Many Brief Updates

Because I'm up late trying to write 2 grant applications, wrapping up various loose ends with work, and running multiple loads of laundry in preparation for our trip to Southern California on Thursday (a peaceful 8-hour drive), which will certainly generate more content for this blog -- thought I'd best smack up a few more updates.

FIONA...

...is growing like a weed, and her hair is growing like...well, like a slow-growing weed. But the point is, she can now wear pigtails!

..now has an "official big-girl bed," courtesy of Nana and Boom and Ikea. Here you see it decorated for Valentine's Day (which she mostly did all by herself -- particularly the application-of-the-stickers-directly-onto-the-bed part -- without my knowledge).
...and she REALLY likes her doctor kit (also courtesy of Nana and Boom). Every member of the family receives a daily checkup from "Dr. Fiona," complete with a flu shot.
...and she also REALLY likes to get "fancy." Or at least to wear tights whenever possible.

...and getting fancy can also extend to the bathtub, when she dons her "bubble dress." This is the only documented bubble dress, which I'm sorry to note has slipped a bit and is looking pretty risque, a la the infamous Jennifer Lopez dress (I won't post a picture of that here, this being a family site and all. But I'm willing to bet it'll pop right up if you Google "Jennifer Lopez dress.")

...in addition to a menagerie of inter-species imaginary playmates (including Abby, Pack, Pook, Lion, Lo-Lo, and Baa-Baa), today just informed me that her name was now "Martha." I am wondering at what point I should become concerned.

CAMPBELL...

...is a delight, a happy and affectionate child. She is also growing, less like a weed and more like a non-free-range turkey, having recently discovered the joys of solid food.
...loves sitting up, either in her "Bumbo" seat (borrowed from the Stinsons)...

...or, just sitting on her own (in the famous "Jenny" hat from Vietnam!)

...because she can't talk yet (although she certainly produces a constant stream of babble) there's less to report on this little dumpling. But her time will come!

So, that's how it goes with the Gong Girls.

First Snow

Those of you who live on the East Coast may hate me for saying this, but our little California girls had never seen snow in their lives. That is, until mid-January of this year. On that day, the four Gongs hopped into our car and drove 3 hours North, to the Sierras. This is the beauty of Northern California: you can start your morning in sunny, mid-60s weather, and by mid-morning be in the mountains surrounded by snow.

It was a beautiful day to play in the snow, and Fiona took to it immediately. There was certainly a lot of the white stuff.

We picked the ski resort, Boreal, because it offered mini-tubing. Tubing is basically sledding down a hill in a large inner tube; mini-tubing means that the tubes are small enough to hold a Fiona. She chose her tube....

...lugged it up the hill (in fact, mostly her parents lugged it up the hill, but she did make an effort)....

...and DOWN she came!
Fiona absolutely loved tubing. Once she was tired out, she decided to take her baby sister for a run.
Then it was time for some intrepid snow exploration.

After warming up with french fries and hot cocoa in the lodge (undocumented), we hopped back in the car and drove the 3 hours back to Berkeley. Undoubtedly it's crazy (not to mention environmentally questionable) to drive 6 hours for what amounted to 90 minutes in the snow. But we think it was worth it.

A Photo for Friday

There's a risk, with a blog like this, to create an idealized version of reality. After all, nobody (apart from MAYBE the grandparents) is really interested in reading about/seeing footage of our children's stomach flus/our 2-year-old's temper tantrums/our infant's middle-of-the-night teething pain. But I'm going to come clean: it's not all idyllic (gasp!). Over the past months there have been stomach bugs, tantrums, and middle-of-the-night wake-up calls a-plenty. My 2-month backlog of photos and stories to share on this blog is a testimony of how crazy life has become. We're always tired, often overwhelmed, and sometimes we long for the days when we could read The New York Times over a 10 AM brunch (in a restaurant!).

But then there are little moments like these.
Have a wonderful weekend!
COMING SOON: The Gong girls' first snow....

Ringing in 2010

Well, I made it in just under the wire! I have succeeded in posting about our New Years festivities less than 2 months after the fact. (And if I were posting about Chinese New Year, I'd be in even better shape. But that update is yet to come).

Much along the lines of our Christmas celebration, we decided to go away for New Years. We rented a house in Duncans Mills, a tiny, no-stoplight town along the Russian River. Joining us for the weekend were our friends Tommy, Celeste, Elisa, and Baby Stinson #2.

