The Big Apple: Day Four

This morning we took the bus to the city! Charlotte was fascinated by all the cars and buses passing by out the big window. Once we arrived in the city, we were greeted by buckets and buckets of rain. Of course the one day we decide to go in the city...it decides to rain. Charlotte seemed to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city life even if it was raining. We arrived at Dhaba, a quaint Indian restaurant and met up with my college roommate Christine. They had a buffet so we loaded up on mouth watering Indian food...mmm. Charlotte had some naan, peas, chicken, and what I thought was tofu but was actually cheese. While wandering the streets I spotted a cupcake cafe and had to stop since I have this new obsession with cupcakes. We had a delicious mocha cupcake and even let Charlotte have a little nibble. Then we headed to Toys R Us to ride the ferris wheel. Seconds after walking into the store, Charlotte passed out. She must have been overwhelmed by all the toys there =)

The Big Apple: Day 3

Sleep caught up to us today because we didn't get out of bed until 9:30...which isn't bad considering that would be 7:30 Wyoming time. We rolled out of bed and ate some breakfast. Charlotte was a good Asian baby and ate her rice porridge. I point this out because Kayu got on my case for not eating mine. We packed up the car and headed to the New York Aquarium. Charlotte is going to look at her childhood pictures and think all we ever did was take her to the aquarium. The highlight of the aquarium was the sea lion show. Before the show, the YMCA kids had a dance off between the two opposing bleachers. I felt like I was witnessing the filming of "Bring it On." Only in New York City =) That evening we had a feast fit for kings...lobster, chicken, beef, melon lobster soup, mayo shrimp & broccoli, whole fish....a full eight course meal. The constant eating throughout the previous days was supposed to prepare me for this meal...but nothing could have prepared me. As soon as I finished one plate, more food was being loaded onto the next plate. I felt like a pregnant lady by the end of the meal because I couldn't even move. Charlotte devoured all of the food once again. I don't know many ten months old that are eating lobster...such a spoiled baby. We got to meet up with all the other Ng's that live in Brooklyn. I didn't realize that Kayu had so much extended family in the area. Charlotte was passed around from one relative to the next. At one point I made the mistake of placing Charlotte on the floor to crawl around. She was swooped up in seconds because the floor was too dirty for her to play. It is too days later and my stomach is still trying to get back down to its normal size =)

The Big Apple: Day 2

Another rough night last night. Charlotte is still in unfamiliar territory and doesn't like the thought of sleeping in the same room as her parents. Any little creak and she is up crying. Daddy woke up with her early in the morning and she had some beef and rice flour patties for breakfast. I am amazed how the girl will eat anything. She went down for a nap and then we went to a Chinese restaurant for "yumcha" which means drink tea. We met up with his great aunt and had dimsum....plates and plates galore of food. Charlotte was not intimidated by all the food. In fact, it was hard to keep her plate full. She devoured handfuls of Chinese food which delights me. I hope she continues to try different foods. Later, we went to visit Kayu's grandmother who is the cutest little lady I have ever seen. I forget how cute she is until I see her again. I got another thumbs up from her...which is like getting the golden ticket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She told us that we are going to have a little boy next and we need to have one by next year. Oh the expectations! We wandered over to the beach near Coney Island and put C's feet in the water. She wasn't particularly found but it may have been because she was really tired. On the way back to the car she fell asleep in uncle Mikey's arms.

