May 2011: This month had it all - a festival, a parade,
a trip to the zoo, some gardening, and a helping Baba with a project! The month ended with
Aurora getting her very own bicycle.
May 1, 2011: Wai Gong and Aurora play Elefun, then Wai Po gives Aurora a much needed bang trim.
Video: Elefun
May 7, 2011: In the morning, Aurora helps Baba plant some of the dozens of bulbs we bought at BJs.
Notice she is wearing jeans for the
first time in weeks and big girl panties!
Later, we head to the Taiwan Day festival. What are Aurora and Jon looking at? The beautiful dancers!
Once it began to rain, the festival moved indoors. Aurora tries Dragon's beard candy while she watches a
woman make flowers out of dough. We are so proud of how nicely she patiently waited for her turn, even as
other kids were trying to push their way in front of her.
That evening, we finally get around to dying and decorating Easter eggs. Aurora usues everything in the kit -
dye, paint, sand, and stickers.
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May 8, 2011: For Mother's Day, we take a trip to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.
Initially, Aurora is more interested in going on all
the rides than seeing animals!
Video: Merry Go Round
Video: Safari cars
We finally get to see some animals and go on a train ride! Since it was still cool outside, not all the animals were on display that day.
There were several of peacocks freely roaming over the grounds.
Aurora is driving herself on her first safari! Watch out! There's a lion straight ahead!
Video: Roar!
Video: Stroller push
May 22, 2011: The day starts with a trip to Gymboree.
Video: Bubbles
Video: Parachute
Video: Gymbo dance
Later, we try to go to the Newton Memorial Day parade. Unfortunately, Aurora is hyper-sensitive to loud or
unexpected noises now. Things like thunder and car horns terrify her. As soon as the first gunshot was
fired, she clamped her hands over her ears, became semi-hysterical and screamed "All done!" repeatedly. Not
even free candy being tossed to the kids in the crowd could calm her down - at least until we walked far enough away
so that the noise was significantly diminsihed and then she requested her lollipop. Here she is in the field at
the bottom of our street, much calmer than she was just a few minutes earlier.
Video: Dandelions 1
Video: Dandelions 2
Video: The interview
Video: All buckled in
That evening, we had ribs for dinner. Do you think Aurora likes them?
A messy meal means a bath afterwards. Aurora enjoys using the shower sprayer very much.
Aurora plays peekaboo with her towel, just like she did when she was a baby!
May 26, 2011: Leftover ribs for dinner = happy Aurora.
May 28, 2011: Jon spends most of the holiday weekend rebuilding the patio. Aurora is a (mostly) welcome helper. Nothing
says "ready to help" like panda jammies and pink flower flipflops! After getting sand in her shoes, Aurora changes into
her brown maryjanes. Notice how she works to break up the big chuncks of fill!
Video: Moving sand around
May 29, 2011: More work on the patio. This time her shoes are more appropriate, but she insists on wearing a
dress and bracelet, and her tiger is helping too.
Video: Still moving sand around
May 30, 2011: After several weeks of discussion about bicycle vs. tricycle, we finally buy Aurora a bike (using
her birthday money from Grandma Zalesky). She even helps Baba put it together. Aurora couldn't wait to try
it out in the backyard, only to discover that it's hard to bike on
grass and uneven ground. She's much happier once we let her try it out on the sidewalk.
Video: Backyard biking
Video: Sidewalk biking
May 31, 2011: After work, we decide to try out the bike path in Watertown. Aurora biked, Baba rollerbladed,
and Mama walked/jogged along. There's so much to see along the river!
Video: Biking 1
Video: Biking 2
Video: Dandelion stop
Video: Biking in a circle