Sleeping Princesses

Sometimes, if Ming Wai wakes up grumpy in the morning, I'll pull out a picture of her asleep. I like to snap pictures of my girls when I think their sleeping habits are...entertaining.

Goldfish for Breakfast

Baby Ying Ying is not a huge fan of the sitting in the high chair and the putting the food into the mouth. In fact, she has very little patience for it. I struggle to find anything she will feed herself, or allow me to feed her, let alone something that is nutritious. 

Baby steps, people. She saw her sister snacking on goldfish, and deigned to sit down and eat a few of those. 

She ate a few, and the rest were unceremoniously swept onto the floor, to be enjoyed at her leisure. *sigh* 

(PS - My girls, apparently, both have an affinity for spotted cats. Heh. Meow!)

The Difference Between Candid and Posed

Candid.

Candid.

Candid.

Candid.

TAKE MAH PIKSHUR, MOMMY!!!! 

Posed. Heh. 

Homework Drama, and a Day of Doctor Visits

(As I read this, before I hit publish, I realize this is a rather lengthy post. In my defense, it has been so long since I have truly had time and the attention span to chronicle a day start to finish...I want to take the opportunities when I get them! All my babies are asleep, and my husband is out late at a volleyball tournament. He will be home any minute, but I have used my quiet hour alone to practice writing. Enjoy!) 

Another day, another story. I realized today, for the umpteen millionth time, that when we have interesting stories we want to preserve...we have absolutely zero time in which to write them down.

Right now, I am in a beautiful sort of hazy middle ground. There are no major holidays taking place as I type this. No new lives being created, or ending. No major milestones. Just life, progressing as it ought to. And that is lovely in itself.

Baby Ying Ying is 9 months old now. This has always been my favorite age for babies - fat, happy, not yet able to run away, and as of yet unable to argue with their parents. At least not verbally. Baby YY is no exception. At her check up today, she weighed in at 22 pounds and 29 inches. She charms people everywhere she goes. Two days ago, she learned to wave, and it is absolutely precious. Of course, I am biased, but even complete strangers are charmed by a chubby, grinning, nearly-bald baby waving at them. I don't care who you are - when a toddler waves, you wave back, and you do it with a smile.

Today was a rather busy day. I woke up and felt nearly intoxicated - I realized it was 7 am and my baby had skipped her 3-4am feeding. I had slept a solid 6 hours, and I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Hooray! (My husband later informed me that the baby most likely HAD woken up, but it didn't rouse me. Apparently, it didn't sound urgent enough to truly rouse him, either. He only remembers glancing at the clock and going back to sleep.) Shower for me, breakfast for the kiddos. We got Ming Wai off to school and then had to run back home so Siu Jeun and Ying Ying could eat their breakfasts. 20 minutes later, we were back in the car and heading down the hill to the doctor's office. Siu Jeun had an appointment for his flu shot.

That appointment very nearly went catastrophic. My big kids had discussed the merits of flu shots, and flu "doses" (nasal sprays) for days, and both decided that they absolutely wanted the "dose." So, when the nurse brought in a sharp kit and asked if he wanted his flu vaccine in his thigh or in his arm, his eyes got huge, and he swiveled his head to stare at me. "Um, he really wanted the nasal spray this year." "Oh, I'm sorry! We are all out. So - arm or thigh?" It became apparent that it would need to be thigh, as that was the option you take when a child is going to need to be restrained to receive their shots. A second nurse was called in, and SJ was starting to get really worried. As she scrubbed her hands, she asked, "So, why aren't we just doing the nasal dose?" Apparently, they were out yesterday. Today, they had four boxes!

Crisis averted.

Sharp kit put away, nasal dose brought in. *pfft* *sniff* *pfft* *sniff* Boom. Bam. Take your lollipop and sticker and get out of here, kid! I had a little chat with the nurse, and she winked and agreed to hide one dose of the nasal spray for me - Ming Wai's flu shot was scheduled for that afternoon, and her reactions to needles are fairly epic.

After that, it was time to run some errands in that part of town. A top returned to Nordstrom Rack that, tragically, didn't fit the birthday girl I bought it for. Curtains returned to Target that, sadly, don't fit my freakishly large windows. I took the kids to the children's museum after that, until it became obvious that Baby Ying Ying was badly in need of a nap.

