May you have a wonderful year of the snake!
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Toddler Vocabulary
They say that when your toddler mispronounces or incorrectly says a word, you should gently correct them so that they will learn.
But how can you, when what they is soooo much better than what is intended?
dog: aki
We’re not entirely sure how Claire got from “dog” to “aki” when the two words are so different. We’re guessing that it stems from my sister’s dog Dante — Claire somehow had trouble saying “Dante” when she first learned his name, so she started calling him Aki instead. Now, she calls all dogs “aki.”
monkey: hoho
The name of the monkey in Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is Hoho. Hence, she has started to call all monkeys “hoho.”
tiger: rintoo
See “monkey” and “hoho” above.
thank you: ah-koo
Is the th sound difficult for all toddlers to pronounce? If not, Claire has trouble pronouncing it because we have spoken to her primarily in Koren and in Chinese since birth — she’s developed a FOB accent! Although her pronunciation of “thank you” is improving day by day, our entire family — including the grandparents — have started to say “ah-koo” in its place because it’s just so cute and funny.
Andrew: Jew
My sister’s fiancé Andrew has been relegated to “Jew.” Is it just a coincidence that he’s Jewish? 😉
One of the most common questions people ask us about the girls is regarding their multiple-language environment. To be honest, I’ve never been too concerned about it. I just didn’t realize how much Claire had advanced until I caught her one day, sitting on the couch between her two grandfathers, comfortably conversing with both of them and switching back and forth between Korean and Cantonese without missing a beat. To witness such a young kid (she is now 28 months old) do this is quite remarkable!
Claire strikes this pose and says “Cheese!” whenever she sees me with the camera
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Giveaway: Win 1 of 10 FREE Magazine Subscriptions from Zinio!
Have you guys heard of Zinio? They are the world’s largest digital newsstand with thousands of magazines from around the world, carrying top magazines in practically every subject you can think of — art, fashion, sports, auto, entertainment, lifestyle, science…and more!
Heck they’ll give you 3 free magazines just for signing up for an account!
From browsing their website, I couldn’t think of a single magazine that they didn’t carry, and I loved that they have options to purchase single issues as well as subscriptions. I actually lost track of time browsing through their Explore section, which lets you read thousands of articles for FREE and even share them with your friends.
Zinio is currently running a “The Best of 2012 — Editors’ Choices” promotion which offers a 50% discount on some of the most memorable magazine issues from 2012. I actually remember some of the covers on this list for the publicity they received from third parties. Isn’t it a great way to try out a new magazine while looking back on 2012?
This promotion ends February 21, so hurry over before it’s too late!
In celebration of the new year and all the great promotions they have been running since the end of 2012, Zinio has very generously offered my TEN of my readers a free magazine subscription!
That’s right. You have not 1, not 3, not even 5…but 10 chances to win a digital magazine subscription! The winners can choose ANY title that Zinio carries, and they will receive the full subscription period as indicated on the site (some are 6 months, some are 1 year, and so on).
This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE. After all, Zinio as an extensive category of international magazines. (Wouldn’t this be an awesome way to learn a foreign language? Hint, hint… 😉 )
To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 6 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post answering the question “Which magazine subscription would you get if you win?”) being mandatory while the fourth method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:
This giveaway will end on Saturday, February 16th, 2013, at 12:01am EST, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.
Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win!
Good luck, and thank you for entering!
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Drawing Aurora from “Sleeping Beauty”
I’m not sure why I’m so fascinated by this series of animated GIFs. I mean, I know this was how it was done but I still find it immensely enthralling. Am I alone here?
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Negative Nancy vs Positive Polly
Gawd, having two toddlers is tough. And trying to be a good mom is the hardest thing I’ve ever done (and I imagine it will continue to be so for the remainder of my life).
These past couple of weeks have been especially trying with J’s parents and my own mother all on vacation (the timing was purely coincidental), leaving me with no help or backup for the kids while J is at work.
To make the experience extra memorable, my little Aerin fell sick with a cold…and as soon as she got better, she got hit with a full-on case of roseola.
How has the human species survived this long when parenting is so grueling?
It should come as no surprise to long-time readers that I am not the most positive person in the world. I have been called downright pessimistic — a Debbie Downer to the sunshine & rainbows crowd that seems so prevalent in the blogging world today.
