Cold Day at the Beach

About a month ago, C-bao took a rare trip to the beaches by San Francisco's Outer Richmond district, near the Cliff House. The day was chilly but sunny, and various intrepid souls were kitesurfing and frolicking among the waves. C-bao and her sister K-bao were not among them. They did, however, have a plenty good time digging in the sand, singing in the wind, and otherwise running around creating havoc.

Here C-bao needs some help with her attire:

Next, she does her Feraba African tap-dance to express her joy:

Finally she celebrates the completion of her muddy ditch.

Braids

C-bao has always had the luxury of abundance in the hair department. As a result, she can sport just about any hairstyle she wants.

Below, Sister K-bao again practices her braiding skills on her little sister, producing a rather unique look.

Go

Go, C-bao, go!

Just another example of how quickly time flies. It's been only a couple of years since the below pic, from when she couldn't even hold her head up without help, to now when she is bravely attacking a slide from the wrong direction.

Sharing is Caring

For a snack lover like C-bao, sharing her goodies is the ultimate form of love. While at school, C-bao dictated the above note to her parents to show them just how much she is willing to sacrifice to demonstrate her affection. 

Bowling

C-bao bowls for the first time, with the help of a bowling assist ramp and some encouragement from C-Mum. Check out the look of delight as the ball rolls (very slowly) towards the pins.

Affection

On a recent D3 (Daddy-Daughters-Date) down to Superbowl City, C-bao and her sister wanted to demonstrate their affection for their pops.

Either that or some kind of treat was at stake. We will never know.

Meter

Our lost quarter rolls showed up in someone's car trunk.

"Why'd you take those quarters, C-bao?" we asked.

"Because I want to feed the meter," she replied earnestly.

Abiyoyo

At school drop-off a few weeks back, C-bao, as usual, requested C-Pop to read her a story before leaving. On normal days if C-Pop has the time he will try and do it. Her school is quite accommodating of parents taking their time with dropoff and staying around in the classroom as long as they want.

Most mornings C-bao has a specific story in mind, and this day was no different. "Abiyoyo!" she cried, confidently walking to the bookshelf and picking out the volume. "I want Abiyoyo!"

As C-Pop read the story of the naughty boy, his magician father and the slobbery giant, other kids from C-bao's class started to gather around.

As the story progressed, more kids found their way over, and soon C-Pop found himself reading to a veritable crowd.

It turns out the story is class favorite. Indeed, C-bao is so tickled by it that C-Mum has now ordered our own home copy on Amazon, along with the Abiyoyo sequel.

One of the dads in the room took a couple of quick pics and was kind enough to send them to us afterwards.

Miss Ya

C-Mum is on a business trip for a few days, so C-bao made a couple of cards at school to demonstrate how much she missed her mum (or at least her mum's chocolate cake).

Double Trouble

Poor C-bao was ill this week, and slept fitfully at best.

About halfway through the week, lo and behold, her single eyelids once again took on an extra crease and flipped to "double."

This phenomenon occurred once before, two years ago, and was documented on these pages.

Now, several days later and well on the road to recover, her eyes have yet to return to their normal state. We'll see how long this lasts.

Hanging Out

Here is C-bao hanging out with her friends the Liu's down in Saratoga. C-Mum is standing by to make sure the little one has a "soft landing."

I Know

"I know! I know! Choose me!"

Here is C-bao eagerly seeking to participate in the conversation at school.

(Either that or she really needs to use the restroom)

While C-bao still clearly prefers to stay home and hang out with the fam, the C-folks are grateful that she seems by and large to be engaged at school.

MLK

On Martin Luther King day, C-bao's school had a nice celebration including a Peace Parade around the block. C-Pop managed to make it out for the march.

Marching and holding hands with a buddy

Turn this way, Daddy

C-bao's custom sign reminds people that Dr. King supported the use of words in expressing frustration or disagreement. Quite apropos for C-bao to have this message reinforced, thought C-Pop approvingly when he saw it...it's a lesson our little one is still internalizing.

Use words! No pushing!

Skating in New York

C-bao had her first experience on ice a couple of weeks ago in New York. Despite it being unseasonably warm, the rink in downtown NY at Brookfield Place had plenty of holiday visitors.

