Siena Beanie

Follow the Script

2012-02-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

Siena has a script that she wants to act out. There are three parts--Darth Vader (one part to be tried out for), the Canteen worker (she is this person) and Jar Jar Binks (another part to be tried out for). She was auditioning Leon and I for the parts. I told her I would be the "moderator" who has a small introductory part. She asked, "What is a moderator?" I told her its the person who tells the story when its not a character in the story. She said, "I think thats called the narrator."

Ummm...well, seriously don't I have to wait until she is like 15 to feel so dumb?

In case any of you know the story to which I refer and are horrified that we let our daughter see the video, you will be pleased to know that there is a clean version of it. It is worth seeing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVK8zurCvU

Funnier in the original, but not appropriate for anyone under 30 or over 60.

Sarcasm

2012-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

My parents sent me a T-shirt (nominally from Mark Twain) that reads "Sarcasm. One of my many talents."

The other day Siena asked me, "Did Mark Twain really say that? It sounds more like something Ben Franklin would say."

Reading from the menu

2012-02-07T10:52:00.001-08:00

We took Siena and her friend Kate to lunch at The Garage --a new version of the old soda shoppe. They sat at the counter by themselves. Kate's lunch came with a scoop of ice cream. She asked what flavors there were and Siena said she (Siena) would read them.

She started, "Vanilla, Death [she paused] That is not very appetizing. Oh! Death by Chocolate! That's better! Mint..."

God

2012-02-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

This has taken a long time to post...

In early November Siena was sitting in the backseat and Leon and I were in the front. She and I were talking about something--my last flight I think. She said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you! I don't believe in God anymore."

I said, "That is a pretty big change. What made you come to that decision?"

She said, "Well, there is no such thing as magic, right? And, there are no ghosts. I've been on a lot of flights and I know there are no angels or God on the clouds. So there is no God."

Within a month she had asked the big questions about Santa, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny.

Discovery of Earth

2011-11-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

We were talking to Siena the other evening about how Pluto was discovered in 1930 and it takes 248 years to orbit the Sun. So, it had not yet--since its discovery (when grandma Etta was 11 years old!)--made a full rotation around the Sun.

Siena was enthralled and said, "So Pluto was only discovered in 1930?"

"When did they discover Earth? HA! HA!! HA!!!" She was so thrilled with her joke!!

Offensible

2011-10-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

The other night we were talking about Siena's surfing experience in Port A this summer. I told Leon how I was actually surprised how much harder it was to get up on the board than it used to be for me. (I was blaming it on the board and not on the intervening 25 years and 10 pounds).

Siena said, "Not to be offensible, but you are not the best surfer."

Siena's Magnanimous World View

2011-09-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

I laughed when I saw this cover. The giant piece of cake and the expressions on those other kids' faces is so funny! I asked Siena if she thought that middle one was the mother's favorite. Siena said, "No." I said, "No?" She said, "Its the middle girls' birthday. And those other two don't like cake, like I don't like cake."

Overheard at Play

2011-09-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Siena and Kate are playing "animals at the ball" or something like that with Mr. Potato Head animals. Siena just said (as one animal to the other): "I don't mean to pry, but are you a female?"

?????

Brian's Niece

2011-07-28T13:02:00.001-07:00

Siena: "UGHHH! Who moved....ugh! WHY do the cleaning people have to make this house messy, messy, messy, messy!"

How to Control the Weather

2011-07-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

On the way to camp today we were talking about what the plans were when Siena is going to be with Mom Mom and Poppy. I mentioned how they did such a good job arranging things that fit the age and interests of the kids they have. Siena told me that Mom Mom didn't do a very good job that time that there was hail at the top of the mountain they were supposed to tube down in Colorado.

I said, "Well, I am sure Mom Mom would like to be able to control the weather, but I don't think we should expect that."

Siena said, "I know how to control the weather. Its easy. Want me to tell you how?" Of course, I said I did.

Siena said (with hand motions), "You move your hands in a soft and gentle motion....[pause] oh, no that's for controlling the wind....[pause for thought] I don't know how to control the weather."

Some Recent Siena Sayings

2011-07-07T08:56:00.001-07:00

When I am trying to get her to sleep at night she keeps her eyes open, moves her arms all around, makes sounds, etc. I told her the other night, "Siena, eyes closed, hands down, mouth shut." She paused and asked, "How can I get the sounds out if my mouth is shut?"

Siena asked Leon to tell her a story about his dad. But, she wanted a particular story. One she knows very well. Leon started to tell it: "One night grandpa and some boys snuck out of the dormitory. Do you know what a dormitory is?"

Siena: "Yes"

Leon: "So, they snuck out of the dormitory..."

Siena: "How many boys were there?"

Leon: "Ugh, four. So, they snuck out in the night."

Siena: "What were their names? Why do you never give enough detail in your stories?!"

Siena finally gave up and asked to call Grandma so Grandma could tell her the story. When she got to the last part (of another story), Siena told her that she had messed up that last bit..it was a book that they had stuck in their pants so the spanking wouldn't hurt and not clothes as Grandma had said.

Cotin Candy

2011-06-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Siena's poem:

Cotin Candy

You are Sweet

Cotin Candy

You Stic to Me

Cotin Candy

You are

Pink and Blue

Cotin Candy

I Love You.

written May 2011

Uncle Brian

2011-06-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Siena and Leon were playing basketball and Leon told her he thought her ball needed more air. She was incensed and told him, "Uncle Brian is a professional basketball player and he said it was good, so it is good."