Back to the car, a quick snack for the baby, and then we drove home. I transferred her to her crib, and had some alone time with Siu Jeun. We had lunch, and I started a batch of cinnamon chips and dough to make cinnamon chip bread. Baby woke up, had her lunch, and then we loaded up the car to take Siu Jeun to school.

Funny thing, though - when we pulled up to the school (i.e. Grandma's House), nobody was home. I suppose I should have read this week's schedule more carefully, eh? I called my sister, who had obviously READ her calendar correctly and was still at home shuffling her kids through lunch and morning chores. "Hey, why don't you come down and see us?" A few thoughts flashed through my head...there was a pot of cold mac and cheese on the stove. Bread rising in a bowl on the counter. Baby Ying Ying still needed more lunch. " Uh,  ok!" Aunt Myrnie produced a banana and some rice and beans for Baby Ying Ying, Siu Jeun disappeared to the basement to play with his cousins, and I enjoyed a few minutes of adult conversation with my sister. A winning afternoon!

At 2:30, it was time to get back up the hill to grab Ming Wai from school. We stopped by the house to punch the bread down - it had traveled out of the bowl and was inching across my counter. Oh well - two rises is good for yeast breads, right? No time for it now - we had to go! The kids got a well-earned trip to the library, where Siu Jeun proceeded to grab 17 books about tractors, trucks and "how things work", and then off to the doctor again. This time, it was time for the two sisters to have their Well Child Checkup. We got the appointments back to back, which was kind of entertaining. Siu Jeun sat patiently in a chair looking at his 17 books. Ming Wai took off down the hall with a nurse to get her stats taken while Ying Ying and I went down a different hall to get her stats taken. We all met back in the exam room where the doctor took turns checking out both my beautiful girls. She has a daughter who is just a few weeks older than Ying Ying, so we always have fun checking in with each other. Neither of our daughters are sleeping through the night, mine has learned to "cruise" remarkably early, and hers still hates her carseat. Same ol', same ol'.

(Official stats, for posterity - Baby Ying Ying, 9 months, is 2'5", 22 pounds, and has a head circumference of 43.8 centimeters. Ming Wai, 7, is 4' even and weighs 52 pounds.)

The nurses came back in for the flu vaccines. Siu Jeun's nurse came through for us, and Ming Wai had her precious flu "dose." Aside from accidentally blowing half of the dose OUT of her nose and onto the nurse, she did very well. Baby Ying Ying was distracted by a pen I was holding and didn't even notice the poke for hers. Apparently, babies with ample thighs are like that. Heh.

Home for dinner, baking those loaves of bread (which turned out delicious, by the way), some homework for Ming Wai, and bedtime.


Homework tonight was...exciting. I KNOW that Ming Wai needs to do her homework early in the day, but it just didn't happen this week. I taught piano every afternoon this week, and we had the doctor's appointment today. She has a project due tomorrow, so it was tonight or nothing. Highlights of the evening included: Sentences that took between 5 and 10 minutes, each, to write. A complete melt down over a sun that came out square instead of round. A face plant onto the table and the child yelling, "I will just go live somewhere ELSE!" Her first threat to run away from home? Perhaps other homes don't have homework as stressful as drawing thank you posters for veterans.

At one point, after I had encouraged her to simply color the poster and enjoy herself (she loves to draw and color), she looked at me wild-eyed, grabbed a colored pencil in each hand, and held them poised over her half-finished poster. I couldn't stop her. "No, honey! It looks great! Be careful!" Her crazed eyes grazed my face, and her hand slipped. Her head whipped back to her poster, where she had just put a 2" purple mark across the middle of it. She started wailing, "My poster!!! It's RUINED!!!"

I sat next to her and spoke in soothing tones, while I helped to color in the large expanse of blank space that had been left to be the blue sky. The square sun had been replaced by a round one, drawn from a stencil in her art kit. The purple line really just looked like an arm of the person next to it, and maybe nobody would notice that person now had one arm too many? After some training from me in the fine art of stick-figure drawing, all the girls had on dresses, and the boys had on pants. She calmed down.

10 minutes later, as she lovingly smoothed the last little glob of glitter onto her creation, she sighed. "It's beautiful, Mommy. I love it."

Drama, oh drama, they name is a 7 year old too close to bedtime.

Ming Wait Turned 7!

