The A Report and misc.

Ariel is now 3 feet tall and 28 pounds.
She had a playdate yesterday at her classmate, Leo's house.  Leo has a little sister who is 2 1/2, and a cat who was hiding.

Our neighbor, Mr. Dalal, is still in the hospital.  His children keep us up to date.  He is on pain meds and sleeps a lot, but we are able to send his son emails, and he read the emails to Mr. Dalal.  He's moving back to the hospital near us, so I hope to visit him soon.

We spent Presidents' Day weekend in Maryland.  First we had a Chinese New Year party with Families with Children from China (FCC Maryland.)  It was a lively party with 30-minute-long dragon dance.  The kids got to chase around the dragon, pet it, and put lucky red envelopes in its mouth.  It was nice to see how many children have found families, including many with medical/developmental issues and deformities.  We stayed in a Hampton Inn that night, and Ariel was up during the night jumping on the bed and laughing.

Then we visited Mr. Tommy Lee in Bowie.  He lives across the street from our old house.  The house we used to rent had a big fire on Superbowl Sunday.  The upstairs is competely hollowed, and downstairs is damaged.  The owners weren't home when it broke out, and no one was hurt.  Other than that, it was good to see Mr. Lee and our old neighborhood.  Ariel tried to schmiggle into his "grandkid bed" off the dining room.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Love,

Schmig,

 Ralph,

and Nene

Beauty Time

One bedroom has a built-in vanity.  The room holds Jeff's uniforms and work things, but we added a very girly beauty station.

Ariel sometimes allows me to change her hair-do when she can see herself in the mirror.

 Her favorite job at preschool is Weather Helper, so we added weather charts at home.  Maybe she has a future in weather.  Wouldn't you watch her station?

 Schmig

playdate with new friends

 We visited our new friends.  Marika (in the purple hat) has a weekly appointment the same time as Ariel.  Marika's mom, Cathy, invited us to their house.

 Cathy & Katrina pose with Ariel while Marika naps.

We had a fun time.  The weather was cold, but we enjoyed their pretty neighborhood and parks.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

 Ariel's preschool classes all got together for a party.

Ms. Ngan across the hall threw the party and wore a silky pink qi pao dress.  She handed out hang bao (lucky red envelopes) to all the kids.

The kids made dragons

and red lanterns.

 Ariel and Lucy get together for party food.

Ariel's mom reads Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin, and we sing songs about the dragon and almond cookies.  Rumor has it that Ms. Hilda from across the hall (far left) likes to cuddle with Ariel.  Ariel's other teachers, besides Ms. Brittney, are Ms. Marlene (in a black shirt) and Ms. Kahn (who's hidden behind Robin in the green shirt.)

Ariel and her teacher

Mrs. Brittney is the lead teacher in Ariel's classroom.  They have a lot of fun together.

The Tricycle

 On Tuesday, we had a 70-degree day.

 Ariel got out on her tricycle and we played with the neighbor boys.
When I took these pictures, I was singing "Pop Goes the Weasel" and she was asking for more.  We like to sing that song with new made-up words every time.

Thanks, Grandma Barb and Papa Rich for my cool ride!

a day at The Mall

 resting up for a day out

 We took the Metro downtown to visit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  It's a fun place to be, and I was glad to see the Insect Zoo back in place (was being renovated last time we lived here.)

 Temperatures were cold, but that didn't stop Ariel from running around with her Daddy.

weekend at Aunt Sandie's

After being foiled by Hurricane Sandy, we were finally able to visit Sandie in New Jersey.

Here she is with Fat Ricky.  Her oldest cat, Barry Manilow, passed away very recently, so "Richard" and her other two cats, Felicia ("Lola") and Gertrude, and bird Spike are consoling her.

Fat Ricky joined Sandie's family maybe a year ago.  It was supposed to be temporary, but he is officially a Thompson now.

Ariel liked snuggling up beside Sandie.

We also got to visit with Sandie's sister, Stacie, and her daughter, Samantha.  Samantha and Ariel had lots of fun together bouncing on the beds and goofing around.