Uh-oh! Another visit to Dr. Gloria. Looks intense!

“I promise not to eat any more candy, Mommy!” Yeah, right. She thought the orange flavored fluoride treatment was “yucky!”

Bella’s going to be a flower girl in Auntie K and Uncle Craig’s wedding in July. It was Valentine’s Day and we went to Miss Ann’s house to meet the other flower girls, Drew and Rhys, who are also from China.

They had a beautifully renovated house with a huge yard.

Bella loved running down the hill with Uncle Craig and the girls.

The girls looked lovely in their dresses from Auntie K.

Silly Bella wanted to show off her new Valentines tights from her Bengbu sister, Sarah Princess, in Virginia. They don’t quite go with the dress.

Oh, boy! A belated birthday present from Auntie Irene et al. What could it be?

No surprise to Rachel and Alice…it’s a beautifully handpainted personalized stepstool - just what she needs! And some Hello Kitty bandaids - she always needs those, too!

Fortunately, the Oakland Zoo Lights extended into January because we were just too busy to go in December.

Bella is so glad that she is tall enough for the rides now. It was cold, so she had to keep her little head warm.

She picked the tiger and had a blast on the carousel.

We were at the market one night and I looked down and she was sitting in the grocery basket! Such a silly girl! She cracks me up! In the lower photo, she is pretending to be a baby, rubbing her eyes and kicking her legs. I told her that sometimes she acts like a baby.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! It’s Chinese New Year at school!

We are getting good use out of the little cheong sam we bought in Guangzhou.

This is Bella’s class. I guess not everyone got the memo to dress up. Is she being a little monkey so her teacher has to calm her down?

These photos were taken by Uncle Duane at our church’s annual crab feed. It was our first time, but definitely not our last. Mmm mmm…yummy, yummy!

Bella wanted to wear her “Go, Bears” dress and just coincidentally, the crab feed benefited the sports program. Don’t pick your butt! Don’t make faces! Go, Bears! Go, Rams! Go, Bella!

We invited Auntie K because I know she LOVES to eat. Also, the speaker, sportscaster Rick Quan, is a friend of hers.

I am extremely disappointed with the quality of these photos from Bella’s daycare’s Christmas program. Of course, we had to fight the mad rush of Chinese parents to get a seat and we ended up way in the back. I thought, “No problem, my camera has 10X optical zoom.” I can certainly zoom way in, but what’s with the auto focus? Am I missing something here?

Bella is in the second row (in pearls), second from the right, between her friends, Emma and Chandler. She sang a few songs with the large group and then a smaller group - no stagefright this year!

Then she did a little dancing. She’s on the far right.

She seemed to have her own choreography, as her moves didn’t quite coordinate with the other girls. Nice blurry pictures, huh?

Everyone received gifts from their teachers. Here is Bella with her friend, Sophia, who has since moved on to another class. She is 4 years old - and much taller.

Bella loves her teachers: Teacher Ming, her current teacher, on the left, and Teacher Ying, last year’s teacher, on the right.

It was a busy Saturday. That evening we went to Auntie Suzanna and Uncle Rob’s for our annual OHS party. She loved Michelle and Christine. In fact, I think she drove them crazy with too much love! She kept her pearls on.

Here we are again - another year older. It would have been a landmark reunion this year, but the committee flaked. Bella and I are dressed to leave. It must have taken about an hour to get this group photo before we could leave the party.

Auntie Suzanna decorated her house beautifully - lots of Hello Kitty touches, too! Auntie Monica took these in front of the tree on our way out. Bella got stickers from Auntie Lisa.

Olivia Jie Jie is a ballerina and was performing in the Nutcracker. Auntie Lena invited us and Auntie Ginger, who cheered loudly for Olivia’s inspiring performance. We all really enjoyed it! Auntie Lena took lots of pictures, but hasn’t shared them with us yet. Someday, Bella will be a ballerina, too.

Bella tried on my rain boots at Po Po’s house. They are huge on her and go up to her crotch!

I got one new ornament (guess who?) and some blossom lights (hard to see). These are Bella’s Christmas 2008 portraits. Can you believe that she is actually smiling?

