Monday, February 28, 2011

Wuxi Tony hits his head

Back to School for Tony Boy!

  • Tony went to school this morning after having had all of February off.  Dad had thought Tony was going to put up a big fuss this first school morning, but, in fact ,Tony's complaints were minimal and Tony's actions were often collaborative instead of being combative.  Yesterday evening, Tony went to bed at eleven p.m., instead of midnight as he had been, with minimal fuss.  In the morning, Tony didn't flop around like his namesake Tony Esposito.  He instead grabbed a toy and exhibited a calmness that amazes his father who still gets got-to-go-to-work butterflies.
  • It should also be said that Tony arose easily at 745 in the morning which was amazing since only yesterday, he got up at 1100. 
  • The first thing Tony said when he woke up this morning was "gei wo che" or "give me a car!"    He went to bed with his toy cars last night.
  • Dad has forgot to mention that on February 23, Tony hit a milestone:  He is three and a half years old (or as his mother says "san nian ban le" or "三年半了." )

 

Tony looks at support columns


Tony adopts the fetal position in a shopping cart.

Why is Tony adopting the fetal position in a shopping cart?


He has attracted a crowd of admirers from the Tesco Supermarket staff.


Tony becomes very shy around strangers.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Observing Tony

  • Dad observes Tony limp-wristedly tossing a ping pong ball and a similarly sized super-bouncy ball into the air.  Tony who assigns each ball to one of his hands, his technique not quite sure, doesn't direct the balls so much as release them randomly into the air.  Dad can only hope the balls don't land somewhere so that they cause damage.
  • Tony decides to wear a KFC bucket on his head.  He later decides to try to put the bucket on Dad's head -- his attempt is unsuccessful.
  • Tony, using his two hands, scoops small toys out of a plastic bucket.  He tosses the toys into the air above his father's head, once.

Wuxi Tony: February 26, 2011

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The latest about Tony

  • Tony didn't get up till 1145 one day. He isn't going to like it when he has to start getting up for school again, starting March 1. Tony didn't go to kindergarten in February because my wife wasn't going to pay a full-month's money for a holiday-filled February.
  • I am going to have to teach Tony the word "change". Last night, he all-of-a-sudden started saying "No Dora!" I thought he meant he was sick of watching Dora. But, he became angry when I showed him other DVDs... It turned out that he wanted to watch another Dora DVD.

Tony plays with his cars.

Tony lined up the cars himself.



Close looks at Tony



Friday, February 25, 2011

Tony plays one parent off another?

Friday evening, Jenny told Andis that Tony had waited for two hours for him to come home from work.  Tony had been waiting because he wanted someone to play toy cars with.  Tony had asked Jenny but she refused.   And so Tony got upset and started crying.  He then started to say "Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!"
 
Andis found this to be most interesting.   When Tony wasn't able to get what he wanted from Andis, he would cry and then start to say "Momma!  Momma!  Momma!"

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Five Minutes!

Jenny told Tony, who was watching television, that it was time to take a bath.
 
Tony, seeking to put the bath off, said "five minutes!"
 
It turned out that he really didn't mean five minutes.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Dad didn't see much of Tony on Wednesday.

In the morning, Dad got up early and Tony was asleep.
 
Dad worked till nine p.m. in the evening.
 
When Dad got home, Tony was up, but watching his new Dora DVD intently, oblivious to all other things.  He gave Dad a kiss but only after being asked to.
 
Dad went to bed -- he had to be at work the next day.  Meanwhile, Tony was still in the living room watching Dora.
 
From the bedroom, Dad said to Tony that it was bedtime.  Tony said "no!"
 
