It was a zoo kind of week...

Maliana ~

You are growing up right before my eyes. Lately, you have been getting so much more self-sufficient and helpful around the house. All on your own, you finished your yogurt the other day and got up, put your spoon in the sink and threw the container away before leaving the kitchen; you’ve been doing great with remembering to hang your jackets up (even if sometimes they get hung up on the kitchen drawer knobs – hey, they’re still hung up, right?); and you even got up on your little stool the other day and insisted on attempting to brush your own teeth (putting your own toothpaste on the brush and turning on and off the water yourself, in spite of being barely able to reach just about anything in the bathroom). Whenever I see these little milestones and surges of independence, I get so excited and proud of you.

And speaking of proud, I don’t think I could have had a better parent-teacher conference with Miss Rachel this week. All of your teachers are so pleased with you, saying you are a joy to have in class. Evidently you are a natural leader among your peers, coming up with all sorts of games and then getting your friends involved with them; you have met or exceeded all of the developmental/academic milestones in class; you are extremely smart and interact very well with all of your peers; you have the best boundaries and healthy communication skills of any kids in class (I guess you are one of the only kids who does not resort to aggression when someone upsets you but instead will clearly state what you need or want and then get the teacher to assist if things don’t improve); you love to help with anything they ask of you in the class; and in spite of your speech delays, you don’t get frustrated when misunderstood but will calmly repeat what you are saying and/or find another way to express yourself. Miss Rachel said that normally she has to find a challenge for each kid, something to work on or improve over the next semester, but with you she admitted that she could not honestly think of anything. You are such a well-behaved and cooperative kid and they are so happy to have you. I have to say, I’m not surprised by the feedback from the conference…I personally think of you as such an amazing child and I see these things in you every day. But, it’s still very nice to hear from other people you spend so much time with, that they enjoy you nearly as much as I do. Way to go Mali!! You rock!!

After the glowing report at school, we came home and decided to give Abby a bath. It was quite a task, as Abby (like most dogs) HATES baths. You, however, enjoyed using the sprayer and helping lather her up. Much of the house was soaked when we got done, but hey, it was fun!

giving Abby a bath...of which she is not a fan

and Abby is outta there!

After Abby’s bath, we played the most stellar game of hide and seek. It was so much fun. You are getting even more hysterical as you get older and your excitement during this game is infectious. You get those great squeals where you shake and fidget and your voice gets so high-pitched that I think Abby is the only one who can still hear you.

This week we got to go to the zoo twice! The first time we took Wai Gong with us, since he is still at home recuperating from shoulder surgery. We had fun, in spite of it being damp from the rain. Your favorite parts had to be a tie between the photo booth near the petting zoo and the reptile building (you LOVE snakes!) After the zoo, we headed through Powell and stopped at Jeni’s Ice Cream to get a treat on the way home.

climbing inside an iceberg at the Polar Frontier

"Ha! I found a photo booth! C'mon!"

teaching Wai Gong about snakes

holding Wai Gong's hand in the snake house so
he won't be scared

Ha ha! This is Wai Gong's face after he tried some of my Jeni's ice cream
that had cumin in it!

discussing the joys of ice cream

As we drove home from this adventure, you were chatting up a storm in the backseat. All I could hear was your teeny tiny little voice from the dark backseat, with intermittent glimpses of your sweet little face as we drove under street lamps. I had a thought wash over me in those moments. I realized with complete clarity that someday, you’d be grown. Days and nights like this one are fleeting and eventually would be just memories. I felt myself wishing there was some way I could preserve your teeny little voice in that dark backseat forever. I am so in love with everything about you…it’s hard to believe that these experiences will eventually be just stories living in my heart and mind. It’s not that I DON'T want you to grow up. To the contrary, because I love beholding all the new things you learn each day. I just wish I could somehow freeze every stage of yours in time, so I could go back and experience it exactly as I do as they happen. I know I can’t, but I wish. I’m beginning to understand the laments of all those other parents who have children who are already grown.

Friday night we had a crazy busy day. As soon as I picked you up from school, we headed downtown so I could attend a planning meeting for the Cleft Lip and Palate support group, then we hurried back home to meet Lao Lao so we could race back out to Easton to meet Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina to see the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. We missed most of the parade, but we did make it in time to see the tree lighting and watch the fireworks (which surprised us all…you poor thing, you are so sensitive to loud noises). Afterwards, we headed over to Edamame where Daddy met us all for some sushi.

and then there was LIGHT!

