Skypee

I've been spending a lot of weekends in the office working on my thesis. Fortunately, I have the most wonderful and supportive husband in the world; Alan has been doing an amazing job of solo-parenting on the weekends.

Yesterday, Alan and Max Skyped me at the office. I asked the boys for their best smiles, and these were the results. I love my boys!

Good Cop, Bad Cop

At 15 months, Max officially started calling us by name. It usually goes something like this:

Happy, excited, cheerful mood: "BaBa! BA BA!!"

Whiney, complainy-pants, woe-is-me mood: "mAh-mee. mahh-meeee..."

As a child, I once overheard someone ask my parents, "Joe and June, how do you handle raising four kids?" Their response? "Good cop, Bad cop."

I think the boy has it all figured out already.

Maxese

Happy 2010! After a truly warm Thanksgiving in Arizona, two weeks of Max-and-Mommy time (Daddy was in Asia) and a snowy holiday in New York and Wilmington, M.A.X. is back in sunny California. We'll be sure to post pics of our visits once we get organized; needless to say, Max is going through some serious cousin, auntie, uncle and grandparent withdrawal. He had a great time with the fam, as did we.

In the meantime, I wanted to compile a glossary of Max's "vocabulary" at 15-months. Admittedly, this is more for Max's doting parents than anyone else; we are having so much fun with the boy and wish we could freeze this stage!

Maxese (so far as we can understand, that is)
Blueberries: Boooo
Eggs: Dan dan (ji dan in Chinese)
Bread: Bao (mian bao)
Cheese: Chhhh
Meat: Rou rou (rou)
Socks: Wa wa (wa zi)
Pants: Kkkku (ku zi)
Shoes: Shhhie (xie zi)
Phone: Wa wa (dian hua)
Open/turn on: Daah daah; on a good day, he says da kkhh (da kai)
Yes: Da Da!
No: Vigorous head shaking
Daddy: Baba!
Grandpa: Gonh gonh (Gong Gong--XW's dad)
Grandpa: Yah yah (Yeye--Alan's dad)
Auntie Flora: Goo goo (Gugu)
Uncle Jeff: Goo Ddz (Gudie)
Ma Ying Jeou: Gonh gonh (Jiu Gong)
Pick me up: Bao bao (bao bao)
Please: PBLEA!
Thank you: ZHE! ZHE! (xie xie)

Pavlov's Bag of Tricks
Thanks to basic human development, Max is in a fun Pavlovian stage and has mastered a few amusing tricks.

Gou gou zenme jiao? (What does the dog say?)
Max: "Woh woh!"

Kong long zenme jiao? (What does the dinosaur say?)
Max: "Raaaaar!" (sometimes the dinosaur says woh woh, too)

Wazi chou bu chou? (Are you socks stinky?)
Max: Picks up his socks and smells them.

Xiao yi ge! (Smile please!)
Max: Displays a squinty, dare I say, painfully happy smile.

Fei yi ge! (Blow a kiss please) or Besitos! (Kisses)
Max: Hand taps his nose and mouth and he blows a kiss with an emphatic "Mmwah!" Unfortunately, his finger is starting to slide up his nose as he collects the kiss.

Ni ji sui? (How old are you?)
Max: Gestures one index finger and grins.

Gong xi, gong xi! (Congratulations/Happy New Year)
Max: Hands clasp together in a bowing fashion.

Wo men kan "Good Night, Moon." (Let's read "Good night, Moon")
Max: Index finger touches his lips and he says, "shh" (reference to the quiet old lady who was whispering hush!).

Feng Yan Zhong!? (FYZ is Max's Chinese name)
Max: Raises his hand!

Superstar! (courtesy of Gugu)
Max: Raises two hands emphatically!

Eskimo kiss?
Max: Rubs noses with us.

...and our all time favorite: Shei fang pi? (Who farted?)
Max: Raises his hand. And proudly, too!