After that I was impressed with her dribbling and she said (with a very smart-alek tone), "Well, don't you think I would be good at dribbling when for two years I did not have a basketball hoop and basketball is my favorite sport?"

Mind you, she got a basketball about 3 days before she had the hoop.

Infomercial Daughter

2011-06-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

We were in Century 21 (an old-fashioned department store) on Sunday and Siena was watching the infomercial television (where they have the products "As Seen on TV" for sale.

I didn't know what she was doing at first but then figured it out as she would say to me, "Mom, are any of your shirts too short?" [actually is was for shirts that were too low cut] Then, she would say, "Mom, let me see your heels because if they have cracks there is this stuff you can use to make them smooth." After a pause she asked, "Mom, do you have any unwanted facial hair?"

It was hysterical. Before I pulled her away she said, "Mom, you know how you can burn your hand on a pot, now they have a thing so you don't do that. Its safer than those other glove things you wear."

Talk about Tabula Rasa. That is why she is not allowed to watch tv with commercials. It was a good babysitter though. See the photo below.

Snuggles

2011-05-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Siena's Mother's Day Poem

Snuggles

by Siena

When I go

to sleep Mommy

snuggles with

me. Mommy

loves me. I

love mommy

too.

This was on my Mother's Day card that Siena made in school.

"Oh! Poof!"

2011-05-26T06:54:00.001-07:00

Siena was in the habit of saying "What the..." when she was surprised by something. As Leon and I didn't think that sounded appropriate because one could infer the word she left off as being not right for a little girl we tried to dissuade her from using that.

She has made up her own and uses it when some thing goes awry or its not as she planned. She says, "Oh! Poof!"

It is adorable!

Coming to America

2011-05-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

Siena has recently spent some time in Mexico--first at two ports on our cruise in February and then in April a week in Playa del Carmen with her cousins and grandma. They were all postcard-perfect settings with sun and sea and pool and good food...you get the idea.

Leon was reading in the paper this morning about illegal immigrants and Siena asked him about it. He said it was a story about people trying to come from places like Mexico and India to have a better life in the U.S.

Siena said, "WHAT?! Mexico is the BEST life!"

Personal Hygiene

2011-03-29T06:29:00.001-07:00

The other night Siena was play biting me and play licking me. I told her "Siena, you can't do that, its a nasty thing to do and its very unsanitary."

She said, "You don't ALWAYS have to be so sanitary on yourself. People don't have to be THAT clean."

Libya and the frozen wooly mammoth

2011-03-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Siena was looking at the front page of the Wall Street Journal the other day (as I was reading it--its not like she's some Wall Street Doogie Howser) and asked, "What is that about?" I told her it was about Libya.

She said, "Well, what about her?" I said, "Its not a her, its a country, a place that is having a war." She said, "I KNOW what Lyuba is, I saw her. Remember, she fell in the mud and died and you can even see the skin impressions."

I was totally confused until I remembered we had taken her to see this in the museum:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/may/04/lubya-preserved-woolly-mammoth-cloning

Daddy's jokes

2011-03-02T14:28:00.001-08:00

Siena asked me, "Have you ever heard of a joke that's not funny that didn't come from Daddy's mouth?"

Apparently today is the first time she heard someone else make a bad joke.

Better than Post-It Notes

2011-02-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

Siena was saying the lines of some show she had seen. She was saying the dialog verbatim. I said, "How can you remember all that?" She said, "You just put it in your brain. Its better than Post-it Notes. You just put it in your brain. You don't need a pencil to put it in your brain. You just put it in a comfortable place in your brain and you let it be there and when you want to remember it you just go get it and remember it."

Charity

2011-01-19T12:29:00.001-08:00

Siena was considering uses for money that Grandma gave her for charity. She and Leon were discussing an idea she was taken with. Leon said, "When you donate your money, I'll also give $20 so we can make a bigger donation."

Siena listened, then hesitated, then looked at me and said, "So, are YOU going to do anything?"

More economic commentary

2011-01-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Siena was playing with a top the other day setting up a "course" for it to weave through (hypothetically, of course, as it really only spins for moments then crashes into something and falls down).

She was saying "this super guy...he can spin and swerve and jump and outrun creditors..."

I think she may meant predators...

Afghanistan vs. Short Hills

2010-12-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

As you may know, Siena has only 6 girls in her class. There are about 14 boys. Last year the ratio was 6 girls to 12 boys. For whatever reason the girl to boy ratio for her year is something like 18:60.

The other day we were talking about how whether she liked to do homework or go to school she was very lucky to have the opportunity as many do not--especially in Afghanistan. I told her how in some cultures and in the past women were not considered equal to men and did not get the education that men got and so could not ever do as much as men or do what they really wanted....

She agreed that she was lucky and then told me that Short Hills must be a lot like Afghanistan because people here don't send their girls to school either--there are only 6 of them in her whole class!

Bankrupt

2010-12-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

Siena got out Junior Monopoly the other night and told me, "I'm so good at this you'll probably be bankrobbed by dinner time."

Economic commentary perhaps? I explained that the word is "bankrupt".

