Recently my mom and dad thought Astrid might be frightened by my mom's Asian features - the black hair and slanted eyes. I said that was ridiculous - but they pointed out that my brother's daughter - started crying every time she saw my mom because she'd never seen an Asian person before. Well, unlike my brother I have very Asian features (almond shaped eyes) that Astrid looks at everyday, and luckily we live in LA so Astrid is exposed to lots of different people of the world. But it is true that our circles are primarily Caucasian, and other than the one Asian toddler in her gymnastics class, Astrid does not have any interaction with Asian kids.
So today I had that conversation with my parents ringing in my ears when I decided we should spend the afternoon in Little Tokyo to expose Astrid to Japanese culture, and for her to see the streets filled with Asian people.
Astrid standing next to a Japanese rock garden in the plaza.
She looked so cute sitting on a rock, but wouldn't you know it, she soon started to complain about the sand that got in her crocs. (And Peter, you were right - Astrid does call them "crocs" and not "shoes".)
Sweet cupid doll face. She's got a bruise on her cheek from a recent fall. She was standing next to me and all of sudden, for no apparent reason she fell and crashed right into the corner of my laptop. I've been noticing that she's been falling down a lot lately. At first I thought it may be her shoes, but we've changed her shoes and it doesn't seem to matter; she even falls when she's barefoot. I think it's just a growth spurt. She's been lengthening and growing so fast that I think she's still a bit off balance.
Some things Astrid minds really well - and one of them is "just look, don't touch". I love that she has her hands back on her hips and is just looking, following mommy's instructions. 
We walked around the plaza and came to a Japanese stone sculpture called "Stone Rise".
Walking by the Japanese restaurant plastic food displays in the window. 
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