From the bedroom, Dad, again in a loud voice, said that he had Tony's Tumbly-Bo Doll.  Tony ran into the bedroom to take the doll away from Dad, but returned to the living room to watch Dora.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

February 22, 2011 Tony


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Good Tony & Bad Tony

Here is the bad:
  • Tony, the past few days, has been very grumpy before he goes to sleep.  He kicks up quite the fuss at bedtime.  Last night, he wailed for ten minutes before finally jumping in bed.
  • It is hard to get Tony to pose in group photos.  We learned this yesterday at the portrait studio.
  • Tony wouldn't let his father watch his DVD last night.
Here is the good:
  • Tony said "There is the 25 bus!" and "Mei you Taxi!"
  • Tony does alright in the photo studio when he is by himself in the photo.  Yesterday's photo session will yield many good poses.
  • While Tony didn't let his father watch "Sons of Anarchy", he did at least take out the DVD from player and give the DVD to his father.  Tony did so based on his father's oral directions.
  • Tony is an angel when he's asleep.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Tony is a sneaky bugger

That is what his mother says.
 
She called him that after he had taken a credit card, she had put on the table, and decided to stick it in the side grill of the K family water machine, yesterday morning.  Tony's mother spent the remainder of the day wondering where the card could have gone and became very annoyed.  Her annoyance increased family tensions to a critical point.
 
Miraculously, Andis, at this critical juncture, recalled having seen Tony try to put something in the water machine.  The card was found and trouble was averted.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Having Kids can be better than surfing the Internet

Case in point, I was taking a shower this morning.  Tony came in to see what I was up to.  He asked me if I needed a towel.  I realized I hadn't thought about it and in fact, needed a towel.  So Tony goes to get me a towel, and returns saying "Winnie the Pooh!"  He had gotten me a towel with the image of Winnie the Pooh.
 
I was taken by his thoughtfulness and observation.   To me, it still only seems like yesterday that he was born.

No poo-poo Daddy!

Tony doesn't want Daddy to ever help him take a poo.  So this morning, he drags poor Mom out of bed.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tony being grumpy is a sign he is tired.

I decided to push my luck with Tony Saturday evening, in my on-going battle with him over whether my DVD or his DVD gets played in the DVD player.  Surprisingly, I meet with little resistance as I put in my DVD of the Sons of Anarchy t.v. show.  I watched my DVD and Tony seemed more interested in playing with his toys.

Then, Tony got back at me.  Ten minutes into my show, Tony said "no sit down!"  and handed me a toy car -- he wanted me to play toy cars with him.  This slightly threw me off my DVD watching.  Then, he wanted me to help him find a "blue toy".   He pulled me into the bedroom -- I paused the DVD first -- and he looked under the bed all the time talking of a "blue toy."  I looked under the bed with him and saw nothing.  I looked on the bed for a new toy, and found nothing.  I returned to the living room and put the DVD on again, but Tony got whiny.  "Blue toy!  Blue toy!"  he kept saying.  I paused the DVD again, and found whatever blue toy of his I could find, and asked him if this was the "blue toy".  He kept saying "no!" and his anger intensified and intensified for over ten minutes.  I then got so annoyed that I spanked him and earned me the ire of his mother.

Tony then whined to his mother, and asked her if he could take a bath.  She said she was too tired and so Tony threw a complete fit.  He flopped around like he was Tony Esposito.

Eventually, his mother washed his feet, gave him some warm milk, tucked him in bed, and he fell fast asleep.

I was able to watch the entire episode of the Sons of Anarchy show, but I will probably have to re-watch it since Tony distracted me enough.

Tony won that battle of the DVD player.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Tony gets another switcher section of train track


I went back to the store, the next day, and bought some more switcher section track for Tony's train set.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Tony gets a switcher section of train track


The figure or number "8" is considered to be very lucky in China. I was able to make this configuration with Tony's train set yesterday after I bought some "Y" pieces at the Toys-R-Us near my school.

Very excited, I was, to bring the pieces home. I imagined Tony would be just as excited. What happened when I did get home was that I got Tony to look in my backpack and pull out the tracks himself. He did pull the Toys-R-Us bag out of the backpack, after some encouragement, but he then put the bag aside and kept looking -- I guess that he was hoping to find a new hot wheels toy.

After more encouragement, Tony did pull the new track out of the bag, but he didn't know what it was for. Once he was shown, he seemed interested.

Wuxi Tony Update #144

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Tony takes off his clothes and goes into his father's bag.

Tony's development is rapid in the eyes of his father.

