Not Yet Snow Bound

Mini still has some growing to do before she can snow board but at least she said she liked the board more than skis.  Daddy is pleased to hear this.

Potty Training (for real this time)

There were previous attempts which failed due to my laziness and aversion to being locked down at home.  But today is the day.  I am committed and Mini is ready.  This little chica is potty bound!

We've got a two week break from school and the weather has been rainy so there's no better time.  At 5:30pm, the diaper came off and it was pants only.  I should have known better than to skip the bare bottom because not more than five minutes later, her pants were wet.  Ok, pants off.  Three more accidents and realize that Mini pees frequently every twenty minutes and she only pees a little bit.  Ok, we can deal with this.  Set the potty on the couch, put on LeapFrog ABC, and have Mini sit on the potty while singing "A-E-I-O-U" which she actually sings as "A-B I Love You."  Bingo!  There's a tinkle noise and we have pee.  Mini has done her job, put two and two together, and understands what I'm asking for now.  We take the pot to the real toilet, make a production out of wiping and flushing, and start all over.

Mini wants to play so we go to her room.  Three more accidents and she's aware of it but only tells me after she's done.  It's not until 8:30pm that she runs to the potty, sits, and out comes pee!  Alright, lots of cheering and hugs.  Two more times of successful potty connections and then it was time for bed.

(Yes, she's wearing underwear on her head.  She opted for the head rather than her bottom.  Funny kid.)

Zoo Field Trip

Mini's preschool took a field trip to SF Zoo to study hibernating animals (their current curriculum) and what a morning!  I went as a chaperone and dragging 15 toddlers around is no easy feat.  The morning started at 9am with a walk to the bus stop, then the walk to the zoo, snack time at the entrance, lots and lots of walking around to view the animals, lunch, and the trek back to school.  Mini had a great time checking out some animals (per Mini style, she poo-poo'd some animals and expressly stated that she had no interest in them) and squealed to see the monkeys, seals, and zebras.  I think it was the excitement of all the kids together that riled her up.

Tippee Toe Class

 

Mini's been enrolled in toddler ballet for three Saturdays now and she is loving it.  She always asks to go to tippee toe class and gets excited to see the classroom and teacher.  The first two times, she went in sweats and looked more like a hip hop dancer.  Today, mommy got her act together and found a real ballet outfit for Mini.  She was SO happy to wear ballet slippers and the leotard.  She probably felt out of place before but today she was pretty in pink like the other girls.

Mini pays attention when she wants but most of the time, she's running around ignoring the teacher's instructions.  Sometimes, she gets it and follows along.  Sometimes, she's on a time delay and performs the action two minutes later.  All super cute!

Say Ahhhhh

Two year dentist visit.  Only prepped Mini the day before by saying she had a date with the dentist who was going to look for cavities and bugs.  Which btw, she can say all these words in Chinese - dentist, cavity, appointment, etc.  It's strange to hear a toddler say these things, doesn't sit right for some reason.  

Time comes and she plops herself into the exam chair.  First thing she does is open her mouth and go ahhhhh.  The dental assistant had a laugh at this.  Mini let everyone examine her teeth with no issue and even played around with the tools (mirror, pick, suction).  They even dared to take x-rays since Mini was being so compliant.  All the work was worth it too because Mini was rewarded with two stickers, a star slinky, a balloon, brush kit, and a sugar-free lollipop.

Afterwards, we went to Clancy's Pumpkin Patch to kick off Halloween.

Preschool Breakthrough

After three weeks, Mini has come to terms with preschool.  On the drive there, Mini seemed sad in the car and almost cried twice (Grandma says she was sad about going to school).  She made no fuss getting out of the car and into the school.  As soon as she saw Li Lao Shi, she went from my arms to hers without a peep.  Not a peep!  There's usually a heartbreaking bawl session where she's crying for "mama" as I walk away.  She didn't even look back as I left her there.  In fact, the teachers said she didn't cry at all today.  Success!

Second success was that she napped for an hour today.  Before it was a 20-30 minute nap or no nap at all.  This made for a difficult evening where Mini was cranky all night or she took an evening nap and was up way too late.  Li Lao Shi said she did the usual routine of having Mini lay on her arm until she fell asleep, then slipped away, and managed to eat her lunch.  So Mini either played really hard this morning or she really does understand what we ask of her and complies.  I only asked her the day before to sleep longer and explained that it was better for her and the teachers.  I really do feel that she is easy to reason with and understands what she is supposed to do.  Such a good kid! 

Third success - she ate eggplant for lunch.  Mini seems to have turned 180 degrees and gone vegetarian.  She's not into meat these days and rejects "lro lro."  Tonight, she ate a good amount of stir fried cabbage for dinner and turned down the chicken. 

One Hot Mama

Hot figuratively and literally!  Mini used to hate her sunglasses but today she accepted them and wore them for about twenty minutes.  Makes her that much more kid-glam.

There's also a heat wave in SF so things got sweaty and Mini needed a popsicle to cool down.

Little Helper

Today we found another reason to love Trader Joe's - mini shopping carts.  I didn't think she would do it but Mini followed all directions and stayed with me when shopping.  Except for the crash into the cereal display, Mini was a very good driver and even steered clear of the big shopping carts and people.  She was great about taking items from me and putting them into the cart.  In this picture, she's a little suspect because all the items on the cart are kiddie snacks (evil toddler eye level product placement!).

