Maya's new drawing - 3D

Maya comes home with two new drawings she did at school. Both are abstract.

The first one, according to Maya, is set in the evening, with darkness everywhere. The person at the left is Ethan B, her good friend from school. He lives in a tree house (see the tree trunk and top?). Because it's so dark, he has to turn on his lamp. The house in the middle is Maya's house. At the top right is Maya and her tree house. And at the bottom is Teacher Carole and her flashlight.

The second one is Maya's house. Amazingly, it's 3-D. See the roof, the front and the side? There's even a chimney (interesting, it's at the side.) Next to the house, there's a tree and blossoming flowers. As always, the artist's signature is prominent.

At the Oakland Zoo

We visited the Oakland Zoo on Sunday. Maya's favorites were big animals, such as elephants, giraffes, and tigers. We didn't see lions and bears because they were hiding. Before she left the zoo, she climbed the spider web and had a lot of fun with it.

Luca seemed to enjoy the trip too. The only thing that annoyed him was the hat that pappa kept putting on his head. He yanked it off as soon as he got a chance. He didn't fall asleep until the end of the trip.

(See the white hat with a heart? Maya picked that hat herself.)

Luca can stand and says Mama

Luca's two lower front teeth are really big now. Make sure you don't put your fingers accidentally into his month.

Last week Luca could pull himself up with a little help. This week he's more skilled and can even stand for a short while. Don't be surprised. He does a lot of push-ups every day.

He likes to stand on his knees and can remain in this position for several minutes when he's playing with something.

He likes legos already, though he seems more interested in chewing on them than putting them together.

He starts to eat finger food and to drink from a sippy cup (actually he likes drinking directly from a bowl or a normal cup). Table manners are not in his vacabulary yet. Just look at how he eats!!!! European cultivation and gentlemanship? Not yet.

Luca is an eager conversationist. He particularly likes talking to Niuniu, our cat, who no longer comes inside the house. Niuniu sometimes responds, but most of the time she just stares at Luca curiously, wondering what he's talking about. Maybe the weather, or what's for dinner, or some fun games?

Luca starts to make the sound of ''mama, mama.' Cannot tell you how happy mama is.

Maya and Luca

Sometimes they play well together. Sometimes they fight - though more than two years younger, Luca is a stubborn and determined competitor. Maya loves to help out when it concerns Luca, but the problem is that she doesn't always get it right. But you really cannot ask more from a three-year-old, so mama and pappa are not complaining.

Maya shopping for clothes

Maya has been fussy about what she wants to wear every morning. She doesn't like the clothes pappa bought for her (mama thinks they're really pretty). She's not a fan of the clothes mama bought for her either. So for a while, mama and pappa are quite frustrated because it takes so long to get Maya dressed, not to mention all the kicking and tears.

After doing quite a bit of reading, Mama has a new strategy.
1. Maya can decide what she wants to wear -- rules: no pajamas, no dirty clothes, no ballet dresses because they're too tight and hard to take off
2. Before she goes to bed, she picks out the clothes she wants to wear the next day
3. She does her own clothes shopping (of course, pappa and mama will always make suggestions)

Maya's first shopping is a big success. She picks out one top, one dress, one long pants (with wide bottoms), one tights (with white-and-blue flowers). And believe it or  not, they match perfectly. She also buys two pairs of shoes, one pink (casual, comfortable), the other white (the dressy type). Maybe she'll become a fashion designer when she grows up. Who knows.

Maya can read!!!!!

It's Pappa's turn to put Maya to bed. How happy and surprised he is when Maya starts reading to him, instead of the other way around. The book Maya is reading is ''Maisy at the Beach."

So she reads on...
"Maisy at the beach"
"Can you put on ---- sun hats?"
"Maisy and her friends are at the beach."
"Catch the beach ball."
"Cyril and Maisy buy ice-cream cones"
"Find an umbrella for the ice-cream ---."

