For late nights at "Kill 'em & Eat 'em" aka "the Evil Empire"

The bad news is that this has really been the longest hiatus that I’ve taken from updating the blog and I can’t promise that the time in-between posts will get any shorter. I considered just “making a clean break” with the blog because it is so much more work than I had anticipated. Both the OG and I are exhausted!!!

However, the thought of having to defend that decision to the OG’s fan base (I’m thinking of one obstinate-beyond-her-size grandmother, in particular) was enough to scare me back to my senses. For now, anyway.

The good news is that since it has been a while since our last update, there is lots of new material and pictures to share. Enjoy!

Last we left off…

…Olivia was transitioning from her infant classroom to her toddlers one. In short the OG LOVES Toddlers. She loves her teachers – Miss Dipti and Miss Juliana. And, I’m very happy to say that they love her back. When the OG was still transitioning into the room (meaning that she was supposed to spend half her day in Toddlers and the other half in Infants), she was having so much fun in Toddlers that she didn’t even want to go back to the infants’ class at all. When picking up the OG, the teachers give us some fun bulletins that show what the toddlers did in class all day. (Double click on the pictures to enlarge).

Just Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale...

Grandpa Auriol came in June to teach a fencing camp at Northwestern. Luckily for the OG, he decided to stay with us, even though it meant having to drive back and forth to the camp. The OG had a great time with Grandpa Auriol. They played with her bouncing balls, went on walks and hung out on the couch. She wished that he could have stayed a few more days, but he had to rush off to go to Fencing Nationals in Santa Monica at the end of the weekend. Hope to see you again soon!

Words of Advice: Don’t Eat at the Organic Café

The Glynns came over for some playtime and a visit to the zoo over the 4^th of July weekend. Lucky for us, we had a professional tour guide (Bob) in the group and he led us around through all of the animal houses and exhibits. I highly recommend this tour – super efficient, conducive to short attention spans and very baby friendly!

That day, I realized how much Olivia must learn from observation and imitation at this point in her life. The OG kept pointing and “asking” for her little pink sunglasses. But, whenever I gave them to her, she would not keep them on her face, instead she would pull them up and rest them on her head!

Bindi Friday

Auntie Phelps stayed with us for a few days before we both left for our much anticipated girls’ vacation. Once again, the OG took immediately took to her and they had fun playing together with the stuffed wombat that Auntie Phelps had given her from Australia and the yeoman mitt from the UK. In fact, when Stephane came to pick us up at the airport, I think the OG was just as excited to see Phelps as she was about seeing me! Humpf!

Daddy Day Care

While I was on my “getaway,” Stephane and the OG had some major daddy/daughter bonding time. From what I can tell, Stephane did an excellent job while I was away…but, I will note that never in our relationship has Stephane been so willing to hang out with my parents. J Every time I called him, he was on his way over, at or coming back from my parents’ house. One of the OG’s favorite outdoor activities at Ah-ma and Ah-gohng’s house is riding in her bike seat. She looks around at the birds and bunnies and points them all out, as we ride by. We love having her seat mounted to the front of the bike so that we can hear the gales of laughter coming from that little face underneath the bike helmet.

Wonder Where She Learned That From?

We are not sure when she learned this…but, the OG is now constantly furrowing her brow. Whenever you don’t do exactly as she pleases, she stops whatever she is doing, looks at you with (what we call) her “mean face” and tries to stare you into doing whatever it is that she wants. It’s actually quite effective! Sheesh…next thing you know, she’ll learn to put her hands on her hips and then we will really be in for it!

On the flipside

In direct contradiction to her “mean face,” the OG is now constantly blowing kisses. At first, it seemed like something special that she saved for her nearest and dearest – Ah-ma received kisses after watching her for a day, I would get kisses when dropping her off at school, etc. Then she expanded her “kissing circle” to the “aunties” and “uncles” that often come by for visits over the weekend, to her teachers in Toddlers…soon, however, we were noticing that anyone and everyone gets a kiss – even the Costco check-out guy! Its fine for now, but we’ll have to teach her to be a little more prudent with her kisses as she grows older.

Dim Sum
in my Tum Tum

One weekend, we joined Auntie Min was brunch at Shanghai Terrace in the Peninsula. Apparently, they just started serving Dim Sum, so not many people know that it is open for brunch. This worked in our favor because the OG was quite the handful that day! The manager of the restaurant tried to hide the fact that he was terrified Olivia would destroy his restaurant, but the OG was able to win over the waitresses by speaking Mandarin with them – she would point to the flowers in the restaurant and say “hwah-hwah, pee-yow, pee-yow” (meaning “pretty flowers”). They liked her so much, they brought all sorts of extra little tasty items for her to try. Hands down, her favorite dish was the lobster dumping…if she keeps that up, the baby OG is not going to be so baby anymore!

Social Butterfly

One of my uncles from Taiwan came here on business in June. Stephane was out of town, so one of the nights, we decided to join him and my parents at Millennium Park for a picnic and concert. Olivia had a great time running around and trying to join other people’s picnics. We rolled her ball, blew bubbles and walked to see the Bean. As always, Olivia made friends with everyone around us.

