Last week - part 2 (read part 1 first)

Friday Musical Notes: We tried a "Music Around the World" class where they sing songs in Mandarin, English, French, and Spanish. It's a free class so that you can try it out. We're considering signing up for the Mandarin immersion music class. When I told her we were going to singing class, I told her the musical notes mean "lalala" and she remembers it now. She saw some notes on tv and said "lalala" and we were so impressed.

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Whenever I tell her we're going somewhere, her first question is "DogDog?" (Can DogDog come?) "Yes, of course!" Then "Mommy, Daddy, Eeyore, Bubba?" She likes to know who is coming and likes to make sure she can bring as many of her guys as possible. She's finally learning that Bubba never gets to come and today she answered her own question "Bubba? No. Night night." (He's my teddy bear and he stays home.) So she brought DogDog plus her backpack full of Teddy DogDog, Eeyore, and Tigger and wore it during the class. She didn't love the class and I'm not sure if we're going to sign up for the full session. I can't decide. She said she had fun but she didn't seem that into it.

Saturday Blank Square: Today I went for another long run and Daddy and Casey hung out and played. I brought home a pumpkin pie and whipped cream. You can see they both enjoyed it.

Last week - part 1

Eric bought a giant calendar. We try to put everything on there and tell Casey what we'll be doing the next day when she gets up and which friends we'll see later in the week. "Ky-oh? Bunn?" Every night as part of the bedtime routine, Daddy and Casey cross off the day and look at what's coming up for the next day. We're hoping that when Eric goes out of town it will help her understand when he's coming back (we got the idea on our friend's blog). Eric draws a picture for each event and then writes the names of the friends she'll see. So, it's pretty easy to catch up on the blog this week.

Monday Bike: Monday night we checked out Casey's new wheels and she rode her bike to the park. I guess you call sitting on the bike while Eric pushes and occasionally jumping off to run "riding". I'm not sure why she needed a helmet any more than she would have in a stroller, but we're trying to get her used to the idea of biking with a helmet. On the way home I had to carry her the whole way (without the helmet).

Tuesday Balloons (party): Davina and Tyler came over and made us dinner. I'd lined them up to entertain me because Eric was going to be out of town. I almost made Eric hide in the living room because they're really good cooks and I didn't want to miss out. But in the end I had to fess up and they made dinner and dessert for all three of us. They like to cook big so we've got risotto and bread pudding for a week. Both make a fine breakfast, by the way.

Wednesday Movie: Wednesday we took pizza next door and played with Deanne and Arjan. Eric, Arjan, and I watched a movie while Deanne and Casey played with trains. Casey had a blast.

Thursday Apples: We went to the farmer's market with Katie and Marie. The girls have the best time together. They finally got their pizza this time. They got balloons again. Casey skipped the dog this time and got an "airpane!" It's an airplane with a pilot and a stick on the bottom. Casey wasn't entirely convinced it wasn't a dogdog but she and Katie enjoyed flying them around. Lots of eating, lots of running.

Sing it, Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDpRNkkAySo

Here's Casey belting out her favorite song. She still sings it all day long. Happy Birthday, everyone. Yay!

Relaxing Sunday

Sunday we skipped our bike ride and went for a picnic in the park with Audra, Rob, and Baby Cole, and Max and Baby Ellie. I always forget how relaxing it is to sit on a blanket on the grass on a nice sunny but not too hot day. We brought sandwiches and noodles (and chai) and had a great time. Casey loves playing with the babies, who are getting less and less babyish every time we see them.

Then we went home and Casey took a nap. Eric and I figured we had about an hour to read and a half hour to clean, but the girl slept for 3 and a half hours! We couldn't believe it. We read and read and it was great. I think this may be the first fiction book I've read in a year. I don't want to say adult fiction because that sounds weird, but I'm not counting children's books. If I did, I would be breaking previous years' records by quite a bit.

Notice DogDog is up her shirt on the swing. "Lap! Lap!"

That night we went to Target because we wanted to look for a bike for her. When she heard that, she kept saying, "Bike. Bike. Bike. Bike." Through the whole store. We ended up with a little tricycle with a handle on the back so we can push and steer. She's been riding it all over the house. It has a little bell and a small plastic basket in the back for DogDog. Poor DogDog, in a basket with a lid. She said "DogDog owie" so I taped the lid up, but she took the tape off.

We're going to take her to the park tonight so she can ride around. She is going to need some platform shoes so her feet will reach the pedals.

A bike and a train in one day

Saturday I had a long run in San Francisco (it was horrible and I've sworn off the marathon this year) and Eric and Casey went for a bike ride with Veronica, Ted, Kyle, and Cammi. They rode the bike to the light rail and took the train to the discovery museum. Casey went with Kyle to the bigger kid area (bigger than toddler) and they played in the water. Even with the smock she got soaked. So now I know to skip the toddler room next time, the other part seems more fun.