Wow!!!
(Photo: Maya loves taking a bubble bath.)

Luca 7 months old

Luca turns seven months on 16th. Congratulations, Luca!

Luca crawls to Maya when he hears her voice.

 Ouch! It definitely hurts. Luca, you need to learn to be gentle.

Cherry picking at U-pick Farm in Gilroy

We picked cherries on the U-pick Farm in Gilroy on Sat. It was very hot, so we didn't stay for too long. But it was a lot of fun. Maya climbed the ladder to pick several pounds of cherries. It was the first time for Waipo and Waigong to pick cherries. They loved it. Waipo even did a painting.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Pappa! Here are some gifts pappa receives from Maya

Luca is yet to learn how to make art. But he has his own way to love pappa.

In the morning, pappa takes Maya to the Discovery Museum. In the evening, mama and pappa have a date night at Straits in Santana Row. Thank you to Waigong and Waipo for keeping an eye on Maya and Luca.

Luca's new achievement!

Around dinnertime, Luca crawls to Pappa and stands himself up with his hands on Pappa. Bravo, Luca!

Mommy starts training Luca to fall asleep on his own again. Not sure how successful mommy will be this time. She always runs to Luca's rescue too soon. But not sooner than Waigong and Waipo, who rush to Luca when he makes the slightest sound.

Garden harvest and more

It's a mixed post. Photos include: garden harvest, Maya feeding Luca (Luca loves the solid food mama makes from our harden harvest, Luca standing (we're sure he'll start walking soon; he's such an adventurous crawler already), Maya and the Golden Gate Bridge, and the whole family eating at an in-and-out Burger in SF.

Maya's portraits of the whole family

Here are several new paintings by Maya. She draws mama, pappa (he's wearing a buttoned-up shirt) , herself (wearing a necklace), and even Luca. Guess where Luca is? Hint: look for him in the drawing for mama. In the drawing for mama, she also draws many cherries.

New paint for the house

Finally we have the house repainted. The job is done in three days. The house is in greeish grey, the trims white, the door dark red, the shutters charcoal. It looks very nice. Will post before and after photos soon.

Other fixes include the faucets in the kitchen and the guest bathroom and a new garage window. The next step is the kitchen, which will have new cabinets, new backsplash, and maybe some new appliances.

Danling is visitinig

Maya's cousin, Danling, was visiting from Boston, where she goes to school, for a week May 28 to June 2nd. We went to San Francisco twice, and she loved the city and said she'd like to study there someday.

Waigong and Waipo's 50th marriage anniversary!

Waigong and Waipo will be married for 50th years on Oct 1 this year. A big achievement, isn't it? Since they'll be leaving before that date, we held a party for them at Alum Rock Park on June 3rd. Many of mommy's and pappa's friends came.  Many of Maya's friends came too. We had almost thirty people. After a nice bbq, we ate an icecream cake. It was so yummy that it was gone in no time.

After we got home, we opened the gifts for Waigong and Waipo, a special frame (gilt and with pearls), a porcelain art piece (with the number ''50'' on it), and two Citizen eco-drive watches. They liked all the gifts and said it was one of the most memorable days in their lives. :)

What a night!

Maya peed on mommy and pappa's bed at 2am. The second time this week. A lot of spraying and washing and drying to do, following the incident, of course. It's weird that she does it. She's been out of diaper for a long time and she typically is very good getting up to pee.

Luca didn't sleep until 6am, turning, twisting, crawling, pulling mommy's hair, kicking mommy's tummy. Should his two new teeth to be blame? Or should the plum juice--he had a little constipation-- mommy gave to him during the timeday be the problem?

Mommy was so exhausted that she skipped her Zumba class this morning (she's also getting a cold). After not going to gym for more than a year she finally started again. She did Zumba Tuesday and Wednesday and loved it. Waigong and Waipo will be here just for another month before they visit mommy's brother in Canada. Mommy better take advantage of their help while she still can.