Here is the real Little Miss Fidgety that I had to deal with.

Bella loves singing “Happy Birthday,” so she sang it to Jesus on Christmas Day.

Bella really likes the zoo. Thank you, Irene et al, for the membership. The elephants were all out and chomping on their lunch.

What goes in comes out! The elephant made a major poop right in front of Bella. She thought it was hilarious!

The zebras are hard to spot sometimes because they are down the hill, but we caught a good glimpse of them this time.

Apparently, the zoo has lots of giraffes! They are standing against their “Zoo Lights” figures, which illuminate during the nightime holiday light festival (more in January).

The monkeys were poorly photographed because they were backlit. They were quite entertaining swinging from the ropes,  and, i must add, VERY vocal! They put on a great show for us!

Bella’s favorite ride, the train.

It was a momentous occasion for Bella. She was SOOO close to 36″ tall, that the operator let her ride the ride. Look at her fly!

Of course, she took full advantage of her newfound height and rode the motorcyle, too! Vroom, vroooom!

We went to Vacaville for a bit of pre-holiday shopping. Bella enjoyed the carousel more than shopping. Fortunately for me, it was right in front of the Cole Haan store.

Thanksgiving was pretty low key this year. Aiyi was in London for a business trip and Popo didn’t roast a turkey. What??? Exactly! What’s Thanksgiving without a turkey??? Well, even sans turkey, we were so thankful for everything that God has provided for us, especially each other.

Bella celebrated her 2nd birthday in Hawaii, so we decided to make it a tradition. Thanks to frequent flier miles and my sister (Aiyi), the travel agent, we were able to visit the islands again for her 3rd birthday. The title of Bella’s blog is “It’s All About Me, Me, Me!” which seems to be a constant mantra and it is no different when we are on vacation.

Since my sister is a travel agent, she likes to photograph our hotel rooms. The Hilton Prince Kuhio in Honolulu was recently renovated. It is a very nice hotel with breakfast, afternoon pupus (hors d’oeuvres) and 24/7 business center.

We got an oceanview room! It was quite lovely. The weather was a little rainy.

I tried to photograph her during breakfast in her Hello Kitty shirt, but she hates being photographed and said, “Stop it. I’m eating!” Apparently, nobody disturbs Bella while she’s eating.

She wanted to go swimming, even though it was raining. What’s a little lightning strike, right? Well, even after we took swimming lessons this summer, her idea of “swimming” was sitting on the steps.

We’ve been to Hawaii several times, so we don’t hit many tourist spots - usually, we just relax at the pool or the beach. We also have our favorite eateries. However, after lunch at Sam Choy’s, we went to Hilo Hattie’s, the ultimate tourist shopping destination. After receiving our customary shell leis at the entrance, Bella ran by the largest aloha shirt in the world.

“Mommy, look who I found!” It was a Hello Kitty emporium! The saleslady thought she would look cute in the flower headdress. She said it made her head itch. Complain much?

It was wall to wall Hello Kitties and, of course, she had a lovely tan.

Bella loved “swimming,” as she calls it. She occasionally kicked around the pool and blew bubbles, as we learned in her class, but sitting on the steps seemed to be the preferred activity.

She especially loved the “bubble pool” or jacuzzi because all that is expected of one is sitting on the steps.

The Hilton had a beautiful courtyard with a fountain and koi pond.

Bella liked looking at the fish. She carries her own stuff in her backpack - snacks, water and more snacks.

We went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, which had a great Sanrio store. That Hello Kitty mosaic would look fabulous in our bathroom!

Bella’s in the lobby getting ready to go to Waikiki Beach. The sun finally came out, so she’s got her Hello Kitty cap on and is anxious to hit the ocean.

She liked playing in the sand, which I think is kind of yucky, but I guess you’ve got to let kids be kids.

Someone leaving the beach offered us their air mattress. Whoa! Bella thought it was fun to sit on the “pillow.”

The beach must have been exhausting because she slept right through our sushi dinner.

It’s our last day in Honolulu, so we stopped in the courtyard again to say goodbye to the fish and visit the gazebo.