Wednesday evening, Andis came home and brought Tony a leaflet, from a bank, that contained photos of toy cars and buses.  Tony liked the photo, but was under the impression that his father had bought him the toys in the photo.  So, Tony rifled through his father's bag to find them.

Later when Andis went to bed, Tony followed.  He surprised his father by going to bed and taking by his jacket, sweater, and slippers off without assistance.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Wuxi Tony Update: Toy Cars and Colour Identification 02/14/2011

All about Tony Kaulins 02/15/2011


  • Tony is putting garbage in garbage cans without being told.  His parents worry that he is sometimes throwing non-garbage items in the cans.
  • Tony lined up his toy cars on a table making for a grand photo which his father duly took.
  • Monday morning, Tony was screaming at the top of lungs in bed.  Possibly he was trying to rouse his mother by scaring her.
  • Tony will hide things from his parents.  The latest thing he hid was a combination tool.  His father had been using it to fix one of Tony's toy trains.
  • Tony can now say "thank you very much!"
  • Tony will look in drawers for things he needs whether they be drinking straws or toy cars.  What will "help-himself Tony" help himself to next?  Visit this site every day to find out.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

Good Night Tony?

Tony's father had to go to bed because he had to go to work the next day.  Tony was still up, playing in the living room.  Tony's father bade Tony farewell as he went to the bedroom to get into bed and do a little reading before lights out.

"Good night Tony!"

"Good night Daddy!"  Tony's father assumed Tony understood what was happening.
 
Tony's father took off his clothes that kept him warm in his Chinese apartment.  He tucked himself in, opened a book about Chinese characters and quickly became absorbed in it.
 
Tony then walked into the bedroom.  He said "Daddy!  What are you doing?"  He then grabbed his father's arm to pull his father out of bed.  He then looked for his father's slippers.
 
Tony's father got out of bed and got dressed.  The indoor chill of the Chinese apartment hit his exposed skin like a bucket of cold water.  He followed Tony into the living room.
 
Tony stopped in the center of the living room, and pointed towards a shelf from which he wanted his father to pull something down.  His father guessed Tony wanted a "piggy bank" filled with small coins, small candy packages, and some plastic coin-like slugs.  Dad's guess turned out to be correct.  As soon as he was handed it, Tony happily emptied the contents of the piggy bank on the sofa so he could put them back into the piggy bank.
 
Tony's father was exasperated as he returned to the comfort of the bed.  He thought to himself: "What part of Good Night Tony! don't you understand?"

Tony at People's Square in Hui Shan.


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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tony and a dust brush.

Tony's father has been working the past three days, and so he hasn't seen much of Tony.

He did see this last evening:  Tony was carrying a brush, from a dust pan set, around the house brushing the walls.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Currently

  • Tony comes into the bedroom with a basketball and says "Daddy! Pump!"  It was stunning to me that he would do this because he somehow made the connection between the fact that the basketball needed air, that the basketball needed a pump to put air in it, and that the pump was to be found on top of a closet in the bedroom.  I was happy to see the cleverness: I was horrified that Tony would want to play with a basketball indoors.
  • Tony can catch a soft soccer ball when it is thrown at him, sometimes.
  • Tony likes putting coins in slots or in small containers.  He will dump the coins out of the containers so he can put them back in again.
  • "What are you doing Daddy?"
  • "Where are you going Daddy?"
  • "Where is Mama?"

Tony and his Chinese Grandmother


Tony pushes the orange tricycle

Monday, February 7, 2011

An Orange Tricycle




Tony on a Boat


Wuxi Tony hugs his cousin during the Chinese New Year

Tony can say:

Tony's vocabulary grows in great leaps and bounds these days.  Today, he has said the following:
  • Superbowl.
  • Give me five!
  • What are you doing Daddy?
  • He uses the "ba" (吧) particle a lot when speaking Chinese.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Tony's back in Wuxi!

Tony's back in Wuxi after having spent six days in Beixin (北新) with his Chinese grandparents.
 
Tony's father has a lot of blogging and uploading from those days.  Expect lots and lots of Tony in Beixin real soon!