A Roaring Good Birthday Party

We went to Zachary's 3rd birthday party today.  He had a dinosaur theme'd party at his house.

There were lots of kids.  Most of them I didn't know well.  The only kids I knew well were Kyden and Sienna.  But I did get to meet new baby friends, Nate (1 month), Betty (4 months) and Kaiden (11.5 months).  They were kinda boring.  Maybe they can be friends with Mason.

Z had a cool train table, similar to Kyden's.  I loved it.  That's all I wanted to do the entire time...play trains.  Z's mama hired a magician to come entertain us.  When the magic show was starting, Mama asked me if I wanted to go watch the show and I said, "No. I want to play trains."

Eventually, mama got me to go outside with the other kids and watch the show.  As it got started, Mama thought the show seemed vaguely familiar.  Turns out it was the same company that Leo's mom hired for his party, except she wasn't a cow girl.  Mama couldn't quite figure out what the magician was dressed as.  In fact, when she arrived, mama thought she might've arrived at the wrong party because she was wearing a lace bustier.

Part way through the show, I got bored and went back inside to play trains.  Mama thinks I'd appreciate the magic show more when I'm older, like 5 or 6.  The magic lady stayed and made us balloon animals and painted our faces/arms.  I didn't want a balloon animal, but I did get my arm painted.  Guess what I got?  Trains of course!

I played outside for a little bit too.  I cooked food in his play bbq/kitchen.  I also mowed the pavers and rode on some cars.  But I always went back inside to the train table.  

Happy Birthday Z!  Thanks for inviting me to your party!

Mason is 9 months old!

Happy 9 months to Mason!

What he likes:

• Crawling: he'll crawl over anything and anyone.  The other day he crawled over 3 toddlers in his room. He even has a turbo speed.
• Babbling: every now and then, mama or dada will ask me what Mason's saying. I have no idea what he's babbling about, but I take a guess.
• Being sung to when he's getting a diaper change. It's one of the few things that will keep him still long enough to change his diapers. 
• Tachi: he always smiles when he sees Tachi. When Tachi hangs out under his high chair, Mason'll lean over his high chair and stick his hands out for Tachi to lick them. Gross...
• Being busy: if he's being fed, he wants to have a spoon to play with. when he's getting a bath, he needs to stand up in the tub. if he's being put down for a nap and i come in the room, his head pops up and he has to see what's going on. I don't think he knows how to be still.
• When I push him. You might think that this would be something he doesn't like, but I'm onto him. He just cries when this happens to get me in trouble. He's got mama wrapped around his finger and he's milking it. This kid is sly.
• Whatever toy I happen to have

What he doesn't like:

• Getting into his car seat: He'll arch his back and stiffen up and protest.
• Cold food: If you give him cold food, he'll spit it out.  He prefers his meals warm. He's quite a persnickety baby
• Being put down and left: He's okay if you put him down and stay with him for a while. Then *maybe* he'll be okay with you leaving the room. 
• Napping at daycare...still.

I'm 2 1/2 years old!

Happy 2 1/2 years to me!

Here's what my typical day is like:

• 6:45 am: wake-up, sit on the potty, get dressed and brush my teeth.  while i am not potty trained or actively being potty trained, i am getting closer to being ready for potty training.  when i sit on the potty and actually pee, i get stickers.
• 7:30 am: breakfast
• 8:00 am: say goodbye to mama and drive to daycare with dada and mason
• 8:30 am: drop-off; sometimes we drop mason of first and sometimes we drop me off first.  it ususally depends on what time it is and if dada has a meeting or not
• 9:00 am: morning snack
• the rest of the morning: mama and dada have no idea what i do in the mornings at daycare. sure they get daily reports of what we do. they just have no idea when it actually happens. since i have no concept of time, i can't help fill in the blanks either. oh well. one thing is for sure, i have circle time. sometimes we read stories. sometimes we sing songs. sometimes we do both. friday is sharing day so we usually share the things we bring from home during circle time.
• 12:00 pm: lunch
• 12:45 pm: afternoon nap. my naps can last anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
• 4:30 pm: play outside; we actually play outside twice a day but mama and dada don't know when the other time is...probably sometime in the morning.
• 6:00 - 6:30 pm: mama or dada pick me and mason up and we drive home - except wednesdays.  on wednesdays, we go to little gym instead of going home. after class we go to dinner with my friends. if i'm asked where i want to go for dinner, my standard response is gombei.  sometimes i'll say the galleria (korean food court).
• 7:00 pm: dinner
• 7:45 pm: sit on potty, bath, change into pjs, floss and brush teeth
• 8:15 pm: say good night to dada by giving him a hug and a kiss
• 8:20 pm: mama reads me a bedtime story. then we turn the lights out, lay in bed playing the animal game (mama gives me clues and i have to guess the animal) or singing songs and talking about our day.  i'm not very chatty about my day.  when mama asks how my day was, i usually just say, "Good."
• 8:30pm: say good night to mama by giving her a hug and a kiss.  sometimes i protest. i ask for water or i ask mama to keep me company just a little bit longer.  on nights when mama is really tired and practically falling asleep in my bed, it works and she stays...but she starts snoring.

