Intransigent

Being a precocious kid, K-bao has decided to accelerate into the Terrible Two's at only 16 months. Over the last few weeks, her rating on the Mischievousness Scale has spiked into the danger zone. She tests K-Mum at every turn, especially in public spaces, and backs up her demands with lungs of steel. Her previous lovable habit of sleeping through the night has been replaced by a nasty hourly "wake up call" at ungodly decibel levels. And naps? Woe be to the one who tries to put her in her crib.

The problem is that behind all the misbehavior is an iron will. Tonight for example, and as I write this post, she has decided she is not going to lie down. 40 minutes after being put down, she is standing in her crib, so exhausted that she is leaning her face again the crib side, but refusing to buckle. Well, we'll see how long her little legs last her - those stubborn genes came from somewhere, right?

Jealousy

So K-Pop and K-Mum were enjoying a brief snuggle on the couch tonight when K-bao noticed that she was the only one playing by herself.

Unhappy with that state of affairs, she ran over to the couch and screeched "bao bao bao bao bao bao" ("pick up"x3 in Mandarin) until K-Pop relented and brought her up to join the rest of the family. Next, she determinedly tried to separate K-Mum from K-Pop by squeezing her chubby little body in between. In doing so she first elbowed K-Pop in the throat and then sat on his nose, oblivious to any groans of pain by her not-so-esteemed daddy. "O, is that your face? Let me step on it."

When that maneuver didn't produce satisfactory results, she wriggled off the couch, grabbed K-Mum by the little finger, and with the other hand started frantically signaling "come hither" (a move she learned not too long ago and has used 30 times a day since), all while trying to pull K-Mum off the couch.

"What is it you want to show me?" says K-Mum, getting up off the couch. (By the way, the "come hither" move always works with K-Mum). K-bao rummages around in her toy box and produces a foam ball. Ah. Important stuff.

Yes - jealousy has reared its little head in the Hu household.

Visit

K-bao visited her friend Blogging Baby recently. Not one to engage in small talk, she quickly took over her friend's piano and golf clubs. ("Why, did you think the point of the visit was to see you?")

You can also see her trying to steal the toy doggie in the middle of her walk.

High Maintenance

It has become abundantly clear that K-bao is not one of those laid-back, easy-come-easy-go, "happy just to see you" type of gals. No sir. First of all, she loves attention. Second, she requires lots of it. Third, she remembers if you don't give it to her and punishes you for it.

K-Pop has learned this lesson in spades because after each long week of work (during which K-Pop maybe spends 20-30 minutes a day tops with K-bao), by the time Friday rolls around, he is firmly on K-bao's S.L. No running to the door to greet Pop. No clamoring to have Daddy help her brush her teeth (her favorite activity) or read her a story. Indeed, on Friday night after K-Pop reads her her customary Bible verses, K-bao will literally wave Daddy out of the room while she nestles comfortably in K-Mum's bosom.

Saturday is a different story. K-Pop will work his tail off to get off the S.L. He will get up early to do morning duty. He will take K-bao out to the Farmer's Market and buy her a Teeny Roll or two at Acme Bread. He will show her the boats and the birdies and the pups running around in the park. Usually by early afternoon, he's off the S.L. and back on the H.L. (Hit List). Daddy likes being a hit and not a *hit. This status, however, is fleeting. He might make it to Tuesday, or Wednesday if he's lucky. From there, it's all downhill.

High maintenance girl? K-Mum agrees, though she claims it's not hereditary. (No comment, says K-Pop)

Chump

At least one reason the for-profit education market appears so attractive is that many parents are suckers. At least that's our theory, and K-Pop and K-Mum decided to prove that ourselves by buying K-bao a Pottery Barn foam-stuffed "Oversized Anywhere Chair," a product with a gross margin of at least 90%.

On the positive side, K-bao immediately took full ownership of the chair and regularly throws herself into it with abandon, as depicted here.

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Lady & the Tramp

K-bao is a voracious consumer of noodles. On a cold and rainy Sunday, K-Mum and K-Pop took the little one to one of our favorite Chinese eats, Everyday Beijing, for beef noodle soup and leek boxes. We watched in astonishment as K-bao clutched noodle after sticky noodle and shoveled them into her mouth for 30 minutes straight, eerily quiet other than some satisfied slurps.

We've seen some noodle-lovin' from her before with the chicken garlic noodle dish from Ah Lin's and even the frozen porcini mushroom flavored noodles from Trader Joe's, but not to this extent. Pizza, toast, various breads and rices - K-bao will gladly pass. But noodles? Any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Early Explorer

Below are a few pics from K-bao's most recent visit to the Early Explorers Cove at the California Academy of Sciences.

Preparing for future Iron Chef competitions

Mixing it up with the older kids

Testing out the stairs. Very tentatively.

Offering K-Pop a rubber onion. Very generous honey.

Hanging out with Bambi. Appears not to have inherited K-Mum's fear of deer.