The Beginnings of a Politician

2010-12-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Siena and her friend were playing "restaurant" with her fake food. She told Kate that a customer had told her she (the customer) was a "professional soup maker" and so had made some soup for Siena to taste.

Siena acted out the whole tasting of the soup and spitting it out. She exclaimed, "UGHHH! This lady is not a professional! That is the worst soup I ever had!"

Then she walked to the imaginary lady's table and smiled and said, "That was delightful!"

Siena and Kate playing

2010-11-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Siena and Kate are playing with Littlest Pet Shop. They are going to the ice cream shop. Kate has gone with her "boyfriend" and Siena went by herself.

Kate told Siena, "Just go to boyfriend.com and get a boyfriend."

Siena said, "I already have one, he's just late."

A Hundred Million Words

2010-11-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Siena saw this piece of trash (from a credit card solicitation) in the trash and picked it up and looked at it and said, "A hundred million words. Cool. Somebody wrote all those words."

Favorite Seasons

2010-10-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

Siena was thinking of Halloween and asked me to guess her favorite months/seasons of the year. I said, "May and October for your birthday and Halloween." She said, "You're right." I said, "But, what about December for Christmas?" She replied, "Oh, yeah that is really good." She hesitated and then said, "And, when does that bunny come?"

Bali

2010-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Leon was putting Siena to bed and asked her if when she was a grown-up and had children of her own whether he could take them for walks and take them to the Hartshorn (her school) parking lot to teach them to ride a bike.

Siena told him that he could certainly take them for walks, but that he could not take them to the Hartshorn parking lot as she would be living in Bali.

Her Mother's Daughter

2010-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

I put Siena in the bath tub the other night. She had red scratch marks on her bottom. I said to her, "Siena, you have itches all over your bum."

She said, "Mom, just because there are red lines and scratch marks does not have to mean I have itches."

I was proud of her. I think Leon is not so sanguine about another pedantic woman in the family.

God is Real

2010-09-15T06:03:00.001-07:00

Siena was describing her basis for belief in God:

"Hannah doesn't believe that things have batteries, but I know things have batteries. God makes the batteries, so God is real."

Another excerpt, "If there is no God then who made the world? God made the world so there is God. HA! [which is her "in your face" QED expression that she is now fond of using]"

She used to believe (although she did not bring it up this time) that God made an airplane and then hung on to the wing to make the world--because he wouldn't have had anything to stand on to make the world while we worked."

Cute things Siena says

2010-08-12T11:39:00.001-07:00

Siena calls a lawn mower a "mow lawner" and when one is mowing the lawn they are "mow lawning"

Siena calls it King Burger instead of the other way around.

Siena was musing the other day, "I don't think there is a tooth fairy. There are no fairies. I think there is a person who waits outside your house and comes in and gives you money." When I prompted her, "Why would someone do that?" She said, "To make us feel good."

Comedian

2010-07-21T08:44:00.001-07:00

Out on the patio at my friend's house this weekend the kids were telling jokes...why did the chicken cross the road and so on. We were eating breakfast and it was shaping up to be another hot day. Leon said, "Why did the pig get into the shade? Otherwise he'd be bakin'"

Siena thought for about 10 seconds and said, "Why did the dog get into the shade?" When we said, "why?" she said, "Otherwise he'd be a hot dog."

We were very impressed with her humor and creativity and pun-ny social skills as you can imagine!

Town Sick

2010-07-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

We were away for the weekend and Siena was antsy to get home (the drive took us 2 hours each way). When we arrived in our neighborhood she said, "Finally! I was town sick! I thought I was homesick but I was town sick." She opened her window and was hugging the air and pretend hugging all the things she could see saying, "Come here flowers, give me a hug! House, give me a hug, trees, give me a hug!"

I love you...

2010-07-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

Siena's monologue the other night while I was putting her to bed:

"I love you more than a T-Rex, I love you more than the world and outer space. I love you more than the universe. I love you infinity. I love you more than 200. I love you more than infinity. Infinity times infinity. I love you all the time I'm alive and all the time I'm dead and all the time I'm alive even if you're dead. The only existence when I don't love you is when I am mad at you. You are the best person in the world."

I will treasure this forever. I especially like the hedge clause.

Money in the Bank

2010-07-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

We were talking to Siena about money and the uses of it and saving it, etc. I told her how she could make a small amount of money by saving her money in a bank instead of in her piggy bank. She said she wanted to start an account at the bank to save her money.

I told her that we started an account for her right around the time she was born to put money that people gave her as gifts.

She was shocked! She said, "When I was born?!" And when I said, "yes, around that time," she said, "Well, it must be all rotten by now!"

Leon's Post 5-6-10

2010-05-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Siena is so cute.

She awoke at 645am came over with tears in her eyes and said

“ Daddy I had a dream about your and it made me so happy I have tears of happiness. But I cannot tell you what the dream is”.

Then she cried some more.

"I'm imagining..."

2010-04-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

This is almost the whole story that Siena told us the other morning while we were snuggling in bed: "I'm imagining a stadium with all the seats filled with frogs in fancy clothes--like rainbow on one side and tux on the other.

There was a giant bull on the stage in the middle and one frog was dressed up one half as a frog in clothes (rainbow clothes) and one half green.

There was a man in the crowd wearing rainbow on one side and green on the other.

