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our first christmas in new york city was pretty fantastic thanks to a great visit from uncle john and aunt denise (aka uncajohn and auntda). bailey made it through a christmas eve service that was well past her bedtime then we had a great feast prepared by matt and uncle john on christmas day.

due to special request from nadia and grandma carol, another bailey singing video:

this year we stayed in nyc for thanksgiving. in the morning, we went to john delatush's office for a prime viewing spot of the macy's thanksgiving day parade. then we came home and were greeted by grandma carol and uncle sam. that night it was a successful first turkey (thanks to an easy food network recipe) and lots of sides. later that weekend, we took bailey to her first movie theater experience with auntie kim. barring 30 minutes of previews and commercials, bailey had a great time and didn't even pee in her pull-ups.

last weekend, we roadtripped to DC for uncle tim's celebration reunion. uncle tim has been quite ill. hence, he decided to have a big party with lots of food and drink and friends and family. very uncle tim :-)

bailey had a blast (and was seemingly unphased by her miserable motion-sick-laden ride down to DC). she danced and had no meltdowns at dinner. no pee pee accidents either. good job bailey!

here is a video montage of the party and weekend:

and here are some photos. both are courtesy of my cousin marcus. enjoy!

after going to the jim henson exhibit at the museum of the moving image queens, bailey (and the entire family for that matter) has been bitten by muppet mania.

matt and i were big fans as kids, but it's been fun to watch all the muppet movies with bailey. this week, we'll take her to her first movie theater experience for the muppet movie! as bailey would say, "WEEHOO!"

note: princess stories used to be the pre-bedtime request. now, she chooses to discuss muppet metaphysics before bed. whatever works.

matt and i opted to do the intensive 3-day potty training method (3 days of no pants, no leaving the apartment, and trying desperately to catch every pee pee and poopie).

guess what, it worked!

we told bailey we were having a "potty party" which we kicked off with throwing out all of her diapers. we put on panties and there was no turning back. as precautionary measures for the 3 days, carpets were rolled up, towels were placed on the couch, lots of potty "surprises" (read: rewards) were wrapped.

night time is still a struggle. but she got it down in 3 days.

note: on day 2, matt and i were almost ready to throw in the towel. good thing we didn't!!!

the end of summer, meant the end of tumbling and dance classes BUT the start of a new school year for bailey at 43rd street kids. this year, she's been in school 3 days a week (1.5 hrs/day without mommy!) and 1 day a week she has swim class.

here are a few pics from her time at school. photos are courtesy of mimi's mommy.

this morning we went to our 20 wk anatomy sonogram with grandma carol. the baby seems healthy and is a little girl! if you have any name suggestions, send them our way. we haven't even started thinking about it.

bailey has been taking a "tumblin' tots" class at chelsea piers once-a-week and absolutely loves it. it's actually a toss up if she likes tumbling or dance better. here are a couple videos from class. there was a really good one of her doing somersaults but miss b deleted it from my phone before i could upload it. next time...

ok. not going to measure vacation by number of vomits (um, 7 or 8, actually, if you count grandma carol). but let's not talk about that...

quick update that we have hit the 3-month mark and so far so good. we took bailey to see the sonogram and she said the baby is saying "cheeeese" to the camera. after that visit she has proudly been announcing to strangers that she's going to be a "BIG SISTER."
:-)
btw, even though it was early, i was pretty amazed that the baby actually looks like a baby already. i saw it scratch it's head and kick its legs. the sonographer said "this one is active." ugh.

two 6-hr long flights and a fair number of hours logged in a rental car and taxi cabs and only one — count'em one — episode of vomit from bailey. SUCCESS!!!

all in all, the trip was super relaxing, even though we packed in a fair number of all-day activities in the heat. bailey kept asking "is this our home [now]?" we kept having to explain that it was family vacation home but that her crib and stuffed animals and friends would all be waiting for her back in nyc.

bailey even seemed to do fine with the time change. the going to bed later, was no problem! she even started taking 2 naps a day again. BUT the 5 AM wake up calls were a little more challenging.

we stayed at a resort across from the san diego sea world that had it's own ducklings, pools, and beach. the suite was pretty luxurious given that the closet was big enough to be bailey's bedroom. ducks right outside our door became quick fans of bailey as she insisted on feeding them every time we passed by.

our first major outing was sea world. it's been quite awhile since i was at the san antonio sea world and i have to say, it was pretty impressive! the dolphin show not only featured some of the most talented dolphins (but also had some cirque de soleil-esque acrobatics). bailey particularly liked the "princess", "princess birdie" and "flippers" (some dudes dressed up as birds that did flips and spins). we got to feed seals, see turtles/polar bears/beluga whales/starfish/otters/beavers/penguins and more! the killer whale show was a not as elaborate as the dolphin show and the trainers were never in the water with the whales (perhaps a cautionary change from last year's fatal shamu show). the icing on the cake was that there was a toddler-friendly sesame street park RIGHT SMACK DAB in the heart of sea world. the live elmo was a little too scary for an apprehensive bailey. although, after we left she insisted that she wanted to shake elmo's hand.

another day was spent at the san diego zoo (and balboa park). unfortunately, matt pulled his back out just prior to entering the zoo at the japanese gardens (by pointing at fish. sorry honey, i had to include this detail). the animals were pretty amazing with very little between you and the enclosures. bailey astounded me with the amount of energy she had. perhaps because i was needed my pregnancy afternoon-nap. one of the highlights though was outside the zoo itself. it was riding the children's train which is featured in Carl's Afternoon in the Park!

with matt's back out, bailey and mom decided to let him rest as we went on some MORE adventure. she and i went to legoland which was actually really stellar for a 2 yr-old. there were miniature lego towns, and duplo style creatures for her to play with. we went on a couple lowkey rides but really had a blast taking respite from the heat at legoland's new water park. IT WAS SO CLEAN and cute. take it from me, who has a little bit of an exaggerated fear of kiddie poop floating in a pool. they close down the park 5 times a day for cleaning. :-) the wading area was perfect for a non-swimmer like bailey. it was a gooooood time.

ok, a quick word on food (because what's a vacation without yummy food?). we had some pretty rawkus tacos and vietnamese food (both on the cheap). and some decent sushi and of course, in n out. i must say, don't get the chinese food in san diego. save it for san fran.

HOOOoooray. family vacation! i can write these words with enthusiasm because another family vacation is just around the corner! yee haw.

check out all our san diego pics on flickr.

here's bailey with her other 2 yr-old ballerina friends. they were all pretty darn adorable!

ok, have to document some cute baileyisms that make me laugh everytime.

ok, so the name of the blog has changed from "bailey lam lillvis" to "bailey and baby."

bailey is still a little peanut but such a BIG personality. she loves to sing, dance, read books, and climb on ANYTHING at the park.