I loved looking at the pictures Eric took and seeing that she still won't let Kyle drive. Poor guy. You should see the starry look she gets in her eyes when she talks about him and believe me, she talks about him a lot. But still, she's in the driver's seat. Eric said that in that picture Kyle was asking if he could drive.

Then they came home for a while and we all went to Veronica and Ted's for dinner. They made us a great meal and then Kyle was feeling tired and came down with a fever. Casey kept saying "Ky-oh owie". So she played with Cammi for maybe the first time ever. They had a good time playing in the little kitchen.

Farmer's market

We went to the farmer's market again last week. Whenever we say farmer's market, Casey asks if Katie is coming. I'm always so impressed at what she remembers. She's probably been remembering stuff for a while but can't communicate it. While we were waiting for Eric to meet us there, Casey ran into a yarn store and made herself at home. They had a sheep to rock on and she went right for it. I figured I better get a picture of that for Nanna Carol! She didn't destroy too much in there, and pulled out some little knitting books and sat down and read them. I wonder if she's planning to knit something.

Eric called when he arrived and I told Casey he was here. She looked down the street and saw him before I did and ran toward him at top speed.

She got another balloon dogdog, pink this time. I think when she asked for a dog she didn't know that space alien was an option, because she looked pretty impressed with that one. She stood and watched the guy for a while.

Matching ice cream

Wednesday nights are sushi night. Last night we decided to try to sit at the sushi bar, thinking that Casey might sit still a bit longer if there were boats passing by. Nope, not really. I didn't time it but I bet our dinner lasted about 15 minutes. If we try to make her sit in the chair she makes a fuss and Eric takes her outside. She prefers to be outside so this is not a good deterrent. I managed to get a picture of her sitting down but don't be fooled!

We always end up walking around this little patio area that has rocks she likes to play with. I think next week we might try that restaurant, if I can figure out which one it is, and sit outside while she plays with the rocks. She even went over and sat at a table (you can tell from the picture she was pleased with herself) so maybe she'd like that better.

Then we went across the street for ice cream and decided that from now on we'll just get ice cream to match her outfit. You'll notice she's wearing the pajama top she was wearing in a picture last week. When she got dressed in the morning she wanted pants with a belt, check, she wanted to try her new boots, check, but was NOT taking off her shirt. It matched, so what the heck.

While we were outside a car pulled up that's the same model and color as Eric's and she pointed at it and said "Daddy Daddy!" When we come out of a store and are in the parking lot she always finds my car before I do and points at it and says "Mommy Mommy!" Can you believe she recognizes our cars? I often forget where I parked, so it comes in handy.

I woo woo! Bunn!

Today we went to a picnic at Vasona Park with a bunch of other families with kids from China. It was so nice to see everyone, it's such a cool group of people. Most of the kids are older than Casey. Casey was so excited to see Brynn and kept asking about her last night and this morning. We went straight to the merry-go-round from the parking lot because Brynn was so excited to ride the horsies.

After lunch we finally rode the train for the first time. We've been meaning to for a long time. We waited for all of the families to get over to the train so we could all go together. Casey could hardly wait to get on the train and kept saying, "I woo woo!"

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Today she brought her fluffy white dog, Trixie DogDog, given to her by Marcy at daycare because she looks like one of Marcy's dogs. We forgot to bring DogDog and luckily Trixie DogDog was in the car. Casey looks much girlier with her little white lapdog with a pink bow than she does with Dirty DogDog.

She fell asleep in the car and I managed to get her into her bed. She slept for a while and then woke up saying "Dada? Bunn?" It was so funny. She wanted to get up so I brought her into the other room and she fell back to sleep on my lap. She must be tired. She was up many times last night. Actually, I'm pretty tired too.

Owf for DogDog.

Yesterday we went for a walk to the park. Casey wasn't going anywhere without her bag of grapes and her DogDog. She loves rolling her cars down the slide, and of course, the swing. Wing! Wing!

Later, she and Dada were playing with the Legos and she told him "Owf. DogDog." So they build DogDog his dreamhouse with a tall tower on the top. She was very proud of it, but that didn't stop her from saying "knock knock" and knocking it over.

It was a big day for DogDog, because not only did he get his own house, but he got a bath. In the laundry. Eric did it while I was out running because I was too nervous that he'd get destroyed and there would be no backup dog waiting on the top shelf of the closet. (I have been thinking I should buy a backup dog but I just can't do it.) He turned out just fine. Now Dada and Casey both put him up to their faces and take a big whiff.

