Things you DO want to hear from your 3-year-old

"I like that mama so much"

Fortunately, Ethan was pointing at me when he said it. He is such a lover, gives me random hugs and tells me he loves and misses me spontaneously. Some days I really dread them getting older. Of course, much like his daddy, Ethan tends to be rather fickle yet confident. He will answer a firm "yep" or "nope" before he has even finished listening to the question. And, much like me, that's often all you'll get out of him.

He's also the clown and an actor you never know when he's actually kidding. He often pretends very convincingly to have fallen asleep in his car seat. No amount of temptation will make him stir and he'll act like a blob when taken out, only to suddenly pop his head up and shout "roar!". He will also likely be the kid in school who gives everyone nicknames. He'll often refuse to say mama or daddy, instead saying "yes, ice cream" or his newest one, "barbecue". They like to call everything the name "Joshua" from their potty book (this was a contender for the baby's name but we're not so sure now) and the most hysterical thing for both of them to say is something I have no clue what it means but it sounds almost Hindi, like "baba ganosh". Maybe it's their version of something Jack tried to teach them in Chinese.

Jack is doing a little better about using Chinese and hopefully he will keep it up since they are such sponges at this point. They can already count to 9 very easily in Chinese though they can't point to numbers and name them in Chinese yet. Their latest non-verbal trick is they have mastered somersaulting. Since we have hardwood they will do it on pillows. They really wanted to show it off for their gym teachers but the teachers weren't very interested in that today even though I told them :( But it was funny anyway, because they started a new session of their class today and the only other girl who was in the former session with them was also sneaking in somersaults - it's fun to see the progress anyway. New session of swim class tomorrow! Isaac loves swimming, especially since he can do pretty well on his own now but Ethan (Mr. Don't Like Water in My Ears!) is not so excited about it.