Fathers Day Fun

Maliana ~

So, Happy Fathers Day to Daddy! We had a great celebration with him, which I will elaborate more on in detail, but first, we’ll recap the rest of the week.

On Monday, Daddy brought home a real Chicago pizza via one of the pilots at work…so you got to taste your first Giordano’s! The thing was huge and you liked it, however I don’t think you were as excited as Daddy was to surprise us with it.

1st real Chicago style pizza

After eating that huge pizza, you and I headed out on the trail for a long walk with Abby. This time I had to walk, not run, since that pizza was sitting like a ton of bricks. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Going so much slower allowed for you and me to talk more while we were out in the woods. You even turned around to talk to me, face to face at one point, singing a little song over and over about how the “sun goes down and the moon stays up” while we watched the setting sun. We discovered an inchworm that you really liked for some reason, insisting, “He needs us!” and really wanting to bring him home with us. You also surprised me by remembering where you had your first outdoor pee on a little side trail when we had a ‘bathroom emergency’ on one of our other walks…last fall! Geez! Talk about a great memory! I would have missed all of this had I been running instead of walking that night. As we arrived home in the cool night air, I had a little epiphany about recognizing, in the moment, that I truly LOVE my life with you, as your mom, and that I needed to savor times like these because I’ll look back on nights exactly like this one and remember them fondly someday. It was a cool feeling.

After we got home, it was the usual bedtime routine, which made me laugh as we got out your new spin brush for your teeth. You are doing much better with it, not squirming or whining so much, and when I remarked and complimented you on this, you said, “I know Mom!” (Again with the modesty ~ ha ha).

This week was a good one at school. You even wanted to stay later one day just to finish your lesson on the reading rug. It was neat to see you request more than just additional playground time from me when I come to pick you up ~ I love that you love to learn!

Have I told you how much we enjoy our neighbors? We sat out one night in the yard with the Szwabinskys and just talked and played around. Roman is getting ready for wrestling season, so after watching Natalia and him spar for a bit, you spent the rest of the night wrestling Natalia and/or tackling any unsuspecting victim you could find sitting in the grass. We caught fireflies and, at the kids’ suggestion, you kept trying (hard I might add) to get your own butt to light up too. Thankfully, no one’s pants needed to be changed.

wrestling (or is it boxing?)

more wrestling

Daddy left for Florida on a business trip on Wednesday, so Lao Lao came over to spend a couple nights with us and help me take you to school in the mornings. You got so excited to have Lao Lao over, insisting on helping carry in her bags.

our new bellhop

We went to a very silly dinner one night (where you kept us very entertained and I got a bunch of random kisses right on my lips ~ LOVE those!), and then after dinner we threw on our jammies and took a moonlit stroll. You were lulled to sleep by the stroller movement and the cool night air, not even stirring when I brought you inside later.

toasting to dinner at Pomegranate

in our jammies, heading out for a bedtime stroll

We celebrated Uncle Joe’s birthday on Thursday by meeting Joe, Tina, Sam, and Erin at Buca di Beppo’s in the arena district. You had an absolute blast with them all. You and Erin had me cracking up at wanting to go to the bathroom together, repeatedly, at dinner. I can’t believe girls’ going to the bathroom in groups starts so young! And the narrative in the bathroom between the two of you was hysterical too (e.g. “Hey, I’m wiping!”…”Me too!”) These guys & gals are some good eggs. You can never have enough good people in your life…we’re so lucky.

mmmm...spaghetti!

buds

goofiness

mmmm...ice cream and brownie cake

silliness

outside Buca di Beppo's after dinner

On Friday, I came home with you after school to find your toilet plunger on the kitchen table. Luckily, this is the plunger that you decided you had to have from the dollar store and use it only as a toy (it has NEVER seen the inside of a toilet bowl)…but I had to text Lao Lao and ask her about this. All she had to say was, “Oops ;)” Looks like you guys had some interesting mornings together before school this week. Lao Lao did say that you were a big helper while getting ready, keeping her company while she drank her coffee (with you eating breakfast and drinking your hot cocoa in your “I think I’m hot stuff” grown up travel mug with lid), then “assisting” with her makeup application too. I really appreciated her help in taking you to school in the mornings…and it was nice you got to spend this time with her too.

