Here is M’s current version of the song – she is a very enthusiastic singer!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear XXX,
I love you, I do!
It is perfect.
Category: M
Me turn!
M tries to keep up with A at every turn. “I do myself!” Is heard in our house every day multiple times. Recently she has morphed to “my turn” when we are trying things or eating something or just getting on the bus.
But… she doesn’t quite have the grammar right. Instead of “my turn” about 90% of the time it is “me turn!” Seems to make sense!
I know this will get smoothed out just like A’s English grammar when he spoke Mandarin and this moment will go. Right now it is lovely to listen to.
Baa baa black sheep
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full.
Nursery rhyme
I learned “Baa baa black sheep” the traditional way above. At least I think I did. It is also how I taught it.
M has taken it into her own hands – her rendition of the song goes as follows: “Baa baa black sheep have you any wolf? Yes, sir, yes, sir…”
Every time she sings it I have to smile. It definitely changes the meaning of the song – and is much more visual, especially if you are not so sure what “wool” is!
She has a pair of pajamas with sheep on them and they have become her “Baa baa black sheep pajamas.”
And so the world continues to turn.
Dance!
M shows great pleasure in music, especially with a strong beat. She took music classes (if one can use the term for an 18 month old) until we moved last year, but I never found anything official after that – and it has been another 9 months!
No matter, we have gotten really good at cranking up our own house mix and cutting a rug. Songs vary from Top 40 Pop to 20 years ago Cantonese hits to the Beatles and even the classics like – Baby Shark, Old MacDonald and Five Little Ducks. As long as there is a strong beat, we are off and twirling!
M is the easiest to convince, A will typically join in with intense displays of acrobatics and jumping and I can sometimes convince Li. It is a wonderful freeing feeling to dance free of judgment or prying eyes in our living room. I know at some point we will not be “cool” and the kids won’t dance – but in this season it is absolutely awesome.
Dance party!!!
What’s in a name?
M started pre-nursery school in August at a local school. We debated a long time if we would send her to A’s school or not – but once she got in the deciding factor is the local school is literally across the street from our building. Li is the one who settled her in and did all the paperwork and almost all teaching is in Cantonese (which neither of us speak).
After the first week we wanted our helper to pick her up sometimes not Li so she took the pick-up card. As the teachers did not recognize her they asked M if this was her 姐姐(Jie Jie) in Cantonese and M said, “No, she’s MT (our helper’s name).” The teachers asked again and again until finally another mother at the school said she recognized MT and that MT was M’s helper.
M could not comprehend in her two year old brain that people can have different names. One person – one name.
And to think how many names I have now…
Enjoying now 