Today is Chinese New Year – Year of the Horse! 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè）Happy New Year! It’s the start of what should be a fun week at Presidio Knolls culminating in the school-wide party next Friday.
In preparations, Maile has been helping Christine and I with our Chinese character writing. Maile came up with a new year’s wish for our family that we “grow up big and strong” – her teacher translated it to Chinese characters and we’ve been writing it on red paper.
Mommy and Maile writing their new year's wish
Daddy needed a little more help!
The teachers have a bunch of fun activities lined up for next week – so stayed tuned for more and have a great new year!
According to Mommy, these containers were full when we left the house this morning. Looks like we have a growing girl on our hands!
Feed me Seymour, FEED ME!
When I got home from work today, Christine told me to go in the bedroom with Lauren and check out her new trick.
In we went and I witnessed the following…
That was cute – seeing her try to climb the ladder into Maile’s bed. And then it became less cute as she actually managed to climb ALL THE WAY UP! (No video for that one as I was spotting her 🙂
Up she went, no fear at all.
Planning her route...
On the second step ... no way she'll go any higher. Right? Right?!?
Great success! Let's party!
(Click here for the video.)
Camille (our nanny) sent this picture of Lauren to us this afternoon – looks like she was having a fun Monday 🙂
While Mommy and Daddy are away...
Lauren is getting a bit bolder with her big sister. Anything Maile is doing she wants to be a part of – and I think it’s fair to say that Maile doesn’t always want to share her activities. The boldness extends physically too – she’ll grab Maile, pinch or scratch her a bit.
The following transpired this morning:
Scene: Maile and Lauren are playing on the ground in our bedroom. Lauren scratches Maile on the face and it hurts Maile. Maile kicks her – hard enough that I notice and Lauren starts to cry a bit.
Dad: Maile, don’t kick your sister!
Maile: But she hurt me first!
Dad: Maile, you’re bigger than her. You need to say you’re sorry.
Maile: I didn’t mean to though!
(At this point, Mommy intervenes and tries to explain to Maile that even though she didn’t mean to hurt Lauren, she still did and she should apologize.)
Maile: But Lauren started it! She hurt me first! Why doesn’t Lauren need to apologize to me?
Mommy: Well Lauren is a baby, she doesn’t know any better, plus she doesn’t talk.
Maile: But she didn’t even apologize to me in baby language!
(Cue Mommy and Daddy stifling laughter as once again, Maile Girl makes a very good point.)
When we were in Hawaii Maile went to see Frozen … twice. (Yes, after seeing it with Daddy, she invited Mommy to go see it with her the next day.)
Since then we’ve been listening to the soundtrack at home pretty much every day … if not twice a day. Luckily, the songs are pretty good. For her part, Maile is memorizing all the words – she actually has taken us by surprise a few times with how much of the songs she actually knows.
And even when we aren’t listening, Maile starting in with an “Elsa? Do you want to build a snowman?” is never too far away… I love in this video how you can see the gears working in her head as she tries to remember how to pick up the song.
(Click here for the video.)
Apparently, today was opposite day and it started with Lauren feeding Mommy breakfast…
(Click here for the video.)
January, 2014 – Lauren discovers the iPad.
Hallelujah!
I realized tonight that in all the craziness of the holidays and new year, I never posted the family pictures we had done while we were on Hawaii! Christine found a great photographer to take some photos of us at the Manoa Valley Park on Oahu – we love how they came out.
(The photographer was Dave Miyamoto & Company Photography. If you find yourself on Oahu looking to take some family photos, highly recommended.)
Below are some of our favorites, you can find the full set here.
The full family, Maile at 4.5, Lauren at 1
Maile Girl - my favorite smile of hers in the batch...
Lauren on the move!
I love this picture of Christine and Maile...
Of course, we took a jumping one 🙂
And a running one too...
This is Christine and my favorite picture in the batch - love these two!
A long time ago, Christine and I decided that she would be the one to teach our children how to tie their shoes. I believe this came after me complaining that my sneakers always came untied, Christine witnessing my shoe tying technique, and then sadly shaking her head while also laughing that I had somehow made it this far in life while still having the bunny rabbits chase each other around the hill (or whatever was the basis for my approach).
Maile has one pair of tied shoes – she’s had them for awhile, but they only recently started to fit. This morning Christine showed Maile how to tie the shoes herself. She must have practiced a few times at school, because tonight she very proudly told us she had it figured out.
And sure enough she did…
(Click here for the video.)
