Monkeying around

By MAGGIE WANG

Just a compilation of some fun pictures ...

Maven's Music-In-Me class with Teacher Sara

Regular nights at our house... Riley often over for dinner, bath and TV before bedtime. Riley recently had occasion to make a wish with her mommy and said she wished she could live with Sedona and Maven.

Sedona and Maven's sticker charts are now in the kitchen: Maven for pooping in the potty, Sedona for good morning and night routines and good behavior. After getting 10 stickers, Sedona gets a lollipop.Maven just likes having a chart like her big sister.

A Girls Day.

By MAGGIE WANG

Kevin flew out Saturday for a game that night up in Oakland, so we were all on our own. We started by hitting Mother's Beach in Long Beach.

Then we had a yummy lunch with Teddy, Anita and Jason.

Sedona and Maven were perfect at lunch. They sat quietly, coloring and eating a very good meal, so they were rewarded with Yogurtland. 

On the way back home, we found adorable, enclosed Livingston Park.

The girls napped on the way home before our last stop: Kid Concepts in Torrance. It is "edu-tainment" center.

I had an amazing day with the girls. I am a very lucky mom.

No Mallrats Here

By MAGGIE WANG

We were sure to stay away from any type of mall, but we still spent our day after Thanksgiving out and about.

Playdate with Katie Meggers (her mom's name is Julie), Sedona's classmate, at the Manhattan Beach pier.

Lunching at Mama D's. (Maven stayed home with Kevin.)

Time to put up the Christmas tree! This is the first year that Sedona really got the concept. She is able to read which ornaments are hers, too.

Admiring their work with Christmas music in the background.

After I showed a couple homes, we headed to Orange for a playdate with Austin Lev at his house and then the Irvine Park Railroad.

"Ring Around the Rosie"

Waiting for the special Christmas train.

On the train to the North Pole to see Santa.

Waiting in line for Santa.

In Sedona's hand is her Christmas wish list: She wants a train, Life Savers (Kevin just introduced her to Wint-o-green ones) and a dog. I told her Santa probably doesn't deliver live animals.

We're ready for Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

By MAGGIE WANG

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we celebrated at "Rindge" (what we call A-Gong and A-Ma Ding's house, which is on Rindge Lane) while my parents were in Las Vegas with their richie pals.

Maven got an early start on the yummy Thanksgiving meal.

The kids table was a fun spot with Kristen's boys and Kevin's girls, plus A-Ma Ding.

Digging in!

After a great meal, the cousins played all sorts of games -- running around, hide-and-seek, climbing around, hiding things, Candy Land. They had so much fun together.

Our baby is growing up.

Celebrating A-Ma Ding's birthday (Nov. 25)!

Aren't they just cute together?

Opening birthday presents. ... Our gift was a professional photo shoot at the beach with the grand-daughters.

A-Go Kristen and Atticus had a moment together. How long ago does it feel like since Atticus was the only grandchild around?

Sedona bonded with Aunt Julie (Mitch's sister), who patiently did a 100-piece puzzle with her.

Sedona School Pictures

Compton Outing

By MAGGIE WANG

Kevin is a sportswriter and I'm a Realtor, so we're a little medically-challenged for insight. We tend to listen to our doctors without question. Some people worry that the MRR shot causes autism, but Dr. Saad, our girls' doctor, recommended we get it during the routine check-ups, so our daughters got the the shot.

The latest thing is swine flu. I get at least one email or comment a day from someone about it. Everyone seems to have an opinion on how dangerous it is -- in addition to whether or not the H1N1 shot is necessary. With all the frenzy, it led me to call Dr. Saad's office, and they recommend the flu and H1N1 shot for the girls but they don't have it yet. Frankly, few doctors' offices have the H1N1 shot.

So, my stance became: If it works out to get the shot, the girls will get it. If it doesn't, life will go on.  I have gotten severely sick off of a flu and tetanus shot in the past so the idea of giving my girls those kinds of shots didn't quite appeal to me anyhow. 

But Saturday, Riley wanted to see Sedona. Kevin hadn't come back home from Denver yet. The stars aligned, and I jumped on the bandwagon and headed to Westchester with Riley's dad Gene to get the girls their shots. However, the line at Westchester was literally the length of our block or more! It was ridiculous. I quickly vetoed the idea but figured since we were out, let's just try the 'hood for the shots. 

