Happy Birthday, Brynn!

We went over to Brynn's grandparents' to celebrate her third birthday with a pool party. Casey's swim lessons are really paying off. I knew she was becoming more comfortable in the water, but this girl is water crazy. She wants to be under water. I'm a little worried because I don't think she knows she can't swim. Her two most common words during the whole day were "move" and "back." She wanted us to move back back back so she could swim to us. The problem is she doesn't get a whole lot of forward motion. But the girl loves the water. She's going to be like her daddy and stay underwater snorkeling for minutes and minutes. I can already picure it. I'll be snorkeling on the top of the water watching them and freaking out!

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Third picture ... is it just me or does anyone else picture Ashley and Casey as teenagers, smoking (Ashley) and drinking (Casey)?

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Casey is wearing her Fourth of July dress that arrived in the mail a few days too late. I figured it was perfect for the parade and really nothing else, but it's kind of growing on me.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

We got a little crazy and went out on a Friday night. Usually we're all too tired, well, two of us are and the third one always wants to know where we're going to go next. So we went with Veronica, Ted, Kyle, and Cami to the boardwalk. I didn't know how many kid rides they had there! The kids had a blast. Casey had THE biggest smile I've ever seen, riding on all the rides with Kyle. Luckily Cami prefers to ride by herself or I would have felt bad. They got to drive planes, boats, helicopters, a train (!), cars, and I can't even remember what else. There was one train ride that went inside that grown-ups could go on too, but it was dark and had some scary creepy characters in it and Casey was not a fan. We had so much fun and stayed out until 10pm!

Baby's first jetski

Today we went to Veronica and Ted's to hang out. This is the life. The kids had a great time playing in the pool and riding battery powered jet skis that have water guns on the top. Thanks to the water guns, I think Casey has finally learned how to steer! The kids had a fantastic time and so did the adults.

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We left around naptime but Casey didn't fall asleep in the car because she was too busy bandaiding herself and poor DogDog. (Important discovery: Rubbing alcohol gets BandAids off DogDog.) When we got home I told her I'd sit in her chair while she went to sleep in her bed, but she said she wanted to sleep in her chair by herself. The last time she did this, accidentally of course, I let her pick a prize afterwards (a new toothbrush!) so she mentioned that and said she wanted to do it herself. It wasn't going so well at first, and so I put a timer in her room for 20 minutes and then started doing stuff around the house and checking my email and I meant to go check on her and turn off the timer... . Oops. I almost tripped over myself trying to turn it off before it woke her up. Luckily she went back to sleep. Looks like someone's getting a prize!

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I better go pack. I'm going to Florida for 2 long days for work. Well, mostly I'll be flying and working on the plane.

Loveboat

Professional swimmer

Casey went to an earlier swim class this week so that it won't kill our whole day on Fridays. Once summer is over you can get into pretty much any time slot you want. There were two brand new kids in the class, and Casey looked like a total pro. One of them cried for like the first 10 minutes but then he got the hang of it. The other was game but didn't really want to put his head in. Casey put her head in and swam by herself a little. Unfortunately she didn't make any forward motion, even with fins on, but still I was so impressed and proud. And I was the one telling the mom and dad that the little boy probably won't cry next time. By the end he liked it and said he wants to come back next week. But man it's hard to watch a kid stuck in the middle of the pool crying and wondering where his parents are.

Sama's mahket

Today was Thursday, farmer's market day. Or night, really. This morning when I dropped Casey off at daycare I handed her to Toni. She immediately told Toni, "Assa daycare I'm going to sama's mahket wiss Weena and Tylah." (After daycare I'm going to farmer's market with Davina and Tyler.)

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When we got there we sat on the bench and ate some Indian food, as usual. I relaxed while Davina and Tyler entertained Casey (and vice versa). She likes when she can take a bite and then roam around a bit. (3rd picture.)

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Then Kathy came by with Jack and Courtney and the kids ran around with Casey. Jack was hurdling the bushes, and Courtney was jumping over them too. Casey would kinda run up to it and lift her leg a bit. Some day. Then the kids were checking out a snail on the tree. She told me it was soft, so I guess she touched it. She's not a big fan of bugs, even though all of her friends like them, so I didn't imagine she'd want to touch a snail.

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In the last picture, Courtney talked her into eating a big hunk of dirt. Just kidding, Davina bought her a cookie. But Courtney bent down to talk to her and she bent down too. So cute. I wonder what they were talking about.

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At the bookstore I bought her a new book, Maisy Goes to Preschool. In the book there was a snail, which she pointed to and said, "snake!" So if she tells you she pet a snake at the farmer's market, don't worry, it was really a snail.

