We had rice porridge this morning and Peanut fed himself with a spoon! Mama’s life just got slightly easier.
Curry Spaghetti
He made quite a mess this evening but also had a very good meal.
water cup
Peanut has been showing interest in drinking from an open cup lately (mostly in the bathtub) so it was time to bring out the training cup. He just needs to tip the cup up and let his upper lip depress the disc in the center to let the water out. He enjoys drinking like a big kid and Mama likes it because he can’t spill the water like he does with an open cup.
little monkey
Our little monkey LOVES bananas!
He also loves to hold it in the peel like a big kid.
Little Monkey ended eating the whole banana in no time at all.
black beans
Peanut could not get enough black beans this evening.
Soba
Dada made the kids soba and teriyaki chicken this evening. Both kids love it and Peanut tried using chopsticks. 
Janie ate up all of her dinner tonight and said “Thank you Dada for making dinner”.
hot pot
We had hot pot for dinner tonight and Janie helped Dada cook the meat and other items.
Peanut ate lots of beef, tofu, and mushrooms.
mango
Ta cut up some mango for Peanut this morning and he probably ate at least half of a mango all on his own.
He’s also getting pretty good at poking food with a fork nowadays.
Din Tai Fung
We went to South Coast Plaza to have dinner at Din Tai Fung this evening. The wait was at least an hour so Peanut and Mama explored the mall while Janie slept in the car.
He really liked the Gap Kids store but was not so good about keeping his hands off the merchandise.
Janie tried her first xiao long bao today and did a nice job eating it the right way without making a mess.
She loved it so much that she ate another 5 dumplings all on her own. Dinner just got really expensive.
Meanwhile, Peanut had noodles, pork, and chicken. He also tried eating fried rice with a spoon and thought this would be a more efficient way of eating it.
Zoe and Maya’s House
This afternoon, we went to Zoe and Maya’s house in Alameda for a holiday dinner party. Peanut played with Maya and Anika while Janie played with Zoe and the rest of the girls.
For dinner, the grown-up ate prime rib and Peanut had his very own drumstick for the first time.
Here’s a photo of Maya, Zoe, and our kids.
The rest of the kids were gathered around and this was the best photo I could get of all of them at once. We might be missing one of them too.