Here she is getting her skates on, with a little assist from C-Mum.

Here's a brief clip of her first couple steps on ice.



There were also a few blue plastic seals for kiddos to ride, and C-bao zoned in on this right away. Unsurprisingly, sister K-bao got roped into pushing her around for much of the evening.

Chestnut Dither

One of the activities little C-bao enjoyed at the NY holiday party referenced in the last post was a stuffy-making project. She came out of it with this little black bear.

What would you like to name it, C-bao?
"Tony. Tony Chestnut." said C-bao confidently.
Tony, C-bao?
"Tony Chestnut. Chestnut!" insisted C-bao.
Ah, ok. I see. He's nothing without his last name.

A day later, C-bao changed her mind.

"His name is Smokey Dither," she said.
Smokey Ditter?
"No, Dither!" she bellowed.

Where she comes up with these names is anyone's guess. But she sure is certain about them.

Holiday in NY

C-bao took her first trip to New York over the holidays. On one of the days, she stopped by C-Pop's office during its annual family holiday party.

"Daddy, why are his arms short?"

Replete with scarf decorating, magic shows, men on stilts and most importantly lots of snacks and desserts, C-bao had herself a good time.

"I want at least two snowflakes on my scarf!"

Below C-bao hammed it up with the resident snowman, after first picking up some balloon hats and other paraphernalia.

Chilling with Frosty

Uncle

Over the holidays C-bao spent some time with her various cousins, aunts and uncles in addition to her grandparents and great-grandmum.

Here she is working with her cousins to gang-tackle and try and extract an "Uncle" from her beloved Uncle Calvin.

Baking

Last night, C-bao caught wind of the fact that Aunt Chris (Xiao Ah-yi) was considering baking some gingerbread cookies. C-bao had recently experienced a Gingerbread Workshop at her sister's school, and it was nothing but sugary goodness. Naturally, she wanted in.

C-bao: "Let me make the dough, Aunt Chris."
Aunt Chris: "Not today, C-bao. You have to go to bed."
C-bao: "Make me a deal!"
Aunt Chris: "A deal? What type of deal?"
C-bao: "Today, we make it. Tomorrow, we bake it. And then, we eat it!"

That little bit of cleverness almost got C-bao out of her bedtime. However, and luckily for the C-folks, Aunt Chris remained firm.

Tonight, the making, baking and eating all happened at once. Above, C-bao sees the gingerbread cookie-making up close, along with her sister and cousins. Below, enjoying her fresh gingerbread cookies - pre-dinner, of course.

Farmer's Market

C-bao checked out the local farmer's market after church last weekend. Dressed in her Sunday church outfit, C-bao wandered the stalls trying out local produce and treats.

Here she is getting a smooch from C-Pop.

Dress

Showing off her new festive year end dress, C-bao hams it up for the camera. Our little one has turned out to be as much of a fashionista as her older sister. 

Let me show you how I really feel

Speaking of older sisters, here she is sharing a moment with K-bao.

Playdate

A few weeks ago C-bao participated on a playdate with a couple of her buddies from school. Below is a snack break after the kids had probably completed a good half-mile running crazily inside the playground.

"You dropped some crumbs, C-bao"

C-Pop noticed that there was a some genuine affection between C-bao and her young friends.

"Yes...in your hair!"

Indeed, the last couple weeks from school, when picking up the little one, C-Mum has overheard a few boys from the class shout out "Goodbye cutie!" and other similar tokens of friendliness. But for the fact that no one in the preschool class is older than three, there might have been a little alarm from ol' Papa Bear when he heard this story. But alas, there's plenty of time for that in the years to come.

Um, where exactly are you going, kiddos?

Date

Daddy daughter date on a Sunday afternoon!

Nothing better than my Shanghai noodles!

Peace the Whole World Over

C-bao has learned a nice song recently from her preschool. Here she has the family hold hands in the name of peace. 

Peace, peace, peace, 
Peace the whole world over 
Building friendships, sharing our worth 
Take my hand let’s circle the earth with 
Peace, peace, peace

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.