"Oh, Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree ..."

By SEDONA DING

Now that I'm a big girl and I understand the holidays, Mommy and Daddy are getting into the spirit of Christmas this year with a tree in our house. In previous years, Mommy has claimed our home is too small for a tree, but this year we're making it happen just for moi!

We headed out Sunday morning (because Daddy is out of town for a week starting today) to find ourselves the perfect fresh tree.

We diligently perused both fir and evergreen at this El Segundo nursery ...

... and showed Maven a frosted tree. (Snow isn't something we get to see naturally given our weather. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt today, if you can believe it, although Daddy reportedly saw his first snow of the season when he went to Indianapolis.)

In the end, my parents shattered the initial dream of getting a real tree and opted to do the environmentally conscious thing by buying an artificial tree. So we now have in our living room next to the TV a beautiful, slim, lighted tree with pine cones -- and it didn't scratch or dirty up Mommy's car, it doesn't require water and it is totally easy to enjoy.

I love my fake Christmas tree and look forward to many presents underneath it this holiday season -- though, Mommy says she isn't going to consume. Hmm. Does this mean fewer presents for me?

Happy Thanksgiving!

By MAGGIE WANG

When Kevin got sick late Tuesday night after the Lakers' game with the stomach virus (he pulled over on the side of the freeway in a rare Southern California rain to let loose the first installment), he and I separately gave it a little more thought and realized that I must have started the virus in our house: (a) I had all the same symptoms after getting my wisdom teeth pulled, although we attributed them to the Vicodin upsetting my tummy, and (b) I shared a lot of things with a sick Sedona on Sunday, so I logically should have caught it ... unless I started it and already gave it to her.

Despite all the sickness in our realm, we had a very nice Turkey Day today with Kevin in town.

We walked with the girls to South Park for some swinging, shadow analysis and squirrel chasing.

Sedona pushing Maven.

Sedona and Maven, back-to-back.

Sedona and her shadow (she loves shadows these days).

Everyone had a nice nap before heading to A-Ma and A-Gong Ding's house for a Thanksgiving feast (that Kevin admired from afar with his saltines and Gatorade).

A nice family picture, compliments of A-Go Kristen.

Squirrel watching in the morning, then slug watching in the evening! We're practically a science-class field trip.

A-Go and Sedona had a ball while exploring Maven's mouth for teeth. Maven has had two on top pop out to go with her two on the bottom.

Just my baby and me. She's growing up so fast! It makes me sad.

I thought I'd try to get some pretty shots of her posing on the grass, but it was just a wee bit too cold for her, I think.

All the grandkids (Maven happily pulling Sedona's hair) with A-Ma & A-Gong Ding.

Sedona again enjoyed playing with Atti and Skyler. They are so sweet and gentle with her. It's really adorable to watch.

A-Gu Felix joined us with A-Ma & A-Gong Wang away in Vegas with their friends.

Aunt Julie (Mitch's sister) was a natural with Maven.

The traditional turkey for everyone's enjoyment was impressively made by Uncle Steve Tsai, although his girlfriend Candice was a little better at Maven-sitting than he was.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are truly thankful for all our family and friends. They love and support us unconditional. We are also grateful to have a stable life through this sad economic crisis.

Happy Birthday, A-Ma Ding!

By MAVEN DING

It seems big sis Sedona infected A-Ma Ding with the stomach virus, so we stopped by to cheer her up and wish her a happy birthday!

Sedona gets to indulge the cake lover in her on supposed special occasions, but the occasions seem to come up pretty often, if you ask me.

And if I don't get to eat any cake, I just do other stuff ... like see if anything interesting might be in A-Gong Ding's mouth!

Sedona's (bad) tummy time

By MAGGIE WANG

I guess Sedona really wants to be like her mommy: SICK!

Sedona actually got incredibly disgustingly and yuckily (but so sweet and cuddly) sick.

She started vomiting at 9 a.m. today, and after 10-to-12 episodes (stopped counting after five ...) I brought her to the Torrance Memorial emergency room to check her hydration level, as ordered by our on-call doctor.

The whole process of the ER was just exhausting, but fortunately the solution was non-IV hydration-related. They gave her a grape flavored pill to reduce the nausea and calm her stomach and then had her drink one ounce of water every 15 minutes to see if she would vomit. After three ounces, we were discharged.

On Monday she'll be on a small-dosage clear diet to get her hydrated (so she'll have gone 48 hours with no solids) and then hopefully soft foods Tuesday to get her body used to food again. Go away soon, stomach virus!