The office

Today I had to finish a proposal I've been working on all week. There were just a few touchups that needed to be done. And since everyone is always telling me to bring Casey into the office, I thought this would be a good day for it. We got in and she went straight to work. Actually she was pretty shy and quiet for a while, maybe more shy and quiet than I've ever seen. That lasted about 20 minutes before she was running around and visiting everyone.

The problem was that I had to follow her around everywhere, which makes it hard to do work that is on the computer. After a few hours of trying to do 10 minutes worth of work, one of my coworkers watched her while I just did what I needed to do.

She found a file cabinet in the printer room that had a lock on it so she asked for my keys and tried to open it with my car key.

This picture is the "before" picture. I didn't get the "after" picture but just imagine any toy or anything that could be used as a toy owned by anyone in the office was on my floor, along with two old dusty keyboards (to keep her away from mine). I thought that she might be able to entertain herself with all that great stuff for at least a few minutes. Silly me.

Appies!

We went to the Los Altos Farmers' Market last night after daycare with Katie and her mom Marie. Katie doesn't go to our daycare anymore so the girls were really excited to see each other. I wonder if Casey notices that Katie's not there anymore.

The girls had a blast getting free apple and peach slices from all of the vendors. And then they tried to get a sample of pizza, but they weren't giving out samples. That didn't stop the girls from trying. Everyone in line was cracking up.

Some of the vendors were selling juice out of coolers and the girls went crazy playing with the ice. Eric and I started to feel guilty so we bought some peaches from that guy.

Too bad there's only a few more weeks of the Farmers' Market. It's so fun to go for dinner. (And dessert!)

Daycare

I remember the first month and a half of dropping her off at daycare. Casey would cry every time when I dropped her off. It broke my heart and hurt my stomach. When I was picking her up one day I saw a kid crying because he didn't want to LEAVE, which rocked my world. Well, it was bound to happen some time. Last night I picked her up and she was playing outside in the front yard with two teachers and one baby and she didn't want to leave! When I tried to put her in the carseat she yelled "Dede! Dede!" so I said let's go give Dede a hug and say goodbye. Then she didn't want to get back in the car.

AND she was wearing her hair in a ponytail on the top of her head and not even trying to pull it out. Dede had one on the top of her head and she put one on Casey's head. I know I just wrote about ponytails and I couldn't help but wonder if Casey's been reading the blog and trying to pay me back for getting her on the later side this week since I've been so busy at work.

I finally got her into the carseat and when we get home she didn't want to get out. Eric couldn't even convince her! We finally get her out, crying, and saw that her friend Hayley had sent her a present. We opened the box and Casey had five new books. Whew. Suddenly, everybody's happy again.

Two

Darn. I took her to the park after work today and someone asked her her name. Casey said "Two". The woman said "Doo?" Um, no, it's Casey. She's two.

The park was hopping tonight! There was a judo class at the rec center (Casey seemed very interested and I had to hold on to her to make sure she didn't run in), little kids taking violin lessons while standing on the benches of a picnic table (I have no idea why they were on the benches. Maybe it keeps them from wandering around? Maybe so the teacher doesn't have to bend down?), people playing tennis, kids on the playground and riding bikes. Crazy. We stayed until it got dark, so Casey was excited to see the bright moon. She loves the moon and can spot it even when you think it wouldn't be out.

We didn't get home until after bedtime and were surprised that Eric was here waiting for us. Oops. Busted. He wasn't supposed to be home until 9pm.

Happy birthday to running?

Eric's out of town so I had to put Casey to bed tonight. I'm the softie and when Eric's gone I put her in our bed because I know she's going to end up there anyway. We read books and then she sang to and rocked (individually, everyone got a turn) -- DogDog, Eeyore, DUCK!, Bubba, and Baby Two. Then I had to sing happy birthday to everyone we know, at least once. And then to bikes. And then to running (run, run, run). Every time I come home she asks me if I ran, "run run run?" and does the little running arm motions that Eric taught her.

As for Baby Two's name... When we taught her the answer to "how old are you?" "two", we started a few months early, but then she picked it up so quickly that we tried to teach her "what's your name?" a little too soon. She gave the same answer. "Two." So of course when we asked her "What's your baby's name?" she said, "Two."

I was trying to show that to someone the other day and asked Casey her name but she surprised me and said "Casey". Thank goodness.

Smartiepants

Casey loves to read, just like her daddy. Here she is reading The Economist while Eric takes a snooze (in her little chair).

Buddies

Casey spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with her buddies, Achee and Bunn (Ashley and Brynn). They played basketball (well, Ashley was playing basketball, what Casey was playing looked more like rugby), had snacks, played in a playhouse (they each have a mouthful of banana but I got all three girls looking at the camera), and played some cards. Based on Brynn and Ashley's faces during the card game, Casey must have either had a straight flush or else she was cheating.

