Lazy Sunday Bar-Be-Que

A couple weeks ago, we had a lazy Sunday afternoon BBQ at our friend Mandy, Dan and Ava's rooftop paradise. Natalie had a great time! See photos below:

Jackie, Vivo, Natalie and Clark eating great food and enjoying the day.


It was hot and sunny. This is Natalie's hat. It doesn't quite fit me...


Mandy and Dan's rooftop paradise. Doesn't it look like Bali or some other tropical resort destination?

Dan has a dog named Dingo. Natalie really likes to look at Dingo, but she doesn't like to play with him because Dingo likes to lick Natalie's face.

When Dingo comes out, Natalie likes for Clark to carry her. She also likes to throw the toy for Dingo to fetch.

Little Toby was there as well, and he really enjoyed his first beer which was lovingly provided by his daddy Kevy. (Just kidding, of course he didn't drink any!)

Here is Toby being carried by Jackie yee-yee. He is so cute and cuddly!

The Simmons set up a little wading pool on their deck. Natalie came prepared with her swimming outfit and spent a lot of time in the pool. She loved it! Here she is playing with Vivo Yee-yee.

Auntie Esther joins in the fun!

We had to force Natalie to take breaks from the pool because she loved it too much and was getting all wrinkly from the water. Here we have enticed her out with some chocolate cake. Look at how relaxed everyone looks!

Natalie concentrating on getting the largest possible bite of cake.

Natalie finished the entire chocolate cake slice by herself (although she did generously offer me a few small bites).

Natalie is back in the pool and look who's joined her! It's baby Ava who is only 5 months old. She looks so small and Natalie is like a giant compared to her.

Natalie doing the "turtle" (that's what she calls it). She liked crawling around in the shallow water on her hands with her feet trailing behind her.

More turtling. It's crazy how much time she spent in the little pool!

Baby Ava enjoying the sun and warm water with her mommy Mandy.

Natalie trying to share the water balls with baby Ava. It's very cute to watch her interact with smaller babies because she can be very gentle and generous with them. She understands they are smaller and younger than she is.

Natalie's feet are almost unrecognizable after almost a full afternoon in the water. "Look at my raisin feet!" she says to Vivo Yee-yee who took this photo.

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon :)

Nail polish

With the bump growing bigger, it's been harder to reach my own toes and so a couple weeks ago, I had a pedicure and had my toe nails painted. Natalie noticed right away, pointing and asking, "Mommy, how come you have pink toes?" She also told me her english teacher "Miss. Lisa" (actual name, no relation) has pink finger nails.

And so, at a recent wedding, Natalie had the chance to paint her nails for the first time. I put on one little layer (in the middle of the nail only, not touching the sides) right before we headed off to dinner and wiped them off before she went to sleep. She loved it, but I told her it was a special occasion and she understands it's not for everyday use.

Natalie's beautiful red nails.


"I'm a lady!" Natalie says. "Look at my pretty nails!"


When I asked her how long she could have them for, she solemnly promised, "Only one dinner and no more." And later she was such a good girl and kept her promise and helped me remove the polish before sleeping that night.

Natalie-ism

Natalie loves to talk and talk and talk. Everyday, she says something that is SO FUNNY I have to laugh out loud. Today, while I was helping her to undress for bath time, she suddenly said this:

"Hey look, my bum is eating the underwear!" (She points to her wedgy.) "How come the bum is eating the underwear? Because the bum is hungry, right? But I say, 'No bum, don't eat the underwear!'"

Aerobics Day at School

On Friday, Natalie's school hosted parents and students during "Aerobics Day". Parents had to accompany the children to attend and it was sooo cute and fun to spend the day with the students at school. It was especially cute when we arrived and Natalie's classmates call out to her and waved and said "Hi Natalie!" and she replied, calling her classmates by name. I was super tired afterward, but it was absolutely worth it! Below are videos and photos of the day.

Watch Video 275 - the beginning of "aerobics day" at Natalie's school. Parents were allowed to participate and watch a show put on by the students. Here is the first video of their performance. They are just getting ready for the big show! Natalie is standing at the front of the line to the very left.

Watch Video 276 - this is the second video of their performance. They have started the show and Natalie is super cute as she dances along with her classmates and teachers. Can you find her? She is the 3rd child in the row furthest from the camera, with the little pigtails.

Here is Video 277 of the "free dance" period. Natalie and 3 of her classmates are dancing together holding hands. It looks like fun!

