The little girl's cousin now starts her journey

[Reporter]

I drove her pass the Capitol Building. But Pey-Pey wasn't excited about the
Quadriga like Cousins 2 and 3  have been.

But she pointed to all of the  nouns she has viewed on the way.

"I see snow!" she told me from her car seat.

(I put her car seat in the middle of the backseats, so that she would be able
to see the front ahead of us. That's what I did with Big Girl a long time ago, too.
That way, they don't see just the back of my seat or my front passenger's seat.)

"What else do you see?"

"I see tree. I see house."

"Do you see streets?"

"Yes. I see street. I see char." (One car just crossed us at the intersection.)

[Reporter]

A rare gathering this Thursday night brought all
the little girls to our place--minus Pey-Pey due to illness.

They came at different times.

NiNi was dropped off first. Then Cousin 2 and 3's
mother brought them over. I went out to jog and
came back to find Big Girl in the house as well.

Somehow they all wanted my attention. But this
wasn't apparent at first.

Cousin 2 wanted to go grocery shopping with my
sister. Asked if she wanted to go, too, Cousin 3 said "No.
I want to stay with NiNi."

In the interim, Cousin 2 wanted to watch "Masha and
the Bear." This used to be her favorite show back a few
years ago when she constantly slept over. I knew she no
longer watched it at home because her dad kept playing
games with them and her mom consistently insisted on
them doing their homework everyday.

I asked if she wanted to watch it on a bigger screen on
my computer. "No. I want to watch it on a phone," she said.

My phone was the only one around. She knew that.

So, I had to search the show for her and put the phone on
the dining table for her to look at. (This is the episode where
the makers of the show use Thai Cha-Cha-Cha music for a
birthday party for the Bear. I told Cousin 3 of that source.
She picked this show.)

After a while, she wanted to eat. So, I had to make ramen
noodles for her like I used to. Just shortly after that, as I
was doing other things in my room on the same floor with
my door wide open for NiNi's safety, she came asking me to
get a little more for her.

She wasn't interested in playing with NiNi. She just wanted
to nag me like she used to do before. NiNi was scribbling
away alone on our student desk in the living room.

The noodles were too hot and so I put her bowl outside
on a table in the porch to cool off with the cold snowy wind.

When my sister and Cousin 2 have come back, I rushed out
to jog before nightfall. Upon returning, my sister said I should
go ahead and set a bowl of pho for me. I asked if the girls
might want some, too, and she said they had just eaten. They
all also said they didn't want to eat anymore.

As I sat my bowl of pho on the table, Cousin 3 said she wanted
some, too. So now I had to separate my pho bowl into two for us. 

She said hers was still too hot. So, I took it outside again. I told
her to watch me do it.

Suddenly, Big Girl stormed in from the living room and said she
now wanted me to make her a bowl also.

I had to pour mine into a smaller bowl for her so I could make
another bowl for myself.

I set Big Girl's bowl on the table and stirred it around. "There!" I said.
She sat down and started
stirring it with her chopsticks. (I taught her how to use
chopsticks when she was about 4. Now 13, she's great at it.)

"R, I want some, too," Cousin 3 yelled from the living room and
rushed to the table.

A small bowl was made for her tiny body as well.

We sat around the table and ate like the old times.

My sister commented that "they have grown so much."
(Cousin 3's hair has been left long, dangling down to her butt.
She was proud  ofthat and showed it to me right away the minute
she got into the house.)

"You guys are so big and tall now," I said. "I can't carry you anymore."

They acted like they didn't hear that and just slurped their "phos" away.

Of course, NiNi didn't nag me though. She was already full from the ramen
noodles I had fed her while Cousin 3 was eating and watching "Masha and
the Bear." When she turned down my last  offer of a spoonful of cut-up
ramen noodles, I knew she no longer wanted anything.

[Reporter]

Pey-Pey stayed overnight. So, this morning NiNi's dad brought her over as well.

I put them in the living room while I went to shower.

After I was all dressed up, I went to them.

"R, you are clean? You are clean," Pey-Pey said.

"Right. I am clean."

NiNi couldn't say anything yet. She just looked at me.

But everything in the living room now belonged to Pey-Pey. Whatever
NiNi and I grabbed, Pey-Pey would try to take away and claim "mine! Mine! Mine!"

