Sedona Belongs With Me

By KEVIN DING

Scene from earlier today on Sedona's 4th birthday ...

She asked to sit on my lap ... and then danced in place and sang along the best she could (her mommy tries when she doesn't know the words either) to Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me," her favorite song for the entire past year.

Happy 4th Birthday, Sedona!

By MAGGIE WANG

Sedona woke up on her 4th birthday ready to celebrate in her new Cinderella dress with light-up dress shoes that she has been asking for months!

 I later picked  up a cute ladybug cupcake for Sedona and different ones for her friends for our scheduled mini-mani-pedi day with them.

Sedona has been asking for a mani-pedi party since January, but I didn't want to leave out some of her friends who are boys -- hence we had the Seaside Lagoon party. I also promised Sedona that I would take her to get a mani-pedi on her actual birthday, though. We wound up inviting some of the gal pals to join us, and well, it turned into a little party at Color Me Green (an environmental friendly nail salon). It was so much fun for everyone.

Picking out colors! "Pink and purple are my favorite colors!" Sedona said. (We have heard this many, many times before in other contexts, although sometimes she will bend the statement or say she likes all the colors.)

Eating up the cupcakes!

Relaxing and being pampered. Sedona looks like she is a little too used to this!

All the big girls together (from left): Riley, Sophie, Hailey, Mackenzie, Sedona, Isabel.

After our mani-pedi, we can home to one of my best friends dating back to college, Julie, and her daughters Laney and Kira. They came in from Austin to stay at our house for five days.

The visiting girls helped us keep the cupcake partying going at home. Not such a good idea to give them sugar before bed, but all worth it!

What a great day!

We love you, Linda!

By MAGGI E WANG

This day wound up sneaking up on all of us: Linda's last day as our official nanny. The girls are starting school Tuesday after Labor Day and will be there 9 a.m.-3 p.m., so we no longer need her at home with us. I am sure we'll still see plenty of her as she transfers to Grandma Linda status -- but for now, she is heading off to Spain for the entire month of September, so we'll have to wait until October.

It is amazing that she has been with us for four years! We have been so fortunate to have her and look forward to more fun (and non-work) times with her.

"I'm going to change my name ..."

By KEVIN DING

I was reading a "Princess and the Frog" book to Sedona today. When discussing the "Mama Odie" character, I said it was crazy to think that someday Sedona would be "Mama Ding" if she had babies -- and then I added: "But you might change your name."

"I'm going to change my name," she said, "to Kevin." She smiled and giggled.

I laughed and said, "Why would you do that?"

Sedona said: "Because I love you!"

Take that, future suitors!

Happy Anniversary, Maggie!

By KEVIN DING

It's our seventh wedding anniversary today so while Maggie was out working for a couple hours, I put this together with the girls, who are strategically attired in Northwestern and Texas A&M garb and placed on the sides of our bed where Maggie and I sleep.

Hopefully it's a pleasant surprise (along the lines of the ever-memorable Mother's Day 2008 message from Sedona on the potty) to my fabulous wife. Enjoy!

Underwood Family Farms

By MAGGIE WANG

So, I know it looks as if we are farm hopping, but it is all coincidental. The girls' Auntie Anita was available to do an adventure with us today, and we took her up on it. She'd never been to a farm: It was our duty to bring  her up north to Moorpark!

When Felix heard we were going, he jumped on the bandwagon and met us there. (He only lives 15 minutes away.)

We started by watching the Animal Show: rats, rabbits, chickens, a cockatoo and a calf.

All the things we learned ...

• Did you know rats tails are used for balance?
• Did you know that rabbits use their ears as air conditioning? They can't sweat.
• Rabbits also have eyes on the sides, which led the instructor to teach us: "Eyes to the side mean I like to hide. Eyes to the front mean I like to hunt." Hence, humans are hunters!
• Did you know it takes 21 days for an egg to hatch?
• You know a calf is a baby cow, but a heffer is an adult that hasn't had children whereas a cow has had babies.

Then it was off to look at all the other animals. There were so many ... it was fun! A donkey, horses, emus, bunnies, goats, ducks, piglets and a huge lazy pig. Sedona said about the last one: "I smell that giant piggy."  

First stop on the picking line: STRAWBERRIES! Yum!

Empty...

FULL BIN!!!!

Sedona ate so many while picking that it was hard for her to finish filling a container.

Anita was checking out the raspberries, but our girls didn't like them.

Carrots! It was fun to show them that they grow in the ground .. and well, are dirty!

Ha-ha, see Sedona's face; she is a clean girl.

Yay! Maven did some digging too!

Picking some striped beets! (That's a Tinkerbell temporary tattoo on Sedona's right arm.)

