vo tay

Rosie learned to clap her hands thanks to Ba Ngoai!
(ps "vo tay" means "clap your hands")

Rolling in the leaves

Here's a video from yesterday of
Rosie playing in the leaves when we were in Tiburon. She seriously went up and down this hill at least a dozen times. In fact, you can see her start to take off right at the end of the video. Such good, wholesome fun!

Sausalito

Today we wanted to have a special day with Ba Ngoai since it is her last weekend before she goes home to Connecticut (boo!). We met up with Ba Ngoai and Ba H in Walnut Creek. Ba H couldn't join us for our adventure so we had to say goodbye. We walked around the shopping area and ran into a singing group who was performing in the square. Rosie loved listening to the Christmas carols. Then we headed to a restaurant called Stanford's, where we noshed on a tasty lunch of calamari, fancy mac and cheese, a crab and artichoke sandwich AND...bloody marys! Rosie fell asleep in our arms at the table, which hasn't happened in a long time.
After lunch we hopped in the car and headed north. Our first stop was an impromptu trip through a farmer's market that was shutting down. Di T wanted to treat Rosie to a veggie of her choice at a farmer's market. After much deliberation she decided on radishes.

 We then continued on our way to Tiburon, a cute little town on the water, north of San Francisco. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We walked around the historic little downtown, then took a pit stop by a grassy patch so Rosie could stretch her legs. This might have been her favorite part of the day. She was infatuated with the leaves. She also got in some good exercise crawling up and down the mini-hill over and over again. She was especially fond of going downhill, fearlessly going into an accidental face plant.

Ba Ngoai fishing tasty leaves out of Rosie's mouth

 The view from Tiburon was striking with Angel Island and San Francisco in the background.

 Next stop: Sausalito. Despite the chilly wind, we took another long walk in downtown Sausalito. We walked along the docks at all the boats and window shopped. Ba Ngoai bought Mommy a warm winter hat...we'll consider that our support of Small Business Saturday!

 Rosie fell asleep about 2 minutes into the walk, which was no surprise since she was all snuggly in the carrier with DaddyO.

After over an hour of walking around we decided it was time to get off our feet, rest, and have dinner. We got a recommendation to go to Scoma's which is right along the bay. We had yet another super tasty meal of fresh oysters, pear and arugula salad (dressing so tasty), cioppino, and halibut. Rosie finally woke up for this this part and munched on bread and halibut while making friends with the restaurant.

 With full bellies and tired feet, we headed back to Orinda where we dropped Ba Ngoai off at Ba H's house. Rosie snuggled with Ba H in bed a little and played with Bijou before we headed back home.

Throughout the day there was a lot of laughing (mostly between Rosie and Ba Ngoai...so good). It was a full, beautiful and fun day!

Thankful!

We began our thanksgiving with a walk around the neighborhood in Rosie's new red wagon.



We met up with Ba Ngoai on her way back from swimming.



We then headed to Livermore to feast with the family. As always, it was great spending time with everyone. So much love!



Special occasions like this are always fun because we get to reflect on where we were last thanksgiving. Rosie was so tiny, only a week old! This time she was climbing stairs, eating turkey, barking at the dog, and reading books with her cousins.

...and, of course, watching some football!

Radio Flyer

Tonight we put together Rosie's wagon from Ong Ba Ngoai. Ba Ngoai and I took it for a spin while Rosie was asleep (no footage of that, unfortunately. It was pretty memorable since I dot remember the last time Ba Ngoai pulled me in a wagon and I know this was the first time I pulled her!!). Rosie must have sensed the excitement and woke up.



Too much fun makes for a sleepy grandma and baby!

parachute fun

Ba Ngoai and Rosie have been going to the Y to play. Rosie loves the parachute! Though in the mix of things, she apparently got worried that she couldn't see Ba Ngoai and would look around for her. Once she spotted her she'd go back to having fun. Smart baby!

career search

One Vietnamese tradition for the first birthday (called toi noi, which means quit the crib), is to see what passion the baby might develop later in life by displaying objects that represent different careers to see which one she will grab first. So we gathered items around the house to get a small sampling of potential careers for Rosie and let her loose.
Mind you, this was not a very scientific exploration, since I have a hunch she chose what was directly in her line of sight, but maybe that's telling of her personality in some way too!

12 month birthday

One year ago today Rosa entered our lives with bright eyes, sweet cheeks, and a curious soul. Over this past year she has only grown brighter, sweeter, and definitely more curious.  It's been an amazing year!

Highlights of being 12 months-old:

• Blows kisses (inconsistently)
• Stands hands-free for 15 seconds at a time
• Even more dramatic: she will fake cry, laugh to be funny, and tilt her head when she wants to be extra cute
• Gives kisses on request (i.e. suction-less kisses)
• LOVES books
  
• Ecstatically laughs with coordinated legs kicks
• Fruit-lover. Starch lover (except no potatoes, surprisingly)
• Just learned how to whack-a-ball with a hammer.
• Climbs up stairs pretty easily and just learned how to go down a step backwards. This is exciting since, up until now, she'd choose to go head first in a swan-like dive.
• Hide and seek - an ever popular game, she will hide around the corner on her own and peek around the corner.

Today Rosie had an eventful day!

Birthdays are shocking!

Busy day visiting DaddyO at work...

...then Mommy at her work!

Time for a dip in the pool with Ba Ngoai.

Pre-dinner reading with the Vavós

Post-dinner playing

Standing tall

With my grandmas

With the Vavós

Cuddling with Mommy (but secretly eying the soccer ball)

Rosie turns one!

On Saturday (11/19/11), we celebrated Rosa's birthday with family and friends at Michael's parents house. Rosie was such an amazing party animal. The kitchen was jammed most of the day with tons of food, laughter and joy. Rosie enjoyed her first cake and reveled in being the center of attention.

Much thanks to all the family who made it out.  Our love goes out to all of you who could not make it. Enjoy a few photos that marked this special day.

Blowing kisses

On our way out to date night Rosie blew us kisses for the first time! Super crazy sweet.

Dinner with Auntie and A

Auntie and A came to visit for dinner. They brought an early birthday present. Rosie was so excited she managed to stand on her own for 20 solid seconds without realizing it.


31 flavors of sweetness!


A and Rosie trying to keep warm on the walk home.

Location:Iris Ct,San Jose,United States

Giggles

Rosie and Ba Ngoai were all giggles at the park today while picking berries.

Bed shopping and birthday parties

Yesterday Rosie helped us shop for a new bed...one that was lower to the ground. She instantly fell in love with this one:



Then we had double header birthday parties, though we only ended up making it to one since she was too tuckered out.

11/11/11

Here is Rosie at 11:11pm on 11/11/11, courtesy of Ba Ngoai.



And a random bonus picture:

Down by the Bay

Rosie, Ba Ngoai, and Mommy spend the day in San Francisco where we were pleasantly surprised by the sun and warm weather.

Golden Gate:





Baker Beach:





Ba Ngoai couldnt resist the water!


Twin Peaks:


Oyster shooters!


After a quiet drive home met up with Daddy-o at his soccer game. Go Daddy!