My meanest sister

My sister is sooo mean!
When we arrived on Thursday to San Francisco, my only plan for the day was to sleep. And then sleep some more. But instead, this happened:

Yes, those are my grease-monkey paws!

Tires don't hold much air when you have that big of a hole in them! So.... we had three cranky kids buckled in their carseats, and then the two of us. We tried calling the towing company that my grandparents use, but we found out that they don't cover the car, just the driver. And I think they'd notice that we weren't my grandfather. Just a guess.
Once we'd called people and stressed and played with the kids for a while, we finally looked through the car's owner manual and figured out how to undo the extra tire, work the jack, and then we changed the silly thing ourselves. We're pretty much amazing.
There was a kind man who stopped to help us. He helped us get the new tire on and used his better tire iron to tighten the lug nuts again. And then we were all on our merry ways again.
Then we went to our hotel and slept. Then we watched cartoons until 2 AM, cried in our cribs (some of us) until 3 AM, and then went to sleep for a few hours.
And here's where my sister gets mean. First of all, she wakes us up for breakfast. I mean, who does that?! And then secondly, after we eat said breakfast, she makes us all go to a park and petting zoo, where the kids have an awesome time feeding celery to farm animals. Again, who does that?!? I told her that my entire day's plans involved sleeping and sleeping some more. Since her little "driving over a boulder on the freeway" shenanigan had kept me from sleeping as much as I wanted yesterday, I thought she owed me a day of rest. But no. She didn't want to "waste and entire day just sleeping." I saw nothing wasteful about it at all! That sounded like a perfect day! But instead, we went out, had a stupid fun time, and then hung out with Grammy and Papa all evening while we finally got to sleep a bit.
She's awful, isn't she?

Because I know you care

The girls and I made it to America. We had a decent flight. First we flew like an hour to Korea. Then we played in the Incheon Airport for like 3-4 hours. They had a grand playstructure which kept the girls occupied and exercising. Naomi only slept for like 15 minutes the whole day. This meant that by the time we got on our long-haul flight from Korea to San Francisco, they were both really tired and ready to go to sleep.  We sat across the aisle from a little girl they'd been playing with on the play structure. So they passed toys back and forth, essentially doubling the number of toys they played with. Penny watched "A Bug's Life" and "Lady and the Tramp" on her own little TV, which is infinitely better than our previous transoceanic flight where she had to stand up on her seat to watch the one in the aisle.

Here's the only downside: They came and gave us our dinners. I set up my table and Penny's, then they gave us the food. The turbulence got kind of bumpy, so they turned on the seat-belt sign. Then Naomi felt the need to puke all over the place, which she did. She'd been doing this daily for the last several days, so I wasn't surprised-- or unprepared. But I was covered in it. Then Penny announced that she needed to go to the bathroom. The stewardesses wouldn't let me get up to visit the bathroom, but they did hand me some paper towels. After a few minutes of stewing in the stuff, I just handed them my dinner platter (uneaten, of course) and took both the girls to the bathroom. I didn't say anything to the stewardesses, and they didn't say anything to me. We took care of everyone's business, I changed Naomi's clothes and my own, and then we settled back in.

After that, the girls both slept for 5-6 hours. I let Naomi sleep on the floor until the stewardesses told me I couldn't do that. But thankfully, those several minutes on the floor had given her the opportunity to settle into a deep sleep, deep enough to transfer into the little bassinet. She slept there the rest of the flight, and I got to watch a couple movies. "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing." I played the theme song once on the piano, so I watched the movie. It reminded me of my friend, Aaron. He's from Hong Kong and loves all the old movies with all the old actors and actresses. I enjoyed the movie as a historical relic, but not so much for its entertainment value. Afterwards, though, I watched the beginning of "One for the Money." What a fun movie! I felt like the writing was really good, especially compared to the cheesy chick flicks I've kind of lost my patience with lately. I didn't get to finish it, but I think I'm going to. Or I may read the book. Either way, it was a fun movie!

