Empress Pavilion

Here's two pics of Zoe falling asleep despite being in the center of Chinatown's noisest Dim Sum restaurant.

Disney

Yep, we're getting our money's worth out of that annual Disney pass. We came to hit the new FINDING NEMO Submarine Voyage, which entertained Athena, and terrified Zoe.

After that, we tried Autopia, a car ride where Athena got to "drive" along a course with Daddy taking care of the gas and brakes. She got a big thrill out of being behind the wheel, and didn't quite realize there was a metal track beneath the car that kept her on course.

Then we hit some of our favorite rides, including Athena's all-time fave, the Teacup ride.




And here I try to catch Sally, Athena and Zoe riding over London in Peter Pan's sailing ship.



Still it was a long day, and we only managed to pose in the car outside Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.



Nevertheless, I'm encouraged that for all the flash of Disney, Athena's perfectly capable of having fun climbing a tree.

CostCo

And here's two pics of the girls keeping themselves amused while shopping at CostCo.

At the Beach

So, just cleaning out the old photos to post. This one's from a summer trip to the beach.

Athena's had a remarkable about face in attitude regarding the ocean. As an infant, she hated it, and would suck up her legs like a plane retracting its landing gear whenever we tried to put her on the sand or in the surf. Now, on the other hand, you have to watch her like a hawk or she run headlong into the ocean, laughing hysterically.

Here's a rare photo where she is voluntarily holding my hand.




Luckily, Zoe's content to stay on the blanket and play with her beach toys... for now.

At home

With all these pics of trips, events and outings, it's easy to forget most of the girls' day is spent lounging at home. Athena's starting to get into books a little more. Notice her serious literary demeanor as she deconstructs (not literally, for once) the childhood classic PAT THE BUNNY.




And both the girls love bathtime, even if Athena's the only one with swim goggles.






Zoe's still in exploring mode.




I know here it looks like Zoe starting to express herself artistically, but honestly, she just likes taking the caps of the magic markers so she can put the tips in her mouth.





Zoe's favorite pastime is eating. She will eat just about anything, provided it's not baby food. I swear, the kid would eat a pool filter if we let her.







Here she is using her baby wiles to get food out of Daddy.




Athena has a new interest, baseball. Here she is trying to turn an air pump into a bat and asking me to throw the ball at her. I do, and three or four seconds later, she swings. I think she'll have better luck with the T-ball set we're getting her for her birthday.

Zoo Pics

Okay, we've got a ton of photos backlogged. Here are some pics from one of our zoo trips. Athena love the zoo. She thinks Nana lives there since we got there every time Nana visits, and one of her first words was "elephant."






Another thing she loves to do at the zoo is take Daddy's ice cream and only very rarely let him have a bite.




Zoe's not that into animals yet, but she loves a day out with the occassional snack.

First Day of School

Athena's first day of pre-school was Monday. It's a strange time for a parent, exhilarating and melancholy at the same time.

First off, Athena loves pre-school. She's been there two days, and she's already talking more, has weaned herself off the bottle, and is making poopie in the potty voluntarily after months of futile cajoling and wheedling from her parents. Ah, peer pressure is such a potent force, I should enjoy that brief moment in time where it's a good thing.

I spent the morning of Athena's first day with her. She ducked into the empty classroom next door from time to time. Partially because they have better toys (like magnets!) but partly I wonder if she was acclimating to surrounding herself with a dozen or so other kids when she's used to just having one, much smaller kid to deal with (Zoe).

She only got upset two times. One, when she couldn't leave the class to look at the babies in the infant classroom (which she'd enjoying doing when we were touring the facility) she cried for Mommy. Later, when I left, she didn't cry for Daddy one bit, which is great -- really, really great.

The other time is when one of the kids brought his box of Cookie Monster Organic Shortbread Cookies and Athena wanted one. Even though she would grab me by the fingers and place my hand on the box of cookies while demanding "Hand! Hand!" (her word whenever she wants us to give her something, i.e., put it in her hand), she somehow knew better than to try to take one of this boy's cookies on her own.

