Dada is home, and school is out!

I appreciate the state of Texas so much for San Antonio sweeping Cleveland in the NBA Finals and sending Dada home that I'm going to make my first plane trip later this summer to Houston. I'll finally get to meet my friend Laney and her mommy, Auntie Julie. I'll also get to see Aunt Debbie, Jennie and Sara. I'm so excited -- though I hear it's brutally humid there ... not sure my extra chubby padding is going to like it.

Here is my Uncle Steve, Aunt Kelly and (Uncle) Jason visiting from Taiwan. They'll be here for a month, so I hope I get to see them a lot. I love Uncle Jason ...

I seek him out!

He's fun to crawl all over.
(Fun fact: Jason, Granny and I are all dogs in the Chinese zodiac. We are all multiples of 12 years apart.)


Ha-ha, Granny thinks I'm sleeping! I tricked her.

It's FATHER'S DAY!

Dada is out playing softball while I sleep with Grampy.

Aren't I a good girl? I quietly eat my peas at Salt Creek Grille so everyone can have a nice Father's Day meal with delectable garlic fries.

(Side note: They can't fool me. I know how to pick out ONLY the peas when Mommy tries to sneak in other veggies on my plate.)

Here we all are: LOOK at ME! I'm on the right!

School is out, so I'm hanging out with my friends and we're about to hit the pool. ... Let's go!

That's Kendall to my right and Noah to my left. TL, my walking friend, is off eating.

The pool is a little too cold for me. I'm going to just chill on this swing, 'kay?

Feel free to leave me a message here if you want to say hi!

Taiwan, the NBA and cousin Joseph

The following is a post copied from Kevin's Register work blog about a bizarre worlds-collide situation bringing Taiwan and the NBA together, including our family ...

Never thought something like us sort of crossing paths at the 2007 NBA Finals would happen when my cousin from Taiwan was living in my parents' house in St. Louis while I was growing up in the 1980s. Joe (Joseph Wu, for official reference, and my mother's oldest brother's son) was older and in St. Louis to get his master's degree in political science, but we would play catch in the backyard and hang out otherwise before he moved on to get his doctorate at Ohio State.

All that academia paid off for him, as he is now Taiwan's ambassador to the U.S. -- a pretty staggering responsibility and obviously a powerful political position. It is in that position that he was scheduled to appear at a news conference this morning here at the NBA Finals in Cleveland with NBA Players' Association leaders, including union president Derek Fisher, because Taiwan provided a remarkable amount of food for the NBA players' massive venture to feed the hungry in Kenya next month.

If not for a flight cancellation that prevented him from coming, Joe would've been here in Cleveland for the announcement at the same time I was covering the series. Weird, small-world stuff. I'd just seen Joe in Los Angeles a couple months ago, and he had brought along some letters I sent him when I was a kid. (And yes, they were tremendously well-written for a kid!)

Not to get overly political here, but unlike communist China, Taiwan is a Democratic country fighting for its American-style freedom. And in this venture, Taiwan donated 11 million pounds of rice for NBA players to distribute in Kenya, where there are apparently a million children in need of food. Taiwan donated twice that much rice in 2005 as relief aid to tsunami-ravaged Indonesia. In 2006, Taiwan donated the equivalent of $17.6 million (U.S.) in clothes to children, elderly and others in need.

The NBA players have done plenty of great work, too, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It's kind of amazing to me, personally, that they and Taiwan have come together on a project. And it's kind of wonderful, really.

"Orange" County

Up and at 'em!

While Da-da's away, I still play ...

Auntie Jennie & all the Dings have been in town. I've been playing soo much, I haven't had time to upload pictures of me. But here they are: enjoy!

Look at me! I'm honored to be in a picture with all the 'other' Dings. I am a Ding, too!

Kiss! Kiss! All for me!

Teacher Aunt Jennie flew out to L.A. to serve as a private tutor. I must be gifted!

More books! Auntie Alice is letting me really play with them -- unlike Mommy, who worries that I might tear them.

Finally a picture with Aunt Anita. Why is her face flushed? Hmm. I think she's had a couple drinks celebrating her engagement. Go, Uncle Jason! I look forward to a Baby Wang-Chu to play with. Hurry! Set a date!

A-Ma took care of me so Mommy and Aunt Jennie could get massages (I guess, I can be a handful). A-Ma put my hair in a ponytail for the first time -- cute, but I wasn't crazy about the process.

Auntie Jennie brought me to the beach. We used our new umbrella. It was fun!

I love the beach. They have swings! Maybe the swings got underrated on my Top 10 list.

This is something new that I love to do: STICK MY TONGUE OUT! Isn't it cute?!

Guess what?! I've learned to walk on my own with my walker. Da-da missed out. Why does he have to leave us? It makes me sad. But no worries, Mommy caught it all on video!

Sedona's Top 10 (June)

Because Da-da is away for so long at the NBA Finals, I will try to help him remember me and all my favorite things in a top 10 list for June.

1. Mommy ("Da-da" is my catch-phrase, yes, but who are we kidding?). Last month's rank: 1.
2. Anything not attached to Mommy that I can also put in my mouth (certainly not limited to food items, but they are preferred, even though I'm down to the 90th percentile in weight!). Last month's rank: 3.
   
3. Da-da (gone for four days already, and my sense of object permanence is pretty sketchy at this age, sorry). Last month's rank: 2.
4. Standing up (crawling is so yesterday already). Last month's rank: 10.
   
5. "A-B-C" song (gotta stress the fundamentals). Last month's rank: 4.
6. Trader Joe's Veggie Sticks (melt-in-your-mouth goodness akin to French fries and oh-so much tastier than the run-of-the-mill Gerber Puffs all the regular infants eat). Last month's rank: N/A.
   
7. YouTube (Da-da and I like all Sesame Street material, but definitely Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" is the best; I'll hang with some Schoolhouse Rock for a while, too). Last month's rank: 9.
8. Baths (funny how much more enjoyable the water is when your eczema hasn't left you looking like raw meat). Last month's rank: N/A.
9. Crawling (until I master the whole walking thing, I'll take whatever I can get with regard to personal transportation). Last month's rank: N/A.
10. Mirrors (ME-ME-ME!!!). Last month's rank: 5.

Dropped out: Balls. Baby food. Tags.
Worth watching: Swings. Ceiling fans. Sprout TV. Walking toys.

Start of June

Hi! It's me again!

Let's take a vote: Are you tired of me yet? Or am I just SUPER-ADORABLE?! I vote #2!

My first tooth starting coming up last Saturday (5/26), which is why I like to chew on things. It's pretty darned exciting.

Grossy! Daddy's feet! He needs a pedicure.

I just met my Uncle Lester today. I'm a bit shy with new people, so here is my 'fake' smile.

A-ma loves to feed me, but I wouldn't mind some Ra Sushi.