Seattle Summers

It's not hard to live in Seattle when it's summertime! We are surrounded by beauty from the lake to the sound and a sprinkling of breathtaking mountain ranges. It can be HOT too so that means I get to spend time in the wading pool! I love splashing around. Mummy may have splashed me this time, but I got her back later when I re-created the moment in the bathtub.

I love the water. I guffaw when I'm at the fountain trying to touch all the spouts. When I want to visit this fountain, I just ask my parents to take me to the "spitting frog fountain." I can't help but get soaking wet. Luckily, my parents have gotten smarter and bring along a change of clothes. What can I say... girls just want to have fun!

What would summer be without picnics! We go outside as much as we can on these gloriously sunny days. I was stuffing my face here with.. umm.. I don't remember, but I guarantee it was delicious. Meimei is enjoying the picnic too, but she's being discrete while she eats under that cover.

Meimei doesn't get to run around and play like I do, but I think she's having a good time. She seems to spend a lot of time contemplating the world. Here's she is being pensive. Mummy had to note in her calendar that Meimei slept 7 hours one night this week and she's averaging at least 4h in a row on most nights. She seemed really happy about this sleep thing. I guess I didn't do that when I was 4.5 weeks old.

Being a big sister is very fun. I get balloons and books and toys and lots of people to play with me. I just get irritated when I don't get my way. Mummy calls it "flexing my terrible twos-muscle."

Well off to our next adventure. Where to next, Papa? Hmm.. it's feeling a little crowded back here...

The Big 1 Month!

Why, hello again! I am one month old now, and we had a big month-day party for me last weekend. It was quite fabulous, with ye-ye, nai-nai, mummy lei, big sister maia, and of course my mummy and daddy in attendance. my uncle andy came as well, but I'll let da jie jie tell you about andy shu-shu. (hint: he got on her good side by bringing a big balloon)

Here I am hanging out in my bouncy seat. da jie jie has been practicing her finger dexterity by closing the safety snaps (she's not allowed to play with the bouncy seat when I'm in it). to date, no opening the snaps -daddy said something about how lucky it is that she doesn't know how to let herself out of her stroller and car seat yet...

what do you think da jie jie is thinking of here? I would guess something fruit-related.

speaking of fruit, look at this spread that mummy and baba made! mummy lei made the tasty smoothie. also on the menu were these mini-egg frittatas (did I spell that correctly? I have so much to learn!) sausages from this place called "trader joe's". who is this mysterious T-J anyway? mummy and baba go there _every_ week. bread pudding, and scrumptious banana-chocolate bread (see previous post for recipe).

well, it certainly looked delicious but I was happy with mummy's milk.

here is da jie jie looking anxiously on before the feast. "do I get to eat any of it? yao yao yao YAO YAO!"

here I am milk drunk. as serene as the lily flowers next to me. get it? ahhh...

and here I am being my usual charming low-maintenance self. mummy and baba keep saying that I am one easy-going baby. I don't have much to compare to, but what else could I want other than milk and cuddle time? the rest of my day is spent calmly investigating my surroundings, a little smidgin of "tummy time", and outings to the playground, grocery shopping, and wading pools (only da jie jie goes wading - but wait till I master this motion characteristic of bipeds called "walking") - watch out, here I come!

Mop Top

I'm back tracking a bit in terms of my posts, but now that my sister's arrival has been announced, I can catch you up on some fun things in my life, pre-Meimei.

I finally convinced Mummy that I was nearly 2 years old and perhaps it was time for my first haircut. So she acquiesced, despite Baba's previous protests and bowl-cut threat. So off we went (when Baba was working).
At first I was the coolest thing because I got to sit in this red car and drive and then they gave me this box of toys... but then I started to get wary with those scissor things that she kept waving around at me.  I have to give it to her though - she was like a ninja and went super fast.  Before I knew it, I had to get out of the car.

Here's the end product... complete with princess sparkles?! I guess I could of done without those, but it was a fun experience. The nice woman took a before picture and sent some of my hair with Mummy so she was happy to have some kind of keepsake.

