Winter seemed to last forever, then it seems we blinked and spring arrived. We've been taking advantage of the warmer weather, and getting outdoors to do lots more stuff. Just this past weekend, after Chinese school, we headed over to Dave and Irene's for one of their semi-annual hotwings parties. This one coincided with the running of the Kentucky Derby. Betting was done by way of drawing horses' names. $1, $5, and $10 pots of pure luck. Jack entered each pot.

Then we took a break to see a couple of games in the Robocup Open at Bowdoin college. Yup, the Robocup. where university computer science teams go head to head writing code to operate robots that play soccer. Bowdoin's team, the northern bites, didn't have much luck. Against UPenn, each of Bowdoin's three robots seems to have suffered a physical injury that prevented further play. That left three UPenn robots moving at molasses-in-winter speed to score the one and winning goal. There was precious little action (robots were prone to fall over and had about a one in two chance of righting themselves), but lots of drama!

Then a return to the hotwings party to watching the running of the roses and to see if Jack's luck paid off. Musketman was our horse for the $10 pot. He led much of the way, but fell off to place third. But, as our luck would have it, no one drew the winner or the second place, which left us $100 richer! Baby's gonna get new shoes! Or, a new bionicle toy!

Here are a few snapshots to fill in some of the gap since our last post. First, a record of Binbin's cake decorating skills.






by the time he finished, Mama's cake was covered with little colored star candies from the San Diego zoo, Skittles, and gummy bears. We bet we know what you're thinking: Deee-licious!

And, below, in a rare moment of being with the group is Binbin pictured with his "Snapdragons" Chinese school class.

our book club

It's seems like a good time for a "what we're reading" update, especially as Binbin's taste in books has changed dramatically over the past few months.

Binbin: graphic novels and comic books such as Spider Man, Bionicles, and Flight. Ricky Ricotta's Might Robot and their various adventures fighting enemies from outer space. Stories about Elephant and Piggy by Mo Willems. Dr. Seuss' "If I Ran the Circus."

Jack: "1942" and "Uncle Henry's"

De-nin: academic novels: "Stoner" and "Changing Places." for my Song Dynasty painting seminar: Valerie Malenfer Ortiz's dissertation on "Dream Journey", Lothar Ledderose and Peter Sturman's respective studies on Mi Fu and calligraphy.

I should also note that Binbin's favorite games have changed, or changed in character. Hide-and-seek is still fun; so is the "scary waffel" chasing game, but in the latter case, various weapons, such as swords and guns fashioned from screwdrivers and eggbeaters are necessary accoutrements. We also play with the blow-up bunny: you punch it against the refrigerator or toward an opponent, and wait for it to bounce back. Binbin also does "daredevil" tricks on the horsey, too.

Binbin's view

Is Binbin a budding artist? You be the judge. Here are a few snapshots that he took recently:


The Parental Units




Untitled (My Chair)



Untitled (Mobile Solar System)



The Parental Units, 2

winter's second or third to last hurrah...

I'm posting backwards in time. There are from February, I think. Winter lasts seemingly forever in Maine, and so you have to find activities appropriate to the season. These can range from making snowmen..



to shaking off branches heavy with freshly fallen snow..



to baking cookies and rolling chocolate truffles (yummy!).

in living color

Last Saturday was amazing...that first day that really feels like spring. We took advantage of the gift of sunshine and warm air, and headed out to the beach for a picnic.



Then, Binbin decided to look for snails. We dug a home for them in the sand, and gathered a mommy snail, a daddy snail, and a baby snail. There! Now they are all happy!



Binbin and Jack climbed across the rocks.



Sunday was nearly as nice, and we headed south to Old Orchard Beach. It has more of a California or Ft. Lauderdale feel. The crowds won't be here for months yet, and so the pier is closed and the carnival rides, too. But we had fun, playing our scary waffel game and throwing sticks into the surf.

coming to a monitor near you...

a new post about Binbin. We've been running here, there, everywhere, and have not paused to write a post. We haven't even paused to download photographs (127 and counting still on the camera). But when we do, and I promise it will be soon, we will have sensational stuff for your viewing pleasure.

This past weekend, for example, we went to the beach at Reid State Park and spent a gorgeous noon-hour clambering over rocks and gathering snails so that they could be a "family." The next day, we went to the beach again! This time to Old Orchard Beach, where the boardwalk was boarded up, but the sandy expanse stretched far to the horizon north and south, and people numbering in the tens jogged or strolled or sauntered about. No crowds to contend with. I remembered the meaning to a phrase I'd been uttering to candidates visiting our campus: Maine is a beautiful place to live.

When the big hand goes to the twelve, then...

the little hand will be on the seven. And then, it's time for nainai.

Binbin has now fully embraced the logic and truth of the clock. It now dictates when to have two sippy cups of warm milk (yes...he's four and still loves his warm milk), when to turn the TV off, when to have bath and put on pajamas. And, blessed be the dictatorship of the clock, it gets us out the door on time in the mornings!

Predictability and routine have us all a little calmer...or am I speaking for myself? At any rate, Binbin does sit down to have dinner with us, and can be persuaded to wait before transforming his lego racecar in a lego chopper. He's amazingly skilled at following the diagrams and getting that little plastic piece into just the right spot. Of course, it still takes Baba to keep the little guy on task. Then, after the collaboration, you can count on Binbin to say, "But Baba, I don't like the chopper. Can we make the motorcycle now?"

Other recent activities, given the excess of snow, include making homemade snow cones. Take 4 cupfuls of fresh, clean snow. Scoop into pot. Fashion a paper cone, tape, and place into a cup. Spoon snow into paper cone. Add potent mixture of lemon and sugar. Enjoy!

Binbin's other favorite recent activity is playing "Go Fish!" and "Memory." He is the hands-down favorite to win in "Memory", but for some reason, he still can't keep himself from flipping three or four or more cards when he knows better.

We've had a steady diet of non-fiction books: "Percussion" and "Brass" and now "Strings." And though Jack and I weary of reading about finger cymbals and digeridoos, Binbin's enthusiasm for musical instruments only grows with each passing day. Thankfully, he's recently embraced a new book: "Lobster's Secret."