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When I was getting her ready for bed, I washed her with a washcloth because it was too late for a bath. She said, "Why are you washing my whole body?" But it didn't sound exactly like "whole body" and once I figured it out I was surprised and said, "Whole body? Where did you learn to say 'whole body?'" She said, "At daycare we did the hokey pokey. Right soot... lest soot... right hand... lest hand. Sake it all about." Eric's out of town so I just had to chuckle by myself.

Clean up time

Yesterday I went out for tea with my girlfriends while Eric and Casey went to Gilroy Gardens with Brynn. When Eric brought her back, she woke up early from her car nap, and couldn't get back to sleep. I told her we were going to rest for a bit and then we were going to clean up the toys. She responded, "Who's coming over?"

Um, well, sometimes we clean the house when no one is coming over, don't we? Maybe not.

First indoor haircut

On the way to the salon Casey was singing, "where's my haircut, where's my haircut? In the park, in the park." Oops, we forgot to tell her we were going to Sue's "office" not the park.

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I have never seen or heard of anyone having so much fun getting a haircut. Casey cracked up every time Sue showed her a piece of hair she cut off. And then the hairdryer ... she leaned her head back and just laughed. You don't get your hair washed and dried when you get it cut at a park. And we don't really use hairdryers here, although I did dry her hair once last week when she found a hairdryer in the drawer. Her hair dried in 1 minute instead of 4.

Now it's all one length and it's really cute. This is going to sound weird but it matches her walk.

You want a hat?

Here is Casey, making another bus and filling it with her guys, who all need to wear hats. She loves those goggles. She got the red ones and DogDog got the orange ones. When Eric and I came in, she offered us hats and then seemed surprised when they didn't fit us.

Speaking of goggles, she did great in swim class yesterday. She really had her face in for a while. I couldn't believe it. Her usual teacher, Sam, wasn't there, so she had a different guy, and I was a little worried but she did great. Next week we are starting a class that's an hour earlier (with her usual teacher), which is better because it won't kill our fridays. We can either meet people afterwards or I can go to work, which I will need to do this next month.

I swore I'd only have her do one class at a time. I figured after gymnastics we could do swimming, but while gymnastics was an 8 week class, swimming never ends. And I really want her to learn some Mandarin, so now she has both. Luckily I convinced Hayden's mom to join us. Wesley's mom might join too. Today is just a trial class, the real class doesn't start until next month.

The other picture is of her sitting in the chair explaining to Bubba something along the lines of, "hug don't hit." I seem to remember Eric sitting in that same chair last night with a little girl on his lap having a very similar discussion.

Window shopping

Last night we went out to dinner in Los Altos. We did a little window shopping afterwards and found the perfect birthday gift for Brynn, who LOVES Elmo. Don't worry, Jeanine, I'm just kidding.

Children's Discovery Museum

Tuesday night we went to the Children's Discovery Museum with Marie and Katie. Marie's mom's group was having an event there and they invited us along. Here's a picture of Casey and Katie playing in the water. By the expressions on the kids' faces, something bad must have just happened, but I don't know what it was. Otherwise they seemed to be having a good time.

I don't think I can go to those sciency kid museums anymore. It's weird how I have the same feeling in there as I did when I was a kid. It's too crowded and I can't make my way up to try any of the exhibits, and when I do make my way up to them, I never know what you're supposed to do with them or what they're trying to teach you. (The exception is the one we went to in Salt Lake City, which was amazing.) Eric will have to take her to those. He loves them.

I also decided a while ago that I don't want to go to any more kid music classes. I've tried them a few times, and I can't stand sitting on a carpet square on the floor, singing songs with other parents, and the songs are never real songs that I've heard of, but just made up for Gymboree or "Music Together" or whatever it's called.

I suppose this makes it kind of surprising that I signed Casey up for a music class. But, it's bilingual Mandarin/English, so realistically, it's her best chance to learn some Mandarin and some pronunciation while she's very young. And I swear I was going to take her, but now I'm sick. I started feeling it at the museum Tuesday night, and then Wednesday at work I tried to tell myself I wasn't sick, but I had to stay home Thursday and Friday. And I still have a sore throat. Why does Casey get a runny nose for a few days while I get so tired, heavy headed, and congested?? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she didn't feel the way I feel, but what's wrong with me?

Anyway, Eric and Casey are at music class right now. Eric's better suited to the music class too. He's more of a family singalong / audience participation kind of person than I am.

Fish tacos

On the way home we stopped at the Flying Fish Grill. It doesn't look great from the outside, but inside, oh man. They have so many good choices on the menu that it's hard to decide. Eric and I got salmon sandwiches on focaccia bread and ordered a grilled mahi mahi soft taco for Casey, figuring that we'd get to at least try it. That girl ate the whole thing! We couldn't believe it. Then she fell asleep in the car. The beach is hard work!

Casey had a great weekend with her grandparents. I don't think she stopped smiling for a minute.

Half Moon Bay

On Sunday we headed up to Half Moon Bay to check out the beach. It was a gorgeous day but a little on the chilly side. We scooped sand into buckets, threw rocks in the water, and climbed around on the rocks.