Finishing up the awesome family farm with some playtime in the sandbox and tot area.

"Deceptively Delicious"

By MAGGIE WANG

As we are contemplating how much weight we might've gained from our Mexico cruise, I have decided that it is time to get healthy. Everyone!

The girls eat pretty healthy, actually. Sedona loves her veggies; Maven loves her meat. Both girls like fruit -- and snacks, which is unfortunate but to be expected. But as healthy as they eat compared to other kids, they still eat too much mac and cheese and peanut butter and jelly, so I'm working on putting better food on the table for everyone.

The last two days I've been a puree queen: cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and sweet potato. I've made deviled eggs that Kevin loves. The girls had tuna salad sandwich today with hidden cauliflower. Sedona proclaimed today: "Mommy, you're the best cook ever."

That declaration came as she was trying her first of the chocolate chip cookies we made from scratch together. Sedona loves them. She has repeatedly said they are "the best cookies ever!" It's funny, because I never expected the "best cookies ever" to have chick peas in them!

I've never been much of a cook but I have always enjoyed it. It's fun to be able to get back into it again now that the girls are a little older and more manageable. Thanks goes out to Oprah for introducing Jessica Seinfeld's recipe plan to me (years ago) so that I can enjoy cooking and tricking the family! So fun!

My Heart Aches ...

By MAGGIE WANG

I don't remember feeling this quite yet last year, but who knows. Maybe I should go back and look at this blog. I just took Maven to Manhattan Montessori today to get familiarized with her classroom. It is Sedona's old classroom, so there isn't much news there except to let Maven know that now it is her classroom. Most the kids are different, but there are a few  who were young enough in Sedona's class to stay and be Maven's classmates, including Regan, Luca and Matteo.

Maven got right in there today -- ready for reading and classwork and then made a new friend on the playground. All in fewer than 40 minutes. I'm proud of her, but *sigh* it makes my heart ache. My little girl is quickly growing up. (I think for Sedona last year I was more nervous for her to start school given her shyness.)

Kevin and I took a nice vacation to Coronado Island near San Diego, leaving Monday and returning Wednesday. We had some deep talks, with one in which I concluded that we aren't going to have a third child. I stick to that, but... I so love our little girls, I can't help wanting more of them.

Watermelon Picking at Takana Farms

By MAGGIE WANG

Whitney found this really cool farm that we have been trying to go to for months. We finally found a day that worked between our work schedules, piled into the Boole-Williams cinnamon-red Ford Flex and headed down to Irvine.

Before the tour we played around. Maven's sticker says, "Tanaka Farms Watermelon Picker in Training."

On the tractor, driving through and learning about the organic farm. Stopped to eat some green beans. Not Sedona's favorite (or mine!), but Riley loved them!

Corn! That, my girls loved! I've never had raw corn before, but this was fabulous! Super sweet and juicy! We bought seven more to bring home.

"What's up, doc?"

Grand finale ... WATERMELON! Yum!

And look at this, yellow watermelon! Yum! Taste like red but more fun.

Someone found one!

What a fun way to spend a Wednesday morning!

My, How They Are Growing Up ... *Sigh*

By MAGGIE WANG

As I've told Kevin before, this summer is the absolute best summer because the girls are both at ridiculous cute ages. I say this as if I know what they're going to be like next year, but I'm sticking to it for now.

Sedona is maturing and growing up. It feels like it happened overnight. She understands what we tell her and is able to think through rewards and consequences to her actions. She has empathy. She gets embarrassed and shy. She feels pressure. She likes to observe and process before doing things. Sedona is turning in a little girl. 

I usually like to tell the girls what fun activities to expect in the days, weeks or months. Sometimes I'll repeat myself assuming they won't remember what I said yesterday about today without a real reference on time.  Sedona is now understanding and will sometimes say in a put-out voice, "I know, Mommy.". She has even at times said, "Mommy, that's not cool."

Our little Maven, on the other hand, will say, "Mommy, is that cool?" all the time when intrigued by something she has done. She'll say it over and over when she is jumping into the water when we are practicing swimming.

I like to believe that Maven is our baby, but she's isn't so much anymore. She has been speaking in complete sentences for quite some time. She can tell us everything she wants and tries very hard to articulate all sorts of things: How her day went. What just happened. Kevin has been training her to give a real reason when asked why.

Maven is stubborn, though. She wants to pick out her clothes in the morning -- typically wanting something striped or polka dotted. This surprises me, because Sedona is typically the dainty one. Maven has also been very difficult in not wanting to brush her teeth -- but Kevin started to get tougher with her to get her in line, same as he did when Sedona was younger and had an issue with staying in bed -- and it has gotten better. It's a balancing act between letting them exercise their decision-making skills and making sure they remain good listeners.