In many situations, getting covered in someone else's vomit would pretty much ruin a trip anywhere. But you can tell just how low my expectations were when I deem this plane trip a success. It's easier to wash myself off once, change all my clothes, and watch the girls sleep for 5 hours than it is to wrestle two cranky children for an entire flight, which is what I was hoping to avoid.

Service

While growing up, I got to take part in a lot of service projects, mostly as part of a church activity. I usually enjoyed them and always had fun working with my friends. Sometimes we would make cookies or treats and deliver them to someone. Sometimes we'd rake up a yard or help someone with a project. Once we weeded a flower garden for a man who raised flowers for a living but had sawed off three of his fingers in a table saw accident and wouldn't be able to use them for a few months. That was memorable.
I always like helping others, especially when the service is needed. Sometimes, though, I felt like some of the projects were a bit contrived. I mean, polishing the baseboards at the church? I never in my life, before or after the project, noticed anything wrong with the baseboards. But apparently they were dusty and scuffed and needed our cleaning. Um... okay.
And then I always felt bad when the service project looked worse after we were done. My first youth activity ever was a youth conference in Taos. My service project was painting the trim of a birthing center. I remember the trim was blue and the rest of the building was a good New Mexico brown. But when we were done, it was New Mexico brown with plenty of freshly painted blue drips on it. Seriously, we were terrible painters.
But then the one project I remember the best happened the summer before I went to college. A giant wildfire had torn through our little town, burning homes and turning our beautiful, forested mountains into ash. In fact, the fire got so hot that much of the dirt had essentially melted and turned to glass, making it water repellant. The forest would eventually grow back, but it would take a very long time, especially if there was nothing to keep the water from washing right down the mountains. So a bunch of us college-aged kids took part in a service project. Some people made seed balls, and other people spread them around the mountain. Some people hammered straw tube thingies into the ground to prevent major erosion, and the rest of us scattered straw. The straw bales had been placed all around the burned areas, and we just had to open them up and spew them all over the place. This is where my excellent painting skills came in handy. I scattered straw all up and down the mountains, canyons, and valleys. It was humbling to see the burned foundations of what used to be my friends' homes and the burned sticks that used to be a mighty forest shading our town. But we scattered straw. We crunched around on the water-repellant dirt. Much to our delight, we found that if you got enough charcoal on your work gloves, you could paint a hefty beard all over your face. And other people's faces. I had a blast. And I felt like I made a difference. It was definitely something that needed to be done, and after we finished, I could see the immediate results of what we'd done. I'd been powerless against the raging fire, but in this small way, I could affect the future.
I went hiking up in that same area a couple years ago, 10 years after the fire had come through. Now there are young trees growing, wild roses flourishing, and leafy bushes starting to shade the parched earth. No one would mistake it for the forest that once lived there, but life is returning, and I'd like to think I helped it along a tiny bit.
I'm watching the news along with many of my friends, watching the fire whip through Colorado Springs. And other places. I'm praying for the safety of the fire fighters, for the people who live there. I hope homes are spared. I hope people are able to evacuate safely with their family, pets, and precious belongings. I remember packing up and leaving, not knowing what would still exist when we returned. I remember it as one of the longest nights of my life. People can show their true humanity during times of crisis like these. I hope for the best, whatever that turns out to be.

Penny's ladybug treasure hunt party

Penny had her birthday party today, and what a fun party it was! We'd invited a lot of her little friends from our apartment, but it turned out only a couple could attend. It's a long weekend, and there's a lot going on because of the holiday. So the party was a little smaller than I'd anticipated, but that was a good thing. I think for me it meant I could relax and enjoy it a bit more than trying to juggle and lead a bunch of activities. 

A friend introduced me to party packs from Oriental Trading Company. Basically, for $20 you get some cute matching invitations, plates, cups, cutlery, napkins, table cloths, balloons, streamers, and confetti. I don't usually put much effort into this type of thing, and this way, for the same noneffort, I can have cute matching stuff-- plus decorations!