Always ready for a swim

For some reason, Casey was wearing her goggles around when the grandparents were in town. Sometimes on her face, and sometimes on the top of her head. Our little Amelia Earhart.

Chicken lollipops

Eric's parents came to town last weekend so we took them out for Thai food. One of them dubbed Casey's skewers "chicken lollipops." Genius. You would think that would make her eat more, especially because she got to dip them in peanut sauce, but she didn't eat much. She made up for it when they brought us out a free platter of vanilla ice cream scoops topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, with orange slices in between. You should have seen her standing up in the booth, flapping her hands like a bird when they brought it over. Somehow she suddenly knew how to sit and eat nicely in a restaurant.

I'm starting to realize that my new camera takes bad indoor photos. This was the best one I got.

Big shoes to fill

We went to Casey's first concert (the California Beach Boys) with Marie and Katie. I think it was last week. Maybe two weeks ago? The girls danced for a bit but mostly liked playing on the playground. This video made me laugh.

While we were there, we met another family who adopted from China using our agency. I'd actually met the grandmother and the little girl last year at Gymboree. They needed a daycare and they signed up for the same one as Casey the next day! The girls are the same age and seemed to get along, so that will be nice.

Where's Nanna Carol? Where's Papa David?

This morning Casey and I went to Target. While we were checking out she told the guy, "My Nanna and Papa are coming today."

And then we went to swim class. I didn't go last week but Casey and Eric told me there was a new girl there, named Juanita, sounds like Anita. I went today and there was a girl and a boy I didn't recognize, and I talked to the girl's mom. The girl's name is Amrutha (Indian name) and I figured it must be her first class, but she was here last week. Then after class Casey told me the girl's name was Juanita! Where did she even learn that name? She did great in swimming and seemed to have a good time.

Then we went to see the dentist again. I'm telling you, this has to be the best kids' dentist anywhere. They welcomed Casey, gave her stickers, told her she was going to get 2 toys, let her sit on the chair before they started leaning it back, then leaned it back a little more, gave her a new pair of sunglasses (she requested yellow this time), and then gave her some laughing gas. She did great. He filled both cavities, talking to her the whole time, and having conversations with himself and talking about how well she was doing, and upping it to 3 toys and a pencil. It was almost like a puppet show. She was a champ. Didn't cry at all. I on the other hand, had to watch a cavity being filled! Yipes. She definitely took it much better than I would have.

All morning we've been singing (to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin"), "Where's Nanna Carol? Where's Papa David? On the airpane, on the airpane." She made it up and made me sing it over and over and louder and louder.

Cavities

We went to the dentist today and Casey has two cavities, darnit. The dentist was great with her though. They let her watch another little girl go first, and then she got to put on sunglasses and headphones and watch a movie on the ceiling while they cleaned her teeth. They told her they were putting Mr. Thirsty in her mouth and told her to kiss it, so she closed her mouth and it suctioned out all the water. I was pretty impressed. Then came the best part when he told her he could pick TWO prizes out of they toy chest today and TWO on Friday (when she comes back to get her cavities filled). She got a kaliedoscope and a mini chalkboard, plus the toothbrush and stickers and a pencil. And they let her keep those snazzy sunglasses.
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The funniest part was that her whole body fits on the top section of the dentist chair.
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On Friday she has to go two hours without eating or drinking before she comes in, in case she gets the laughing gas. That should be fun. Especially since we're going right after swimming.

Where we going?

Every single day when I pick Casey up from daycare she asks me, "Where we going?" and adds, "I want to go to the park." Seriously. The girl has been playing with kids ALL DAY. And she wants to go to a park and wants to go with friends. Last night I convinced Marie to bring Katie and meet us at the park, so Casey was very excited. They played on the fake rocks, the swings, and the monkey bars, and ran around in the field. Marie and I managed to get a bit of food into them. Then Casey ran by the water fountain and I told her not to turn on the water. She didn't, but she accidentally on purpose walked through a huge deep puddle a few times, and then she fell in it and her butt was all wet and muddy. I thought, hm, maybe she'll learn a lesson when she's uncomfortable climbing on the rocks. Nope. She didn't mind. Her pants can barely stay up without being all wet. In the car I told her that she might have ruined her shoes and not to walk in the mud puddles with her shoes on and she said, "Next time I take my shoes off?" Um. I didn't know what to say. Some day when I have some free time I'll try to wash the shoes.

Mitchell Park

On Sunday we met Casey's buddy Cole at Mitchell Park, where Casey had her 2nd birthday party. They have a water play area and it was a nice sunny day so it was a great place to go. She even let Cole drive her around in the car, although she rode in the back seat. We had a little picpic and she convinced Daddy to go in the giant gopher holes. I don't know how she talked him into it.