There were curtains hanging from a bar and they were made up of jelly.

And lights made of rats. Rats wearing them. (the lights I think)

There was a lady dressed fancy with pink and green things (made motions indicating a veil) and they kicked her out because it was a man's conference. The bull kicked her out.

And it was in outer space and there was a stop sign for mans and a go sign for ladies, but the mans went in there."

Art from Life

2010-04-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

At a Parisian bistro the bathrooms were really, really small. Basically the door was at your knees when you sat on the toilet. Siena decided that she would draw a picture of it. As she was coloring away, she said, "Okay, guys this is going to be disturbing." and she pulled her pants out and looked at her underwear and then proceeded to draw the pattern that is on her underwear on the underwear in the picture.

She has also drawn her pants at her ankles and her butt cheeks.

arc de triomphe

2010-04-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

We were trying to get Siena to look out the tour bus at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We kept saying, "Look, there! Look, you'll miss it! Siena, you have to see this great arch--you'll learn about it in school, Can you see it? You're not looking. Look, there!"

She said, "I SAW the Arch. Its not that awesome."

Daddy was Here

2010-04-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

After I came home from an evening Rotary meeting a couple weeks ago Siena was just about to go to sleep and so I went in to lay down with her. I asked her if she had fun with Daddy and what they had for dinner.

I asked, "Did you have milk?"

She said, "No, Daddy was here, no milk!, no vegetables!, Wii and 4 books!"

Siena times 100

2010-03-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

Siena sat on the sink and opened the two mirrors on the sides to look at herself in the three mirrors. She saw her many reflections and was thrilled. She was making faces at herself, poking her finger at her other selves, etc.

After a bit she said with satisfaction, "FINALLY...I can get everyone to do what I want!"

Survey

2010-03-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

There was a survey to "know the true you" from littlemissmatched.com (check out the cute product they have if you want).

The theme was, "if you could make your very own world..."

Here are the questions and Siena's answers:

My house would be made out of healthy things

I'd have 1 brother and 2 sisters

I'd go to bed at 8pm

For a pet, I'd have a dog

I'd play this instrument, a flute

For summer vacation, I'd go to Bali

I'd get to hang out with this cartoon character: Mickey Mouse

My world would be Singapore

Grown Ups

2010-03-02T11:38:00.001-08:00

Siena and her friend Kate were playing with the doll house. Each had one grown up girl, one pet (a dog for Kate, a cat for Siena), a teenage girl, a man and two babies.

They were "talking" the teenage girls who were holding their pets. I overheard Siena say, "Sorry kitty, I can't play with you anymore, I'm a grown-up now and have to go find a job and a husband."

Dot Com

2010-02-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

Siena and I were talking about the Haitians being adopted by couples in the U.S. when she saw a photo of a Hispanic couple holding their newly adopted Haitian baby.

She said, "I wonder if the people are going to wonder why he [the baby] is a different color."

We had a little discussion of adoption about how people who see Siena and I or Siena and her dad may also think we are different colors but if they saw us all together they would know why she was a different color [her observation].

Then we were talking about the fact that the people had to get the baby a visa to come to the U.S.--like Mira would have (which is why she couldn't come back to the U.S. with us).

Siena said, "So if they wanted a baby just go to dot com and buy one."

Two Hundred Bucks

2010-01-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last night I was saying how I wanted to go to kindergarten too with Siena. She told me I could only go if I paid "two hundred bucks."

Faith: "Two Hundred Bucks?! Do you know how much money that is?"
Siena: "Well, you have to pay two hundred bucks."
Faith: "To whom do I pay it? You or Mrs. Smalley?" (I had to repeat this to get an answer.)
Siena: "To the emperor."
Faith: "The emperor? What emperor?"
Siena: (softly) "In China."

WHAT?! Is this what those Mandarin classes in Singapore were teaching her? Creating sleeper cells of western kids to wake up and send all money to China when they start working in business and government?

Siena's New Year's Revolution

2010-01-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

Siena told me this morning about her "New Year's Revolution" which was to help me wash the dishes. I asked her how she came up with that and she said, Mrs. Smalley (her teacher) told them about New Year's Revolutions and she likes to wash dishes so she decided she would help me.

She takes after me--only make a resolution that you already like in the first place.

For the record, we have a dishwasher and the only thing Siena likes to wash is the mixing bowl after we make cupcakes.

Irony

2010-01-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

My mum and I picked up Siena from school. We go into the car and Grandma reminded Siena to click in her seat belt. As we pulled out of the parking lot the car started beeping, as Mum had forgotten to fasten her seatbelt.
Siena says ' Grandma this is ironic. You asked me to put on my seatbelt and you forgot yours'

Songs by Grandma

2010-01-07T11:21:00.001-08:00

Siena loves her grandma to sing her to sleep. One morning Noreen was singing the song she had sung to Siena the night before about how they (the people in the song) would marry if they had not been apart so long.

Siena stopped her grandmother and said, "I can't marry you. There are too many obstacles. First, I am too young to marry, second, you are old and third we are both girls."

Turkeys and Tryptophan

2010-01-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Before Thanksgiving Leon was telling Siena about the high level of tryptophan in turkey and how it makes people sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner (which he now knows to be only a myth). Leon was describing how its a protein in the muscle of the turkey that we eat. Siena asked him, "So, its in the turkey?" When he said yes, she asked, "Well, is the turkey tired then?"

