A couple weeks ago Christine was telling me about an article she was reading that said the single best thing you can do with your kids is read to them from birth. I responded by saying, “Oh great, we do that!” and then Christine reminded me, “We did that with one of our children.”
Yes, it is true. We were slacking on reading to Lauren.
So now we’ve corrected and read to her every night before bed – Maile picks the books and Christine or I read.
Daddy reading stories to Lauren and Maile...
Lauren can feel herself getting smarter with each passing word.
Love, love story time!
I guess we have a good control experiment now between Maile and Lauren to see if the article was right 😉
This weekend we headed down to Big Basin with most of Maile’s class for a family camping trip. As far as camping goes it was pretty easy going – we stayed in small cabins and there were nice, clean bathrooms – but it was just enough to whet the appetite and we had a ton of fun.
Including siblings there were about 30 kids there – so lots of playmates for Maile. They ran all over the camp ground, exploring, playing. We hiked to a small waterfall and had a great picnic lunch. We slept in sleeping bags and even though it was cold and rainy for the first night and early morning, we survived! Lauren was a trooper as well, although the rain and mud made it a little frustrating for her – not quite as much freedom moving around as she would like at this age.
There was no cell reception at all, so the phones were put away – hence not a ton of pictures to share (although I did sneak it out to take some video and pictures when we were doing S’mores around the fire 🙂
The only family picture from the trip - at In-N-Out on the way down 🙂
Mommy and Lauren survived the night - although Lauren was a little confused as to where we were I think...
Daddy taught Maile the fine art of s'more making!
Maile was VERY focused on her marshmellow – she wanted to make sure it didn’t burn!
A full day in and still a little bit confused...
There's a marshmellow in there along with those fingers... Yummy!
(Click here for the video.)
In one week we’re headed to China with Maile! (Lauren is going to be staying home for this one with Grandma and Papa Hawaii). Maile is very, very excited!
Christine and I wanted to make sure she was indeed going to be able to deliver and help get us around – I think it’s safe to say, we’ll be okay 😉
(Click here for the video.)
Every year on March 30th I try to do something fun with Maile (and soon Lauren) to commemorate a good friend of mine, Lonny, who passed away 6 years ago.
This year I took her to her first live basketball game – and even better it was a women’s basketball game! (I’ve been watching a lot of the men’s tournament on TV, but Maile’s little mind was blown when I told her we were going to see a game and it would be ALL GIRLS!) We headed down to Stanford and watched the Cardinal beat up on the Lady Lions of Penn State.
Maile and Daddy all ready to cheer on the Cardinal at Maile's first basketball game...
Maile was great – she was super curious about everything going on. I taught her about the scoreboard and the basics of how the game worked. The crowd was fantastic and Maile really got into the cheering and high fives on the big plays. I used to absolutely love going to basketball games with my dad so it was really fun to get Maile started.
All in all, a solid Lonny Day – while perhaps not his sport of choice, I have no doubt he would have gotten a kick out of us cheering in the stands!
I signed up for a new service called Pley and we received our first delivery today. Pley is basically Netflix for Lego sets – its an awesome way to try out new sets without having to buy them outright.
We got our first delivery today and Maile was pumped. We dug right in and I think it’s safe to say it was a huge success. How do I know? Maile asked to skip her TV show and books in order to keep building! That never happens. We started after dinner, took a break to have a bath, kept building, brushed teeth, kept building and finished just before bed time. Maile did almost all the building, but Christine and I enjoyed being her assistants.
Getting organized before we dive in...
... and about an hour and half later, we have the finished product!
I loved Legos as a kid. But I love them more now!
Lauren gives kisses now. But you need to work for it.
Both girls crack me up in this video. Lauren imitating our kissing sounds and playing hard to get. Maile begging for the kisses. Just love.
(Click here for the video.)
As we do every year (2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010), this morning I sat down with Maile to fill out her March Madness bracket. This year, Lauren joined in the fun too! (We gave her a pass last year as she was only 10 weeks old!)
Last year, Christine and I had Maile sufficiently brainwashed that she took Duke to win it all. Alas, as we’ve learned this year our influence is wanning already and Maile had her own ideas. Her Final 4 of Eastern KY (15 seed), Villanova (2 seed), San Diego St (4 seed) and Wofford (15 seed) is definitely unique. Let’s just say if she nails that, she’s in a good spot to win Warren Buffet’s billions!
As for Lauren, Daddy had to interpret things a bit more, but she ended up with a Final 4 of VCU (5 seed), Michigan St (4 seed), San Diego St (4 seed) and Louisville (4 seed). She has Louisville over VCU in the final game. Here’s some video of Lauren filling out her very first bracket:
Let's do this Daddy - can you grab some stats on this San Diego State team for me?
Me and the girls hard at work...
Helping Lauren with her picks...
Maile's completed 2014 bracket...
Lauren's completed 2014 bracket...
Our proud (and cute) bracket picker!
Good luck to our girls and everyone else!
(Click here for the video.)
This morning Christine and I went to Maile’s school to participate in a tea ceremony. Maile and her classmates have been practicing all week. It was a great little ceremony.
Mommy, Daddy and Maile - Chinese New Year's 2014
New Year Tea Ceremony is a traditional custom in the Chinese Lunar Year celebration. Traditionally, on the day of Chinese New Year, children present a cup of tea to their parents, grandparents and elders in the family to wish them a prosperous new year. This ritual is called 拜年（Bàinián) wishing people happy new year. In return, the elders give the children a red envelope for good luck and good wish.
To start the ceremony, Christine and I sat down in chairs and then Maile served us each tea while wishing us happy new year in Chinese: 新年快乐 （Xīnnián kuàilè）Happy New Year!
Maile serving Mommy and Daddy tea...
After we gave Maile a red envelope we had prepared – Christine made a butterfly by folding a dollar bill 🙂 I gave it to Maile using two hands and we wished her Happy New Year too and 恭喜恭喜（Gōngxǐ gōngxǐ) Congratulations!
Daddy giving Maile her New Year's envelope...
Tonight we put the envelope underneath Maile’s pillow where it will stay for 15 days. After that she will open it to find our good wish on February 14th 🙂
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!
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.)
