Runner

Over the weekend the C-folks took C-bao to a park, initially to bike. C-bao has only had a few experiences with a slightly-too-large bicycle (with training wheels - which has not prevented her from tilting over multiple times). Her comfort level is still quite low. Let's just say that they have not been the most glorious of experiences.

After a forgetful bit of biking, the family decided to burn a few joules on the nearby paved track. Once off the wheels and back on her feet, C-bao regained her confidence as an athlete.

Indeed, the C-folks have observed that our little one is a steady and even surprisingly fast runner. After seeing C-Pop run a lap - probably a 300 meter loop - C-bao was the first in the family to ask to run it herself, timed. She completed it in ~2:40, never stopping once.


After C-Mum and sister K-bao went, she wanted to do it again! This time, she improved her time, down to 2:27. C-Pop and C-Mum were duly impressed.

At the end, the girls all raced together. C-bao ran a third lap without stopping and again equaled her time of 2:27.

BGW

C-bao's official class mascot is the Big Gray Whale, or BGW for short. Over the course of the school year, BGW has been carried home by each kid, and her adventures have been duly documented in a class journal.

Two weekends ago it was finally C-bao's turn to spend a few days with BGW. She made the most of the opportunity and really showed her around town.

First stop was a musical drama Peter and the Wolf, starring sister K-bao, described in more detail here.

BGW  got to enjoy brunch at one of C-bao's new favorite haunts, People's Cafe in the Haight.

The first evening, C-bao even took the lucky marine mammal dancing (admittedly at a very low-tech, dress-down club). Uncle Calvin looks on with amusement.

BGW had plenty of company her first night at Chez C-bao - perhaps a little too much for her comfort. Though among her new friends was a patchwork whale, which sister K-bao had procured at an amusement park some months back.

The following day, C-bao took BGW biking down at Stanford University in Palo Alto.

The weather was warm, and C-bao & Co. stopped by a fountain to cool off.

 The girls dipped their toes (and fins) in the water. "Let loose!" C-Mum declared.

Later that afternoon, BGW witnessed C-bao engage in a little free-form painting.

Pretty sweet life for a stuffy, thought C-Pop over the course of the weekend - pampered, showered with attention, exposed to a never-ending set of adventures and other stimulating experiences...Almost as sweet as the life of one little tyke we know. 

Storytime

As part of C-bao's birthday celebration last week, her preschool class, the Gray Whales, invited C-Pop and C-Mum to come tell a story about the little one to her classmates.

At the appointed time, C-Pop and C-Mum showed up and took their seats next to the birthday girl. With the help of a few pictures on an iPad, C-Pop told the class about C-bao's experience as a flower girl in Singapore back in 2014, as documented on these pages here.

Afterwards C-bao participated in the traditional birthday jump, signifying her leap from a lowly 3-year-old to a big-girl-4.

After her class sang her her birthday song, she got to blow out a candle and then pass out some ice pops (brought by C-Mum) for the whole class to enjoy.

Despite C-Mum's claims to the contrary, C-Pop insisted that the class paid rapt attention to the story. Luckily, one of C-bao's teachers kindly shot a video of the anecdote, excerpted below, which only partially supports C-Pop's theory.