Daddy was telling the children about traditional Philippine ghosts and ghouls:
Daddy: And there’s the asuwang, the most evil and most scariest of all
Dominic: Can you kill it?
Daddy: You can’t kill it, but you can hang garlic around your windows so it can’t come close to you. It’s afraid of garlic.
Dominic: Does it have to be garlic?
Daddy: Yes
Dominic: Why can’t we use peanuts?
* * *
Sammy has picked up a new expression (‘what the heck’).
One day, while playing with the computer:
Sammy: Hey, look I have no more life…what the hick!
Or
Sammy: There’s no more chips…what the hick!
* * *
Sammy is eating ice cream strawberry cheesecake. He notices the red jelly topping and starts licking it:
Sammy: Yum…it sounds like strawberry!
* * *
3-year old Sammy has been having tantrums, complaining about everything. He’s starting to drive exasperate Mummy.
Mummy: <Sigh> Sammy, give me a break.
Sammy: Mummy, there is no break!
* * *
Sammy is walking about the house pretending to be a robot.
Sammy: I…am…a…robot. I…am…a…robot. I…am…a…robot.
After a while, he goes to Mummy.
Sammy: Mummy…I…need…to…poo.
* * *
Sammy is very headstrong and always wants to get his way. Still, sometimes he doesn’t give us too much trouble.
Mummy: Sammy, turn that TV off, it’s time to eat.
Sammy: I’m watching
Mummy: Turn it off now. We will eat.
Sammy: Alright, stinky butt!
* * *
Sammy always refers to events occuring on ‘Wednesday’. He’s very headstrong and always wants to get his way.
Today he needs to take a bath but he doesn’t want to:
Daddy: Sammy, take your clothes off. We’ll take a bath.
Sammy: I don’t want to take a bath.
Daddy: Come on now, hurry.
Sammy: But I don’t want to take a bath!
Daddy: You have to take a bath. You’re stinky!
Sammy: I’m not stinky! I already take a bath on Wednesday!
* * *
Daddy and the children are talking about what they would wish for if a genie gave them 3 wishes:
Daddy: Sammy, what will you wish for?
Sammy: A leaf!
* * *
Daddy and Sammy are working through a picture book.
Daddy: (pointing to a cat') ‘C’, Kuh…Kuh…Cat
Sammy: (pointing to a pair of pants) ‘P’, Uhh…uhh..underwear
* * *
Daddy and Sammy are looking at a picture book.
Daddy: (pointing to an apple) ‘A’, Ah..Ah…Apple.
Sammy: (pointing to a boat) ‘B’, Buh…Buh…Ship
* * *
Mummy hates it when the children play with water and wet the floor.
The children know this and avoid playing with water. Except Pia.
One day while playing with her toys at the sink, Pia spills water all over the kitchen floor.
Pia: (quick glance at Mummy) Oops!
Pia: (running away) I’m doomed!
* * *
Sammy likes experimenting with expressions that he picks up around him. One day while eating in the kitchen:
Sammy: Mmmm. This is good! It tases like something!
* * *
It is summer and often very hot. Sammy has gotten to drinking iced water. He frequently asks for water with ice cubes.
Sammy: Daddy, can I have water with ice please?
Daddy puts a couple of ice cubes in Sammy’s cup.
Sammy: Daddy, I said I want four ice cubes
Daddy: How many do you have?
Sammy: (counts) One…two!
Daddy puts a couple more in.
Sammy: (counts) One…two…three…four. Good job Daddy!
* * *
Pia is in grade 1. One day, Pia approaches Daddy:
Pia: Daddy, I’m pregnant!
(She stuffed a balloon inside the back of her pyjamas, so that her butt looks very big.)
Daddy: When you’re pregnant your bum doesn’t get big. Your tummy does.
Pia: Yes it does!
* * *
Mummy is taking a nap. Sammy tiptoes to Mummy and softly whispers in her ear:
Sammy: Mummy…I need to poo
* * *
It has only been recently become apparent to us that Sammy uses ‘sl’ when pronouncing a word that begins with ‘fl’.
After making poo:
Sammy: I want to slush the toilet.