We picked up Daddy at the airport and you were so excited to see him. Holding the Fathers Day card you had made at school over your head (upside down) as you watched the airport corridor for him, squealing as soon as he was spotted.

Daddy!!

Father's Day card you had made at school

A great thunderstorm was rolling in that night after he got home. So we all piled into the garage with our lawn chairs and sat there watching the trees begin to dance and smelling the rain coming. It was all fun and games, until that first really loud thunderclap that sent you into a panic…after that, we decided it was best to go inside. Poor thing. It actually startled Daddy and I too…I can only imagine what went through your little head.

Saturday morning we woke up and headed downtown to see the Pride parade. You sat for the first part of it with your hands over your ears saying it was too loud…but after a while, you were used to it and then really got into it. By the end, you just kept peering down the street looking for floats and shouting “One more! One more!” I was a bit puzzled though as at one point, you pointed to a crowd of marchers and shouted, “Hey! There’s Hubey!” I had no idea your imaginary friend was marching in the Pride parade. Who knew?

eating strawberries and waiting for the parade to start

it was loud, but you got used to it after a while

checking out the crazy sights

"one more! one more!"

After the parade, I collapsed into a much-needed nap while you and Daddy spent some time together. You helped him grocery shop, went out for a pizza dinner, and when I woke up you were busy break dancing in the living room. You were so serious too! Girl ~ you got some moves!

helping Daddy grocery shop, evidently in charge of the list

And this brings us to Sunday, Fathers Day. We woke Daddy up with cinnamon rolls in bed, where you also presented him with your special gift. We had dressed you up in Daddy’s shirts…his soccer shirt, a golf shirt, and two football jerseys (ND and Browns), then gave you the appropriate sports equipment and I took photos of you while you posed and “played” each sport. You had a blast! I turned the pictures into a collage and we wrote “Happy Fathers Day 2011 ~ Love, Your Little Sports Nut” on the top. The whole project turned out great and Daddy loved it!

gift for Daddy

And below ~ another quick snippet of one of the many reasons I am thankful for great neighbors. On Sunday afternoon, Natalia brought over the project you made while you were playing over at their house the other night. Jen was clipping coupons, so Natalia helped you make a collage from the extra ads. There is lots of paint, glitter, animals, Lightening McQueen race cars, and a Tow Mater truck in your pictures. When you saw your creation, you were SO proud of it and immediately displayed it on the fridge, all on your own. We are so lucky to have such great friends right next door who so willingly spend quality time with you whenever they can. Great great people. 

your amazing collage

Later that day, we had Papaw, Memaw, Wai Gong, Memaw Lisa, and Uncle Blaize over for a cookout. You enjoyed spending time with everyone, as usual. We presented Wai Gong with a similar collage to Daddy’s, with just you in a Browns jersey with a football, for his birthday on the 21st. He loved his too. You kept us all entertained with your silliness, with Memaw remarking that pictures just don’t do you justice, you need video to capture all that you do appropriately. I agree. I was also surprised and impressed with your changing attitude towards goodbye hugs when it was time for everyone to leave. All on your own you willingly gave each and everyone hugs today, something you don’t usually do since you don’t like to say goodbye, thinking that if you don’t give hugs, people don’t have to leave. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see you readily ‘sharing the love’ as our guests departed. Very nice.

yay for smoke bombs! (thanks Wai Gong)

the Dads

splitting an ear of corn with Mama

Blaize being the great uncle he is

swingin' with Memaw

getting ready to light some smoke bombs in the yard

fun with the smoke...and also why Wai Gong nicknamed you "Crack" for the rest of the night

mmm...cookies

hammock time!

being teased by Papaw again, I'm sure...

trying to catch a smoke ring

that's my girl ~ smoking is YUCKY!

