Watch us grow!
We all went to R&G Lounge tonight for dinner.
Janie grubbed on lots of noodles and broccoli while the grown-ups ate salt and pepper crab.
She also insisted on holding both Auntie and Uncle’s hands on the way back to the car.
Back at home, she spent some time with Ankong before they had to head home.
There were lots of hugs and kisses for everyone.
Janie also got a red envelope from Ankong for Chinese New Year. Lucky girl!
Janie went for a ride on Uncle Jason’s back today while he did some push-ups. What fun!
She then did her own push-ups with GG on her back. Funny girl.
Auntie Jia and Uncle Jason came over for dinner tonight. Daddy made pizza for everyone.
Janie made a “special treat” for everyone.
It’s a Rice Krispy Treat pizza!
Janie says it’s yummy but so sticky!
Our flight home wasn’t scheduled until 4:10 so there was plenty of time to go back to the beach and pool. But first, a nice hearty breakfast!
First stop was the pool. Janie was so excited.
The pool was super empty at the time that we went so it was nice and quiet too.
Luckily the sun came out strong and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky today.
Next up was the beach for a little more digging and meatball-making.
She also braved Mr. Ocean and managed to get her feet in the water.
http://youtu.be/a5T3uWVzZTE
Here’s a video of her slowly making her way in.
By the end, she was running into the water to scoop up some water.
Then before it was time to wash up and pack, Janie went in for one last dip with Daddy. They enjoyed the view and our little slice of the infinity pool together.
Ama and Ankong stopped by to find us and got some snuggles in.
We had brunch outside at the pool after checking out and Janie got a wooden giraffe toy. Uncle Jason bought it for her from the vendor nearby.
It’s one of those toys that dances when you press the button underneath and it really cracked her up.
Here’s our family photo before heading out to the airport.
On the plane, Janie enjoyed doodling with her hotel pen and pad of paper.
She was very good on our 3-hour flight home and got some cranberry juice to sip along the way.
When we arrived at LAX, we had a long walk to customs and Janie ran the whole way. She had so much energy that must have been saved up on the plane. I think this girl was just happy to be free from the seat belt!
During lunch, Janie snoozed right through it and then woke up as we were paying the bill. On the way home, we stopped at the tree lot to pick out a tree.
There were so many little trees to choose from!
This is the one we picked out and Janie was not in the mood to take a picture with it.
Once Big GG climbed up onto the tree, she warmed up to the idea.
She finally agreed to take a picture with a tree.
We walked the tree home by using the stroller and Janie got to ride on Uncle Jason’s shoulders.
While at brunch today, Janie was asked to draw a picture of Auntie Jia. She studied Auntie’s face carefully and then drew this.
Next came Uncle Jason and this is what she drew. She tried to draw the sunglasses too.
This morning, Ankong, Ama, Auntie Jia, and Uncle Jason came over. We took them to Chinatown and Janie was super excited to ride the bus again.
At Washington Bakery, she studied the menu with Ankong.
She also got a quick lesson on salt and pepper. Too bad she was too sleepy to really pay attention.
We managed to keep her awake long enough to eat and she had some porridge, Chinese broccoli, and Singapore noodles.
She also helped sing and blow out the birthday candle with Uncle Jason.
On the ride home, the bus emptied half-way through our ride and Janie got to stretch out for a bit. It was way past her nap time and she insisted on being carried home from the bus stop. Maybe it’s time to invest in an umbrella stroller.
We went to The Village Pub to celebrate Uncle Jason’s birthday tonight and it turned out to be a fancier restaurant than we had expected. Luckily, Janie has had 2 1/2 years of training and really pulled through for us tonight. She sat quietly in her highchair the whole time and we all had a very enjoyable meal together. It started out with profiteroles that came out at the beginning of dinner. Janie really liked them – probably because they had cheese inside. She even got an extra one because Ama did not want hers.
Janie also got her very own dish – mushroom consomme, which had lots of tiny mushrooms and three dumplings floating around.
She scooped the broth very carefully and made sure there weren’t any mushrooms on the spoon. She’s a purist when it comes to broth.
http://youtu.be/cNTHqdOdxm0
The spoon had to make a long journey to her mouth and she even tried to guard the broth with her other hand. Mommy later fished out all the mushrooms and she ate the all one-by-one. The dumplings were yummy too!
Once she was finished with her soup, she said she was “all done”. To keep herself entertained, Mommy handed her a stack of flash cards. We didn’t think she would be so excited but she WAS and spent the next 30 minutes playing with them.
She even got the whole family involved! It looked like a Tiger Mom’s version of poker.
We ordered a chocolate souffle for dessert and Janie helped sing “Happy Birthday”. This is a busy birthday season for our family!
Meanwhile, the waitress brought out a scoop of vanilla ice cream for our little diner.
As you can see, she slurped the bowl clean. This is one lucky girl…2 scoops of ice cream in one day!
For dinner, we rode the train to San Mateo to meet up with Auntie and Uncle. It was also our way of escaping the World Series crowds.
Janie sat in her own seat by the window and enjoyed her after-nap snack.
Then we watched all the cool stuff that we passed on our way down to our destination.
She was also very good about staying in one place while we waited to disembark.
It was still a little early for dinner so we stopped for ice cream at CREAM. That’s where we met up with Auntie and Uncle.
The store was nice and empty so there was plenty of room for Janie to do laps and dance at the same time. I wasn’t a fan of her new fall-on-her-knees move. We squashed that one pretty quickly. Otherwise, it was funny watching her perform for the girls behind the counter.
As we walked across the street to dinner, it started to pour. Janie started out walking with Uncle Jason but mid-way through she screamed “CARRY!!” Everyone was soaked.
After dinner, we still had an hour before our train would arrive so we went to a bar nearby to see part of the baseball game.
Janie had some milk at sat on a bar stool with all the grown-ups.
By the time we got to the train station, she was so tired.
But not too tired to wave to the train coming from the other direction!
The ride home was comfy but the people seated around us were pretty loud and rowdy. Oh well.
Auntie and Uncle came over for dinner tonight. Janie was so excited to take the bus to the restaurant! Daddy did some squats while we waited at the bus stop.
On the bus, she took a selfie and also had a FaceTime call with Ankong and Ama.
She did a good job holding hands when we got off the bus.
Janie snacked on an orange while we waited for the food and then slurped up most of Mommy’s lobster bisque.
It was a nice evening for eating outside with the family.
On our way home, we rode the train. Janie had a good time riding on Uncle Jason’s shoulders in the train station.
Once back at the house, Janie played a little more with Auntie Jia before they went home.