NOW we're ready for Christmas!
(even if it's nearly a week before Thanksgiving)

the best group shot we could get at the sushi joint...a certain
3 year old wouldn't pose for a picture

loving your Lao Lao

Saturday we went back to the zoo, trip #2 this week. This time it was with the Fu Playgroup and we took Uncle Blaize with us. You were ecstatic to see him and have him come with us, and later spend the night at our house. I don’t think I’ve heard you squeal that much in a while. It was hilarious! It was a nice mild night, it was great to see our Fu friends again, and the zoo’s Wildlights were so pretty!

yay! ready to see some animals!

excited to get on the carousel

who says riding the bench on the carousel isn't exciting?!

Wildlights!

Blaize spent the night with us and you were so excited, fending off sleep until nearly midnight. We watched movies and you finally collapsed over sideways on the couch when you couldn’t keep your eyelids open anymore. We woke up and made a huge breakfast and asked Wai Gong and Memaw Lisa to stay and eat with us when they came over to pick up Blaize.

late night play session after the zoo

early morning play session before breakfast

yummy breakfast!

The rest of Sunday was cold outside, and since we all had such a late night, we made it into a “rainy, gray, jammie kind of day”. We stayed cozy and warm inside, with you not even venturing out of your Dora jammies all day long.

And finally, with Thanksgiving nearly upon us, the past week I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to have us sit down for dinner each day, (in spite of Daddy working late most nights). We’ve also begun saying a prayer of sorts of what we are thankful for each day. You LOVE this! Sometimes we can understand what you are saying, other times we cannot, but I think my two favorites this week have been…”I’m thankful for Mommy, Daddy, and home” and also, “I’m thankful for Mommy who makes me happy”.

Doesn’t get much better than that.

Love,
Mama

Visiting the Bend

Maliana ~

This past Monday you brought sunshine to the reception desk at your speech appointment. A different woman was checking people in and you stopped and asked “Where’s my other friend?” at which point the woman (Nancy) who normally sits there came over and said hi to you. She was so tickled that you wanted to know where she was. I’m telling you, you’re sunshine and you don’t even know it.

On Tuesday I took you voting with me and let you push some of the buttons. You enjoyed it but were a bit disturbed on the way out…frustrated by not being able to find the “boat”. Evidently, you thought we were going “Boating” and not “Voting”. The sticker you got for voting helped, but you would not drop the whole “boat thing” the entire way home!

Later that night you practiced tracing your name, and then Daddy and I’s names on paper. It’s so neat to see you advancing and learning.

We met Audrey for pizza on Wednesday night and on the way there, we started talking about college since Audrey was meeting us directly after one of her classes at OSU. You asked where your college was and I said that when you get older you’d get to pick that. Then I asked where you thought it would be and while you weren’t very concerned about where you went to college, you adamantly told me, “I’m going to play football in college.” (Awesome!)

And speaking of college…the very next day we headed up to South Bend to visit family and the Notre Dame campus. You were an amazing little traveler on the way up and the way back home…I mean, truly amazing! While we were at the Bend, we got to see Adam and Jacqueline and their beautiful new home they just moved into, as well as visited Tom and Kristi and their boys. We stayed with Ann and Bill each night and throughout the course of the weekend you got to play with many of your cousins. On Friday night, we had dinner at BW3’s. You sat at the kids’ end of the table and ate all on your own, (even ordering for yourself when the waitress got down there, ha!). After dinner we went to Tom and Kristi’s and you headed downstairs with all of the kids, playing together for the next few hours. You are getting so independent and I love the way you can just venture off with other kids, jumping right in and making yourself one of the gang. Your cousin Dawson was such a sweet and helpful little host, getting all of you drinks and snacks, then blankets for each of you when you watched a movie together. He was a good influence on you too since you came upstairs and desperately wanted to reciprocate by attempting to take more drinks back downstairs for everyone. You couldn’t carry them all down the stairs, so I helped you. But as soon as we were at the bottom, you grabbed all of the juice pouches in your hands and were so proud to hand them out to your friends. It’s wonderful when you see children being nice and helpful with one another, and even nicer when you see it rubbing off on your own kid. It’s all about learning by example.

at BW3's with the gang

You were Abby’s little shadow this weekend, and loved hanging out with Reilly too. A few different times you’d walk into a room and exclaim, “Hi!” or “Hi boys!” All of these kids are so great with you. Even when you are trailing them around mercilessly, they are so patient and sweet.

early birds (you and Reilly watching Disney at 7am)

I couldn’t get a ton of pictures of you this weekend with the other kids because as soon as I pulled out the camera, you would turn the other way or immediately stop what you were doing. (It’s killing this Mammarazzi!) But I’m sure this “anti-camera” phase will blow over eventually.