Mini is such a little helper now.  She loves to wipe down tables, rinse dishes, sweep/swiffer floors, pick up garbage and throw out trash, vacuum, make beds, and a host of other chores. She's actually helping and not creating a bigger mess.  She follows through and finishes each job as much as she can.

PS Let me clarify what she can do - she wipes surfaces quite diligently, can rinse plastic dishes and most silverware but mostly plays with the water, makes the bed by helping straighten sheets and putting the pillow in its place, and helps push the vacuum.

Panda

Mini said she wanted to look like a "shong mao."  Almost got it with the black nose.

Yum Yum Time

Loving Oakland's hot weather.  Lunch on the deck with toys.  Can't get this in San Francisco.

Colors and Shapes

Mini can name and recognize colors and basic shapes now.  It took about a week of inconsistent teaching opportunities (check out her artwork that focused on circles) but she's got it.  The funny thing is when she doesn't want to sit through a lesson, she pretends to be tired or says "I don't know" as her response to everything.  She's a tricky one.  

Snail Update

Mini found baby snail #2 in the garden two days ago.  We had both of them in the bowl and Mini said we should let them play in the flowers.  So she gently transferred both snails to a plant and let them crawl around.  They seemed much more lively on the plant so we agreed to set them free.  Mini still looks around the deck for them but she's not sad about losing them.

First Pet

We did it!  Mini finally found a baby snail after a two month search.  She's been asking for "baby wuo-niu" since San Ramon where she first discovered snails.  We found plenty of empty shells and a couple adult snails but today she spotted this tiny one in a flower pot.  Baby snail has a pretty good set-up now.  We put it in a glass bowl with a water pool and lettuce leaves.  So far it's slept all day.

Mushroom Phase

Mushrooms - the only vegetable that Mini willingly eats.  All others are picked out, spit out, or thrown on the ground in disgust.  If Mini sees anything green in her food, she screams "NO tsai."

First Circle

Mini's drew her first circles today.  Well, circular shapes.  

Oakland

And so continues the temp housing... we have been living in Piedmont, Oakland for almost two weeks now.  Mini has adjusted well and only asks for GuGu JieJie once a day (instead of the constant asking from before).  Instead, she's got Grandma Chan for a playmate.  This house has an attic playspace complete with toys and a nice garden backyard.  Mini spends all her house time in these two areas. 

Upstairs, Mini has buckets of toys and books to get through.  There's also this small window that overlooks the street and she spends a good amount of time there.  She says hi to the passers-by which may seem a bit surprising (almost creepy) to the people on the street.  Imagine hearing this child's voice say "hiiiii" but you can't really see where it's coming from.  And if you do look up, you see this little girl who looks like she's been locked away in the attic.  Maybe it's just me and memories of Flowers in the Attic. 

Outside, Mini and Grandma check on the flowers and plants to make sure they've been watered and aren't thirsty.  I think they're doing too good of a job because that's all I see them doing, or it's just too much fun playing with water.  Mini loves playing in the sprinklers and always asks for "pen sway."  She also keeps an eye on the strawberry, lemon, and tomato plants.  By keeping an eye, I mean she picks and eats any red strawberries that she sees.  At least she leaves the green and unripe ones alone.  But she only does this with strawberries, if only the tomatoes.  The first tomato she tried, she spit out.  Now she only points to the ripe ones and says that we should eat it. 

Across the street is a school playground and we've made daily trips there or to stroll the neighborhood.  Yesterday, we finally tried Fenton's Creamery and Mini chowed down on Papa's toffee ice cream.

Baby Gate

The stairs at our sublet are extremely steep. They're even difficult for us to go up and down as the steps are quite narrow. Last night we put up a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to prevent Mini from climbing up the stairs by herself (she loves going up and down stairs). When she went over there this morning, her first words were "Oooh Nooo". :)

Two Year Wellness Check

Mini's two year check-up went well, although the percentiles were heartbreaking to hear.  She's 1% in height and 9% for weight.  This little munchkin just won't grow!

Head circumference 47 cm
Length 32 in
Weight 22 lbs

Developmentally, she's perfect.  Doctor said she had better than average hand dexterity and said that standing on one foot was impressive.  He said her language comprehension seemed very high since she did everything I told her to.  Which is true, since month 20, Mini's language aquisition has skyrocketed.  It's been so impressive to hear her speak words that we weren't even trying to teach.  And she likes to sing now - Old McDonald, Ni Waa Waa, Itsy Bitsy Spider.

San Ramon

We've been staying in San Ramon for the past two weeks and it's been fabulous.  Uncle A and Aunt W have a beautiful house with lots of space, and more importantly, lots of toys.  Mini had the chance to hang out with her older cousins and learned a bit from them.  Cousin E always took care of her and Mini liked to follow her around.  Cousin C is a boy and acted like one which put Mini at odds with him. 

Mini played with the train table every day, multiples times a day, and choo choo'd all day long.  For some reason, she always insisted on tearing down the roof of the train station and dismantling the stairs.  I still haven't figured out why.  Her next fave activity was climbing up and down the stairs.  She even took a liking to the piano. 

With the warm weather, every day was a trip to the playground, going on snail hunts, and bee watching.  It was cute seeing her in shorts and sun dresses.  In SF, she'd be wearing layers and you'd never see her chubby knees.

