Bringing up Biscuit: Happy (late) Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year was last Monday, and Biscuit's class at school had a parade, sang a song in Chinese and learned how to say, "Gong Hey Fat Choy," which is what people say to each other on that day. I've seen different translations of it, and best I can tell, it's a wish for a prosperous year.

All the other students were allowed to step out of their classrooms and line the walls while the first-graders brought their parade through. And parents were invited, too.

The kindergartners seemed amazed by the whole thing, and it was hard to imagine that Biscuit was that little just last year. The first-graders seem so much more mature this year. And the older kids, make a big fuss over the little ones, which is really nice.

Here they come. No chance of seeing Biscuit here. His class was last.

They wore dragon hats and carried instruments they made. The glued
together two paper plates with beads and strings on the side. When they
twisted them back and forth, the beads banged on the plates like drums.

I liked the little curls on the back of their hats.

We were able to take him home with us after the parade.
I thought he would be excited, but he was disappointed because
he wouldn't get to see his friends in his afterschool group.

Since it was a Monday, Biscuit had a piano lesson, then we went to one of our favorite restaurants where they were celebrating, too.

You might remember from last year, but this guy with a large full-head mask came walking into the restaurant with a big staff. After him, a couple of guys with traditional drums and cymbals came in. Then a dragon/lion creature that danced around the restaurant.

The lion costume had two people in it. The front guy was able to stand up. He operated the head, complete with blinking eyes and a mouth that opened and closed. The guy in the back had to walk stooped over as the back part of the animal. Every once in a while, a different couple of guys would trade places with them, and I was impressed about how seamless it was.

The performers were from a local kung fu business, and they were doing a lot of fancy moves. It was fun to watch them.

The guy with the mask on came around and stirred up trouble. He would use his staff and lift little kids' jackets off their chairs. He lifted a woman's pocketbook off her chair. It was fun to watch him.

And the lion played with the kids, too. It was moving, moving, moving, but when they saw someone trying to take a picture, they would stand perfectly still and tilt the head. It was a cute little pose. When it got to our table, it propped its head on the back of the booth and acted very coy while I took a couple of pictures.

And speaking of pictures, here are a few:

This guy was a troublemaker. He
went around messin' with people!

This boy was waiting quite impatiently for the lion to head our way.

We got little red envelopes we could use for a tip for the lion.
Then it would come around and take it out of your hand.
Biscuit was a little tentative and kept pulling his hand back.