Counting down to Christmas

To the strains of the Vince Guaraldi Trio (soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas) and Pink Martini's Christmas album, we finally got round to putting up our tree and hanging up our stockings last weekend. Christmas has always been a big deal in my family and the joy of counting down to it is something we've always shared with Sophie.

As you can tell, our first proper Christmas tree is a little on the slender side but it fits exactly where and how we want it to- at the edge of our living room wall and next to Jude's speakers. Most importantly, it has a little bit of everything we love-- things we picked from my mom's that I've always loved, those from dear friends who live too far away (specifically salt dough ornaments that dear Finn made for us back in Ann Arbor and a little Finnish elf from one of Tarja's Pikkujoulu parties), and new favorites that we (ok, Sophie) just added to our collection :)

The personalized stockings are handmade from an etsy store, byebyebirdieengland and are just about the cutest things ever. Sophie thinks they're adorable too and they've actually become an unexpected way for her to learn her letters. Today, looking at them, she realized that her name has fewer 'E's than mine and very plaintively asked that I share my extra 'E's with her. She was so sad, it was quite funny...

We still haven't found a Christmas wreath that we like and there's the whole yet-to-finish Christmas shopping issue (and then its attendant wrapping of presents), but that aside, that familiar quiet joy that always pervades as Christmas rolls around has definitely set in- things seem a little prettier, you find yourself being more forgiving of others and yourself, people are a little less grumpy, a little more generous, and there's just an all-round sense of well-being I associate only with Christmas coming round the corner...

1. Our first proper tree, 2. Salt dough ornament from Finn, 3. Tree topper, 4. Our personalized Christmas stockings have arrived :)

Happy Thanksgiving from afar!

1. Sophie tucking in (Thanksgiving 2011), 2. Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving 2010), 3. Family portrait 1 (Thanksgiving 2009), 4. "Let me at it!" (Thanksgiving 2008), 5. Getting ready (Thanksgiving 2007), 6. My plate (Thanksgiving 2006), 7. Kathy, Stan, Yong, and Jonas (Thanksgiving 2004), 8. at dave & jen's (Thanksgiving 2003)

Those of you who've been reading the blog long enough know that Thanksgiving has always been my absolute favorite American holiday, mostly because I associate it solely with our time in the U.S. without any of the baggage of missing home. And the food of course. Now that we're back, I miss it very much, the same way I'm missing Fall, my favorite season. It's times like these that I actually try not to think about Ann Arbor too much because it actually stings a little behind my eyes...

But I'm nonetheless going to take the time to remember all the wonderful Thanksgivings we've had over the years and our fantastic friends with whom we've had the utter privilege and joy to have spent Thanksgiving. Thank you for your friendship, fellowship, and love, and for introducing us to the fabulous world of (deep-fried) turkey, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. A particular shout-out goes to our friends Rick and Emilee with whom we've spent five out of our nine Thanksgivings in the U.S.- you guys had better make good your plans to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Singapore next year! You and your turkey fryer... :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A very Singaporean farewell

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1. My wonderful co-workers!!!!, 2. Surprise!!, 3. Hand made Singapore flag banners!, 4. American "classics" I had never eaten before

No one has cooler co-workers than I did. NO ONE. Because if you did, you'd have had a Singapore-themed farewell party thrown for you. Did your co-workers throw you said party? No? See, that's why my co-workers are the best!

It was a party befitting a research center-- no one there knew anything about Singapore, and so what did they do? Research! In the end, everyone's place card was of a famous Singaporean-- Dick Lee, Kumar, Lee Kuan Yew, Phua Chu Kang, etc.-- and there was a string banner of handmade Singaporean flags (which I don't think I've actually ever seen in Ann Arbor), complete with painstakingly hand cut stars. My co-workers had shut me in my room and I had no idea what they were doing. So imagine my utter surprise and delight when I walked in to see what they had done- it was so so so wonderful :)

The menu was as diametrically opposed to that as possible, though- the food theme was "American Classics Serene Has Not Yet Eaten" ;) And so on the menu was an old school tuna casserole (complete with canned corn, Campbell cream of mushroom soup, and shredded cheese), Sunny-D orange drink (I hesitate to use the term "juice" because I'm not sure how much juice there actually is in Sunny-D), mac & cheese from a box, jello salad, all manner of Hostess cakes, banana pudding, and other processed American delights :) Everything pretty much looked like it was the same color-- Basic Beige-- and I didn't even want to know what the calorie, sugar, and sodium content of some of the foods were; but it all tasted delicious because it was put together with so much fun and good cheer.

