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.

Mama says I'm growing up fast

There have been some major technical glitches over the last 2 months, but thanks for being patient. We are now up and running through a Mac so perhaps you'll see a few more updates. No promises per my very busy editors.

I hope you all are enjoying all that spring has to offer. The cherry blossoms are in full effect here in the other Washington and the days have gotten so bright and long that we are starting to forget what winter was like.


I have been sporting some new hair-do's. My papa offered to put a bowl around my head and cut after he saw the price of a "kid's haircut", so my mama declined and thus no haircut for me yet. Thanks to Li Ayi, I can even get some braids in when I sit still long enough. What do you think?

We took a trip to Santa Cruz for a little vacation not too long ago. Here are some brief highlights.

Lots of time by the beautiful seaside...

Booboo "Kobayashi" destroys a mickey mouse pancake. (Too fast for even the before shot.)

The aftermath. I am so my parents' child.

Lastly, I've been talking in full sentences for the last 3-4 months, but lately it's been all about the singing. My dragon parents are next going to attempt the Suzuki method if I'm not careful. Here is my post-bath singing routine for your enjoyment. "A-B-C-D-E-F.... "

Happy Chinese New Year!

My first blog of 2011! And now it's the year of the rabbit. Papa, Mummy, and I rang in the lunar new year with Aunty Shannon, Uncle Mark, and Abigail Meimei. We had all kinds of auspicious foods like fish, noodles, and oysters. Mama even made her first nian gao. I'm getting the feeling that my parents and their friends like to eat as much as I do. Wish you all a prosperous and happy new year. More updates to come.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Dear Papa,

Thanks for taking such good care of me. We have so much fun together! Mummy and I love you very much! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Maia and Mummy

Ferry Building and popovers!

Oh, hello again! This is one more post to tell you about our trip to San Francisco. Our last day there, we went to the ferry building farmer's market and then to my Auntie Kristin and Uncle Rich's apartment. Auntie Kristin cooked up a storm! we had bacon, and more bacon, and these delightful popovers (which taste a lot better with butter). Uncle Rich cut these amazingly symmetric grapefruit slices. I think he might be very detail oriented. Papa showed me his friend "Norbert", who is a norfolk island pine that lives with Auntie Kristin. Norbert used to be very small, just like me.

We also got to see my Auntie Eunice and Uncle Jim. And, of course, my good friend Oliver! I was a little embarrassed because mummy had to loosen the waist straps on Oliver's high chair when I borrowed it. Hmm, maybe I should eat a little less "ba-pu" (aka, "pu-tao", or grape, which is my new favorite food). It was so much fun to play with Oliver and Lucy! I think mummy and papa really enjoyed seeing their good friends. I also have to report on how many new words I can say! At last count, I think I'm over 60 words, and mummy likes to point out that I can (sometimes) put two words together, like "ayi zao" (good morning, li ayi!) and "bye baby" (which I said to a 3 year old, who looked at me askance). I looovee to talk!

Here we are for a family portrait in front of the ferry building. You can't quite see it, but there's a gi-normous "pa-kin" (aka, pumpkin) behind us. Apparently, there is a picture of mummy and papa standing in front of this big pumpkin a few years ago, before I was born. Look how far I've taken them now!

Back to my old haunts

What's up? Well, some of you may have wondered what the long blog hiatus has been about. Well, some of it is that one of my editors is a little technologically-challenged. And the other one had been really hard at work studying for her boards. Let's just say we're all glad they are over. The good news is that Mummy took her Boards in San Francisco! Papa and I joined her over there after she was done. That's right, my brave Papa flew solo with me. Good thing I took it easy on him by taking a nap. I still think he sweated a bit. :)

I got to hang out in my old 'hood with Lucy Jiejie and her parents. We had a great time. I basically tried to follow her around and she was very good at giving me directions.

Here we are hanging out on the front stoop like real urbanites. I so dig the city.

Here's Lucy jiejie showing me the proper way to enjoy a Tartine chocolate croissant. Chocolate... I wonder what that is... Maybe when I get to be a big girl like Lucy Jiejie!

More pics from my visit with Lucy coming up. And then... my first encounter with something cold and wet and falling from the sky.

Where's Bamm Bamm?

OK, I'm trying to catch up for lost time. Hope everyone got some good treats for Halloween. Seattle has really pretty fall colors. I took a picture of it on my walk home. (This was of course, before our recent snowstorm - and before Papa wished he had access to Mummy Lei's leaf blower.)