So. Somebody turned 7 this weekend! 7 years ago, I was finally giving birth to my first child, after one false trip to the hospital and 2 sleepless nights. My clearest memory of that day? It was the relief I felt when my father arrived, soon after the birth. Neither Lo Gung nor I had slept for the past 48 hours, and I was so tired I thought I was going to drop my baby if I held her! The hospital was busy that day, so they pressed my (well-rested) father into service to lift me onto a gurney to wheel me down the hall to my recovery room. (My anesthesia hadn't even worn off!) He held his second granddaughter...and I think I passed out. *grin* (Ming Wai was born around 5am. My father worked about four blocks away from the hospital, and I had a pretty good hunch that he would have been at the office for a few hours so he could get to the hospital that much quicker.)

This weekend was one big blur of celebrating my big girl! It started off...not well. 

She kicked off Friday with a fierce outfit, and headed off to school. Leopard print, red leggings, jean skirt...fierce. 

By 2pm, she was feeling anything but fierce. The school nurse called me and had me come and pick her up. My baby wasn't feeling well at all. After a nap, she felt better, and in the morning she was just thrilled. "Mom! I don't feel sick anymore!" 

Good thing, too - Saturday was BUSY. We kicked it off with swim lessons, then drove around our neighborhood collecting food for a local food bank. We had about an hour at home, and then it was time to head off to the park for her birthday party! The only catch? The weather was TERRIBLE. However, we had 13 kids coming, pizzas were paid for, cake was ordered...and we decided to just go for it. So with a prayer in our hearts (literally), we headed off. The rain was coming down, but it wasn't the torrential downpour slated for later in the day...so we counted our blessings and started setting up. The kids trickled in, and their Moms and Dads (bless their hearts) brought younger siblings and hung around. None of the kids were absolutely thrilled to be hanging out in a rainy park, but we did our best. I had two covered sets of picnic tables to work with - one gazebo was turned into craft central, and the other into the eating area. I brought a roll of plastic table cover - one of the Moms helped me cover all the tables and benches in the craft area. The kids sat down and played with play-dough, decorated foam door hangers, and colored on paper party bags. About 45 minutes into the party, Lo Gung and his Dad showed up with the pizza and cake. The timing was perfect. The kids were just starting to wilt, and the rain was still falling. We scuttled over to the area I had set up for food, and the kids dug into their pizza. I also had grapes and kettle corn - Ming Wai's favorites. Then? MIRACLE TIME, Y'ALL. The rain stopped, and we were blanketed in a vaguely warm fog. We can work with this! I pointed it out to the kids, who quickly abandoned their third slices of pizza, and fourth helpings of popcorn, in favor of scooters and helmets. They swarmed the skateboard ramps and had a blast for the next half hour. 

(Can you see SJ's cute little gap in that smile? *ugh*)

When the rain started up again, it was time to light the candles, sing a song, and eat some cake. The parents helped me clean up, and we loaded into the car just as the rain really started coming down. (People, I tell you - the prayers of children. That is where miracles come in, y'all.) 

After the party in the park, we took the kids home and Lo Gung and I ran out to the grocery store to get macaroni for Sunday's dinner. (We came home without macaroni. Because we are geniuses. But we DID find some apples the size of Ying Ying's head, so there was that.) When we got home, all three of our offspring had passed out. Baby Ying Ying was in MaMa's arms, Ming Wai was asleep on the couch, and I think SJ passed out on the playroom floor. Ming Wai woke up a little feverish and feeling gross...but some Tylenol for her headache and she felt better. I think it was just a combination of being tired...and wet, for most of the day. She chose Genki Sushi for dinner, and thoroughly enjoyed herself. We stopped by another grocery store afterwards for the missing macaroni noodles, and then stopped by my parents' house to open gifts. At 8pm. Whee!

Ming Wai looks totally recovered, doesn't she? Heh. 

To round out the weekend, we let Ming Wai pick the menu for the Sunday family dinner (pot stickers, macaroni soup, egg rolls and seaweed salad). We shut out the evening by lighting a cake on fire...and that was that. My baby is 7!

Last Day of Kindergarten!