My BFF at daycare is Henry.  Whenever mama asks me who I played with at daycare, I say, "Henry." I play with the other kids, like Edison and Mitra too.  But Henry and I are best buds.

Things I like/am good at

• Testing mama and dada. It's normal 2 1/2 year old behavior, but it drives mama and dada crazy.  Good times.
• Expressing my opinions, especially when I don't want to do something or it's something I don't like. Actually I'm pretty good at letting people know when I want something too. 
• Identifying letters. I can identify all the letters in the alphabet.
• Telling mama or dada that I have to go pee-pee while I'm going pee-pee. Guess I have to work on letting them know earlier.
• Identifying colors and shapes
• Singing songs.  I can sing lots of songs, but my favorite is Wheels on the Bus.
• Playing on the iPad. I get really upset when mama and dada say it's time to stop. The funny thing is that I try to touch mama's laptop screen, but nothing happens.  What gives? 

Things I don't like/am working on

• Sharing toys with Mason. Whenever he gets close to "my" toys, I start to say, "No Mason, no!" 
• Listening: I can hear what mama and dada say, but I choose not to listen to them. Like when they ask me to put my shoes on, I keep on playing.
• Putting my crocs on by myself, even though I can actually do it. I prefer to whine and say that I can't do it or need help.

The road to deliquency

Mirriam Webster defines delinquency as:

noun \di-ˈliŋ-kwən-sē\

1a: a delinquent act

1b: conduct that is out of accord with accepted behavior or the law; especially juvenile deliquency

2: a debt on which payment is overdue

3: my behavior the past week and half at daycare

Here's the list of my offenses:

• I attacked Gia's mama with a sand shovel in the play yard
• I spit water all over Mitra and was reloading for round 2 when I got caught
• I threw sand on Dominic
• I ripped one of the books in my classroom

Mama and dada have been very disappointed and sad about my behavior.  They're not sure if this is just a phase that I'm going through or if I'm acting out because I have to compete for attention with Mason now.  I don't know either, but they've made it abundantly clear that it's not okay for me to behave the way that I have been.  If you have any advice for mama and dada, feel free to leave a comment. 

 

A sunday afternoon surprise

All morning, mama and dada kept telling me they had a surprise for me this afternoon.  Hmmm...what could it be?  The only clue I had was it wasn't going to be at our house because dada was packing stuff up.  An adventure!  Fun!

After lunch, we all piled into the swagger wagon.  Still no idea where we were going.  It was a surprise.  Mama and dada told me to close my eyes and take a nap.  They'd wake me up when we got there.  Sounds good to me!

When I woke up, I saw a pier, water and boats.  Is this my surprise?  I was excited.  But we didn't stop.  We kept driving.  When we finally parked, I figured out that we were going to the quarium!  Mama said there were more surprises. Turns out my other surprises were Matthew and Edison!  An afternoon at the quarium with my buddies.  How fun!

We ran all over the quarium together.  We saw hammerhead sharks, touched starfish, watched a feeding in kelp forest and played in the Splash Zone.  We had a blast!  All that running and exploring made us hungry.  So we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  Edison had to go home and couldn't join us for dinner.  Maybe next time.

Since we finished dinner earlier than expected, Matthew and I checked out Dennis the Menace playground.  That place is amazing!  There are a lots of jungle gyms and slides of all kinds.  The best part is that we had the playground all to ourselves! 

I had a great time.  Thanks for inviting me to Monterey, Matthew.  Can't wait to go again!

