Today is Friday. Nicky wants to wish everybody has a good weekend. Every time I think of Nicky, I can feel smile on my face. Now he starts to laugh.
天天开始大笑了，好开心呀！礼拜五嘛。姥姥，姥爷可以点击“天天快乐”去看视频. 点击这里去看更多视频。
My parents cannot see the video from China. Here is picture of Nicky for them.
Some study finds smacked children are more successful later in life. Have you ever spanked your kids?
I spanked Alex one time when Alex said No, whined, and screamed on everything. I think I will remember forever how bad I feel afterward. I couldn’t believe I spanked the kid I love with my heart and soul. After that I tell myself I will NEVER spank my kids，not even a light tap. There are many methods to discipline kids, why spank? Alex is much happier and more cooperative than ever these days when we keep praising him and fix hunger, tiredness, and sickness problems quickly.
However, after you read this article, spanking may not be a bad method to discipline. What do you think?
This is the article.
我们这一代人好像没有没挨过打的，我小时候比较油滑，看到父母脸色不对，就赶快道歉，姐姐挨打得比较多一些。但我们上了小学四五年级之后，父母就没有打过了，我和姐姐都很懂事吧，当然也有倔了吧唧的时候，好像是我比较叛逆，有一次因为洗衣粉什么，把妈妈气得够呛，爸爸不在家，我现在想起来都后悔，觉得自己十几岁的时候怎么那么没大没小的。
刚刚看了一篇文章，讲挨过打（当然是轻打）的孩子在成人之后会更成功，我一个月前打过易峰一次，那天他一回家就大哭大闹，谁说什么都不听，打了妈妈，让他给妈妈说对不起，他不说，我很生气，当时我们家的阿姨还在扇风，“易峰太闹了”“3岁看80岁”。。。所以我一气之下就打了他一顿。但之后我真的很很很很很后悔，心里很难受，真的比打在我自己身上还难受，易峰看着我也怕怕的，那天晚上也不让我抱，我就发誓我不会再打我最爱的孩子，教育的方法千千万，为什么我要选择这种简单的方法呢？这段时间我细心观察易峰，注意方法，易峰变得比以前开心，听话，合作多了，有些时候还很贴心， 就连我们家阿姨给他做早饭，他都会说“谢谢”，那个阿姨以前觉得我们家易峰爱哭，现在就老说易峰好乖呀。
我觉得打孩子还是不打不是一刀切的问题，爱孩子，让孩子懂得爱父母，爱朋友，爱自己才是关键。
* DiDi means little brother in Chinese
Alex and I checked out his blog last weekend. Everytime I pointed to a picture to tell him that is him when he was little, he always shook his head,”Mommy, No, that is baby. That is DiDi”. In our house, baby means DiDi and DiDi means baby. Alex doesn’t think he is a baby anymore. He is trying to figure out how to use potty.
那天和易峰看这个网站，易峰觉得很新鲜。每每看到他小时候的照片就说“baby， 弟弟”。我告诉他，那是他自己，他就紧着说NO。也不奇怪，我记得我看我婴儿的照片，我也觉得不像自己。Dave的妈妈说天天更像中国人，这到让我回想起我婴儿时的照片，好像是比较像我小时候。
Which one is DiDi? No wonder Alex is confused.
难怪易峰会把自己和弟弟混淆，你们能分得清那个是哥哥，那个是弟弟吗？
I remember even when I was in high school, my mom showed me a picture when I was about one year old. I studied the picture for quite a while and asked “Mom, is that me?”
易峰不知不觉长大了，不知不觉会说很多话了，我总是像发现新大陆一样惊喜于易峰的每一个新词，或者是一个句子，像“爸爸在洗澡”。小孩子长得多快呀，去年的这个时候他还不会走呢，那天我和Dave看去年的照片，感慨万千。所以有些时候我还是比较迁就易峰的，毕竟越大越不能宠了，现在就抓紧时间多宠一些吧。
I always wonder how much Alex understands what we say to him. In the meantime, I am amazed all the time by how much he remembers and how much he can repeat and say. For a while, when we say to him “I love you”, Alex will say “I love you” as well. One day two week ago, when I said “I love you” to him, he looked at me and said “I love you TOO, Mommy.” I just couldn’t believe my ears.
在家里，易峰已经很习惯说“请”“谢谢”“我爱你”，现在他懂用“也”这个词了，当爸爸妈妈说我们爱易峰的时候，他会说“我也爱你”，有些时候想想挺不可思议的，小孩子是怎么把那些很抽象的词学到的？
Last weekend at souplantation, Alex played on the bench and started to count the bolts at the top, ” one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…” I was amazed again. Alex learned numbers from the school. Sometimes he even says eleven or thirteen. But for the first time he counted in the correct order by himself from one to nine. Yesterday I taught him to count his own fingers and he knows he has ten fingers and is able to count from one to ten already.
易峰现在可以从一数到十了，偶尔冒出个十一，十三什么的。我们在家也没教过他，都是在托儿所学的。
One of my clients gave me a stress relief toy. When you squeeze it, it will say “Don’t be stressed. Take it easy.” The tone sounds funny. Alex likes to play with it and very quickly he starts to say “Take It Easy” using the same tone from that entertaining toy.
易峰扮酷照。
I am not very good at drawing or building up anything from scratch. Fortunately, Alex is much more creative than me.
我从小就不太会玩积木，就会照图摆，易峰可比我有创造力多了，看他按照自己的意思摆的，好像还不错呢。
First, here’s a bonus picture of Nicky from the doctor visit series.
It’s horribly blurry on account of I’m a lousy photographer but Michelle wanted to upload it anyway because he’s so happy in it, and it’s his 100 day old picture.