On Monday, my little peanut had her very! last! day! of Kindergarten. We, thankfully, were spared the pageantry of a Kindergarten Graduation, but we did get to have an awfully fun ice cream social for the kids, complete with a few songs performed by the kids for the parents' benefit. The social had the added "awwww" factor of being the end of their teacher's first year as a Kindergarten teacher. She did a fantastic job, and Ming Wai is really going to miss her. As a surprise for the teacher (Miss F), the room moms took up donations and bought her some gifts from her wedding registry. (She will be married next month.) They also made her a photo book with photos from the year, and 3x5 pictures all of the students drew for her. I'm not going to lie - when Miss F teared up, I got a little misty as well. She put a lot of heart into these kids! 

"Ok, that was a fun silly shot. Now smile...like a princess!" 

(Do you understand the little hand/wrist action now? Good. Moving on.) 

(During one of their songs)

(Her ice cream creation.) 

My Least Favorite Milestone (and we had a recital last night!)

Baby Ying Ying has been threatening this for quite some time.

Today she finally got that second arm out of the way and completed the maneuver: The Back to Tummy Roll. 

You know what happens after you complete the Back to Tummy Roll, right? Well, that leads right into Involuntary Tummy Time. Because once you get that second arm out of the way, it's quite a trick to learn how to tuck it back under you so you can get back onto your back. 

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this, but...my babies have all hated Tummy Time, with a passion otherwise reserved for Shots, Dislocated Elbows and Delayed Meal Times. A screaming, writhing passion. 

I'm not gonna lie, y'all. It's been a little noisy around here today. (Also? I can't even begin to explain how confused she looked when I was applauding her for getting beached on her belly, while she insisted over and over, loudly, that I roll her back over or pick her up or do anything OTHER than sit there and clap. Poor wee lamb.) 

PS - For journaling purposes, I simply must add that last night was the recital for my small piano studio. I had 13 students performing, with all but the youngest two playing hits from the 50's. It was a toe tapping time, y'all. I kind of pulled rank, though, and gave in to one of Ming Wai's requests to avoid the tears and wailing that would have otherwise gone down. She got out of school at 3. At 3:10, on the walk home, she informed me that she was going to play in the recital. Never mind that she hadn't practiced any pieces, or even practiced the piano at all more than once or twice in the past four months. She was going to perform. We went straight home and I wrote out a simple piece for her, matching my other 6 year old student's genre (simplified children's church hymns). Bless her heart, she practiced until her fingers gave out. And I let her perform. Because, well...I can. Not a great reason, but she's always been so shy, letting her perform in front of 35 people when she wanted to seemed like the right thing to do. Like I said - I'm the teacher, and I do what I want. I'm a rebel like that. Lo Gung had the genius idea to hold the recital at one of our local church buildings. GENIUS, I tell you. There was a gym for the kids to run off their nerves afterwards, there were chairs for everyone to sit in (they usually cram their 35 bodies into my dining room, and line up on the stairs), and after a quick pass with the vacuum, I could walk away and be done. I think we will move all future recitals to the church building. 

PPS - Starting next week, Ming Wai will be required to resume daily piano practicing. Because I'm the teacher, and I say so. So there. 

PPPS - Happy weekend, yo. Hope you get to relax with people you like! 

Sisters

Ying Ying has developed a fondness for her big sister. I think the feeling is mutual. Ming Wai takes her responsibilities very seriously, often abandoning meals or homework or chores to rush to her sister's side when she starts to fuss. It just reminds me what I should have already firmly planted in my brain - bringing a baby home isn't Bringing My Baby Home. Once I gave birth to Baby, she became His Daughter, and Her Sister, and His Sister, and Her Niece, and Their Granddaughter, and a million other things.

Here's hoping these two can always remain friends!

Getting To Know You

 

Every day, I am learning more about my kids. More about their personalities, and more about what makes them tick. Both of my kids love sweets…and always have. I’m not surprised, because I never met a dessert that I was too full to at least try. There is ALWAYS room for dessert, and everything deserves a nibble.

 

Which is why I was so surprised the other day by Ming Wai. We had eaten dinner, and I gave both the kids a cupcake as a treat for being good. (Daddy was out of town, and the days are always super long when that happens…and very deserving of cupcakes.) She worked on it for a while while I cleared the dishes. I noticed that there were still a few pieces of broccoli in the serving dish on the table. “Honey, do you want to finish the broccoli?” “Yeah!!” The cupcake lay forgotten as she carefully fished out the cold broccoli to eat. She then asked if she could drink the “soup” (the bit of sauce-y water that had collected on the bottom of the bowl). “Umm…sure, hon.” And down the hatch it went.