Penny and her friends enjoying their lunch. They decorated little plant pots (bottom left) with stickers, and that covered one activity plus a party favor.

Kevin and his friends marveling over the wondrous taste of apple soda.
Whatever. I like it.

Penny opening some presents 

Penny saying "thank you" for her hair bows

The big activity for the party was a treasure hunt.

The kids found clues all over the apartment building. The first ones were easier:  "Look in the piano bench." 

Then they ran all over the house before finding the stroller.

It's a good thing the clues were pretty straightforward.

It took three of them to find the next clue.

Go downstairs to the ping-pong room!

They stopped to play some ping-pong.

But eventually Penny found the next clue.

Naomi helped find the treasure too!

The treasure box was hidden somewhere in Penny's room.

They found the little box of 1-kuai coins. Yahoo! They're rich!!

But what good is treasure if you don't use it to buy something?

Aha! The real treasure!

Ice cream from McDonald's!

Who doesn't love some ice cream on a summer day?

Naomi doesn't, actually.

But here are the victorious treasure hunters!

Well, Naomi doesn't like ice cream when offered, but she's perfectly happy to steal some from her mom. 

Chocolate cupcakes and an awesome birthday party!

And Naomi enjoyed her sister's cake maybe even more than her own birthday cake!

Duan Wu Jie

Happy Duan Wu Jie, everyone. I know you're all familiar with all the Chinese holidays, so I don't need to explain too much. Just suffice it to say that Duan Wu Jie is Chinese for the Duanwu Festival. You're welcome.

We don't have any dragon boats to race, and I'm not even sure what a dragon boat is. But we did eat some zongzi, or sticky-rice filled dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. I love zongzi! I could practically eat them every day. Naomi actually liked to eat them, too, which is a breakthrough for her. She rarely enjoys eating anything, so I was thrilled that she liked them so much. I wasn't so thrilled finding sticky rice smeared all over stuff afterwards, though. Sticky rice, in case you were wondering, is the exact same consistency as boogers. Zongzi, anyone?

Another tradition I learned about this year is that kids are supposed to wear their 5-colored strings. I'm not sure why (although I'm sure it's for good luck or something), but 5 days before Duan Wu Jie (or Duanwu Festival, if you will) is the 1st day of the 5th lunar month. You tie a bracelet on the kids' arms and legs. Then the first time it rains after Duan Wu Jie, you take them off and throw them out. Or throw them in a fire. Or toss them in a puddle. I forget what you're supposed to do.

My Chinese tutor got some bracelets for my girls, and then she asked me if I'd tied them on. Um.... no. But I told her I had (because I lie sometimes). So after class, I ran upstairs and tied the bracelets on the girls. Then I took pictures so I'd have photographic evidence, knowing they wouldn't last long. Most fell off within about an hour. But Meimei kept a couple on for a whole day. And today, 3 days later, she still sports one of her anklets. 

Penny and her accessories

Anklets up close

Naomi's cute anklet

Naomi modeling her braclets

  

Both of them were absolutely thrilled to pose for the camera

Especially Naomi

I'm adding this one more as evidence of theft as anything else. I think this is the last time anyone ever saw the remote control for the A/C. She's heading into the kitchen. I have no idea where it ended up. But this is photographic proof that she took off with it.

Shenyang's best and worst

Because I want to be cool like everyone else, I'm going to write my top 10 favorite and bottom 10 least favorite things about our post here in Shenyang. Many of them shouldn't come as a surprise, but then again, I am writing this before even writing the list, so perhaps I will even surprise myself.
Best things about Shenyang, China:
Um.....
Okay, Worst things about Shenyang, China:
10. It's very dirty. There's dust everywhere (thank you, Gobi Desert!). The rain just makes the dust stick to stuff.
9. It's very polluted. The sky is hardly ever clear (exception: a few days in the spring), and when it's cloudy, the haze is trapped even lower to the ground. If we go out for walks, the girls and I cough for a while afterwards. But we have air purifiers in our home, so that helps a lot.