But I am not a complete Negative Nancy. I have my “look at me sharting rainbow cookies!” moments. And, with my favorite TED talk in mind as I go about my everyday life as a SAHM, I have been noticing that perhaps the greatest influence my kids have had on me is that they give me the most spectacular highs. Sure, the downs are as low as ever, but the unhinged highs keep me hangin’ in there.
A chart from the abovementioned post
As a result, whenever I’m feeling especially in the dumps, or when I’m overwhelmed and exhausted to the point of breaking-out-in-hives-and-getting-nosebleeds (both of which have happened this past week), I try my best to take a deep breath and think of at least one thing that I am thankful for.
And since most of my stress stems from Claire & Aerin these days, I like to focus my positive energy on them as well. Continue reading »
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Fantastically Realistic Illustrations of Disney Princesses, Part Deux
I first blogged about Finnish artist Jirka Väätäinen‘s Real Life Disney Girls series back in 2011, and it remains a popular post! It seems that he has continued with the project with additional Disney characters — how can I not share?
Belle from the original group still remains my favorite, but I’m seriously crushing on Snow White and Jane from this batch.
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NFL Quarterbacks on Facebook: Super Bowl XLVII Edition
You guys, the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. My team was crowned the 2012-2013 NFL Champions. This may not seem like much to most people, but it’s a BIG FREAKING DEAL to someone whose two favorite teams (the Knicks and the Ravens) have yielded countless disappointments and heartaches for more than a decade.
So when the game clock ran down to zero with Baltimore still up by 3…
I cried. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes as I saw the purple and gold confetti rain down on the Ravens and watched them accept the Lombardi Trophy.
(In my defense, I had had an extremely trying week in the days leading up to the big game; I was overly emotional and awfully tired.)
Today I am still recovering from the poo sundae that was last week and the ridiculous excitement of last night’s win. So when J sent me this link to a pretend Facebook conversation between NFL quarterbacks, I literally LOLed (more than once!) and knew that I had to share it here.
I guarantee you’ll love it even if you’re not a Ravens fan — anyone with any sort of knowledge on the NFL is sure to get a laugh out of this!
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Lego Pop Culture Riddles
It’s no secret that I absolutely ADORE Lego’s clever marketing campaigns — can you believe that this is my fifth post applauding them? (see: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Even if you may be getting sick of my Lego craze, I believe that this series of posters deserves a special mention because it engages the audience and sparks creativity in a world where we are hard-pressed to find toys and activities that encourage imagination. Created by Montreal-based creative agency Brad in honor of Lego’s 55th anniversary, this set of 55 minimalist illustrations feature sparse Lego bricks arranged to represent popular songs, movies, books, bands, and children’s stories, with the tagline “Imagine a _____”
Can you guess them all? Some are pretty obvious but others are definite head-scratchers. (I have included the answer under each illustration, but in white text so you would need to highlight it to see it.)
Stairway to Heaven Continue reading »
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In Anticipation of Sunday…
Super Bowl XLVII. Who will YOU be rooting for?
(image source)
You know I love me my Ravens. (I predicted a Harbaugh Bowl at the beginning of the playoffs!) And you know I love me some visualized data.
So in honor of my “the in-laws have gone on vacation for 2 weeks leaving me alone to fend for the kids and they’re both driving me CRAZY by not eating or sleeping well and fighting like cats and dogs and the damn car won’t start and it’s too cold/windy/rainy/snowy/icy to take them out without the car and I’m averaging 3 hours of sleep at night so I can’t seem to form a coherent sentence to write in my blog” week…
Here are some nifty maps and charts representing NFL fandom across the country. They’re brought to you by your favorite social media giant, so I’m guessing they have some authority on the subject.
The National Football League is one of the most popular sports in America with some incredibly devoted fans. At Facebook we have about 35 million account holders in the United States who have Liked a page for one of the 32 teams in the league, representing one of the most comprehensive samples of sports fanship ever collected. Put another way, more than 1 in 10 Americans have declared their support for an NFL team on Facebook.
Here’s a map of NFL fans by county. I think it’s safe to say that geography has a lot to do with your favorite sports teams. Continue reading »
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Google Translate: Star Wars Edition
The last one is the best. 😉
Via Comfortably Awkward.
P.S. — Life in the Geek in Heels household has been pretty chaotic, and will probably remain so for the next week or two. Posts may continue to be light and/or unintelligent. The upside? There’s another giveaway in works. (Have you entered my circle lens giveaway yet?) Stay tuned!
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the 
