Chez Mui Richard

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our family, friends and everyone’s good health. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.

Beautiful weather today. It’s a Friday and I took off from work so that I could take Sebastien to his 18 month check up. He’s huge, well in comparison to Chloe. He’s bigger than she was at her 2 year old check up. So maybe that makes her small. Whatever. He’s big, and happy and healthy – so no complaints! Doesn’t he look so long in this picture?

And in the afternoon, we went to the park where my children continue to absolutely amaze me. Chloe doesn’t need anyone anymore to push her – she’s learned by watching the older kids that she can do it herself. How’s that for independence at 2.5 years old?

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Did I mention that my children amaze me? They are fearless. I’m pretty sure I remember my dad still helping me on “the pole” when I was 8 or 9 years old. Nope, not Chloe. All by herself. There she goes.

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And Sebastien continues to be light-years ahead in his development. I think Chloe was already 2 years old when she worked up the nerve to attack the arc in the playground. Nope, not Sebastien. He’s got this. Nearly scared me to death.

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How did it get to the middle of November already? This year is really flying by. In less than two weeks, it’ll be Thanksgiving, and then it’ll be Christmas and then it’ll be Chinese New Year and then Chloe’s birthday… wow.

Chloe continues her fabulous singing efforts.  Here’s her broken-English version of “Row Row Row Your Boat”.

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Next to the playground where Chloe enjoys the swings and slides, there is a tennis court. Chloe wanted to see the tennis balls and so we sat on the (cold) court ground for, I would estimate, a solid 10 minutes where Chloe did not move in my lap and just watched a few people hit tennis balls back and forth. I think we have another US Open lover on our hands!!

I think I say this to everyone, but it truly amazes me how quickly Sebastien has picked up on things. I understand that he sees everything that Chloe does and wants to do it as well, but it’s amazing. I thought Chloe was pretty advanced already scooting around a little after 2 years old. Check out Sebastien getting his scoot on at only 18 months!!

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Even Sebastien’s talking is coming along, granted his vocabulary isn’t hugely extensive, but he’s got a few words here and there. It might be hard to make out the words because he mumbles them a little bit, but essentially he touches Daddy’s amp which is warm from being on and Sebastien says “hot” and then proceeds to blow on it to cool it off.  HA HA.

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I don’t know that I would count “ding” as a word but I think Sebastien’s figured out how to ring Chloe’s bell.

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AND FINALLY, I got this on video. Took me forever but it’s a good one!

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LOVE THESE GUYS!!!

The kids continue to grow at the speed of light and they’re both doing so many new things every day and all the time that I find it hard to keep up with the blog! Chloe is talking in full sentences, for the most part, and while she pauses to find her words, it’s amazing to watch her figure it out and communicate with me. Sebastien, similarly, understands so much more than I think and while he can’t respond, clearly he knows what we’re saying. It’s so crazy how much they absorb so quickly!

Video of Chloe singing more “My Fair Lady” with Grandma and Grandpa.

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Video of Chloe learning to say “Chloe is busy” in Chinese (it wasn’t me who taught this to her!)

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The weather has started to turn and we had some rain showers for a few days. Chloe got to put on her boots and open her umbrella!

Chloe and Sebastien love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. Here, Grandpa is trying to teach Chloe to walk on his back so he can get a back massage.

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They also love going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house because they get to eat ICE CREAM!

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Some new pictures of the kids…

Video of the kids playing at the kitchen island while I prep dinner.

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Video of the kids enjoying lollipops (rare occurrence) and Chloe’s excellent Chinese.

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Chloe’s hair has gotten so long that I can finally put it in pigtails. Or at least for thirty seconds before she tears them out.

Video at the park hanging out with Daddy, literally.

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Probably the last time the kids will see nice enough weather to be outside in the playground without coats until next spring. If I had to narrate the pictures below, here’s what Sebastien would probably be saying:

Top left: “Another picture mom, really? Don’the you have enough?”

Top right: “Why does Chloe always have to hug me so hard?”

Bottom left: “Okay enough, I’m done thank you.”

Bottom right: “AHHHH get off of me!”

Check out Chloe mastering her scooter skills…

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More singing debuts of Miss Chloe Richard, all to the tunes of Snow White. And yes, that’s my green sweater tied around her waist because she wanted to have a dress on like Snow White. Sigh.