Here is Video 278 of Natalie dancing by herself during the free dance period. She is energetically moving around and taking her dancing very seriously.

Watch Video 279 - Out comes the parachute... all the students loved jumping and playing beneath it as the adults waved it up and down.

Here is Video 280 - the 6th and last video of Natalie's school aerobics day. Actually, the day has finished. Natalie was sooo tired she didn't want to walk. I have already carried her down the stairs and down the hill and now, being 4 months pregnant, I can't go any further so we take a break. You can see how tired Natalie is after so much exercise!

Here are photos from the day:

Natalie with her extremely adorable friend from class, Annabel.


Here we are going up the stairs and heading into the auditorium.


Once inside, the teachers organized all the students while the parents behaved worse than paparazzi, stepping over each other to take photos and videos.


There were three nursery classes participating in the day. All students are 3 years old and super cute.



Natalie was really happy to have me visiting her school with her. She introduced me to her classmates and teachers and was very well behaved (at least in the beginning, closer to the end she became grumpier and more tired).

Natalie hugging her friend Mia.

More hugging. So cute!

Natalie with her friend Kiara (whom I called "Clara" for a long time before realizing I had her name wrong).

Natalie with her friends Kelly and Kiara.

Natalie with me! I really, really enjoyed myself.

During snack time, Natalie very generously shared her cinnamon-toast-crunch cereal with her classmates.

And they shared their snacks in return, too. They are all such great friends!

Growing imagination

Natalie's imagination is fully active now. She often plays make-believe with her toys and sometimes even with nothing! For example, a few times now, she has given me "flowers" she grew by herself in her "garden", but there's really nothing in her hand. I have to pretend to take the flower from her and tell her how beautiful it is, which makes her happy. We find it really funny!

Watch Video 273 and listen to Natalie pretending to talk on the phone with her daddy. She calls him Ba-Ba. She tells him she misses him and she asks 'you're not home? Ok!' and hangs up. Then she gets upset when I try to call Clark (for real) on my telephone. She insists I call him with her telephone.

Also watch Video 274 where Natalie has her "baby" (actually, her Elmo doll) in a sling (actually my scarf) and the baby is sleeping. This may be good practice for when her sibling arrives :)

At Megan and Angus' Wedding

The whole Wang Gang turned out in our wedding best to attend Megan and Angus' wedding. Ba-ba Clark was one of the groomsmen. Here are some pics (courtesy of Serena yee-yee). Thanks, Serena!

Natalie with pigtails in her "day dress" with (left and right) Serena yee-yee, Marian yee-yee, and me.


During the wedding ceremony at the church, I had to bribe Natalie to keep quiet with an egg tart hidden in my purse.


After the ceremony as we waited while the photos were taken in front of the church, Natalie gets a very sweet kiss from uncle Zhi while drinking her lychee juice.


Later, we went to dim sum where Natalie met and was instantly enchanted and mesmerized with Ashley, a 6-year old girl who was very nice to her and who commented that, "Natalie's hands are sooo soft!" It's true, Natalie has really soft skin still.

Ashley willingly shared her toys with Natalie and later, Natalie kept asking "Where's Ashley?" (for the rest of the night).

Much much later (after we unsuccessfully tried to get Natalie to sleep), Natalie decided she wanted to dance on the stage to the band... by herself! She was turning and swaying to the music and climbing up and down from the stage for over 10 minutes.

Whenever our friends tried to join her, Natalie would insist that it was HER stage and all adults must stand to the side. Only other children (including Ashley) were allowed to dance with her. Here uncle Edwin tries to out-insist Natalie (but of course, nobody can out-insist Natalie).

When the bride and groom return to the stage, Natalie decides it's time to come down and go home. We didn't get home until after midnight... quite a long night for Natalie!

Shower fun with hair

Now that Natalie has a little bit more hair (although still not growing at the front for some reason!), her daddy Clark likes to shape it into various shapes and Natalie likes it, too. Here are some photos from a recent bath.

Oompa-Loompa.


We had a little mirror to show her the "crazy hair". She liked this style.


The flash on the camera was a little bright.


Natalie with "really crazy hair"!

"Do I look crazy, Ba-ba?". She loves bathtime. It take some coaxing to get her out.

The two horns look. Although we think Natalie is actually a little angel.

We're really happy she likes to take baths. She will stay in so long her little fingers and toes become wrinkled and she will proudly tell us she has "raisins".

Smile! "But it's too bright, Mommy!"