So, here is it! Our first trip to Compton!

Amazingly, the shot was free -- and when they asked my elder daughter (who I thought was smart), if she wanted a the nasal spray or the shot ... well, she picked the shot and then cried afterward, naturally. (She had taken some nasal spray recently for a stuffed nose and cried after that also, though.)

On the way out of there was a mini-fair, too. They had art projects, free food and drinks and even free cute pink helmets. Who would have thought? ! Compton's the best! We'll be back in four weeks for more free follow-up shots and goodies!

All About Our Little Maven

By MAGGIE WANG

It is simply amazing how our little baby Maven is growing up so fast.  She is 19 months old now.  That's the same age Sedona was when Maven was born.

Maven is a total toddler now. She talks a lot and is active and opinionated.  She loves her pet phrases such as:

"Hold Me!"

"I want that."

"Help!"

"I can do it."

"Milk."

"Mine? Mine."

"Tze-Tze? Tze-Tze. (Big sister.)"

"Cookie (Monster)."
"Big Bird."

"Ngow-Ngow." "Baby." "Wubbzy." (All the loved ones the girls sleep with.)

"Coke." ('Cause Daddy always seems to have one in his hand.)

"Crack! (Wanting to have Daddy crack watermelon seeds.)

"Eat."

"Snack."

That's just off the top of my head. She is really communicative in a super sweet way.

The latest accomplishment is potty training. With Nanny Linda's helpful inspiration, Maven is consistently pooping in the potty -- and super excited to get a sticker for each accomplishment (because she sees loves Sedona's chart with stickers for good-behavior accomplishments).

Maven also loves parks. She climbs up the stairs and goes down slides easily. She's not afraid of challenges and is adventurous. The one thing that she doesn't like, which surprises me: animals.  She will pet Inu and Crystal a bit, but that is only after she has warmed up to them. She talks about dogs and cats often, but she prefers them at a distance.

Maven is really enjoying some of her 1-on-1 time with everyone, but you can tell she also greatly misses her sister. The other day, though, Sedona asked if I could drop Maven off at A-Gong and A-Ma Ding's house so she could have Daddy and Mommy to herself. (Sedona did offer to go to their home, so Maven could have alone time, too.)

Maven is a great sleeper.  She doesn't require all the comforting and maintenance Sedona once needed. Tonight, I brushed her teeth, put her Sleep Sack on and gave her New Ngow-Ngow with Baby Bellisa already in her crib. Maven said, "Bye-bye," as I left her.

Maven is great at kissing and hugging. She is snuggly and sweet. I love our little baby. She is constantly impressing and surprising me. She makes my heart melt.

L.A. Zoo Day

By MAGGIE WANG

In the middle of a lot of different stuff, along with a lot of work, I haven't had much time with the girls. So when I realized I had an open day Saturday, we jumped at doing a family activity!

Los Angeles Zoo!

I have been to the famous San Diego Zoo a few times (and we went with Sedona and Maven fairly recently), so I wasn't expecting much from the L.A. Zoo ... which might be partly why I was pretty impressed. It wasn't too big but also not too small. There were plenty of opportunities to see animals up close and moving, and it was not too crowded for a Saturday.

Checking out the gazelles here. Weird thing: The zookeepers cut off the baby's ears after the mother gazelle overeagerly groomed her, nibbling some of the ears off.

Yummy overpriced peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Happy full tummy!

Even happier getting ice cream while Maven napped in the stroller.

A good standard picture of my life: with my kids yet still working.(I'm on the phone while we look at Mr. Giraffe.)

Funny Daddy ... talking about what kind of big brush Mr. Giraffe would need to comb all the brown hair running down his neck.

Sedona spent quite a bit of time with the "trail map," in part because she has watched a lot of "Dora" with maps in every episode and in part because she just watched a "Wubbzy" episode where he got lost in the woods because he didn't bring the "trail map." Who says TV isn't worthwhile?

Zoo playground.

Before we left, we hopped over for one last look at the sea otters (behind that glass behind us), and then it was time to go!