ABC's with Kaila

I have been meaning to post this video for a while..I took it a couple of weeks ago when Elizabeth met up with Kaila at the mall one morning...

Bubblegum Days

Okay, so here it is..the photo of Elizabeth chewing gum for the first time in her little life. Well, it was an unexpected introduction and happened late Sunday afternoon at the Golden Spoon Yogurt Shop where Mei Mei spied a giant gum ball machine with those gum balls the size of ping pong balls. I told Mei Mei,"no you can't have those--those are for big girls." And too my mind, they were--I couldn't imagine a three year old chewing such a giant gum ball. I did notice the slightly mischievious look on her mom Patty's face and next thing I know Mei Mei has a shiny quarter in her hand and suddenly a giant gum ball in her mouth..

Whoa..."she can chew that?" I asked incredulously. Patty laughted as if to say, "this girl has been chewing gum for years."

Once again, Mei Mei is ahead of the pack and there I am sitting with Elizabeth who is looking at me with these giant eyes and look of profound disappointment as Mei Mei chews away happily on her giant yellow gumball. What is a mom to do? I have to admit even though gum chewing was not high on my list of achievements I had hoped for with Elizabeth, I did have this sense that I didn't want her to be the only kid on the block unable to chew a piece of gum (Heaven forbid!). So mama caved in to peer pressure and said. "Sure," when Patty pulled out another shiny silver quarter and treated Elizabeth to her first giant yellow gumball. Of course, I, being significantly less brave than Patty--broke off a little piece for Elizabeth to chew. And chew she did. I have to say she seemed quite pleased with herself and I thought, "another developmental milestone covered."

The good news is that now Elizabeth will be all set for her next plane trip. I have often worried about her ears getting clogged from flying--but now I will will pop a piece of gum in her mouth and let her chew away.

Thanks Patty. I think.

Ice Cream time

Here is a little video of Elizabeth with George and Carmela over at Fashion Island. I don't think anyone knew they were being taped until I told them. Funny.

Elizabeth with George and Carmela

Last week Elizabeth got a real treat and got to spend lots of time with George and Carmela who came all the way from Texas to just to see her. Take a look at these photos of her with George and you can see why she would wake up in the morning chanting, "I want George."

She loved being with Carmela as well...but George is the one that picked her up a lot and carried her around. And I can tell you this, if you want this girl to love you..."pick her up and carry her". Elizabeth has come to terms with the fact that her mother can't pick her up owing to her bad back and ditto for her daddy--so she is WAY happy when someone else does it. Of course, that isn't the only thing she loved about George--he is "a lot of fun!"














Here she is relaxing with George on the couch while viewing her favorite movie, "The Wizard of Oz" on the personal DVD player that Uma and Umpa so smartly gifted her with...

Chinese Dancing...

So another week has gone by and I am not sure where it went. I wound up catching a nasty version of Elizabeth's illness and have learned that caring for a three year old while you are sick with a fever is not something you want to wish on anyone.

These photos are from last weekend when I was feeling a lot better--and as you can see--Elizabeth was pretty well recovered by then.

A group we belong to called "Families with Children From China" sponsored a really fun event of Chinese dancing for the girls.

Here you see Elizabeth with Kaila and Emma warming up for the dance class with a quick rendition of Ring around the Rosie.


And here are the girls in their dance recital. It was amazing--the teacher only worked with them for about half and hour before they came out for a final "performance". You can see Elizabeth had the added distraction of having to pull up her "too big for her" Chinese pants. I should have taken Grandma up on her offer to take them in for her. Still, she and the other girls were, as usual, adorable and amazing.



Some more photos from this fun day...

Just "Hangin"

Here is a photo that is a couple of months old but I don't think I ever posted it. Elizabeth was "hanging" with her buddy Emma. Don't they look like a couple of teenagers on a summer afternoon.