The Big Apple: Day 1

In preparation for our big trip to New York City, we drove down to Denver the night before and stayed at a hotel in order to catch some Z's before our 7am flight the next morning. Unfortunately we got little sleep that night. Charlotte was uncomfortable in the foreign place and I was still mortified by the beetle that I found under the sheets. We made a make shift bed for Charlotte between the two queen sized beds. She looked like she was in baby prison with a the co sleeper mattress keeping her in. She helplessly cried when we turned out the lights so we tried putting her in between us in bed. She thought I was a jungle gym because she kept trying to climb over me. An hour later we realized that our wiggle worm was not going to sleep tight for the night so we transferred her back to the floor. We managed to get four hours of sleep that night. Seven am rolled around and we boarded for our flight. There was a nice gentleman who switched seats with us so we could sit together. He had six grand kids of his own and would glance over throughout the ride to smile at Charlotte. Charlotte found him rather charming and would smile right back at him. Her smiles didn't last long...an hour into the flight she grew very sleepy and didn't want to give in to the sleep. Everyone around us kept telling us to just walk up and down the aisle with her. Do they realize how hard it is to walk around a narrow aisle dodging elbows and turbulence? I hate to admit it...but they were right. Ten minutes later she fell asleep in Daddy's arms. We arrived in NY and Kayu's dad came to pick us up. I bit my lip on way home maneuvering through all the traffic. I don't know how people drive in NYC...I would freak out every time I got in the car. When we got home we enjoyed some delicious food that Kayu's dad made, checked out Ka's new place downstairs, and wandered around the garden. My mom would be proud of all the cherry tomatoes they have here. It is amazing how they can enjoy the city life and have a little piece of rural life right in their backyard. Kayu's great aunt stopped by and Kayu's mom showed her pictures of Charlotte because she was napping. Some of my favorite quotes:

K's mom: "They took her to a pumpkin patch when she was a baby."
K's great aunt: "That is what white people do."

K's great aunt: "She has big eyes...not like us Asians."

K's great aunt: "She had mixed blood so she is pretty."

In the evening we saw Kayu's uncle and cousins. We all sat around Charlotte in a circle and she ate up the attention. She is particularly found of uncle Mikey. She likes to have him hold her so she can jump up and down over and over and over again until uncle Mikey's arms wanted to fall off.

Bababababababa

The new sounds roaring through the house "bababababaabaaba." Charlotte has just discovered this sound and it is rather adorable. We are just waiting for her to discover the letter "D" so she can start saying "dada."

Independence Day Kid's Parade

In honor of the nation's birthday, we got together with some of the families that are part of the organization Spouses Helping Spouses, and paraded around a base neighborhood with the help of a police escort. It was a great way to start off the 4th of July weekend!

Daddy is Home!

After a long awaited 2 months, Kayu finally arrived back home. We watched as his C-130 do a fly over (pilots...always yearning for all the attention). They finally landed and we anxiously waited for him to step out of the plane. Charlotte did hyperventilate a little when she first saw her Dad from all of the excitement. It was perfect timing because they all arrived the Friday before the 4th of July weekend. We are very glad to have him back home ! Kayu and Charlotte were interviewed by the local news and actually made the news that night. It is hard to resist Charlotte's cheeks.

Baby Kimono

My old roommate from college, Christine, sent this adorable "jinbei" for Charlotte. In Japan "jenbei" means tradition Japanese house wear/night wear. I think people might start thinking that Charlotte is Japanese instead of Chinese since she is sporting all the cute Japanese wear.

Big Sisters

Charlotte has three big sisters...Aundreya, Kaitlynn, and Hailey. They all love and adore Charlotte like she was their very own sister. Every time I go to pick up Charlotte from Daycare Audreya reminds me of how cute Charlotte is =)

Back Home - Michigan

C and I hopped on a plane once again solo and headed to Michigan. We were there for a short five day visit but it was a jam packed vacation. We devoured some seafood and had a great time with family, met our new cousin Samantha, went to the tigers game, and visited with some special friends in Ann Arbor.

Auntie B visits...

Auntie B came into town while Kayu was gone to help out around the house. She got to spend some quality time with Charlotte while I had to go on alert/work. I think it was around the time that she was cutting some new teeth so Charlotte wasn't the most pleasant baby to be around. While Auntie B was in town, we made a trip down to the Denver Aquarium. There is nothing like seeing joy and excitement through a child's eyes. We also went towards Laramie to go hiking in Veduawoo. Brenda and I came back exhausted after getting lost and hauling not-so-light Charlotte through the trails...but we managed to survive.