Have Tree, Need Presents

On Black Friday, we went to Whole Foods to check out grocery deals. But we ended up buying a tree. Then we went to Target to get ornaments, lights and stockings. It was quite a production. And it paid off -- Sophie liked it a lot.

Tree by window

Look, Sophie. It's pretty, isn't it?

Wildlights at Zoo

Last night, we took Sophie to the zoo to see "wildlights." We thought it would be fun because we had never been to the zoo at night. We didn't get to see any animals, except the reindeer. But Sophie didn't seem to mind.

A Giraffe Did One!

Ostrich

Watering hole

Reindeer

I "yuv" penguins!

Painting with Sponges

Sophie normally does not like finger painting. But this morning, she decided to use her hands along with animal sponges to paint. She really enjoyed mixing and squishing the paint onto paper with her hands. It was a joy for us to see her making a mess.

Sponge, paint, paper

Hand, paint, paper

Squish!

I can't draw a smiley face, mommy!

Look at my masterpiece!

Making Pancakes with Mommy

Sophie has always been very curious about cooking. But she never showed any interest in getting messy.  But this morning, she helped Vân mix the flour to make pancakes -- and posed for a few pictures along the way.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very low key. We stayed in and had a family dinner. Turkey, popovers, asparagus with mushrooms, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beet salad and more. And the best part was watching Sophie finishing her plate full of food. We're very thankful to have her.

Turkey -- steamed then roasted

Our Thanksgiving Spread

Yum yum!

I'm eating, mommy!

Green Lake in Winter

Teaberry and Daisy Blue are Sophie's new colors for the winter. They really brighten up the grey sky. And she looks so cute!

Swing, mommy!

Cake and Candle

Any cake can be a birthday cake. All we have to do is put a candle on it. And Sophie will sing "Happy Birthday" then try to blow out the candle.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake by Vân

This cake is bigger than my face!

I'm one year-old again.

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" was the first song that Sophie could sing all by herself. And she always sings it really loud.

B-I-N-G-O

Sophie is learning a lot of new songs. And B-I-N-G-O is one of them.

Yum Yum!

Sophie loves to play pretend. It typically involves her comforting an animal who's hurt. "Are you OK? It's OK. Don't cry," she would say. When we received the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appétit, she could not resist pretending to eat everything in the magazine. And everything was yummy.

 

Wiggle that butt!

Sophie got a new move. Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle that butt. I'm going to call it the Donald Duck.

Hello Kitty

Sophie has always been a big fan of Dora. Not Hello Kitty. But all of that changed earlier today. She was so excited to see Hello Kitty that she screeched. She could barely contain herself when Hello Kitty made her entrance. And she cried when we left. Unfortunately, I did not get any of it on film.

Szechuan Noodle Bowl

In between viewing exhibits at the Wing Luke and waiting for Hello Kitty, we had lunch at Szechuan Noodle Bowl. The restaurant was across the street from the museum. And we had been wanting to revisit this place since we had lunch at Ding Tai Fung in Bellevue. We didn't like it much, but Sophie stuffed her face with the green onion pancake and cold noodles with peanut sauce.

Wing Luke Museum

We took Sophie to the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience earlier today. For us, it was to learn about the Asian American experience in Seattle, but for Sophie, it was a Hello Kitty event. Before Hello Kitty arrived, Sophie walked around a lot and wanted to climb onto all of the displays, especially the furniture made by George Nakashima. It was tiring looking after her, but we were glad that Seattle had such a place for Sophie to learn about Asian American history.

Let's go mommy!

Where's the kids area?

Letters crossing ocean

Jumping off couch

Sitting on chair - not wanting to leave

Clog Slippers

Vân bought Sophie a pair of clog slippers from her trip abroad. Sophie did not want to take the slippers out of the packaging. But once she tried on the slippers, she didn't want to take them off. They were a bit big for her feet, but it was fun watching her wobbling around the house with them.