Saturday, January 28, 2006

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's New Year's Eve, y'all!!

You know how we Scots love our new year's eves. So I'm beyond thrilled that I now have THREE of them! Hogmanay (New Years Eve), Rosh Hashanah, and now the lunar new year. And, praise be, The Bambina is apparently as delighted by the whole thing as her mother.

To celebrate the new year we went to a Families With Children from China event at a local Chinese restaurant.

Y'all. Five hundred people. Two hundred plus little Chinese-American kids in there. It was awesome. The Bambina rocked the house.

In general, The Bambina is a very outgoing, happy-go-lucky kid. She says hi and blows kisses to random people and loves singing and dancing (especially to her new favorite songs: Lollipop [that 50's tune: lollipop lollipop oooh lolli lollipop] and The Name Game [Mama Mama Momamma bananafanna fofamma fee fi momamma]. The one thing that seems to dull her joy is Kiddie Chaos. Rooms full of screaming, running kids send her into my arms, kill the singing, create massive separation anxiety, and most decidedly stop the generally nonstop Soul Train-worthy dancing. So it was with a wee bit of internal trepidation that we went to today's event, but I figured the only way to get her used to it is to expose her to it. So off we went.

What can I say? She had the most fun I've seen her have in months. She became one of those kids running around, making noise, dancing, singing, climbing on the stage while the Chinese dance performers were up there, and just generally acted like a debutante (A la Diana Ross: I'm comin' out! I want the world to know! Got to let it show!). It was so hot on the dance floor and her wee face was getting all pink, I was getting seriously schvitzy, and I could tell she was roasting in her hot pink silk Chinese outfit. I was secretly hoping we could go sit down soon, but whenever the music stopped she shoved her hand in the air, one finger pointing upward, and shouted, "MOH!" (more!) I seriously thought I'd cry as I watched her have the time of her wee life.

It's been that kind of "Mommy Happy Crying" week. She turned 20 months old. She got a "big girl bed" to replace her crib. She now has a little kiddie table and chairs, so her high chair is gone too. And she decided today that she was a big girl who could eat with her own chopsticks (although the restaurant rug under her chair tells the real story!), that she wanted to drink from a glass rather than her sippy cup, and that she was going to dance on the stage whether I was coming with her or not.

I can't believe how grown up she is, and I can't believe how it has happened so fast and so imperceptibly right under my nose. One minute I'm responsible for every single need she has, and then all of a sudden--BAM--she sleeps in a bed, puts on her own clothes, poops in the potty...and turns into a Dancin' Machine just in time for the new year.

Something tells me it's gonna be a good one.

1 comment:

Geoff said...

Just wait until she starts doing advanced algebra, goes to prom, and introduces you to "Butch," the nicest kid you've ever met.

Then you'll know for sure you've got a good one.