Happy Easter, or, Too Much Candy

It's our third Easter together - hard to believe! Elizabeth and Nancy spent the week prior in Hanover visiting Nancy's folks and flew in on Saturday night to celebrate Easter with the Dada.


The Easter Bunny found Elizabeth despite her busy travel schedule. She arose at 5:45 am to find her basket and various eggs hidden around the house.


Andy, who was on West Coast time, took a while to wake up.


We let her eat some candy. Next year: only money.


The aftermath.

Our Ethnicities and Fashion

Yesterday, we were telling Elizabeth about our respective ethnic backgrounds

Andy said "So Baobao, Dada is Danish, Mama is Irish and you are Chinese."

Elizabeth replied " Yeah. Dada is Danish, Mama is Irish and I am stylish."

True enough!

2 years goes by fast

Elizabeth, Andy and I got together as a family exactly 2 years ago today. This is now:

This was then:

It's Like Riding a Bike. Sort Of.

Elizabeth is potty training and learning to ride her tricycle. Sometimes she gets the two tasks confused.

Red Light Green Light versions 3a, 3b & 3c

Tonight at dinner Elizabeth showed us a new game she learned at school, Red Light Green Light. We both said that was our favorite game as little kids. We agreed we would play a few rounds after everybody ate their broccoli and before bed.

One of the great things about oral traditions and games like this is how the basic action is passed from generation to generation but there are little shifts here and there. A game of telephone played over huge spans of time instead of a circle. Sorry, I did get a degree in Comparative History of Ideas. We discovered we all learned this game differently.


Version 3a



Version 3b



Version 3c

Frequent Flier

Elizabeth and Nancy spent the first part of January in Hanover, where my folks and my brother Paul live.

Elizabeth is a great flier, enjoys picnics at the airports and thankfully sleeps in the plane or at the terminal.


She had a wonderful time keeping her grandparents and uncle busy. It did snow every day when we were there. In spite of that, she insisted we go to the playground in 2 feet of snow.

Once the temperature dropped below 20 degrees, we had to find indoor play areas. Elizabeth made friends, leading kids in games of chase, crack the whip and jumped onto another kid's merry go round ride.

We are happy to be home if jet-lagged and we miss everyone on the East Coast.

Let's Stay Up All Night!

We had our yummy New Year's Eve dinner - siu mai, potstickers, and spring rolls - settled in to watch Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper on CNN, as all good parents of toddlers are wont to do, and sent Elizabeth off to bed.


She had other ideas. Shortly after East Coast New Year's, we heard a loud BUMP from upstairs. Nancy went to investigate. Elizabeth was diving off the foot of her bed. Since it's New Year's Eve, we thought, what the heck, let her stay up a little more.

Elizabeth was a party monster. She wanted to know "What are we watching?" She played with her bouncing ball, drew several masterpieces on her MagnaDoodle. She chased after George and the cats, who had already settled into their post-bedtime repose and were displeased to be back on Baobao high alert.

She took her father's New Year's Even credo "Let's Stay Up All Night!" to heart and finally settled in for the night at 11:30. PM, sharing the following wish with everyone