Happy 4th!

How was your 4th of July weekend? We were totally relaxed, had so much fun with our friends, playdate and BBQ. Remember our new new pool? It held up pretty well for the party. Ignore that wrinkle in the middle of the top layer, I accidentally kicked one of the little cover thingy off, so it was leaking air for a while before we noticed it. Stubborn went and bought a small air pump, and he and his best friend fixed the problem while we were playing upstairs. Anyway, littler caterpillar cannot get enough of the pool,
while her little friend screamed for his dear life! He was so scared, won't even let mommy and grandma to change his clothes! They finally got him dressed, and put him down in the water, he just refused to let go mommy's leg. Eventually he climbed up that leg like a little money! See, that's my girl trying to help him out.
So we thought she is a natural swimmer, we had to take her to a big pool. There happen to be a city pool near our home, Stubborn purchased the bracelets last Thur. So, we just had to take her there and try it out. The second she saw that bigger pool, she became that scared little boy!
But once she found those floating ball thingy (I don't know what they are called), she started to have some fun.
After swimming, we took her to the playground next door. I guess she was happy about standing on dry land, she took off like a little bird.

See that cute little capris she is wearing, I refashioned it from a big shirt of mine earlier. The top is still a little bit too big, but this capris fits her perfectly now. Anyway, we had so much fun on Sat, we went back again on the 4th before we went out for dinner. BTW, we were surprised to see many stores and restaurants closed door on 4th!
Our timing couldn't be better. While we were at the restaurant, it started pouring outside! But when we came out, it was all gone! We got to go home, take a hot shower, and enjoy the fireworks comfortably in our own home. Our city's fireworks is not that far away from our home, so we got to watch that some pretty amazing fireworks in person, without the crowd and driving. Little caterpillar loved it so much, this is the first time she saw it and acturally understood it. Even though she was really tired, she stayed up through the whole thing, and asked for more when it stopped. Then we got to enjoy three more fireworks on TV, Boston, NY, and DC, while eating some cold sweet watermelon.
Happy 4th everyone!

Happy Father's Day!

How was your Father's Day? We had a fun and relaxing weekend! We almost went to the Bruins parade in Boston. Stubborn is a big sports fan, loves almost all Boston teams. Even though he hasn't follow Bruins for too long, he really wanted to go, and share this experience with his little girl. But I was not too enthusiastic about the idea bring my baby to such a huge crowd! Lucky we didn't go, there were more than 1 million fans there by the time we planned to leave home. And later we heard the commuter rail train didn't even stop at most of the train station, because the trains were all packed after the first couple of stops! The ones got on the 9:30Am train finally got to Boston around 2Pm! Missed it all! We were so lucky that little caterpillar decided to sleep in. Stubborn got to watched the entire parade on TV, much better than standing outside the Garden, behind hundreds of people, and only can see about 5 minutes of the parade! He had a great time, while little caterpillar and I had a nice long brunch. Afterward, we went to an old friend's new house for a informal gathering. So great to go to a party with some store-bought dessert, I didn't need to work hard at all! We had a wonderful time there! Kids always love other people's toys! That's so true! Little caterpillar got to play with four bigger kids (5 to 7 years old), and was fascinated by the big kid's toys!
See, feeding their baby doll was more fun than feeding her own at home! Of course, she got to dig in their toy closet, while the bigger kids played some non-toddler-friendly game. She looked like she was on a treasure island!
Yeah, even other kid's dirty shoes were more attractive! She is really into shoes and accessories lately, has been wearing my shoes and carrying my bags a lot.
See, even other people's staircase was more fun! Too much fun, she forgot about safety. Lucky me and the other moms were chatting right there, when she decided to bend down and roll in the middle of the stairs! We were fast enough to catch her, my friend grabbed her arm, while I supported her head. Even though she was not hurt, she got really scared! Screamed and cried for 5 minutes! Then she went right back to the stairs! Lesson learned?! Crazy girl!
Once the whole front of that gorgeous dress was wet (she is probably teething again), my friend found a new dress that was too small for their daughter. It fits little caterpillar perfectly! Thanks, Fang! Don't they look like sisters? So cute!
We then spent about an hour at a nearby elementary school playground. So many new stuffs, little caterpillar tried really hard to play them all. Look how silly she was! Even though there was no baby swing, we still gave it a try. After several minutes swing on mommy's lap, she decided to swing like a big girl! My friend helped me hold on to her while I took this picture! I probably pushed her for good half an hour, while holding tightly on her arm! She had so much fun, that she got really mad at me when I took her down. She totally skipped her nap, so as soon as we put her in the car, she just felt right to sleep.

What happened on actual Father's Day, after her long beauty sleep? More fun! She got to play with her water toys on the deck. Why was she wearing raincoat and rainboots on such a sunny day? Well, it was sunny and warm, but not hot enough to wear swimming suit. She kept pouring water on herself, so I had to do something. Once she figured out she could not open that new deck gate any more (I simply put a plastic ring thingy through the hole), she really enjoyed her homemade water table (a plastic box on a patio chair, filled with water toys). She even had a drink of that dirty water! Hmmm, yum!
We also went for a bike ride in the afternoon. Little caterpillar was too little last year, she was actually afraid of that little chair. But this time, she had a great time, even buckled up herself. She really liked poking mommy on the back while kicking mommy's legs. We spent an hour at a playground we passed by, so she got to play with some big kids equipment again, and followed a 5-yr-old boy around like a little tail. The boy had to play everything the "safe" way, so she won't try some dangerous moves. They were so cute together.

