square. The girls wilded while the adults shopped. The girls were tuckered out. Mimi fell asleep on the walk back to the car, xiao E fell asleep not long after. Both woke up when ma ma accidentally played loud videos. Mimi was in a good mood. After looking around a bit, made eye contact with ma ma and said "hi you" (hello). She grabbed ma ma's hand and tried to fist bump, ma ma did not realize until she said "bie bang" many times. Xiao E was more...

Ma ma was peeing. The door opened a crack, ba ba nudged in a Mimi wearing sun glasses. Mimi said "Mimi 戴眼镜". She looked around, pointed at the barbage and said "脏". She worn glasses and took them off, and requested ma ma to put them on. She put them on top of her head and said "Mimi dai". She put them around her neck and said "带围巾". Ma ma pointed at the toilet and asked what it was, Mimi said "厕所". Mimi's hair was done. It was xiao E's turn. Ma ma asked xiao E what was the toilet, xiao E said "ma ma 在尿尿". When asked what was the garbage, she said "纸\/\/\/" with lots of 3rd tones. Ma ma thanked Mimi for something, Mimi said "不客气". Mimi requested to take 猴猴 with her to the car. The adults asked xiao E if she wanted to take her hou hou too, she said "hou hou 没了". Hou hou was found in a toy pile, xiao E fast walked to it and picked it up. Xiao E chucked hou hou in the car, then looked arou...

This morning was auntie's wedding day. Went to great uncle's house to get some breakfast and the long ceremony had already started. Mimi and ella ate some noodles and watched all the dressed up aunties and uncles take photos and celebrate. Mimi and ella worn nice little dresses that great auntie gave them. Xiao jiu gong offered to take the girls to "看车车" during many occasions. The girls refused by saying "BU YAO!". Then jiu gong offered xiao E his car keys, xiao E was tempted. Jiu gong asked what the object was, xiao E said "ella的钥匙". While xiao E was examining the keys and trying to find button, she was swiped by jiu gong. Jiu gong took her to see the cars downstairs. Xiao E saw a flag on one of the cars and said "旗". Xiao E was asked to do her driving dance, she didn't do it, but gave a troll smile. Mimi accompanied ma ma to the bathroom. When ma ma was peeing Mimi yelled "ma ma 尿". Company in the room laughed. ...

The girls performed wild seaweed eating. Xiao jiu gong would give the girls a pack of seaweed, the girls would say "紫菜". Jiu gong would ask if the girls wanted zi cai. The girls would never answer, but stare intensely alternating between jiu gong's eyes and jiu gong's zi cai. Jiu gong would extend his hand a little, and the girls would swipe the zi cai pack from jiu gong's hand, and immediately turn to ma ma to say "ma ma 打开". Mimi ate each seaweed by holding onto the short end and stuffing the stripe into her mouth in one push. Xiao E held the long ends and bit the middle, splitting each piece into three, she would eat the middle, the left hand 1/3, then the right hand 1/3. In the car to da jiu gong's. Xiao E held ma mas hand and said "ibydai" repeatedly. Splitting two of ma ma's fingers and alternated putting them up and down. After a while ma ma noticed she was saying "itsy bitsy spider". Went to da jiu gong's house...

When the adults came home the xiao ones already ate. Ma ma started snacking, but couldn't resist the cute xiao ones. So she went to kiss Mimi. Mimi turned her head away and said "Mimi不要吃饭". Lao lao requested Mimi to tell ma ma what happened to lao lao's hand. Mimi said "疼". Whey asked why, Mimi said "猫猫咬", "破了".  Lao lao was bitten by lily on the weekend when she loaded her in the carrier. Lao lao reported she returned books with the girls, and let the girls put key in the car. So now the girls are interested in "还书", "开车", and "di di wooo". Mimi whimpered for 抱抱. She was lifted out the fence. She said "Anessa" and pointed at Anessa's photos on the fridge. She was introduced to dancenessa, carnessa, cupnessa, ihopnessa, etc. The girls were taken to story time. They were the only ones and teacher read two simple stories and sang many songs. Mimi danced well, touched her nose, knees, and toe...

After work, the girls went to story time at the library. Mama and dada brought dinner to the library, and the girls ate in the corridor. When walking down the corridor, the girls looked into the first room and saw some people, they said "老师老师". They were informed this was not their teacher. They saw their story room and said "老师?". Miss. Jen wasn't there yet. They saw a lady walking down the hall and said "老师?", it wasn't Miss. Jen. While chomping, they found the little nook behind the trash bin, and were playing peek-a-boo with each other through the little wall nook. Ella would look through the little slot on the bin and spy on mama. They took turns running in and out through the opening automatic doors and would look at each other through the window. Mimi ate a lot of chicken nuggets. When the cup was empty she said "没有啦" and looked at the adults. The cup was then refilled. Xiao E also ate a fair bit. She took the shiest xiao...

Today was a trip to Lansing, Michigan's capitol. We went out and uncle Gordon directed us to a nice bakery and bubble tea shop. We ate our pastries at the bubble tea shop, with the girls wilding around and playing. Mimi and uncle Gordon sat at a table brokering a deal. Ella was playing peek-a-boo behind the chairs and the couches. After being stuffed with food, we checked out the art museum across the road. It was a weird museum with some strange pieces of art. The entry way was covered in spaghetti wallpaper. The girls didn't take much interest in the art but instead liked the trips up and down the elevator. Unfortunately most of the museum was closed due to renovations, so we left after a short tour and played outside. It was chilly so we went back to the car to go to the capitol building. We parked outside the building right by the girl's favorite thing, a tree with a pile of fallen leaves. We went into the leaves and uncle Gordon and dada ambushed the girl...

