all hallow's eve

the ladybug family (photo by uncle todd)

siri and emma swapped costumes -- siri is wearing emma's costume from last year, and emma is wearing siri's costume from last year

witch and her black kitten

getting some treats

took part in a potato sack race (note: the sack was the size of siri so daddy had to help with the jumping)

the ladybug-without-her-exoskeleton participates in an egg race at the upper noe rec center (she dropped the egg a ton)

with emma at upper noe rec (note: emma's is not in costume. her parents thought she had soccer practice today, but it was in fact, canceled).

the cutest lady bug ever with her leaf

this is the cutest bug ever!

ladybug posing for her close up

siri dressed up as a ladybug for this year's halloween, and mommy and daddy obliged and dressed up as ladybugs as well. we were the ladybug family, much to daddy's initial protest. we had a very busy, and halloween-y day. we began the morning with a kids carnival in noe valley, and then went trick or treating on 24th street in the afternoon, which was filled with little ones running around in cute costumes. this was such as change from last year when we hardly saw little kids walking around. we met uncle todd (broom, not pictured), aunt jenn (witch) and maia (black kitten) for trick-or-treating. siri got quite a loot for the parental unit to enjoy :) we rounded out the night with dinner at emma's house, and siri had a blast playing with emma, and emma's other little friend, isa.

best buds!

best buds! they are always holding each other's hands

siri loved the aquarium!

excitedly showing emma something in the tank

mommies with our little girls

another cute buddy picture!

after living in sf for three plus years, we finally made it to the cal academy on friday. we're now leaning towards getting a membership there and not renewing our bay area discovery museum membership. siri had so much fun, in part because she got to hang out with her bff, emma. the two have so much fun together, and really are best buds.

pumpkin patch

some pumpkins needing clothing...

siri's prize choices -- "baby ones"

goats!

siri hanging out with our pumpkin -- "big one"

walking off a little fall in the mud

being wheeled around

pumpkin patch family portrait

we went to the pumpkin patch last sunday with aunt jenn, uncle todd and maia. it was cold and misty at first, then it started to rain -- very reminiscent of fall in oregon. siri initially had no interest in touching the ground and insisted on sitting in the red wagon, but she eventually joined in the fun and chose some pumpkins.

(mostly) discovery musuem

little skunk!

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maia lovin' the "pond"

maia in the crawling position

siri insisted on holding hands with "mana"

learning how to compost -- we indoctrinate them at a young age around here

speeding through an "underground" tunnel

siri likes to wear her babies in her "ergo"

sorry, we're a bit behind with the postings. the truth is, i tried posting pics last weekend, but blogger freaked out and gave me the error message several times. i ended up dumping a ton of pics in a fb photo album and kind of forgot about the blog. here are some pics from last friday -- jenn, maia, siri and i visited the discovery museum and hung out in rooms that we hadn't been in before.

siri-isms

another week, another installment:

- uncle todd borrowed our car today, and siri was very upset at first when we transferred her carseat into uncle todd's car. as we were driving away, siri asks, "why this car?"

- siri sleeps in her princess bed each night, and we lay with her until she falls asleep. today, she told me: "mama, sleep floor" and pointed to the floor where i was to curl up while her highness slept in her bed.

- siri was pretty tired when jeff was giving her a bath the other night. she hates having her hair washed and was protesting vehemently. then, out of no where, she says, "daddy no wash butt!" pretty sure she meant hair and just got confused.

- i was in the bathroom, siri comes in and shuts the door, and says "mommy privacy." later, she had to use the potty, went into the bathroom, shut the door and said "siri privacy."