I was ready to style at Aunty Kristin and Uncle Rich's wedding. We had such a good time (once we got through the bridge traffic.) Here I am hanging with my bud, Lucy Jiejie. Hey, we're both big sisters now!

With this new 'do I feel ready for anything. Even school maybe? I told Baba I'm getting to school by taking riding my bike. You would think that would offset my carbon footprint, but then I also told Mummy I was going to work by taking the airplane. I obviously have big plans of the kind of work I want to do when I grow up.

Fast Learner

Hi Everyone! I'm so excited to finally have access to this blog. I'm actually a pretty quick learner so no need to wait for Jiejie to wake up from her nap to teach me. You see, I don't sleep all the time, but I realized that if I'm awake she is, then I don't get as much attention. Really looking forward to actually being able to communicate with words one day.

I think Mummy knows what it's like to be the second born kid so she's making an effort to take lots of pictures of me. I'm kind of relaxed about it though. Take pictures, don't take pictures. I just really like to be fed, held, and sleep. Sleeping is pretty awesome. I even went 5 hours between feeds the other night. Mama was stunned.

My main objective has been building this double chin. I'm rather proud of it. Mummy had subscribed to a bunch of newborn diapers, but had to upsize the order because it was clear that they were quite snug. Ode to breast milk...

I'm still learning the ropes of this household and sometimes I get caught in sticky situations, like between a lady bug and a banana. Well actually, I was pretty content there. I think Mummy was trying to size me next to this banana. We'll see if it's any match for me.

Speaking of bananas.. I wanted to share this banana bread recipe that was the last thing Mummy made before I managed to be born. It was just so delicious...
Banana Bread
For 2 loaves -
Preheat to 350.
3 1/4 cup flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt - add together in a bowl and stir.
In a separate bowl, we beat 2 sticks of butter (1cup) and then add in 2 1/3 cup of sugar, beat in 4 eggs 1 at a time.
We added 5 ripe mashed bananas, but the recipe calls for 6. It still tasted good.
Plus 1/4 cup of sour cream and 2 tsp of vanilla extract.
We mixed the flour mixture by thirds into the wet stuff and then folded in about 1/2 a bag of chocolate chips that were dusted with flour.
We spread the batter into 2 loaf pans, and after 1 hour to 1 h and 15 minutes it was just right.
Happy eating!

I'm a big sister now!

Dear family and friends,
It's with great pleasure that I introduce my darling little sister, Lily. I get to call her Meimei and she calls me Jiejie. My whole world changed on June 21st when she was born, but I don't think I knew it yet because I was fast asleep and the only thing I noticed was that my parents weren't home when I got up. Luckily, Mummy Lei had just flown in the night before. I think Lily was anxious to meet her too since she heard she was such a good cook. I have to agree. There have been lots of good smells around our house lately. Lily was a whole pound heavier than me at 7lbs 8oz and 19 inches long. I was pretty excited to meet her when she came home. I was even more thrilled when she gave me this awesome tricycle.

One of my neighbors has a motorcycle and I like to watch him from the window. Before he gets on his bike, he puts on his helmet, sunglasses, and gloves. I try to imitate him as best as I can when I get on my "bike." Baba was a little nervous of my deference to this guy, but I told Baba if I got a tattoo, it would probably say something like, I Heart Mangoes.

I am very intrigued by my Meimei. I'm going to have to teach her a lot of things about the "real world." Perhaps when she's more awake. I have to admit, she's pretty cute and a very good baby when she's not hungry. Mummy says I always liked to eat too. I guess it runs in our family. Can you believe that?!

I also have to admit that I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to maintain Mummy's attention. I realize that I don't fit so well into my old things, although it doesn't stop me from trying. Occasionally, I'll throw a fit. It doesn't seem to be getting me what I want though. I wonder why that is? Mummy and Baba say that only 1 person in our house gets to cry at a time. Baba tries to be that 1 person sometimes.. Silly Baba! Babies do the crying. O..I guess I'm a big sister now. There's some food for thought.

Hugs and Kisses to you.