Memory

Today, we had to go pick up the keys for the sublet that we are going to stay at for the next couple of months during our remodel. We had only come once before when we previewed the place almost 2 months prior. The owner had a black cat at that time that Mini really took a liking to. She would pet her tentatively with her index finger. Anyway, when we got there, the owner was standing outside with the other tenants. We stopped to talk to them. Mini immediately started pointing at the house and saying "Mao" (Cat in chinese) over and over. I was really impressed that she remembered the house and the cat from such a long time ago. Even more impressive that she recognized it from the outside since we must have seen the outside for only a couple minutes last time. It's also possible that she remembered the owner. Either way, she definitely has a better memory than her daddy.

San Diego Day Three

Tons of fun at the Children's Museum - arts and crafts, bouncy toys, painting and clay, and climbing structures.  Mini loved it all and played for five straight hours, totally missing her nap.  She spent a good hour at the bubble tables and really enjoyed the time with her cousins.

Then we headed to La Jolla for the beach.  Mini avoided the water and chose to play in the sand and climb rocks.  Uncle T caught a tiny crab that kept the kids entertained for some time.  They dug a pit and invented a game to keep the crab in the hole.  Long day but such a good time.

San Diego Day Two

Spent the day at SD Zoo.  Such a hot day that Mini slowly dropped her socks, then shoes, and finally the pants.  We saw tons of animals but she liked the fish, giraffes, and monkeys the best.  Didn't really pay much attention to the pandas but oh well.  

San Diego Day One

Quick flight to San Diego where Mini slept the entire flight, killed time drinking her first 7-11 grape Slurpee, feeding (possibly antagonizing) the local pigeons, and watching the trolleys.  Then we met up with NY cousins and has huge bowls of pasta at Buca Di Beppos.  Mini seemed to fall right in line with her cousins even though she only met them once before when she was nine months old.

   

Hai Ma

Mini's recent obsession is with sea horses and starfish.  Today, she got a special treat - a Godiva pina colada chocolate "hai ma."

Hard Day's Work

Here is Mini passed out after a morning at work with Daddy.  Zynga hosted a "Bring your kid to work day" and Mini got to experience what daddy does all day.  She sat in on a super important meeting, then played around, finishing off with lunch.  Easy peasy!

Choo Choo

Big train for such a little girl!

Stunna Summer

Baby's ready for the summer!  (Thanks for the stunna shades, Uncle L.)

Pre-Potty Training

Mini's been able to communicate poops so it's time to start potty training.  To lay the foundation, we borrowed library books about potty training which she likes to read over and over.  Today, we learned this routine which Mini has been repeating over and over:

Mini sits on the potty and pretends to poo/pee
Then stands up and yells Mommy
Mommy comes and rolls toilet paper and wipes from front to back
Then Mini gets off the potty and heads to the sink to wash her hands

Now if only the real training is as easy as this pretend game.  Mini learned this after one try and she's been very consistent with each step. 

Wedding Bubbles

We took Mini to a wedding where she behaved wonderfully for four hours.  Papa took her on many fishy trips (to see the restaurant fish tanks where the fish kept "mysteriously" disappearing).  It was a Chinese banquet and she ate tons of food, loved the soup, and chowed down on the Chilean sea bass and cake.  When it was Mama's turn to entertain Mini, we ventured outside and played in the courtyard.  Being in Foster City, Mini kept listening for planes flying overhead and waiting till they came into view.  She would say "xiao xiao fei ji" (little plane) when she first spotted the plane; as it flew closer, she'd say say "da da" (big) and then "nah" (take/grab).  Mama would fake pluck the plane out of the sky and put it into her palm.  Mini also learned to blow bubbles today!  She finally held the bubble wand correctly and blew her breath out instead of in.  She was so proud of herself and laughed hysterically with each bubble train she created.  Then we killed time at Safeway playing with the mylar balloons (another favorite of Mini's).

Baby's got a great appetite these two weeks and eating much bigger meals.  She feels much heavier but has only gained a pound or so.  Mini's also started talking in phrases in addition to learning much more vocabulary these weeks. She also likes singing her made-up songs and started to recite rhymes and songs she learns from class.

Mommy

After the Dillon Beach trip, you started calling me Mommy instead of Mama.  I'm not sure if I like this since you tend to make it sound like a whine.  Sometimes it gets annoying because you keep repeating it.  Sometimes it even sounds creepy because you say it mischievously.  I like it better than Mama only when you say Mommy in your sing-song voice.  But overall, I liked Mama better because you pronounced it with a French accent sometimes (I hope I can always hear and remember the way you said it).

Bored

Driving to Dillon Beach for Memorial Day weekend.  Kayla caught in the act!  So this is why she always pulls off her socks in the car...

Checkmate

Ladybug and Oreo

We spent the morning at Presidio Heights playground and boy was it hot.  It usually takes you the entire day to finish your sippy cup but today you drank it within two hours.      

You've seen lots of picture ladybugs but today you found a real one crawling in the grass.  We spent a good fifteen minutes playing with it.  You let it crawl all over your arms, legs, socks, and DooDoo.  I finally had to hide ladybug because it's wing looked damaged.  Sorry ladybug!

And I am proud to announce that you have graduated from the baby area to the big kids structure.  I tried to corral you back to the toddler pen but you had no interest.  You only wanted the big slide and tricycle.

And you figured out how to eat Oreos!  This is your first time eating them and only because they came in the lunch pack.  The first one you ate regularly until it split and you saw there was direct access to the creme.  You immediately licked off the creme and went straight for the second cookie.  This time you pulled it apart and scraped off the middle and threw away the cookie part.  Then you slowly enjoyed the creme part, licking away at your sticky fingers.