- evie leaves the bedroom and walks toward the living room. siri frantically runs after her saying, "no evie kitchen!" and chased her away from her precious kitchen. we had to have a little talk about sharing and that evie is a cat with no interest in playing with her kitchen.

siri: 24-months

"forget the ladybug boots, i'm wearing mommy's shoes!"

i gave siri a glass of milk this morning, and found her moments later drinking it with her feet propped up.

ms. sad-face

the saddest (yet, cute) ladybug ever!

ipa and gramma got siri two doggies in a purse, and a baby doll. siri took out the two doggies, replaced them with the baby doll, and proudly said, "go shopping now." of course, this took place at bedtime.

we went to the pediatrician on friday, and here are the most recent stats:

height: 35 inches (90th percentile)
weight: 29 lbs, 9 oz (85th percentile)
it's no wonder that 3T, and sometimes 4T clothing fits our larger-than-average-sized child.

birthday dance

okay, so this isn't really a birthday dance -- it was just some cute dancing that took place on siri's bday. apparently, siri likes the yeah, yeah, yeahs. enjoy!

our two-year-old!

birthday girl getting her hair braided at the end of haircut

getting those ratty ends chopped off

family picture at ella's

bday girl plays with a whale

good morning, birthday girl!

siri turned two last monday. we went to breakfast at a place called ella's, toured a preschool (that we will NOT be applying to), and siri got her first hair cut ever! i have been so reluctant to get her hair cut since it's the hair she had when she was born, but the ends were getting pretty ratty and needed to be cleaned up. we have been seeing A LOT of temper tantrums lately. it was as if some internal clocked switched itself "on" as a bday gift to the two-year-old because we have at least one crying episode per day. at least. the latest was tonight, right before dinner. ms. brat-face asked for some dried peas. i gave her some in a measuring cup b/c she likes to eat snacks out of them. she flipped out for some reason, and i'm sure she has a perfectly good explanation in her head, but she didn't convey it to me. i set down the measuring cup on the island, and of course it tipped over and spilled all over the kitchen floor. i take a deep breath and get the broom to clean it up. then, ms. i-cry-for-what-seems-like-no-particular-reason points to a corner and says, "there." yep, i missed three peas.

siri-isms

here's another installment of siri-isms:

* after trying to feed herself apple juice from a mug: "dada, wei siri apple juice. too heavy." (wei = feed)

* when i was making oatmeal for her this morning: "first, eat butt." (no clue what she was talking about, but we found it funny since she was so insistent)

* this may be a bit tmi, but siri was constipated for a few days. when she finally did go, she said (in a very serious tone): "poo poo, big one."

* spilled juice: "uh oh, cup wet. shit."

* spies evie in our bedroom: "i see you!"

soccer!

daddy helping with the hoola hoop chasing activity

practicing footwork with coach trishan and teammates (and teammates' parents)

going to the "monkey house" to get a ball

sporting her new soccer gear -- t-shirt: "free" with registration, white shorts and green socks gear packet: $18, sneakers purchased for this soccer season: $4 (used weeboks). siri posing and making her usual scowly face: priceless.

coach aki hands siri a cone

siri is now officially enrolled in three activities: music class, swim and soccer. these are all parental involvement classes, which means we take part with siri. today was a beautiful day for soccer, and siri had a great time on the field. this was a complete 180 from the first day of swim class (check back to early june postings to see those pictures and commentary).

siri has two coaches: trishan and aki, and about a dozen teammates. she is on the teddies II team, and will have practice every sunday morning for the next seven weeks. i'll be taking more pictures and sharing them in the near future.

the little farm

proudly sitting on the big "meow" after petting the snake.

getting a congratulatory smooch from daddy after feeding the sheep

feeding the sheep celery

feeding a big goose (we told her it was probably one of the goslings she fed several months ago, all grown up)

we went to the little farm with aunt jenn, maia and uncle todd. siri was a lot braver than last time -- she fed ducks, geese and sheep. she was a little scared of the aggressive goats (okay, I was a little scared of them with their crazy eyes), and the big cows. she did gently pet a snake in the nature center after daddy demonstrated how to do it. mommy was not interested in petting it.

kitchen

tending to "baby sam" who used to be "baby" and/or "more baby" (depending on mood)

assembling sandwiches

these were the dinner guests (l-r): wa wa/doll, more baby, ooo ooo yi yi robert gave, and baby sam. ** note: siri named all of them. wa wa means doll in chinese. siri calls her "wa wa/doll"

offering mommy a sandwich for my photography services

people who saw pictures of siri's kitchen absolutely loved it. and, the procrastinators who hadn't gotten her bday gift yet, set out to buy kitchen stuff. here are several pictures of siri playing with pretend food and taking very good care of dinner guests.