Does anyone remember the cartoon Fat Albert in the 70's?

Sebastian was wearing this cap at Mom Mom's house this morning and I laughed to myself because I couldn't help but think about that cartoon character from The Fat Albert Show back in the 70's. I googled the name of the character tonight and found out his name was "Dumb Donald". So that' who Sebastian reminded me of this morning. I can always tell it's Sebastian behind that mask because of his wide smile. It's a dead giveaway ;-)

Miss Manners

I am "grooming" Ava to be such a proper Lady. She has all the skills mastered.

She knows how to hold a conversation.













She makes sure she is always presentable.













She always makes sure she's well groomed.













And lastly, she knows how to entertain.

Who needs t.v.?

Here is another cute video of Ava entertaining herself with the musical table over at Grandmom's. The musical activity table has been there for over a year and Ava finally finds it entertaining.

The Whawats Affair

I call this Ava's "whatwat's affair" because waffles are her favorite breakfast foods. I haven't blogged for a while but I wanted to post some videos. I had to laugh because this is very "typical" of Ava. She will be eating something and then see something that someone else has and starts to open her mouth for a bite.

Ava's Inauguration

Here is how the doctor's visit went on Inauguration day. She sat on the waiting table clutching her clothes. She would not let go of her personal belongings. In fact she even tried putting her shoes back on before the doctor came into the room. All in all, she was in good health and only had one shot. I don't think Ava will ever like being in the doctor's office...what kid does?

Inauguration Day

We were at work on Inauguration day. We couldn't believe we had to be at work on this momentous day. We had been off the day before for President's day. We wished we had taken an extra day off to watch the all day event. They had t.v. monitors all over the campus at work. I actually missed the swearing in of the new President. I had scheduled a half day off in the afternoon because Ava had her two year check up with the pediatrician. I hadn't realized I scheduled her doctor's appointment on inauguration day. I was walking down the hallway on my way out of the office to try and catch a glimpse of the ceremony. This is what you saw...the back of people. There were small clusters in front of every t.v. monitor.

Ava's love affair

Every morning when Ava comes down the stairs, she asks for her waffles (wawats as she calls them). I had to take a picture with her "wawats" because the waffle was bigger than her head. If you take too long to prepare the waffle, oh boy does she let you know about it.













Then there are times she waits patiently for her meal. I caught her in this pose one evening and it was so darn adorable.

My Apprentice

Sebastian is always asking to help in the kitchen. Especially when I'm making breakfast. He loves flipping the pancakes or french toast. I hope he keeps that curiosity because I'm aiming for "breakfast in bed" one Mother's Day. Of course I'm wishful thinking! In the meantime, I enjoy our traditional Sunday breakfasts together. I hope the kids always remember the cherished memories.

Lesson in History

Michael showed the kids the famous speech from Martin Luther King on youtube after dinner. I think they've seen the speech in school. Since the kids were already on the computer, he thought it would a good five minutes of history.

Two thumbs up

Today I cooked a pot of chicken curry because we had the day off for Martin Luther King. Sebastian and Ava were at the daycare for a few hours and Michael picked up Sebastian early so he could play with Elizabeth down the street. This was the first time Elizabeth had tasted curry and I was afraid it would be too strong for her palate. It was took a long time to get Sebastian to try curry. I don't remember how we got him to taste it. I think it was the dipping of the Nan (bread) into the curry that enticed him. Anyway, Elizabeth took her first bite and I asked her how she liked it. She gave me a thumbs up because her mouth was full of curry. She wasn't being just polite because she ate everything ;-)

Unpredictable Ava

Sometimes Ava catches me by surprise. I'll be doing something in the kitchen and turn around and find her doing the cutest things. Or I'm sitting in the car and turn my head to see what's going on in the back. Then there are times when she doesn't want to cooperate for me when I ask her to sit still for the camera. The last picture of her below looks like she's posing for the camera but she's actually throwing a fit because she wanted the backpack taken off.








































One morning I walked into Ava's room to get her and this is what I found. She had done a number two in her diaper and decided to take her clothes off so she could get changed. I was so glad I got to her before she decided to take her diaper off! I have no idea why I had the camera upstairs because I was able to capture this candid moment.













Ava loves her counting book. Her favorite page is the page that has the two ice cream sundaes. She always kisses the page for some reason and sometimes licks her fingers like she's enjoying the ice cream. What a silly girl!

