Saturday, December 31, 2011

How does Tony begin 2012?

  • Tony wasn't the least disappointed by the fact that he didn't win the Wuxi Expat of the Year award for 2011 -- he was the Wuxi Expat of the year for 2010.  
  • He seemed more concerned about being able to start on the year by playing computer trains.
  • After two hours of playing computer trains, he pushed Dad into the seat in front of the laptop -- he wanted to play with the Ipad.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Tony's Mom gets a new hairstyle

Tony not with the program

Tony's kindergarten had the kids put on a show for the parents.  Thankfully, I didn't have to go.  These shows are mind-numbingly boring and I don't really care too much to see how other children are doing anyway -- I only concentrate on Tony.

Tony's mother Jenny, who is into this sort of thing, did go and made a report to me.  She also took some video but there is no point in uploading it.  Tony really didn't do much.  He is still too young to do anything solo.  As it is, it is hard enough to get him to participate along with a group.  So for yesterday's show, the teachers had him wave his arms and dance with a group of his classmates.  Jenny said that for the first group show that Tony was a part of, Tony did well in that he waved his arms in unison with the other students.  However, for the next shows, Tony stood at one end a group, that was spread out wide, and cried.  Watching the video, one can see the children beside him waving and dancing while he stands still, causing a teacher to try to comfort him.  Jenny says that Tony cried because he saw her and thought he was going home.

So, Tony wasn't with the program.  Oh well!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Bumper Cars in Wuxi, China

Photos taken of Tony round Christmas time


Gee! Thanks Tony!

Previously, I mentioned that Tony had learned to say "Dad!  I need to check my email!" when he wanted to get on my laptop and play with the Microsoft Train Simulator program.

He learned this when I kept asking him if I could check my email when he was playing with the trains.

Just now, as Tony was playing on my laptop, I decided to play with the Ipad.  I did this for about fifteen minutes before Tony noticed.

All of sudden, Tony grabbed the Ipad from me, and said "Daddy! you can check your email!"

It seems he prefers the Ipad.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Daddy! Can I check my email?

Daddy!  Can I check my email?

That is a strange thing to be coming from the mouth of a four year old.  Those who are so young shouldn't have email accounts, even in this day and age.  Still, Tony does say this, and I have an explanation for why.

I let Tony play on my laptop.  I have showed him the Microsoft Train Simulator program and he loves it.  He can spend hours on end playing with the trains.  It is nice that he likes the trains but unfortunately, his liking the program means I can't use my laptop myself.  Tony doesn't let me use the laptop even for a short time.  I ask him if I can check my email and he says no!

So, you see, Tony has picked up the expression from me.  He doesn't know its exact meaning, but he has gathered that the expression is a request to yield the laptop.


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Tony and Andis fight.

  • Tony and I had another fight.  This time it was about the train set.  Tony pointed to a PLA RAIL box and a picture of a particular train setup or track configuration.  I then started to dismantle the current track configuration and Tony became upset.  I continued dismantling because I thought that Tony's wailing would subside when he would see me put together another configuration.  But it didn't.  Tony only became more upset when I started to make a new one.  He then began to rip apart the track of the new configuration.  Annoyed, I helped him and put the track in the plastic box in which we store all his PLA RAIL things.  I asked him if this was what he wanted.  He said no! in an upset manner.  I then held him in my arms for above ten minutes trying to soothe and calm him down.  I eventually took the track out of the plastic box and tried to make another configuration, but the same scenario happened.  This time, I told Tony to tell his mom his complaint -- he can speak a lot of Chinese that I don't understand.  She told me that he wanted me to make a new configuration for him.  Telling Jenny my story, that that what was what I was trying to do, didn't do anything to lower the contempt she had for me at that moment.
  • Actually, the second incident really wasn't a fight.  I did nothing aggressive towards Tony.  I just let him wail.  I even withdrew from him at one point to see what he would do.
  • During the withdrawal, I was hoping to see Tony run to me.  What did happen was he continued to cry and I couldn't stand it and so went back to him.
  • It took Mom giving him the Ipad to calm him down.

Tony plays with his TOMY PLA RAIL train set

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ultraman! I want Ultraman! Mai Ultraman!

Father finished his Christmas Shopping** for Tony.  Or at least he thought.  He bought some toys, at a Toys-R-Us near his place of employment, that Tony had requested and took advantage of the free gift-wrapping offered.   Father imagined the look of excitement that Tony was sure to have when he opened the packages on Christmas day.

While Dad was making his purchases at a Toys-R-Us, he picked up some catalogs for Tony to look at.  He gave them to Tony first thing when he arrived at home from work.  Tony immediately pointed to a photo of some Ultraman figures and told Mom and Dad to buy them for him.  Tony didn't mention the other toys that he and his father had discussed.

Maybe Dad isn't finished his Christmas Shopping after all!  He will have to rustle some extra cash to pay for an Ultraman figure.


