October 2013 – Page 3

Reese’s 3rd Birthday

By beakatude
on Oct 06, 2013
in babies, friends, holidays, outings

On Saturday afternoon, Reese celebrated her 3rd birthday with a giant Dora the Explorer bounce house in her front yard. She spent all day in there so this was the only photo I got of her before it had deflated.

We were delayed by our perpetually flat tire so we didn’t quite make it in time for the cake but this is what they had – Dora cupcakes!

Here is Reese taking a little break from the bouncing.

Jack was playing pin the mustache on the donkey.

Reese got a bunch of presents and all the kids were so excited to see what she received. Even Baby Isla was fired up. Big Brother Jack “helped” with a lot of the unwrapping.

After most of the guests had left, we stayed behind for a little post-party dinner. The Bangs showed up in time for that part and it was nice to have a smaller gathering of close friends to do a little more catching up.

Baby Isla was cool with Jes holding her today. He wasn’t sure what would happen because she cried every time Jimmy came up to her at Zoe’s birthday party. She and Kumquat also hung out for a while and it was like seeing the future female version of Bang and Jes. So cute.

Parenting Dilemma

By beakatude
on Oct 05, 2013
in *grr*, kumquat, life, outings

We went to Reese’s 3rd birthday party today and Kumquat and I had a little drama. Kumquat’s favorite toy of the day was this shopping cart. She had such a good time pushing and pulling it back and forth in the front yard. That was until an older girl came by and tried to take it from her. They struggled for a bit and Janie really held her own but eventually the older girl won and Janie was left in tears. I tried my best to mediate but the girl won because 1) The older girl is bigger and stronger, 2) I didn’t want to cause any drama with Michelle and Ryan’s new friends and 3) I don’t really know what the rules of sharing are anymore. Kumquat was playing with it for a while so is this one of those situations when she’s supposed to let others play with it too? All I know is that I now had a distraught little girl in my lap because someone had interrupted a perfectly good activity that she was thoroughly enjoying. Honestly, I wanted to cry too.

Well, of course the girl played with it for only a few minutes and abandoned it in the play room. Kumquat found it again and was so happy to have it back. Not even a minute later, the same girl came by and took it from her again!!!! Kumquat cried and I didn’t know what I should have done. Do I yell at the girl to stop bullying a much younger girl who has no idea what “sharing” means? Do I stand by and watch the bullying happen? Do I allow Kumquat to fend for herself with the risk of someone getting physically hurt? I could see the fight in Kumquat’s face and she was ready to throw down! Alas, I wimped out and allowed the girl to take the shopping cart once again as I consoled my daughter with a red guitar, which seemed to help distract her for the moment. I just kept telling her (and myself) that they would be going home soon and then Janie would have the shopping cart all to herself for the rest of the evening. I was also putting on my mental to-do list to go online tonight to order Janie her very own shopping cart from Amazon.

So, as I had promised, the girl finally went home and Janie had the shopping cart all to herself and went about her merry way. She had her balloon, fairy wings, and the shopping cart for hours to pushing, pulling, and playing without the threat of a bully taking it all away from her again.

Birthday Weekend

By beakatude
on Oct 03, 2013
in family, holidays, life, outings, outta here, yum

I had a pretty good birthday. Turning a year older is so much easier when you’re surrounded by the people who love you.The celebration started on Friday, my birthday eve, with a dinner at La Briciola with Jason and Jia.

On the morning of my birthday, we woke up early to catch a flight to LAX. The flight was full but we got to LA in one piece. My mom picked up my favorite treat and I was so happy.

After the baby shower, we went back to the Magical House to rest. Then it was dinnertime!!!

We went to Lawry’s for our favorite prime rib meal and it did not disappoint. The last time Brother and I celebrated our birthdays there was in 2010 and it was good to be back.

Baby Shower

By beakatude
on Oct 02, 2013
in babies, family, kumquat, outta here

In less than a month, I’ll be an auntie!! Baby Alice is due soon and we all celebrated at their Baby Shower on Saturday in Cerritos. It was a gathering of all of Brother and Joy’s friends and family.

They had food from everywhere you can imagine. There was Thai food, Hawaiian, Costco pizza, and some tasty desserts. Brother and Joy made some coconut macarons but I didn’t get to taste any. Oh boo.