 

She never did get back to that cupcake.

2010 Santa Pictures

(I know things were quiet around here yesterday. We were celebrating Siu Jeun’s 2nd birthday with a huge Dorie Greenspan chocolate cake, several sheet pans full of sushi, and a few bowls full of dumplings. *erp* Is it just my family that centers all celebrations around what we will EAT?! I love it! Just a “family gathering” around these parts will pull in 12-14 people, so planning the meal is usually a major part of the preparations!)

 

Now. On to Santa.

“I …can’t…hold on…much…longer!!” ~Santa That suit was slippery!

 

Needless to say, Santa will not be featured on our Christmas cards this year.

 

I did tell her that just by walking up to him, Santa magically knew what she wanted for Christmas. I’m not completely cruel.

 

(Check out that face on Ming Wai, though. She’s honestly and truly scared. I was really and truly tempted to tell her that she’d met Santa before…before he had a beard!)

 

(These were snapped by my lovely sister at our church Christmas party last weekend.)

Ming Wai, Singing Diva!

Because it’s Thursday, because my son is still running around in a diaper, because I have a goal to post more often on this blog, and because I can….I present- Ming Wai, singing diva!

 

Ming Wai is 4. Again.

Did I ever tell you about the time I had three birthday parties? Every year?  No? Yeah. That’s because it happened every year..for as long as I can remember. It runs in the family…dinner with your family, cake and balloons with your friends, and (in my case) a birthday cake on Thanksgiving because it was always the next time my family got together with the extended family.

Long live traditions that involve more! cake!

Ming Wai is no exception to this rule. I proudly present…her third (4th) birthday.

I just barely wrestled her into this coat. She’s dead set against putting anything on her body that might not be the right size. Even if it is. It might not be. And this coat? Was sized large, to grow into.
 
(Who was the photographer on these shots??!)

Moving on. Ming Wai adores Tinkerbell…and Grandma did not disappoint. Hello, Tinkerbell tea set with a million-tiny-pieces. There's a tea set for you, and a tea set for Tinkerbell and her cronies…complete with pinkie nail sized leaf “plates”.  (Siu Jeun was, and is, mighty interested in something that involves that many brightly colored, and tiny, pieces.

Nothing like a little Dr. Seuss to brighten up a birthday…unless it’s a lot of Dr. Seuss!

And…oh dear. How do I explain this. Have you seen the newest collectible fad – tiny non-working erasers in the shape of…everything? Ming Wai started collecting them last Christmas, and has about a dozen.  These erasers range from soccer balls to elaborate cakes to entire kitchen sets, including a range, frying pay, egg and spatula.

I should say had about a dozen. Now? She has a dozen…plus one hundred. Thanks, Grandma. *Grin*

One of the Uncles Dude (Siu Jeun’s got three of them) was lending a hand during the present opening and keeping Siu Jeun occupied. Eventually, though, Uncle Dude ran out of tricks, and simple started to occupy himself. Siu Jeun was an unfortunate part of this scheme…and I can’t decide if the Hunchback, or the Barrel Chest is my favorite look for him!

Note to self: a Strong Man costume is a definite, and EASY, possibility for this kid.

A few candid shots of the party goers…

Hi, Poppy and Grandma!

Whaddup, Auntie Bert and Uncle Bear?! (My two youngest siblings.)

(You know, I think Bert gives Bear that look quite often…)

And finally – The Cake. Miss Ming Wai was very definite on her birthday cake. Several weeks before her birthday, she began telling people that she was going to have a chocolate cake, with gummy bears on top. (She also wanted cherries, but back then cherries were actually in season. By the time her birthday rolled around, she hadn’t seen a cherry in weeks, and had thankfully forgotten all about that stipulation.)

A chocolate cake with gummy bears on top is easy. Making it LoLo style, and big enough to feed a hungry group of 15? That proved a bit more challenging.

Obviously.



I used this recipe, with a normal shortening/sugar buttercream. (Think those nasty gloppy roses on bakery cakes. It’s not ideal, but it’s quick, sticky and lactose free. All plusses!) The outside of the cake is frosted with ganache, which I realize negates any non-dairyness from the buttercream frosting…but the frosting was actually leftover from an earlier birthday cake, so whaddaya gonna do, eh?

