Olympic Torch and National Geographic

While sitting in the dentist's waiting room this morning, Tootle and I enjoyed ogling the gorgeous pictures of China in the May issue of National Geographic, which is fully devoted to China and titled China: Inside the Dragon. In leafing through the issue, which I intend to buy at my earliest convenience (I can't wait to read the article by Amy Tan), I noticed a map of the Olympic Torch route. The torch will go through both Doodle's and Tootle's hometowns: Longyan, Fujian on May 13 and Hangzhou, Zhejiang on May 18. The best part is that we can go to the torch's Web site and see photos and videos of the torch's journey through these cities, and every other city on the route. The torch race route in 2002 passed within 100 yards of my office at the time, and I found it thrilling to watch it go past me, even if it was practically in the blink of an eye. I hope that all the issues that are currently polluting the 2008 Olympics dissipate and that the games are a huge success.

And Skating Star

The girl who doesn't like tights apparently doesn't mind skating tights. One of Doodle's friends gave Tootle a skating dress that she has outgrown, and Tootle looooves it. Tootle's comfort level on the ice continues to astound me.

Star of the Week

Tootle is very proud to be Star of the Week in her class this week.In addition to posting a display on the wall with information and pictures of Tootle, her teacher will have each kid draw a picture of themselves and Tootle and write a few sentences about Tootle, to be compiled into a booklet. Over the weekend Tootle had to answer several questions for the display:

Where I was born: Hangzhou, China
Favorite color: sky blue
Number of pets: 4 (two cats and two goldfish)
Favorite book: Ruby's Beauty Shop by Rosemary Wells (it's a Max & Ruby book)
When I grow up: I want to be a doctor
Person I admire: her teacher (Tootle is a born politician, and her teacher is pretty great)

The poor kid has to have her first cavity filled tomorrow morning (it's her tooth that is far higher than the others because of her cleft palate, and thus it is very hard to brush). I hope to get a picture of the Star of the Week display when I drop her off at school after the dentist appointment.

In the News...

The fourth graders at Doodle's school were invited to the grand opening of the Newseum in downtown D.C. on Friday, and I got to tag along as a chaperon. Admission was free on opening day but starting today is $20 for adults. The fee seems a bit steep but I could easily spend many hours at this museum. On our whirlwind tour, the girls that I was in charge of did an assignment involving comparison of the front pages of the day's newspapers in two different cities; saw exhibits on 9-11 and the Berlin Wall; and got to be reporters, doing a brief stand up in studio. They give you a snapshot and a code to download the report. Our code isn't working yet but I can't wait to see it. This normally costs an extra $8, but it was free yesterday.

In other news, Doodle found a switchblade made by Smith & Wesson in the grass beside our driveway this afternoon. After considering just throwing it in the trash, I called the police and an officer came to take a report and take possession of the weapon. Juvenile crimes seems to be up in our area, and I hope that the police start patrolling a bit more. The officer asked if we have any neighbors with teenage sons and said that he would make a report and dispose of the weapon. The answer to the officer's question is no; most of the neighborhood kids, and there are a lot of them, are 10 and under.

Eye Pod

Doodle multi-tasked last night, listening to her iPod while watching Idol Gives Back. She was upset by the story of the three orphan boys in Africa whose parents died of AIDS. She reached into her wallet and gave me $10 to add to my pledge.

Class Snapshot

Doodle brought home her class picture yesterday. Doodle looks particularly stunning, and her beauty practically pops off the print (OK, I'm a bit biased but she does look terrific). The photographer didn't get the lighting quite right so most of the Caucasian kids look very pale/washed out, which led me to do a check of the class racial demographics:

17 Caucasians
6 African Americans
3 Asian Americans (2 of whom are adopted from China and 1 of whom immigrated from Vietnam)
2 Hispanic Americans
1 Middle Easterner (he arrived in the U.S. this fall and speaks Arabic and French)

This seems fairly representative of U.S. demographics, with Asians and African Americans a bit overrepresented and Hispanics a bit underrepresented. I'm satisfied with the diversity level in the class.

The 4th graders have been studying immigration and recently had parents who immigrated from Denmark and Argentina as adults come in to speak about their experience. The kids also had to interview someone in their family about immigration. My family is Pennsylvania Dutch and came to the U.S. several hundred years ago so Doodle couldn't interview anyone. Instead she had to research our family history and had some fun reporting on Pennsylvania Dutch phrases that are still used by her aunts today (outten the lights instead of turn off the lights, etc).

Green Eggs

After a late afternoon pediatric dentist appointment for both girls and a quick trip to Pet Smart and Kohl's, we stopped at IHOP for dinner (I can't remember the last time we went there, probably five years ago or so). IHOP is currently offering several Horton Hears a Who inspired kids' meals, and Tootle enthusiastically ordered Jo Jo's Breakfast, which featured pancakes with boysenberry and blueberry glazes and topped with a lollipop along with green eggs and ham. Thankfully the green was spinach rather than dye, but I was skeptical about whether Tootle would enjoy it. She scarfed it down, declaring it delicious between bites. She even asked me to make it at home, so I need to put spinach on the grocery list. She also enjoyed the pancakes, but only ate one bite of the ham. I'm a mean mommy who drew the line at Beezlenut Splash, a lemon lime drink with chunks of jello in it. Tootle seemed happy with her chocolate milk, but I might have given in to the messy drink if I had known how much she would enjoy her healthy spinach.