D-O-G, D-O-G

2010-01-07T11:15:00.001-08:00

As Siena was falling asleep one night about a month ago she was whispering to herself, "D-O-G, D-O-G, dog, dog, D-O-G..." I guess she was going over something she learned in school or doing the cheap version of subliminal night learning. It was as if I could pin point when she was becoming truly aware of literacy and that all words are made up of letters.

Of Garials and Monkeys

2010-01-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

When we would visit the Singapore Zoo we loved to watch monkeys playing in the trees above the garials (long nosed alligators). We would also joke about how the monkeys had better be careful so they wouldn't fall into the garials' river and get eaten. Leon loves to talk about the garials when he is chasing Siena.

The other day, while reading National Geographic or something Leon said, "Hey listen to this, 'Garials...with their long snout....only eat fish.'" Siena (who has not been to the Singapore Zoo for 7 months) said, "Well, I guess we didn't have to worry about those monkeys falling."

I was impressed that she had remembered and could make the connection so long after thinking about the garials and the monkeys.

Longest Tongue in the World

2009-11-17T08:52:00.001-08:00

Siena told her grandmother the other morning that she wished she [Siena herself] had the longest tongue in the world. Then she could curl it over her own head and down to her back and push herself on the swing.

She may not be up to speed on physics, but she thinks outside the box.

Prince Charming and the Castle

2009-11-17T08:49:00.001-08:00

We have a sand castle (held together by glue of course) in Siena's bathroom. She likes to walk her fingers up the stairs to the tower. When I was doing her hair one night she was walking her fingers up the stairs and telling herself this story: "And the princess walks and walks and walks up to the tall tower and gets stuck in the tower and [and her fingers are down at the bottom of the stairs again here] Prince Charming comes up the stairs and up the stairs and pushes the princess out of the tower. AHHHH [with her fingers falling from the tower]!"

Plymouth and the Deep Blue Sea

2009-11-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

While I was swinging Siena a couple weeks ago she told me that there really was one Mermaid one time. She said her friend Mia told her. I asked her how there could be one mermaid--who gave birth to her? She patiently explained that the people who first came here made the mermaid. We don't know what they looked like or who they were, but they were the first people to came to this land. I asked her if she meant the Pilgrims (as it is November and I was sure school was teaching them about that) and she said, "Yes, they came here and we are the specialist because we, New York and New Jersey, celebrate it and no one else does. We celebrate the America and the Mermaid."

I'll bet you thought you had heard everything there was to hear about Thanksgiving...tell me if you had heard of the Mermaid at Plymouth Rock before now?!

Phrases

2009-11-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the things that Siena says that I find adorable, but which may be leaving soon and I want to remember:

She says "patteren" for pattern
She calls the people who mow lawns and do yard work the "mow lawners." Today she saw a guy who does yard work smoking and she said, "He does one good and one bad. He smokes and he mow lawns."

Moms and Babies

2009-10-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

The other night as she was snuggling with her stuffed puppies (her "children") as I was putting her to sleep, Siena said, "Why are babies the same as their moms?" When I didn't understand her question, she said, "Like if the mom is human the baby is human and humans don't have puppy babies."
I explained about the sperm and eggs (in very general terms--while being careful to emphasize that the eggs stay inside the mom because I can see that coming back later) and how humans only have DNA that makes humans and how a dog and a human cannot make a baby because there is not the right kinds of DNA to create a baby.
Some of you with children of a certain age can see where this is going--she wanted to talk about how Donkey and the Dragon had flying dragon-like donkey babies in Shrek if they didn't have the same kinds of DNA! Next she'll ask about Horton hatching that egg!

Putting her to Work

2009-10-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

Pretty good work, isn't it?

Current Entertainment

2009-10-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Siena loves to put Abba or Thriller (Michael Jackson) or some music on the iPod and dance--she stands right in front of the iPod speakers. Sometimes she accessorizes.

The Lemming- 5 Years On

2009-10-24T06:40:00.001-07:00

Stories from School

2009-10-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

As Siena was going to sleep the other night she told me that the stories they write in class now are hard. She made writing motions and said each word clearly and slowly:
"I have a sister.
I have a brother.
I have a mother.
I have a father.
I have a family."

I said, "Wow! you wrote all that?"

She said, "No, that was just an example."

Commercials

2009-10-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

The other night as I was cooking dinner Siena told me, "Mom, you should buy Oxyclean. It gets the tough stains out. It even gets ink out."

Obviously the Go Diego Go marketing people know their audience...

Martian Model

2009-10-18T04:51:00.001-07:00

Siena's alma mater

2009-10-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Stepanie was visiting and when she and Siena were discussing Siena's school Stephanie sang her elementary school song. Stephanie asked Siena the name of her school. Siena said, "Hartshorn." Stephanie said, "You know what school I went to? The School of Hard Knocks."
Siena said, "Yeah, my aunt went there too."
I have no idea which of you told her that, but she remembered it and said it without missing a beat--it was really funny!

An angel

2009-10-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Siena held her pony tail holder above her head and said, "Look, I look like an angel."
I said, "Do you know what an angel is?"
She said, "Sure. They have a thing like this over their heads, a wand with a sparkly star on it, wings and a cute little outfit made out of sheets."

