We're back

It took us a little while to recover from the awesomeness that was August, but we're officially back!  One of our favorite features of the new pad is that we have an extra room to accommodate visitors more comfortably.  So we had peep visit almost every weekend in August.  They Nguyens: Viet, Carrie, Leah & Kayla.  Ba Noi, et al.  Omar and Odie. And we went to Tahoe one weekend, too, for good measure.

And HUELAN GOT HER FIRST HAIRCUT!  Which was not as crazy as I thought it would be. She saw Liz and I get cuts first, so she was totally into it, as you can see from the pics.  And getting to check herself out in the mirror sealed the deal.



We were lucky to have Nhuanh spend her last few days stateside with us, just hanging out.  She pulled up her roots and moved to Viet Nam at the end of August, so was on a wild spree of soaking up as much bay as she could handle.  Which mostly meant eating a lot.

Some pics from Mid August here (link fixed)

Somewhere Fun

We love having Gosia as our nanny, however one thing that we wish we could get Huelan more of is social interaction with other kids.  She has an activity almost everyday, whether it's storytime at the library or the fabulous Rockin' Kids Sing Along hosted by Ms. Stephanie, so she gets out, but we don't really get to see it because we're at work.  So on the weekends, we like to take her somewhere and let her run around.

When we're getting ready, we ask her variations of the question, "Where do Mom and Ba take you?"  She answers, "Somewhere fun!"

This past Sunday, we went to the playgound at Little Farm in Tilden.  Watching her interact is basically the cutest thing in the world.  She's not quite big enough to run around with the 5-8 year olds who are playing tag and climbing the jungle gym really quickly.  But she tries.  Eventually, she'll find a few girls (it's always girls) who are a little chiller and played with them.  

One girl Huelan just walked up to slowly and timidly held her hand.  They silently agreed to play with each other,  and soon were running around together like best buds.  

The girls in this pic were super nice. All older than Huelan, they helper her climb up this rock formation, giving her a little boost on the bottom.  Huelan was so proud that she had made some friends.

It's amazing how kids this age all share one priority- playing.  You won't be surprised to hear that at this park in Berkeley, there were no less than five languages being spoken. Doesn't matter.  

We try to hang back while she plays; we're anti-hover.  I try to not even let her know we're watching her all the time, keeping just enough of our eyes on her to intervene when absolutely necessary.  It's extremely difficult to do, but it's getting easier as she gains more confidence on the playground and we get a tiny bit more comfortable that she can take care of herself.

Down the Aisle

A few weeks ago, before things got crazy around here with friends and family visiting, Nicole opened a box from Patty to find these shells.  Of course she said yes and is very, very excited to walk down the aisle.  Did I say that?  wow....

Dealt It

Sometime around three or four months ago, she learned that farts are funny.  No clue where she got that idea from.  If she's anything like her mom, she'll continue to think that farts are funny for quite a long time.

SOMEONE...

...taught her how to do this. And it wasn't me.

Positive Altitude

We took a few days last weekend to head up to Lake Tahoe and spend with Daveand Eva's side of the family.  It's been a while since we'veall spent the night away from home together, and the first few nights weretough.  Not sure if it was the altitude or the general infamiliarity, butHuelan did not do well.  Which means that we did not do well.

But unlike us, the restless sleep didn't seem to have much of an effect onher the next day (maybe because we weren't kicking her in theface all night).  The vid above was taken about 5 mins after she woke upin the morning.

Despite some slightly frayed nerves, the weekend was just what the doctorordered.  QT with family and a short walk to the pool, as well as a numberof other diversions.  Huelan got to spend time with her cousins on Eva'sside, and at this age there's nothing she likes better than hanging with othermunchkins.  Execpt maybe the arcade at Harvey's.

Some pics here

The Livin's Easy

It's summertime and we've been having some good fun. Weekends have been oxymoronically packed with mellow activities, hanging with friends and family, and soaking in the bay summer. Saturday was Mateo's morning birthday, whih left us with a full day that we spent at the Berkeley Kite Fest then capped off with some burgers grilled on the deck. Sunday we headed back to the city for a gorgeous afternoon in Dolores Park. They just installed a multi-million dollar play structure that had Huelan and Stella in a state of perma-grin.

For the grown ups a bloody mary and some tacos- yes please. Spandex dance troupe was the cherry on top.

Ready to Rock

Last Sunday we spent at a beautiful beach in San Raphael called McNear's. Perfect place to enjoy a Bay summer day. Of course there was tons of food (thanks for making an oyster run Jay!), and we were treated to some great DJ's. One problem- it was a hair on the loud side for Huelan (at least her spaz of a dad thought so).

So our solution? Ear protection. Pink of course. With a little flair added by spazzo dad, who did up the ones he had to match.

We've been getting he used to them in the house, turning up the Jambox and rockin' in the kitchen. Next stop- mosh pit.

Baking

I spent a couple of days out of town this week, but I had a suprise waiting for me when I got home. A sweet, ite sized suprise.

Morning Person

As you know, a toddler goes through a lot of changes in her sleep habits. This is especially challenging when her parents have parties on the weekend and she doesn't want to sleep because she thinks she'll miss out on the fun.

So she catches up on Monday with a 2.5hr nap and Monday night with a solid 10.5 hours of sleep. So Tuesday morning when she wakes up, after a little singing to herself in her room, she's got a book in hand and is looking for Gosia.


“Huelan Morning Read”
(vid is over 5mins; if you make it through the whole thing you'll see some of her mad counting skillz.)

maybe Embed will work this time:

"I learned it..."

...from watching you!"

This girl eats well, maybe because she sees us enjoying food. These pics are from Casa de Chocolates, Anh Hong Bo 7 Mon, and Ici.

R+J

Ruben and Joaquin on the west coast leg of their journey.  Too fun for words. Luckily there are pics.

Banana

We hit up Bay Street today just cuz Liz and I both got off work early. And old Navy was selling already crazy inexpensive stuff at 30% off. While mom shopped, Huelan and Ba scrwed around the store of course. Which is fine at Old Navy.

But for some reason they're a little more uptight at Banana Republic. Just because we tried on every pair of sunglasses ($80? Who do they think they are, Sungless Hut?) and Huelan was talking to the manequins and touching their butts. Maybe having her kiss herself in the mirror was crossing the line?

Locks

Liz is angling for a summer trim, and she's probably right, but I'm dragging my feet. It is getting pretty long....

Late Mother's Day pics

I was in SoCal for most of Mother's Day this year, but did manage to make it up for dinner.  Here are some pics of the fun they had without me.