She took NiNi's pink iPad that NiNi's parents just bought for her. Pey-Pey has
her own grey iPad, but insisted that the pink one was hers now. (I still don't
know why Pey-Pey's parents didn't buy her a pink one as well and why it had
to be dark grey.)

I played JJ videos for NiNi on the grey iPad and moved her and me to another
kid table in another corner of the living room. Pey-Pey was watching Little Bunny
Foo Foo on the other kid table in the center of the living room, sitting on another
kid chair.  But I took the extra kid chair on the other side of Pey-Pey's table for me.

"No! Mine! Mine! Mine!" she screamed.

I had to give it back to her and just stood up to watch NiNi's videos with NiNi.

Then I decided to go sit next to Pey-Pey to talk to her about this.

I spoke in a soft, understanding voice and said "we share, ok? We share. You're good girl."

She didn't say anything more.

Then my sister said from the bedroom that Pey-Pey should go to her daddy and mommy.

"You go to mommy house, ok?" I told her.

"No!" she said.

Then they wanted to go downstairs and I  held NiNi's hands to adjust her to
the steps as she was going down. Pey-Pey had no issue descending the steps.

But once down there, Pey-Pey took away NiNi's toy bus. NiNi was crying. So,
I took NiNi upstairs with me again.

We left Pey-Pey alone downstairs for 10 minutes before I went down to check
on her, although all those ten minutes, I did try to listen to anything that might
happen downstairs.

Pey-Pey lied down on a pillow under her kid blanket on the floor under a big
overhanging blanket that was stretched over two chairs to make a toy house
for her. She had lied down there very quietly all those ten minutes.

When she saw me, she raised her head and got up. Then she raised the toy bus to me.

"R, share. Share NiNi," she said in a soft tone.

"Ok. We share with NiNi. Good girl."

This is improved human relations. Obviously, Pey-Pey is the older of the two kids in
her family and had been spoiled for two years before Ej Ej came into existence. She
has had everything her way. Being crammed into the space of others is new and
uncomfortable for her. Pey-Pey had everything to herself and no one else to compete
for them. Now, she's slowly coming to term that this world is more than just her and
that she has to make ways for others, too.

Of course, this isn't going to take too much effect right away yet. It takes time for
her to adjust to a world full of others' rights, too.

[Reporter]

There's a bit of an unusual rain today over the snow.

Pey-Pey wants to go outside.

"I want jumping," she says.

I tell her no. But she cries to go. So, my sister says they
should bundle up.

I take a shirt from the sofa that has been drying there.

"Who wants to wear this one?" I ask.

"I do," Pey-Pey says.

Jackets and baby mittens on both, I open the back door and we
go outside. They have their baby umbrellas with them.

Pey-Pey insists on stepping over the watery puddles on the ice. I tell her
it's slippery. But she doesn't believe me until I put her feet there
and she can't stand on anything. So, she hangs onto my hands and
doesn't want to let her feet go onto the ice anymore.

NiNi does what I tell her.

[Reporter]

NiNi was dropped off today by her dad who works nearby; she waived at me from the top front window
as I was coming back into the driveway from jogging.

Once I was inside, she ran to me and said "J-J."

She loves watching that little one-haired bald boy cartoon, especially the Taekwondo episode.

She also wanted to watch that on my computer, not on the phone or on any other device.

So, we went to my desk and I searched Youtube for the show.

After J J and his classmates fished training, NiNi said "Duck! Duck!"

She pointed to the link of "The Five Little Ducklings."

She will be two years old this June--just a year and a half behind
Pey-Pey. She already knows many words,
including the Hmong sound "zaum." She can say the sound as well
as understand it. For other words, she can't say them
yet. But if said to her, she can point to the items if they are nouns
or she can understand what to do if they are verbs.

[Reporter]

Somehow, words have gotten to Pey-Pey that NiNi is here today. So,
Pey-Pey can't stay home anymore and has insisted on coming.

Her mother will be dropping her off to me, my sister, and NiNi soon.

There's more room for creativity here. That's why these little ones love
coming here whenever they can. But, at the same time, their parents
just get so sick of them that they have wanted someone to watch over
them now and then. (I don't have my own kids. But I know what
that feels like.)

