Words, Words, Words

Vian has been picking up a few words courtesy of Sempi. The words he has picked up so far are the ones that Sempi uses with forceful emotion. 

STOP:

Whenever Vian tries to take Sempi's toys, Sempi yells "STOOOOP" with conviction and distress. So that's the first word that Vian decided to pick up. Now he uses it with us generously. He can't quite pronounce the sound "ssss" so his STOP sounds like "TOP".

It's a catch all phrase for stopping anything that is unpleasant. So far he has used it to stop me from giving Yoshi hugs in front of him (jealousy). It is hilarious to watch him command his toys to "TOOPPP" when they keep sliding off of the couch or the table where he's playing.

NO:

This is the second word that he's picked up from Sempi. But the twist is, Vian says NO with a tinge of joy and pride. We've asked Sempi to ask Vian's permission before taking toys from Vian's hands. Sempi being the older, more responsible brother will ask politely "Vian can I please play with the toy you have in your hand?" and Vian responds "NO" with a smile and enthusiasm. It looks absolutely savage when witnessed in person.

READ:

This one, I'm very glad he's picked it up from Sempi. Sempi is a total book worm. He asks us to read a book as soon as he wakes up, while eating, while lounging, right before bedtime, even while driving (instead we listen to podcasts while driving). Now Vian has picked up on this and he demands that we read to him while he eats. He can't pronounce "R" or "D" so it sounds more like a "WEE", "WEE". He get so excited about this that he would keep asking us to read even while we're reading him a book.

Life hack of a 5 yo

When I drop off Sempi at school, I walk him to the front desk where they have name badges for the kids arranged in random order. I ask Sempi to pick out his badge while I sign the sign-in sheet. This is my way of training him to recognize his name.

This morning he told me, "Appa, do you see how the safety pin is attached sideways to my badge? I did that yesterday so I can find my badge easily in the mornings". 

#proud-papa

Shenanigans

Conversation with Sempi this morning. 

Me: I'm going to finish making the fried rice and then we can do our usual shenanigans. What do you say? 

Sempi: Yeah, you finish the fried rice and then we'll throw it in our mouths.

It was a wonderful morning. :)

Conversations with a 4 year old

We were sitting at a restaurant eating brunch. Yoshi got Calamari which was served with a lemon. Sempi is sipping his orange juice. Suddenly he drops this pearl of wisdom. 

Why do we call an orange, orange but don't call a lemon, yellow?

Yoshi and I both choked on our food from laughing so hard.

Tugging at Heartstrings

We're all having dinner as a family.

Sempi is complaining about the food. He eats a little, here and there. Yoshi warns him to eat well or he might get hungry later. He doesn't pay any attention. 

Dinner is over and he's ready for bed. Yoshi is reading him a story. Sempi declares he's hungry now.

Yoshi: You should have eaten well when we were all having dinner.

Sempi: I'm hungry. 

Yoshi: It's not dinner time. We just brushed your teeth. Go to sleep Sempi.

Sempi: I don't know why you're making me starve.

-----

Naturally, he's now out of the bedroom eating an orange. 

The boy just has a way with words.