Gym Time

This past fall, K-bao was a regular, twice-a-week visitor to a MyGym facility in the Dogpatch. K-Mum took her there to socialize, learn some structure and expend a few joules. Unfortunately during the sessions she mostly ignored her fellow toddlers, and the structure thing also didn't quite work out (instead of sitting quietly during circle time, K-bao would inevitably run wildly around the room like a little Tasmanian devil, with poor K-Mum chasing after).

K-Pop made the visit once and was pleased to find little K-bao getting a head start on her playground basketball skills. Here she is putting down a Dominique-esque two-handed jam. In the other two pics, K-Pop forced K-bao to "socialize" with some others on a tire swing, which K-bao quickly took over with her broncos-style swinging.

Habitot

We recently took K-bao to Habitot Children's Museum in Berkeley. This was K-bao's third visit, and she ran around authoritatively like she owned the place. She didn't hesitate in muscling aside some older kids at the makeup application corner to check out the latest cosmetics, and at one point unceremoniously snatched away a rake from the hands of a startled one-year-old while visiting the leaf raking alley. Later when she began painting a wall (below), a curator had to run up to explain that this was actually Gingerbread House Decorating Day, not Paint the Wall Day. K-bao reluctantly put her brush down (but not before starting to write "Live a Little!" on the wall). At her last stop, the Water Works station, K-bao wasted no time in dumping a bucketful of water down her own shirt before sharing the puddles with everyone else within splashing vicinity. Luckily K-Mum came prepared with some extra bundles of clothing, else it would have been a cold and miserable trip home for the Hu family.

"Say Cheese"

More Bubbles

While K-bao's bubble-blowing technique leaves something to be desired, K-Pop is somewhat comforted by the problem solving skills - first the attempt to delegate the task a more competent bubble-blower, and then attempting to figure out the engineering issue.

Godzilla

The below video neatly demonstrates the Second Law of Thermodynamics - order deteriorates to disorder, organization into randomness. And what accelerates this entropy? Agents of chaos, of course, such as Godzilla, the Incredible Hulk, or K-bao.

Still Can't Touch This

It's been almost exactly one year, and the good ol' "Can't Touch This" routine still works like a charm.

Trick or Treat 2

Following up on the earlier Halloween post, a few belated clips from our little outing at the end of October where she played Curious Georgia. Below she is practicing her Trick or Treat routine (Clip 1), forgetting her candy bag (Clip 2), and looking somewhat confused during an actual exchange with a neighbor but keeping enough wits to clamor for more candy (Clip 3).

Doctor Hu

K-bao received a medical kit a couple of months ago. Since then the injuries ("owee's") have come fast and furious, generally to the hand or foot, and treatment requires a combination of (i) an anal thermometer pressed against the diaper, (ii) a knee jerk reflex hammer banged against the injured area, (iii) a stethescope hearing, (iv) an emergency call using the play cell phone to the nurse on call, (v) a rubber bandaid (that constricts the blood flow more than anything else), and most importantly, (v) the donning of the professional bright blue glasses.

Class Clown

K-bao managed to make it out to friend Juniper's 3rd birthday party this past weekend. Instead of wishing her friend a happy birthday, she spent most of the time rummaging around Juniper's room, checking out her books, playing with her toys (including dragging her wagon up and down the hall a dozen times), and generally causing a ruckus / drawing attention away from the birthday girl.

In fact, the one time she joined "circle time" with the "Bee Lady" was when the kids were together holding onto a piece of colorful canvas, flapping it up and down like it was an ocean wave - but only then to ascertain that the best and highest use of her time and resources would be not to join the activity within the rules of the game but to jump on top of the canvas and roll around as the center of attention until said Bee Lady got annoyed and kicked her off.

You can see some action shots below. The first frame, where she observed what everyone was supposed to be doing, lasted all of 3 or 4 seconds. Most of her time was spent in frames 2 and 3. We can see the Class Clown personality developing before our eyes, and we are powerless to stop it.

Grandma Visit

Grandma is visiting for a few weeks, something K-bao couldn't be happier with. A woman of infinite patience and energy, Grandma manages to make everyone around her feel ten times better by virtue of her presence alone. And yes, she still spoils little K-bao the same way she did a year ago. Here they are chilling on the Embarcadero on a Saturday morning.

Trick or Treat

K-bao participated in her first Halloween this year, attending both a party at K-Pop's office and a local Trick or Treat outing in our apartment complex. For the office shindig, we woke her up from a nap in order to attend and she seemed dazed and confused by the mayhem of the kids in various costumes. At first, she refused to leave K-Mum's arms. Once she realized however that a collection of candy was involved, she scrambled down quickly and by the end of the office tour was the most aggressive kid in the group, shouting "More!" and elbowing others out of the way. Indeed, after about 15 minutes K-bao's sizeable candy bag was so heavy she could barely lift it.

