A-Tzo's 94th Birthday

By SEDONA DING

As some of you may know (not sure if I've blogged about it before), I have a profound love for popcorn. Believe it or not, my parents have had a popcorn machine IN OUR HOME, under the very roof that I sleep and play ... and didn't bother to bust it out for me until Tuesday.

But -- deep breath -- I'm not going to dwell on the injustices of the world. I'm moving on to this super-cute photo of Riley and me. She came over for a spur-of-the-moment playdate Friday. We chatted away like never before and ate yummy watermelon with a popcorn-style passion.

Here we are driving a "car," thanks to Riley's lively imagination.

My turn! Riley is the passenger!

Today, we celebrated the 94th birthday for A-Tzo (A-Gong Ding's daddy) over a yummy Taiwanese meal cooked by A-Ma Ding.

A-Go Kristen bonded with me but also spent some time cuddling Maven.

Maven got more attention from A-Gong Ding. My little mei-mei is really growing up! She isn't sleeping nearly as much as she used to, and I know because I see it first-hand now that we're napping in the same room in addition to sleeping together overnight. She has started going on walks to the beach with Linda and me. And today, Mommy and Daddy even let her play on the swings for the first time. She loved it!

See what I mean? Maven is sitting up on her own here!

I had a ton of fun today at A-Ma and A-Gong Ding's house for the A-Tzo celebration. A-ma Ding gave me piggyback rides. ...

... I looked at pictures with A-Go on her computer (side note: notice that we're all Ding women in this picture; Mommy is a still technically a Wang). ...

... and Atticus and Skyler played "Ring Around the Rosie" with me at least 20 times -- along with some very good games of "London Bridge."

What a super fun day! I love playing with my cousins! And I look forward to Maven continuing to grow up so that she can join in more, too.