It really was the best farewell party anyone could have asked for and I'm so going to miss working with these folks. This was my first real job after graduation and I looked forward to going to work everyday because I loved what I did and I loved the people I worked with. And there really isn't much more a person can ask for in a job.

"Research" rocks!

*sniff*

We leave Ann Arbor in a week and to say goodbye, I made this video to remember our 9 years here. It was wonderful going through hundreds of photos to put this together, but it was also bittersweet, reliving memories and thinking about how much we're going to miss everyone and everything we've held dear over the years.

Thanks, Ann Arbor- you've been great to us...


Goodbye, Michigan from serene koh on Vimeo.

Thinking back

Us in front of the Michigan Union, 20 August 2003

This is us, nine years ago, hanging out on a campus that we were just getting to know. We had been married less than 2 months and you could say that this was the beginning of a very long extended honeymoon away from our families... :)

Packing up our house and saying goodbye to people has naturally gotten me thinking about our first days in Ann Arbor, and surprisingly, I remember them quite vividly. It was 10 Aug 2003 and I remember our flight out to Detroit from Singapore being really early in the morning, which meant that I had to be at the airport by 3.30am. And yet, despite the ungodly hour, our nearest and dearest friends and family turned up to see us off. It was a significant crowd which was wonderful and yet so sad, because it made saying goodbye just that much harder. We had no idea then that we'd end up staying for almost a decade, but even just a couple of years away from home seemed such a long time then...

We arrived in Detroit on a Sunday and had to check into a motel in Ann Arbor-- the Red Roof Inn on Plymouth Road-- because we couldn't collect the keys to our apartment on a weekend. Our first meal was at the Big Boy's next door- Jude had a meatloaf meal and I had the Caesar salad. Don't ask me why I remember... They tasted unremarkable. I think we were really tired by then, American classics, or not. Not knowing what our breakfast situation would be like, we bought some fruit strips and granola bars from CVS, the pharmacy close by, and ended up really eating them for breakfast the next morning.

We make it to our one-bedroom apartment the next day and it was pretty much what we expected. It was fully furnished-- very retro '70s without meaning to be retro-- and nothing to write home about. I do remember being constantly perturbed by the poop-brown carpeting though. Anyways, we make it to campus to officially matriculate and get our student IDs all sorted out. We would keep those same ID cards for the next 7 years (before we were issued new ones after graduation). We had lunch at the Union where I foolishly ordered pad thai from the now defunct Magic Wok, thinking that it would remind us of home. Like I said, foolish. It tasted like rice noodles fried with soy sauce with peanuts crushed over it. I was not hopeful at that point about the availability of good Asian food in Ann Arbor. Thank goodness the years have proven me wrong.

In the evening, we decided it was time to stock up our apartment with household supplies and we walked over to Kroger, the closest grocery store to us. We bought toiletries, toilet paper, a frying pan, cooking implements, two mugs, a bunch of other things, etc. And dinner. A roast chicken. This I remember vividly. What I also remember vividly is sitting in our spartan apartment tearing into the chicken with our bare hands because we hadn't bought utensils. And cleaning our hands on toilet paper because we didn't buy paper napkins or kitchen towels. There were also packets of ketchup we had "taken" from MacDonald's. Fun times... :)

Oh, and then two days later-- after moving almost 10,000 miles away from home to a firstworld country that is widely-acknowledged to be the only super-power left in the world-- we get caught in the great Northeast blackout of 2003, the second most widespread blackout in history that affected 45 million people in the U.S.