Daddy Day Care

Today, I promised Mama Burrito that I would take Mini for the whole day so she could get an entire day off. I'd taken care of her for a few hours at a time and I took care of her once all day with Grandma Fu. So naturally I was a bit anxious but ready to spend the day with the little one.

The day got off to a bad start. I took Mini to the Spring Fling event at Randall Museum. The weather Friday and Saturday had been amazing, reaching the high 70s, but today the fog started coming in. When I got to the museum around 9:30am (event was to start at 9am), none of the stands were fully set up. It was also extremely windy at the atop the hill that the museum stands, which may have contributed to the delayed setup. Anyway, I wanted to take Mini to the rocking horse at least because she loves rocking horses now. However, we went to the play room and it was locked! What was I to do? The guy at the front desk tried to unlock it but didn't know where the key was. As I held Mini, she pointed through the window with a forlorn look in her eye and kept saying "ma". It was heartbreaking but there was nothing I could do. Since she was still getting over a cold and there was nothing really for her to do, we quickly made our way back to the car.

I decided to take Mini to my office. She started to cry for Mama in the car -- I was worried that everything would fall apart so early. Luckily, she fell asleep on the car ride over. I sat with her in the car for half an hour listening to Click and Clack. A couple times she woke up and I placed my hand on her face until she fell back asleep. Usually, this only works for Mama but either she was really tired or she's starting to warm up to Papa.

Last time we took her to my office with Mini and Grandma, she loved the basketball machines we had on the first floor. This time, I picked her up to play but she seemed scared of the machine. when I put her down, she kept looking back at it with a nervous glance. I then took her downstairs to the arcade. She liked the boat game because of the steering wheel, another thing she's quite fond of nowadays. I thought she might like the motorcycle game because it was like riding a horse but she turned the offer down. I then took her upstairs to my office. She likes to draw on the whiteboards and she added some more artwork there.

I then took her to the other side of the building that she hadn't been to before. They had installed some new skee ball machines and I let her play with the balls a bit. She could get the ball about halfway up the ramp - not bad. Sometimes she'd turn around and throw the balls in the other direction. We played another driving game there and then we went to the candy room. I gave her some M&Ms - she loved them of course. I had to go the restroom and I wondered what Mama did in these instances. I gave her some more candy, told her to stay put, and rushed in and out of the bathroom. When I got out, she was still enjoying her M&Ms. It was really fun having Mini follow me around in the office. She would obediently walk in her cute little way everywhere that I went.

Next, I decided to take her to the mexican restaurant near me for lunch. On the way there, we walked through an empty parking lot.. The pavement was littered with leaves. Mini decided to start picking them up. I'm not sure if she was cleaning or collecting but she would grab two handfuls then pass them off to me. While she wasn't looking, I would drop them back on the ground. This occupied her for a good 15 minutes or so. We then continued toward our destination. At one point, mini had picked a flower from the ground and she dropped it by accident. There was still a bit of wind, which caught the flower. She ran up to it and as she leaned over to pick it up, the wind picked it up again. Anyway, this went on 4 or 5 more times where just as she'd be about to pick it up, the flower would get blown a few more feet. It was pretty funny.

When we finally made it to the restaurant, I was pretty tired from carrying Mini and her bag of stuff most of the way there. I was starting to appreciate what Mama has to go through every day a lot more. After getting our food, I tried to sit down and eat with her. Now, this was a real chore. Mini would not stay still and she didn't want to eat either. We were sitting in a booth so she was standing up and walking around. I'm not sure how Mama handles this but I rushed through one taco while trying to keep her preoccupied with the iphone. That lunch really made me think about how Mama has to deal with this every day.

On the way back to the car, we walked through that parking lot again. This time, Mini pointed to the letters on the ground and said "A", pointing directly at one of the A's in Parking Not Allowed - Tenants Only that was written there. I was impressed because the font was not easy to read, kind of like a stencil. It amazed me how kids can really abstract these things.

We finally got home around 1pm. Papa was extremely tired since he hadn't slept much the night before. I decided to try to put Mini to bed. Hopefully we could sleep together. Anyway, we got into bed. She was pretty restless and I was falling asleep so I turned on the TV. I was able to catch a few 5 minute power naps but Mini was wide awake.

After an hour or so of that, I decided to take Mini on her tricycle. I could go check out some open houses in the neighborhood with her on the tricycle. We did just that. Mini seemed to have a lot of fun. When we got back home, we played together a bit. By around 6, she could see that she was starting to get tired as she started asking for Mama more often. She still needs her to console her when she's tired. I asked Mama to come back soon and she did, just in time as Mini was losing it

It turned out to be an exhausting but very rewarding day. It was great to spend a whole day alone with my Mini. I really got to see a lot of her little quirks and they were all lovable. I hope I can look back many years from now and remember times like these. Hopefully, I'll get to do more of these in the future --- maybe not all day but half. :)

21 Month Measurements

There is no pediatrician visit but just for record sake... at 21 months, Mini weighs 21 lbs and is 31 in tall. 

She's really starting to learn vocabulary and readily mimics words more accurately and frequently.  She'll even watch your mouth to figure out how to make the sound.

Europe Trip Day 10

We decided to take Mini to another playground that we walked by yesterday. Mama and I both had the same idea to hide penguin. Luckily Mini did not remember or think about it -- out of sight out of mind. When we got to the playground, there were a large number of school kids there, probably on recess. They were running around and doing what kids of that age do during recess. I was a bit afraid that they would accidentally bump into Kayla during their horseplay. Mini once again sat on one of those spring horses again for nearly the entirety of the time we spent there. I think she could sit there for hours. Anyway, it worked out because she stayed out of the way of the other kids.

