Vera's Birthday Pictures

Vera still thinks it's her birthday! Numerous times a day she is hear singing, "Happy Birthday to Vera!" Nana and Poppi came so V's birthday lasted for DAYS! She got at least two presents a day while they were here. I'm surprise she isn't asking us for more presents to open! Here are a ton of pictures from their week here.

















Reading with Poppi before the party. We had her party a few days before her actually birthday.


















Family picture.






















Eating pizza!

















Playing with one of her presents.






















Blowing out the candles.

















Eating the cake and posing with her good buddy Guo Guo! She even got seconds!





















Vera, how old are you?

















In the cabinet...again! No, she's not really sleeping.
















Playing with her bath letters.

















Another present...finger paints!

















Eating out at our favorite "roadside diner". We would have never found this place had a friend not recommended it, but it's got the best Chinese food in town!






















Playing on Gulangyu island. I love this pic!






















Hanging out with Poppi. If you ever wondered what the area was like that we live in, just look at this pic. We live right in the middle of downtown!

















Dinner buffet at the Sheraton! YUMMY! Thank you Nana and Poppi!

















On Vera's actual birthday we made cookies...

















...little bear cookies!

















Whatcha doin' mommy?

















Giving the bear some "fur".
















After Vera's birthday nap we took her to the library. Yes! The books are in English!
















Bill took us out to dinner for Vera's birthday dinner.
















Pooped out after getting home! One last birthday wish from Aunt Melinda.
















Goodnight, birthday! Sleeping in her favorite spot...just inside her bedroom door!

It's too big!

Vera has been putting a lot more words into sentences lately, and is often saying stuff that keeps us laughing.

Tonight, Matt and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Vera was in her playroom playing with her toy kitchen. I walked out of the kitchen every few minutes to check on her. Well, I peaked into her playroom one time to find her hands on the floor and her feet in the oven of her kitchen set, a space no larger than a shoebox. She sees me and immediately blurts out, "It's too big!" I'm not sure if she meant she is too big or the oven is too small, but I just couldn't stop laughing. She sure has a thing with trying to fit into small places!

I promise to get some birthday pictures up in the next few days.

We got a couple of videos of Vera during breakfast this morning. She was very happy to perform for the camera!

Vera's Nana and Poppy (Matt's parents) are coming to visit us! They will be here this afternoon and are staying for a week. Tomorrow we will celebrate Vera's 2nd birthday! She won't be 2 until the 17th, but this way she can get all of her presents while Nana and Poppy are here so they can play with them together.

Enjoy the videos!

I just can't seem to keep her out of the cabinets!


































And just in case you're looking for a little inspiration...

Hey, Vera, what's that on your head?

















...the only article of clothing she has figure out how to put on!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

One of Vera's favorite books is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" She's been trying to "read" it recently. For those who aren't familiar with the book it goes something like this: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? I see a yellow duck looking at me. Yellow Duck, Yellow Duck what do you see..." One of the last pages has children on it. When she gets to it, she always gasps, "Oh, children!" Here's a video of Vera "reading" part of the story.

Happy National Day!

Every October 1 China celebrates National Day, the equivalent of our July 4. The great thing about it is that it's standard to get a week off of work! Matt's not taking a week off, but he is taking a couple of days off. We decided to go bowling this afternoon to celebrate the holiday. We let Vera "bowl". She really enjoyed herself for about 7 frames, and then she got pretty bored.

















Pumping her fist, "Go, go, go!"

















Getting a little help from daddy.