contest

based on these photos, who would you guess amelia likes better:

big yiyi?

or nancy yiyi? (check out the insane glare!)

actually, i'm not sure she has a preference.

we went to LA this weekend, though, to visit nancy yiyi, who's here from taiwan, but as poppa kwong said, "this weekend was a bust." amelia was sicker than sick sick on sunday (have no fear, she's pretty much all better now), and nancy yiyi, big yiyi and alicia got food poisoning from dinner saturday night. so we didn't get to do much on sunday, except have a brief visit with andrew and ryan. blech.

future rings olympian

quick weeknight dinners? anyone?

without all the wonderful delivery options of new york, and with amelia now joining us for every meal, i'm being forced to cook nearly every night. tonight, we had this classic fall meal of butternut squash soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (on homemade bread!):

when i was making the soup, i asked amelia if she wanted to try it. she took one look at the soup, shook her head, waved her hand around, and emphatically said, "no, no, i no like the yellow one." she's never even had the "yellow one" before. luckily she came around to it.

i'm running out of ideas for quick weeknight meals though, and i'm looking for some suggestions. anyone?

puzzle

we did it!

and now we jump!

gilroy gardens

we went to this great little toddler amusement park today in gilroy. all the rides were for amelia-sized kids. even the steps were particularly small, and the handrails low for the kiddies to grasp. it was genius.

here are amelia and helen on the mini-merry-go-round:

ian, amelia and the back of mina's head on the train:

ian: amelia, we've been dating for a while now, and i think it's time we get serious.

amelia and helen: bff.

"cheese!"

five little monkeys

here's some amelia footage i never thought i'd actually be able to capture:

posing, or not.

sitting nicely with poppa:

refusing to sit nicely with jen and eric:

a broom of one's own

wake up crabs!

although we missed our saturday excursion to the farmer's market, we took jen and eric to the ferry building today, and so the crabs had their weekly wake up call from amelia.

guess amelia isn't the only one fascinated by the crab tank:

tent or rollercoaster?

Helen, Ian, Amelia: AHHHHHHH!!!!

Helen, Ian, and Amelia: AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ian and Amelia: AHHHHHHH!!!!
Helen: I'm over it.

lemons and figs!

hurray! amelia looks out the window every morning at the figs, and when i tell her we'll eat them after they turn purple, she says,"they'll be verrrry yummy."

running

unlike new york, the sidewalks here are wide and flat, and there are few other pedestrians. we took a family stroll in the neighborhood today, and amelia "raced" me almost all the way home. as expected (and intended, even), she collapsed into a napping heap almost immediately after we put her in her crib.

momma's fancy new camera

i finally convinced someone, i.e., poppa kwong, to get me a fancy new camera. and i love it! i took it out for a test run this morning. here's amelia working on her camera smile:

smile too big, eyes too small:

better:

here's amelia further refining her spoon skills on a papaya:

thanks poppa kwong!

go ahead and jump!

one....

two...

THREE!!!!

wow, these fish are amazing!

or, boy can i flare my nostrils!