Honestly, I think the transition has been harder on me than on her. I realized today that for the first time Athena has this whole life outside of me and the others her family. She's growing up, becoming the most wonderful little girl, but I'm going to miss being on of the constant fixtures of a world limited to her home and some trips in the car.

And the teachers are great, but they're great with all the kids. (One complaint, Athena seems to be in the classroom of the wet, hacking cough.) Still, I can't reasonably expect them to treat Athena as one of the most precious people in the world, even though that what she is to me. So, I have to accept that even though they treat Athena as the special person she is. To them, she's special in the same way all the other kids are special.

Anyway, here are the photos...

Sally and Athena outside of school.



Because Sally works early, we're the first to arrive. So Athena got the opportunity to get used to her new surroundings.



Athena gets assigned her very first cubby hole. We chose Hello, Kitty to honor Athena's Asian heritage.



Here Athena makes friends with Cameron, the next child to arrive.







Later, Cameron and Athena join some other kids stacking blocks. I remember one of the teachers telling the children they were stacking the blocks too high. Isn't that kind of the point?





Before I left, I was pretty amazed at how well Athena took to sitting in a group.

Pics from Nana's last visit

Here some pics Nana took to highlight the girls' development.

Zoe is in full exploration mode.





Her main interest lately is food. What is it, and how can I get my mommy or daddy to give me a bite? (Pitable looks usually do the trick.)



She just loves the water.







And Zoe's starting to take an interest in her sister's art. Any day now she'll realize those pens she loves to put her in her mouth have other uses.





Meanwhile, Athena's starting to expand into other media.





And Zoe's picking up her sister's interest in music.

Vegas

Las Vegas Trip (by guest blogger Sally):

We left around 4:00 am on Thursday on May 24, 2007 so we could arrive there early while the kids were still asleep. We arrived at Nam’s house around 8:30 and took Floyd and Sean to school. His school is about 3 blocks from his house. It was a hot day so we went to the backyard to cool off. Athena took a look at the swimming pool and fell in love with it. We went to change and swam for hours. Although she likes to be in the water, I had to carry her the whole time. Zoë wanted to come in the water too because Athena was having such a good time splashing water at me. So there I was carrying one kid on each arm playing in the pool. Grandma was watching just in case mommy needs help.


Second day:

We got up around 9:00am. Ate cereal for breakfast. Athena wanted to go into the pool (again!). I told her to wail till noon, but she kept yelling for the pool. I had to lock the door to keep her inside. Later I was watching Zoë when suddenly I look up and I saw Athena standing next the pool. I rush out and took her inside. Apparently, she used the dog door to get out there. So I had to lock to the dog door too. Then we went out for some nice sun bathing. I was so much fun to see her enjoy the water. After that we took a nap and went back in that afternoon.


Saturday:

Floyd and Sean were home and we all went swimming together. Floyd and Sean were a team against Athena and mommy. We played a game where we threw objects and splashed at each other. It was so much fun. We came up to eat lunch and then went back for another couple hours of playing. Afterwards we played the game “Will”. Floyd and Sean were way better than Athena and I, but we had fun.


Sunday:

Nam and Jenny were off that day so the whole family went to lunch at a Pho restaurant. Then we shopped at Fashion Mall. The boys agreed to watch Athena so the ladies could shop around. But, Athena refused to go with the guys. We ended up walking around the mall with Athena and she was pretty well behaved. We went to dinner afterwards and then headed home. Sean and Floyd had to do their homework for Tuesday. Athena was bored so she started messing up Sean and Floyd room by taking all their toys out and throwing them all over the floor. We made her help Sean and Floyd put them away. I don’t think she will ever understand the concept of cleaning up.


Monday:

Sean and Floyd had swimming and piano lessons so we just observed what they were doing. Athena and I were feeling stuffed up. I felt like was coming down with something. I started having a scratchy throat. Sure enough, Athena had a sore throat and was put on antibiotics when she came back home.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip because the girls had such a good time with their cousins and Athena loved their dog Yoshi. Athena was petting and hugging the dog a lot, much more than her sister. Zoë, on the other hand, couldn’t keep her hand away from the dog bowl. She played with Yoshi's water and food.

Here are some photos from the trip...