After we left the playground, we saw some people inflating these large balloons, one which had a bunch of faces on it. Mini was intrigued but ultimately scared of it. She pointed at it but when I took her near it, she would turn away. We then checked out a museum that had an exhibit of an american photographer. Mini enjoyed the running back and forth through the curtains near the exit.

We took in a couple of sights in the old part of town. Then we stopped off at McDonald's in the main plaza so we could get something for Mini to eat. It was across the way from the carousel and we tried to put Mini situated so she couldn't see the carousel. Whenever she caught sight of it, she would point and say "ma". While we were at McDonald's we saw the balloons from earlier go by as part of a parade. We never figured out what it was for.

We ended up going to dinner down the street from the restaurant from the first night. We were a bit early at 6:30pm when the restaurants didn't open until 7pm. I playing with Mini on the curb again until the restaurant was open. It was a nice meal although not as good as the first night. We then headed back early since we had an early train back to Barcelona the next day.

Europe Trip Day 9

We originally planned to go to the zoo today. It turns out that it's not easy to get there on public transportation and the reviews on trip advisor were mixed. Also, the hotel staff seemed shocked that we were interested in going there so we decided against it. Instead, we decided to stick around town.

Mini wanted to take her new penguin along so we let her. We would come to regret this decision. First off, I wanted to stop by the train station to figure out how we'd get back to Barcelona to catch our outbound flight. There was a playground/park next to the station so Mama took Mini there. Mini spent the entire time sitting on one of those spring mounted horses. Again, she wouldn't let me sit with her but directed me to another one.

After the station, we headed to lunch at a place called Play Food. There were interesting food combinations placed into shot glasses. They were all very good although we especially liked the tuna macaroni. We sat at a table that had a bed on one side. We were hoping Mini would take her nap on the bed but she was way too energized to go to sleep. She didn't eat anything either.

After lunch, we tried to get Mini to sit in the stroller so she could sleep but she wanted to walk the penguin. By the time we got to Montpellier's version of the Arc de Triomphe , Mini was way overtired. We put her in the stroller to try to get her to sleep but she wouldn't stop crying. A man came over and questioned us in broken english whether we were the parents. I'm not sure what he planned to do if we said we weren't. Anyway, after an hour or so trying to get her to sleep, we finally gave up. We walked around the plaza with Mini walking her penguin. She got plenty of people marveling at how cute it was.

We then went to the Place de Comedie, which we had passed through on the way to dinner the previous night. It seemed like a good place to people watch. There was also a carousel there. We decided to get 3 ride pass and we had the brilliant idea to ride it twice today and save one for tomorrow. This was bad decision #2. Anyway, Mini loved the carousel. It's kind of funny because she sits there with a stoic look on her face but she never wants to leave. After the first ride, I kept telling her that we'll only ride it one more time. She would respond with her version of yes. Of course, when the time came to leave, she started crying, actually bawling. It was compounded by the fact that she still hadn't taken a nap yet.

We decided we should hurry and eat dinner so we could get back to the hotel to put mini to sleep. We headed towards a restaurant but Mini just would not stop crying. So we decided instead to grab some food at one of the take out stands nearby. It was here where I had the French version of a cheesesteak. It was phenomenal. They use fancy cheese on their cheesesteaks and they use hamburger meat for the steak. A kind of reversal of ingredients but it was still very good. At this point, Mama had gotten Mini to calm down but we were still ready to call it a day. We would have to make sure Mini got her daily nap in the future. On the way back, we walked by the carousel again. It was closed now and covered with a net. She got down and looked at it longingly for a good ten minutes before we could pull her away.

Europe Trip Day 8

It was supposed to rain for the next few days. We decided to check out the Odysseum (a shopping area) and nearby Aquarium due to the weather. The aquarium had gotten good reviews on trip adviser. Mini was excited when she saw the "ishies". She kept pointing to them while we were there and saying "bao-bao", which means hug. The place was actually quite large and the route kept going up and down the 2 floors.

There was a simulation of a ship going through a storm. Another girl who was maybe 7-8 got scared by the realistic simulation. Mini didn't have much clue what was going on...she just wanted to play with the steering wheel! There was also a room with penguins, which she loves. It was cool because they were not fully enclosed as most penguins are exhibited. You could literally reach out and touch them if you wanted to. There was also a slide. We took turns giving Mini rides down it a few times. She really enjoyed it, saying "more". When we finally left, she started to cry.

On the way out, they route you through the gift shop. I gave her a little stuffed shark, which she immediately grabbed and hugged. I offered her a few other stuffed animals, each one bigger than the last, but she clung to the shark (which she thought was a fish) and hugged it tight. Mama found a penguin on a stick that had wheels with flappers on it. Mini immediately took a liking to it and rolled it along the ground. She soon forgot about the shark and was going all over the store with the little penguin. We decided to get it for her, not fully aware of what we were getting ourselves into.

It started raining as soon as we left the aquarium. We quickly found a place to eat to stay out of the rain. Mini went off to an empty section nearby and walked her penguin back and forth. For lunch, I ordered the braised beef. When the waiter brought out our food, I was surprised to see a rack of ribs. I asked him if this was the braised beef. He said it was -- we had trouble communicating since this was not really a touristy area, few people spoke English. When the bill came, it said le porc rib, which was one of the few things on the menu I could decipher. Our bad food experiences continued. After a quick spin around the Odysseum, we headed back to the hotel.

