I Had Lots Of Fun At A Picnic & Easter Egg Hunt With My Mentor

Mama and Baba signed me up for a wonderful program here in town called the Asian Children's Mentor Program. Not only do they provide lots of fun events for us, but they also assign us our very own mentors, like a big brother or big sister. My mentor is named Ji In (pronounced like gee-inn). I met her for the first time last week, but I am really shy when I meet new people. So Mama, Baba, and I met her at a restaurant so I could get used to her. But this weekend, we attended a picnic, and I started really enjoying spending time with Ji In. First, we enjoyed some lunch.

Mama, Baba, Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe were also at the picnic. Here is Doe giving me a bit of her fried rice.

And then I let Ji In feed me some fruit. Mama thought this would be a great way for me to bond with Ji In. It's tough to eat when you are trying to hang on to two balloons!

So Ji In decided to hold my balloons for me so I could eat.

Run Ji In, run!

We then participated in some really fun activities. This one was "pin the tail on the rabbit."

Ji In and some of the other mentors did face and hand painting for us. She painted beautiful flowers on my hands. I didn't want anything painted on my face, though.

We all really enjoyed the painting!

I took a break and decided to sit in Baba's lap for awhile. Also, this was my very first time eating potato chips. I loved them so much that I carried the empty bag around with me for a long time.

OK, here we all are about to go on the Easter egg hunt!

For some reason, I didn't want to put down my sippy cup. Thank goodness I had Ji In to help me manage my eggs and my bag.

Ooh - there's another one!

Look at this one Ji In!

I wonder what's inside them?

You mean this one is mine too? Hooray!

A few of us decided to gather and check out what we had all found during the Easter egg hunt.

We really appreciate the ACMP volunteers for taking the time to plan and attend such a wonderful event for us. Ji In, I can't wait to spend more time with you soon!

We Had A Great Time Celebrating Chinese New Year

We attended an exciting Chinese New Year celebration this weekend to kick off the Year of the Rat. It was hosted by our local Families With Children From China program and the Asian Children Mentoring Program at the University of Georgia. I had a good time seeing many of my friends from China and dressing up in some traditional Mandarin attire. Mama, Baba and Xavier were there too and had lots of fun.

Xavier and I took a moment to allow Mama to take some pictures of us in front of the dragon decorations.

OK, I'm already bored with this. Please let me get up and join in the festivities!!!! There are all sorts of things to do: arts and crafts, face painting, dancing, and games to play.

The decorations included dragons, beautiful flowers, lots of gold coins and oranges - all symbolic of prosperity and blessings in the new year.

Xavier had a great time with some of the UGA Asian Mentors who were teaching him how to play with this Asian toy.

Xavier did a great job learning how to get this thing moving!

Some of the mentors did face painting. I didn't know what to think about this at first.

But after I saw another little girl get her face painted, I decided to do it. I wanted a nice red heart on my face. Baba helped me keep really still while Xavier watched.

This is one of my friends who is pretty close to my age. He came to America from China last year.

The mentors put up a sign that had the word "love" written in several Asian languages. The second one from the left is "ai" which means "love" in Mandarin.

We had a lot of fun dancing and playing with one another on the stage. I am on the far right seriously investigating some balloons (yes, I have a fascination with them).

I am just taking in some of the festivities and watching everyone dancing on the stage. The Asian Mentors brought some excellent music for us!

I've got some balloons!!!!!!!!

What does that girl have? A microphone! Ooh, we all want to take a turn with that.

It's almost my turn at the microphone! What should I say?

We are intrigued by this thing!

See my red envelope full of gold coins?

The Asian Mentors seemed to have a great time playing with us. I can't wait until my mentor is assigned to me! It's a wonderful way to help those of us to keep our birth culture fresh in our minds. It's like a "Big Brothers/Big Sisters" especially for Asian children!

I was so tired after all this activity, I fell asleep the moment we returned home. Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Toddler In Motion

Mommy had a great idea - taking pictures of me to show how fast and how much a toddler can move around while she is trying to take pictures of me! So these pictures really require no captions. This is a nice sample of what a todder does in about 2 minutes' time. Oh, and thank you Mimi for these PJs! You sent them to me before our trip to China in 2006, and they finally fit me perfectly!

Check back in a couple of days for new pictures of me and one of our kitties, Mr. Bandit. Oh, and our big Chinese New Year celebration is coming up this Saturday! Gung Hay Fat Choy!