By the time our apartment outing rolled around this was all old hat. K-bao slipped into her monkey costume - she has had an affinity for monkeys ever since Uncle Chris' monkey demonstration - and walked around the floors again hollering "More" (or "Two" anytime a host had the audacity to only offer one). You can see a few action shots below and our collection of goodies at the end of the evening.

Exercise Assistant

K-Pop's only exercise these days consists of a couple minutes of push-ups and sit-ups on the floor, the time for which can be further shortened with a little assistance from K-bao. The below clip from a few months ago demonstrates her helpfulness (though it also demonstrates her mischievousness).

Buh Boh

As you can see below, K-bao's personality veers towards the obsessive. Whatever she likes, she asks for multiple times a day. Whenever she asks, she repeats her request 5, 6, or 7 times, or if not fulfilled in a timely manner, 11, 12 or 13 times. Recently she's been on a bubbles kick. This has consisted of her running to the TV (behind which we stored her bubble wand), pointing, and with a pained look, crying out "Buh! Boh! Buh! Boh!" In the video, K-Mum is trying to teach her a little manners, so in addition to putting her hands together in supplicating fashion, she does a little half-bow / curtsy. Tough to resist.

Field of Dreams

On the weekends, K-Pop likes to take K-bao to a nearby park in Potrero Hill to pao-pao and train for her future athletic career. Here she is rounding the bases with her hat over her eyes, running on her Jennie Finch instincts alone.

Fashionable

K-bao with K-Mum's shades, one of her favorite accessories.

Now I Know

One trait we like in our little K-bao is that she doesn't do half-way. She goes full bore. We noted already the vigor in her art - the dramatic use of color, the bold strokes. Below, you can see her bring some zeal into her vocal performances as well, and in the second video, spice it up further with her patented Whirlwind Dance (though that particular maneuver didn't end well this time).

p.s. the "Now now now now" at the end is the K-interpretation of the "Now I know my ABC's" refrain, though we recognize that it sounds like she is scolding a naughty child, especially when accompanied by the dramatic arm waving.

Apple Addiction

With much fear and trembling, the K-folks have exposed K-bao to technology. This has consisted of letting her play some Fisher-Price games on the desktop, allowing her to monkey around with K-Pop's locked Blackberry, and yes, introducing her to some "educational apps" on the iPhone.

The result? Complete mayhem in the Hu family. A kid asking for - nay, demanding - her screen time 10 - 12 times a day. We are either shaping the next Marissa Mayer or creating a little technology brat emotionally dependent on Apple products.

The K-folks' only comfort is that this appears to be a commonplace problem. K-Pop came across the following GigaOm headline the other day: I Gave My 3 Year Old an iPhone: Have I Created a Monster?

And according to a Stanford University study, 25% of iPhone users reported the phone to be "dangerously alluring" and 41% said that losing their iPhone would be "a tragedy."

In the below video, shot with K-Pop's iPhone, little K-bao chants "iPhone" no less than 8 times before resorting to guilt-tripping her Dad with appeals to natural law and principles of selflessness.

Good to see you too

K-Pop's favorite 10 seconds of the day.

Lands End

The K-family took a trip out to Lands End over the weekend with good friends Chris and Dave (who was visiting for the weekend from NY). Incidentally, K-bao has been a big fan of Chris ("Krih! Krih!") for some time, and also took quickly to Dave ("Day! Day!") as well. As the K-folks have noted with alarm, she tends to like the boys.

During the trip K-bao got to ride in her hiking backpack, otherwise known as her palanquin /royalty carrier (bequeathed to her by Phat Baby Photographer's family some months ago). From this vantage point she would alternatively tug on K-Pop's ears, sway from side to side while shouting "ABCDEFG" at the top of her lungs, pretend she was sitting in a swing and rock forward and backwards vigorously, or whisper in K-Pop's ear "pao-pao" (run! run!) as if she were Mr. Jakes urging Black Beauty to go faster.

K-Pop is paying for it in his sore calves now but the beautiful views, fresh air and good company were well worth it. At one point our little group even saw a family of dolphins swimming in the Bay.

The Grapes of Joy

Grapes are the new cheese in K-bao's diet - the one snack or dessert that she will gobble up, in excessive quantities, without any prodding or coaxing.

You can see her loading up below, one piece after the other (after grunting out Pu-tao - grape in Chinese - at K-Pop's insistence). She loves all varieties; whenever K-Mum asks her whether she wants green or purple, she insists on both.