We took a trip to Notre Dame’s beautiful campus this weekend. It was the perfect fall day; crisp air with a slight chill, gorgeous autumn colors still clinging to many of the trees, and a peaceful and serene quality over the pristine grounds of what is usually a much more bustling campus (it was quieter this weekend due to it being an away football game). Thankfully, I was able to get some nice pictures while at ND.

cuddling with Kayle before we headed out to ND

a building at St Mary's

Notre Dame has a gorgeous campus

us with the golden dome!

Bailey came to meet us on campus (you love Bay!)

making friends at the bookstore
(you were chatting up this little lady all on your own when I came over)

showing a little consideration for others
(you insisted on waiting and holding the door open for this complete stranger)

lighting a candle for Lao Lao at ND's grotto

it was Veterans' Day so you lit a candle for all the brave soldiers' sacrifices 

"what ya prayin' for Daddy?"

Saturday before the game was televised, we all sat down and had a family dinner with much of the family that was still in town around the table, and even some more family that had come into town for the night (Mike and Estrella from Chicago). It’s always nice to have meals there because the conversation is always so lively. Inevitably they end up reminiscing, and even though I don’t have first-hand knowledge of many (if any) of the stories they are usually rehashing, I could still sit and listen to them for hours. Growing up in a family of 6 kids, there are bound to be many memories which make for very entertaining stories.

As for these stories, they are all part of that family’s history. A long history. Ann and Bill just celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss this August. Pretty amazing. For myself, coming from a family that has seen its share of divorce and all that goes with it, I am in awe of this devotion, stability, and unconditional love that is evident when you spend any time with the Sextons. To celebrate their 50th, the family put together a book about Ann and Bill’s story. It went back all the way to the beginning, including details from the first time they saw each other; first dates; early marriage and the beginning of the family; the growing up years with all of their family shaping moments; and all the way to the present, culminating in letters written from Ann and Bill to each of the kids and grandkids, and then back to Ann and Bill from each member of the family. To say this book is priceless is an understatement. Both Daddy and I cried when we had opportunities to read it throughout the weekend. It was so touching.

As I said before, I have seen my share of heartache when it comes to family strife. Initially, it made me sad to read this book from that standpoint. However, then I got to thinking about it and it dawned on me as I blew my hair dry one morning. All of a sudden, I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude. It started by my feeling grateful that I even know these people; that I can be around such unconditional warmth and love and to witness what a great example of kindness that Ann and Bill show to those around them, family or not. Then this feeling branched out even more to a sense of gratitude for my own family, imperfections and all. I started to count my blessings for what I grew up with and currently have in my life (I realized there are probably too many to even count), and for the lessons that my own family has taught me over the last 36 years. Sure, all of these lessons may not be storybook or fairy tale, but they are MY lessons. They are GOOD lessons. They have helped shape me into who I am today. If it took some tears along the way, so be it. I am proud of them.

But during all times of true reflection, one typically also concludes with a sense of resolve to do something a little bit differently from here on out, or at least to try. The two main things I took from this weekend and my own reflections, (that I want to pass along to you), are these:

1) Be a stronger force for good in the world. Nourish your relationships with others. Accept and embrace people for who they are and don’t miss a single opportunity to show kindness and hospitality to another. We’re only here for a short time, don’t waste a minute.

2) Embrace the hand you’ve been dealt. It may not be what you would have chosen, but it is yours. What you have within your power is to create your own “happily ever after”, starting here and now, regardless of where you began. It doesn’t mean that you erase or try to forget where you came from. But it does mean that you can choose your future and not let the past dictate it for you. Decide what kind of legacy you want to leave behind, and start living it. It’s up to you.