It was a short inter-island flight to Maui. She was fascinated by the view out the window.

Again, I made Bella drag all of her own stuff around. Her suitcase was full of toys and her backpack contained - you guessed it - snacks. Looks like she’s got her eye on the lei stand.

We stayed at the Royal Lahaina Resort on Kaanapali Beach. The rooms were recently renovated and the public areas were still under construction.

We got another oceanview room. It certainly pays to know someone in the industry! It looks a little windy.

Bella met her friend, Melissa, at the pool. Melissa is just 1 year older than Bella. Perhaps those Chinese gymnasts weren’t underaged afterall, just extremely petite like you-know-who. She got a beach ball and a goodie bag of toys from Miss Geri in the guest relations office. Oh, look! She’s “swimming” again.

It was the day before Halloween, so we encountered a harvest festival at a local church by chance. Days before the election, “Governor Sarah Palin” was face painting in Hawaii. No wonder they lost. What else would adorn Bella’s face but Hello Kitty?

She won a goldfish at one of the carnival games. OK, let’s not squeeze it to death. She certainly enjoyed all the candy she collected, but only 1 per day!

The hotel offered hula lessons that are usually held on the beach. But the weather forced us indoors. We learned the Hukilau. Bella wants to sing it now, but I have forgotten all the words! I guess we will just have to go back.

Our hula teacher was Miss Harmony, who has little girls of her own. Mahalo, Miss Harmony! We’ll try to be better students and remember what we learned.

These are cheap shots I took of Bella with her Hello Kitty toys during her 3 hour nap. That’s her HK etch-a-sketch and HK compact (free with McD’s happy meal!)

Good thing she took a long nap because there was a big night ahead. We went trick-or-treating at the Cannery Mall. It’s her first time because last year, she pee-pee’d in her costume and we ran out of time and didn’t go out. She was a U.C. Berkeley (Cal) cheerleader. Go, Bears! There were a lot of Bears fans in Maui.

There was a Longs Drugs at the mall. Bella was estatic at the site of the Hello Kitty aisle. She didn’t know where to start!

She got new slippahs for a mere $5! She wanted to try her hand at photography. Hmmm…not bad…she got it all in the frame.

This one is another story. That’s Bella’s portrait of Mommy.

We returned to the room one day and discovered that her goldfish, Fishy, had had babies! Aiyi helped her separate them and discarded the dead ones. There were quite a few babies - 30 perhaps, but some of them were not fully developed.

Bella photographed Fishy and her family. The babies were so tiny, they were barely visible.

The Royal Lahaina had a private beach. Where is everyone? I guess it’s not a busy tourist season, because it’s always raining!

I would normally NEVER be photographed in swimwear, but we make such sacrifices for our children! Well, at least I’m far enough away so that I don’t appear that huge. Bella is having a great time and that is most important because remember - it’s all about her, her, her!

Look at her little feet! Little feet make little prints!

Who’s that waving at me? Is it my Baby Girl? “Hi, Mommy!”

The Kaanapali hillside.

We were on the windy side of the island.

Back at the beach, Bella was having a great old time in the yucky sand again. Well, at least it’s cleaner there than here at home.

It was time to leave for the Wailea side, where Aiyi got us another hotel deal. We couldn’t take Fishy’s family, so we left them with Miss Geri, who promised to take good care of them. Mahalo, Miss Geri!

The Banyan Tree was on the way out of town. It was planted in 1873 and marked the 50th anniversary of Christian missionary work in Lahaina.

Hawaiian singer, Raiatea, was signing autographs at Walmart. We bought one of her CD’s.

In Wailea, Bella threw pennies in the fountain. Perhaps she was wishing for a return trip or is that only true in Rome?

Our room at the Maui Prince Hotel in Makena only had a partial ocean view. What’s with that?

We sneaked a picture in this canoe until we were kicked off!

“Mommy, look at the boat!”

“Mommy, I want to ride the boat!”

“Bye-bye, boat!”

The Maui Prince had a courtyard with a fountain and koi pond. Do I sense a theme here?

The hotel gave Aiyi some fish food.

Bella literally started a feeding frenzy!

