Lunar New Year Festival 2011

Every year our agency has a get together for the Lunar New Year. What a difference a year makes! Last year, Lexie was just learning to walk and she really couldn't participate in many of the games and activities. This year, she was running around and wanted to do everything by herself. It makes me so proud of her, yet a little sad that my baby is growing up.

Lexie made a red envelope and she wanted to glue on the year of the rabbit picture by herself.
She was so focused on decorating her fan. She wanted to use every color in the basket.
Lexie loved her fan.
Lexie loves balloons. At first, she chose a black one and then changed her mind and got the yellow one.
She played a fishing game and won a fish. I put it away for safe-keeping and this girl has got a good memory because she kept asking me for that fish.
Then Lexie rolled ping pong balls through a maze and won a little dog. Our dog lover could not decide which one she wanted when they asked her to pick one. If she had a choice, she would have taken all of them.
Finally she got to spin the wheel, which was a good test to see if she knew her colors.
I can roll it all by myself.
It's staying on the path!
Yay!! I did it, I won a prize.
While mommy is looking for my prize, I think I'll brush up on my Mandarin.
I like my prize, it was a gingerbread man.
We were so excited to meet Tiffany, Gabe and their Taiwan sweetie, Nolan. We got to chat while Lexie and Nolan were running around. Tiffany and I became friends online, so it was great that we could finally meet in person. It's so amazing to meet other families who have shared the same experiences that we have. We love that Lexie can become friends with other children from Taiwan.
Lexie and the Narcissus Court
Lexie gave the lion dancers some money for good luck.
Dancing to the drums
At first, Lexie was a little scared of the lions. But her curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to follow them around.
One more picture with the court and lions.
It was a fun day for all of us.
We can't wait until next year!

Sledding in Hawaii??

We don't have the snow, but we still find ways to have some winter fun. We went to the park and did a little sledding of our own.
The park has lots of hills and all you need is a piece of cardboard and what a fun and inexpensive way to spend the afternoon.
Lexie wanted to give it a go on her own. She is our Little Miss Independent!
When we were leaving the park, there was a flock of birds in the parking lot. Lexie was just amazed. Her exact words were, "Oh, my!" She loves birds and is always counting the birds that sit on the electrical lines on our street. Well, the little girl decided to run towards the birds, never guessing what might happen.
I've never seen her stop and turn around so fast when all of those birds started taking flight.
After that, she only wanted to watch the birds from a safe distance away.

Playing with Playdoh

We are lucky that we don't have to deal with below zero temperatures or blizzards, but sometimes we do wish for some colder weather. It is winter after all, but you would never know it by the warm temperatures we've been having. It's just been very wet and that means that our sweet girl can't go outside to play. Well, finally this week, the sun has returned and Lexie is jumping for joy to be in her yard again.
She hasn't gotten to use her playdoh because I keep it outside. I refuse to let her play with it in the house.
Mmmm, it smells good!
Lexie loves the animal shapes that come with it.
She's getting better at pressing the shapes into the playdoh.
She always wants us to make an "O".
"O" is her favorite letter these days.
She also likes rolling the playdoh into balls.
What do you mean it's time to clean up?
You're just joking, right??
Okay, I'll clean up.
Hmm...what should I do now? Maybe I'll drink the water in this bucket.
Yes, there was rain water in the bucket and we had to take it away from Lexie because she was going to drink it!!
How can someone so cute make us so crazy??

Our Future Doctor

Lexie got a doctor's kit from Papa and she has been playing with it everyday. The day she got it, Elmo was talking about doctors and what they used their stethoscopes for, so she has been trying to listen to our heartbeats. She keeps saying "beat, beat" and when she puts it by our heart, she says "thump, thump." Just adorable.

Lexie's first patient was Elmo.
Lexie gives Elmo his shot because all monsters should be immunized.
Lexie gives Elmo a band-aid for his "owwie".
She took Elmo's temperature. She said "happy" because when it has a happy face, he doesn't have a fever.
Checking Elmo's blood pressure. Elmo was such a good patient!
The other day Lexie decided to climb on top of our island so that she could see Eric who was outside. She was yelling, "Hi" to him.
Lexie loves her cousin, Jade. They were having a blast playing with these mixing bowls.
Daddy's weird sense of humor. That's what I get when I ask him to get my pictures ready to post.

Some of Lexie's Favorite Things

Lexie got so many toys for Christmas, so we've been slowly opening boxes to let her play with them. This Tickle Me Elmo Extreme is hilarious. He laughs, falls down, gets back up, sits, rolls around, stands. It's amazing what toys can do now. Lexie loves him. She hugs him, tackles him and kisses him. Once I saw her put him next to her so he could keep her company while she watched tv.

Pardon the clothes!! She was about to go to the sleep. Bedtime is probably the only time that Lexie isn't well-dressed.
Lexie loves her Magna Doodle board. She loves the stamps and even tries to stamp us with them because that's what they do at Gymboree. She was a little confused when the stamps only appeared on the board and not on our hands.
We love that Lexie can write and there's no chance of getting pen marks all over the furniture.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!! Enough said.
Lexie loves opening Eric's netbook and she knows how to turn it on and will bang on the keys. So to prevent any future damage to our computer, we got her a toy one.
The games are a little advanced for her, but she likes the music and tapping on the keyboard, so it keeps her busy and away from our computers.
We finally opened Santa's gift. She is learning how to turn all of the knobs so that the stove makes cooking noises. She puts her little cakes in the oven and gives them to me to eat.
All of you were right, Lexie and the boys love the big box the kitchen came in.
Lexie and Maxx just wanted to lie in it.
Lexie got to spend time with her Grandpa. This is her "cheese" smile!