eating, expressions, family, outings, special days

Celebration Dinner

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This evening, we had the whole family together for dinner to celebrate Peanut’s 2nd birthday.

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We had quite a spread of food and Peanut was determined to pick up his food with chopsticks.

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We had ice cream cake for him, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” and Big Sis helped him blow out the candles.

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Our little boy doesn’t like cake so we got him a cake made with strawberry ice cream and white cake.

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He tasted the cake one time and then demolished the ice cream half of his slice.

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Ankong also hooked him up with a second slice!

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We also managed to get all 6 cousins together in one photo.

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It was a fun night with the family all together again.

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Oh and Peanut got a giant set of Tinkertoys from Auntie Jia. Yay!

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eating, expressions, family, outfits, outings, play, special days

July 4th in Alameda

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We celebrated our first July 4th in Alameda with style. Dada put up a U.S. flag on the front of the house and we purchased smaller flags at Daiso on Sunday for the parade.

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We took the 21 bus to Otis and High and then walked down to the parade route along Otis.

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We found a good spot, laid out the blanket, and waited for the parade to start.

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There were lots of cool things to see including a fire engine, mini BART train, boy on a robot dinosaur, a zebra, horses, marching bands, and lots of floats with music playing. Here’s a fun fact: the Alameda July 4th Parade is the largest and longest July 4th parade in the country!

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After the parade, we walked to the shopping center and had lunch at Bowl’d.

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I think the kids really appreciated the shade and cooler temps inside the restaurant. They got to work on their coloring while we waited for the food to arrive.

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Peanut really enjoyed the noodles today.

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Then we waited around in the shade for the festival to start. Janie went into the bounce house (totally free!) and then we found the petting zoo (also free!).

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Janie got to pet a duck, goat, pig, chicken, and rabbit.

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Peanut really liked the piggy.

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We had so much fun celebrating during the day that everyone was asleep before the fireworks came on the TV.  Happy Birthday, America!! Yay!

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eating, expressions, family, friends, outings, special days, videos

Celebration Oysters

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As per our tradition, we celebrated with oysters. We walked down to Hog Island Oyster Company for one of Janie’s favorite treats – raw oysters with all the fixings.

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Cheers!

Peanut also enjoyed some grilled squid and was particularly fond of the tentacles. He ate at least 8 of them today!

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Then we all took the ferry back to Alameda. Janie showed off her Clipper card as our ferry arrived at the dock.

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She also got a photo with her favorite crew member, Chris. He made a point to come over to introduce himself to Mama and Peanut today. Every evening as she gets off the ferry, he says “See you later, Alligator.” And she responds back with “Tootaloo, Kangaroo!”

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expressions, family, friends, milestones, outfits, outings, school, special days, videos

Preschool Graduation 2017

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Our Little Janie graduated preschool today!! It took place at the Gap Corporate Office and all their graduation caps were lined up in order for the ceremony.

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Here is Janie’s cap complete with a rainbow, footsteps, and a flower.

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She entered the room with her class and was so proud of herself.

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She was also excited to see Mama made it across the bay to see her.

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The class recited a few poems and sang some songs for their parents. It was very cute.

Here is their Acorn Song. She sings this one in the bathtub a lot.

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Then Miss Tiffany (one of Janie’s favorite teachers) called each of them up to get their certificate. Janie opted for a hug instead.

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Our Baby Girl is heading to Kindergarten!! Look out world!

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At the reception afterward, we got to catch up with Miss Sharla, her teacher from last year’s Alligator Class.

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She also got a photo with Miss Elizabeth, the director of the Whale Class. She was often at school early in the morning to greet Janie when she arrived. Sometimes Janie was the first one to arrive at school and got to follow Elizabeth around as she unlocked doors and prepped the classroom.

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This is Tiffany, one of Janie’s favorite teachers. She gave Janie the nickname “Cricket”.

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After the reception, we headed down Embarcadero for dinner.

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It was the perfect day for some graduation photos!!

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expressions, family, school, self-care, special days

Mother’s Day Tea Time

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Mama got off early this afternoon to make it to Peanut’s school for a special Tea Time at 3pm. Peanut was so happy to see her and proudly showed off his present.

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There was a card and a box with his photo on it.

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When he was done with his snack, he neatly folded his plate in half and then threw it away in the trash.

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He also put his water cup back on the kitchen counter. It’s so fun to see all the things he’s learned at school.