Now *that*, was fun...

Some photos from those early days here.

Girl & the Goat

1. Finally :), 2. hiramasa crudo, 3. chickpea fritters, 4. smoked goat rillette empanadas, 5. wood oven roasted pig face, 6. crisp braised pork shank

Long-time readers of the blog know that both Jude and I are huge fans of Top Chef (see here and here). And one of the restaurants opened by Top Chef cheftestants that we've always wanted to try is fourth season winner, Stephanie Izard's Girl & the Goat in Chicago. We've only heard good things about the food (1486 glowing reviews on yelp can't be wrong...) and so when we knew a month ago that we were going to be in Chicago to celebrate Jude's 40th birthday, I immediately tried to get reservations for us. But I clearly underestimated her popularity- a month ago, the earliest opening available for reservation was early July!!

Thanks to our friends, Libby and Naomi who live in Chicago though, we found out that there are a small number of tables set aside for walk-in customers. And so even if it meant that we had to eat dinner at 4.30, we made sure we ate very little earlier in the day (Jude and I split a Cuban sandwich at around 10 in the morning...) and were sufficiently hungry when doors opened for walk-ins at 4.15 :)

The restaurant and food were everything people said it would be, and then some. There is nothing pretentious or stuffy about Girl & the Goat- the ambience is relaxed, communal, and inviting- everything sharing and enjoying food ought to be about. The food is served small plates style-- meant to be shared-- and between the five of us (Sophie had her own little buffet of food I had packed), we had thirteen wonderful dishes that just delivered punches of flavor one after another. Everything was not only delicious, but interesting- who would have thought that scallops could be served with duck? Or that hazelnut hummus and chickpea fritters would be such a taste sensation together? And don't even get me started on the raw fish crudo with crispy pork belly or that hunk of pork shank that just blew all our minds away... And she made me love beets. Beets! Each plate was a conversation starter that got us talking about what we loved most about the dish-- we wondered aloud why we don't use fish sauce more often in our own cooking, we tried to figure out how we would try to recreate her ragu at home, and we all now want to eat more green beans because her sauteed green beans outshone some of the proteins as one of our favorites of the evening. Basically, the experience was communal not just because we were sharing everything that was put on our table, but also because the food made us think and talk about the thought that must have gone into conceiving each dish and about how much we were enjoying what we were eating.

The best part, it wasn't even that expensive at the end of the day. People like to think that delicious, creatively crafted food has to be expensive as well, but not at Girl & the Goat. We walked out feeling like we scored a deal considering the amazing food we just had the privilege of tasting.

If you have a chance, dear readers, drop by Girl & the Goat if you can. Even if it means making reservations months in advance or having dinner at 4.30pm :)

Farm in the city

When people think of Detroit, they think of cars, urban blight, Eminem, and maybe casinos. If you ask Sophie about Detroit though, she'll tell you that's where farms are, and where you hang out with chickens and collect eggs. That's what happens when you bring an almost three-year-old to visit your friends who live in Detroit who have turned the abandoned lots next to their apartment complex into a wonderful cornucopia of fresh vegetables, healthy happy chickens that lay eggs everyday, and of bustling bees that help with pollination and also produce a modest amount of honey.

Talking to Rachel about the chickens

Trond and Rachel have painstakingly turned what was otherwise another prairie-zed piece of land into a precious gem that is just teeming with life. Sophie spent the evening feeding mulberries to the clucking chickens and learned about all the different baby plants (squash, tomato, chives, lettuce, potato, etc.) that would soon bear fruit and vegetables. I think it was good for her to see the effort that goes into growing and cultivating the food that makes it to our table and to recognize that food doesn't just come from the store or the market.

Helping to feed the chickens

She was particularly thrilled to be able to help collect the freshly laid eggs and put them carefully into a carton for us to take home. It occurred to us that since she can't actually eat the eggs because of her allergies, it's the closest contact she can probably have with eggs for now :)

She can't eat them, but she sure knows how to pack 'em!