We found a place for dinner in the old town area. The restaurant was quite small so Mama had to hold Mini in a cramped corner. I took Mini outside after we ordered. The streets in the old town were small, pedestrian traffic only. She enjoyed "jumping" with my assistance from the curb to the street. The food was excellent although we both ordered our meats medium well for Mini so the meat was not extremely tender...Mini didn't eat either dish. Perhaps our food fortunes were turning. Anyway, on the way home, it started to rain so we ended up hitching a ride on the tram.

Europe Trip Day 7

After days of incredible weather, we woke up to rain today. We had a late afternoon train to Montpellier. Unfortunately, I had prepaid the hotel so we couldn't cancel this part of the trip. Mini was excited to ride a train...or at least she said "uh-huh" when I asked her if she wanted to ride the train.

We spent a couple hours looking for a place to eat near the train station. It was raining and those slacking spaniards don't open for lunch until 1pm! Anyway, we found a place finally and it was again disappointing. Food has not been kind to us this trip. I had a lobster risotto, which turned out to be a very salty plain risotto with a 3 langoustines on top. I'm not a big fan of shrimp so I was kind of grossed out by it. I braved it out and looked for meat but there was none to speak of except in the tail. We then went back to the hotel lobby. For some reason, Mini really enjoyed falling down on purpose on the lobby carpet. It was a bit strange since she doesn't normally do that. But she would intentionally trip and laugh.

The train ride to Montpellier was pretty uneventful. Mini slept for a bit and spent time playing with the iphone and a little disposable puzzle. We ended up taking a cab to the hotel since it was raining.

Europe Trip Day 6

Due to the changes to our flights, we ended up only having 2 days in Barcelona. We decided to focus on the main sites of the city - La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's buildings, and Las Ramblas.

At La Sagrada Familia, there was a long line that wrapped around the corner. We also found out that they only took cash. We had not exchanged any money. Since I'd already been there before, I left the decision to Mama who didn't feel the need to go inside. Instead, we sat in the plaza across from the Passion facade. Mini tried to feed the pigeons that were walking around but either she failed to throw the bread far enough or she would try to get too close to the pigeons such that they'd fly away. After some time people watching, we walked around the perimeter of the church. By that time, the line wrapped around 2 corners. It was ridonkulous!

From there, we checked out Casa Mila and Casa Bastillo. We determined that the price of admission is inversely proportional to the size of the building. We made our way to Plaza Catalunya. We took a break there to let Mini out of the stroller and run around. She again chased pigeons and spent a long time admiring the balloons that were being sold, which she calls "Bloo".

 Next up was the La Boqueria market. We got a couple of stuffed pastries here, none of which Mini would eat. We did get a blended fruit juice, which she enjoyed. At this point, Mini was getting quite cranky so we walked the rest of the Ramblas until she finally fell asleep. We found a small playground in one of the side streets and decided to rest given all the walking we had done. Mini woke up after a bit and she spent the next hour sitting on one of the horses on a spring. She did not like me sitting on it with her but instead preferred that I sit on the one next to her. She cried when we wanted to leave and didn't want to leave her horsey.

 We had dinner at a tapas place. The food was way too salty. Mini still wouldn't eat anything. We had to continue feeding her on a diet of snacks. We made our way back to the hotel. The bed was a Cal King and she had fun running around on the bed. Mama and Dada did not have fun.

Europe Trip Day 5

Since our flight to Barcelona was in the mid-afternoon, we had all morning to kill. The hotel actually had late checkout until 5pm so that was great. Since we found out the museums were free, we decided to check out the Natural History Museum. They were within a mile from our hotel, which was even better.

The Natural History Museum is an amazing-looking building from the outside. The line was long but it moved briskly. Papa wanted to check out their dinosaur exhibit, which was quite extensive. It had a few animatronic Velociraptors and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Surprisingly, mini was not afraid of the Rex but was quite intrigued. Afterward, we took Mini to the mammals section. She enjoyed looking at the giraffe, elephants, and zebras. She kept saying "ishy" (fish) so we took her to the fish and reptile section. Unfortunately, that consisted mostly of skeletons of fish, which she didn't particularly like.

We headed back to the hotel so we could catch our flight to Barcelona. Mini was excited about getting on another plane. The flight was short and mini ended up sleeping most of the way. Our hotel was at the main train station so we took the train from the airport. The hotel had a futuristic space theme. The hallways were dark with stars on the walls. The room was quite modern with round chairs and even some futuristic faux windows with images of the earth.

That night, we found a local restaurant recommended by the concierge. The food was not super flavorful but it tasted very clean and fresh if that makes any sense. I had the lamb shank while Mama ordered a seafood soup and a carbonera. It was a mistake to order italian food. :)

When we got back, we wanted to give Mini a bath. However, there was no bathtub (only shower) and the sink was modern and quite shallow. So we gave mini her first shower. They was a rainfall shower on the ceiling, but also had a handheld nozzle that hung right at Mini's level so it was like her own little shower. It was perfect and she enjoyed it mostly. She liked to run her fish toys under the water. After the shower, we did the nighttime routine and went to bed.

Europe Trip Day 4

We weren't sure what else there was to see in London so we decided to take a tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We got up at 6 am and headed over to the Marriot to get picked up by a bus. Mini loves buses and she loved this one. On this first bus, we sat in the seat right behind the back door and we let her sit in the seat next to the window by herself. She loved sitting there and looking out the window.

