It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Fall beach day

The kids love the beach and playing in the sand. It has been a long time since we have visited Santa Cruz and we luckily got nice weather during this week (Minkz is taking vacation).

Leaf jumping

Sept/Oct visit from auntie and uncle, aka (Max calls both) "Hung"

Penny on the monkey bars

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Max was a dragon and Penny was princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Weaning Max

Weaning Penny at 20 months was a smooth and easy transition.  I was working and we were both ready for it.  Weaning Max (I was hoping by 20 months, too) is not as easy.  I am ready to stop and he is not.  He expects and requests it at wake-up, before nap, after nap, and at bedtime.  The gentle way to wean is, "don't offer, don't refuse" That probably will not work for this one.  There will be some whining and crying on his part, and some ignoring and some giving-in on my part.  Wish us luck!

All dressed-up

We had some family photos taken yesterday and we took these at home afterwards.  You can't tell from this picture, but it took both of us pinning Max down, and Pocky treats, to get him into this shirt and bow tie!  He also did his best to escape the photographer the entire time during the photo session...

Tilden park

We finally tried the steam train ride at Tilden Park in Berkeley.  Max has been obsessed with trains and watching train videos on YouTube.  He loved it.  Choo-Choo!

Pumpkin time!

Hay ride, corn pit, hay maze, wagon, and pumpkins!  These pics are from Penny's preschool field trip to G&M Farm.  Daddy, Max and I all went along had a great time!

Max's words

Here is a list of most of Max's words so far:

cheese, daddy, mama, choo-choo, bike (bai), bye-bye, hi, doggy, moo-moo, ball, duck, bug (bai), bath, moon, fish, bus (bai), please, car (brrrm-brrrm), nacho ("ya-ya" neighbor's cat), dip, banana (nana), plum, turtle, olive, all done, spider (bai), owl

He has his own way of saying things, so a lot of it is contextual...  for example, he definitely says something when he sees a truck (garbage trucks, mail trucks, and construction trucks are his favorites) but I'm not sure which word he uses.  When in doubt, he says "ba" or "bai" :)

Pixieland

We went to Pixieland in Concord for Penny's preschool friend's birthday party.  The kids had a good time.  Both of them are on the cautious side.  Max was scared to sit in the car with daddy and would not hold the steering wheel.  Penny did not want to ride the horse on the carousel and had to be bribed with a lollipop to ride by herself.  Then, of course, she realized that she loved it.

Puzzle

Max likes his puzzle and we love when he says "brroom-brroom" for "car".

more Fun

@ the Berkeley kite festival 7/27

Max holding hands after eating @ Sauced BBQ restaurant in Livermore

Beach day in San Diego

Max hanging out with uncle

sand play with auntie

water play time!

Annual San Diego Comic-Con trip

the whole family

Max Sterling with Max Sterling toys

our lil Hello Kitty

Minion!

Ironman and Penny pose

Summertime fun

Car wash! 

Oakland Zoo

Train @ Oakland Zoo

Athan Downs park while sister is at camp

Family beach day

We had fun at Montara beach today! The kids loved it.  When it was time to leave, Max screamed and ran away toward the ocean, but daddy caught him.

We went to church with obaachan

Last Sunday, Penny came with me to go to church (the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment) with my mom.  Penny went to the youth spiritual class and enjoyed it.  I like Penny to be around my mom.  A mentor of mine, in the gerontology field, told me that she liked that her children were around her parents even though they were sick and dying.  Now that I am in a similar situation, I am understanding what my wise friend was talking about.  Not everyone is happy and healthy all of the time.  Aging and sickness is part of life.  We should be sensitive to those in need.  Penny is aware of these things.  Of course, it is great for my mom to be around Penny, too.  Because, she is a bright spirit, always present and in the moment.

Summer has begun!

Penny's last day of her first year of pre-school was the 11th.  Summer is here!
For the first week, I signed her up for swimming lessons through San Ramon Parks & Rec.  I figured that it would be good for her to learn from a different teacher (we have been going to another swim school in Dublin).  I think it did help to have a different teacher, a different pool, and daily lessons rather than weekly.  Max just patiently ate snacks and waited while Penny took her lesson.  Penny can bob now and is getting more and more used to being in the water and getting water over her head.

Next week she has summer camp at her preschool with an art theme.  Max will have to adapt to the new routine.  We will be picking her up during his normal nap time...

Max's First Haircut

I couldn't get good photos because I took him on my own and he sat on my lap for the haircut.  He was very squirmy, but luckily he didn't cry...much.  Surprisingly, he disliked the scissors more than the buzzing electric razor.  

He looks like a different boy now!

Before:

After:

Escaping the heat in HMB