[Reporter]

Pey-Pey's mom tells us we should watch what
Pey-Pey eats and to monitor her so that she
doesn't eat much sweet.

I am in my room and Pey-Pey comes knocking.

"R, look!" she says and both hands raise a clean,
empty ceramic bowl at me.

"You've finished it?" I asked.

"I eat it all!"

That was full of pistachios seeds, a tiny ball of
sticky rice for two mouthfuls, and two Ritz crackers.

[Reporter]

I told Pey-Pey to dress up so that we could go to the store.

I said that in English.

"No!" she said.

Then I said "we go to taj laj."

"Ok," she said.

My sister said that Pey-Pey's mom has always
called that taj laj to her.

We got into the car and were on our way.

"We go to taj laj togeder," she said.

"Right."

After returning, she said "I'm sick."

I asked where it hurt.

"Here," she said and pointed to her head.

"I give you tshuaj tshuaj, ok?"

"Yes. But auntie gives only."

Of course, I know she wants my sister's touch more.

To make her take some suspension kid Tylenol by mouth,
I poured some into the administering cup and said "Mmmm...
yummy. Very sweet."

When my sister put the feeding syringe into Pey-Pey's mouth,
Pey-Pey took the medicine willingly.

Just as she was still swallowing it, I rushed to her at the sofa
with the cup raised to my mouth.

"Mm...Yummy! So yummy!" I said.

I stared at her.

She looked intensely at me and laughed.

"Silly R," she said with a chuckle. "R is sho funny."

[Reporter]

This little Pey-Pey is coming up with her own
creations on things.

This morning, she wanted to play with the slimes
I bought her last week.

I had to open up the containers for her and told
her to "scoop it out" each time.

Then she handed me the brown plastic cup of slime and
said "open chocolate for me."

I did.

Then later came "kiwi bottle" for green.

Her mother said she has not taught Pey-Pey
to make such associations yet. She, too,
was surprised of this.

[Reporter]

NiNi and I have been watching JJ, but I had not paid attention to the shows until today.

I, again, played the Taekwondo Song episode that she seems to enjoy the most.

But I decided to watch it through with her.

NiNi punched left and right as those kids do on the show. Somewhere near the middle
of the show, she reached for one of my two pencils on the left of the computer. I
didn't know what that was for, but if any toddler or infant wants a pen, pencil or paper, I
just can't resist but to let her have it.

I passed her the pencil as she continued to watch the show.

Then she pointed to my post-it notes and I could tell that she wanted one just like
what she and Pey-Pey had been wanting in the living room.

I handed her a pink post-it.

Suddenly, the show began to show a teacher saying that it's time for the alphabet.

JJ and his toddler classmates were on their desks with pens (or crayons) or pencils and papers.

The teacher began reading each letter and then JJ's crew started scribbling on their desks.

NiNi started scribbling on the post-it note, too.

I now knew why she wanted the pencil and post-it note.

Of course, she did say "A" but not the rest until H, which she calls "Aa-ch."

Later she said "V."

One of the students scribbled just some circular marks. I took that
to be the reason why NiNi seemed so proud of her egg-shaped and circular
marks, too, even though those aren't anything near the alphabet letters.

But that's not bad at all. She knew how to prepare for the scene.

[Reporter]

These little girls miss one another a lot but don't get to
see one another as much as I do. Well, my place is their
central location anyway.

Yesterday, Cousin 2 and 3 came to our place with their
mom to pick up some curry noodles for President Day.

When Cousin 3  opened up a little hot pepper plate with some
Kix cereal balls in it, she immediately asked whose that was.

"NiNi's," I told her.

I thought Cousin 3 wanted to know if
she could have the cereals. But then that
didn't appear to be the case.


"Where is she? Can I see her?" she asked with excitement.

"She was here yesterday but is no longer here," I said. "She
didn't stay overnight. Her mom and dad picked her up already.
You can have the cereals if you want; they are still good."

The dry plate of cereals was covered up all night on the kitchen table.
We never put them in milk for NiNi so that she can just grab them.

"No," Cousin 3 said. "I don't want them."

[Reporter]

NiNi stayed overnight yesterday but showed very little sign of yearning for her parents.