Seeing a cartoon character fly:
Sammy: Look! He can sly!
Holding a flower:
Sammy: Look Daddy, a slahwer!
* * *
Sammy likes eating ‘chocolate’. This is hazelnut spread which he likes to eat direct from a spoon. One day he scooped an extra large serving, ate it all up messily, with the brown stuff all over his mouth.
Mummy: Come Sammy, let’s wash your face.
Sammy: (always the contrarian) I don’t need to wash my face!
Mummy: Your mouth is so messy. Look at yourself in the mirror.
Sammy goes to the mirror and considers his appearance.
Sammy: Mummy, I look like a werewolf!
* * *
Mummy and Sammy were walking to school. They come across a construction worker along the footpath:
Sammy: (singing loudly) Bob the Builder…
(If you don’t know Bob the Builder…http://www.bobthebuilder.com/au/index.asp)
* * *
Pia had a tantrum again. Daddy wants her to be a bit more considerate to Mummy.
Daddy: Pia, whenever you have tantrums, it can sometimes make Mummy feel sick
Pia: How can she be sick?
Daddy: (grasping) Uhm…some of her body parts may become weaker and not function properly.
Pia: Like her tooth?
* * *
Pia says she wants to be a principal because she wants to “ring the bell.”
Daddy: (laughing) You want to be a principal because you want to ring the bell?
Pia: (becomes angry) It’s not funny! It’s very important. If nobody rings the bell, how will we know that it’s time to play. School will be SO BORING!
* * *
Every now and then, Daddy or Mummy asks the children what they want to be when they grow up.
Daddy: Pia, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Pia: I want to be a principal.
Daddy: (Impressed with her ambition. Pia used to want to be a ‘mere’ teacher). Why do you want to be a principal?
Pia: So I can ring the bell.
* * *
Daddy’s current favourite show is Big Bang Theory. The children love watching it too. They especially like the catchy theme song. Whenever it plays, they sing along. Of course, they don’t know all the words:
The children: …14 billion years ago…we built the wall… we built the pyramids…hum… hum… geology…hum… hum… biology… hum..hum..and it all started with a big BANG!
* * *
Sammy loves watching Thomas the Train, whose favourite expression of surprise seems to be ‘Cinders and ashes!’
One day while Mummy was hanging the clothes, Sammy was lpaying in the grass and soil with his digger, pretending it was Thomas:
Sammy: Choo-choo….cinders and ashes!
* * *
We were having burgers for dinner. The children love it. Pia wants another one:
Pia: Daddy, can I have another hung burger?
* * *
Sammy always sleeps beside Mummy.
It’s 9:30pm. Already past the children’s bedtime. Mummy is getting sleepy.
Mummy: (yawning) Sammy, let’s go to bed now.
Sammy: (doesn’t want to go to sleep yet) I watching Achie play.
Mummy: (threatens) I’m tired. If you don’t go to bed now, I will sleep without you.
Sammy: (freedom) Yes, you sleep Mummy.
* * *
Sammy likes to sing. He usually does it while he plays. Being only 3 years old, he doesn’t get all the words right.
Sammy: One, little two, little three, little inches. Four, little five, little six, little inches….
* * *
Sammy’s the most independent of the children and always wants to do things himself.
He had just finished poo-ing and was trying to put on his pants by himself, but was having trouble.
Mummy: Sammy, do you need help? Come here I will help you.
Sammy: (struggling to put his pants on) I don’t need my help!
* * *
Sammy cannot pronounce ‘bicycle’
Sammy: Daddy, can I ride my bi-kosol?
Daddy: It’s ‘bicycle’
Sammy: Bikosol
Daddy: Bi…
Sammy: Bi…
Daddy: See…
Sammy: See…
Daddy: Kul…
Sammy: Kul…
Daddy: Bicycle
Sammy: Bikosol.
* * *
Sammy approaches Daddy, hand on tummy:
Sammy: Daddy, my tummy is <inaudible>y
Daddy: Your tummy is achy?
Sammy: No…my tummy is sleepy
* * *
Sammy is very quickly picking up new words. He gets the meanings much later.