I know these things are easier said than done. And I know that I will likely fail repeatedly, possibly each day, in living up to these new mantras of mine. However, I am resolving to keep on trying. Daddy and I talked about this the whole way home. He and I both had the same feelings about this weekend, arriving at the same revelations separately, which surprised us to find out as we chatted for the 5 hours it took us to drive home. We both want to do better for ourselves, and in turn of course, for you.

Once home, you were so giddy. In spite of having a great time in the Bend, you were happy to be in familiar surroundings. You were following us around with your guitar and singing at the top of your lungs, pretending to be Spiderman and slinging us with your webs, and finally began running around naked before bath time exclaiming, “We’re gonna get NaKeD!!!!” Eventually you fell fast asleep, surely dreaming of all of the fun you had on our weekend away. What a weekend it was.

Love,
Mama

"NO Whining in NOvember" is off to a pretty good start!

Maliana ~

Well, November started splendidly! November 1st was a beautiful sunny day so you and I packed a snack and hit the trail with Abby, ending up on the playground after school. We played for a long time and then you insisted on walking the entire way back. You actually ran about ¾ mile all on your own (doing this little criss cross thing with your arms that you told me was how you got your energy, then you’d take off and show me how fast you could run = very cute). You topped it off by pushing the jogging stroller all the way up the enormous hill back to our neighborhood! I was truly impressed with your stamina!

nom nom nom

trying out running with the jogging stroller like Mommy

scouting ahead on the trail

the infamous "criss cross" thing, to "get more energy"

you pushed that stroller ALL the way up that hill ~ you are STRONG!

After we got home, a nurse met us and did some blood work, etc (life insurance stuff for me), and you peppered her with questions. She even made a comment about how inquisitive you were. You wanted to know about EVERYthing she was doing. Then when Daddy got home, you requested that he take you on a date into Westerville where you had dinner with him. Daddy was so tired when he got home for work, but there is no way he could say no to a date request from you.

November 2nd did not go as “splendidly” as the 1st, unfortunately. You and I had a MAJOR blowout after school that began because you simply refused to get into your car seat, and then escalated from there. Whew doggie…you can fight girl! Once home, and after a timeout, I had you on my lap and was trying to talk to you about what happened and you fell asleep in mid-discussion. You must not have had a nap that day…so I let you sleep and snuggled with you on my chest for an hour and a half. When you woke up, you felt infinitely better. I’ll have to remember that next time…when you are acting completely out of character for yourself, it is likely because you are running on fumes and desperately need sleep. I should know, I get the same exact way. Just ask Daddy.

We ended the night though with a pleasant surprise. You were singing in the tub and I was amazed to hear you counting to ten, in SPANISH! I didn’t even realize you could do that! I talked to Miss Rachel at school the next day and she said they have been introducing that to you guys lately, and since your brains are like sponges, it’s sticking! It was really cool to hear you do that out of the blue. Now, if we can just work on counting to ten in Chinese too, that would be awesome!

So…the saying holds true that the 3rd time is a charm, at least for us in November anyway. On the 3rd, your behavior was like night and day from the day before. You were cooperative with us the entire day and there was NO whining from morning until night. We filled your responsibility & reward chart up with praises! You even went in and picked out a book for bedtime and when you had a question, you actually said, “Excuse me Mom”. (Huh?) Honestly, Daddy and I were a little freaked out. Ha ha. But we’ll take it! You got the biggest satisfied smirk when I thanked you and gushed about how happy I was with your behavior before turning out the light at bedtime. Thank you again sweetie…you have no idea how nice that was.

It was Lao Lao’s birthday this week, so we got to see her a few times. We had her over on her actual birthday for enchiladas and mini chocolate cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Lao Lao!

make a wish!

Then we met Lao Lao and her friends out at On the Border for dinner and drinks another night too. We showed up early and at that time, there was only one of her friends there when we arrived. You looked around the big table and asked her, “Why you only have one friend?” Ha ha.

When we came home from dinner, you must have still had your sassy pants on because when I was being silly and singing in the kitchen you came in and looked at me, slightly amused/annoyed and said, “Really?” Geesh…I thought I had at least 9 more years before I’d be able to truly embarrass or aggravate you with my singing! And by the way…how do you know about these expressions?!?

