Galileo

One of K-bao's favorite summer camps this summer has been Galileo, which she attended for several weeks. The sessions are cleverly referred to by the sponsoring company as "Innovation camps." This last session was entitled Galileo Makers, and even K-pop had to admit that there were some solid-looking, hands-on projects being conducted by the little ones.

Among the interesting contraptions K-bao brought home was this finely decorated cardboard stool.

"The 'booty butt' is the secret piece that enables anyone to sit on it without it breaking," explains K-bao seriously.

"See? Tadaaa!"

More impressive, perhaps, were a couple of gadgets that required real motors and batteries, and that actually worked. One was a low-power vacuum cleaner that can suck up any stray cotton balls that are cluttering up the floor; the other, a spooky night light.

This one below is a fully functional "Grabber" that actually has a moving arm that can be manipulated by pulling a string on the side.

There were sundry other projects that she explained with enthusiasm - most of which involved cardboard and tape. All in all, despite these various camps costing an arm and a leg, K-bao generally appears to enjoy herself, and takes some pride in her creations. Hopefully the seed of a little Edison or Marie Curie is being planted in that little head...and then it will all have been worth it. 

Stages

The girls have entered a new stage. Now that sister C-bao has turned three and (1) is physically able to keep up with her sister on the playground, at least with most play structures; (2) knows enough English to beat K-bao from time to time at the "What's this English word in Chinese" game, and (3) will no longer take smack lying down (and in fact initiates the smack herself), the sisters are relating to each other increasingly as peers.

This has benefits as well as costs. For example, as laid out on these pages before, on any given weekend morning, the girls are generally the first ones up, and will now happily entertain themselves for as long as the K-folks want to snooze in. (Granted, the running, laughing and shouting that immediately ensues guarantees only very light snoozing)

On the other hand, there are now real fights to break up. Daily. Wait, hourly. The pinching, shoving, and tongue-stick-outing goes both ways. The sass comes right back at ya, in spades. Some form of tattle is told dozens of times a day, by both parties.

But the good news is that the smiles and giggles return quickly - generally within seconds - and before you know it, the tale of woe is forgotten and the next adventure is embarked upon.

These pictures (and the video below) were all taken this weekend as K-Pop took the girls to various restaurants, parks, coffee joints and church. Whether it be silliness on the street or a spontaneous wagon pull after church, in this current stage at least, the girls are genuinely enjoying each other's company.

Teeth

After a month's worth of wiggling, K-bao's two front teeth have finally fallen out.

This time, incidentally, there was no funny business. K-bao learned her lesson the hard way a few months ago. The teeth went straight into an envelope with a nice note to the tooth fairy, and lo and behold she awoke the next morning with $5 - a full dollar more than she was expecting. Honesty is the Best Policy!