That's probably because she had her pink iPad with her.

So, I did have to take care of her for most of that time. My sister did
the rest, including diapering, bathing, and dressing her up. The little
girl actually brushed her own teeth after I have put a stepstool to the
faucet.

Her dad picked her up today. So, at the door, her dad told her to
say "thank you."

She looked at me from the distance and put her right hand to her mouth
to throw a kiss at me.

She couldn't say what her actions and her heart wanted to say yet.

[Reporter]

Pey-Pey and her crawling sister were dropped off
for some hours today because their parents had to
attend her their paternal aunt's 50th birthday birthdate celebration.

I was in the kitchen getting a whole chicken boiled. Pey-Pey
climbed onto the sofa overlooking the front window from our
second floor split-entry house. She described to me what the
outside was like.

"I mish a char (car)," she said. "Shnow shtill a lot.

"Shomebody walking down the shtreet."

Her sister whom we call "Ej Ej" can't talk yet. She
just likes to wiggle her feet a lot. But that does not
mean she doesn't understand things. The other day their
mom put them in the bathtub and Ej Ej stood up by holding
onto the tub and wiggled her left foot to splash water
to annoy Pey-Pey--who was crying. 

I taught her the colors green and yellow today and Ej Ej couldn't
parrot the sounds but just looked at two colored marks
on the harness and at me with wide eyes.

[Reporter]

Little ones like these are so active, they want to do so many things.

So, Pey-Pey asked to go outside in the snow.

I bundled both of us up.

I took a large pail of water and wetted
some snow on the porch. I wielded that
into a ball. Pey-Pey helped me roll it
around to enlarge the snowball.

We did three of them in different sizes to
 pile up into a snowman.

It got too cold and we went inside. But
Pey-Pey looked at it from the deck door and
marveled at it.

"Oh-oooh...," she said in sigh.  "It's so
chute (cute)."

"We made it gother," I said.

"We made it togeder," she said.

I took some pictures of her next to it,
behind it. Plus, of the snowman alone.



The arms are just our wooden cooking utensils.
The eyes are peanuts. The mouth: a skewer stick.
The ears are candy toy handles.

Later, I reminded her that the snowman is hers.

"It's mine?" she asked.

"Yes."

"You made the snowman for me?"

"Yes. Remember, we made it together for you."

"Sho purdy..."

[Reporter]

Pey-Pey and NiNi were both here again: NiNi because her
parents had to spend times elsewhere and Pey-Pey because
NiNi was here.

I couldn't stay home with them because I had to find a Power
Pro--Spectra fishing line at Cabela's to go against those
large buffalo and carp fish in southwestern Minnesota in
the spring. So, I took them both there with me.

Neither was too interested in the African exhibit nor the giant
aquarium of the fish varieties. These are action girls who
seemed to love the ATVs and boats more than even the
other more colorful stuff there. Neither screamed like
Big Girl used to do when she first saw the elephant exhibit
and the lions, kudus, warthog and cape buffaloes.

Both asked to be on the ATVs and boats. Both wanted
to turn the steering wheels.

Our round at the fishing lines was brief: I had just
enough time to view two lines and some hooks.

So, after that, I thought I would take them to Culver's or
even McDonald's for a brief lunch before returning home.

NiNi couldn't speak a choice yet. So, I deferred the decision
to Pey-Pey.

"I want to eat mov ntse dej," she said.

I knew her well enough that when she has
made a choice, Pey-Pey isn't backing out of it.

Pey-Pey's mom also said on text message
that Pey-Pey isn't fond of McDonald's. She
has let go off French fries a year ago.

So, we ditched all the restaurants and drove
back 40 minutes to have some mov ntse kua.
Pey-Pey really meant mov ntse kua but just
couldn't remember how to say that. This morning
I did give them mov txua ntse kua qaib hau with
two condiments: salt and lemongrass.

She wanted that again.

After eating, a grandma of theirs came by to
pick up something. While I was downstairs,
the grandma fed them Cheeto balls.

As I was coming up, Pey-Pey said "ntsim
ntsim" and asked for "np-r-wv np-r-wm."

I poured her some purified water that
was on the table.

"I feel better now," she said after drinking
the water.