Saturday morning we were getting ready to go to your China class with our Fu friends, and you were asking if Michelle and Mia would be there, which led to you asking about baby Freddy and then onto your asking about why baby Freddy grew in Michelle’s belly and whose belly you grew in as a baby. I said that some people grow babies in their bellies when they want children and some people adopt babies like we adopted you. I also said that we really didn’t know for sure whose belly you grew in but that you were born in China and your birth mom probably lives in China. Then I asked you what your ideas were about your birth mom. After some discussion, you told me that her name was Ellia (spelling?) and that she was tall with long red hair. Hmm…ok. I suppose she can be whatever you want her to be. I like that you are starting to fill in the blanks for yourself now. I know that these details, thoughts, feelings, etc will change multiple times over the years…but I love that we are beginning to discuss them now. It’s fascinating to me and I hope you always know that I will welcome these discussions, no matter what you have to say.

We had fun at China class, making crafts and learning a few new words. It was nice to see the other kids too, and this group of parents is wonderful. Having a network of people who have shared our similar experience and simply “get it” is great for all of us.

painting a huang (yellow) sun

sorting and gluing hong (red) pictures
(you LOVE glue sticks!)

sitting on the porch with Jaden

This weekend was mostly a lazy weekend other than our venture to China class. You had Daddy and I cracking up with your impressions of the stars from Lemonade Mouth…bouncing around the house with your jacket thrown open in a feisty pose, singing “You know it! You know it!” like the lead singer of Mudslide Crush in the movie.

"You know it...You know it!"

Sunday morning you got to go on a breakfast date with Lao Lao. You insisted on wearing your Santa Claus footie jammies that I had bought for you the night before. You LOVE these things. Luckily, at 3 years old, you can get away with going to Panera in footie jammies, and to tell you the truth, some days I wish that were the case at 36 years old too. Evidently, you were a chatterbox with the people there and when some others came over to talk to Lao Lao about you and ask you questions, you looked at them and then back at Lao Lao (slightly puzzled) and asked, “Are they your friends?” Of course, that produced big laughs.

making sure Lao Lao is all zipped up

After breakfast, Lao Lao came back over and you introduced her to Lemonade Mouth. I think this has to be the 20th viewing for you. It is a good movie though, with a great message, and Lao Lao enjoyed it too.

Like I said, this weekend was a lazy one, the perfect medicine for a busy week. In spite of the sunshine, it’s been a chilly autumn so I took the opportunity to warm up the kitchen and cook some casseroles (one for us and one for our neighbors that you and Daddy took next door ~ a thank you for them feeding you so often). As you came upstairs and into the kitchen, you sniffed the air and said, “Mmmm…that smells yummy Mommy!” Then when I told you what I was making you said, “Thank you Mommy!” (God, I love you!) That made me feel so good. You are such a sweet, sweet kid!

And as if your praise for my cooking wasn’t enough to make my week…you came in the kitchen to tell me that you actually hung up your jacket all on your own (it’s something we’ve been working on lately, picking up after ourselves, with you hanging up your own jacket being quite the battle)…I was floored! I gushed once again and we slapped multiple high fives. I know, I know. I probably over do it, but I don’t care. Like that old saying goes, “Someday we’ll look back and realize that the little things were actually the big things”…so I will always try to do cartwheels and back flips about the most seemingly minute stuff. Because, when we look back, all that "little stuff" is the stuff that adds up to mean the most.

So…Yay Mali! You go girl! I’m so proud of you…every day.
~insert back flip here~


Love,
Mama

I need an old priest and a young priest...

Maliana ~

Oh my! You have really gotten into the spirit of Halloween this year. No, not for the usual reasons you might guess…but rather because of the phase you are in right now. Just this weekend, you were throwing a fit (one of many) in the car, and Daddy suggested that it might be time we look for an exorcist. And honey, I just might have to agree.

I know when I wrapped up the last post, I was mentioning how it’s more important to highlight the good stuff, because that’s the stuff that really matters when it’s all said and done. That is true. However, Lao Lao suggested I include some of the other stuff, these struggles we’ve been having with you too…simply for the fact that you probably would never believe them if they weren’t documented somehow. (To be honest, some of them are pretty funny too).