One day, Daddy is busy at the computer. Sammy approaches with a crayon and a page for coloring:
Sammy: Daddy, can you color my picture?
Daddy: I can’t Sammy, I’m busy.
Sammy: Daddy, can you color my picture?
Daddy: I’m busy.
Sammy: No, I’M busy!
* * *
Sammy at three years old has become very talkative. With a limited vocabulary to work with, he comes up with odd sentences.
One day, Daddy is in the bedroom. Sammy runs to the bedroom holding a spoon of peanut butter:
Sammy: Daddy, do you know my peanut butter?
* * *
Sammy enjoys making fun of butts. One afternoon, as soon as Mummy wakes up from her quick nap:
Sammy: Mummy, do you want to see my butt!
* * *
Sammy loves Mandarin oranges. But he pronounces them as ‘nanderin’. One day he sees Pia eating the last Mandarin. Sammy runs to Daddy:
Sammy: Daddy, I want nanderin
Daddy: I think there’s no more mandarin.
Sammy: I want nanderin
Daddy: There’s no more mandarin.
Sammy: I WANT NANDERIN!
Daddy: No more mandarin.
Sammy: DADDY! I WANT MANDARIN! NOT ‘NO MORE’!
* * *
We give the children extra homework at home to keep them sharp. Pia loves doing them some days, and hates doing them some days. Today Mummy had to remind Pia several times to finish her home work. Pia gets annoyed:
Pia: Mummy! When you’re sleeping I’m going to tie your legs!
* * *
Sammy has decided he likes butts, especially his.
One day, while Daddy was working on his computer.
Sammy: (walks up to Daddy) Daddy, do you want to see my BUTT?
* * *
Sammy picks up expressions from TV or from his brother and sister, but he still has problems fitting the expression to the occassion.
One day, Sammy hears someone fart.
Sammy: That’s AWESOME!
* * *
Daddy called home from the office and talked to Mummy on the phone. Meanwhile, the children are playing horse. Sammy is enjoying the game so much he wanted to tell Daddy what they are doing. So he grabbed the phone from Mummy:
Sammy: It’s Achie! And Anya! And Mummy! And we are animals!
* * *
Domini and Pia were seated together in the big chair watching a DVD. Suddenly Pia was crying.
Pia: Daddy! Dominic hit me!
Daddy: (angry) Dominic, why did you hit Pia?
Dominic: She was pushing me.
Pia: No I wasn’t!
Dominic: YES YOU DID!
Pia: NO I DIDN’T!!!
Daddy: Did you push Dominic, Pia?
Pia: No I didn’t.
Daddy: Why did he say you were pushing him? What were you doing?
Pia: I was bumping him.
Daddy: Why were you bumping him?
Pia: Because I wanted to?
* * *
After establishing that ducks migrate to the desert during winter to get away from the cold…
Pia: If ducks go to the desert, then they will have no water to drink. So they need to bring their water bottles.
* * *
At lunch, planning tomorrow’s trip.
Dominic: Can we go to the park where the ducks are?
Daddy: Ok, but I think the ducks won’t be there. It’s winter, and ducks migrate when it’s winter. Do you know where they go during winter?
Pia: Where?
Daddy: They go to a warmer place.
Pia: I know! They go to the desert!
* * *
Dominic and Pia recently watched Ice Age 2, The Meltdown. One of the characters sang a very memorable one-line rendition of “I believe I can fly”, and the children frequently recalled that line whenever they played.
One day, Pia plopped on the sofa, head down:
Pia: (singing) “I believe I can fart!”
* * *
Daddy and Pia in the kitchen, eating. Daddy hears Mummy talking on the phone.
Daddy: Who is Mummy talking to?
Pia: (without looking up from her plate) She’s talking to the telephone.
* * *
We want Sammy to acquire the habint of always brushing his teeth before going to bed, so Mummy always reminds him, “Sammy, brush your teeth”.
But Sammy is still confused about the difference between “my” and “your”. One night, in the living room:
Mummy: Where is Sammy?
Sammy comes running in from the kitchen, toothbrush in hand.
Sammy: I’m brushing your teeth!
… and then runs back to the kitchen.
