Sugar High

For C-bao's second official Halloween, she donned another princess outfit, and this time quite appropriately chose Ariel the strong-willed youngest daughter. 

Below the little munchkin poses for a pre-candy pic. 

"You realize I'm planning to fill this whole bucket, right Dad?"

This year, trick-or-treating appeared to be old hat. While last year's first outing involved some tentativeness, this year our little one had no hesitation whatsoever from going straight for the candy.

This feels way too empty right now

Indeed, the C-fam joined up with C-bao's classmate from her preschool and their whole family for the festivities, which only further enhanced C-bao's comfort level.

"See Dad, I told you I'm already done with that piece!"

By the end of the night, C-bao, who had managed to sneak more than a few pieces of candy into her mouth along the way, was in full sugar-crazed delirium. It took all of C-Pop and C-Mum's energies to wind the little one down.

"But I really CAN fly, Mum, just you watch me!"

 Of course, once she did, she immediately went straight into a bartering session with her older sister to see which pieces each would keep and which they would trade.

Eat It

C-Pop sent the little one in to brush up before bedtime.

Checking up on her a minute later, this is what we found.

"EAT IT! EAT IT! EAT IT!" (Sam-I-Am's directive in Dr. Seuss' classic Green Eggs & Ham)

Soccer Style

C-bao, on the sidelines at her sister's soccer game, shows she's got some handles too! And with a stylin' outfit to boot -- complete with a gold chain and her own purple Adidas cleats, which C-Mum absolutely couldn't resist when she spotted them in a store several months ago.

Osmosis

C-bao is fortunate to have an older sister who brings home with her just about everything she learns - be it a new song, poem, rhyme or magic trick - and insists on passing it on to her sibling (often in a very authoritative manner, we might add).

Here, C-bao learns - and then performs - the latest Halloween song her sister has picked up at school.

C-bao is also the first to hear about any new game her sister has been exposed to -- and generally is strong-armed into playing it right away.

Not all of it is rosy, of course. Over the last few weeks, we have also seen little C-bao being sent by her sister to the "principal's office," over just about any trifle. We haven't inquired as to the details.

Dinner Date

C-bao enjoys dinner out with C-Pop and sister K-bao at a local restaurant.

C-Mum was out for several days on a business trip, so C-Pop was forced to be creative with dinner; here, he brings the kiddos to a Latin joint for some seasoned meats (which, it must be said, they attacked like true carnivores).

Preschool

C-bao has started at her new preschool for several weeks now. With her array of experiences over the summer at various summer camps, C-bao was emotionally much readier than the C-folks had anticipated, though there were still some moments of sadness at various points during the first couple of weeks. Overall, though, our little one has adjusted to her new environment like a champion.

Both the art and music programs at her new preschool are areas of emphasis, which the C-folks really like.

So is hands on learning. Above C-bao collaborates with a friend to build a Magnatile tower.

The school also has an extensive playground in the back that is entirely covered with sand. We all know what this means: daily sand in the shoes, socks, sandwiches, car and everything else she comes into contact with.

Head Restraint

For a little 3-year-old girl, C-bao's appears to have quite a heavy head. Full of grey matter, C-Pop would like to think. The unfortunate consequence of that, however, is that when C-bao falls asleep on long road trips, her head ends up dangling forward at uncomfortable and seemingly even dangerous angles.

The below is a home-made contraption C-Pop set up on our last road trip to try and prevent any whiplash-like neck strains on our little one.

Sharing is Caring

C-bao attempts to eat a frozen dessert, only to be ambushed by her older sister. 

"Hmm...this looks pretty yummy"

K-bao: "What you got there, C-bao? By the way, you love me, right?"

C-bao: "Wait a sec, sis...just hang on one minute...easy there..."

#ASisterIsForever

Dancing on Water

C-bao grooves to her Aunt Catherine & Uncle James' iconic song Running on Water.

All moves self-taught (including the floor sprawl).

The "elbow freeze" is particularly inspired.

