Lots Of Love

We've had quite a few celebrations this past week!  Last weekend was the Chinese New Year's celebration at school.  Nana bought Esme a special jacket to wear but she wanted to wear her tutu and butterfly wings instead so Chan got to wear it, even if it was a little big.  We got to hang out with the other parents and kids, do some art work together and eat some yummy Chinese food.  Welcome year of the horse!  Most surprising was the snow we were greeted with when we left that night.  It continued to the next day so Mimi, Chan and I made a ton of "racetracks" in the backyard while Allen was at work.

Getting ready for Chinese New Year

Chan Chan got a red envelope!

Making tracks

Venturing out in the snow

 



Chan also turned 9 months old on February 10th!  Time really is flying by.  He had a check up with Dr. Hiegel at my office and he was 20lbs 6oz and 29 1/4in long.  He gained less than a pound since his 6 month check up which dropped him down to the 55th percentile for weight but he stayed steady with his height in the 85th percentile.  Just this week he's given up his army crawl and only gets around on hands and knees now.  He's also pulling up on anything and everything.  He's even getting adventurous and doing some couch surfing.  Esme has learned that if she wants to keep things away from Chan she has to put them up and out of his reach because now he can go for whatever he wants!

Esme and Chan also celebrated Valentine's Day at school.  Throughout the week they came home with all kinds of goodies from their friends (many kids are part time so they'd bring stuff in whenever they could).  Faye asked for no candy gifts so it was fun to see what other families came up with.  The kids got crayons, pencils, funny sunglasses, strawberry plants, rattles, bracelets, spinning tops, and other fun trinkets.  Esme took some rambutan from Hawaii to share with her friends and she was very proud to show it to them.

Eating her rambutan

Wearing their sunglasses on Valentine's night

Then of course our last celebration was just yesterday, Esme's third birthday!  She woke up to a table of presents and balloons and was so excited for the day to begin.  She got through two presents and then lost interest so she helped me make her birthday cake - homemade carrot cake with lots of goodies inside like pineapple, coconut and of course, grated carrot.  She also got to wear the new apron that we got her.  Later in the afternoon Esme had a small birthday party with her friend Addy and cousin Tabby.  The little girls had a blast together!  It's hard to believe our baby girl is 3 years old now!  Her big birthday gift this year was a big girl bike with training wheels.  We actually got it while we were in Portland a few weeks ago but she knew it was for her birthday.

Birthday morning surprise

Helping with her cake in her new apron

Esme got hot so she was only wearing her tutu and her apron :)

Decorating her cake and eating some cream cheese frosting

By the end of the party she was hot again so she lost her dress :)

Esme, Addy and Tabby in dress-up princess shoes

 

Riding her new bike at the school nearby

 

The birthday weekend celebration continued with a trip to the Seattle Aquarium today.  Esme was so much more interested than the last time we went when she was about two years old.  She liked touching the starfish and watching the jellyfish.  However the thick aquarium glass kept throwing her perception off and she kept getting confused on how close she could get to it.

Fun times at the Seattle Aquarium