天天百天了，热烈祝贺！姐姐打电话来提醒，我们就赶快给天天照了几张照片。就这张笑得好，但照得花了，朦胧也是一种美吧，哈哈。
I think he looks a little like buddha in it myself, but I’m not sure the wife agrees.
Ｄａｖｅ说天天笑得像个弥勒佛，你看呢？
On Monday, mommy and daddy had the day off, so we met auntie Alba, uncle Brian, and cousin Lias at Casa Machado at Montgomery Field. The restaurant is right above the terminal at the airport, and Alex had a lot of fun looking at the planes. Here he is reaching for a cool hanging model plane with mommy.
礼拜一不用上班，去见了我们的一个好朋友夫妇，他们也刚刚生了个儿子。饭店在一个私人机场的旁边，易峰每次看到飞机起飞，就用手一指说：“妈妈，看呀！”饭店里面还挂了很多飞机模型，我抱着易峰把能够到的都摸了摸，这小家伙还挺沉的。有些时候易峰缠人，我不得不抱着两个孩子，虽然是重了些，但心里觉得甜蜜蜜的。
“Get it together, Dad. You want to be taking pictures of all these neat planes, not me.”
“妈妈，看飞机！”
Let’s see how a video hosted at youtube works compared to our normal setup.
My family used to go to Casa Machado back when I was a youth, and it hasn’t changed a bit–not that that was so long ago or anything. I’m looking forward to establishing the tradition with Michelle and the kids.
Ｄａｖｅ的小时候，他的爸爸妈妈每周末都带他和他弟弟到这个饭店去吃饭看飞机，我们也许会继续这个传统呢。
After lunch, we went to Ranch Market in Clairemont to pick up a few things.
在中国超市门前有个喷水池，易峰很喜欢，怎么拉也拉不走。
There’s this fountain out front of Ranch Market that Alex always enjoys, so we spend a little time there whenever we stop by.
目不转睛地看。很喜欢他的专注。
Hope everyone had a wonderful day off!
Days before the eve of Chinese New Year, Dave noticed I was anxious about the dishes to eat at that day. He tried to relax me by suggesting home made dumplings and salads. I denied it immediately. I understand Dave doesn’t want me to stress out. But the dinner at the eve of Chinese New Year is the most important meal of the whole year for our Chinese, I cannot let it simple. Fortunately, with the help of our nanny, we made several transitional Chinese dishes with veggie dumplings and meat dumplings for our dear family and friends.
我们自己包了饺子，做了一桌菜，有排骨，鱼，虾，腊肉，很丰盛吧。
I put two coins in the dumplings. One was in one of veggie dumplings, and the other in one of the meat dumplings. We believe whoever finds coin(s) in the dumplings will have the best luck of the new year. Look at who found coins!
看谁在饺子里面吃到硬币了？
We also celebrated Phet’s birthday at Chinese New Year Eve. Alex is a great helper. He helped Daddy and Mommy deliver the birthday gift to Auntie Phet. He has so much fun playing with Auntie Phet and Uncle Jeff at that night.
“Happy Birthday, Auntie Phet!”
Alex and Nicky celebrated the coming Year of the Tiger by visiting the doctor this week for some festive vaccinations.
As usual, the doc gave us a full set of measurements. At three months, Nicky is 天天已经三个月啦，总结他的身高体重指标，天天就是个小矮胖子，哈哈。跟哥哥一样，是个大头娃娃。这个身高体重结果挺出乎我的意料的，天天看着一点都不胖，现在都已经开始穿六个月大婴儿的衣服了，我还以为他是个大个子呢。不过天天都是拣哥哥的衣服，可能衣服有些缩水了。
Weight 体重: 15 lb 3 oz (90th percentile，)
Height身高: 24 in (50th)
Head circumference 头围: 16 3/4 in (90th)
That’s a good sized head, son!
Nicky got his first three shots, and he did well. He didn’t like them, but he didn’t cry for long and settled right down after a couple of minutes. 天天打了三针疫苗，大哭，这可不像我们天天，他总是笑眯眯的很少见他号啕大哭。
At just past two years old, Alex is 易峰两岁了！也是个小胖子。真是奇怪了，他每天都不好好吃饭，都不知道怎么长的肉。按照易峰目前的身高，他以后大概会是1米８高。
Weight 体重: 32.8 lb (90th percentile)
Height 身高: 35 1/2 in (75th)
Alex used the big kid scale all by himself, and he stood nice and straight for his height to be measured.
Both kids are healthy, but we’ve got a couple of challenges to work on with them. Nicky has blocked tear ducts in his eyes, and we’re massaging them regularly to try to clear them up. The symptoms are a lot of eye boogers and irritation at the corners of his eyes. They can take months to become unblocked even with regular treatment.
Nicky’s been doing a lot of tummy time lately, and he’s getting very good at holding his head up.
Alex still likes bottles, and the doctor wants us to wean him off of them. When older kids drink milk from bottles, the doctor told us, they tend to fill up on it. Alex is a pretty good eater, but we’re going to try making him even better by switching to sippy cups full-time.
I couldn’t be happier than having two sweet kids sitting on my lap and looking at Dave to smile. Life tastes so sweet with such a wonderful husband and two wonderful kids.
晚上吃完饭，我抱着天天坐在地毯上，易峰过来坐在我的另一条腿上,他把手搭在天天肩头，轻轻的拢着弟弟，我看得心都化了，多好的哥哥呀，那么爱弟弟！真想这一刻永远静止在此，生活有了易峰和易天好似锦上添花。我现在没事就傻呵呵地看着这个照片乐，人生的快乐要学会珍惜。
I have added this picture to my cell phone’s wall paper, and cannot help looking at it whenever I can and feel the smile from my heart. Only one thing I can think of to improve is to get Daddy a better cell phone.