We spent our last night watching the sunset on the beach.

While waiting for her order at Cheeseburger Island Style, Bella decided she needed to wear her sunglasses…at night…indoors. Well, as long she keeps occupied with her “Hello Kitty in Hawaii” purse and calculator…

Boo-hoo! We were packing to go home and I snapped this photo of our matching shoes.

“Hellooo, we’re leaving now! May I get some help with my bags please?” Bella will never lose her luggage, identified with her Hello Kitty luggage tag - besides, it’s carry-on. You can’t trust just anyone with her toys.

Aloha, Hawaii, until next year…A hui hou - till we meet again…

SanrioTown’s Travel the World Event(http://blog.hellokitty.com/traveltheworld)

I made the invitations and took her picture for the party favors. She was surprisingly cooperative - perhaps due to maturity. Afterall, she IS almost three, as she is pointing out! We took these in our back patio.

She still fit her cheong sam from China and I found her a matching party bib. She had lots of fun at the party with her little friends, Ellie, Annelise and Olivia - all jie jies.

Aiyi bought her a yummy birthday cake! What’s better than Hello Kitty with strawberries and whipped cream? Mmmm…

Bella loves to sing “Happy Birthday to You!” She does it all the time - in the car, at home, on the potty - anytime, anywhere…

Everybody came to celebrate Baby Girl’s birthday. Here is my cousin, Sheldon, with my mother’s second cousins, Shang and May.

Isabella with Popo’s cousin’s wife and family: May, Shang, Wilson, Pu Ying, Nan and Amy.

My cousin, Nita, with my second cousin’s children, Tony and Jessica.

My second cousin, Jennifer, with her husband and daughter, Jiang and Annelise. Where’s Ethan? - perhaps at the birthday cake?

My second cousin, Julianne, with her husband, Brandon.

My second cousin, Joanne, with her husband and son, Alan and Brandon.

My second cousin, Janice, with her husband and children, Wayne, Jessica and Tony.

We haven’t seen Julie in ages. We’re glad that she and her family could come meet Bella. It’s the first time Bella’s meeting her and she’s really checking her out! That’s husband, Dan, with children, Angela and Alex.

Mrs. Lee with Carol, Stacey and Ellie.

Cecilia, Jim and the “boys,” Jimmy and John.

Tom and Susan.

Alicia, Lily and Kathy.

Rob and Suzanna.

Eva and Viva. People with rhyming names are seated together.

Auntie Judy. James was sick.

Mrs. Fong.

Ginger, Dale and Randall. Darrell is at UCLA.

Viva Yiyi.

Janet, Michelle, Christine and Larry. Yes, Uncle Larry actually came and Bella was glad that he did!

Uncle Craig and Auntie Kay.

Lena, Ed and Olivia. Derek was swimming or something.

Irene, Andrew and the girls, Rachel and Alice. Bella LOVES the girls.

Donna, Alvin, Caitlin, Ethan and Bryan. Ethan is Bella’s buddy from sunday school.

Wendy, Randall and the boys, Kendall and Mitchell. Flowers by Aiyi. Did you spot the “red egg and ginger” flowers?

Aiyi, Popo and Mommy!

On Bella’s actual birthday, we went out for Vietnamese food and had leftover cake - still yummy!

Thank you, everybody, for helping me celebrate my birthday and for all the fabulous gifts! Thank you, Popo, for the best birthday party ever!

Aiyi was invited to a Blue Angels rooftop party. The BART ride was a real treat!

The party was fun, fun, fun! We had a rooftop view of the Blue Angels and Bella noticed that the planes matched her outfit. She enjoyed all the food, truffles and ice cream and dancing to the live band! Go, Bears!

Bella’s love of inanimate objects continues…she’s sharing her Cheerios with Cookie Monster and giving him and Elmo a big hug! Of course, she has not touched them since.

How about those A’s? We went to 3 games this year! Did I mention how she LOVED the carousel?

We finally visited the Oakland Zoo, although we’ve had membership since last December. Bella’s favorites were the elephants and monkeys. She’s quite a little monkey herself!

