Sedona's 6th Birthday Party

By MAGGIE DING

In the past our birthday parties have been pretty large, but as the girls are getting older it is less about who my friends and family are and, well, mostly about who the birthday girl wants there.

This year, it is ice skating at the Toyota Sports Center (where the Los Angeles Kings hockey team share the facility with the Lakers) with a few of her school buds. 

The kids formed a circle at the start to learn the technique for falling, though certainly not everyone executed that plan when the time came.

With pals, Parker and Dylan Albarian.

Before enjoying some free skate time was a 30-minute lesson. Then it was time to roam the rink ...

Left: Esperanza and Maya. Right: Isabel, Sabrina and Simona 

Maven skated with her daddy. 

Success! A happy birthday girl and a not-stressed-out mommy!

Painted Fish, Psychologically Analyzed

By KEVIN DING

Sedona and Maven have been going to Chinese class twice a week for a nearly a year (with a woman they call "Nai-Nai," Mandarin for paternal grandmother; she is the wife of their tennis instructor who likes them calling him "Ye-Ye" for paternal grandfather). Tennis and Chinese have been staples in their lives, and they still enjoy going to both -- especially tennis for Sedona in recent months.

"Nai-Nai" took the kids to an art class next door to her Pyramid Academy classrooms in Torrance for a twist on the usual curriculum, and it turned out to be a most interesting experience. Afterward, she and the art teacher, who also has a degree in psychology, noted the plain difference in the way Sedona, nearly 6, and Maven, 4, went about the painting assignment.

The art teacher said it was consistent with clinical studies of elder and younger children -- including in her own family -- where the elder is raised by more careful, structured parenting and the younger comes up in a more relaxed, worry-free atmosphere from no-longer-rookie parents.

Sedona was very results-oriented, worried about how everything she did would look and turn out. Maven just went for it and was "fearless" in trying things even before the teacher told them what to do next. The paintings are striking in their ultimate contrast, with one very clear and discernible (except for the creation of the sun and that one piece of seaweed that amused Sedona to have rising up) and the other far more natural and wilder (unfortunately even with Maven misspelling her own name and then starting over to the left). It was an interesting psychological lesson in parenting our kids and a reminder to strive for respective balances while letting them be who they want to be.

Which painting you prefer might tell you a something about yourself, too! 

Maven's Cyst Removal

By KEVIN DING

Maven will be able to look back and say she had her first surgery at a very young age: 4 years old and having a cyst removed from her cheek near her left ear. We decided to remove it given that it wasn't going to go away on its own, so Dr. Asch set her up at Torrance Memorial Hospital (where she was born) and we headed in there at 5:30 a.m. to get prepped.

 She wore her pajamas and was in such good spirits that she charmed all the nurses there before turning to her iPod Touch to kill the time.

 They had her switch into the hospital pajamas and socks, which was pretty cute, too.

 She was totally chill about the whole thing, happily discussing things with me while she played games. Then they drugged her up to fall asleep for the procedure, and she started to feel woozy here ...

And then they took her into the operating room without me. The surgery went well, and you will see her in some subsequent blog photos with a pad over the wound. But there are no photos of the moments right after the surgery, because she freakin' freaked out when she came out of the anesthesia -- as the nurses said happens often with kids -- wailing and insisting that the thing they put on her finger to monitor her was hurting her. She successfully overcame those restraining her and ripped that thing off her finger, sending blood spurting everywhere for quite some time and leaving me to hold her down forcefully while the nurses tried to fix it and get it back on (which they didn't do properly, we realized later, after she calmed down). She wound up accepting a popsicle and becoming normal again, but that part wasn't much fun!

Baby Emma's First Visit

By MAGGIE DING

It's always a pleasure to be with Baby Emma (Anita and Jason's first-born), but even more fun having her visit our house for the first time!

Love, Love, Love.

Flower Girls (Lulu & Bear's Wedding)

By KEVIN DING

A good time was had by all -- well, until Sedona at bedtime got her toe caught in a thread loop at the bottom of her sleeping bag that night and panicked despite A-Ma Ding's efforts to calm her, ending the party for two certain parents downstairs in the ballroom -- at Lulu's wedding to Kevin "Bear" Cheng at Pacific Palms Resort in La Puente.

Here are some photos lifted from Kristen's Shutterfly, starting with Sedona and Maven as flower girls (it went more seamlessly than when Maven was 2 and stopped mid-aisle at Steve Tsai's wedding) and Maggie as matron of honor with some fun shots with cousins Atticus and Skyler ...

Lulu's Bridal Shower

By MAGGIE DING

What an honor it was to be cousin Lulu's matron of honor for several events, including this bridal shower at the Tea Rose Garden in Pasadena.

Visits from the Other Dings

By MAGGIE DING

A-Tzo has been sick, and the outlook doesn't look good, so all his grandchildren (Kristen, Kevin, Karisa, Ian and Lester) and great-grandchildren (Atticus, Skyler, Sedona, Maven, Timmy and Naya) gathered with him at the hospital and later enjoyed dinner together.

Fun in the Sun

By MAGGIE DING

What better way to spend the day then go to the mall in your bathing suit to play for free! 

Haircut time!

By MAGGIE DING

Maven decided it was her time to get a haircut and unfortunately, Ms. Cathy was busy so we hit up 

First Cut 4 Kids in Rolling Hills.