I guess I should start by saying that you love to argue with us about everything. I think part of it is because you are listening to EVERYTHING, and the other part is that (through my research into your stages of development) you are developing a stronger identity and learning to assert yourself more. For example, you can argue or throw a fit about things like my not letting you carry Abby’s medicine in your pocket after we left the veterinarian’s office (somehow I just didn’t feel comfortable about letting my 3 year old use canine meds as a toy ~ call me crazy); my not buying you an Angry Bird at Build a Bear (which developed into a 3 ring circus with my marching you (kicking and screaming) to the nearest corner and letting you ‘work it out’ in a timeout right there in the mall and some older woman coming over and asking, “Is that your kid?”, and when I said yes, all she did was wink and give me a sympathetic smile before continuing on her way); your refusing to put your coat on in the middle of the freezing cold weather at the Halloween Celebration for 4th Fridays (until we pointed to a guy dressed as a zombie in a store window and told you he might come out and eat your brains if you didn’t put it back on); my refusing to go all the way back upstairs to get your silkie for you simply because you WANTED (not needed) me to get it for you and were enraged because I would not jump at your command (this time, Daddy got me out of my exasperated funk by pretending he was moseying around in spurs and chaps and saying “What we have right here is a Mexican standoff” in his best southern drawl); and of course the nightly fights about bedtime with you insisting that you are not tired (even though you are yawning and literally melting into the floor just like the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz after she had water dumped on her). You can even argue with me about completely random things, just for the sake of arguing, such as my telling Daddy, “Just open my Yahoo mail” to which you piped in, “You don’t have Yahoo mail, I have Yahoo mail” ~ huh?

Fortunately, through all of this, Daddy and I have kept our sense of humor (clinging desperately to it (and each other) as it’s the only thing keeping us sane). I know that this too shall pass…but boy is it going to be one hell of a ride! When it’s all said and done, you are going to have fine tuned one unbelievably strong personality ~ a force to be reckoned with for sure. Even random people will comment on what a big personality you have for such a little thing. Tell me about it!

So, whew. Boy do I feel better getting that off my chest! Now that that is out of the way, I’ll sum up the other stuff this week, to wrap this post on a positive note…since of course we had gobs of fun with you too.

Both speech therapy sessions went amazing this past week and a half. The last one we went to was great and you immediately began talking up a storm with Ms. Ashley. She was amazed at your progress and I am amazed because I really see it more clearly when I watch you with her. It’s pretty cool.

After speech one night, you and I sat and chatted over a big bowl of edamames, taking turns asking about each other’s days. You can be so cute when you do that ~ “How was your work, Mom?” Later that night, Daddy and I closed on the refinancing of our house and for some reason both you and Abby the dog decided it would be a good idea to crowd around or under the kitchen table as we signed paper after paper. All four of us, plus the refinance/notary lady, were crammed into one of the smallest spaces in our house. Go figure.

Touching back a little bit, I do have to say that you did show some really positive signs (in the midst of the craziness) this week too. During the incident involving my not letting you play with Abby’s medicine after we left the vet, I got frustrated and (after yelling, “I have had it!!!”), told you that you needed to apologize for swiping at me when I was trying to put you in your car seat. It was a quiet ride home (with me second-guessing how I should have better handled you the whole way), but once home you cuddled in my lap with your silkie and airplane blanket. After you had calmed down, you looked up at me and said, “I’m sorry Mommy”. Things are sinking in, slowly but surely.

Lao Lao picked you up from school one day (you love it when she does that) and took you to Build a Bear where you made a really cute blue bear with snowflakes on it, then found a Spiderman Halloween costume for him (of course Spiderman, what else?). It turned out really adorable and you were so excited to show it off.

naming your Build-A-Bear

Spidey outfit for your bear ~ of course!

You also fell in love with a Minnie Mouse backpack there too and since you began filling it up with your stuff and didn’t have any backpack of your own yet, Lao Lao bought this for you too (yes, Lao Lao does have ‘sucker’ tattooed on her forehead, ha ha). The next morning, you immediately began packing your new backpack for school and walked in there with such swag, hanging it up next to all of your friends’ backpacks. You were definitely feeling like hot stuff (and Daddy was just happy to have a pleasant and tear-free morning). You also had taken the Spiderman costume off your bear too…explaining to Daddy “My bear is too hot in his costume”. Ha ha.

We headed to Westerville for 4th Fridays with Lao Lao and enjoyed cheering on the runners for the Celebrity Ghost 5K (I’m totally running this next year!), you talked to and became obsessed with Lion L (the mascot for the Lions Club of Westerville), we stopped and listened to various musicians (with you especially liking the guys playing acoustic guitar and singing), went on a hayride through the streets of Uptown, and of course you flirted with every single cop you saw (boy, do you LOVE policemen!)

high five Lion L

watching the runners take their mark for the Celebrity Ghost 5K

horsedrawn hayride through uptown Westerville

warming up from the cold

chatting over cocoa

Saturday morning you begged to come running with me and got all suited up for the cool weather.

