Also Known As

While I drove Katie down to Little Lambs Preschool this week, we played a little game called "Also Known As". In the game, we list all the nicknames, alter-egos, and characters the kids have assumed over the years.

The game has turned out to be quite a hit with the two oldest kids. I heard Katie playing it herself in her own room just now. (Amusingly, I've also heard both kids singing the words to the Numa Numa song, which I think is in Romanian.)

The lineup offers some insight into their current interests and favorite shows.

Colin, also known as:

• Bug 1 (for some reason, we use bug as a term of endearment for our kids)
• Tyrannosaurus Rex
• King of the dinosaurs
• Darth Vadar
• Anakin Skywalker
• Obi-Wan Kenobi ("I can transform into Obi-Wan!")
  
• Leo or Liam (from The Little Einsteins; the actual character is called Leo)

Katie, also known as:

• Kathryn
• Kathryn Alison
• Bug 2
  
• Stegosaurus (Colin picked this out for her)
• Jie jie (Mandarin for big sister)
  
• Mei mei (Mandarin for little sister)
  
• Annie (from The Little Einsteins)
• Henry (from Thomas the Tank Engine)
• Yoda (from Star Wars)
• Jup jup (from High Five)
  

Cameron, also known as:

• Di di (Mandarin for "little brother")
• Didders
• Bug 3
• Velociraptor
• Baby

Mommy, also known as:

• Wookie
• Brontasaurus
  

Daddy, also known as:

• Luke Skywalker
  
• Albertosaurus
• Rocket (from The Little Einsteins)

Diddam's in San Jose

A few weeks ago, I took the kids on an errand run, and we were able to stop by a huge party supply and toy store in San Jose called Diddam's. Needless to say, they were in 7th heaven. Here they are atop a Thomas the Tank Engine.

Using some money Colin earned from participating in a flu study, Colin purchased himself a light saber (which he continues to call a "life saver"). The two of them are turning into quite avid Star Wars fans, mostly on the strength of the Lego movies. For some reason, Katie thinks of herself as Yoda, so everytime Yoda appears in the Lego movie, she yells, "that's me, that's me!"

The sandy aftermath

Katie gets the sand between her toes cleaned out. Good thing they didn't get wet! 

Romp through the sand

Here's an action shot of Colin running across the sand. 

Day at the beach

Our family adventure of the month was an impromptu trip to a San Francisco beach on President's Day. It was a beautiful sunny day in the city, quite the rarity.

Colin and Katie enjoyed romping through the sand and watching the waves crash on the shore. Cameron was more skeptical but we love his hat! 

Colin and Ms. A

Colin's regular kindergarten teacher just had a baby, but the class has been lucky to have their student-teacher back as the substitute. Ms. A was with the class for a good part of the beginning of the year, part of her teaching degree progam at a nearby college.

When I asked how she was doing as the teacher, Colin declared, "she really getting the hang of it." 

Valentine's Day

The kids were so eager to dig into the cake I brought home for Valentine's Day that posing them was a challenge. So I had to use Picasa's soft focus tool on this picture to fuzz the edges. But I figured, isn't Valentine's Day the single most appropriate day of the year to share a soft-focus picture? So here's your cheesy (literally -- yes, that's a Japanese-style cheescake) soft focus photo for this year.

(Fedora really wanted a Costco flan, but I haven't seen one in a while. If any one of you spot one, there's a finder's fee in it for you in the form of a slice of flan.) :-)

Eye popping pics of China

"China as a rising economic superpower" and "China as the factory of the world" get all the press. How about a time out for China as one of the most picturesque countries around? (Also, hats off to the amazing photographer.)

Time for the next lip syncing phenom

I don't remember exactly how I stumbled into the Numa Numa phenomenon, but somehow over the weekend, I did.

For those of you who haven't been introduced, Numa Numa is an Internet cult classic which derives from:

• A very catchy Eastern European pop song named Dragostea Din Tei by a band called O-Zone
  
• A fun Japanese flash animation featuring three cats dancing to said pop song
  
• A super energetic dude from New Jersey named Gary Brolsma doing a lip sync of the song in front of his Webcam

The rest is history. Gary's original webcam dance has spawned:

• A New York Times article
• A Lego version, which -- naturally -- is a hit in our household
• Some pretty creative Flash animations, including a Taiwanese version which will be specially amusing for those of you who can read Chinese, a Chicken Little variant, and an American Idle (sic) variant
• Hundreds of parodies, most of them not nearly as entertaining
  

Warning: this song will get lodged in your brain and will be difficult to banish. Perhaps you'd rather watch the Super Bowl ads instead? Don't say that I didn't warn you. :-)

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year from the Little Lambs Preschool. Apologies in advance if your child isn't looking at the camera or smiling or otherwise looking angelic. This was the least bad shot of the set, trust me. :-) 

Time to drive

Hmmm...are there college scholarships for race car drivers?