So, as you can see, this was a good week with lots of time spent enjoying many of our family and friends and wrapped up with a great Fathers Day. This is what it’s all about.

Love,
Mama



Pierogis, Fireflies, and the Park of Roses

Maliana ~

I was so incredibly proud of you on Monday of this past week. After not having been to speech therapy in two weeks due to illness and the Memorial holiday, I completely expected you to be the most ornery and uncooperative 3-year-old Miss Ashley had ever seen. Instead, you surprised both of us by working really hard throughout the session and making obvious progress in your ability to say various sounds we’ve been practicing. I sat on the edge of my seat as I watched you hammering out the exercises, holding my breath, saying the words silently along as a means to somehow coax them a little bit easier out of your mouth, and yes, I cried too. You know me. Mama the Crier. After therapy, you were hungry and so we went to Cici’s for dinner and celebrated with all the pizza we could eat. You once again surprised me by counting to 30 all by yourself at the table! What a wonderful way to start out the week with two big surprises from my favorite munchkin!

Later this week, the best way to describe you was Miss Cool. I took you to the library on one of the steamier afternoons after school and we picked out some new summer reading for you. While there, you insisted on wearing my sunglasses while playing on the computers…what a character!

the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades

These particular sunglasses you have taken a major fondness to, telling me in the car one day that I need to go buy more because they were yours now. Man! Those are probably my favorite pair I’ve had in my life! Well, at least no one can say you don’t have good taste! Ha ha. Going along with the “cool” theme of the week, you also told Daddy on the way to school one morning that you wanted to have short hair like him. Upon further investigation, you actually want hair short so you can spike it like him. You seem very serious about this, but sorry dear; this is one battle that I must win. I’m just too in love with your little pigtails to go chopping away at your hair – in spite of Daddy chiming in that “Well, it would be cooler for summer.”

Thursday this week, I got a little “mommy time” and headed to book club with some of the other moms from the Fu Social Group. These moms have all adopted from China so it was nice to be around women who have shared this experience, seem pretty like-minded, get to read and discuss some good books, and have fun conversation too. It was much-needed downtime for me. While there, you and Daddy got to have some much-needed time together too and headed over to Memaw and Papaw’s house. You loved seeing them and they surprised you with some new matchbox cars, which was a nice treat.

happy girl

Friday was a rough day. Daddy and I had an appointment with an attorney to discuss creating a will and a trust for you. It’s been something we’ve been putting off for a while because of what a difficult thing it is to think and talk about. I only cried twice, which was pretty good considering. The attorney is really great too, so that helped. Uggh. I’ll be glad when everything is written up and we don’t have to think about it anymore.

Once home from the attorney, I needed to blow off some steam and so I went running. You wanted to come with me, so we headed off down the trail, with you chatting away. As we passed the swollen creek from all the recent rain, you asked if we could go creekin’, so I promised you we’d try to go next week. Maybe if I write it here in print, it will hold me to this promise. I was happy to hear that you enjoy doing stuff like that since there’s no better teacher than a kid outside, exploring nature.

Saturday morning you and I had a dentist appointment. But as we sat over breakfast, you made me smile by asking, “How was your work Mom?”…when I told you that I didn’t have to go to work on Saturday, you put your head in your hands as if to say, “Duh!” then tried again asking, “How was your run, Mom?” You are so sweet, trying to make adult conversation with me at the table. Very cute.

At the dentist, you did pretty well at first but got quite freaked out when they tried to clean your teeth in the room next to mine, without me there with you. I did not like that at all, especially when the hygienist called me over because you were upset and asking for me. I saw a single little tear rolling down your cheek and I felt awful. I’m still not sure why they thought that was going to be a good idea. You’re only three for crying out loud! After that, you came back in with me and sat on my belly while they finished cleaning my teeth. We tried again with you, but you were too upset for them to get anywhere near cleaning your teeth. That’s okay. We’ll just give it another go in 6 months! Maybe that time, we can coax Daddy back into the dentist chair too.