Siena's "Trick"

2009-09-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

They have a couple versions of this. One in which Siena holds her legs in a crossed position and looks like a yogi who is in meditation being carried about. All the versions rely on Leon doing the work.

Siena's Emerging "Deep Thoughts"

2009-09-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

These all happened over a week or so, its just taken me another one or two to write them down:

Siena: "Mommy, look how full the toilet is of poop."
Mommy: "Wow! Siena you really did have to go, I honestly did not think that could fit in a kid, or anyone really." [Mommy flushes the toilet as Siena washes her hands]
Siena: [looking in the toilet] "Wow! That is a strong toilet to get rid of all that poop."

We were discussing school pictures and I was asking whether they had the class photo first and then the individual photos, whether they did them in the classroom or somewhere else, how she posed, and then I asked, "Did they comb your hair before they took the picture?" She said, "No, you did that don't you remember?" I said, "I know I did in the morning, but I mean did they comb it right before they took the picture? They used to comb our hair before pictures in elementary school--they would comb it someway that your mom didn't like sometimes and then they threw each comb away. I did not think they did that anymore because maybe there are just too many people now." Siena thought about it and said, "Yeah, they don't do that anymore because there are more people now.....I am the more people. We, my class, we are the more people from when you were little."

I was unloading the dishwasher in the morning and I said, "I feel like I am ALWAYS unloading this dishwasher." Siena replied, "You know my orange ring? Well, when I take that off it still feels like I am wearing it. Maybe that is how you feel with the dishwasher. You have to focus on when you are not doing it. You are not focusing enough."

Interesting Things

2009-07-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Siena told me the other day that I needed to get a book to write down the "interesting things I say." And, we need a Science Book to write down all her science. She must have great scientific advancements to make and needs to set up the record keeping function early.

Siena Plays Uno

2009-06-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Siena loves to play UNO. She is very good at it. She cannot hold all the cards in her hand, so she puts them on the floor in front of her. She has five piles (she made this up herself), blue, red, green, yellow and "tricky" cards (reverse, skips, draw 2, wild cards).

Siena's Sayings

2009-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Siena often says "they" for "the"--its as if she has a fancy affectation on the end. Its a relatively recent (three months) thing and I am not sure if its from Singapore.

She has a door hanger from a hotel that says "Shhhh" on one side and "Service" on the other. She turns it to "Service" each morning and tells me I can service her room.

She sometimes calls a toucan a "condo." I am not sure if she thinks its a condor and is not getting the name right or she really thinks condo and toucan are similar.

The GPS can do American English, British English, Australian English, Catonese, Mandarin...Siena wants me to see if it will do "Mira's language" and she doesn't mean Filipino, she wants to see if it will speak English with Mira's accent.

The other day Siena said, "I want some water" just as she got in the car. I knew she was going to want it so I already had it coming out of my purse and she said, "Thanks, just as I demanded."

Christian indoctrination

2009-06-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Siena has spent a week with her Texas cousins. They often give her lessons on God, Jesus and basic Christian teachings. She takes all of it in and has become very proficient in her understanding--except sometimes...

"Mommy, God made all of us special. You're special because you have the most beautiful daughter."

When she was making a craft by putting stickers on a page she decided to give names/relationships to each sticker. "This one is you, this one is Daddy, this one is me. This one is Grandpa, this one is Poppy, this one is Grandma, this one is God, this one is God's Jesus, this one is Satan. This one is Satan's dad, this one is Satan's mom, this one is Satan's dad's dad..."

Too Many Tours

2009-06-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Before we left Singapore we stayed in a hotel as the movers had already taken all our furniture.
When we told Siena we were going to get to stay at the fancy Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, she looked at us very seriously and asked, "But the next day we don't have to take a tour, right because we already know Singapore."

When we were talking about the flight to Texas she said, "I've been to Texas already. Let's go to a country I've never been to."

Eiffel Tower

2009-03-31T21:11:00.000-07:00

This morning in the newspaper was a photo of the Eiffel Tower. Leon showed it to Siena and I said, "We have to take you there, to Paris, sometime."

She said, "Yes, but I already saw that."

I said, "Yes, on tv and in pictures, but not the real one."

She said, "Not the real one, but the other one in India. At Montfort."

Leon and I had both completely forgotten about it!

Santa and the Easter Bunny

2009-03-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Siena asked me the other day, "Is there a real Easter Bunny?"

I said, "Well, what do you think?" and she thought about it and said, "I don't think there is a real bunny that talks and Santa Claus. I think they are just regular people like us [pause], but with Super Powers."

Another Song

2009-03-31T20:34:00.001-07:00

Siena is very into Ariel the mermaid and mermaids now. Here is how she sometimes goes to sleep--with her legs in the long pillow case so she can be a mermaid.
She was singing a song while playing yesterday. It was to the tune of Ariel's "Out of this World" song. She was playing with a Polly Pocket that has blond highlights:
"I have grey hair, but I don't care. I love my [long pause] husband. How do I explain? I lost my shoe on Everest and there it is [pause] here."

We had seen photos of Everest in the newspaper that morning...

Desplendid

2009-03-31T20:27:00.001-07:00

Siena ocassionally tells me things that are beautiful are "desplendid." I think she may be mixing up some different words she hears at school.

