twelve days of christmas

pulls it together (briefly) to sing her part

zoo-phonics

begins getting a little wide-eyed

there's a little wheel

still with it at this point

GM Holiday Presentation

being silly with teacher kim and mr. maurice

post presentation silliness with leon, kalea and harrah

nice bow

11 pipers piping

unlike the other kids, this one just can't sit still!

a lot of sock pulling went along with the whining

at one point, she was busy picking her nose, then retrieved a booger and announced that she had a booger. one of the teachers had to take care of that...

brady, siri, summer and lukas

getting ready for the show to begin

siri participated in her first performance today. the kids at school had been preparing for it over the past several months, and siri often rehearsed on her own at home. the program consisted of the following: hola los padres, there's a little wheel, zoo-phonics, parts of a plant, what a wonderful world, french songs, the twelve days of christmas, and we wish you a happy holiday.

siri participated in the beginning of the performance, but fell apart about half way through zoo-phonics. instead of saying the alphabet with her friends, she just whined "mommy" followed by "i want you." i stupidly sat in the front row, and really should have known better given that the transition to big kid swim class resulted in similar clingliness (at least she didn't bawl during the performance).

she pulled it together to sing her part for the twelve days of christmas: 11 pipers piping, then quickly fell apart again, whining the rest of the show. it was obvious that about half the kids suffered from stage fright, but mine was the most disruptive. *sigh* hopefully, she'll be more confident as she gets older. pictures here, videos to follow.

fairyland

inside geppetto's workshop

burros!

lao lao waiting impatiently to pick up jia jia and ah yi

the boy and his rabbit

waiting for puppet show to begin with auntie anna and lilly

wishing well

these two love snow white! (except siri has no idea who she is, and just thinks she's an angel)

inside the crooked house

all the kids! ;)

lao lao as fairy god mother

jia jia as "da mao" who built the "cao wu" (she only knows this story in chinese)

we'd heard about fairyland, but never had the chance to visit. we met up with emma and her family last sunday, and finally explored the grounds. unfortunately, it's not as exciting as enchanted forest, but it was still fun for the kids. and, to be quite honest, if i grew up having gone to fairyland, i'd probably love it over enchanted forest for pure nostalgic reasons.

siri got to watch her first puppet show: the velveteen rabbit. she was pretty thrilled, especially since her school planned to go to a dance performance of the story the following tuesday. she was a little confused about the plot, however. when she retold the story to jeff, she said that the boy got sick with scarlet fever, and they had to burn the boy and the bunny. um, no. only the nazis did that.

lao lao and ah yi visit sf!

jia jia and her santa (by request)

jia jia saw other character balloons and wanted one for herself. of course, lao lao scoured union square until she found the balloon maker.

in sf, one can wait to have a balloon character made by an elf, right next to a political demonstration

mama and jia jia

even lao lao was bitten by magical city lights

ah yi and jia jia check out the ice skating rink

jia jia scolding me for daring to take a picture of her

ah yi in front of macy's (yes, it's december and she's wearing a t-shirt...that's how we roll in ca)

tannenbaum in union square

as commented in the previous post, lao lao and ah yi came to sf for about four days. jia jia had fun hanging out with the two of them while i took (yet another) one-day trip to irvine, and jeff was en route to pennsylvania for a friend's wedding. lao lao made rainbow dumplings, which jia jia loved -- homemade dumpling skin consisting of three color variations: orange (carrot juice), green (spinach juice) and yellow (egg yolk).

we spent the weekend doing usual stuff (i.e. swim class, going out to eat), but also ventured to union square to experience the holidays in the city. there's something about buildings lit with xmas lights that is reminiscent of a holiday season with which we are unfamiliar, yet feels so incredibly intimate. yes, friends, we have hollywood (and various xmas films set in nyc) to thank for that. there's something about a xmas decorations adorning the windows of macy's, sak's, etc. that is evokes a magical sense of holiday spirit...or is it a commercialized one? either way, i plan to take siri to nyc sometime during the month of decemeber. i spent a couple of days in new york several years ago around the holidays, and absolutely loved enveloping myself in festive city lights.

november 2011

after a couple of hours at rancho siempre verde xmas tree farm, we were wiped out (photo courtesy of nana)

siri supervising daddy as he cuts down our 2011 xmas tree

first taste of marshmellow ever! verdict: sticky but absolutely yummy.

finally big enough to swing on the big swing at the tree farm

big cousin protecting little cousin from adult swinging

siri and mommy resting on hammock

siri and daddy hanging out on hammock at rancho siempre verde xmas tree farm

thanksgiving day yoga: siri "coaching" (?) maia on downward dog

cousin hugs

thanksgiving day downward dog

siri sitting on maia's lap

big and little cousins

inside of our stuffed pumpkin. delish.

jeff made stuffed pumpkin at some point in november with one of the pumpkins we picked from the pumpkin patch. it was very yummy. we tried to replicate it with a bigger pumpkin when nana visited, but unfortunately, the attempt failed.

it's been nearly an entire month since we last updated our blog. a lot has happened, but nothing too spectacular to report here. jeff and i both traveled for work/school this month, and we both have upcoming trips this week. nana visited us for thanksgiving. lao lao and ah yi will arrive on thursday to help out when i take my trip on friday, and to spend the weekend with us.

i'll let the pictures fill in the rest.

trick-or-treat 2011

last stop! time for dinner!

running into each other outside of school is so exciting!

leon was super excited to see siri...and, siri was kinda excited too

emma and siri window shopping (note: siri's shorter hair)

the trick-or-treaters: little red riding hood, curious george, and belle (aka siri, lilly and emma)

curious george and the man in the yellow hat

siri's riding hood

a somewhat tired little red riding hood waiting for emma and co.

daddy and little red riding hood

little red riding hood is ready for school!

so happy to show off halloween costume

scared red riding hood

my red riding hood

such a big girl :(

we met up with emma's family on 24th street in noe valley again this year. the girls had a blast, but since it was so close to dinner time, we only managed to do one side of the street. while emma enthusiastically said "trick or treat," siri refused to say anything. not even "thank you" or "happy halloween." mommy ended up vocalizing for her, but she was pretty good at stretching out her basket toward the treats. i think siri was a bit overwhelmed by the variety of costumes. she was definitely more vocal when she trick-or-treated in a small group of familar faces this morning.

mommy and daddy plan to have a candy draft as siri isn't allowed her loot. although, she did have her first taste of jelly beans today...