An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break. --Chinese legend

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Nahnee Surprise

Last weekend we had our fall block party. The block party combined all of David's favorite things: lots of kids to play with, toys strewn about the street, an abundance of food and a bouncer right in front of our house for two consecutive days. It really doesn't get much better than that.
David (and Fiona) eating all the neighbors' food and enjoying the bouncer.

Sunday morning, the kids couldn't stand waiting for the grown-ups to lift the very very heavy bouncer and put it back in the street, so they attempted to move it themselves.

David got a very special surprise last night. A visit from Nahnee, who found out Monday that he would have to fly up here yesterday for work. He stayed the night with us and managed to squeeze in a considerable amount of choo choo time as well as a trip to Oberweis.
Nahnee and David working on his train

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

South side David

David continues to grow, learn and amuse. He has lots to say but some interesting sentence structure. Recently he has taken to exclaiming "My oh gosh!" He has also clearly memorized parts of his favorite books and now declares "Day or night, never stop working!" in a sing-songy voice when we open his truck book. (The first sentence is "Day or night, trucks never stop working.) I'm catching more and more snippets of Mandarin now, and when he's not bouncing off the walls, he is a good little student.
We are giving potty training a go, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's another 6 months or so before we actually declare victory. He is a boy, after all. He made it all the way through today in underwear for Alma and proudly told me that he got candy (one M&M) for going pee on the potty, and after she left promptly peed and pooped in his underwear for me and Kevin.
His latest adventures include a trip downtown to Millennium Park and the Art Institute where he and Alma ran into our friend Dalia and her son Gabe. Both boys were apparently very excited to see each other. We're going to see Gabe again after Mandarin class on Friday.
Checking out the choo choos and the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park

Wednesday night we went to the Cubs game. In addition to our usual ride on the green line, we got to take the red line which goes underground. This has pretty much ruined the green line experience for David as he's asked about going underground every time we've taken the train since.
Kevin and David at various spots in and around Wrigley. Please note that David insisted on wearing his White Sox shirt to the Cubs game. He is very south side.

We made a repeat trip to Millennium Park on Saturday. David frolicked in water that I could barely stick my toes in for fear of frostbite.

A few shots from David's Cloudgate ("the bean") photo shoot

That night we went to fireworks night at Sox Park. Such a fun park to take kids. David had the usual--a few innings of baseball until the junk food ran out, Fundamentals where he practiced his base running and fielding, more food, then back to our seats for fireworks. This time he made it about 15 seconds in to the fireworks display and decided he was done.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Recruiting visit

Last April, we went to NC to visit friends and my alma mater. In the interest of equal time, we took a trip down to Champaign this weekend to show David the University of Illinois and take in a football game.
We arrived Saturday afternoon and headed to Kevin's old apartment. Very scenic. We walked around a little while and purchased new Illinois shirts for everyone. David also conned us into a mini-football which hasn't left his hand since. We walked to the game. David enjoyed the marching bands and was into the game until he ran out of nachos. He and I spent the second quarter running around the stadium, and we left relatively early in the third quarter due to toddler exhaustion. Fortunately, the game was well in hand at that point, so even Kevin didn't protest.
David and Kevin at apartment 16. The 3 of us outside Memorial Stadium.

David and Kevin at the game

Today we continued on our quest to make ourselves feel old by checking out the dorm where Kevin lived his freshman year. Fifteen years ago. We walked around campus some more and saw the quad and the Morrow plots which are America's oldest experimental corn field or something like that. The library is built underground so as not to cast a shadow on the corn. I'm not making this up.
We capped off the visit with the purchase of several more orange shirts and a delicious lunch at Zorba's where the gyros aren't particularly authentic, but they are gooooood.
Kevin's freshman and sophomore dorm.
Shots from around campus including the Alma Mater (scary) and the quad
A corn field (doesn't every college campus have one?) and a gyro

Last but not least, video of David practicing his I-L-L at the game.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Labor Day weekend

David had a full schedule this Labor Day. On Friday, he made his triumphant return to Mandarin class after the two week break between summer and fall sessions. He was fired up to say the least and spent a good portion of the class shouting into the teacher's toy microphone and running around like a fool.
Saturday Kevin and David left me behind to tend to colds, diaper rashes and other nonemergencies while they went to Galena. They stopped at the Oak Park farmers market on the way and met up with our friends, Ann and Andy, and their daughters, Veda and Neena. Then they hit the road and surprised Grandma, Grandpa, GG, Uncle Dave and the rest of the group at the Galena house. David thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the family and gorging himself at the corn roast. They came home Sunday afternoon, and we enjoyed some family time at the park and Oberweis.
David and Veda at the farmers market. David purchasing a sunflower.

Taking quick nap before eating his body weight in corn.

Boat ride with Grandpa and story time with Grandma

We had a low key Labor Day. We did manage to invite ourselves over to Steve's place for some bbq. It was a very exciting trip for David, who got to see his beagle buddy Linus, a new puppy Creme and all 3 of Steve and Allan's Rock Band guitars. Plus we hit the local frozen custard shop. It doesn't get much better.

Thursday, September 3, 2009