She also calls the trash can the dust bin and calls trash rubbish. She says, "Or something like that." and "Hey" at the end of sentences too sometimes--picking up phrases from all the kids and teachers at school.

She is in a half-day Mandarin program at school this week (during the holidays) and they are studying "journeys." Monday she wore her Chinese dress. Here are photos from Tuesday and Wednesday--Vietnam and India have now been represented. She says she is going to wear her United Nations T shirt tomorrow.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T01:15:00.001-07:00

On St. Patrick's Day we explained to Siena that Irish wear green to celebrate Ireland and St. Patrick ridding the island of snakes and why we are "Irish", etc.

When she got home from school she told me that she almost lost her voice telling the kids in her bus about "St. Patrick's Day and how my grandfather's grandfather got all the snakes out of Ireland."

Eurasian

2009-03-12T23:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I was reading in the paper about the number of marriages and births last year in Singapore.

There was some statistic about how the marriage rates of "inter-racial" marriages had increased significantly in the last year and how births of "others" has increased. The others include: those who are not ethnically Indian, Chinese or Malay, including Caucasians and Eurasians.

I said, "Leon, what is a Eurasian?" because I alwasy thought they were like Attila the Hun and such. He told me they were mixed race where one parent is from somewhere in Asia and the other somewhere in Europe (which apparenlty means Caucasian).

I said, "Oh, so Siena is Eurasian."

From across the room, I heard, "Who're you calling Eurasian?!"

Brian's little niece

2009-03-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

I love taking Siena to school in a cab each morning. We talk about whatever she wants and she just talks and talks. We go with the flow and I answer her questions--and she has a lot of them.

Then, every so often, she says, "How did we start talking about this?"

I trace the conversation back so she can see the jumps in interest and topic as we had talked. I love the mental puzzle as much as she does. It always reminds me of how Brian would bring up a topic 3 days after we had all discussed it.

When I don't know the answer to something, like "Why did Krypto not turn red even though there was Kryptonite on that planet and he had lost his powers?" she says, "Well, what do you think?"

I say, "Really, I don't know."

She says, "But, what do you THINK?"

I say, "I guess there was not enough Kryptonite to turn him red, but enough to make his super powers not work."

She says, "What else do you think?"

I say, "I don't know, I told you what I think."

She says, "But, what ELSE do you THINK?"

Siena's Museum

2009-03-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Siena likes to talk about the museum she will have when she grows up. It will have dinosaurs--that move, but they will show you how the mechanics work inside so you don't think they are real (she saw one like that in the Petroscins Center in KL). They will have a place where you can dig up dinosaur bones, a place where you can make meteors and hang them from the ceiling with your name on them, etc.

There will not be any fee to get in. She will do it for free and have another job to pay for the museum.

Can't wait until she's 16!

2009-03-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Siena was very mad at me the other night. It was a combination of items, but they all come down to the fact that I was telling her what to do and she demands that the best way for us to get along is for me to let her do what she wants.

She told me, "I hate you. I am going to open that window and you will fall and die."

When I told her that she had hurt my feelings and I knew she was mad, but that she should be careful what she says, she told me, "Well, I am really mad at you and I don't know what to say."

How smart is my kid?! She realizes she wants to cuss me out, but doesn't yet have the language for it!

How nice! Anyone know a good boarding school for her in a couple years?

A Hand Full

2009-03-04T21:36:00.001-08:00

Super Girl and her Communist dog calling a cab!

Notes to the Butler

2009-01-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

When we got to our hotel in Manila after 5 days at a rustic resort Siena was pleased to be in a regular hotel room. It was the Pan Pacific where they have "butlers" to serve you--bring ice, turn down sheets, check you in, etc.

Siena was going to go swimming, but first took her clothes off, got the paper from the desk and asked us how to write some words. We told her and this is what she ended up doing...

I would send a photo of her writing them--but naked children at a desk can't be appropriate for the internet.

In case you can't see the one next to the dog says "I am here" and the one on the chair says, "Clean up my clothes"

One of Siena's Bathtub Songs

2009-01-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

While lying mostly submerged in the water:

"No one's right
No one's right
In my world
In my world
Only me
Because I winned
Only kids win in my world
But not babies
But not babies

[Accompanied by water ballet]

I wonder what the soft water, water, water
Now I'm floating on a dream
The sun rises
I'm floating on a dream
On the world
On the world

Mom! Look! I look like Belle

And I float on dreams

Once I found out it was a cold place
So I went to the bottom of the earth
Then I had no light so I went
So I went to the middle of the earth
So i could get some light

I know it gets only drak at the bottom of the earth until its summer
So I'm going to Singapore where its always light in the morning

With my hair floating off the back all around
My hair is like Ariel's
It is so beautiful

Mom! I need a towel!"

The Camel and The Arab

2008-12-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Aesop’s fables growing up is the story of the camel and the Arab
(If you have not heard it - http://camelphotos.com/tales_nose.html)

I enacted the story for Siena one night and she listened attentively. The next morning Siena climbs into our bed and nuzzles my shoulder with her nose and says ‘Arap Arapl I’m cold’ and in progressive steps proceeds to push me off the bed on to the floor. Then she takes pity and throws a blanket over me to keep me warm.
The next morning I headed out early before Faith and Siena were awake. Siena comes into our bedroom and says ‘Where’s ARAP? ‘Where’s ARAP? ‘

Swimming Lessons and Ice Creams

2008-11-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

I was telling Siena how her father and I wanted her to continue swim lessons even though she had made it clear that she no longer wanted lessons of any kind--ballett, gymnastics, swimming. I todl her how the otehrs were fine, but swimming was something she needed to get stronger at and learn more strokes and practice....