Problem Solved.

This is what the OG usually looks like when we brave Edens traffic every night. Needless to say, she HATES the car.

This is what the OG looks like when we brave Edens traffic and she is given a chocolate pretzel rod to keep her busy.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Perhaps she learned this from the Monkey House at the zoo, but one day, the OG was walking in the little hallway from the bathroom to her playroom, stopped by the ladder, gripped it…and then the next thing we knew, she had climbed all the way to the top. She probably would have tried to keep climbing, but we un-curled her fingers and forced her to come back down. At which point, she proceeded to start the whole process over again.

Little Miss Chatterbox (I KNOW which side of the family she gets this from…)

The OG learns (and shares) so many new words every day, including “hii-yah” and “bye-yah” (think: Southern drawl). Every day, either at school or with Ah-ma, the OG sits on the ground and spends hours just flipping through all of her books. She turns each page with purpose and jibber-jabbers about the pictures and the stories. She also regularly practices her conversation skills with all of her stuffed animals. She tells them a bedtime story and then rocks them to sleep by patting them on the back.

My favorite of her new words is “uh-oh.” Usually when she says it, she uses her “normal” high-pitched baby voice and it sounds like she is just trying out some new sounds in her mouth. However, once in a while, whenever she spots a reason to say “uh-oh,” she drops her voice an octave or two and releases a prolonged and serious, “uhhhhh-ooohhhhhh.” This happens most frequently right after she has thrown her sippy cup full of milk onto the floor and it explodes all over the floor. The girl’s got timing!

Happy Birthday, Miss Sylvie!

We spent Saturday afternoon helping Olivia’s cousin celebrate her 2^nd birthday. Sylvie had a fabulous birthday party at the Kohl’s Children’s Museum. In fact, all the kids had so much fun that I couldn’t even get them together for a picture. To tell the truth, the OG seemed a bit intimidated by the number of bigger kids running around. One boy (who was old enough to know better) shoved Olivia out of his way, when she was gathering the courage to play with one of the toy contraptions. Luckily, Stephane was not there to see it, otherwise he probably would have shoved the little boy back (which, quite frankly, is what the boy deserved…though probably not the best reaction to this situation). Nevertheless, the OG had a great time playing with puzzles, searching in “dirt” (cut up pieces of felt) for fossils and building a sandwich at Potbelly’s. We will definitely be taking her back there…maybe not on a weekend when it is so chaotic though (or at least not until she is big enough to shove the little boy back).

Flecebe(?) at the Beach

On Sunday, we had a family day at Montrose Beach where Real Uncle Jason was playing Ultimate Frisbee in the annual Sandblast Tournament. Olivia loved being at the beach – she ran around on the sand, picked up handfuls of it and even tried to eat it (yumm-o). I think that the OG was a good luck charm because once we showed up, Real Uncle Jason’s team just kept winning! The OG was very proud of her uncle…especially when he made the winning pass in the highly anticipated Older Northwestern alum vs. Newer Northwestern alum showdown.

Living Vicariously

Like her little pink kitchen set, I recently bought the OG a Radio Flyer wagon because I had always wanted one growing up. Boy – things sure have changed. No longer is the Radio Flyer a flimsy piece of metal with four sides and rickety wheels (though you can still buy that version…it’s now called the “Classic”), the one we selected is thick plastic with seat backs (no tray tables) and real rubber tires. It also has drink holders and a storage unit in the back. The very best part is that you can also attach a little umbrella to the side of the wagon, which serves to protect from both rain and sun (and came in handy for both uses this weekend). The OG loves her wagon. She gets very excited to go for rides, whether we are going to the coffee shop down the street or around the block for walk. She pulls the little seat belt around her waist and grips her hands to each side of the wagon, with a big ol’ smile on her face. Next up on her list of “things I will get because my parents never had one…” – a Big Wheel (one of Stephane’s items).

The “ee-shee, bee-shee” spider…

The OG is learning a lot of new songs and dances with Ah-ma and at school! Whenever she hears someone start singing the “itsy-bitsy spider,” the OG puts her pointer finger and thumb together to show us how the itsy-bitsy spider climbs up the water spout. In addition, she is very adept at “Little Bunny Foo-foo.” Whenever she hears that tune, she points her pointer finger and thumb (like making an “L” with your fingers) and bounces them up and down. She hasn’t quite figured out yet how to keep the pointer and middle fingers up together while curling the other fingers under to make bunny ears, but I just love her version of Foo-Foo.

Well played!

A bit perturbed at the current standings for Auntie of the Year (see Cubs’ game post), Auntie Cori made her move. She surprised me (and the OG) by sending us a care package with a book (for me) and some pictures and videos of the OG. After watching this video, I think we can all agree that Auntie Cori is definitely moving up in the rankings… on the other end of the spectrum, however, is Auntie Tamra. Hopefully, when she moves just a few blocks away, she and the OG will hang out more often!