Artist at work

Ava loves her markers, paints and crayons. I love how she has to lay across the paper to create her master piece. It looks like she is completely throwing herself into her creativity. Maybe that's how Picasso or Van Gogh got inspired? Of course they didn't have the toddler tools back in their day. If you look at the last two frames, you will see why I took Ava's shirt off. I think she was creating body art without realizing it.

A Birthday Guide for a Two Year Old

Since Ava's birthday fell on the same day as the Asian New Year Celebration (Saturday), we celebrated her birthday with our family on Sunday instead. Ava wasn't feeling quite herself on Sunday. Her nose had been runny all week and we were waiting for something to "brew". Sure enough on Monday, the daycare called us to let us know she was running a low grade fever. They were sending several kids home apparently with fevers and runny diapers but no other physical symptoms. Strep throat and The Fifth Disease is making it's re-entry into the daycare again. Ugh! I remember last year we couldn't celebrate Ava's first birthday on her actual birthday because she was also sick. We ended up celebrating her birthday a week or two after the fact. This year she barely made it!

Make sure there's lots of birthday cake to go around (for the adults and little ones).














Gotta have balloons to make it a party, right?















Wait until everyone sings the "Happy Birthday" song.















Share the cake eating experience with big brother.














Is that a happy girl or what?















What spoon? Isn't that what fingers are for?














Okay Grandmom, where did you hide the toy?














Receive presents from long distance (our friends from Connecticut sent this to Ava)














Ooooooh....what is it?














Practicing tea party etiquette.














Wait a minute...I'm not ready for bed yet!

Post Asian Celebration

One more post and then I must really get to bed (it's almost 1 a.m.)! The one good thing I got out of the Asian celebration today were the Ao Dai dresses. They were selling the dresses at the party. Unfortunately they weren't selling any Vietnamese shirts for Sebastian. I was hoping they would because I would like to have a family portrait done one day with all of us dressed in traditional Vietnamese clothes. I had two dresses left for Ava for the next two years and wanted to get some more for when she was older. Although the dresses they sold today were not as ornate and pretty as the dresses I bought in Ho Chi Minh City, at least I have some bigger sizes ;-)

Asian New Year Celebration

We attended our first Asian New Year Celebration. It was sponsored by our adoption agency. We didn't know what to really expect. It fell right on Ava's birthday which seemed appropriate at the time. We will be celebrating Ava's birthday with the grandparents on Sunday. Although the party was a little disappointing because this was something I was hoping to bring the kids to every year. But we don't feel like part of the adoptive community at this function. It was way too large and very impersonal. The environment makes it impossible to socialize and meet other adoptive families. The kids were ready to go home as soon as they ate. Luckily the dancers/performers came on right after everyone ate.

Next year I think I'll sign us up with the other Vietnam family group. I think it's a smaller group but it's only the children from the Tam Binh Orphanage I wanted the kids to be exposed to their culture and heritage but today's party was not what we had in mind. By the time I found out about the other Vietnam group, I had already ordered tkts for the one held by our adoption agency. Oh well...at least we found out sooner rather than later.

I know Ava is going to kill me one of these days. I didn't pull out her Ao Dai dresses from storage until Thursday night. I had them stored away for the past year and a half. I had bought dresses from 1 - 5 yrs, hoping that she would have a dress for each year. I didn't realize it until Thursday that I accidently bought two size "2" dresses. Well, Ava long outgrew that size and she fit in the size "3". Now mind you, she just turned two today. She's wearing 24 mth clothes. I think the Vietnamese sizes run slightly smaller than American sizes because the Vietnamese women have such small frames. I remember buying some silk blouses for myself. You should have seen the Vietnamese women laugh at me when I was trying the blouses on in the store. I first put on a size medium, then a size large, THEN a size extra-large. I told them that just because I was barely five feet tall didn't mean that I had the Vietnamese stature. Well, Ava is in the same boat. Ava and I live on a "waffle diet", not a Vietnames diet!

Although I will come to her defense. Ten minutes before we left the Asian New Year party, Ava was running around and I called her name. This man standing near us said "oh, another Ava." I looked over to this other little girl and I said, is your daughter named Ava as well? He replied yes. I said Ava was a popular name in 2007 ;-) The two Ava's stood next to each other and the other Ava towered over my Ava. I swear she was a head taller and much wider than Ava Lieu. I was going to take a picture of them standing next each other but Ava got frightened and dashed off again. The man said that they'd return for a picture once they got their picture taken with the professional photographer. Well by then, we were all packed up to leave and didn't wait. So you'll just have to take my word for it.