Mr. Chatty

I have to write all this down before I forget. We had a very entertaining ride to school today. It was just me and Ian because Lia's fever didn't break until yesterday afternoon and the school's policy is fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Anyway, we pull out of our street and Ian points towards his window (passenger's side) and says, "Right, right, right."
Me: "Very good! Shi4 you4 bian1." ("It's the right side.")
Ian (pointing to the left): "Ne4 shi4 she3 me2 di4 fong1?" ("What's that place?")
Me: "Shi4 zhuo3 bian1." ("It's the left side.")
Ian (agitated because Mommy doesn't get it): "No, under the tunnel!" (There an overpass that you have to go under to get onto the southbound Hutchinson River Parkway.)
Me: "That's the way we go when we visit Tia. That's how we get to New York City."
Ian: "And that's where we go to go to Florida."
Me: “That’s right!”
Ian: “And to Chicago.”
Me: “Very good!”
Ian: “And to Taipei.”
Me: “That’s Tai1 Bei3.”
Ian: “No, it’s TaiPEI. Taipei is very far. It is the most far away. It is very far because we have to take TWO airplanes. First we take an airplane to Hong Kong and then we go to Taipei!”
Me (impressed): “Wow.” (Then I said what he told me in Chinese so he can hear how it sounds in Chinese.)
Ian: “Mommy, how do you say Taipei in Spanish?”
Me: “Taipei. Just like you say it in English.”
Ian: “Hmm.”

We took a break for a while and then he started humming. So we sang a few rounds of “You Are My Sunshine” (he wanted us to take turns).
Ian: “Mommy, you can’t sing when you are driving very fast.”
(Luckily, I was not driving very fast because we hit some traffic.)
Ian: “Mommy, wei4 she3 me2 sai1 che1 le4?” (“Mommy, why is there traffic?”)

Then I started singing “Twinkle Twinkle” in Chinese.
Ian: “Mommy, Mei Mei bu2 zai4 zhe4 li3.” (“Mommy, Mei Mei isn’t here.” And obviously there is no point for me to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" if the baby isn't around.)
Me: “Oh no! Did we forget Mei Mei?”
Ian: “Yah.”
Me: “What should we do?”
Ian: “No, we didn’t forget Mei Mei. Mei Mei isn’t going to school because she doesn’t like it.”
Me: “No, Mei Mei isn’t going to school because she was sick and had a fever.”
Ian: “Mommy, why was Mei Mei sick?”

Then I asked him if he wanted to listen to what used to be his favorite song, "Elena La Ballena".

Ian: "Elena La Ba-yay-na??? You don't have it here."
Me: "Yes, I do."
Ian: "Elena La Ba-yay-na? It's not Elena La Ba-yay-na. It's Elena La Ba-YEH-na."

Well, excuse me for not having a great Spanish accent! I can't believe he's correcting me already.

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And a quick story from last night: when Ian got home, Lia had fallen asleep and I was just transferring her to her crib, but she woke up and started to cry. I picked her up and Ian asked why she was crying. I said because she just woke up. But Ian told me, “Mei Mei zai4 ku1 yin1 wei4 ta1 pa1 my Super Ian towel and her Super Mei Mei towel.” (“Mei Mei is crying because she is afraid of my Super Ian towel and her Super Mei Mei towel.”) These are towels with hoods that are hanging up in their bathroom.