Unfortunately, we had to switch to our actual bus and someone had taken the seat behind the door. Mini was a bit disappointed that she had a big seat in front of her but she had to make do. Windsor castle was nice, with amazingly ornate rooms. It made me wonder about all the money these kings and queens had for no good reason other than being in a blood line. Of course Mini was just interested in the horse statues that had armored knights on top ("ma, ma" she would say).

Next up was Stonehenge. Mini fell asleep on the ride over and Mama had to carry her through Stonehenge. It was especially windy as is common and we rushed through so Mini wouldn't catch a cold. It was pretty much a tourist trap anyway but at least we can say we were there.

We made a final stop at Oxford. The tour guide gave us a walking tour of the campus. The interesting thing we found out is that Oxford is not a single college but a collection of many colleges. Other than that, we bought Mini a shirt so we can start imprinting her on getting into college.

 All in all, the tour was expensive and rushed. Furthermore, I found out that buying the "complete" package was more expensive than buying the "select" package, which did not include admission, and paying admission separately. WTF? This deserves a bad review. The one redeeming quality was that we found out that the history and science museums were free. We had a plan for the next morning. We had Indian food for dinner and then Papa crashed.

Europe Trip Day 3

The night before, I found a couple places to go eat. We wanted to try a pub that was known for their good savory pies. We made our way over there. When we got there, they told us that they don't allow children. That's the first time we've been to a restaurant that rejected children. Granted it was a pub...but it was lunchtime no less! Mini, you got us kicked out! We ended up at Subway.

From there, we headed over to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. At Westminster, Mini was back to pushing her stroller around. We then decided to check out a playground on the map near the London Eye. We walked across the Thames as mini fell asleep in her stroller. When we finally made it to the "playground", it turned out to be under construction for the Olympics. They did have these large eggs for easter that you could put stickers on so we took Mini over to partake. Instead, she took the stickers and stuck them on her shoe. oh well.

We ended up taking her to a nearby hospital that had a small plaza with a fountain and some grass. There were a couple of ducks that mini was both interested and scared of. We gave her some bread to feed them with. She also enjoyed picking some flowers and throwing them into the water. It was all very cute.

With some time to spare, we decided to check out the Royal Opera House. We ended up at Covent Garden Market, a open air building that reminded me a lot of Faneuil Hall in Boston. We saw a costumed character that looked like a hippo. Mini wasn't sure what to think of it; neither did we. Turned out to be Moomin...i guess it's a English thing.

On the way home, mini fell asleep. I was worried that she would be jetlagged. We couldn't afford another wake-up in the middle of the night as we had to get up early for a tour that we booked. She woke up when we got back and we ended up staying up for a couple hours to do her normal nighttime routine, but she fell back asleep at 11pm - no more jetlag! Unfortunately, I still had jetlag -- didn't fall asleep until 2am that night.

Europe Trip Day 2

Day 2 was really an extension of day 1 since we were on a red eye. Customs in London was ridiculous. The line was at least a couple hundred people long. Some regulars complained that they had never seen the line so long. We waited in line for at least half an hour before we realized there was a "Special Assistance" line that we could go to because of Mini. Mini, you saved us a couple of hours!

We didn't get to our hotel until late afternoon. We decided to go visit buckingham palace. We had about an hour of daylight when we got there. Mini spent all of her time pushing the stroller outside the palace gates. I guess London is very close to Heathrow so there were plenty of planes flying overhead. Mini would look up at the sky and point every time a plane flew by. She has incredibly sharp hearing and eyesight. Anyway, we stopped off at a pub on the way home for some English grub. We ordered Fish and Chips and a Steak and Ale Pie. I asked the bartender if I needed to tip. He said up to me so I tipped 10%. Later, I found out you don't have to tip in the UK, especially not at pubs.

Mini was really tired during dinner and fell asleep on the walk to the hotel. It was her naptime in SF time, but we were all pretty tired from poor sleep on the plane. Everyone went to bed as soon as we got to the hotel at 9pm London time. Sure enough, Mini woke up after a couple hours since it was a nap for her. Mama and I were so tired, we couldn't get up. Mini would sit up for a couple minutes in the dark then lay back down on Mama, sometimes on me, trying to go back to sleep. Then, she'd sit up and repeat. She was extremely patient. Finally, after an hour, we were able to get up. We ended up taking her downstairs so that we could use the free wifi in the lobby. We played hide and seek with mini in the bar/lobby area. She was completely awake. At 4am (8pm PST), we finally made our way back to bed. Still on West Coast time...

Europe Trip Day 1

We had planned a trip to Europe nearly 6 months prior. The trip, however, got of to an inauspicious start. Early this morning, I got a voicemail that our flight had been cancelled. I called the airline and found out that Spain was on a strike. We had encountered striking Europeans on our honeymoon in Greece. This seems to be a common occurrence - damn Europeans! Anyway, the airline told me I had to talk to the agency that booked my ticket. When I called Thank You Rewards, they said that I definitely had to make the flight change through the airline and I should be adamant about it. I called back the airline and they were adamant that the change had to go through the agent. Now, neither party would conference in the other. So finally, I did the conferencing on my iPhone -- luckily they make that feature extremely easy. After 2 hours, I was finally able to make a simple flight change. Unfortunately, I wasn't actually thinking straight by this time, so we ended up having a 3 day layover in London, which I would come to regret later.