Thankfully, Baby Stinson #2 was still in utero at the time (though he/she will make an appearance any day now!), so for the time being the adults just barely outnumbered the kiddos. Although it didn't always feel like it.
The house was lovely and the company was fantastic, which is fortunate because it poured almost the entire weekend. Thankfully, the girls had a great time just relaxing together.
And Fiona's kind of a homebody anyway.
But when the rain cleared for a minute, we were able to walk down to the Russian River, which ran right through the backyard. Fiona's baby, Pook, was able to join us because she's just started to walk.

On the way back, we stopped by Bodega Bay to check out the ocean. It's whale season in the Pacific now, but although we intently scanned the waves we didn't spot any.

We just had to make do with the gorgeous cliffs.

Lookalikes redux

Turns out that the "5-day stomach bug" referenced in my previous entry was a 7-day stomach bug. Happily, everyone seems to be on the mend. But my plans to post about our New Year's adventure may not materialize until February.

As I was looking through our pictures from New Years, however, I noticed some uncanny resemblances between the Gong girls and some luminaries in the music world. Here, for instance, is Fiona at her New Year's celebration (Actually the morning of January 1. Yes, she starts her partying after breakfast):

Those lips immediately called to mind the pucker of another legendary party-er, Aerosmith's Stephen Tyler:

But then I moved on to this picture of Fiona and Campbell relaxing (or, to be more specific, "chillaxin'") at our rental house New Year's weekend. And not many people look as bad when they're chillaxin' as a Gong girl....

...except perhaps the rap duo Three 6 Mafia.
I mean, it's like looking into a mirror.
I'm already reserving a spot on our mantle for the Grammy.

Christmas with the Chickens

Turns out it wasn't locusts (re. previous post)...it was a nasty 5-day stomach bug. (And torrential rains for the past 3 days. And also ants). As I type this, I am the last Gong standing. So, I'm taking solace in reflecting upon happier times, like Christmas.

For Christmas this year, we tried something new. Grandmommy and Granddaddy Gong rented a house up in Sebastopol (a town in Sonoma County), and the entire immediate Gong clan headed up there for two days over Christmas.

Fiona loved exploring a new house, was immediately enthusiastic about her own bed, and invited Granddaddy to lounge.
Here's the whole gang (except Granddaddy, who was taking the photo) on Christmas Eve, enjoying a delicious hot pot dinner.
On Christmas morning, Fiona expertly opened both her own and Campbell's gifts (seen here). It was, after all, her 3rd Christmas and Campbell's first. But she generously shared her new Hello Kitty sunglasses with her little sister.
We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Day stroll on the beach at Bodega Bay. Note Fiona with her entourage.
The best part of the house we stayed in? It was located on the property of Full House Farm, which meant that the day after Christmas we were treated to a tour of the farm.
Fiona got to ride the pony, Missy Brown. She was tentative at first, but soon gained confidence.

She met the two goats, and has decidedly overcome her previous goat phobia....
She really perked up, however, when we hit the chicken coop. She got right in there and fed the dozens of chickens, most of them almost as big as she is. Apparently our girl's a born farmer.

After our idyllic time in Sebastopol, we headed back to the Bay Area for a Chinese Christmas banquet with extended family. Despite the look on Fiona's face here, the food was delicious and she ate heartily. In fact, I have no idea what's really going on in this picture, but I feel it somehow perfectly captures our two girls. I'm willing to bet that if we all look back at this picture in 25 years or so, we'll say, "Yep, that about sums it up."
The HIGHLIGHT of Christmas was finding out that Uncle Wesley (Erick's brother) and Auntie Kristin are expecting their own little pickle in July. So Erick & I will have a niece or nephew, and Fiona and Campbell will have their first cousin! We are thrilled. Wes & Kristin will make wonderful parents.Well, at least we're positive that Kristin will!

New Year, New Developments

Happy 2010! There are many happy photos of the Gong Christmas and New Year to share. But I'm finding that a little bit daunting at the moment; those of you who see us in person or follow our Facebook updates will know that the past 2 weeks have been consumed by ridding our house of mice, sleep training Campbell and getting the girls to share a room, and replacing our bullet-punctured car windshield. So, as I sit here awaiting the plague of locusts that is surely on its way, I think I'll just do a quick update.

Our girls continue to grow up, as little girls do. Campbell has made some impressive strides over the past month. She is now starting to eat "solid food," in the form of watery rice cereal. From her very first encounter with the stuff, she proved to be enthusiastic only if she was the one in control of the spoon....
But she seemed genuinely contented at the results.
Campbell is also starting to attempt sitting up:

Although she's still a bit wobbly.

She's also showing an early inclination to devour books...in the literal sense.
Fiona, on the other hand, is finally starting to develop hair. Enough to support a "ponytail" of sorts:

As well as not just one bow, but ALL the bows she owns. This hairstyle was her own creation. After attempting to nap with it intact, however, she hasn't asked for a repeat.