Weekend Fun

We spent an unforgettable weekend with our friends, Craig, Kim, Kyra and Sophie.

One of the highlights was a "Peter Pan-cake Breakfast." Characters from a local production of the play walked around while we all ate. My animal-loving child adored Nana and kept getting up from her pancake (very little was eaten with all the excitement) to give the dog a hug. There wasn't anyone she missed.

with Nana


with Peter Pan


with Wendy, Kyra and Kim

with Lost Boy and "Big Pirate" as XX called him - he was her favorite (Captain Hook sneaking into the bg)

XX wasn't completely sure about Captain Hook and his "funky 'shou'" but said he was "not too bad."

XX really got excited when she heard Tiger Lily was in the room. "There's a TIGER here!" It was a bit disappointing to find out this was a person, but she rolled with it.

She even wangled herself into someone else's photo.

XX not only talked to all the characters, but many of the other diners. She is the ambassador of goofiness.

There was lots of playtime. Kyra showed herself to be true big sister material. She did a great job sharing and looking after XX, who loved playing dress-up with all of Kyra's beautiful clothes. I wish I had taken a photo of Kyra carrying XX around. Hugs would turn into pickups with both girls giggling.

The dogs also had a great time. Sophie is a sister to our dogs and they are all very comfortable with each other. I'm saddened to think that this is possibly the last time they will see each other. We'll have to figure out how to get Sophie to visit us when her family comes. Perhaps a driving trip for our friends?

The weather cooperated so we had a good afternoon for outdoor play.

Yesterday was Kim's birthday and also happened to be the third anniversary of our referral. There was much eating and drinking to celebrate. But every day with friends is a reason for joy. We're looking forward to the next get-together!

Friends

XiaoXiao and Pammie finally had a playdate. Heather and I live too close to each other and our daughters are too close in age and temperament to forgive us keeping these two apart for so long.

This is, in case your imagination skills are rusty, a sunny day on a sailboat upon which chicken and hotdogs are served.


And this is "being loud," XX's fave activity. Apparently, Pammie is no slouch either.

And added to this, I got to spend time with my friend. There's something wonderful in confirming that you're not alone in your parenting views, tactics, joys and frustrations. Beyond that, Heather and I have so much more in common than having three-year old daughters. And it was fun.

We'll have to do this again. And again.

The Picture

She's not getting it yet. This is how she plays "seek and hide." She's always in the same place and there is loud, gleeful calling, "Can you FIND MEEEE!!!"

Heard and Overheard

Daddy: "Can I wear a suit jacket with plain pants? Should I wear a suit? I don't want to wear a suit."
XX: "Baba, I have a tiger suit you can wear."

XX, while playing on her scoot-around car outside: "I'm driving. Uh oh. I'm lost. I'm lost again. I have to call Aunt Steff."

XX: "I do crafts. Not big people crafts. I do little people crafts. I'm little."

My daughter is ever on the lookout for loopholes.

XX: "Uncle Glen told me to say 'Yes, Mum.' So I say, 'Yes, Mum.'" Pause. "But he did not say to say, 'Yes, Dad.' So I don't. Sometimes I do, but mostly ... no."

Ballet teacher: "Girls, NO hands on the mirrors." Pause. Teacher again: "XiaoXiao, when I say no hands on the mirrors, that also means no lips or tongues on the mirrors."

She's quite interested in all things baby these days. What they know and what they don't.

When Baba took the end piece of the baguette that she was eyeing, it was explained that he didn't know she wanted it. To my surprise, she didn't yell at him, telling him he should know better. She took a deep breath before saying: "Okay. Baba's like a baby; he doesn't know some 'fings.' That's okay, Baba. You're like a baby. You don't know."

And one of my faves:

"Mum? May I please behave ALL day today?" (I always say yes.)

Never a Dull Moment

Random photos, random XX-isms from the past week or so.

Despite the sometimes angelic looks, lovely legs and pretty feet, ballet is perhaps not for my daughter.

Ballet class was rough last week for all the girls, XiaoXiao, in particular. At one point, her teacher, exasperated with all the inattention, told the girls to stand on the line and look at her. Amazingly, the girls all ran to the blue line and stood up straight (XX has been known, on occasion, to purposely run to the opposite blue line and look around proudly as if everyone else were wrong.)

"Can you all see me now?"

There were yeses, except from Guess Who. She answered, "No, I can't see you."

She had her hands over her eyes and was bumbling around, and then went bumping into her teacher's legs. She thought this was very funny (and so did I and the other mothers watching). Even her teacher muffled a laugh. I'm thinking clown school?

She is, however, the first to yell out the names of the ballet steps, the first to demonstrate when asked. Hermione Granger with a sense of humor.

I did try to "accentuate the positive" and was telling her daddy that I saw her bump into another girl and apologize without being asked. XX piped in cheerfully, "Well, that's one good 'fing' anyway!" (I have to say that, in general, she has very good manners.)

Some recent favorite looks:

Small stickers over the lenses because they looked like "little eyes." Her backpack is on backwards to be a Baby Bjorn for her dà xiàng.

And yes, she has more than one outfit. She has "normal" clothes, but what would be the fun in that? Playing tigers is infinitely more exciting.

Did you know tigers vacuum?

And sing and dance? It's hard to do both at the same time, I'm impressed.
(Yes, that's her "stage." Not sure about that shoe choice. Looks like another sort of "stage career" to me.)

Tigers also sit on the stairs rocking back and forth. "I'm on the airplane, Mum, and I have turkey legs."

"Turkey legs?"

"Turkey legs. Bump bump bump. I have to put my seat belt on."

(That's "turbulence" for those of you who do not speak XiaoXiao.)

If it's not the tiger costume, it's another. It snowed last week, but as soon as it warmed up, she decided to wear her leotard. Everywhere. I think Brad and Steph have gotten used to seeing her in the unusual.

As always, XX had a wonderful time.

Slides are still scary, but not too bad if your brother holds you at the top and your dad catches you at the side.

At one point, she got so excited, she let go of the swing and fell off backwards. She's been talking about that incident since. "What happened! I must have let go! Silly XiaoXiao."

She's been doing a good job in Mandarin. She loves the songs, dances and especially the crafts.

That means at home, she practices with her markers, tape, scissors and Post-Its. She writes a lot (make-believe letters but with a name at the top and "love XiaoXiao" at the bottom). She's also become obsessed with writing the character dà. After each try, she cuts it out and hands it to me. I must be supporting the Post-It company.

She's been drawing pictures of our family. Usually, Daddy has no mouth. He thinks that's indicative of how much say he has in the house. But the other day she handed me this picture of our family with all our names. I love that her name is written perfectly backwards. She said there wasn't space on the other side. Considering the way her crafts come out in class, this looked so orderly. Always a surprise.


It's time for ballet class again. What can I expect today?!