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They are getting to an age where they'll ask, "Why did she get it first?" and I'm having to figure out what is the appropriate way to be fair. I am starting to teach them to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in hopes that it will be a fair way to settle some things. The last thing I want is for Sedona to say, "Maven always got everything because she was the baby." or Maven to say, "Sedona got to do everything because she was the older one."

 I do personally recall never getting to ride shotgun because Felix was the older one -- and well, that is what parenting is all about, right? Changing what you think your parents could've done better and implementing what your parents did right.

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Sedona is out of school for July and August, but then they will both be at Montessori in September. Maven will be in Sedona's old class downstairs with Sedona's former teacher Miss Valerie, and Sedona will go upstairs for class with older kids with another Miss Valerie and Miss Traci. 

It's been really nice having the girls around for the summer, but they can also be a handful, of course. I'm semi-looking forward to school starting, but I also know I'm going to be so sad when it happens.

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Ultimately, it is all getting easier. Both girls can communicate well. They are also really well-behaved. They try to test their limits but do pretty well in knowing that if I count to three and they don't do as they are told, there will be consequences. They usually listen. When I'm forced to do a timeout, the girls are both really great about sitting on the step that I put them on.  After a few minutes, I'll go back to them to explain why they were put in timeout and then tell them that I love them. 

This slightly easier stage and not having a baby is definitely making my uterus yearn for another one. My parents adore the girls but they see how much work and effort goes into it that they tell me not to have a third. Kevin's parents, however, think we should go for a boy! Ha-ha. Not surprising, as there isn't a Ding boy in this generation.

I think Kevin and I are both open to a third child (and clearly Sedona, too -- as she wants seven people total in our family). But I'm not sure either of us is committed enough to sell the other person that we should do it. So I think this our family -- the four of us! Kevin, Maggie, Sedona and Maven!

Sedona & Riley's 4th Birthday Party

By MAGGIE WANG

Whitney and I had talked about combining Sedona's and Riley's birthday parties last year because they are such good friends, but for some reason we didn't. We figured this was the last year it made sense to go with 2 for 1, so we did ... but we barely got away with it.

Riley's birthday is 7/8/06 and Sedona's birthday is 8/31/06, so to be fair we picked a date between their birthdays. I think it was a little hard for Riley to understand that her real party was a month away and now for Sedona I have to explain that her real birthday isn't until later and she is actually still 3. 

All in all, Riley ended up with two birthday parties and Sedona will sort of get to celebrate twice too -- so I would say they got an even better deal by sharing their birthday party.

The party was at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach. The weather was perfect. Not too cold, not to hot. This was very fortunate given what a cool summer this has been and the venue is right by the ocean.

The perfectly located reserved picnic area.

Fun luau fruit skewers and personalized water bottles.

The four parents together before all the guests arrive.

My pal Debbie was able to schedule her work out here so she could attend Sedona's birthday party. We had a fabulous weekend with her, including enjoying crawfish. (Yes, I know I should be in our Texas hometown for that, but we've got Boiling Crab here too!)

 

Auntie Debbie has actually been out here so many times that Sedona refers to our guest room that is mostly called the "library" for all the kids' books down there occasionally as Debbie's room. A-Ma Ding has playfully asked Sedona if she could spend the night at our house, and Sedona said A-Ma could sleep in Auntie Debbie's room if she wasn't there.

*** Debs, Thanks for coming to visit and taking all these wonderful pictures for us while we were occupied at the party! ***

Kevin's sister Kristen bonding with Maven.

Snow angels in the sand

Only the best for our girls! Beckers cake! Yummy!

The morning of the party, Sedona and I went to pick up the birthday cake together over in Manhattan Beach. I started to sing, "Happy  Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to ..." and Sedona stopped me and said, "Mommy! Happy Birthday to Riley and Sedona." She was thinking that I might have forgotten it was their birthday celebration together. It was super sweet. These girls really love each other.

The birthday girls and family. 

The wandering little boy with his face in this picture was actually between Sedona and Riley when they were getting ready to blow out the candles. Riley turned to him and politely inquired, "Angel, will you please move so I can be by Sedona?" So cute!

We aren't letting Sedona open all the gifts at once, so it was adorable two nights later when the girls were in bed together. Sedona on her own yelled out to me, "Mom! Mom! In the morning, I'm going to let Maven open one of my presents, OK?" I said, "OK." She said, "Maven doesn't have any presents, so I'll let her open one of mine." With each of her gifts she has been super-willing to share.