Happy Chinese New Year! Last weekend was so much fun. My friend Bhavana organized a trip to Tahoe, so we drove the kids up to Soda Springs. They have a great toddler area, complete with 2 sled merry-go-round rides, snow tubing, and a small bunny hill for very beginner skiers/snowboarders.

The morning started off rough because Zachary was frustrated by his lack of coordination on skiis. After lunch, though, he got good enough to ski down himself … and he absolutely loved it! He also had a great time on the snow tubes and enjoyed climbing up a big pile of snow.

Calie experienced snow (and sunscreen) for the first time and was a bit apprehensive about it all. She mostly slept; probably because her body was going into hibernation mode from the cold. (Joking in case CPS is reading this … it was sunny and in the 50s - we didn’t even need jackets! ) As typical, we stayed until they closed.

On Thursday, I took the kids to Picture People to take advantage of their Valentines Day photo card special. The pictures were just okay … Calie’s mobile, but not stable, which makes her hard for Zachary to prop up. And she generally dislikes car rides, so her eyes were a bit red from crying. We did get to meet up with Dana and Jason for a quick dinner at the mall food court though, so at least I got to meet up with a friend!

(Calie cheers while watching the inauguration … and a picture of her new wall letters, a belated Christmas gift from “Grandma and Grandpa G”)

For Chinese New Year’s Eve, Karen and I (and our families) went out for a buffet dinner. Which reminds me … I bought a new digital scale. I’m 149.4 lbs. I can fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, but they’re pretty uncomfortable. Which is fine -hopefully the discomfort will motivate me to stop eating so many snacks!

What a fun and sunny week! On Saturday, after the library storytime and craft event, we went to Sam and Melissa’s house for a potluck brunch. Hashbrown casserole, smoked salmon with creme fraiche and capers, blueberry pancakes, and omelets made to order. Yum!

That afternoon, my sisters and their close friends drove up for a dinner out at The Kitchen. Unfortunately, none of my friends could make it – so thank goodness for sisters, eh?  It was another fun dining experience with lots of trips to the back to ask questions about food preparation. The biggest hits were the dungeness crab salad with side of oysters (uh … I had 3 servings) and the sashimi with real wasabi. And although we tried to hold back on bread (aka “filler”), it was hard to resist “the best bread ever.” It was so nice to get dressed up and go out somewhere special!

On Sunday, we went to a really fun birthday party at MyGym. The party hosts did a great job of entertaining all the kids and making Dylan feel special. Happy 4th Birthday Dylan!

Also this weekend, we moved Calie to Zachary’s Britax convertible carseats. Zachary is now the proud owner of two new Graco Nautilus carseats. As for other milestones, we registered Calie for daycare this week. And kindergarten registration is starting next week for Zachary – I can’t believe that my little guy is going to elementary school this year.

Happy 2009! And happy 5 months to Calie!

Ringing the new year, we had a few friends over for appetizers/dinner and Wii games. (The plan originally included ice skating too, but the rink closed early on New Years Eve.) We told Zachary he could stay up as late as he wanted – he was excited he got to stay up past his normal 8pm bedtime … and stayed awake until …9:15pm.

Since we didn’t get to skate on New Years Eve, Dana and I went on New Year’s Day. It was a bit scary at first (I don’t think I’ve ice skated since before Zachary was born), but pretty soon we were able to skate around and talk comfortably. Afterwards, we had cheese fondue and fajitas at my house, followed by a game of Bohnanza. Ending last week, we went to Karen and Paul’s house for a potluck holiday dinner. Hurrah for lots of fun get-togethers!

This week, I met up with Dana for lunch twice – yay! On Wednesday, we walked around a new shopping complex. Calie was totally enamored by Jason and gave him big, excited smiles (I can’t say I blame her – he is pretty cute.) There were some really good sales – Calie is now stocked up on Robeez and Pedipeds until she’s 2-years-old as they were 50% off. Then yesterday, we met up again for sushi – yum!

On the milestone front, Calie will now open her arms – the universal sign for “pick me up!” She also had her first accident (very minor, but it left a red mark, so it counts) … she was rolling around in Zachary’s room and donked her head on his bedpost. She is sitting unassisted for longer and longer – although I still hover right behind her. And she’s getting faster at grabbing things … especially drinks. She loves to crumple (and try to eat) paper products. Zachary (such a first time big brother) is convinced Calie said “guh-guh”, which means “big brother” in Chinese. At first he was unsure, but then he became more and more confident that Calie did indeed call for him. In fact, lately, he tells us that Calie says,”Hi Zachary, I’m your little sister!” So either my eldest is a liar or my youngest is a prodigy. I’ll give you one guess.

Zachary is still excited about math (latest concept is square roots!) … but we’re trying to focus more on improving his communication/verbal skills. Which leads to some interesting conversations (well, possibly only interesting to family members.)

Z: When we you born?

James: 1972

Z: Wow. Were there always people on earth? (Kind of sucks that James’ age prompted a conversation on evolution.)

James: Yes

Jennifer: No. Before people there were dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were first, and when they became extinct … then there were people.

James: Right, people tried to come earlier but dinosaurs kept eating them. <Big smile from Zachary>

Jennifer: Don’t listen to him. He’s lying.

Z: <Asks a gazillion WHY questions that can’t be easily explained unless you believe in creationism>

Jennifer: <Exasperated from all the questions> I don’t know Zachary. That’s like which came first, chicken or the egg

Z: Egg. Chicks hatch from eggs.

Jennifer: But the chicken lays the egg

Z: Oh, that’s a different chicken.

Jennifer: I know. Another chicken.

Z: <thinks … > Chicken came first. The first chicken was just there and it was already a chicken.

James: Zachary believes in creationism