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Notice in one of the pictures, Casey has a little ponytail. Casey does not like to wear ponytails or barettes (although she will wear hats) so it was after I whined "Brynn and Ashley have them!" I have to be careful not to overuse that line, I know she'll be using it against me soon enough.

2-years old and ready for Trader Joe’s

[Posting from Eric] Casey is now 2, and has a definite independent streak. This past Saturday we all stopped in Trader Joe’s to pick up something for dinner. Casey wanted to walk with us around the store, but after we started picking stuff out in the produce section, she turned back toward the door and took off running. (Ack!)

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Nope – she wasn’t running outside and into the parking lot. She just decided that she, too, needed her own basket from beside the front door. She then proceeded to lug it around and fill with items she wanted - much to the amusement of the other shoppers. (She chose some excellent turkey and cheese!) And no, Daddy was not allowed to carry it (until it got too full).

(Sorry the picture isn’t better, but it was from my blackberry)

She loves to smile

One year ago today I was sitting at home on the couch, waiting for the phone to ring with information about Casey. I sat here completely stressed out, checking three email accounts, checking online forums about adoption from China, checking to make sure the phone was working (it wasn't), sweating while listening to workers hammering and pounding to put in our heating/AC, and trying to get some work done.

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Finally I got the call. Her paperwork said she loved to smile, and I thought that was just a way to describe that she was a smiley baby. Looking back I bet they were talking about her scary tiger grin. I remember the next day when her picture arrived, I just stared at it and tried to imagine what she was thinking while they took that picture and what she was like. She is sweet, cuddly, fun, silly, energetic, friendly, and brave. I love her so much.

Singing to the guys

She still sings Happy Birthday all day, every day. If we've ever met you, we've probably sung to you. She wakes up singing it. She likes to start us off "HAAA BUUU ToOoO YOUUU" (really that's the closest spelling). Then she says "Mommy! Mommy!" in kind of a frantic tone, which means that I am supposed to join in. Then, "Daddy! Daddy" and she gets Eric to join in. Then an urgent "DogDog!" or "Eeyo!" or "Nanna!" or "Papa!" or "Bunn!" or anyone else or some combo of those and that's who we're supposed to sing to. The only way to tell when the song's over is when she yells "YAY!"

What's under the table?

I wish I'd gotten a better picture of all the toddlers lined up checking out the twins, Maja and Sonja, under the table. It was really funny. I'm not sure why Casey has one shoe on. I didn't notice it until we got to the back yard.

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She was pretty excited to see Kyle for the second time this weekend. She is really never happier than when she's playing with him. He takes such good care of her. Whenever he wasn't with her she was asking "Ky-oh? Ky-oh?"

I convinced her to show off her DogDog cupcake (pupcake) for the camera but she had a hard time holding back. Veronica made them! I don't know how she does it. There were lots of different kinds and sizes of pupcakes and I thought I took a picture of the whole box but I didn't. Casey popped the ears right off and ate them.

Our friends who had the party don't have kids but they had some friends in town with a kid, so they invited us all over. Luckily we had a bunch of toys in the car, and some buckets and shovels left over from Casey's birthday party, so we brought them all out. Casey had a bit of a hard time sharing her dolly stroller, and of course DogDog is out of the question, but she was pretty good about sharing the rest, even Eeyore and Meow DogDog.

Mom! What are you doing here?

Labor Day weekend

Saturday Casey got a chance to sing her favorite song with lots of people. It was Brynn's birthday so we headed down to the park to play on the playground, ride the carousel, and hang out and eat with our buddies. Casey loved playing with Brynn, Kyle, and Cami. We're still thinking about those homemade chocolate cupcakes. Well, I am anyway.

Saturday night we went to our neighbors' for dinner. Casey tried to keep up with Maya (3) and Arjan (5) but it wasn't easy. Those kids are fast! We got some new Legos from Maya since Maya upgraded and Casey's been playing with them all weekend. She heard me saying something to Eric about her knocking over his tower and since then, before she topples a tower she says "knock knock".

Sunday we went for a bike ride and, as always, Casey howled in the parking lot because she didn't want to wear her helmet and as soon as we got going she was smiling and happy. Ten minutes later, asleep.

Sunday afternoon Casey and I played one of our favorite games where we both lay down for a nap and wait for the other one to fall asleep so we can sneak out and do stuff. Casey won this round and I fell right to sleep. I was reading her a book and could barely finish a page before my eyes were closing and I kept hearing myself say things that didn't make sense.

Sunday night my friend Lisa (Li Li) came over and watched Casey while Eric and I ran out for a quick dinner and Casey had a great time.