We made the eggs for dinner tonight, as part of "Breakfast for Dinner"- the country bacon was from our new favorite artisan sausage store, Biercamp, and the potato and fennel were from the farmers market. It was about as local and farm-fresh as they come and it was as soul-satisfying as it was delicious :)

Country bacon, farm fresh eggs, roasted potato and fennel

[More pictures here]

Blown away

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1. Our loft apartment for the next 5 days, 2. Crown Fountain, 3. Shedd Aquarium, 4. With Dada, 5. Sophie's first bacon!, 6. Mini paleontologists , 7. Beautiful brides, 8. Sophie & Uncle Han :), 9. Beginning of the 4-hour solo drive back to Ann Arbor

And we're back from our Windy City vacation and it was wonderful. We all had a blast of a time and it was beautifully memorable for a whole host of reasons. We have always loved Chicago and even though Sophie's been there two other times (once when she was 8 months old and the other when she was 14 months), this is the first time she will probably remember any of the things we've seen or done.

One of her favorite books has always been Good Night Chicago (that we bought during one of those earlier trips) and ever since we knew we were taking this holiday, Jude and I have been highlighting to Sophie the different things in the book we would be doing with her. We brought the book around with us throughout the trip and whenever we were someplace highlighted in there (like the aquarium, or Millennium Park, or a Cubs game), we'd whip it out and show her the page. I think having a pictorial checklist of sorts was particularly exciting for her :)

Some highlights:
1) Thanks to airbnb.com, we scored a bright, airy, eclectic, and beautiful loft apartment in the city (with internet and parking included) for a fraction of what it would cost to stay in a hotel. The location was unbeatable and we were always just five to ten minutes away from anywhere we wanted to go.

2) Just like the children in her book, Sophie wanted to walk bare feet in the waters of the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park. We did, and she was thrilled.

3) Sophie loves sea creatures. Always has. And there was no way we were going to miss out on the Shedd Aquarium. I cannot describe to you how happy she was all day that day. All she could talk about was the dolphins, and jellyfish, and seahorses she saw, the beluga whales in their huge pools, and the aquatic show that just awed her so completely. You would not have found a happier two-year-old that day.

4) Sophie attended her first baseball game, at a good 'ole traditional ballpark no less! Complete with baseball cap and ballpark hotdog. The Cubs were playing the L.A. Dodgers and although we didn't stay for the whole game (it got too cold), it was definitely quite an experience for Sophie. She even got an official "My First Game" certificate from the folks at Wrigley Field to commemorate the event!

5) Sophie's first taste of bacon (at nana). 'Nuff said- it was an important day :)

6) Another highlight was definitely the dinosaur exhibit at the Chicago Children's Museum. Designed to be a faux excavation site, the children could pretend to be mini paleontologists digging for dinosaur bones. Sophie took the task very seriously and was determined to "dig" up at least the dinosaur's tail before she would leave the exhibit.

7) The main reason we were in Chicago was to celebrate the wedding of our good friends, Libby and Naomi. It was a beautiful ceremony and there was much happy crying all round. Sophie remembers them fondly from when they visited us last year, and so she's been looking forward to the wedding for a long time (mostly because so she could wear her sparkly purple sneakers). They are two of our favorite people in the world and we're just so happy that we could share in their special day.

8) By sheer coincidence, my uncle happened to be in Chicago for a food convention. Sophie and I met up with him for a delicious brunch at sola and it so nice to be able to catch up with family even if it was only for a couple of hours.

9) Jude left for a conference early yesterday morning so I had to drive back to Ann Arbor with Sophie on my own. Let's just say, it was exhausting being engaging, answering questions, telling stories, and singing songs, all the while trying to maintain a 75mph speed limit and keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you... For four hours. Thank god for Sirius satellite radio, the Muppets soundtrack, and a venti Pike Place coffee from Starbucks.