Medusa

"Excuse me, Daddy, who did this to me?"

(Who else?)

#ASisterIsForever

Royal Jigsaw

To celebrate meeting the princesses last week, C-bao put together the above puzzle this weekend (mostly on her own, the C-folks might add). She's come a long way with these puzzles over the past few months.

Princesses

C-bao's visit to Disneyland of course included meeting various princesses, including Snow White, Cinderella and Belle.

C-bao was quite shy, actually, and didn't appear to be overly comfortable with royalty etiquette. Luckily the princesses were all quite gracious and encouraging. Good training, Disney!

Here she is having a nice conversation with Cinderella, who complimented her on her blue shirt.

Disney

C-bao took her first trip to Disneyland this past week. What with August vacation month, the venue was as crowded as ever, and the merciless heat took at least a few shades of "happy" out of the "Happiest Place on Earth."

However, with (1) C-Pop, a.k.a. "The Mule," hauling her around from ride to ride on demand, (2) utter and complete sun protection what with C-Mum's specialty-ordered wide-brimmed hats, along with her patented 5-layer sunscreen application methodology (recall the Heliophobia post), and (3) even, on occasion, having one of C-Pop or C-Mum in line on her behalf while she relaxed in the shade, C-bao experienced all of the upside and virtually none of the downside of the famed entertainment park. Below are some of the action shots.

Underwater checking out the fish on the Finding Nemo ride

The view from the submarine

These hats are in addition, of course, to 5 coats of sunscreen

Waving to the characters on It's A Small World

"How do I get the It's A Small World jingle out of my head?"

"Hey Daddy Mule, I didn't say stop here"

On the slow train (Disneyland Railroad) around the park, C-bao clowned around with C-Mum, as shown below. Flashback to December of 2012 - de ja vu all over again.

Making my silly face with K-Mum

The girls on the Disney train

On the Storybook canal boat ride, the two girls got special seats at the front on the bow of the boat.

How's the air back there? 

The view from Tarzan's Treehouse

Hey, I can swing too!

One undeniable hit was the huge parade down Main Street at 8:30 p.m. The C-folks allowed C-bao an extra special late bedtime so as to be able to catch the parade. With plenty of lights, music and dancing, little C-bao was genuinely enthralled.

Disneyland's famed night parade

With a view from C-Pop's arms, of course

Sharing a couple of moments with Tigger

Day Two, with Pooh

Insisting on pushing her own bag

Paint

Here are the sisters enjoying some quiet painting time this weekend.

C-Pop: "What are you painting, C-bao?"
C-bao: "Can I drink this water?"
C-Pop: "No. What are you painting again?"
C-bao: "I am painting..." Takes a quick glance down where she is splashing some purple on several other colors..."Lion!" Naturally.

Pool Party

C-bao took a trip last week down to Uncle Calvin's (Xiao Jiu) place in the south bay. It was a scorching hot day, and C-bao joined her family for a dip. While she hasn't historically been much of a water gal, after seeing sister K-bao having fun splashing about, she was eventually convinced to get in the water, and ended up having quite a bit of fun. The below -- her doggy paddling on two noodles -- is as independently as she's ever swum. Baby steps.

(The water gun squirt halfway through is, of course, sister K-bao, who was trying to make sure it wasn't getting too easy for little sis)

Not to take any shots lying down, here's C-bao flexing back at big sis.

By the way, at 3 years old, C-bao has now swum all over the world. Below are a couple of action shots from her trip to Singapore late last year.

A Water Story

K: "It's not that cold, I promise you! It's a lot of fun! C'mon!"

C: "Ok, sis. I trust you."

K: "See, I'll even take you there myself."

C: "Tricked! Bamboozled!"

Lion Dance

We've had six straight posts about singing and dancing - why not another one? Last weekend after lunch in the Sunset, C-bao and sister K-bao stumbled across a Chinese Lion Dance in the streets and quickly decided to join in.

Feel that rhythm!