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Check out Sebastien’s dance moves. He randomly will do these things and I ALWAYS miss them on video because he isn’t at the stage yet where he wants to perform for me on camera (unlike Chloe who does everything ondemand now). But I did manage to catch this quick take:

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More of Chloe singing, this time to her version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (I have no idea what she’s saying in between those verses either by the way…)

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I can’t remember when my dad and I started to watch figure skating when I was a child but I remember it being a part of our winter TV schedule. If there was figure skating being televised on a weekend, you could be sure to catch my dad and I watching it. Good to know that Chloe and I will probably continue that tradition… I might even have to put skates on her at some point…

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And so we’ve moved on from Sound of Music. Chloe’s three new favorite movies are (in no particular order): Snow White, Dumbo (which she just refers to as Elephant), and My Fair Lady.

While she’s been able to hum a few notes here and there, it took her a little bit of time to get a full verse down. Here’s my first attempt to get her to hum it on video… and if you don’t know the lyrics, here’s a quick translation: “I could have danced all night and still have begged for more”, “Lots of chocolate for me to eat” and “How wouldn’t it be lovely?”

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Then I need to step away and attend to my son who just exploded into his diaper.  Yes, indeed, lovely… and of course Chloe is SUPER observant and precisely articulates exactly what Sebastien is doing.  She says (in Chinese): “Little brother poop poop” and then “poop poop in diaper (as opposed to in the potty)”.  So articulate!!!

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Here’s my second attempt to get her to hum it while it’s playing in the background…

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As the weather turns colder and wetter, we’re getting to spend less time outside. Already broke out all the long sleeves and long pants and it’s time to put away the t-shirts and shorts. Here are a few pictures lately – I’m working on a few more and promise to post some fun videos soon! Just need to find the time!

Chloe posing early in the morning in this cute tank top that Grandma bought her. She’s a character I tell you, lots of personality. I don’t know where she got it from I tell ya…

So off to the Brooklyn Bridge Park we go. Temperatures are quite pleasant outside – not hot at all so we dress the kids to play in the sandbox and on the slide. Check out this AWESOME slide – it’s so tall – all the kids love it. I thought it was too high for Chloe but nope, down she goes, like a pro!

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Kids playing in the sandbox after having fun on the slide. I didn’t think it was that hot, perhaps because I was sitting in the shady side but look at poor Chloe’s face. She’s literally dripping everywhere. And that’s why I keep cutting her hair. She already sweats so much with her short hair, I couldn’t imagine her with long hair!

So while we didn’t plan for them to hit the sprinklers, we let them play in the water park. They were so sweaty and sandy that it wasn’t even worth putting their bathing suits on so in they went with undies/diapers. They had a blast!

Where did the summer go? We got back from France and the weeks have just flown by. Thanks to Daddy for putting together the new playhouse for the kids – one at Grandmas and one at home. Mission accomplished!

Uncle Savio came down for a visit. And we’ve been enjoying what’s left of the beautiful weather while we can.

And even when it’s not nice outdoors, the kids still find plenty of ways to entertain themselves:

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Another beautiful day for lunch with the whole family! So happy we got to see everyone!

More pictures from our daily routine while on vacation…

And Sebastien is constantly trying to put the white gravel rocks in his mouth and so he gives me this look like “who me?” on the left of the picture below and then when I give him the “mom stare” in return, he gives me this bright smile because that’s the kind of troublemaker my son is. Thinks he can charm his way out of everything. We’ll see about that.

Selfies with my sweet Sebi!

Chloe and Sebastien’s first time peach picking!

This is the car ride to the airport – we left at the normal time that the kids take their morning nap. Poor Chloe fell asleep 5 minutes before we pulled into the car rental return area.

Some really nice kid-friendly areas in the airports in France – wish they had this everywhere!

Killing time on the plane and during our layover in Paris… the kids in general were so well-behaved, both in transit and while visiting family. I’m so proud of them, they really are such good kids.

The stewardess on the return flight from Paris tried to tell me she wasn’t going to install the bassinet for Sebastien as he was too big. WHAT? That is why I reserved a bassinet seat – stop. Chloe slept most of the flight (and watched the old Disney Jungle Book in French in her cool kid headphones, she was so cute, wish I had taken a picture) while Sebastien only got two hours or so as he was not entirely comfortable with his long legs bent. But we finally got home and the poor kids were absolutely exhausted on the car ride home. Thank you to all the family in France for a wonderful trip! See you soon!