Sedona and Maven at All-Star Jam Session

By MAGGIE WANG

NBA All-Star Weekend was in Los Angeles this year, and our friend Eugenia Chow (Lakers community relations director) offered us tickets to the fan-friendly NBA Jam Session. So we ventured out on a Presidents' Day field trip with Mag and Austin (minus Austin's mom Sarah and without Kevin, who was covering Lakers practice). It was like the olden days when Mag and I would hang out when Kevin was out of town ... but this time we had had three kids in tow.

Don't ask me who these people are in these first two pictures, but they seem like fun shots!

Kevin was concerned the girls might too young for it, but fortunately there was enough to do and the girls had a great time being in the action. Thank you, Auntie Eugenia! You're the best!

Playdate with Rosalie and Linda

By MAGGIE WANG

Sadly, we hadn't actually seen Linda since her last day with us (despite lots of phone conversation of missing each other). Linda is not working anymore and is busy enjoying her life.  I'm happy for her, but we do miss her.

We finally got a date on the calendar by setting a playdate with Rosalie, her granddaughter - though, Jennifer & Troy would suggest that Sedona and Maven are Linda's real granddaughters (the running joke in their household).

The girls love this new pretend makeup kit I bought for them at Target -- so much so that we have to limit its availability.

Maven and Sedona might've just been trying to leave their mark on Linda!

Baby Shower for Parker Kim

By MAGGIE WANG

Verizon has finally come out with the iPhone 4 and I have it! Yay! Here is my first picture with it: Maven in our bed the morning before I leave to visit Jennie Lin-Kim for 48 hours to attend the Baby Parker Shower.

I am regretful to say that I did not host this amazing shower for Jennie, but I'm happy that I was able to attend given Kevin was out of town. Thankfully I have incredible in-laws who were able to cover for Kevin until he got home so I could attend. I am ever-so-grateful for everything they do for us.

Ultimately, life gets crazy with two kids, work and a husband who travels, so I haven't been there too much through Jennie's pregnancy. But that doesn't mean I don't think or care so much about it -- so this was a much-needed trip. Jennie and I got to spend quality time together, and it was so fun to see her adorable belly. 

The shower was beautiful, and surprisingly so was the weather in Houston. It was overall just a fantastic weekend, and I look forward to meeting Parker this July.



Adoring Inu

By MAGGIE WANG

When I was in college and my parents were moving to Los Angeles, they bought me a condo on campus and a dog we named "Inu." (I'm not sure if it was out of guilt or they wanted me to feel like I had a home in Texas, but it is what it is and I am so grateful for it). My parents moved out to L.A. over that Christmas break, so I was able to join them -- and it was on that trip we got Inu (meaning "dog" in Japanese, the language I attempted to learn at A&M before deciding there was no way I was truly going to learn Japanese from my Pakistani professor whose English I could hardly understand).

I absolutely adore Inu! You can ask my college buddies! I mean, adore! I would fly him back and forth between Texas and Cali. I would come home early from going out nights to take care of him. He was everything to me ... to the point that yes, I had him in our wedding. And he is so possessive of me, he has been known to try to prevent Kevin from getting into our bed. 

Since having Sedona, I "temporarily" gave Inu to my parents so that he would have a better life hanging out with Felix's dog, Crystal -- plus it was getting difficult balancing work, a baby and Kev's travel schedule. Unfortunately, more than four years later, Inu is still with my parents -- although he is at least a focal point in that household.

Right now, my parents are in Japan, so Inu is rooming with us. For those who wonder, yes ... I do feel some guilt associated to dumping him off back then, as I do really love him. But the truth for you guilt-tripping Julie Willifords and Teddy Liaws of the world is that it's impossible to love him as much as these amazing girls of mine. 

Fortunately for Inu, he doesn't need me, because he now has Sedona -- who absolutely adores him. She carries him everywhere in our house, including up our hardwood stairs that can be difficult for him at his age. She rubs him to sleep in her lap. If she is going to leave him, she puts a blanket down and covers him up. She reads to him. She walks him. She loves him... and here he is pictured below, snuggled up between the two girls while they and I watched "Stuart Little 2" (with the rest of the world watching the Super Bowl).

And one more note to show how the feeling is mutual: Sedona took a nap in the car after Ronin's 3rd birthday party at Travel Town. When she woke up and was cranky, crying and very upset, Inu saw it and cautiously walked over to her, nudged his way in and started giving her kisses.

"Oh My Gosh, Is She a Genius?"

By MAGGIE WANG

Maven has ballet class at 4:45 p.m. Fridays, with Sedona following at 5:15 p.m. So each of the girls has to wait while the other is in class. Today, while Sedona was waiting, she started to read a library book. (Our new thing is going weekly to the library to pick up new books and movies; the girls love it.)

One of Maven's ballet friends is Samantha. Her mom, Shawn Lemmer, is a second-grade teacher at Birney Elementary in Redondo Beach. Shawn saw Sedona reading and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, is she a genius? How old is she?"  I explained that she is almost 4 1/2, and we have been told she is a good reader -- but Shawn just couldn't get over how well Sedona was sounding things out and actually reading on her own. She said Sedona is reading better than some of her second-grade students. 

Shawn asked about her comprehension. I've been surprised by that, as yesterday Sedona read "The Giving Tree" and today was telling me about the story in her own words. So I guess she is getting comprehension down, too.

I would like to take credit for her skills (and Kevin might believe he passed on genetic language aptitude), but I'm not sure we've done anything extraordinary with her and obviously am not about to declare any geniuses. But I will also admit, it is pretty amazing. We've been reading another Beezus and Ramona "big-girl" book at bedtime to her (and Maven, who picks that book over her own separate picture book, probably to be like Sedona). Sedona asks Kevin or me to move a finger along the text while reading so she can follow along and learn words. Or a lot of times she wants to read it on her own and try to sound out difficult words; she is undeterred even if there are a lot of words she doesn't know yet and she will ask how to say them. Still, she can largely read it herself and has definitely made huge strides in learning recently.