The girls woke up nice and early this morning. They were cranky. They wanted breakfast! Mama and dada scooped up the girls and fed them some milk. Mimi pee ploded all over her chest, she was taken to a bath. Ma ma and Mimi came back to xiao E stealing ba ba's pbj. Mimi shared. Ella was wrapped up in a little blanket like a little burrito. She sat down all bundled up and watched the trees swish in the wind. Then she fell over and couldn't get up without dada's help. Dada freed her from her burrito prison, stood her up, and asked her "do you want to be wrapped again". She said "nooooooo~" and ran away. The girls went to the korean grocery store for some supplies. Ella was in dada's cart, reaching out at everything yelling "要拿AA~". At the fruit, at the veggies, at the tofu. At the seafood section, ella called out to the "大鱼" and the "大水虫". Ma ma and Mimi toured the long line of zhu zhu, hou hou, he ma jelly杯s. M...

In the morning grandma got to the girls first. She was holding mimi by the time dada found them both. Grandma told mimi "there's dada" and mimi looked at dada and said "NO... NO.... NO.... NO...." turning her head once for each no. Then she switched to mandarin "buyao.... buyao.... buyao.... buyao....." again with the head turns. Then grandma said "give dada a hug" and then mimi leaned forward offering dada a hug. One of the previous days Mimi called ma ma 小ma ma. After the adults came back. The girls ignored them and 炮炮鱼'ed with lao lao. Xiao e saw ba ba cooking oatmeal with milk and said "酸奶". She was not happy to be taken away from lao lao. Mimi saw gold fish on the counter and said to ma ma "不要鱼鱼". The girls were served oatmeal. While eating, Mimi said "给妈妈一个". As ma ma approached the spoon, Mimi snapped it back saying "不给!" with the most vicious little scrunched face.  An unfortunate i...

The adults left in the morning as Mimi woke up. Lao lao held Mimi. Mimi: fink fink (the frank) Lao lao: ba ba ma ma are leaving. Where are they going? Mimi: 上班 Lao lao: shang ban for what? Mimi: bye bye... Lao lao: bye bye to ba ba ma ma Mimi: byyyee After work the adults got out of the car. The adults heard calls from lao lao. Ma ma ran to the xiao ones. They just ca,e back from a walk. Ma ma kiss attacked xiao E. Xiao E hid in her hood and was not interested. She had blackberry and was listening to ABCs. Mimi kiss attacked ma ma and happy bounced. Lao lao: ba ba ma ma came home. From where? Mimi: 回来啦 Lao lao: ba ba ma ma came from work. What are they working for? Xiao E: 挣钱 Lao lao: zheng qian to do what? Xiao E: 给ba ba吃 Lao lao: gei ella mimi chi Lao lao prompted the girls to give the parents a report of what they saw on the walk. They said in unison "星星". Dinner was messy. The girls ate well. Xiao E started squeezing the grapes. Ma m...

In a few occasions the adults noticed the girls asking "这是什么" in shy little voice. The girls don't like shower. They protest scream every time ma ma picked up the shower head. Xiao E was protest screaming while ma ma was washing her. She suddenly stopped, said "洗肚肚" (her tummy was being washed), then continued screaming. The girls were taken to a nearby memorial park. They walked up the stairs of the monument and looked at the statue. Mimi got to the top and saw the blue pool of water with the fountain streaming into it. She said "水!" and ran at the pool. Dada stopped her from diving in, since she can't swim yet. Ella walked up in a nice pace stair by stair with mama and Allison. Xiao E held Allison's finger so tight, refusing to let go after getting to the top. Allison asked her what's the meaning of this, xiao E didn't answer and dragged her to continue the journey. Later that day, we went to pearl harbor historic site. Mimi a...

The girls were offered the nice toys they received from Hillary, Sophia, and Jennifer yesterday. Today we took the girls out for a little bit of errand running. We dropped uncle Gordon off at the restaurant to help out while the girls went out to play. We stopped by a nice family Mexican restaurant for lunch and ate some nice chips, rice, and beef. The girls loved the saucy beef with rice. They saw the nice paintings on the wall and pointed out all the animals there. After lunch it was time to do some shopping. We stopped by Target to stock up on diapers and then checked out a Halloween costume store. There were lots of costumes, and they did not care for the scary ones. Ella saw a scary giant baby mask, and walked away saying "nooooo~~~~". They tried on some hats and tried to take them off immediately. There were not many nice costumes, so we went to our next stop. We went back to the restaurant for a snack and some play with the grandparents. Ella and Mimi sat do...

Really early in the morning, mimi had a hard night. She was up and crying a couple of times. The previous night's play maybe was too wild for her. Who knows. Ella woke up first, and had milk and played around for a bit while mimi woke up. Then mimi woke up and drank some milk. They were in good spirits, so mama took them out for a walk. Mimi refused to take ma ma's hand to come downstairs. She pointed at the leaves and said "扫叶叶!". She tried to sweep with her bare hands. So she was offered a good branch. Xiao E also flapped and said "扫地". She was also offered a branch. The girls swept and poked for mines and started walking. When they got to mr 13708's house, they said "公鸡咕咕叫" and started exploring the yard. Poking at all the little trees and statues. They called the little stone stack "狗狗". Xiao E abandoned the long branch and picked up a small stick. She poked with it for a while. Then she threw it away and happily bounc...