Fun with My Family

One of my favorite games is "Ball Time" which consists of a lot of throwing of balls and running around. It's never quite the same game twice, but it's always a ... well, a ball! I've also slowly come to terms with the idea that I can't always win which was a heard lesson to swallow but now I'm willing to take turns winning.

Time to play ball!
But first we need to "clean up, clean up, everybody do their share".

This picture captures my spirit pretty well

Lined up with my animals "watching tv" in the playroom
(there is no TV in the playroom)

We're very lucky to live in a neighborhood that offers tons of family activities including entertainment on the weekends. We've made it out to the shops / lake a few times to enjoy the festivities this month.

Okay, so it's a little hot

Cooling off in the fountains

Da plane! Da plane!

But I don't wanna go home yet!

Smoke!

A "little" dessert

It's getting to be more and more fun playing with Gavin. He's starting to drag himself around the room, and he sits up, and he's getting into all of my stuff. Okay, maybe that part isn't so great, but the rest of it is!

Smile, Gavin! Lemme show you how.

Mommy caught us peeking out the window after naptime

One of the best family things right now is my Da-Jiu Zong is in Dallas for the next month for one of his rotations. Hopefully we'll get to see him some in between all his long hours and trying to get studying/work done.

Da-Jiu is here!

A special event that we went to as a family was the Nick Jr Live show. It was my first live show, and I enjoyed it immensely. I got to see Kai-Lan, the Wonder Pets, the Backyardigans, and Dora all in person! I was enjoying myself so much, when the lights came on during intermission, I refused to let go of the seat because I was scared they'd make me leave when I wasn't ready yet. I can't wait to go to another!

Let's go to the show!

Waiting for the show to start with Jacob

The excitement ...

... quickly turned into naptime for Daddy


Toys?! They're selling toys?!
I want that one and that one and that one and that one ...

More? Please?

Not sure if this is fun with my family or being a big girl now, but I had my first mishap with an electronic device. I was trying to show Sofia my movie, but somehow it ended up to where Daddy had to do surgery on the DVD player ... after which he found 4 disc all in the machine at once. Whoops. Mommy says it's today's equivalent of jamming the VCR player. V-C-what?

Code blue. Stat.

Please check out all the pics in our August album and don't forget to come back and check out September!

"P" is for Primrose

Sometimes Mommy feels guilty about having me in daycare, but it's also hard to deny how much I'm learing while I'm there. This month while we were playing, I stopped Daddy before he could eat the food that I made him because, well, "we have to pray!". Mommy and Daddy didn't realize that we pray before we eat at school but have quickly adopted the behavior. Hands up high, hands down low, hands in the middle, here we go!

Thank you for the birds that sing ...

When I wake up in the morning, Mommy often asks me what I dreamed about, and inevitably my response is, "Mr. Al", the music man from my school and the special guest at my 2-year birthday party. Every. Single. Night. Who knew that going on a bear hunt would be so memorable?

Dreaming about, what else? Mr. Al!

I've known all my letters for awhile and am starting to get into what sounds each letter makes. The other day, I impressed Mommy by stating that "P is for Po-Po" ... which I then followed up with "and S is for Claire". Eh, well, 50% isn't bad.

"P" is for "puzzle" (my first one I finished by myself!)

"P" is for .. knuffle bunny?
The knuffle bunny is also a book that I was introduced to at school.

One of the most exciting things I'm doing at school is dance. I'm going to be a ballerina just like Crystal A-Yi. Daddy's especially excited about my recital in the spring.

Ballet

And tap

Off to my first day of dance class

At class ... maybe doing the bunny hop?

Some days I have no problems being dropped off and some days I'm a bit of a crybaby. I like to keep it exciting for Mommy and Daddy. :)

The school is pretty good about sending Mommy and Daddy pics of us during the day to make us smile, and there's a few more in our August album if you'd like to check them out.

Playdates and Parties

Gavin and I are still busy going to playdates and parties. One day we met up with some of mommy's girlfriends from college at Going Bonkers -- think ninja exercises for kids (and adults!). Most of the girls were smart and brought their husbands, too, so the mommies got to chit chat while the daddies got some exercise.

Group shot

I met up with Kaylie at the mall to play. We have a bad habit of running around (and running away!) together, something I don't really do when it's just me with Mommy.

Doing a little window shopping

We also had a little playdate with Natalie at Sofia's house. Natalie's mommy is Ms. Mitchell, Gavin's old teacher, and Natalie was in my class at school.

We climbed on here and were just chit chatting

Chloe came over one afternoon to play while our mommies went to work out. Even though Chloe's a little older than me (she's 4!), we play really well together. We did a good job keeping ourselves company while the dadides took care of Gavin (for the first time all by himself! Go Daddy!)

Giggling by the windows

We celebrated Reid's birthday at My Gym. It's hard to believe the baby of our group has now turned 2!

Happy birthday, Reid!

Choo-choo!