* * *
Over lunch one day:
Dominic: Daddy, I remembered in the move ‘Over the Hedge’, near the end of the movie, the squirrel drank something that made him move super fast.
Daddy: Yes, he drank a can of cola. Cola has caffeine and caffeine made him very alert and very active.
Dominic: Oh.
(We don’t drink soft drinks at home unless there’s a birthday, so the children aren’t very familiar with Coke, or Pepsi, etc.)
Daddy: Coffee has caffeine too.
Dominic: What is caffeine for?
Daddy: People drink caffeine so they stay awake.
Dominic: (Pondering…) Is that why we don’t hibernate?
* * *
Sammy picks up various phrases from watching cartoons. Sometimes he understands them. Sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he almost does. He recently picked up ‘hot cocoa’.
One day while holding his cup of cold orange juice:
Sammy: Mummy, my hot cocoa is cold!
* * *
A couple of months ago, Pia got some drawing paper, drew a necktie, coloured it with crayon, cut it up, punched a hole in the paper necktie, tied a piece of string, and presented it to Daddy as a gift.
Pia: (beaming and proud) Here Daddy, I made you a tie.
Daddy: Thank you, Pia. It’s beautiful.
The inevitable question came up today:
Pia: Daddy, how come you never wear the tie I made?
* * *
Sammy has started to want to pick up the phone each time it rings. And when he grabs it, it’s very hard to make him let go and pass the phone to Mummy. It’s starting to become a struggle between Mummy and Sammy. Each one is starting to devise techniques to make sure they grab the phone first.
One day, the phone rings. Sammy runs to the phone and picks it up. He sees Mummy coming.
Sammy: (stretches open palm towards Mummy) Stay! Stay!
* * *
Sammy calls an apple ‘apoo’. One day, Sammy and Pia are seated beside each other at the dining table, eating apples. Sammy started coughing, and directed his mouth towards Pia and her apple.
Pia: Mummy! Sammy is coughing at me!
Mummy: Sammy, stop coughing at Achie.
Sammy: No! I coughing the apoo!
* * *
Daddy had to step out of the house and come back shortly. Mummy was asleep. So Daddy was instructing the children on how to answer the door safely:
Daddy: What should you do when you hear a knock on the door?
Dominic: We don’t open it.
Pia: We ask “Who are you?”
Daddy: Correct.
Dominic: What if they say “It’s Daddy"?”
Daddy: Well, you know my voice, right? So if it’s not my voice, don’t open it.
Dominic: Or we can look through the glass (the peephole)
Daddy: Yes, and you can see if it’s me.
Pia: Can you draw us a picture of your face so we don’t forget what you look like?
* * *
Mummy always reminds Sammy to wash his hands before eating: “Come Sammy, let’s wash your hands first.”, or “tell Daddy to wash your hands”
One day, Mummy served some donuts.
Sammy: Can I eat donuts?
Mummy: Yes.
Sammy pulls a chair towards the sink:
Mummy: Sammy, what are you doing?
Sammy: (in his Mickey Mouse voice) I want to wash your hands!
* * *
One day, while reading her textbook:
Pia: (reading) “Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight. Matter is made up of invisible particles called atoms.”
Daddy: You are matter. I am matter. The TV is matter.
Pia: (tentative) Is milk matter?
Daddy: Yes. And because you are matter, you are made up of atoms.
Pia: (pondering) You’re making me feel strange.
Daddy: Daddy is made up of atoms. We are all made up of atoms.
Pia: Now I really feel strange. My mind is getting mixed up. Stop it!
* * *
It’s bedtime and it’s Pia’s turn to lead the prayer. One of the prayers is the Glory Be. Sometimes she gets the words wrong:
Pia: Lorry be to the Father, and to the Son…
* * *
We uploaded a video of Dominic solving his Rubik’s cube. We put him on YouTube.
He enjoyed it so much that one day…
Dominic: Daddy, can you put me in the news?
* * *
Daddy lecturing Dominic and Pia.
Daddy: You are lucky. When your Mum and Dad were your age, our parents didn’t have to teach us. We studied our school lessons on our own: Reading, Writing, Math,…
Pia: … April, May, June.