For Halloween, Mummy thought I was the right age to be Pebbles Flintstone. I tried to get Oliver to be Bamm Bamm, but turns out he was already a cool pirate. O well, maybe another year. What do you think of my costume? I kind of dig the bone in my hair. :) I'm bringing prehistoric fashion back.

I had a great time for Halloween. I got to run around and dump out all the candy. Mummy was a little sad though since we only had 2 trick-or-treaters the whole night. And they were such polite kids, they only took 2 pieces of candy each. That left Papa with a big bowl, but I think Mama rationed him.

Gotta get back to my romping around the playground. I love it when I go up the steps and go down the slide. Wheeeee! Next up, Mama takes the boards and I build my vocabulary....

Washington to Washington Direct

Wow. There's a ton to catch up on. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We'll have to get to our ridiculous meal later. First I want to talk about how awesome it was to meet my great-grandma, Mummy Gyi. I flew all the way to another Washington, but it was a long ways away. I did pretty well on the flight, but my parents seemed happy that I had my own seat. Mummy Gyi and I had a good time. I was great at making her laugh.

She and I are a lot alike. Look how much she enjoys eating too!

I found out I come from a really big family. There were lots of new faces which took some getting used to. Luckily I know Mummy Lei well. Skyping her can be fun, but it was great to see her in the flesh. Here we are, empowered female representatives of 4 generations all on the couch. Let me ponder the possibilities.

Thanks Mummy Lei for such a good time in DC. Look how pretty fall is there!

Off to school

Mummy, Papa, and I are starting to really settle into Seattle. Can you believe we've already lived here an entire year? We've figured out our favorite coffee brand, our favorite pastry place, and our favorite playground. (Ok.. maybe MY favorite playground, but I drag my parents along with me every chance I can. Heh.)

I realize however that my parents don't have the close circle of friends we had in my birth city, so I've decided to force them out of their comfort zone a little bit. Here I am introducing them to some new friends at my swim class. I can be very charming as I explore the concept of buoyancy. Fascinating how light I can be in the water.

I also started taking a really fun chinese class with a lot of other kids my age. Really the class is for Mummy to learn some more... her chinese is what Lucy jiejie and I would refer to as "bu tai hao." While Mummy was learning, I was busy perusing the landscape and seeing what kind of snacks the other kids brought. Hmmm, kind of got me hungry just thinking about it.
Well, speaking of my eating habits, I had my 15 month check up! I am hugging along that 90% percent curve for weight. O yeah baby! I'm 26lbs 15oz (12.2kg) and 30.5in long (50%) with a head circumference of 48cm (90%). As my Aunty Chor Chiat says, that's a lot of cheek to kiss.

Well, I'll end with a little video of my guffaw that I've been perfecting. Feel free to laugh along!

I'm back!

Hey you! Have you been looking for me? Now that I've been so busy walking around, it's awfully hard to sit down and blog!

I've had some great friends come visit me. Lucy Jiejie and her parents and Aunty Kristin and Uncle Rich came to spend one weekend with me. We had such a blast! I was so happy to see them. Papa told me that the ideal ratio of adults to kids was achieved that weekend. I had to break it to him that he could technically be on both sides of that equation.
Here we are at Volterre for brunch... delicious!

Aunty Jessica and Uncle Patrick came over too! We went to Pike's Place and then the Space Needle one day! Here's our touristy perfect pic with the quintessential Seattle salmon!

I love visitors! Hope you all come back soon! I promise to flash you my pearly whites!

The Troll and the Sound

This past weekend, I spent time with my Uncle Andy. He and I took my parents to go explore a little more of Seattle. We went under this bridge to meet the looming Fremont Troll. He was actually very friendly with lots of visitors. At first, I was a little suspicious of him, but was reassured that Mummy was carrying me.

Before that, we had worked up an appetite strolling along the Sound at Discovery Park. I like taking Mummy and Papa for walks. See how I have to pull them along? Sometimes they can be kind of slow.

The view was so gorgeous. Uncle Andy took these shots with his iPhone. I wonder when Papa is going to get me one of those... I know I'm going to have to teach him how to use it.

Walking is a lot of fun, but I still need a single finger assist to do it. I'm happy to crawl all over the house now and am a little perplexed by these "gates" that my parents just put up.

Oh and special thanks to my Uncle Ming Wei and Aunty Peifen for sending me those CDs that I've been singing along with... "wawawawawawa" is one of my favorite happy bee songs. I don't think my editors have captured it yet on video, but I'll let you know when they do.

Have a great week!