It's worse in the winter, and this was the worst of the winter.

8. People hack loogies and spit them all over the streets, sidewalks, front steps of buildings, drainage holes, etc. Everywhere. I've taught Penny well, though. We passed our neighbor's apartment and heard him hacking a loogie. She turned to me, wrinkled her nose, and said, "That's GROSS!" Amen!
7. The food isn't anything special. The one specialty dish of the area is essentially sauerkraut and pork ribs. It's good about once or twice a year. Besides that, people just eat rather bland, oily stir-fried veggies and meat. The street food isn't at all exciting, though I do like some dan-dan mian (cold noodles with sesame sauce and cucumber).
6. Shenyang is not a tourist destination. Even though it was once the imperial capital, I think the Manchurians had the right idea to keep heading south. There is an old imperial tomb and an old imperial palace in town, but I haven't even been to the palace yet.
5. There are no trees. The trees that do exist have only been planted in the last year or two, and they're struggling for life. Once a tree establishes itself and flourishes, they chop it down. We finally bought a ton of houseplants to compensate for the lack of outdoor greenery.

A scenic view from our apartment

4. Constant construction. This leaves the sidewalks (what sidewalks?) in very poor walking conditions. Broken sidewalk tiles, muddy cement dried into ruts. Random holes open up, sometimes with signs, sometimes without. Maybe once the buildings are finished they'll repair the sidewalks, but that's sometime in the distant future. Until then, we weave in and out and around the construction mess.

I'm glad this giant pit was so well-marked!

3. The traffic. You have to jump across the street lane by lane dodging traffic. The other day someone turned right in front of us, coming VERY close to Penny. They slowed down to wait for more cars to go by, and I went and yelled in the window at the driver. I said, "Didn't you see this little child? You need to be more careful!" I sure told him!
I think the whole nation and future generations could have benefitted from playing "Frogger" while growing up.
2. The noise. We live above a shopping center. There's a lamb kebab place whose employees all wear headsets connected to some speakers cranked TO THE MAX. We're on the 20+ floor of our apartment building, and we can hear their constant babble. (I speak Chinese and respect that it's an awesome language. But these guys just mumble into their stupid headsets all day long. You can't understand them close up, and it's even more garbled-- but more annoying-- from our apartment windows.) And the McDonald's next door plays a short ditty over and over ad nauseum to advertise its ice cream (Think ice cream truck parked outside your house every day all day-- summer and winter.) And they're having a sale this weekend. I saw a stage being erected, and there will be constant music, performances, and announcers all weekend. And in China, if it's not cranked up TO THE MAX, it is not okay. Speakers are (apparently) made to be cranked up TO THE MAX.
1. Oh yeah, the winter. It's hard to remember it now that we're enjoying summer, but it's REALLY cold here all winter. REALLY cold.

Ha ha ha, there ARE some awesome things about living in China. I really enjoy it here, and I could easily list more than 10.

10. The summer. It's warm but not hot. It's humid but not sticky. (I'm from New Mexico, so everything is humid to me.) I really love the weather from about March/April to October/November.

Sometimes it's just so warm you have to roll your shirt up to your armpits.

9. I love that I'm too big to wear any of the clothes and shoes for sale here. (What? Just keep reading.) If I dig around and find an XL or ask for the largest size of shoes they carry, sometimes they might have my size. But usually not. (And I'm not HUGE. I'm 5'7" and usually wear a 10 or 12 in America. Not tiny, not huge. Except in China.) But this has helped my style immensely, keeping me from buying some truly atrocious fashions.

I may not fit the clothes, but I can still accessorize!!

8. I love that we're local celebrities. Everyone stops, points, and then exclaims something about how cute, beautiful, and amazing my children are. People pull out their phones and take pictures. If we stop for more than a few seconds, a crowd forms. If I go to the store with just one child, people I swear I've never seen before ask me how the other one is doing. People run along side us and call to their friends to come look. Now I know how it must feel to be Angelina Jolie.