By the way, there was a time when sharing was a real dilemma in little K-bao's life. We chronicled her general approach to this subject (i.e. "I'm into sharing as long as it's you sharing with me") in her art episode last week. As you can see below however she has discovered her generous genes when it comes to her parents, and now will willingly give a token grape or two to the folks who provide her food, shelter and clothing.

Modern Art

Below is a clip of K-bao at the canvas. We call her style "Vigorous Impressionism." As you can see, she takes a rather forceful approach with her strokes. At least we know that lack of boldness in execution of artistic vision won't be one of the criticisms of her work.

Wine Country

Last weekend we took K-bao to Sonoma wine country and spent some time hanging out at Viansa, a charming winery specializing in Italian grape varieties. Below is K-bao running around on the grass by the villa, trying to be stand-offish but ultimately unable to resist K-Mum's charms.

Art & Morals

We took K-bao to check out ARTifact (a children's arts school in San Francisco) this morning. K-bao had no trouble getting into their painting-on-the-sidewalk activity, snatching up a brush and proceeding to paint happily not only on the pavement but also on her shirt and pants as well as all over other kids' little sidewalk creations. Incidentally, K-bao's modus operandi with older kids is to walk up and loudly assert "Share!" - not the expression of any altruistic desire on her part but rather an unabashed guilt trip to get the target kid to give up a toy or some other desired resource. Today for example K-bao would run over, dip her brush in another kid's colors while simultaneously yelling "Share!" Stunned and unable to muster up any retorts that appealed to higher principles, the older girls would quietly let K-bao take over their paint jars. The K-folks clearly have a little work to do on the scruples.

Cool Runnings

Given K-bao's active nature and boundless energy, the K-folks have trouble developing enough activities to keep the little imp occupied. Recently K-Pop took to running her up and down the halls to expend a few joules and get her ready to nap (not particularly creative, we know, but what is one to do in a little South Beach apartment).

K-bao must have have a pretty low threshold for endorphin-induced runner's high, as on day one she probably did half a kilo going back and forth in the halls. She enjoyed it so much K-Pop had to switch floors a couple of times lest the neighbors start to complain of the incessant pitter-patter of little feet.

Unfortunately, the exercise involves K-Pop running down the hall first and then hiding, with K-bao waiting until K-Pop is out of sight before sprinting after him. In other words, some serious labor involved for pops. Luckily K-Pop's legs are a little longer and he generally has a much needed half minute to catch his breath before the little one catches him and demands "More!"

These days K-Pop has only to whisper "pao-pao" ("run, run" in Chinese) for K-bao to head straight to the closet to ask for her neon pink Stride Rite running shoes. We may have a little Wang Junxia in the making. Below are a few action shots.

Image Conscious

Before each bath, but only after every ounce of clothing has been shed, K-bao will run over to the scale, press On with her toe, and then step on to inspect the latest poundage. Indeed, she refuses to get in the tub without having checked her number. Once on the scale, she studies the results somberly, typically with her hands clasped behind her back. What this nineteen-month-old's long-term weight objectives are is anyone's guess. K-Pop for one has not put any pressure on her.

(By the way, her image consciousness extends beyond herself. After each weighing she nags K-Pop to get on the scale himself, and will literally sometimes take his hand and drag him over. K-Pop got the message and has since resolved to eat healthier).

The pic of K-bao on the scale has been censored due to privacy concerns, but below you can see K-bao giving herself a smooch in the car mirror.

Feeling Hot

We discovered early on that K-bao is a fan of Buster Poindexter's groovy 80's tune, and that giving her a couple of shakes of the vitamin bottle while we sang "Hot Hot Hot!" would induce her to take her vitamins. Of course, once we established that incentive, there was no going back. Nowadays Buster's old hit takes his place among the pantheon of Hu family songs along with Where is Thumbkin, I'm a Little Teapot, and an assortment of other jovial tunes.

Mirror, Mirror

One of K-bao's favorite games involves a twist on the "Who is the fairest of them all?" question. K-Pop starts it off by asking, "Who is Daddy's little darling?" We then go through a routine whereby we list all her little stuffed animals (and sometimes some of our dear relatives) one by one, with K-bao firmly shaking her head after each name. Finally, K-Pop is forced to ask in exasperated tones, "So then, who is Daddy's little darling after all?" At that K-bao will smile slyly, pause for dramatic effect, and then point shyly at herself. K-Pop and K-Mum are then supposed to exclaim delightedly, "Ah! It's little K-bao!" And like Snow White's step-mother Queen, K-bao never grows tired of this. After the punchline, she generally shouts, "More!"