She really enjoyed the choo-choo train ride. I can’t believe she’s carrying her own stuff - had to document it with a photograph!

Somehow she managed to pass the height requirements for the car ride, even though some other operators would not allow her on their rides. Look at that steering action!

We jumped on the lilypads, but she missed and got her foot wet! That’s OK! It was a hot day and rather refreshing!

My little monkey enjoyed climbing on the giant purple spider.

Bella doesn’t enjoy being photographed at all. Here, she is literally running away from me, but I caught her! Heh, heh…

We met Viva Yiyi at the DeYoung Museum for a photo session. She is an up and coming professional photographer. Justin, from Florida, tried to make a move on Bella at the apple sculpture yard.

Uncle Ben went to the Chihuly exhibit with Aiyi and we met them afterwards. Viva Yiyi is making googly eyes with Bella.

We had a belated birthday dinner for Auntie Stacey because we had to wait for Auntie Ginger to return from her Hong Kong missions trip. Bella practiced singing “Happy Birthday, Auntie Stacey,” but did not deliver at the event. However, a couple days later she was singing it while sitting on the potty.

We had high tea at the Garden Court in the Palace Hotel for Aiyi’s birthday. The waiter was so nice, he offered Bella a complimentary tiara, candy sceptre and hot chocolate. Looks like we have to work on more ladylike table manners.

Bella was intriqued by the pianist and his piano. However, he was not as nice as the waiter and did not like her touching his stuff. Notice that he has closed the cover on this keyboard to avoid any sticky fingerprints.

She found a chair that’s just her size at a boutique on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Does someone need a haircut?

Bella never shows any affection for inanimate objects, so I thought it was unusual that she wanted to sleep with her “baby,” Baby Alive, a gift from Uncle Tom.

Rachel met us at the park on one of her rare free Saturdays. Bella LOVES Rachel and wanted to go home with her on the bus!

It was bon yoyage for Uncle Jimmy (actually, he’s my second cousin), who is relocating to Beijing to study Mandarin for nine or more months. His sisters threw him a party at an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. What’s better than that? Bella got to see Aunties Joanne (top) and Jennifer (bottom), who we don’t get to see very often.

We went to the A’s game with Auntie Stacey, Ellie Jie Jie, Auntie Kay and Uncle Craig. The girls seem to enjoy the Stomper Fun Zone more than the game itself. They LOVED the carousel and appear like a 2-headed child on the elephant ride.

Happy July 4th at daycare! Which one is Bella? She is simply ado(red) by her mommy!

It is also Sarah’s (New York) 3rd birthday. She is one of Bella’s roommates from the orphanage in our adoption group.

We went to see the fireworks at Jack London Square. It was so crowded, she had to stay in her stroller, which she did not like at all. Surprisingly, she didn’t mind the very loud fireworks or the passing train. In fact, we can hear the distant sound of the train from our house and she’ll say, “Choo-choo train!”

Today is the one year anniversary of our Gotcha Day (the day Isabella was placed in my arms in China). I can’t believe she’s been my baby girl for a whole year! God has been so good to us! She’s such a big girl now! We just went to the doctor last week and she is 35″ tall and 22 lbs./15 oz.

I dressed her up in her Gotcha Day outfit, complete with sandals and lead-painted “bear-bear” toy. She said, “Too big!” Perhaps she’ll finally fit it next year. I asked her if she remembered the room full of screaming babies in Hefei and she just laughed.

A year ago on Gotcha Day…Bella and the other Bengbu girls arrived at the CCAA office with their traveling nannies. It was almost time to hold my baby girl for the first time!

She didn’t cry at all! My Little Angel had found her Forever Family! I was sweating bullets, not only because of the anticipation of meeting my new daughter, but because there were a lot of bodies in the room with faux Chinese AC.

It wasn’t any cooler outside, but there was room to stretch her little legs after the long trip from Bengbu to Hefei. The others are heading back to the bus behind us with their little ones. What an amazing day it was for all of us!

We took this picture just before leaving for school this morning. Of course, getting her to cooperate made us even later than usual. BTW, Mommy has matching shoes. How cute is that? (Gag!)