Just jumping rope in the plaza.

7. My Chinese is improving in leaps and bounds. I have friends who all speak Chinese. Penny goes to a Chinese preschool. Kevin gets to practice his Chinese at work. And I also started studying with a tutor this month. I'll never be "finished" learning Chinese, but it's so fun to be able to use it in so many situations.
6. Everything's really cheap. Fruits and vegetables cost close to nothing. (Considering how much the Chinese farmer makes, this is easy to believe.) I can have clothes made for a very low price. We go eat street food all the time-- even though it's not great. We can afford to have a housekeeper.
5. We have a housekeeper. This deserves a number of its own. She helps keep my house clean, and she also loves to play with Naomi. She's teaching me that it's okay not to feel like I have to do everything myself, that it's okay to rely on other people. For me that's a big lesson. And I'm also becoming lazier than I ever thought possible.
4. There are some fun things to do around town.

Playing with the old people at the park

Collecting pine cones with friends at the Ancient Tombs Park (Beiling)

 

3. Public transportation is really convenient. Taxis are everywhere, and they're very inexpensive (rarely over $2 or $3 within the city). There's also a subway and bus system. Most people don't have cars but still have to get around the city, and the infrastructure is built to support that.
2. We live in an amazing apartment. They serve us breakfast every morning and change the sheets on our beds when we need them to. (Ahem, laziest person in the world right here.) The area might be noisy, but it's very convenient. There are 4 grocery stores within a short walk and 7 McDonald's restaurants. There are even more KFC's, though I haven't counted because we don't go there often. If I need to go shopping, I can run downstairs to H&M.

We eat here more in China than we ever do in the States!

1. The city is just very Chinese. It's not showy or pretty, and it doesn't have a ton of tourist attractions. But it's growing. It's building up. It's becoming more and more international. People are getting more education. The communist-era apartment blocks are being torn down and replaced with high-rise shopping malls and apartment buildings. The generation wearing Mao suits and riding their bikes is aging, while the younger hipsters wearing their sparkly shirts, black tights, and high-heels are taking center stage. China's 5000 years of history and culture have been pretty scrambled in the last 50 years or so, and it's amazing to be here as she's starting to redefine herself.

