Reading Time

On a quiet Sunday, C-bao waits patiently with her sister K-bao for the C-folks to get ready for church. The sisters pass the time by reading Dr. Seuss.

Unable quiet yet to make out any words, or frankly to speak any English, C-bao nonetheless gamely mumbles aloud a string of random syllables she hopes sounds vaguely like English while she checks out the colorful pics.

Soon will the come the day - not too far off, we hope! - when the two sisters will sit side by side, engrossed in Judy Bloom, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, and then C.S. Lewis,  J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien and many others. Magical times await.

Bounce

C-bao jumps on the buggy bouncer at the park with sister K-bao. Predictably, craziness and some head-bumping ensue.

Secret Plan

The following conversation took place just now, while C-bao sat on the potty.

C-Pop: C-bao, 爸爸今天晚上要带你们去吃 pizza (Daddy is going to take you to eat some pizza tonight, Cbao)

After a moment of silence...

C-bao: 我在想一个东西, 爸爸 (I am thinking about something, Daddy)
C-Pop: 什么? (What is it?)
C-bao: 阴谋! (A secret plan!)
C-Pop: 阴谋? 什么阴谋? (A secret plan? What secret plan?)
C-bao: 妹妹吃大的 pizza, 姐姐吃小的 pizza! (Little Sister will eat a big pizza, and Big Sister will each a little pizza!)
C-Pop: ......

Not quite two and a half, and already hatching grand conspiracies.

Zoo

C-bao, an animal lover, chats about her planned trip to the zoo. She was particularly excited to see the baby giraffe, and clearly has an affinity for the lions as well. Notice the well-practiced roar.

Trick or Treat

#Nonconformist

C-bao fights the social currents of our times, deciding to dress up as Anna, not Elsa, this Halloween.

Below she stops by C-Pop's office for the first Trick or Treat outing of her young 2-year-old life. At first, she was hesitant, even suspicious, of the gratuitous outpouring of candy. "All these treats for free? Is this a trick?"

"But I thought you said not to take things from strangers, Daddy"

The skepticism did not last long. The pragmatist in C-bao soon took over. Before we knew it, she was taking not one, not two, but three or more pieces of candy from whatever candy jar was in front of her, and transferring them as quick as possible to her little pumpkin bag. Clearly a little capitalist in the making!