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eating, expressions, family, friends, play, special days

5th Birthday Party

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Today we celebrated Janie’s 5th birthday with friends and family. It was nice to have a house with lots of space outside to throw a party. This year, we had a Paw Patrol Party!

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We set-up the warm food inside and the snacks and drinks outside. The front door was decorated with a big banner and balloons.

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The kids brought their bikes and scooters to ride around the greenbelt.

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We all ate outside together and enjoyed the nice weather.

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We also had sidewalk chalk and a bubble station set-up for the kids to play.

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Janie had one little spill and had to take a moment to get patched up. Then it was back outside she went!

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The kids gathered around to sing “Happy Birthday” and then it was time to eat cake!!

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Peanut still wasn’t so sure of what he thought of cake.

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The rest of the kids loved it though. We even rounded them up for a group photo with faces stuffed with cake and frosting.

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Janie scored a bunch of Paw Patrol loot today and had a fun time at her party.

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Happy Birthday, Big Girl!!

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expressions, family, outfits, outings, school, sleeping, special days

5 years

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Today is Janie’s 5th Birthday!! Her special day has finally arrived and she couldn’t be more excited. In honor of her new age, Dada got her her very own Clipper card.

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Now that she’s 5, she has to pay the child price and gets to “beep” herself on and off.

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To celebrate, Mama took the day off to take her to school. We rode the ferry together and she was so happy to show Mama where to go and what to do.

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We dropped her off for the morning so that she could celebrate with her friends at school. She was greeted with a “Happy Birthday!” from her teacher as soon as she walked in and they sang “Happy Birthday” to her multiple times throughout the day.

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We picked her up after her nap and they sang to her once more before she left school early with Mama.

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The best part of her day was wearing her giant 5 crown. As we walked through the city, everyone would wish her a “Happy Birthday” and took notice that she was 5 today.

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As a special treat, we took the birthday girl to Waterbar for some raw oysters. We ordered a dozen and she ate 8 of them on her own.

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The waitress also left us some chocolates after we paid the bill. The plate even said “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate sauce.

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We rode the earliest ferry back to Alameda together and sat on the back to enjoy the view.

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For dinner, we ordered pizza and sang to her one more time.

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We love you so much, Big Girl! So sad to see the little baby slowly fade away but we are so excited to see what you’ll learn and accomplish in the next year in Kindergarten. Don’t grow up too quickly! You’ll always be our Baby KK!!

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expressions, milestones, special days

She’s FIVE!

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It’s hard to believe that our Baby KK has turned five years old. She’s done so much this past year that it’s hard to remember what she was like a year ago. Here are some highlights:

  • School: She made a smooth transition from her Preschool Alligator class to her Pre-K Whale class. She went over with at least 5 of her old classmates, which helped warm her up quickly to the new class, kids, and teachers. Her favorite teacher changes from time to time but she seems to enjoy Tiffany, Alina, and Roxanne the most. She made some good friends and her best friend was Sota (aka “Sota-Wota”). Sadly, he moved to Japan and she had to say her first real goodbye.
  • Family: Janie has been a good to Peanut for the most part but they’ve had their moments of jealousy and disagreement. But in the end, we’ve seen her grow into a caring and protective big sister. She has become very independent and her commutes to school with Dada have gotten a lot smoother this past year.
  • Self-care: She has mastered dressing herself, getting her backpack together for school, making her bed, and setting the dinner table.
  • Trips: Mexico (September), Hawaii (December), Cerritos (x3), Disneyland (x2)
  • Halloween: She dressed up as Lilo and we all went to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland
  • Accomplishments and Activities: Tried soccer and she’s still meh about it. Learned how to put her face underwater in Hawaii. Mastered the playground at school and at the playground in front of our new house – biggest part was sliding down a pole. Learned how to ride her Strider down a hill. Janie has learned to read and understands addition and subtraction. Her writing and drawing have also made huge leaps this year.
  • Changes: We moved to Alameda and said goodbye to the San Francisco house. She learned a new commute to school and enjoys the ferry ride with Dada.
  • Favorites: Octonauts, Paw Patrol, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, playing outside, riding her scooter, DumDums from the bank, oysters, sushi, lemonade + water
  • Stats: Weight 42.5 lbs; Height 42.25 in; Shoe Sizes 8/9/10; Clothes 4T/5T

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Happy Birthday to our sassy, silly, independent little girl. Please don’t try to grow up too quickly.

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