Toddler problem solving

The problem that Sophie and her friend, Conor, encountered at daycare today:
How to get onto the tire swing all by themselves? (because clearly, toddlers are fully independent creatures who require no assistance from anyone)

Solution:
1) Work together
2) Find crate to prop themselves up
3) Realize that said crate is too high to get up as well
4) Gather more crates and build a row of them to the slide so that the slide handle can be used as an assist up the crates



Honestly, when their teachers told us what Sophie and Conor had done, we could barely believe it; but when we saw the structure for ourselves and also how proud the two of them were of their accomplishment, that incredulity turned into a profound sense of pride :) According to the teachers, they worked really hard at it and it took them a while to put everything together all by themselves. Apart from being so very very proud of her ingenuity and thoughtfulness, we also appreciate that the teachers allowed them to explore their own solution without 1) stopping them from "making a mess" or 2) solving the problem for them.

Oh, and even better, Sophie managed to do it all without losing her balance or her hat! :)

Random daycare daily report #24

Walking hand in hand with her friends to Olson Park

Sophie had a blast at Olson Park today. We walked there and right as we were approaching the park, Sophie said, "Oh, I am so tired. We have walked so far!" Once she saw the park though, she regained her energy and had a great time!

Doing a Cirque du Soleil despite being "so tired"

Random daycare daily report #22

One of our favorite photos of Sophie during our trip

Sophie is still so proud of her trip to Singapore. Today, a parent was saying to Lucy, "Lucy, you're a big sister now?" and Sophie came running over and saying, "I went to Singapore!" Also, all of her friends take pretend trips to Singapore together. I even heard someone say they wanted to play "Singapore" today. What a sensation our little jet-setter has started! :)

Incidentally, yesterday, as we were picking Sophie up, one of her classmates' mom said to us, "Payton's been wanting to take a helicopter to Singapore. We've had to explain to her that we're probably not going to take a trip to Singapore any time soon..."

Little chums

Sophie's always been sort of a parallel play sort of kid- we'll have play dates with friends and for the most part, she'll be playing along side other children but not really with them. We're not really worried- her teachers tell us that most of the toddlers in her class do the same and it's a developmental thing that she'll outgrow soon enough.

So it was really nice when we found Sophie playing wonderfully with her little friend, Sean, at a play date today. Sean is my brother-in-law's nephew and just a week younger than Sophie. We had a little meet-cute for them the last time we were home but back then, it was more an excuse for the grown-ups to have a popiah party... :) This time though, they were old enough to actually interact with each other and it was such a joy to watch them together! Maybe it's because we had prepared Sophie for the play date beforehand (she actually woke up in the morning reminding us that Sean was coming even though she has no memory of who he is...) but there were no meltdowns, no possessive grabbing of toys, lots of good sharing, and tons of happy squealing and chasing around the house and garden. Basically, loads of fun was had all round. It definitely helped that Sean is such a sweet boy with such a gentle disposition- every time Sophie was out of his sight, he would call out "Sophie!..." or jie jie ("big sister" in Chinese, which was what his mom asked him to call Sophie). On her part, Sophie would happily call out, "Sean! Oh... Sean!"

Here's to more play dates with Sean every time we come back- he seems to bring out the best in Sophie!

An apple a day

Eating her weight in apples

It couldn't have been a more beautiful Fall day for the quintessential Michigan apple-picking experience- sunny, crisp, and just chilly enough to make fresh donuts and warm cider the perfect treat after all that walking and foraging. The Cooks, Cooneys, Sophie and I (Jude was doing a bike tour in Detroit) visited Wasem Fruit Farm where the Fall picking season had just begun two weeks ago. MacIntoshes, Cortlands, Jonathans, and Honey Crisps were ripe for the picking and Sophie for one, couldn't wait to sink her teeth in almost each and every apple she managed to either pick from the tree or off the ground.

