The Nose Is Supreme

My baby has discovered the two holes in her nose! I have spied her digging diligently while sitting in her car seat, eating and sitting on my lap while facing me. Gi has even offered her newly acquired skills for Mommy to test out. Oh boy, I miss my camera!

More Garden Fairies

A Greek Playdate

daddies and daughters

very fast super slide ride with the daddies

Gi and Daddy on left

Sammi and Daddy on right

Guess who wanted to go again?

Gi was all smiles when Daddy first placed her in this sparkly pink Mustang.

Gi is still all smiles and even testing out the equipment.



Once the ride got into motion, the smile disappeared and all exploration ceased. Luckily, no crying or panic ensued.

"Is this ride over yet, Daddy?"

"Daddy didn't tell me this car moved around in circles."

family mugshot

"You want me to dance?"

eating as usual

Love that smile, Sammi!

"Should we hold hands and dance?"

The three D's had another marvelous playdate with the "Hawkins." We all met at a local Greek church where they held their annual festival. The daddies took the little ones on some kiddie rides (at least the ones that they were allowed to go on). We all munched on some yummy gyros and sweets and watched students perform traditional Greek dances. Since my camera is out of commission, Wendy was very kind to take some pictures for us. Many thanks, W! Looking forward to our next playdate.

Miss O

Little Olivia is finally in her parents' loving arms. Our friends, Andi and Tom, are in Guizhou right now with their little darling. In a couple of days, they will be traveling to Guangzhou for the last leg of their China trip. Can't wait to greet them at the airport with Olivia in their arms.

Oh No!

Hubs had to send my camera to Sony today. I feel naked without my digital camera. Will I be able to go a couple of weeks without snapping pictures of my munchkin??? Darn that lens! It just wouldn't stay put after I used it yesterday. Gi is probably breathing a sigh of relief---free from Mommy's paparazzi ways for awhile.

Green Hair

Gi and I have been learning simple sign language. She is actually signing the word book in this picture.

liking it so far

so far so good

already itching to take the scarf off

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Grandma C knitted a small sea foam colored scarf for Gi. Gi was pulling it every which way until we showed her what to do with it. Now she readily puts it around her neck and on top of her head. With a little help from Mommy, Gi sports a stylish head wrap. As with any object placed on her head, after several minutes of wearing it she tears it off without a care in the world.

Garden Fairies

My sister continues to get very creative with Gi's images. She has started a series of post cards and greeting cards with images of Gi as a garden fairie. All the proceeds from the sale of these cards go directly into a college fund investment account that big sis has set up for Gi. How cool is that??!!

Choo Choo Neigh Neigh

The daddies are waiting for the ticket booth to open. Each train ride was only $1 per person. Gi and Brea got to ride free since they were under 4 years of age. How cool is that??!!

waiting patiently in line to board the mini choos choos

Brea waits in comfort---in Daddy's arms.

mini trains

The mini train ride goes all the way around this pretty pond.

All aboard!

going for a second ride

One of the train hobbiest let hubs take a closer look at one of the coal operated trains.

Brea and her daddy are going for a pony ride.

Gi on pony, Lucky

Gi's little legs were almost too short to go over the saddle.

Munchkin had no fear about getting on the pony at all. She held onto the handle bar the entire ride. Mommy was, of course, a little nervous.

Gi didn't take too much to the bounce house. She kept losing her balance and falling down. Daddy had to poke his head in to rescue her.

This is Gi's latest favorite facial expression when she is doing something she likes.

Brea loved going down this big-girl slide.

Gi followed suit on the same slide.

Munchkin zonked out on the car ride home.
Bye bye!

Wow! What a fun day it was for us! The three D(s) met up with the fabulous Van Clan and the Mei Meis at a local park for mini train rides and other giggle inducing activities. I do believe this is the first time that Gi got to ride a mini train and a live pony. She enjoyed both immensely with best bud, Brea. Both girls were fearless! We wish that best bud, Sammi could have been there for the excitement also. After a couple of hours of jammed-pack activities, we all indulged in a picnic lunch and a few more rounds of playground action. Then it was off to home we go. Both girls fell asleep shortly after in the car. Enjoy the pictures.

Gi-Power

At seventeen months, Gi is plugging along at her own speed. She had another visit with Dr. L yesterday. My little lovey is officially 31 inches tall and 19.8 pounds. Her head circumference is still the same from her last check-up, 44 1/2 centimeters. She is basically a growing, healthy baby with no red flags at this time. Music to my ears! Her next visit to the ped won't be till six months from now---wow, she'll be close to 24 months by then. How time flies! Gi seems to understand most words and sentences that we say to her. Her vocabulary usage is still quite limited---dada, baba(she calls me this), bil (milk), jaja (Gigi), vuvu (Fifi, our dog), dah (dog), cah (cat), etc. She will repeat words when we ask her too. Her latest obsession is "talking" on the phone. We notice that she tries to mimic the tone of our voice and speech pattern using her own brand of jibberish squawking. All remote controls in the house are now cell phones to Gi. It's hilarious watching her pace back and forth squawking into a remote control as if she was barking orders to her lowly underlings. Climbing, what can I say? She now likes to climb on and off of furniture. Every so often, she'll fling one little leg on the coffee table, look at us sheepishly, and hoist herself to the surface. Our bed is also an object to be conquered as far as Gi is concerned. She can't quite climb up yet but sure knows to how get down from it. She drops her feet over the side, grasps onto the sheets with her little hands and slides down like a prisoner escaping from his cell window. Gi continues to attend various storytimes and mommy and me classes. She'll start tot tumbling classes beginning February. She still loves to be read and sang to. My munchkin is growing and progressing. I couldn't ask for anything more. Life is good.

Can I Come Out?

Don't make me get rough with you, Daddy!

Who told you, Daddy, that you were done playing?

calling for backup


finally, get-out-of-jail card granted

Today, Gi dictated that it was Daddy's turn to amuse her in her playhouse. Not exactly having the patience of a saint, hubby kept asking his daughter if he could come out after only several minutes of play. Said daughter would rigorously shake her head even using her two little hands to push Daddy's face back into the miniature abode. This scene repeated itself several times until finally Gi was satisfied that Daddy had earned his freedom from house arrest.