We still had to resolve our hotel situation as I had prepaid all of our hotels for the duration of the trip. We quickly booked something for London on priceline and then had to cancel the hotel in barcelona. At the end of the day, we were out $200 for changing the hotel - I felt lucky. We finally made it to the airport for a red-eye flight after a half day at work. Mini was having a lot of fun at the airport. She was crawling everywhere, which was good because we hoped to tire her out. We were hoping that we would have 3 seats, but unfortunately, the plane was full. Mama would have to hold mini the whole flight or so we thought. It turns out the airlines have a "car seat" on international flights that they can attach to this fold down table on the bulkhead. Anyway, the flight actually turned out to be surprisingly uneventful. Mini actually slept pretty much the whole way there. She even slept in the car seat for a couple hours. The downside was that no one in our row could watch the TVs while the table was open. It's ok though because we ended up sleeping also.

WOTD: Bus, Bei, Nai

Finally, you said bus!  When we were walking to the bus stop after Grattan Playground, you asked "bus?"  It took you long enough given how many buses you've been on and how many buses you've seen.  Now you can really warn me when the bus is coming :)

Yesterday, you also said "bei" for blanket and "nai" for milk.

Pocky in the Sunset

Baby girl, I have the best little moments with you. Today, we went to the Sunset to pick up bean paste and other Asian grocery items, one being Strawberry Pocky sticks. You started asking for the Pocky as soon as we left the store and I caved in. We were standing on the sidewalk and you just plopped down and extended your hand for the treat. It was great because the day was warm and you found a good corner for people-watching. We sat there on the sidewalk for a good ten minutes enjoying Pocky and the warm sun (sitting on the sidewalk is not something I would normally consider). A terrier dog even licked one of your Pocky sticks as it walked by, we had to throw that one away.

WOTD: Stop, Bao

Grandma Fu taught you to say "stop" while playing with your go-kart.

You also learned to say "bao bao" when you want to be picked up or held.

WOTD: Mama and Ducky

This morning in the car, Mini was upset and starting saying "Mama" over and over. Maybe she's got it now? After 19 months, Mama finally gets to hear her name.

At today's Incredible Edible class, teacher L was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear. When the yellow duck appeared in the story, Mini stood up from circle time, walked over to the book, pointed at the duck, and said "Ducky." Mini is really picking up English more so than Chinese. I make a conscious effort to say "ya-ya" whenever possible and try not to say duck hoping that she'll say the Chinese word. What a fail!

I am happy to say that this morning's Mama cries were not temporary. I can ask Mini, "Who am I?", and she answers Mama. Love it!

Mama loves you!

Only a mother could love this face so much. You're beautiful to me, baby girl.

WOTD: Ball, Two, Poo

Ball - you learned it from Buddy L when you two were playing with a ball
Two - Papa was teaching you to count but you only learned to say two
Poo - Mama thinks you told her you pooped. When asked if you had pooped, you patted your bottom and said "uh huh".  That's close enough!

Ashes, Ashes

For days, Mini has been saying "e-cee" or something like that.  We finally figured out that she means "'ashes, ashes" from the Ring Around the Rosey rhyme.

Go, Go!

Mini is such a backseat driver!  When stopped in the car, she will call out "go, go" repeatedly until the car starts moving again.  We've got to teach her about traffic lights now. 

She's also starting to like toy cars and trains.  She'll drive them around and say "beep, beep" and make crash noises.

Dah-dee

Came home today to Mini saying "Dah-dee" over and over and over. I'm not sure if she knows what it means but at least she's starting to repeat words that we are saying to her. Sometimes she would string together "Hai Dah-dee". She kept saying it over and over while she ran and hugged Grandma, Mama, and myself. Cute!

18 Month Wellness Check

Mini is falling in percentiles!  She's now low into the 15% range.  Nothing exciting for this visit, just a basic check-up.

Head circumference 46.2 cm
Length 30 in
Weight 20 lbs

Chinese New Year

To celebrate, we took Mini to a neighborhood party complete with Lion Dance and dim sum treats. The kids made red lanterns, received hong bao, and Mini got to show off her gong xi, gong xi skill (interlock hands together and move up and down).

Repeat after me

Since we went to Tahoe, Mini has gotten more distinct with her "Nos", and she uses it much more often now. Other than that, there is a lot of baby babble that comes our of her mouth. Yesterday, I decided to teach her the more positive antonym. I would nod my head and say "Yes". Sometimes, she would respond by saying "No". Anyway, tonight, she finally nodded her head and said "Hes" and "Ye" and finally "Yes" or something close enough. It is the first time she has repeated something I've tried to teach her. I hear that the rest will start coming quick.

Peekadoodle

Mini is starting a new kids club this month. Again, another free offer where she gets two months of free membership at Peekadoodle and eight weeks of classes.  It's a wonderful play space with pretend kitchen, Golden Gate Bridge and trolleys, indoor slide, toys galore, and much more.  For her sessions, Mama chose the Incredible Edible art class.  Today was day one and Mini painted with whipped cream and food coloring (which she licked and ate).  There was also stamping with marshmallows and painting with salt.  The class ends with story time and cheerios.   

Little Gym

We received an offer for free classes at Little Gym so we signed Mini up for the Birdies class.  Her first class!  Too bad she didn't pay any attention to Teacher Brian and only wanted to play on the equipment.  She barely participated in the class activities (only paid attention when the balls where brought out and when bubbles were blown).  Instead, she ran around experimenting with the padded mats, steps, wedges, and bar.  She was able to hang from the kiddie-sized high bar on her own after the first attempt.  This is mostly because she hangs with Papa on his pull-up bar at home.  Mini also tumbled down the big wedges and got a real laugh out of it.  Five more classes to go!