Field Trip

June 1st is Children's Day. Now I know, when the world revolves around your children, every day is Children's Day. But on Children's Day in China, more kids spend more time with their parents, so it's a good holiday.
Penny's preschool planned a field trip, and parents could come along with their kids. I was very interested in going, especially since I have never gotten to watch her teachers in action with the kids, and I was curious to see how Penny interacted with them and her classmates. And also, who doesn't love field trips?! Sign me up!
I told Penny's teacher and the office lady that we would like to go.
"Would Meimei be going too?" they asked.
"Well, yes. Of course." I couldn't exactly leave her at home, could I?
"I don't think that's going to work. You can't bring two children! One adult can't take care of two kids. It's just not possible."
"I do it every day. It's just me with the two kids."
"Well yeah. But taking care of them at home is COMPLETELY different from taking them out on a field trip. What if the baby fusses? What would you do then? We can't take care of Penny for you. We have our jobs to do and lots of things to manage. We can't just watch Penny while you take care of the baby."
This conversation went on for quite a while. They were insistent that I COULDN'T manage two little kids on my own for an entire field trip. I was aghast because... well, that's what I do. They kept telling me, "You can't, you can't, you can't."
I don't really like people telling me what I can and cannot do. It made me sort of mad. "Your culture is different than my culture. You guys have like 2, 3, 4 people taking care of one child. My culture has one mother taking care of several children. I'll be fine."
Yes, it sounded that awkward in Chinese, too. But that's not my point.
They relented a little and decided to give me the details of the field trip. But the skepticism was very clear on their faces.
I went home and stewed for a while. I posted on facebook about it. I questioned my motives a bit. Did I really want to go on this field trip just to enjoy the outing with Penny and her preschool? Or was I more interested in proving everyone wrong and showing that I could, indeed, take care of two whole children all by myself? Or was I just wanting to show off, that I'm so capable and amazing for taking care of my two kids? Well, sadly, it was a little of all of them. So I decided to go on the field trip.
The next day, I went over to the preschool to register and pay our fees. The principal was there at the desk, and she greeted me with a big smile. "I am so happy to hear that you and the baby will both be coming with Penny on our field trip! I just love this little baobao, and I think it will be so fun to have you all on the trip with us!"
I couldn't have felt more welcomed.
The two teachers I'd talked to earlier were pretty adamant I couldn't do it, but when I thought about it more, I realize they were simply surprised. Chinese people don't ever take care of kids like that. They ALWAYS have a grandma, a grandpa, a nanny, a mom, and/or a dad to take care of their one little child. In China, there are always a lot of people around, and a family always chips in to take care of the little children. I have a feeling it's always been like this, but I know it's more like this now that there's been a one-child policy for 30 years now. It doesn't seem possible for someone to take care of more than one child on their own.
Maybe it's a little like this: You invite a traditional Chinese family over to play, and they bring their little baby with them. Their child plays on the floor with your kids, but soon you notice that their child isn't wearing any diaper! How would you react? There would definitely be a lot of exclamation points! "Aaaah, your baby isn't wearing any diaper! He is going to pee on the floor! He's going to get pee and poop all over my living room, stain the rug, and totally ruin my couch! You have to get him off. Let's give him a diaper. Or maybe we could all go outside and play in the grass."
I have no doubt the Chinese parents would be staring at you with one eyebrow raised, just like I was doing to the preschool teachers. "Um, settle down," they'd say to you. "My kid just went to the bathroom before we got inside. He's not going to pee or poop all over the place, and your living room rug and furniture are going to be FINE."
"Well, I'd still like him to go play outside so in case he makes a mess, he can make it on the lawn," you say.
Through clenched teeth, the parents would respond, "In our culture, babies don't wear diapers. After only a few months, they're potty trained and don't make messes all over people's living rooms. Maybe in your culture, kids wear diapers until they're 3 or 4, but in ours, we teach them to hold it after just a few months."
Maybe they'd think about putting a diaper on their child, but they'd decide against it. They want to prove you wrong. They want to prove that their child has the skills. But mostly, this is just how they do things; it works every day, and why should it be different today?
I'd be surprised, but I'd find that yes, their child does hold it just fine. My couches and carpet are no worse for wear-- except where my own children spilled their yogurt. And now we all understand each other a little bit better.

Donkey videos

The grandparents haven't really gotten to know Naomi very well yet. Honestly, we've known her a year, but she's getting more and more personality every day. We're just getting to know her now, too!
In this video, we had just gotten home from the market with new blue horsie.

Andrea asked me what one does with a blue rubber donkey. One bounces on it, of course!

And while Naomi was busy somewhere else, Penny got to feed the donkey some food.

I never (as in... never) watch videos of other people's kids, so I completely understand if you don't watch them either. Unless you are her grandparent. :)

