Dumpling Village News

Aloha...

2008-11-19T00:24:00.001-08:00

...from 49 Black Sand Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii!

More details to follow.

The parent-teacher conference

2008-11-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

My parents had another conference with my teachers today. It was a very positive report. They report that I am very sweet, well behaved and wonderful to have in class because I always listen, am respectful, nurturing, polite, and do as I'm asked. I seem to have a lot of respect for the rules, and always strive to do the right thing, and help others (or tell the teachers) when someone is not. I never protest, whine or complain, so I must be at my best behavior at school because I am certainly not that way at home!

The things that I'm working on... I started reading my first book! The story is about Max the cat and a rat that he wants to nab. I've loved reading since I was a baby, so I am so excited to be able to read my first book. I am also learning to tell time, identify and count money, and add numbers in the thousands using the thousands cube, hundreds square, etc. The Spanish teacher reports that I am doing great in Spanish. I follow her, participate, and listen well. I was a little shy in the beginning because the teacher spoke exclusively in Spanish, but I think the teacher has been making a big effort to bring me out by saying "Muy Bien!" Now I think language is fun. (NB I've been enjoying my Chinese class more too, thanks to fun interactive Chinese homework)

The only strange thing that two teachers brought up is that the kids say I like to be a boy. The teachers are bothered enough that they reprimanded the kids that this was not a nice thing to say, and that it might hurt my feelings. But, quite on the contrary! I love it! I like pretending to be a boy! I get so annoyed if people assume that I like pink and princess since I am a girl! Adults seem to really dig my tomboy personality. Mommy has started shopping exclusively in the boys' section. Well, the good thing is, at least deep down I still know that I am a girl. I use the feminine tense when I speak Spanish!

A note from my teacher

2008-11-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Isabella loves playing with I, R and G. Every time when they're together, they build big cake towers, they play Pokemon trainers, and pushing shopping carts and cars. And they're having a great time together! It's always lots of smiles, giggles and laughter. :-)

Hope.

2008-11-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Yes we did!

The future has never looked brighter.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

...love, Batman, Train Engineer, Superbaby, Darth Vader and Junk Bond dude.

Pumpkin Patch visit

2008-10-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Some school buddies and I loved running around the pumpkin patch.

No Daddy

2008-10-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

I like writing out words. I give Mommy and Sebastian notes with hearts on it. But the ones I give Daddy always look something like this.

I am Superman!

2008-10-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

Short note from my teacher

2008-10-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

"...Isabella is doing great on her clock work. Good job, Isabella!"

Go Fly a Kite

2008-08-24T00:40:00.000-07:00

...enjoying my first kite flying experience with my new Spiderman kite from Sebastian's birthday party...

Land Ho!

2008-07-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

More details to follow. See more pictures here.

The "Big Ship"

2008-07-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

Running around the balcony between our rooms, trashing Obachan and Gichan's room, and meeting all of the friendly employees on the ship made our cruise! See more pictures here.

...no matter where I am, getting a hug from my brother is one of my favorite activities.

Italy

2008-07-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

See more pictures of the Italy trip here.

@ NYC

2008-06-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Superhero leaving the hotel every morning, some sights, and lots of fun playdates with friends. More details to follow.

...ah yes, and at the Gay Pride parade too.

Prince Philip does baseball

2008-06-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

I've been saying for weeks that I want my hair short like a boy, like Sleeping Beauty's Prince Phillip. Today I got my wish! I celebrated afterwards with a very "boyly" activity - my first baseball game! At first, all I could focus on was the men with the big boxes walking around with treats. After inhaling half a box of Dibs, I started watching the game more carefully. Mommy explained while I enjoyed the high scoring game: everyone in Oakland got 10 points while the Detroit fans only got 2!

My buddies

2008-05-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

George and I are "just friends" now; Zion is my man these days. The other day George ran up to Mommy's car window and exclaimed, "I love Izzy!" and I grumpily mumbled in the back seat, "I like playing with Zion too!!" Zion likes to play Transformers, Power Rangers and Spiderman! I started rejecting green and Pokemon, both of which George loves. The other day I said that I would marry Zion and George was marrying somebody else. I think George was bummed out the rest of the day. What a love triangle!

Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman's here!

2008-05-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! I finally earned my Spiderman costume! I had to attend a LOT of Chinese classes in Oakland for it, but it was sure worth it!

Portland

2008-05-17T23:08:00.000-07:00

We were in Portland for a family reunion to celebrate my Grandma's 75th birthday.

More details to follow.

See pictures here.

Nailed it!

2008-05-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

I nailed it! I was Turkey Lurkey for the Chicken Little school play. I spoke loud and clear, that even my parents sitting in the back of the room could hear. They were so proud. It was the first time I performed a solo part on stage. Mommy wanted to cry!

On the right is all of us singing the "You are My Sunshine" finale.

John

2008-05-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Mommy was surprised when she opened her library book and found my handwriting. I told her I drew on this page because I like to be a boy. I've been perfecting the writing of my name since the beginning of the year. But you may start seeing a different name written soon, because these days I prefer to be called JOHN.

A note from my teachers

2008-05-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

To the parents of Isabella:

"Isabella has been working very hard on her moveable alphabet letter "a" words. A little more practice and she'll be moving on to new words! Way to go, Isbaella! you're doing a great job! =)"

The moveable alphabet is the first stage towards reading. How exciting! I can already read things like "stop" and "ikea"!

Happy Mudder's Day!

2008-05-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

To the Bat Cave!

2008-04-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

I borrowed this Batman costume from a friend and have been consumed by my new identity! Over the next 5 bat times and channels, I took this costume off only to bathe and go to school (where superheros are not allowed). I even refused to take it off this weekend, when it was 85 degrees! Holy heat rash, Batman! But I sure saved the world from lots of bad guys!

I can't hear you

2008-04-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my parents say things to me repeatedly and I just don't respond. At first my parents believed that I was selectively listening, which really got on their nerves. But they started dropping bombs like, "Isabella, would you like some chocolate?" and I still didn't respond! They started to believe that I seriously had some hearing issues! So Daddy decided to take out my ear wax, and got out some ridiculously huge chunks! Now that my ears are clear, I've told my parents, "Now everything is TOO LOUD!"

Up & down OK

2008-03-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Historically, I've always wanted to ride on the bench or stationary animals. But for the first time, I rode the carousel in Golden Gate Park today and wanted to ride on the horse that went up and down.

(pictured here is the Zeum Carousel)