Play Date with Brandon

Today we all (and by that I mean myself, Ellia and Claira) ventured out for a play date! Gasp! We met up with Miki (mommy) and little Brandon (just turned 2). We all live in the same apartment complex and met last year at the Tot Lot inside our complex. Ellia always looked forward to seeing Brandon there and who wouldn't - he has the cutest, most perfectly round face you'll ever see! We decided to try out a place called Hullaballoos in Orange, CA. It turned out great, having just what they needed and even more things that maybe they'll want to brave on future visits (like the huge inflatable jumper obstacle course and slide!) I worried how I would juggle Claira but she slept the entire time in my sling! Whew!! Even though I don't want to tempt fate and end up with a play date with Claira screaming the entire time - I still hope we'll meet up a few more times before my maternity leave is over! I must say it was so refreshing to get out. And if there is one person who knows EXACTLY what I mean, it's Miki since she lives in the EXACT same apartment as me! Thanks for a great day with the kiddos Miki!

My Tender Girl

Ellia likes to "mother" the most random objects. Nevermind stuffed animals, that's too "obvious" for her. Here I made a pretend popscicle on a stick. She immediately claimed it and before long she was talking to it, asking it things it needed and saying "ok, ok". And eventually it always ends up with a "tucking in" under a blanket. I lovingly made it a bed and pillow to go 'night-night' on.

BFF (Best Friends Forever)

What would we do without YounMee?! Our little girl loves her "MeeMee" so much. She doesn't realize quite yet how lucky she is to have this wonderful person in her life. But we as parents realize precisely how lucky we are to have her. Just on this occasion alone I knew how lucky I was to have her chase Ellia around the grassy hills as I watched from the car feeding Claira. Jimmy, subconscously, knew how lucky he was to have her chat with Ellia as he played his losing style of softball. As you can see, they are two peas in a pod: (1) Ellia barking out orders of what color she'd like to paint with next. (2) Ellia scolding MeeMee after a game of chase: "No, MeeMee, walk now." (3) Ellia raising her arms up to silently inform MeeMee that she shall be needing to be picked up and held now. (4) Ellia leaning on a good friend.

Park Fun For All

We were invited to a friend's 4 year old birthday party/softball game. It was a nice break and we had so much fun! I "talked up" the joys of having your face painted to Ellia & she bought it. As you can see she had to take a minute to determine exactly what the heck was being done to her. But then made sense of it and it turned out so cute. The woman was very talented and she had a lot of amazing faces to choose from, many of which were incredibly detailed and realistic looking. I knew Ellia wouldn't want to hang out long enough to look like an authentic lioness so I quickly chose this poodle doohicky look. After it was all said and done, it seemed to fit her perfectly.

Instant Stress Captured on Film

Jimmy says I need to "get out more" during the day with Claira ... this is the photo that explains it all. No matter how many minutes the car ride is, this scene wouldn't change much.

The Original Funny Face Girl

Ellia likes to call Claira "Funny Face" but as you can see she herself is the original in that department. She has a gazillion dorky/adorable faces and I wish I could get snapshots of each and every one of them. Hopefully these will be enough when it comes time to thoroughly embarrass her someday.

1st Family Portrait (ghetto-style)

Believe it or not, we have never taken an official family portrait. We had to do this one because Ellia's classroom project was breathing down our neck and we had to supply one. I made an appointment to get photos taken of us at a studio and hopefully all 4 of us will be present for it!!