So, how was your father's day? Hope you all had fun. We sure did!

How Was Your Valentine's Day?

Ours were pretty simple and sweet. Stubborn remembered to buy flowers for both me and little Caterpillar. Or should I say I got the flower because of her. Stubborn is not those romantic type at all, so we rarely celebrated Valentine's Day in the past. But the fact he remembered this year means so much to me. Little caterpillar absolutely loved it! She held on to her bouquet for a good half and hour before letting me put them in a vase. Typical girl! Even though her bouquet looks bigger than mine, I was very happy to see that he remembers my favorite flower. They are in this nice soft pink color, very sweet!

Oh, that taller vase I used for little caterpillar's bouquet is very special for us. You see, stubborn and I painted it together at our anniversary several years back. It's not the most beautiful vase in the world, but to us, it's some sweet memory.

Even though I was busy making the secret gift for my best friend's boy, I managed to squeeze in a little bit crafting for Valentine's Day. I made some paper heart garlands follow some instruction I found online a while ago. Could not find it again. So, whoever posted that instruction, THANK YOU!

A Very Late Chinese New Year Post

Well, you might noticed that I kind of diappeared for a while. That's because all of us has been sick for about a month! Between taking care of a sick baby and even sicker hubby (more like a little kid then) while I was not totally recovered, and shovelling the crazy amount of snow once or twice a week, I was totally exhausted. Now that everything back to normal, and we finally have some sunshine outside to melt all that yard deep snow, I thought it might be time to catch up.

Little caterpillar looked so cute in this traditional top my best friend gave me last year. She got her first red envelope from her nanny. She was too curious to be polite, opened it immediately, when mommy was trying to take some pictures of daddy and her.

Even though most of us was still bothered by the infection in our mouth, couldn't really chew, I still made some dishes on Chinese New Year's Eve. Not as many as it supposes to be according to traditions, but we are a small family, don't have that many people to finish the food anyway. I made those backrib so tender, even Stubborn ate some, despite the pain (he lost more than 10 lbs in a week!). Little Caterpillar loved it too. But she prefer mommy's shrimps. We were happy to see her ate 3 shrimps and a piece of rib. Poor thing was in pain for days, refuse to bite or chew, only survived on milk. I was very glad she felt better and didn't miss the new year's eve dinner. Of course we made some dumplings from scratch, just forgot to take pictures.

My hometown has a list of food you should have during the 15 days of Chinese New Year. But I only can remember about 6, dumplings for New Year's Day, noodle for the second day, different kind of dumplings (giant dumplings flattened, more like a calzone) for the third day, Chinese style pancake (we made scallion pancake) and eggs for the forth day, dumplings again on the fifth day, but this time you have to chop the meat and vegetable. Then the next one I can remember is to have sticky riceball (with sesame seed paste or peanut or lotus seed paste, or whole bunch of other delicious fillings) on the 15th, the last day of the New Year. Other than these traditions, I remember my mom and grandma used to make the special steamed buns in these funny animal shape. So I made some hedgehog buns for little caterpillar, with sweet red bean paste stuffing. She absolutely loved it. Too bad I didn't have the camera around when she pinched off all the little spines.

Just to show you how much snow we got, here are some pictures of little caterpillar playing around the yard. Keep in mind little caterpillar is more than 34" tall, and the top layer of snow was very wet and heavy and compact.

White Christmas

How was your Christmas? Ours was quiet and relaxed. We supposed to go to a friend's house, but their baby got sick. If you have kids, you will understand it. We are trying our best to stop the germ from spreading. So, we ended up cancelling the party, and did some simple celebrating.

First of all, the gift unwrapping! Little caterpillar was so excited, she touched every single box, didn't know which one to open first.
Santa was very considerate. He knew little caterpillar only has Pooh and Tigger, so he brought the little piglet and Eeyore. What was little caterpillar's reaction? A bear hug and a kiss right on the nose! She absolutely loved them.
Then she opened her first musical instrument set! Now our house will be a bit noiser. What was stubborn's reaction when he saw my gift to him? He tried it on immediately.

Then Stubborn had to go back to office briefly, so little caterpillar and I tagged along. I love his company lobby, it's like a tropical jungle, all those banana trees, and palm trees, and tons of other amazing plants. They even have a river, two water falls, and a couple of wooden bridges. This time, it's even more gorgeous than I remembered. Some great holiday themed flower arrangements near the front desk, lots of white and red amaryllis all over the sitting area, and elegant white phalaenopsis filled the base of the giant pots, along with some melon sized ornaments. Little caterpillar had such a great time, like in a wonderland. I had very hard time keeping her out of trouble.
Then we just ordered some take-outs, played with all the new toys, ran around the yard in snow for a while. Nothing extreme, but everything was so lovely, I am sure I will remember it for a very long time.

First Gingerbread House

was a success! Don't you think? While little caterpillar was taking her afternoon nap, and Stubborn was watching his Chinese Videos on his computer, I knew it's the only time to decorate our first every gingerbread house. It's not perfect, I am not good with icing, but I love it. Little caterpillar tried to eat it as soon as she saw it!