**What Dad bought for Tony will be revealed at the proper time to Tony and the rare readers of this blog.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Happy Birthday Uncle Ron!

Tony and Uncle Ron in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in June 2010.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

An evening of Microsoft Train Simulator

Dad let Tony play MTS on the new laptop on Saturday evening.  Tony played with the software, more or less unsupervised, for over three hours.

Though, Tony is only four years old, he can use the mouse to navigate the software.  He knows the key sequences to get to where he wants to go.  He can't read but he learned them by watching father show him once.  He was able to watch all the six types of trains on MTS without assistance from his father.

Getting him off MTS and telling him to go to bed isn't easy.  But Father knows Tony will wail for five minutes before there is something else to play with.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Tony surprises

Actually, Tony surprises his father a lot.  But that is why Tony's father enjoys being a parent, and supremely regrets that he didn't become a parent sooner in his life.

But it isn't all sunshine and lollipops being a parent.  Getting Tony to wake up in the morning, for instance, is a chore.  Father understands and empathizes with Tony's protestations about having to get up and go to school.  But Father knows it has to be done.

Friday morning, however, Tony could sleep in.  His grandparents were in town, and it was his grandmother's birthday.  Friday, there was to be a birthday lunch for Grandma, and Tony was going to get school off so he could attend.  Tony was, of course, asleep well past the time he would have had to get up to go to school.  Dad knew that getting Tony up would be a little easier this day, but he still suspected that when Tony did have to get up, there would be a struggle.

So it was a great surprise to see Tony run out of the bedroom, in his pajamas and barefeet, without prompting.  What happened was that Mom's mobile, which was in the bedroom, was ringing.  Tony decided to get up and take the phone to Mom who was in the kitchen.  Dad took the phone from him and gave it to Mom.  Tony went back to bed, and Dad thanked him for his surprising thoughtfulness.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tony walks on November 22, 2011

Tony Kaulins at the People's Square in the Hui Shan -- daytime District of Wuxi, China







Can we do this.... yeah?!?

For the last three days, Tony has been using the above-mentioned grammar pattern.  Anytime he wants to suggest a course of action for us or me, he has been stating the hoped-for action and then adding a "yeah" which is either exclamatory or interrogatory.

I assume he picked up this annoying pattern from school, but from whom?  Are the teachers teaching him this?  Is there some young foreigner, drunk when not teaching, who taught him this?

If I had the time, I would investigate.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

We are supposed to be going for a bike ride!

First, Dad took this photo. (He forgot to put the camera in video mode)


He then took this video:

Tony Kaulins at the People's Square in the Hui Shan District of Wuxi, China

Sunday evening, Dad took Tony to a square near their apartment. Hui Shan People's Square is a open area of tiles, among which there are pools, pedestals, stairs, and sitting areas.

Tony impressed Dad with his daring as he walked the narrow elevated ledges around the square's central fountain and pool.






Saturday, November 19, 2011

Tony is in a Wall-E phase

Tony has been watching the DVD of the Pixar Movie Wall-E over and over and over again.  

The DVD has been in Casa K for over a year.  In that time, Tony had no interest in it.  But then in the last week, it has become the only DVD he will put in the player.

Jenny told me that, one night in the past week, she and Tony sat together and watched the entire movie.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Spanking him doesn't stop him

Tony was a bad boy Wednesday Night.  In bed, he was playing with the Ipad at midnight.  We took it away and told him to go to sleep, but he protested.  He demanded that we give the Ipad back to him and cried like the big baby he was when he didn't.

Mom took the Ipad out of the bedroom.  Tony was left with me on the bed.  I tried to comfort him all the while trying to get him to smarten up.  It didn't work.  He started kicking at me and tried to scratch my face.  I spanked him.  He cried but went after me again.  And I spanked him again.  And he attacked me again.  

Mom came into the room and told him that she was going to take him out of the apartment.  This scared the heck out of him.  He then asked me for his bottle which I gave him.  He cuddled up to me for a brief moment before he started to roll and kick again...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Tony is a playground bully?

Tony's mother Jenny told his father Andis that Tony was beating up every other child at the playground Sunday afternoon.  He didn't discriminate when doing so, said Jenny, and so it was quite embarrassing for her.  Tony would push around any other child, regardless of age, size, sex, and ethnic origin, who got in his way.  So he pushed a little girl who tried to sit in his favorite toy car.  He did push bigger boys too, but to be seen picking on the smaller will deduct from a reputation for strength.

I suppose it is a better problem to have a child who is a bully then one who is meek.  But true manliness requires showing strength as well as holding it back as proper morality requires.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Tony is a bugger at bedtime.

Tony should be going to sleep. His father tells him so. But this is what he does instead:










Don't get me wrong. I love my son. But sometimes.....













... he is a little bugger.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Tony on a school field trip

Tony is in the back row, fourth from the left:



Tony is second from the left:



Ditto:



Tony is holding his teacher's hand: