Fa la la la la la

We're getting into the holiday spirit over here! Jiejie has been caroling around the house. Her favorite ones are Fa la la la la la, O bring me some figgy pudding, and You better not pout. Those may not be the titles, but those are the words she likes to emphasize. Here's her caroling costume that she put together herself.

 

This past weekend, she and Mummy decorated this beautiful house. Thanks Trader Joe's. Funny thing is that she didn't know that she was using real candy to decorate it. I think if she had figured out that she could have actually eaten the house, there wouldn't be much to show you. Next year I'll have to show her how it's done.

 

I haven't quite figured out why we have stockings by our fireplace. They seem like really big socks. Of course, Jiejie and I tried to put them on; isn't that what you do with socks? I just love to dress myself. It's just a bit hard to coordinate.

 

Ah well, I think this sock looks divine. I'll strike my kissy pose with it.

 

Happy holidays to you!!!

Thanksgiving remembered

We're gearing up for the big feast at our house this year with a few snags. One Baba is busy making money for all the food we consume. Two, Mama and I both got some kind of bug that had us hunched over a toilet for a day. Three, Mama was feeling better but just burned her finger making apple pie. Ahh.. the casualties of the meal.

 Here's thinking back to last year's thanksgiving where we had 3 meals, 2 of which we've already posted about (see November 2011 1 and 2). Here's the last one we celebrated with my friend Meredith and her family. I believe the menu included stuffed acorn squash, roasted turkey courtesy of Alton B, broccoli, butternut squash, macaroni and cheese cupcakes, and bell peppers with Burmese dressing.

Meredith and I had our own kids table where I got to dig in my plate and hers when she wasn't looking. It was delish!

This year our full line up was going to include bacon jam (our latest obsession) stuffed dates, gougeres, steam roasted turkey a la Jacques Pepin, biryani rice stuffing, burmese dressed veggies, cranberry-pomegranate relish, kimchi mashed potatoes (Baba is skeptical), apple pie, and pumpkin flan. Now post illness, we've had to scale back, but will have some combination of the above.

Pies are supposed to be therapeutic to roll out, so Mama and I have been trying out various pies. I'm a great mixer. We made a spiced plum pie the other day from leftover fall fruit and now the apple pie is out of the oven.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

New York City

Before Hurricane Sandy, we got to visit with my sweet great-grandma, Mummy Gyi. Jiejie was the first to jump on her lap. She made Mummy Gyi laugh and laugh.

 

Mummy Lei and Jiujiu came up too, so we really had a party. Lots of food and family. Here I got to join 4 generations of women in our family - talk about formidable!

 

I found out that I come from a very big family. I met so many people including Aunty Baby, Uncle Martin, Uncle Nelson, Uncle Thawdar... in fact Jiejie and I both think that everyone in NYC can say the Burmese alphabet - kaji, kaguay...

 

Oh and of course I got to sit with Mummy Gyi too. We had a wonderful time. Hope they are all safe from the storm. We're thinking of you lots. Bye for now!

 

Happy Halloween!

What?! Did you know that once a year you get dressed up in some kind of costume and roam around to your neighbors' homes, knock on the door, and they bring out this big bowl of CANDY?! Free candy? And all I said was "trick or treat!" What a great holiday! Meimei and I had a blast!
She dressed up like a little dragon.

 

Can you guess what I was? Yup, Hello Kitty! And I get to wear my hat again, whenever I want this winter to keep my ears warm. Best part of Halloween so far was some kind of candy called  M&Ms. But I think they melted in my hands.

 

The fun didn't stop there. We went to a fun birthday party at the children's museum today and Meimei and I still got to get dressed up. Here she is as a sweet little bee. Yes, that's a big tomato behind her.

 

Here I am very hard at work in my construction zone. I made sure I had my toolbelt and helmet. Safety first! I didn't get to do everything I wanted to before it was time to go, but next time I'll be sure to ride the boat like I did in Maine.  That'll be another story for another time.

 

Summertime!

 

We've been super busy enjoying the summertime here to the fullest. Lots has happened and we'll have to post that later. Here's Meimei and I out for a stroll. Meimei can almost walk by herself, but she likes to hold my hand. I can always get her to laugh. She's my best audience when I sing too. Little sisters are awesome.

A lot can happen in 4 years...

 

Happy Anniversary Baba and Mama!
Thankfully you have friends to help you relive the moment via youtube. Jiejie was asking "where is booboo?" in all of this. Looks like a hall-of-fame performance to me.
We love you.

no more monkeys jumping on the bed

The respiratory viral season has well gone viral. Needless to say it was a crazy week at work which meant many late nights and no participation in bedtime. I would sneak into the girls' rooms at night to check in on them. Maia woke up one night and we snuggled for a bit, talking about our days. I apologized for not being there to tuck her in and told her all how I had to take care of lots of sick babies in the hospital. Maia looked at me intently and asked, "did the sick babies jump on the bed?"

Maia's reference -

2 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

1 fell off and bumped his head.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

It was the perfect end to my long day.

Family Yoga

One of the distinct benefits of being supreme editor is that I can post more about me. Who says the second born has to be in the shadow? Unless of course, you're protecting your skin from the elements. Recognize this awesome hat, Aunty Nan?

My jiejie has been showing off a lot of her yoga moves at home. She learned yoga ABCs from her preschool and started doing a bunch of poses around the house. Mama and I can do yoga too.

Compare this with my jiejie at my age.

Lastly, here's my crawl technique for those of you still getting your groove on. Hopefully my parents will catch a little video of me clapping on command - a little trick I learned from big J on my recent SF sojourn.

Big L

I am staging a coup for this blog. It's 2012 editors - time to update!!

I'm nearly 9 months old, so I decided to takeover. What a travesty that most of my development has not been documented. I can sit up with ease, roll with fervor, and crawl with delicacy. My favorite words are "gaaaa" and "mmmmmaaa" and "dadada" but I try not to speak on camera. Better politics to just smile. Here are a few recent pics of me to see how big I am now.

I am enjoying a variety of foods including rice cereal, peas, avocado, pears, apples, prunes, cheerios, and carrots. I believe I may be the daintiest eater in this household. The world is such an exciting place with lots of things to explore. Sometimes it's hard to take time away from exploring to eat. I suppose I may change my tune when I see what all the fuss is about "grapes." Mama thinks I may need some teeth before I get to try those.

Mostly what I enjoy is trying to be big. Big is like my big sister. She's awesome. Here I am trying to walk.

Better still, here is me trying to drive. :)

Buckle up and be safe!