Siena said, "Mommy, I don't want to have this discussion. So, we will just stop talking about it and I will not go to swim lessons."

She was making ice cream cones on the beach from sand. She kept giving me different flavors and I asked her how much it cost. She said they were free each time. i asked her how she could keep her store in business if she gave her ice cream away free and she told me, "I went to college."

Television

2008-11-19T21:17:00.001-08:00

Until about 3 months ago Siena did not know that there was ongoing television programming. She only knew (and this was by our design) that the tv showed the movie or DVD that we said it was going to show.

Now she knows that there is television programming and two things have come out of that. One is that she sees commercials--and so will tell me that Puppy Love Pets are now available! Also, that the tv told her that we "are talking about diapers" and that she is supossed to wear them because the tv told her to tell me to buy them....

Also, when she wants to watch t.v. I ask her what movie she wants to watch and she says, "No, I want to watch the own tv."

Two types of things to watch"
1) DVD
2) Own TV

Siena's Bathtub Song

2008-11-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Siena plays with foam letters in the bath tub and likes to sing her own stream-of-conscious songs. Here is one jewel that I was able to capture a lot of.

"And they all had allergies and they all gathered together and sneex\zed on each other and they took allergy medicine and got better and didn't sneeze on each other again.

"And they gathered and were a family and they weren't strangers adn teh F shooed them away and they sinked and they all had in love and all of the suddenly became all dead and broke up the boats.

"And then some gathered up some letters and then they kissed and they never split apart and then they split apart and then T got in love with K and then everyone died and then they went to the museum and then they got in the water and they lived in the water because they were dinosaurs after all."

Diego Lego

2008-11-19T21:00:00.001-08:00

"Siena, what is Diego doing?"

Siena looked, paused and said, "prayer-ing."

Dinosaurs at the Zoo

2008-09-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

We went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. During the Creatures of the Night Show they played some music/ drums that build the excitement and Leon said to Siena, "What do you think will come out now?"

She replied, "Maybe dinosaurs."

She knew it was going to be big and exciting! How sweet for her to know that they are building anticipation, yet not be the least concerned that dinosaurs may come out into the arena smaller than an average movie theater!

Siena's Blood

2008-09-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

Siena told me the other day that she was holding her blood in her body. She said she was using her tongue. I asked her why and she said if she didn't hold her tongue over her throat her blood would come out.

I told her that her blood only came out when she cut herself and then it would bleed for a little while then scab and then her body would make more blood.

She asked me how it made more blood and I said, "Well, that's a complex bit. Your body knows how much blood its supposed to have, so if it has less it makes more by the blood dividing in half to make more" She interupted to tell me, "Oh, yeah, I know that, that is what the red blood cells do."

I asked her how she knew about them and she told me, "Remember, its in my body book. The red blood cells that make the blood."

I was impressed that she knew remembered--especially as I didn't remember that we had seen and talked about blood cells before.

The other day she also told me, "Mommy, we don't interject when other people are talking. Do you know what 'interject' means? It means when you cut in the middle of someone talking. We have to wait until the end when someone is talking to interject."

Last of The Siena Show for this week!

2008-09-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

Siena's Art at School

2008-09-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

I have no doubt that when she was telling this story she had Declan in it too, but the teachers had no idea what name she was saying. The three friends are Declan, Koby and Mia, but I'm sure the teachers thought the 3 included Siena. Colby is Koby, obviously. I almost cried when I read this. It is so sweet that she still thinks of those three as her best friends in the world.

Silly Things

2008-09-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is how Siena likes to wash her own hair when her Dad is giving her a bath.

This is how Leon does her fruit in the morning--either faces or letters.

Siena's New Puppy

2008-09-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

They are both in their pajamas.

Tour Bus

2008-09-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Siena created a paper cup tower and then got her Little People in their tour bus to ride around and look at it. She even had me do a commentary to tell them what it was about.

Siena's Take on the Olympics

2008-09-04T19:01:00.001-07:00

After the dinosaur won the gold it had to hug the others and get its photo taken.

She told me that she taught her friend Ginny "the gymnastics song." I asked her which one, thinking it was one they sing at her gymnastics class.

She stood up, put her hand over her heart and hummed the first part of the Star Spangled Banner.

When we were in Japan during the swimming part of the Olympics Siena would shout at the tv "Come On! Michael Phelps...Michael Phelps...go USA....Michael Phelps!!!!" like he was someone she had been in love with for decades. She really got into the swimming and him in particular.

Japan

2008-08-18T22:37:00.001-07:00

Siena in Japan (Kanazawa). Her 18th country! 8 of which were visited in 2008.

Her favorite part (that she can remember unprompted): "Its a Small World" at Disneyland.

CHINA!

2008-08-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

Siena got these binoculars from JAL Airlines on our flight to Tokyo. At one point Leon stuck them in his mouth to play/taunt her. She yelled at him (at the top of her lungs on the train), "Don't put that in your mouth! It's made in China! EVERYTHING is made in China!"

There you go. She does listen to her mother.