1st spin-brush to keep the plaque monsters away!

Coming home from the dentist, you and I were talking about all sorts of stuff. Every once in a while (on a daily basis actually), I randomly just stop everything, make sure you’re paying attention, and tell you I love you. Well, I did this in the car on Saturday, and you got all silly and said, “Nahhh!”…so I came back with “Yes I do! And there’s nothing you can do to change it! You’re STUCK with me!” Well, you thought this was hilarious for some reason…laughing the rest of the way home.

After the emotional roller coaster of the dentist visit, you and I took a long nap that afternoon. Daddy came in while we were sleeping and snapped this picture.

this is where you love to jam your feet whenever we sleep together

Refreshed after our marathon nap, all three of us headed out for a late dinner at a local Polish restaurant, Babushka’s Kitchen. We sat on the patio and you discovered you like pierogis, but not necessarily sauerkraut.

let's see what a pierogi tastes like

wide open mouth of approval

After dinner, we went down the street to the Park of Roses to play on the playground and to take a stroll through the roses that are in full bloom right now. They were gorgeous and smelled fantastic. As we got out of the car, you asked, “Mom. Dad. Can you smell the rain?” This in particular tickled me because I am always asking you to come outside and smell the rain if there is a storm coming, or I’ll ask you if you can smell the trees, flowers or grass as we are running on the trail together. When you asked us that question, it was just another cool confirmation that you are paying attention to those little details of life that make it beautiful.

You also made another major discovery in the life of a kid tonight…the fun of chasing fireflies! They had this perfect clearing in the park where it looked like the lightening bugs were performing a light show for us. As you ran from spot to spot, chasing their little glowing butts, it reminded me of doing the same thing when I was a kid. It felt magical and had me grinning from ear to ear as we helped you capture them one by one, then watch them fly away again. I felt thoroughly content and relaxed, albeit exhausted, once we got home.

working in their gigantic sandbox

sliding

saying hi to Uncle Dustin

perfect little seat in the tree

monkeyin' around

silly family shot with some of the roses

literally, stopping to smell the roses

being soothed by the fountain

on the hunt for fireflies

chillin' with Daddy at sunset in the gazebo

Sunday morning you and I worked on a gift for Daddy for Father’s Day, which will be revealed about a week from now. All I can say at this time is that you had a ball making it! A little later, Audrey came over to visit. We were going to go out to eat, but had a slight change of plans and ended up heading to the airport to welcome home some friends of ours who were bringing their baby home from the Marshall Islands. It was fun to be in the midst of all that excitement while we anxiously watched the gates for the first glimpse of baby Tyler and his mom, dad, and big brother Collin. I always enjoyed going to airports and wondering about the people there, where they were going or coming from, who was waiting for them, etc, etc, etc. Now, being there to welcome someone home from the airport has forever been changed and has become all that much more precious to me ever since you came home. I get it on a whole new level now, one that I never understood before July 16th 2009. It’s always an amazing experience to share and I’ll do my best to never miss a homecoming again if I can help it.

You were in rare form by the time we left the airport, tired and slaphappy. Lunch was interesting since you were so ready for a nap, which you immediately took once we left the restaurant. Once home, you slept for a while which allowed Audrey and I to chat uninterrupted. Then, when you woke up, we all played and you had Audrey and me laughing so hard at you and all of your antics. One example from earlier in the week of these particular antics included one of your toy microphones, which you pulled out, stood on your bed, and proceeded to yell, “Hi! I’m Mali! My Dad’s downstairs! Thank you! Good night!” Ha ha. What a character you are!

taking a bite out of burrito baby

And, if the week started with my doing the figurative cartwheels of a proud mama, it ended on much the same note. I was ecstatic to watch you wake up with a dry diaper for 3 mornings in a row this week, even waking me up one morning at 4:30am so that you could go pee in the potty! I couldn’t believe it! Overnight, you seem to grow up more and more…it’s super exciting and awesomely humbling all at once.

Love,
Mama