2 Fast

K-bao's age now rounds up to 2. Even for us K-folks who see her every day, we are amazed at how much she's grown over the past 6 months. She really is a little "big girl" now. Some of her baby fat is melting away - to K-Pop's dismay - right before our eyes (check out the difference between these two pictures). Her awareness and ability to mimic our every move (or bad habit) grows, alarmingly, each day. She has a real sense of humor now. And her sass knows no bounds.

Parochial

Trying to broaden K-bao's musical horizons the other day, we stuck in one of K-Pop's old CDs. K-bao took in about 5 seconds before she demanded her old nursery rhymes and Sunday School tunes back. Looks like the little one won't be joining the U2 groupies any time soon.

Driving to the Doghouse

While father and daughter were waiting in the car the other day on a rare weekend shopping trip for K-Mum, K-Pop decided to introduce little K-bao to the wheel to give her a headstart to the fame and fortune that awaits her on the IndyCar track.

You can see a few action shots of K-bao below, including her trying to put on K-Pop's shades first. She settled right in to the driver's seat - very much in line with her personality - and tried to shift us into D straight away.

Unfortunately, K-Pop did not notice that while she was playing with the controls, she turned the headlights on. Needless to say, when K-Mum returned to the car some time later, the car battery was drained. If not for the kindness of a stranger passing by it would have been a long afternoon for the K-family in the parking lot, not to mention for K-Pop in the doghouse.

Schadenfreude

As K-Pop was changing a dirty diaper yesterday morning, he slid the offending bundle down the counter inadvertently right in front of K-Mum, who was hovering to the side preparing to micromanage the wiping process. K-Mum did not appreciate the exposure, and let K-Pop hear it.

Then just as K-Pop leaned his head in to make sure little K-bao's posterior was indeed pristine, our little one cut the cheese loudly and proudly right in his grill. "Ha!" laughed K-Mum, enjoying the little token of divine justice. Shaken, but not beaten, and trying to keep a grim smile on his face, K-Pop went in again to finish the job. Right on cue, K-bao ripped a second one right into the open wet one in K-Pop's hand. K-Mum virtually collapsed with mirth, causing K-bao to start giggling too. "Again!" K-Mum shouted. Sure enough, with a big smile on her face and a couple of grunts, K-bao squeezed out a third.

We haven't taught her to say much, but flatulence on command? The K-folks have that one covered.

Tasty Redux

K-bao has developed into quite an entertainer. Indeed, one of her favorite things to do is to find new ways to make us laugh. Recently, she decided it'd be humorous to revert about 12 months to her infant days and give the old hoofs a suckle or two. You'll notice that the pads have grown a few inches - yes, our little one looks ready to give Sasquatch a run for his money. K-Pop and K-Mum made the mistake of chuckling the first time at our little clown's impishness. Now as soon as we hit the road she'll pop off her sandals, holler at us until one of us turns around, and proceed to give each of Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moe a good bathing.



Speaking of baths, K-Pop noticed tonight while getting ready to administer her bath that K-bao apparently is watching her weight. Instead of obediently coming over to the tub after K-Pop ran her bath water, K-bao heads over to the electric scale, turns it on with her toe, and climbs on. Apparently dissatisfied, she then motions K-Pop over and asks to take off her shirt. K-Pop strips her down to her diaper, but K-bao vigorously points for that to be removed as well. She then gets back on the scale in her birthday suit. Weigh me with a wet diaper? Heck no. Every ounce counts, Daddy, every ounce counts.

Peachy

K-bao demonstrates below her preferred method of tasting a peach - sample, spit, and smear. Granted, the fruit in question was perhaps a little tart. Nonetheless, the K-folks remain befuddled as to why the little one feels compelled to wear her food. Perhaps she's gotten an early start on Judy Bloom's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (remember Fudge's favorite phrase?).

Luo's

The Luo's have moved to SF from Beijing, and came to visit the other day. K-bao is quite pleased to have another Uncle/Aunt on whom to foist her mischievous behavior. Below for example, our little technophile picks Chris' pocket of his Blackberry while he is distracted by a phone call. Only afterwards does Chris realize she has been sending scandalous texts to all of his colleagues.

Cousins Redux

Aunty Esther (Da Goo Goo) and Cousin Elizabeth came to visit for a few days last weekend. A prodigy who is on her third language before the age of three, Elizabeth alternated between curiosity and fright as K-bao barged recklessly around the house, inserting herself into everyone's business. Here you see the cousins sharing a hug on the Hu family rocker, as well as some Barney time on the couch.

It was amazing for the respective parents to see how much the little ones on the other side had grown since the last visit.