a few winter photos

V. is skeptical as we approach the wharf Aoli likes to visit to take photographs and stroll in the frigid air.  She is very hardy and made for New England winters!

Things to do for hours in the snow:  shovel, make igloos for all of us, and collect icicles (I have a collection forming in my freezer).

some holiday cheer...

some holiday cheer....Friends & family, festive meals, sleepovers, home from school, and of course presents, presents, and more presents!  Aoli is all in for Christmas and holidays in general.

An elegant meal in silk pajamas...does it get any better than this?  Violet doesn't think so.  Aoli likes to treat Violet to tastings.  According to our agreement, A. is nice to Violet "even though she doesn't like her" because V. is part of our family and in the hopes of someday getting her very on cat.

Yes, these are for Aoli (well, minus about 4 gifts)..Mamma was in denial about  Christmas until very late in the game but once one gets started shopping it does become hard to stop!

I decided to give Aoli both "Ivy" and "Rebecca" - good thing.  She really was  not taking to Ivy right away.  Apparently it does not matter that she is the Chinese American Girl doll, her hair is just not long  enough.  My sister tells me that Ivy can be sent to the "hospital" for a Hair Transplant for longer locks!!
American Girl Shopping - Just one more thing I never thought I would do....

Aoli has excellent taste in clothes and picked out Baba's gifts herself - including this new shirt and his new black/white tie which she insisted he open on Xmas-eve.

Every day on the way to school Aoli asks me for a tree-house.  This tree-house  gets more elaborate  by the day with features to involve electricity, sleeping quarters, etc. and she would like it constructed now!  Though it is really not terribly big, I couldn't pass up getting this little tented tree-house to put in one of Aoli's rooms (she has two small rooms - one for sleeping one for lounging/playing).  
I think she it was a big hit!  She slept in on Christmas night while her cousin slept right outside.

Aoli's Christmas evening sleepover was topped off with a next day trip to The Belly of the Beast - the AG store in Natick - brunch for all (including pink lemonade for the smaller girls in our group), hair styling, and ear-piercing.

Rebecca was invited today.  Ivy (or "Lili" as she is called by Aoli) was left behind at home.

All done and now off for sledding and sleeping (hopefully, at least a little) at Marissa's house!  

girls day out...museum excursion

museum excursion...

This way!

Some viewing...

Some posing...

A little shopping...

A little lunch...

Collecting acorns in the courtyard.

so good to be home.

Beautiful fall!

Yes, Aoli LOVES Halloween.  Collecting candy throughout the neighborhood was a big hit.  She was more skeptical about giving away all of the "expensive" candy we had purchased.  "Dor shiao Money!" is all we heard throughout the afternoon.  "Dor shiao chen" in Mandarin means "too much" or seems to mean "spendy."  That somehow morphed into other related phrases in the fusion of English and Mandarin that is frequently spoken in our household.  In the end, she ate a few pieces of candy and divided the rest between mama and baba for all of their assistance on the excursion (mama for carrying the excess candy that overflowed from her bucket and baba for carrying Princess Aoli back the last stretch of the walk).  She is a girl with a generous heart.

Despite the casts, A. led the charge through the neighborhood.

A motley and amusing trick-or-treating crew.  Aoli's wig (which she wore all week-end) had worn out it's welcome before we hit prime time and never made it to the trick-or-treating scene.

Aoli is passionate about fall.  She loves leaves and literally cried after I made her get in the car after we took this video. She wanted to bring a pile of leaves into the car and Mean, Wicked Mama would not let her.

Sweet Aoli spent her whole $20 to buy my birthday cake and coffees for both mama and baba.

Tea party!

Out to dinner.

the last 2 weeks...lots of fun and hard work with family, school, and 2 sets of casts!

My in-house chef!  Aoli loves to cook, including cooking the food on the stove (especially adding her favorite spices), prep (chopping vegetables, spicing and rubbing fish or poultry), and is ready to set the table, and clean up as well (though not all necessarily on the same night).  Her favorite meal to prepare is lightly steamed bok choy with sauteed shitake with red pepper, and soy.  

Aoli is wearing casts for a couple of months to help correct a medical condition with her feet.  Though her parents may fret, she approached this in typical Aoli style by selecting a bold shade of purple and making fast friends with the casting clinic staff at Boston Children's Hospital.

Enjoying Halloween prep with her new cousins, whom she loved immediately and immensely.  She would like all of them to move into the house and has outlined sleeping arrangements for everyone.

Off to her first day of school in a whirlwind.   She  refused to stop for a photo and implored me to drive faster (in Shanghaiese Mandarin) the whole way!! Aoli is smart and competitive and doing very well in school already.

A. enjoys the Boston Public Garden, just like her Mama! 

Violet, dog-tired and settling in with the stuffed animals...

At home in Newburyport

Aoli finished a scarf for me after a brief review of basic knitting skills.  She now wants to move on to a sweater for the dog (even though she claims she does not like the doggie and wants a cat!).

Teacher Baba:  learning to count US coins with a little multiplication thrown in!

Playground

getting to know you...

Sleeping beauty.  All tuckered out after our shopping excursion! 

Ahh..Yesterday she wrapped up Violet in the doggie blanket.  A big step!

After dinner activity tonight, measuring the dog.

And tonight she wanted V. to stay and sleep in her bed.  I still can't believe she stayed!!  Now Aoli has her tucked in, arms around her and her new Build-A-Bear she finished sewing together in bed tonight. She calls this bear a wa-wa (doll).  Thanks Antonella.