Chomp chomp chomp

She had a wonderful time running about with the big kids, stomping through the apple trees, crawling under the foliage for lower-hanging fruit, and just basically reveling in the experience of being able to pick something off a tree and then putting it straight into your mouth without having Mama take it away from you because it wasn't edible (for instance, a quarter or a bulb syringe...) It didn't matter that her pants were getting wet from the dew-damp grass or that she kept falling over the apples strewn all over the ground- she could RUN and there were apples to be eaten, and that was what mattered :)

There were raspberries too and those were even more fun for Sophie because unlike most of the apples which were too high for her to pick on her own, the raspberry bushes were the perfect height for her to look at, touch, and pick.

Sweet raspberries

Squishing it in her hands

Sophie also had apple cider for the first time. I wish she could experience fully the whole warm-donut-with-hot-cider-after-apple-picking experience, but she didn't seem too bothered that everyone was having donuts except her. I think she was just happy to have done something new, fun, and exciting. And the fresh cider was also probably tasty enough to distract her from the fact that she didn't get to have any fried dough.

More importantly though, she got to spend time with friends (both the kids and grown-ups) and so couple that with being out in the wide open orchard with copious amounts of apple literally within her reach, it was just the most perfect way for a two-year-old to spend a beautiful Fall morning.

Julianne and Finn- the best babysitters-in-training ever!

More pictures here.

Yup, that's our Sophie alright...

Feeding Nicky the guinea pig at Liz's in February

Sophie's daycare was closed for three days last week and our friend, Liz, and her daughters, Hannah and Divya, wonderfully agreed to help us babysit Sophie for a couple of hours while Jude went to school for an important meeting. Hannah had a riding lesson and so Liz brought Sophie along with them. Here's the email we got from Liz that night:

"While Hannah was in the barn caring for her horse, Sophie wanted to roam about. Instead of keeping Sophie on tight reins, I let her go on her own, wondering when far would be too far. I'm afraid I never got to see that. She kept going and going and going. Finally, I had to protect her from falling in a pond, so I kind of tried to redirect her away from the hidden pond and that's when she started in earnest - "I want to see the ginny pig!" She had a couple of moments where she laid on the ground face down, but thankfully I saw that at your place last time we visited and knew that she'd be fine. I would pick her up and tell her that she could cry on Auntie Liz's shoulder - and she would manage the funniest "crying" face but would forget to make the crying sound.

After Hannah was done with her lessons, Divya got a turn riding the horse. When Divya came close to us, Sophie informed the instructor "It's Sophie's turn to ride the horsey." So we put her on the horse, and she demanded for the helmet. I'm glad Sophie cares a lot about protection of her head. She was brave enough to even feed the horse, though she didn't seem too fond of them at first.

On the way to and from lessons, Sophie would join us in many sing-a-long songs. She didn't sing "You Are My Sunshine", but she did lead us in "Head and Shoulders".

At home, she did have the orange and would have eaten two or more if I let her. While she was eating oranges, Divya was sitting on a chair in the playroom eating a peach. In a bit, Sophie managed to tiptoe and reach an apple that was sitting on the kitchen counter. Before I knew it, Sophie was sitting in the same chair Divya was sitting in and had her little teeth marks in her apple. She wanted to eat a fruit just like Divya was eating a fruit.

I didn't realize Sophie was expecting a report of the day, til she got in the car and started reading to Jude her notes from Gretchen's House and said, "I had a great time at Auntie Liz's house"."

And that, ladies, and gentlemen, is totally our daughter in a nutshell :)

The ice pack cometh

I'm driving home and this is about 2 minutes after we've left Gretchen's House...

Sophie: Oh no! What's happening?
Me: Huh? What? What? What's happening? Are you okay, Sophie?
Sophie: Oh no! What's the problem?

At this point, I'm like, 1) Sophie can say "problem"?? Since when? Yay! 2) Wait, should I be stopping by the side of the road? Is she in pain?

Me: Sophie, are you okay?
Sophie: Lucy fall down! Lucy crying.

Oh...