I made the cake recipe twice, in three cake pans each time, to make a six layer cake. I got distracted somewhere in the middle, and forgot to level off one of the cakes…which meant that I got a really Wonky Cake.

Eh. Oh well. Birthday girls don’t mind, as long as there are plenty of gummy bears!

LoLoCation: GWL – Dancing Superstar!

This week, we took a quick one-night jaunt to the Great Wolf Lodge, in Grand Mound, Washington. We found a great deal, and we had a great time!

Among the other delights at the Great Wolf Lodge, there was an arcade. We loved it for the kiddos, because Siu Jeun doesn’t really care about actually putting money in the machines. He just likes the bright lights!
At one point, Siu Jeun and I got separated from Ming Wai and Lo Gung. As I wandered through the various beeping and blinking machines, following Siu Jeun, his attention was suddenly drawn to a great big DDR machine. (DDR = Dance Dance Revolution, a game where you dance on a big metal mat, following directions on the screen.) “Ooooh…..!”

Up he got, and away he danced! Carefully stepping on the arrows, and then back to center to groove. At one point, he looked around, pointed to the screen and yelled, “Daddy!!” I assume he wanted to show his Dad his new discovery.

As soon as I could round up Lo Gung (and the Flip camera!) we stuck the kids back on and sat back to enjoy the show.

And, because I love you, and because it’s cute, and because I want to…here ya go. Enjoy! Happy Friday, y’all. (Debbie, make sure you turn your speakers on!)
(Oh, and I know it looks like we fed Siu Jeun the radioactive jelly beans...but we didn't. The arcade is full of black lights. Just so you know. Carry on.)

Happy Birthday, Ming Wai!

Someone just turned 4. And she’s pretty excited about it.

(We’ve got a photobomb. BOOM.)

She got to sit in our new (to us) Princess Chair and open her pile of shiny gifts. (The chair was a garage sale find last weekend. $20, y’all. Just a few light scratches on the wooden legs. Be still my Cheapy Cheap-o heart! Cheap, AND Chinese print?! I may have done a back flip when I found it in someone’s driveway. Maybe.)

 

She loves opening gifts. We thought we knew which would be her favorite – the new TinkerBell movie! When she opened it, Lo Gung asked, “Do you like it???” “No.” came her cool reply. “It’s scary.”

*blink blink*

Well, then. Alright.

However, she LOVED this book from Gu Jeh, her auntie. It’s kind of like Where’s Waldo, except for you’re looking for 8-12 items on each page that the page’s Princess has lost. When I tucked her in for the night, and shut the door to her room, I could still hear her. “Where’s the pumpkin….there it is! Where’s Fairy Godmother’s magic wand….there it is!”

After presents, it was time for cake. Lo Gung decided it was high time to introduce her to the wonders of the Ice Cream Cake. (However, this might be the last time she has a store bought ice cream cake from us. For what we paid for it, I could have made two or three of them at home!)

Girl, you haven’t aged a bit!

(No, really. Check it out.)

This one is from her third birthday. A year ago. Is it just me, or is this like the Girl that Time Forgot?!

Happy birthday, Ming Wai!

(We spent the first half of the day “on vacation”, which I’ll tell you about later. Soon. Ming Wai’s birthday dinner was all her favorites – white rice with soy sauce, sliced cucumbers in sweet chili sauce, watermelon rind pickles, cheung fun (a sort of a Chinese noodle thing) and steamed broccoli with oyster sauce. Girl knows what she likes.)

Ming Wai, the Model

The other day I carved out a few minutes (ok, an hour) and let the kids squabble made this dress for Ming Wai. It was super simple, just a tracing of a dress she already has onto the body of a polo that Daddy hasn’t worn in years.
Then, I asked her to model it.
This is what I got.
“Pose, Ming Wai!”
And…BAM. Fancy Hands. Man, I love this girl!
Of course, Siu Jeun wanted in on the action. Unfortunately, he doesn’t so much Strike a Pose as he does…let the pose just sort of wash through him.
 
He even tried to copy her Fancy Hands.
Sorry, dude. It just doesn’t have the same effect. But you’re awfully cute, all the same. And maybe if I learn to make something other than PJ pants and dresses, you can have some new clothes to model, too.