More Pictures From My Birthday Weekend

After my birthday party was over on Saturday, I still was able to spend Saturday night and then most of Sunday with our guests - Xavier, Pop Pop, Grandma and Doe. It was a lot of fun. Sunday morning, I spent a lot of time learning how to take good care of my baby dolls. Grandma is watching me give my baby some milk while she sits in her stroller. I get very focused when I am doing this!

This baby doll actually cries and asks for her "Mama" (which is me). Every time she cries, I put her up to my chest just like my Mama does to me, and like Grandma did to her.

There, there baby. It will be OK. Mama will make it all better.

I also decided to take my new baby (unnamed at this point) to ride with me on my Inchworm. She really had a good time, and so did I!

I really had a great time playing with the helium-filled balloons that were from my birthday party. I have always had a fascination with balloons.

I especially enjoyed spending time with my ge ge (that's "big brother" in Mandarin), Xavier. He is so fun to play with.

Well, that's it for the pictures from Sunday. Mama has more to post at a later time. Upcoming posts will include: "Mei-Ling & Bandit" and one Mama calls "Toddler In Motion." And then we'll have even more from our Chinese New Year celebration which is taking place on Saturday, February 9th. Gung hay fat choy!

Congratulations To Brian & Glynnis!

Earlier this month, Mama, Baba and I attended the wedding of a very dear friend of ours - Brian. Mama and Brian worked together for a few years. Brian was the first man besides Baba and Grandpa that I ever let hold me. And I will never forget him saying "AFLAC" to me like a duck. But Brian decided to move a few months ago. Mama, Baba and I wished him well. Our wishes came true, because he and his friend Glynnis decided that they loved one another and that they were meant to be husband and wife. They are a beautiful couple, aren't they?

Well, I was a little sad. I love my friend Brian, and so do Mama and Baba. But we are very happy for him. Glynnis is beautiful and smart and just the perfect match for our friend Brian. Don't I LOOK happy (I am smiling on the inside, I promise)? OK, so I will admit, I am going to miss him while they are living in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Glynnis is attending medical school there. At least we can look forward to visiting them sometime!

The wedding was beautiful, and they plan to have a bigger ceremony on the island. But all that happiness and celebration tired me out. Brian, we will miss you, but we wish you and Glynnis the very best. We are sure that many blessings will come your way. Remember, we are just an e-mail away (and a Skype call).

Happy Birthday To Me - I Am Two Years Old!!!

I turned two years old on January 22. And we had a really nice party the weekend before my birthday. My big brother Xavier, my Grandma and Pop Pop and Aunt Doe were there to celebrate with me. Here is a picture of Xavier. He was as excited about my birthday party as I was! Here he is just before the party started.

And this is my Sesame Street cake. I LOVE Elmo. Big Bird is OK, but Elmo is my favorite character of all.

We started off with some pizza, which is one of my favorite foods (I am just like my Mommy).


And then it was time for the cutting of the cake! Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and I got to blow out my candles (with a little help).


Ooooh - I got to play with that Elmo car from my cake. And Big Bird too!


And I am trying to figure out how to manage all this stuff at one time. Cake, punch, my Elmo and Big Bird cars, and one of these funny things you blow into.

I still haven't gotten the hang of that noise-maker thing. I will be practicing with that all week.

And I am getting really good with using a "big girl" fork and spoon. However, this piece of cake is looking like it may not fit in my mouth. Hmmm....

So after enjoying the pizza, cake and punch, I opened my presents. Wow, this thing is called an inchworm, and Mommy said she had one just like that when she was a little girl (Note from Mommy - yes, the wheel had been invented back then). I let Baby Yang be the first one to test out the inchworm.

I also got a LOT of other fun things. I got a Hooked On Phonics "phone" that is teaching me more about the alphabet and how to say different words and sounds. And another thing I got was something I LOVE to play with every time I take a bath - tub crayons!!!!! Xavier helped me open all my presents. I love my big brother.

Aunt Doe bought me a new baby doll, a stroller for her, and a bassinet! The baby also came with a bottle of juice and a bottle of milk. I am learning to be a good mommy already. As you can see here, I am giving Baby Yang a bottle of milk.

I also got some really cool Elmo shoes! I don't want to ever take them off.

We had such a good time celebrating my birthday. I also got some pretty clothes for when Spring comes. But the best part was getting to spend time with my Mommy, Baba, Xavier, Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe.

Stay tuned, because we will be celebrating Chinese New Year soon! Gung hay fat choy, and hello Year of the Rat! We will take plenty of pictures of our local celebration.