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

3rd Birthday Party

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We celebrated Janie’s 3rd birthday today at the Children’s Creativity Museum.  It had a Nemo theme and Janie was so happy to see her favorite characters on the cupcakes and balloons.

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Before the food arrived, all the kids (and grown-ups) spent time in the museum playing with foam dough.

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There was also a craft table where the kids made rockets.

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For lunch, we had Hawaiian food, veggies, and fruit.  The Spam musubi disappeared in a flash.

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After lunch, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Janie and she had a funny reaction to what happened after she blew out the candles.

https://youtu.be/m0QG2TQH5p0
Luckily Auntie Ishya caught the whole thing on video for us.

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Janie chose a chocolate cupcake with a Nemo ring on top and had lots of frosting and cake on her face for the rest of the party.

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In fact, all the kids LOVED the cake and each had blue frosting all over their faces.

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I wasn’t sure if she would able to share the balloons we bought for the party but she did and actually handed some of them out to her friends.

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Once the birthday party got packed up, we headed out to the carousel for a couple rides.

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To burn off all the sugar, the kids went back inside for some more fun.  They all played together on the slide and made a couple videos too.

https://youtu.be/pwF7KQ0v4V0
The slide is green so that you can record yourself with a variety of backgrounds.

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I’m amazed that we somehow managed to get all the kids together for a group photo.

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Thanks for coming to the party, Friends!  Hope you all had just as much fun as we did!!

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eating, expressions, fine motor, friends, self-care, special days

Lunar New Year

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We went out for Dim Sum this morning for a late Lunar New Year celebration.

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Janie loved eating baos and gave chopsticks a try.

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Auntie Vyl also gave her a red envelope and $5 inside!  Although Janie didn’t understand the significance of the whole thing, she had a good time taking it out and putting it back in – over and over again.

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After everyone was done eating, we tried to get a photo of all 5 kids.  This was the closest I got when we were inside.  For once, Janie was not very happy about taking a picture and ran off.  At least they all had a good time playing with each other while we waited for the check.

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Then, just before we all headed home, I captured this very rare photo of them on the steps outside.  Amazing!!  Happy Year of the Ram!

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eating, expressions, family, friends, outings, play

Train to Burlingame

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This afternoon, Janie rode the train down to Burlingame to have dinner with her pals Jack, Reese, Rowan, and Isla.

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She was so excited to ride the train and did a good job sitting between Mommy and Daddy.

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At Rowan and Isla’s house, they had lots of toys and plenty of space to play.  She especially enjoyed the tree swing.

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She played cars with Isla (missing from the picture) and jammed with Rowan.

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She sat at the kiddie table with the rest of the kids and had some hamburger and chicken.

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For dessert, everyone got ice cream.

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She got her very own baby scoop of strawberry ice cream on a cone.

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At the end of the day, the kids chilled out for a bit in front of the TV.  This is the only time all four kids were sitting in one place.

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On the train ride home, she looked like a pro train rider with her iPad and elbow on the armrest.  What a fun day!

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eating, friends, outfits, outings, play, special days

Year of the Horse

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This evening, we went to Reese and Jack’s house for dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year.  We got this red top handed down to us from Mommy’s co-worker and it was perfect for this occasion.  Everyone brought something to share and Janie feasted on Chap chae, Chinese sausage, Mommy’s chicken gravy over rice, and red bean pancakes.

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She also got to play with the shopping cart without the threat of anyone stealing it from her.

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There were also lots of toys and crayons to keep her entertained all evening.

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Janie received a red envelope from Auntie Vyl and Uncle Bang.  It actually had money inside!  Thank you!!

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She also received a pair of Hello Kitty socks (no picture) from Reese.  That was so nice.

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By the end of the evening, she was calling everyone “auntie” and “uncle” and even sat in Uncle Bang’s lap for a bit.

Happy Year of the Horse!

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eating, family, friends, outings, play, videos

CuriOdyssey

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Janie went to CuriOdyssey today to celebrate Rowan and Uncle Bang’s birthdays.

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She sat at the kids’ table and thoroughly enjoyed her juice box.  I’m surprised she actually kept her party hat on for as long as she did.

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Inside the museum, Janie had her first experience with science.  There was a tube that blew all the foam toys up into the air.  She watched at first and then figured out where to put the toys.


Air Tube a video by beakatude on Flickr.

Here she is having some fun with her pals Reese and Jack.

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There was a fog machine that scared her a bit.

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It was all better at a distance.

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The wooden stools were fun to carry and move around the museum.

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Outside, she watched the river otters swim and play.

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Later, she saw them up-close while they were napping.  She kept pointing to them and saying “GoGo”.

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What a fun place to run free and explore!

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eating, fine motor, friends, gross motor, play, speech

Holiday Party

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Janie threw a Holiday Party for her pals tonight. Here she is sharing her toys with Jack, Reese, and Liam.

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Keenan also joined in on the fun.

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Then it was time for dinner.  All the kids had Daddy’s tasty pasta with meat sauce.  She and Keenan had fun eating together in their dualing highchairs.

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Zoe showed up later and joined the toddler table.

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So cute!

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Afterward, they enjoyed more playtime.


Kumquat vs. Uncle Victor a video by beakatude on Flickr.

After the kids went home, Janie stayed up and partied a little more. She and Uncle Victor had a little Street Fighter match. I think she’s ready to n be Chun-Li for Halloween next year.

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friends, gross motor, outings, play

Backyard BBQ

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Today we went to Rowan and Baby Isla’s house for a BBQ.  Janie got to check out Baby Isla’s play mat and was thoroughly impressed.

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She also found some of Rowan’s cool toys.

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Outside, Janie played with the basketball and practiced walking in and out of the house.

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She also enjoyed hanging out with Reese and trying to check out what she was doing.

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Take a look at her trying to join the boys in their game of volleyball.

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And we can’t forget the swing.  Janie could have stayed here all day.

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Phew! What an exciting day in the backyard!  Gotta stay hydrated!

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

Bay Area Birthday Bash

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As if two parties wasn’t enough, Janie had one more birthday party today with her Bay Area friends and family.  So many of her little friends came to celebrate!

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Second cousins Theo and Sadie came up all the way from San Jose.

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She had her afternoon snack with buddy Keenan and shared her sweet potato with him.

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The cheeksters shared some puffs before going back to playing.

Jack helped Janie blow out her birthday candle.


Birthday Cupcake a video by beakatude on Flickr.

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Janie thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake!

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OH BOY!

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What a fun mess she made!!

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She had fun with all her uncles and aunties.  Uncle Ryan is funny.

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Aw…so sweet.  She gave a sideways huggy hug to Auntie Stephanie.

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Buddy Rowan made an appearance and seemed to enjoy the cake too.

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Zoe brought her folks, Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Eleen, to the party.

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Uncle Jason and Auntie Jia also stopped by at the end of the party.

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Look at all the presents she received today.  What a lucky girl.

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Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us!

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