Bribery

The below video is an example of pure, unadulterated bribery on the part of K-Pop. Give in order to get. Not a very good example of grace for little K-bao.

On the other hand, said K-Pop to himself in self-justification mode, no pain no gain. She's learning that nothing comes for free. You've got to work for what you want.

By the way, in case you're wondering why K-bao seems to have a case of itchy nipples, she's actually frantically signing "please," which in baby sign language is supposed to be a chest rub.

Exerpoo

K-bao's exersaucer has become productive for the Hu family in an unexpected way. We started noticing over the past few months an increasing correlation between her saucer time and her #2's, especially if she had a little grub in the tummy. Maybe it's the angle, maybe it's the leverage. In any case, at this point in time, there's a pretty high correlation coefficient - I would guess an R-squared of 0.8 or more, to the point where we're calling the saucer her "Poo-poo machine." Just pop her in and in a few minutes the grunting starts. Who needs prune juice when you have an exersaucer? Evenflo (aptly named) should advertise this hidden feature - "Promotes regularity!"

Can't Touch This

K-Mum is K-bao's favorite entertainer - above even mighty Barney. Any given thing that K-Mum does or says might tickle our little one's funny bone and throw her into a fit of giggles ("She thinks I'm hilarious" says K-Mum modestly). K-Mum thew in a little MC Hammer with her usual fist bump affirmation the other day. Turns out K-bao likes Hammer. The unedited footage was summarily vetoed by K-Mum as too compromising as it involved some 80's style dancing by Mommy; here is an edited reprise.

Cruise

As you can see above and below, K-bao is now quite the cruiser. Whether she uses the side of her playpen, the edge of the ottoman, or her Daddy's ears, she ain't happy until she pulls herself up to a standing position so she can survey her land from a better angle.*

Once on her feet, she wobbles methodically from one side of the couch/crib/ottoman/playpen to the other, then back again, pausing only to let out belligerent bellows in between.

While she has had her fair share these past few weeks of slipping on her noggin', she is surprisingly aware of her own limitations. She'll reach the end of the couch, wave around one fat hand, recognize there isn't any more couch to hang onto, verbalize her frustration, maybe jump up and down in a dissatisfied manner a couple of times, then turn around. Not one to dwell on her shortcomings, our little one.

* By the way - with K-bao's new mobility, there's no use trying to change her on the pad anymore. Highly dangerous; we gave it up ages ago. We now do it on the floor on a disposable sheet, generally in a highly stressed state, with several toys around her and a blanket which we throw repeatedly on her face to give ourselves the extra few seconds before she twists her stubby legs out of our hands and goes scurrying off with her dirty bottom exposed to the world.

Kiss & Tell

K-bao's newest trick is to kiss on command. She'll give K-Mum or K-Pop a smack on the cheek when asked, and happily she understands the request in both English ("Kissy-Poo") and Chinese ("Qing-qing") so neither parent feels left out. She hasn't quite learned to smooch her lips, so as of now it has been the wet, slobbery kind. You can see above we are trying to teach her to differentiate between the froggies and the princes.

The bad news is that she's learned that we are quite tickled by it, so she has incorporated this little trick into her formidable bag of tactical maneuvers. Over the last week or so, we've noticed that whenever she really wants us to do something, she will sweeten the pot by leaning over and planting a couple of wet ones, just in case we were in doubt as to whether to fulfill her request.

This past Sunday we took a quick excursion to the Bay Area Discovery Museum where K-bao enjoyed visiting the Tot Spot. At one point, she was having a bit too much fun, splashing water left and right and all over her clothes (see below), whereupon K-Mum removed her from the scene. Initially, howls of protest. Squirming, squiggling and loud vocals. That didn't work. Next, several determined kisses on the cheek. K-Mum dissolved into laughter and soon little K-bao was enjoying her splish-splish.

G.I. Jane

K-bao demonstrates her full suite of ground mobility skills below. The G.I. Jane army crawl, which she picked up over the past couple of weeks. The sneaky-quick double-roll. The patented wall stop, K-turn and two-legged push-off with full extension. The slap-the-floor-hard-and-scream-hoping-it-will-magically-create-forward-momentum tactic. Ready for boot camp, captain.

Making Strides

K-bao's latest joy is holding on to the side of her crib and doing an assisted moon-walk. In fact, it's gotten so that if we don't prop her up to do this routine in the morning, she doesn't want to come out of her crib.