But not before enjoying some morning sun and being silly on the deck...

Saturday evening we went over to Joe and Tina’s to watch the OSU game and hang out. You played with the kids and we eventually got home around midnight. It’s always a late night with Joe and Tina, but our sides always hurt from laughing so much once we get home.

Sunday morning, out of the blue, you asked if we could go see Uncle Mark and Aunt Cindy. We just booked our flights to go to Austin in January the day before, so that’s probably why it was on your mind. But it’s cute that you are excited to go see them.

We had a nice lazy day on Sunday, much needed after all of the activities we’ve been running to all autumn. Inspired by watching those musicians on Friday night, you put on your own performance for Daddy (I had gone running again) and he was able to, stealthily, capture it on his phone. A long time ago you had picked out a plunger as the one ‘toy’ that you wanted at the dollar store when Audrey and I took you. Well, on Sunday this plunger became a free-standing microphone where you sat on a stool with your guitar and belted out tune after tune. It was so cute…all the way down to your little crooner face and tapping foot. You had all the mannerisms down pat. It’s pretty impressive for 3 years old!     

Here's the link if you want to see yourself in action! (Not sure if YouTube does the best job, there's been a problem with getting it to play right...but hopefully the kinks will work themselves out. We've got it on Facebook too and of course we'll be saving the original for posterity).
http://youtu.be/gLVOhVodvN0

Sunday afternoon, we were going to try to go to Boo at the Zoo but we all felt pretty worn out. The events of the past few weeks had caught up with you (and me both) and we curled up on the couch where you slept on my chest right there in the warm afternoon sun like a couple of sleepy cats. There’s just something about napping on the couch in the sun that feels so good. We both felt like a million bucks when we woke up and while we slept, Daddy was awesome enough to go grocery shopping for us, to which you ran in and hugged his legs and said, “Thank you Daddy!” when he got home, (how many 3 year olds thank their dad for grocery shopping?!?) You’ve had case of the creepy crud with a nasty cough lately, so I think this nap was some good medicine for you.

Sunday night I was surprised, not by the initial tantrum about bedtime, but about how you began to cry a little differently after I turned off the lights. I turned the lights back on and I asked you what was wrong. You said you were scared because Halloween was coming up and you were afraid of ghosts. This is the first time that I’ve noticed you get scared over something like that. We talked some more and I offered to hold you and you curled up on my chest again (I’m going to hate it when you’re too big for that) and fell asleep as I tickled your back. I hope this isn’t the start of nightmares or being afraid of the dark, but if it is, I’m just glad that you’re still small enough to cuddle up on me.

Halloween day you had a party at school and when I came to get you, you were sitting down to have a snack and every kid in the class was dressed in costume. It was really cute. I got a little ‘Mommy guilt’ because I had to rush you off to speech therapy, but you seemed to be ok with it. I was hoping you’d keep your Buzz Lightyear costume on throughout speech therapy, but alas, you did not.

We ended up trick or treating on Halloween night (a Monday this year) at Wai Gong and Memaw Lisa’s house. Ggma was there too, and she and Daddy passed out candy while Memaw Lisa accompanied us on our quest for treats. You were a bit grumpy and clingy (Mondays are always exhausting for you), but you had fun and were ever so polite at each and every house, getting lots of compliments on your monkey costume. As we’d head away from one house and onto the next, you’d say, “I want more candy!” By the end you were a bit worn out and would say, “Thank You” first and “Trick or Treat” after they gave you some candy. But all in all, you did well. Pound for pound, you brought in quite a haul. You double-fisted once back at Wai Gong’s, tootsie roll in one hand and tootsie pop in the other. You fell into a sugar coma sound sleep before we got home and plopped right into bed.

with Uncle Blaize

monkey, Mr Tiger (a gift from Blaize), and silkie

last minute strategic preparations before leaving the driveway

"All I have to do is say 'Trick or Treat' and they give me CANDY!"

surveying your loot

sharing with Memaw Lisa and Ggma

double fisting ~ tootsie roll in one hand, tootsie pop in the other

Chalk another fun autumn weekend up for the books!

Love,
Mama