Bye-Bye, Wisdoms

By MAGGIE WANG

I had my three wisdom teeth removed Wednesday (yes, I only had three, not sure why). Two were completely horizontal-impacted and full bony, one was impacted and partial bony ... basically a bad situation. Only the lesser one was coming out and a bit bothersome, but my dentist and my oral surgeon friend recommended that I take them all out.

The recovery was and is quite interesting: I am swollen and lethargic with major tummy pains.

But through all the pain, Sedona has ensured there are still chuckles in the house with her sweet and funny comments ...

Me: "Be careful. Mommy is sick."
Sedona: "It's OK, Mommy. ... It's an accident. ... Let me take off your jacket. ... Just an accident, Mommy."

--

Me: "Sedona, Mommy doesn't feel good. She had a few teeth taken out. Be careful."

Sedona: "Oh, Mommy has cavities?"

How she learned the word "cavities" and in what context to use it baffles us all.

All Aboard Noah's Ark

By SEDONA DING

On Saturday, we went to the Skirball Cultural Center in Bel Air to check out the kid-friendly Noah's Ark exhibit with Lulu, Riley, Gene & Whitney.

Riley and I hopped on a camel before entering the Ark. But where's my seat belt? I am consistent to the point of annoyance about telling Mommy to wear her seat belt whenever we're in the car. Safety first! My new crusade, though, is to complain whenever Mommy or Daddy don't execute a full stop at a stop sign. I know what those red octagons mean!

As stated in an earlier blog entry, I love to climb these days, so as you can imagine, I spent the majority of my time in the climbing section of the Ark. 

I met a big pink snake while I was way up near the ceiling and was naturally curious as to why his tongue looked like a ramp.

Auntie Lulu was scared, but I went for it ...

... and I scored an egg! I planned to take it home and use it to make French toast.

Way below me on the ground level were Maven and Daddy. Maven is too little to climb -- only scoot-crawling still -- but I like to talk to Daddy about all the things Maven and I will do when we "grow up." After I say stuff like, "I don't know how to drive" while riding in the car, Daddy tells me: "Someday." And I say brightly: "Someday!"

At least Maven found her own big snake to play with ...

... and a nice hammock seat to relax on.

After about 10 climbs up and about, I was finally coerced to go outside and find Riley, who was drenched from running around in the rainbow mist.

I elected not to do the drenching thing. We just took mediocre family pictures without the cooperation of Maven and me outside the misting mechanisms.

Maven didn't get drenched either and was very happy about it. Then again, she's happy about just about everything.

Once back in the Ark, I was amazed that pulling a lever could open a skylight. Lulu is a great teacher! I don't know why I am making a No. 1 sign with my hand. But Daddy has been training me to do it since I was a baby to make sure I know I can be No. 1!

After this creation of mine, I believe I am the No. 1 plumber in our family! (Toshi A-Gong is certainly No. 1 in our extended family, I concede.)

I wonder if Toshi A-Gong applauds himself like I do after he finishes a project.

After a great time at Skirball, we ate a quick lunch with Toshi A-Gong at his country club. My parents couldn't get into the place while wearing their trendy jeans, so they ran back to A-Gong & A-Ma's house to borrow pants. My parents then tried to nap me at A-Gong and A-Ma's house, but I decided that I'd rather play -- and so did Maven. Haha! We showed them what happens when they break our routine. We rebel! *wink*

We then headed off to a nice dinner (OK, I did nap in the car and on Daddy's shoulder for a long time upon reaching the restaurant) to celebrate the birthdays of A-Ma Alice (11/18) and Lulu (11/1) at Border Grill in Santa Monica.

Sedona can cook

By SEDONA DING

I am starting to learn to cook! Linda was out of town last week (no coincidence whatsoever that there were no posts here while Linda was gone) and Daddy was working in Dallas and New Orleans, so A-ma Alice came stayed over for a slumber party.

A-ma Alice taught me to cook chicken!

And Mommy has been teaching me to make French toast in the morning. It's fun. I love to cook and will make Mommy proud one day on "Top Chef."

I'm CRAWLING!

Solids and Spoons for Maven

By MAGGIE WANG

Look who is starting solids! Maven started late on solids, just like her similarly chubby-as-a-baby sister, but she's moving up in the world.

Solids for Maven

By MAVEN DING

I had my 7-month-old appointment today, and Dr. Saad said I'm healthy with a 42.5 cm head circumference, a height of 26 7/8 inches and a weight of 20 pounds and 10 ounces.

She also OK'd me to start solids, so here goes ...

A week of organic brown rice before I get yellow veggies, fruits and then green veggies. This is all so exciting!