Yeah, I know, it looks like it's MY party! :D

There was a fun playdate at the mall one morning where we got to ride a train and a carousel all in one morning!

All aboard!

Playing on the wall

We also had a playdate at our place where I got to introduce my playplace to my friends.

Three in the tower at one time

And four on the playplace!

One thing Mommy has noticed is that now that she's home more, we do more stuff but she takes less pictures. Whoops. At least there are more pics in our August album!

I'm a Big Girl Now

I've been working on using the potty and not wearing diapers for a few weeks now, and really made great strides while in Houston with Gong-Gong and Po-Po. Then, earlier this week, I declared to Mommy that I wanted to wear panties to school. Adamantly. Tired of arguing with me, she decided to make it my teacher's problem (sorry, teachers!) and sent me to school in panties and two extra changes of clothing ... just ... in ... case. To her surprise, when she came to pick me up, I was in the same clothes! Dry! Success. See, Mommy? Told you I could do it. You just had to believe.

Washing my hands after using the potty.
One stool is not enough.

You sort of still need to keep an eye on me, though. I've unraveled the entire roll of toilet paper multiple times now (have you tried it? it's pretty fun), and today I tried to flush the ENTIRE wad of paper that I just unrolled. Luckily Mommy caught me before the real mess began.

It's not just what I'm doing.
It's what I already did.
And also what I'm about to do.
Hehe.

I'm a big girl in other ways, too. I help Mommy do the laundry -- diaper in the washing machine ... not a pretty sight -- and take care of Gavin.

Helping Mommy with the laundry

Catch my bubbles, Gavin!

'Nummy, nummy

August pics are up, so be sure to check them out!

Houston Heat

We went down to Houston with Mommy again for an extra-long weekend. To actually get there took a little longer than we would have liked -- our flight was delayed by an hour -- but it was still faster than if we had driven (which Mommy still refuses to do!).

A little snack while we wait

Excited to see Po-Po and Gong-Gong waiting for us

Let's go get our luggage!

We quickly made our way into the pool, something we enjoyed a few times over the long weekend. I was so hungry, I ate a whole bowl (that is, colander) of silly noodles all by myself!

Swim-ming! Swim-ming!

To the wall!

Silly noodles!

The next morning, we enjoyed a cool(er) morning before heading up to North Houston to see Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye. They recently fixed up their house, so we got to see their new kitchen. I especially liked the bunk beds and picking veggies in Nai-Nai's garden and was impressed with the "so many paths" in their house that I could take.

Smooooothie

I'm so tall

Ye-Ye!

No mosquitoes will get us!

Fishies!

We had a nice sleepover at Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye's that night and then met up with Gong-Gong and Po-Po at lunch the next day. Mommy left us to go hang out with her friends, and we spent the rest of the day playing with Xiao-Jiu, Kirby, and Crystal A-Yi. I kept scaring Xiao-Jiu with my crazy jumping in the pool skills.

Check out the high chair ... circa 1970?

Sunday was a Mommy and Me day -- all day! Mommy took me to go play with her sorority sisters and all their kids. First we went to Stomping Grounds again to burn off energy, then Mommy and I went to Charlie's place to play ... I mean, nap. Neither of us particularly wanted to nap, but we jumped into his bed so that we could read each other stories and play. Finally, I fell asleep, and everyone got some rest. Then, we headed to one of Mommy's friends for a feast!

I've missed you, Charlie!

Jungle animals sliding together

Sandbox!

The kids table

The big girls together

The next day, we just stayed local. We started the day with morning swimming, then headed to fun, fun storytime at the local library. The library Mommy grew up in and spent so many hours has grown up. They rebuilt a brand new library next to the old one, and they included an incredible children's area. Storytime was really good, too ... including a parachute!

Getting ready to swim back to the wall

Coming up for air

Crafts before storytime

Tell me a story, please

Parachute!

Getting a stamp on my belly

After the library, we headed to Luby's for lunch (yum!) and then naptime. The fun didn't stop there, though. When I got up from naptime, we went over to Abby's house to play. Mommy visited with her friends from high school while us kids played with lots of toys and paints ... and the sink in the bathroom. We had a yummy dinner for our last night in Clear Lake.

Luby's!

Laughing with Abby

I like the insides

And just like that, it was time to go home. When we got to the airport in the morning, we had to check-in at the desk because of the whole lap-child situation. While we were in line, Mommy happened to check the status of the flight on her phone and discovered our flight was canceled! Luckily, they got us on the next flight, but it was going to be an extra hour wait (yes, again). Gong-Gong offered to come to the gate with Mommy, so we had an extra set of hands to help out.

I am so tempted to make a run for it

Checking out the art. Which side do I need to stay on?

Where's our plane?

Daddy was at the airport to meet us, and I was so happy to see him.

Happy to be home

No doubt about it, it was a great visit, and hopefully we'll be able to do it often. Of course, there are a TON more pictures in our album if you'd like to check them out!