* * *
Daddy has made Pia’s math assignments a little harder. Before, she gets simple math expressions and just has to solve them. But now she gets word problems and she has to come up with the math expression herself before solving it.
Today’s problem: Jane has 36 apples. She gives 12 apples to David. How many apples does Jane have left?
Pia: I don’t know how to answer this.
Daddy: Just read the question and understand it.
Pia: I DID!
Daddy: <frustration> Think. What are we looking for? What do we want find out?
Pia: (hesitantly…) The answer?
* * *
Pia brings home a computer printout of instructions she wrote at school.
HOW TO A FLY BY SOPHIA
1. Get a long botl
2. Get same coc botl
3. stic the coc botl
4. get two gold eyes
5. stick the gold eyes
6. cover the fly
7. enjoy your minibeast
* * *
Daddy believes children pick up how to do things by letting them do things. He decides it’s time for Sammy to start learning how to dress himself up.
Daddy: (handing Sammy his white cotton shirt) Here Sammy, put your shirt on.
Sammy: Oh-Kay.
Sammy sticks his head into the shirt’s head hole. Then he sticks his right arm into the same hole (the shirt is a few sizes too big for him). Then he sticks his left arm into the same hole again.
Then he pulls down the shirt to just under his arms, turning it into tube top.
Sammy: (triumphant) I made it!
* * *
Pia is mastering how to spell the days of the week. She’s having trouble with “Thursday” and “Wednesday”, but Daddy thinks it’s because she’s not putting effort into it. They’ve been at these two words for half an hour, and Daddy’s getting really fed up by Pia’s delaying tactics:
Daddy: (exasperation) Come on Pia, study the spelling now.
Pia: I already know how to spell!
Daddy: No you don’t. You can’t spell ‘Thursday’
Pia: I can!
Daddy: (frustration) Pia, you’re killing me.
Pia: YOU’RE killing me. I’m nearly dead.
* * *
Lunch time. Rounding up the two older children to come to the kitchen and eat can be frustrating. They ignore calls as if they didn’t hear anything. But not Sammy, who loves to eat. One shout of ‘time to eat!’ and he’s at the table before the final syllable has completed.
One day, Mummy, Daddy, and Sammy are at the table, still waiting for Dominic and Pia to come into the kitchen to eat.
Sammy is already feeding himself:
Daddy: Sammy, go call Achie.
Sammy: (in his Mickey mouse voice) I eating! (slave drivers…grumble grumble)
Mummy: Come on Sammy, call Achie.
Sammy: Mummy, I eating!
Pia comes into the kitchen and sits at her spot. Sammy sees the opportunity to do as he was told.
Sammy: (shouting into Achie’s face) ACHIE, WE EATING NOW!
* * *
If United Nations translators were like Pia, we would have more wars. The children did not do their homework yesterday, so we made them promise to finish it today.
Daddy calls home from the office to check on the promise:
Daddy: (talking to Pia) Did you finish the assignment I gave you yesterday?
Pia: (Confident) Yes
Daddy: Did Mummy give you new assignment?
Pia: (dreading the thought that Mummy might give them additional homework, very softly)...No...
Daddy: Can I talk to Mummy?
Pia: (handing the phone to Mummy) Daddy said you don't need to give us any more assignment.
* * *
Sammy still needs help when he needs to poo. He sits on the toilet seat, with his feet on the seat cover. Either Mummy or Daddy patiently hold him while he does his thing.
One day, while Sammy was making poo.
Daddy: Sammy, what colour is your poo?
Sammy: (thinks for a couple of moments, then sneaks a peek down). Boo-rown!
* * *
Sammy is learning to identify shapes and colors. He gets them now, but his pronunciation has catching up to do.
Mummy: (pointing to a white circle) What's this?
Sammy: (in his Mickey mouse voice) White circool!
Mummy: (pointing to a yellow square) What's this?
Sammy: Lelo squares!
Mummy: (pointing to green triangle) What's this?
Sammy: Green triangoo!
Mummy: (pointing to red diamond) What's this?
Sammy: Red damayond!
* * *