Dancing

On Friday, Ayi and I were talking while we made chicken salad and listened to Frank Sinatra. We talked for a while, and I found myself telling her about the music. I told her about the song lyrics, and about Frank Sinatra. He was one of the first stars (Ming xing, I said. Ge xing, if he's a singer, Ayi corrected me) back when they first started majorly advertising and printing color pictures along with records. He was really one of the first ge xing in America whom all the girls thought was really shuai. My mother's parents really love Frank Sinatra, but my parents both think he's the worst. Gag! But I like him, and I like the whole big band jazz sound.
This is partly because in high school and college, the senior center in town used to teach ballroom dance lessons during the summer. It was fun. My friends went, we met cute college interns (who were all physicists and engineers-- they couldn't have been THAT cute), we danced, and we generally enjoyed ourselves to the tune of the Big Band Era.
"Oh, kind of like here in China where the old people learn ballroom dance in the park," Ayi commented.
"No." I thought for a second. We didn't dance in the park. It was totally different. Well..... actually, the only thing different was that we were indoors instead of at the park. "Well, yeah, it's pretty much the same," I told her.
We'd learn all sorts of dances, like the Cha cha, the waltz, the tango, foxtrot, and of course, the swing. I loved it, but even then I knew it was kind of funny to be dancing with my friends' grandparents. But I loved learning these dances from people who danced them while they were young. And it's nice to know I would have been cool in the 1930s and 1940s.
I thought my story was pretty unique and kind of interesting.
Then Ayi told me her story.
"Yeah when we first had music, some friends would get together in someone's living room. It wasn't as big as this living room-- no one in China has this big of a living room-- but it was big enough. We'd close the windows and the doors, and then some of the 60-year-olds would teach us dances they knew, like the cha-cha-cha."
"When was this?" I asked her.
"Oh, it must have been about 1979."
Can you imagine?! It seems almost medieval to think of a time when dancing was banned! I think of what it must have been like. These 60-year-olds have just spent the last 40 years in civil war, followed by revolution after revolution and government campaign after campaign. They know Mao has been dead for 3 years and that they're now allowed to play all their old music and dance their old dances, but they know they still have to be careful. Even though it's allowed, they still have to hide and dance covertly, just in case the next government campaign sends to prison anyone who actually dusted off the old records and dancing shoes.
I'm reminded again just how lucky and blessed I am. I'm happy to be free, and I'm happy to be here in China where, despite the problems that do exist, progress is happening and life is improving.

Naomi's One!

Naomi turned one this week. It's incredible to think that she's already a whole year old. I can't say that time has flown by or that it seems like only yesterday she was a tiny infant. Oh no, I feel every single one of those 365 days. But it is amazing to see how far she's come. She walks. She talks. She plays with toys. She expresses her opinions. She's pretty much amazing.

I took pictures of our day that day. It was pretty much a normal day-in-the-life, but sometimes it's fun to take pictures of those, too.

Naomi just woke up.

There, the haze has cleared a bit, and now our day can begin!
(She usually cries  in bed, but on her birthday she decided to wake up happy!)

We all got dressed and headed downstairs to breakfast. This is in the elevator lobby. Penny insisted on the pumpkin hat, even though it's summer and it made her head all sweaty. 

This is where we eat breakfast almost every morning. 

Naomi doesn't eat much, but she's enthralled with  whatever is smeared on her hand.

After breakfast we go to the playroom to play with the other kids in our apartment building. Naomi loves climbing up the stone stairs to the window. She can go up but not down, and thankfully she hasn't fallen yet.

Same goes for the little slide. She loves to climb up, though once she's up, she doesn't know what to do. She'd rather climb back down than slide down into the ball pit. 

Naomi started walking (really walking) about a week ago. Now she loves to take off on her own around the house. I know everyone says, "Oh, well here comes trouble," and all that. But I love that she can walk! She's much more content, and I don't have to carry her as much. Plus, we love her zombie walk (staggering with her arms out... it's great).

We got to Skype with my parents on Naomi's birthday. We Skyped with Kevin's parents the day before. I love having a way to keep in contact with our families, and it's especially great that the girls can SEE them. It makes it a lot more real for them-- although for me, it still feels like the crazy video phone from "Peewee's Playhouse."

After nap time (not pictured) and a trip to the market (also not pictured... I forgot the camera), the girls came home with some birthday goodies. Penny got some juice, and Naomi got her birthday present, a blue rubber donkey. Now if either of my girls turn out to be Democrats, we'll know where to cast the blame! :)

Meimei loved her little donkey.

We also bought this little bike for a dollar from a man making them on the street. It's made from wire, coiled wire, and a tiny bit of a straw. The pedals spin. It's pretty cool!

The problem with being the little sister is that your  big sister commandeers your presents.

When Dad gets home, both girls go running for him.

And at the end of the day, there's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

Awwwww!

Okay, this one happened after Naomi was in bed, but it was still worth putting on here.