Monday, May 31, 2010

Children's Day

Everyday is Children's Day, I was cynically told twice yesterday.
 
Be that as it may, June 1 is a special day for children in China, and so special things will be done for them.
 
Jenny, for instance, has bought Tony chocolates which she said I can't touch.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Saturday, May 29, 2010

And Yet More Photos by Jenny

Jenny had the camera on Saturday. Below is what she did with it.


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Yet More Photos by Jenny


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More Photos by Jenny


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Photos by Jenny


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First place and Dead Last?

Saturday, Jenny took Tony to some competition with other babies of similar age.  She had been training him for the competition by getting him to screw and unscrew these plastic screw and nuts as fast as possible. 
 
This training paid off because Tony came in first beating all the smaller, but same-aged, Chinese babies at screwing and unscrewing the plastic pieces.
 
However, he failed in the second part of the competition in which the child had cross two fences, pick up a toy penguin, come back, and give the penguin to his parent.  He apparently didn't understand what was required of him.  Jenny said that he took the two fences and made a bridge out of them. 
 
Jenny, ever the perfectionist, was very disappointed with Tony's performance and had Andis thinking, by her tone, that Tony had come in dead last in both parts of the competition.  It turned out, he won one part, and that in the second competition, only one child did what was required.
 
It sounded like he did all right.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Friday with Tony

Andis had a good Friday with Tony; Jenny didn't. 
 
In the morning, Andis took Tony to preschool.  On the bus, Tony was well-behaved.  At the preschool, he was drowsy and slept in Andis's arms.  When the teachers at the preschool beckoned him to come to class, he came to them without a fuss.  He even gave Andis a good-bye kiss.
 
So, Andis looked forward to seeing Tony after work.
 
However, Andis arrived home to hear Jenny screaming sharply at Tony.  The atmosphere of pleasantness became tense.
 
Jenny told Andis that Tony had: stolen a can of pineapple beer and spilled it on the sofa, turned off the computer on her while she was using it, peed on the floor, and had taken some lotion and rubbed it all over his legs.  She was not at all pleased with him.  Andis had to calm her down.
 
In Tony's defence, Jenny did determine that the peeing incident was a result of an effort on Tony's part to pee by himself -- something he is on the cusp of doing it.  But his attempt was unsuccessful, and so he looked for some lotion to rub on the pee that had landed on his legs.  To have seen Tony with his pants down, rubbing the lotion on the legs would have been an interesting sight to see, Andis thought.
 
But Jenny didn't think so.  Tony fell asleep in Andis's arms because he was very scared of his mom at that moment in time.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Tony Three Shot Two



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Tony Three Shot One



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In the morning, he loves Daddy. In the evening, he defies him.

Wednesday evening, Tony was being naughty.  He was sticking the ends of electrical cords into his cup filled with water.  His father became angry at him and chided him in no uncertain terms.  "Don't do that", he said to Tony, over and over again for a repetitional effect.  Tony cried and then walked to his pile of toys.  He picked some of them up, and in a gesture of defiance or anger, he threw them in the air and at his father.

But then Thursday morning, Tony was being clingy.  He was going to go with his mother to preschool, but he wanted his father.  He even gave him a kiss goodbye as he left.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Would a Bruce Lee Hairstyle suit Tony?

Above is the latest photo of Tony. As you can see he needs a haircut. Jenny, Tony's mother, is thinking of having his hair cut a la a Li Shao Long, a.k.a. Bruce Lee.

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Tony says "bicycle!"

Wednesday was Andis's day to pick up Tony from the preschool.  Arriving home, Tony saw the Kaulins family electric bicycle parked in front of the apartment entrance.  Recognizing it, he said "bicycle!".
 
Andis told Jenny about this, and she was surprised.  It was an historical first.
 
 

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Video of Tony taken in May 2010

This video was taken last week.  A superb chase video.
 
This video was taken, yesterday, May 26.

Tony looks at water




Tuesday afternoon.
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Monday, May 24, 2010

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Tony relaxes after a walk with his father.

Sunday afternoon, the sun managed to break through the clouds and rain to make Wuxi pleasant in the evening. Andis and Tony took advantage of the change to go for a walk. Both had a pleasant time: Andis listened to a Marc Steyn podcast about Johnny Mercer, and Tony had many opportunities to throw stones in the canal that runs through the apartment complex. Tony was amused by the heavy ker-plop sound of the bigger stones hitting the water's surface.

After the walk, they relaxed on the sofa. Andis took the photos below:




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Sunday Night Tony

I was mistaken when I said Tony was 34 months old. He is in fact 33 months.




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Saturday, May 22, 2010