Me: Did Lucy fall down in school today?
Sophie: Yah. Sophie help.
Me: Did you help Lucy when she fell down?
Sophie: Yah. Ice pack. Lucy crying. Sophie ice pack.
Me: You brought Lucy an ice pack? That's so nice of you.
Sophie: No, ice pack mine. Sophie ice pack.
Me: But Lucy was crying. Did you help Lucy?
Sophie: Yah. Sophie kiss boo boo. That's all. [after a 5 second pause] No Lucy, no ice pack. Sophie ice pack.

So there. Our daughter. The good friend. And the denier and hoarder of ice packs.

As noted by her teachers:

I love Sophie's love of ice packs. This morning, she slipped in the living room, landing very softly on her bottom. Right away, she stood up and said, "Ice pack! Ice pack!" :)

How to be a good dinner guest

Last night, we celebrated our friend's Rick's birthday with dinner at the Common Grill in Chelsea. Because of Sophie's bedtime and the fact that Chelsea's about a 25 minute-drive away, we had early reservations, at 5pm. And as we sat through dinner-- drinks, appetizers, salad, entrees, small-talk and all-- it occurred to both of us how we took for granted that Sophie would be OK through it all. And she was. She sat in her high-chair dutifully, played with the crayons and coloring paper she was given; started eating her pasta, carrots and fish-sticks while we looked at our menus; occupied herself by starring around the restaurant, smiling and flirting with the waiting staff while we put in our orders and had appetizers; fed herself fistfuls of strawberries when the salads arrived; and happily jabbed and swooshed away on the iPad when we ate our entrees. Give her some oyster crackers (thanks one of the many waitresses who fell in love with her) at the end while we chatted and settled the bill, and Sophie was the absolute paragon of perfect toddlerhood. She didn't whine, never fussed, patted Jude or I on the arm when she wanted some attention and kisses, but then always went back to whatever she was doing. And at the end of dinner when I carried her out of her highchair and let her walk around the restaurant a little, an elderly couple who was sitting at the table next to ours sweetly said, "She's a doll!" I beamed with such pride... :)

Maybe it's because she's so used to sitting at the table with us as we all have dinner together, or because we literally take her everywhere we go that she's accustomed to sometimes having meals outside, but we've never had to worry that Sophie won't do well in restaurants. From simple diners and cafes to white tablecloth places like the Common Grill or Cafe Zola, as long as Sophie has her own food that she can feed herself with, the iPad or her favorite books to flip through, and her Mama and Dada within arm's reach, she's a happy camper. We've learned to quit while we're ahead though and having appetizers and entrees is just about as much as Sophie can take. No desserts for us. We attempted to do that while we celebrated my defense at Cafe Zola and that probably stretched her attention span a little more than she was capable of tolerating. We only narrowly managed to avert a mini public meltdown by distracting her with taking a walk outside.

But now we know better- secrets to a successful meal out with a 15-month old: a good afternoon nap, a variety of finger foods, good media for distraction, some good old fashioned love and attention from Dada and Mama, and splitting the joint after the main course. Priceless :)

And now, we celebrate

Thanks to a wonderfully generous graduation/birthday present from my parents, we threw a little post-defense/birthday party at the Corner Brewery yesterday for some of my closest friends. I felt much love, with almost everyone we invited turning up, many bearing flowers, gifts, and cards. Our life here in Ann Arbor has been so enriched and sustained by the amazing friendships we've developed and it was really nice to be able to celebrate finishing grad school with the people most important to us here. The combination of yummy food from Zingerman's (their catering team really rocks), always reliably good Corner Brewery beer, their amazing space, a play corner we set up for the kids, and just all-round great company, I think a good time was had by all :)

To all of you who came, thank you so much for being a part of the celebration! And to our family and friends near or far, who for one reason or another couldn't be with us, we missed you and wished you had been with us!


