Fiona the Flower Girl!

Fiona has a pretty huge crush on our friends Mark & Rhonda, so she was absolutely thrilled when they invited her to be a flower girl in their July 4 wedding. Despite being a bit young for a flower girl, and despite a rather agonizing rehearsal (during which she displayed some obsessive-compulsive tendencies when it came to emptying her ENTIRE basket of flower petals!) she performed very well at the wedding itself.
(Until she was finished with her walk down the aisle and started demanding potato chips very loudly from her father, at which point she had to be removed!) Here's the whole wedding party:
Campbell napped during the ceremony, but was reunited with us during the reception. Which, despite the looks on our girls' faces, was actually quite fun.Fiona captured the affection of the 7-year-old "Bible boy", who followed her around throughout the reception. Probably not the last time she'll lead a man around....

Campbell Walks!

It's happened at last.

(Sorry for the video being sideways -- I'm usually not a total computer idiot, but I can't figure out how to rotate it in iPhoto. I'm afraid you'll have to turn your computer sideways to get the real effect -- otherwise it looks like we have a Spiderbaby on our hands).

Happy Memorial Day!

Fiona and Campbell's Memorial Day weekend involved THREE picnics -- much to their delight (Fiona: "I had a really fun time at the picnic with my family!" Wonder how many more years that will last?).
The first, on Saturday, was a picnic on the lawn of the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It was possibly the most picturesque picnic we will ever have, right at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Of course, we took no pictures of the picnic, but did manage to capture some of the delights of the museum.Sunday was the picnic-stravaganza, featuring 16 members of the extended Gong family at Rinconada Park in Palo Alto. It was a day-long affair, and included playground time, a BBQ, and an hour in the pool. Plus some good old lounging.
And finally, on Memorial Day itself we enjoyed a cookout in the backyard of our friends and neighbors, Tommy and Celeste, and their daughters Elisa and Addie . It was a LOT of fun, but as it featured 4 girls ages 2 months - 2.5 years, there was absolutely no picture taking!

Perhaps the most sweet (and unintentionally humorous) part of the weekend was our phone call with Nana and Boom on Memorial Day. Hailing as they do from Washington, DC, Boom was patriotically telling Fiona the story of Memorial Day, and happened to ask whether Berkeley has a Memorial Day parade. Let me repeat: whether Berkeley has a Memorial Day parade. Here is how we do it in Berkeley, Boom!

A Whirlwind Visit with Nana and Boom

Last weekend, Nana and Boom flew ALL THE WAY from the East Coast to spend a very quick 3 days with us. While this was no doubt exhausting for them, it was a LOT of fun for the Gong girls (and very helpful to their mom, who had a big work event over the weekend).

We managed to make the most of the short time. Nana and Boom are nothing if not handy, so rooms were redecorated,
bicycles were repaired,and special dinners out were eaten.Here is Campbell with her first pickle, which seems fitting to post on this blog.
Thank you, Nana and Boom!

Reading with the Gong Girls

After a lengthy absence, I want to take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to plug a FANTASTIC new blog that a friend of mine has started on reading with children, called Annie and Aunt. I'd highly recommend it to all parents, or anybody who loves children's literature. It's already provided some wonderful suggestions that have become instant favorites in our house.

Books are a very important part of life chez Gong. Fiona is a READER; she's been known to retreat to a corner to read during playdates. Campbell...well, it's still a little bit early to tell, but she's currently more of a mover than a reader!

So, please check out Annie's blog. Herewith, a few of the Gong Girls' favorites (which have also passed the test of being bearable for repeated reading by parents):

FIONA
Aside from the most well-known classics ( Where the Wild Things Are, Little Bear, anything Frances, The Story of Ferdinand, and Make Way for Ducklings), some of Fiona's favorites include:
Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, the first book in a delightful series about Farmer Brown's rebellious farm animals
Sheila Rae, The Brave by Kevin Henkes (and just about anything else by Kevin Henkes), which has a nice message about sisters helping each other out
The Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins, which sounds awful but is actually a heartwarming book about the soft sides to people who might at first intimidate children
George and Martha by James Marshall -- our family's FAVORITE series of droll short stories about the relationship between two hippo friends
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, Fiona's most recent discovery
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie, the first book in a charming series about two pig best friends

CAMPBELL
A bit of a shorter list, but here are the books that succeed in getting Campbell to sit still to listen:
Peek A Who by Nina Laden -- I've found her looking at this book quietly in her crib after naptime -- it's simple and clever
Baby Faces by Margaret Miller, a book of close-ups of babies with a descriptive word for their expression ("Uh-oh!", "Yucky!", etc), which has made both Gong girls laugh hilariously
Dog and Cat by Matthew Van Fleet (and just about anything else by Van Fleet), which have captivated both of our animal lovers
Subway by Karen Katz and Anastasia Suen, a rhythmic book about a ride on the NYC subway with enchanting illustrations. Just about anything illustrated by Karen Katz is guaranteed to grab our girls' attention.

Happy Reading!

A Cautionary Post

I recently read a critique of blogs as people sharing "only the acceptable persona that they want displayed to the world." I am posting the following video in order to disprove that theory. This is my attempt to transcend narcissism for the greater good.

You may have noticed more videos on this blog of late. Erick has enjoyed using our digital point & shoot to capture short video clips of the girls, and clearly Fiona has enjoyed it, too. See below for an example of why you should never, ever video your children with their knowledge. I am afraid we may have unwittingly created a future reality TV star, yet another desperate fame seeker who spouts meaningless drivel for entertainment value.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. In any event, expect to see fewer videos on this site in the future.

It's All About Campbell (Mostly!)

Campbell recently hit the 9-month mark, and she has come into her own. Gone is the quiet, peaceful little baby who could be carried around everywhere. Oh no: Campbell has suddenly decided that all she wants to do is walk. And this is great, except that she can't yet walk by herself and she has no interest in crawling (because what's the point if you can walk?!?). Which means the adults in her life have very sore lower backs from doing this:The above picture also indicates Campbell's likely motivation: her big sister, who is working on the next stage of mobility. But this is not about Fiona; for a change, this post is ALL ABOUT CAMPBELL!Thankfully, she does enjoy toddling around with the walker, which gives my back/knees/neck some breaks throughout the day. She's already showing signs of breaking away from the walker and going it alone -- and not a minute too soon, I say!

Campbell's also starting to talk. Her repertoire at this point consists of: "Uh-oh!" (Same first words as Fiona, but this is not about Fiona). And she's so pleased at the response she gets from all 3 of us whenever she says "Uh-oh," that she's started saying it whenever she wants attention. So she walks around the house (assisted) saying "Uh-oh, uh-oh," she wakes up from naps saying "Uh-oh, uh-oh!" and so on.It's been fun to see Campbell developing her own personality, but of course she does interact quite a bit with her big sister -- which is also fun to see. They've already got a nice little relationship going.
When Campbell was born, we initially thought (or maybe a better word is "projected our hopes") that she would be the "laid back one." As the months go by, we're realizing that it actually may be possible that she is the more energetic one. Only time will tell, of course. Meanwhile, Campbell's got some walking to do.