Mom - my (insert spiral motion here) hao tong!

Our days are filled with Annabel incorporating more and more English into our conversations. I don't think she has realized the level of understanding she has achieved and at times reverts to "I NO ENGLISH!!!!!"

While she has achieved a LOT, a conversation to discuss vital details is still not there.

In between piano, the vet, and hair appointment, we ate dinner.

****WARNING***** This story is a little gross!

I'm trying to get the girls to finish eating to make it to the vet before they close at 6:00.

Annabel shows me this mouthful of food. I try ignoring it.

She starts trying to talk to me while showing me this mouthful of food.

I finally tell her that you don't show people what is in your mouth!

BU Wan Yun, resorting to my Chenglish, calling her by her Chinese name and adding no. (For those who know Chinese, I apologize for not knowing how to include accent marks)

Bu, no, Annabel, chew up your food so we can leave.

I am still trying to ignore the bad behavior and motion that she can take her plate with her if she wants, after all this is her 3rd helping of stew and rice, but she seems intent on eating all of it.

When I finish locking the door, I turn around to see her starting to cry. She just doesn't cry. I think I have hurt her feelings about the open mouth and food behavior. We get in the car and she is still trying to talk to me with that really nasty looking mouthful of food. By now it is dog food looking. Tears are beginning to roll down her cheeks.

OK, I am slow sometimes.

I finally realize that she cannot swallow this huge bite of food and she doesn't know what to do with it.

I open the car door and act out spitting out the food.

She immediately leans over and spits it out. Tears stop. "Thank you Mom!"

I feel terrible that I didn't understand what she was needing, but even worse to think that there had not been a "mother" there when she first began to eat and needed to spit something out. I think it is a universal job requirement for mothers of toddlers to have hands ready to accept whatever gets spit out.

Back to the title.

We were driving in bumper to bumper traffic, racing to get to the vet before they close to get Nina's medicine and Nina REALLY needs her meds.

When Annabel says "Mom", it generally requires me to face her so she can try to explain something with gestures, facial expressions, and whatever props she can find.

This time she sounded in distress, so in between speeding up and slamming on the brakes, I glanced back and she says, "Mom", my and makes a downward spiral with her hand, points to her throat and says "Hao Tong", it hurts. I really do not know where that body part is that is a downward spiral motion that originated above her head. I thought she had a sore throat and if I ask too many times for further descriptions, she gets a little frustrated.

"Does your throat hurt?"

"My... spiral motion again... hao tong"

Speed to catch back up with traffic, slam on brakes, when we all stop suddenly.

"Your stomach?"

"No, Mom, my... spiral motion again."

Still do not have a clue, so "OK, I'm sorry (your downward spiral motion) hurts. Maybe you need to use the bathroom."

All of that was in English so she really didn't understand, but she agreed and closed her eyes and took a quick nap till we got to the vet.

I knew she was ok because when ice cream was offered, even though her downward spiral motion might still be hurting, she was up for ice cream.