1. @ the Corner Brewery, 2. Sophie holds court, 3. Good friends, 4. Food from Zingerman's, 5. The baby corner, 6. The baby table, 7. Sophie loves pushing her cart, 8. With the Cooneys, 9. I felt so loved :)

Priorities

Jude's ex-classmate's daughter was recently diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. It's a highly survivable cancer, though no less distressing, and made even more heart-wrenching by the fact that the little girl is only four. We met her when we were home over Christmas last year and Jude and I had agreed then that we would love for Sophie to grow up to be just like her- lovable, articulate, affectionate, and just a delightful amount of spunk and sass. Apparently, she's lost little of that personality even though she's ill, which is just wonderful to know. Her mom and I don't know each other very well but I like her a lot and am inspired by many of the choices she's made as a mother. And now, through her daughter's treatment and recovery process, that respect has only deepened.

Jude asked me why I've become so concerned about their situation, seeing how we've only met a few times. And I think apart from the genuine sadness and empathy one feels for a fellow human being during difficult times, I feel so much for them also because I can only imagine what I'd do if Sophie became this sick. My heart already aches when she has a cold, what more if she comes down with a more serious illness? It also puts into perspective the kinds of things we want for our children. In a blog that she periodically updates to keep friends and family abreast of her daughter's progress, Jude's friend writes, "I live everyday with my little girl like it's the last day. Who cares whether her Chinese is good? Who cares whether she can count beyond 20? Suddenly everything doesn't seem quite as important anymore." With that line, I turned to Sophie (who was sitting next to me in her high chair munching on an animal cracker) and nuzzled her so tight I think she would have choked on her cracker...

We shouldn't have to wait till our children are sick to love them like it's our last day together; we shouldn't have to wait till a life-threatening illness attacks to remember the things in our lives that are important (or not). We have to love the people around us-- partners, children, parents, siblings, friends-- as if we have everything to lose. In more ways than one, life is too short to do otherwise.

For those of you who are the praying sort (and even those of you who are not), please help us say a short prayer for Jude's friend and her family- they need all the positive energy the universe can muster and every little good vibe helps. Thanks.

Through the looking glass

Hello, Mama, do you see me? Hello, hello... Mama!

Mama sees me!

Anybody else sees me? Auntie Teresa? Look at me, please... Pretty please... Look how hard I'm straining my forehead and pudgy hands against the window?

Yay! Thanks for smiling at me, Auntie Teresa! Here's a smile for you too!

Fun in the sun

1. Enjoying the sun, 2. Daddy's girl, 3. Salted caramel soft-serve, 4. Picnic with Rachael!

It was one of those perfect days- we gave in to the lure of the city and took a drive up to San Francisco again yesterday to meet up with our old friend Rachael for a picnic in Dolores Park. The weather was gorgeous-- all sunshine, cool breeze, and blue skies-- and hanging out with Rachael made it even more awesome :) She lives in Oakland, just north of San Francisco, and knew just where to take us to grab some yummy grub for our picnic. Bi Rite Market is just the sort of place I'd move in and stay forever- fresh produce, an amazing array of deli and fresh meats, cheeses, handcrafted sandwiches, thoughtfully prepared foods all crammed into a small homey unit. Armed with a couple of Vietnamese sandwiches, some cherries, potato salad, and a mozzarella and sundried tomato salad, we trooped over to Dolores Park across the street and pretty much sat in the sun for close to two hours. While we caught up with Rachael, Sophie had a field day crawling everywhere, gate-crashing various other picnickers' blankets, smiling openly at complete strangers, and stuffing her little face full of whatever grass she could grab. She was just about the happiest little camper around :)

So much so that she completely passed out in the Ergo carrier when we walked around the Mission District after. Bellies full with lunch and delicious soft-serve ice-cream from the Bi Rite Creamery (salted caramel to be exact), we hopped in and out of a whole host of place you'd only find in a big city- a "pirate shop" (which is really a front for 826 Valencia, Dave Eggers' writing center for teens), a curiosities shop for little kids, and several vintage and used bookstores.

Apart from Singapore being home and us having spent so much time in Chicago, we've lived in few other cities. San Francisco is very different from either of them (and also very different from New York where we've only been a couple of times)- more eclectic, quirkier, and kookier, I want to say. We'll have more opportunities to see more of the city than the Valencia/Guerrero/18th area that we seem to keep going back to, and we're looking forward to that in so many ways :)