Hello Kitty Backyard Birthday Party

Abby had her 2nd birthday party today.  It was a Hello Kitty themed party in her backyard.  Mama loved all the Hello Kitty stuff.  I think she's trying to live a youth she never had.  Mama explained that her love of Hello Kitty is probably related to the fact that she was deprived of all Hello Kitty and Sanrio things when she was a kid.  If she had a daughter, I'm sure she'd be buying all kinds of Hello Kitty stuff.  Someone should tell mama that Sanrio makes boy characters like Badtz Maru, Keroppi and Pochacho.  On second thought...maybe that's not such a good idea.

Abby's party was loads of fun.  We spent the afternoon eating and playing in her backyard. She has a super cool backyard.  There's a sandbox with lots of sand toys.  And she has a swing set!  It has 2 swings - one for infants and one for bigger kids - and a slide.  Turns out Uncle Jimmy built it!  He's so handy.  Did you know that he built mama's mountain bike?

Dada and Uncle Edric were talking to Uncle Jimmy about building a tree house in the tree in their backyard.  Uncle Edric even drew some sketches.  A tree house sounds awesome.  Do you think dada and Uncle Edric will be disappointed when they find out that grown-ups aren't allowed in the tree house?

Mason got to ride on the infant swing.  I don't think he liked it very much.  His expressions ranged from sheer terror to "Meh, this is okay." I have to talk to that kid and tell him how much fun swings are.  On second thought, it might be better if I don't say anything so I don't have to share the swings with him. =)

Happy 2nd Brithday Abby!  Can't wait to play in your backyard again!

Mason's first swim class

Today was Mason's first swim class!  Even though he's a newbie, he's in the same class as me.  Weird huh?  It works out okay though.  While us older and more experienced kids do our thing with our parent, my teacher works with newbies and their parents.

Since we're both in swim class at the same time and our class requires parent participation, that means both mama and dada have to swim with us.  Mama and dada let me pick who to swim with.  Mama figured I'd pick dada because I usually swim with him.  Nope, I chose mama.

I think her memory must be going bad because she asked me 4 times!  Every time she asked, I'd say, "Mama!" When dada asked me, I said the same thing.  So, mama asked me how come I wanted to swim with her: 

Me: Because I love mama.
Mama: Do you love dada?
Me: No.

Dada says that I only want to swim with mama because I can take advantage of her.  He called her a sucker. I don't think mama was happy about that.

Anyways, Mason did great!  He got dunked 3 times.  He didn't cry once.  But dada would have to wipe his hair out of his face cuz his hair is so long.  Way to go little bro!

Labor Day Holiday?

According to Wikipedia Labor Day is

• a federal holiday that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers
• the symbolic end of summer
• the last day it is fashionable to wear white or seersucker (applies mostly to high society...that would not be us)
• an important sale weekend for many retailers
• the beginning of the NFL and college football season (are you ready for some football?)

While mama and dada had a day off from the daily grind, they didn't get to take a break from their most rewarding job - being parents!  They never get a break from that job. :)

Anyway, we celebrated Labor Day by going to Gilroy Gardens with Matthew and Edison. We had a great time riding our usual rides. Edison and I enjoyed the water play area.  Mathew wasn't a fan of the water, even though he gave it a try. 

Mason rode more rides this time too.  Not only did he ride the "bumper cars" and the train again, he also rode the boats and the fire trucks.  Of course, being the big brother I had to drive the fire truck while he rode in back.  It's better for Mason to get used to being in the passenger seat since I'll be driving before him.

Day Trip to Monterey

I'd been asking mama about going to the "quarium" (aquarium) for several weeks.  She kept saying that she'd talk to dada about planning a trip with Henry.  Well, guess dada decided not to wait for Henry anymore and took matters into his own hands.  Dada invited grandma and grandpa to come with us.  Yay!  I love spending time with them!

We started out with octopus and made our way over to one of the touch pools. Mama and I touched a starfish and sea urchin.  Then we headed over to the Splash Zone, where Mason and I could play and explore. 


After that, we crossed the bridge (I love going over bridges after we rode Thomas over a bridge) to check out the jelly fish and the open sea.  It's a good thing I wore my light up shoes because I'd just take off and weave my way through the crowd without looking back for anyone. (Come on slow pokes there's a lot to see and do!) Grandma and Mama would look for my light up shoes as a way to keep track of me.

We also watched a magic show about sea horses.  I learned that seahorses are part monkey, kangaroo, horse and fish.  Wow!  I also learned a new magic word: "Hocus Pocus!"  Next time mama says, what's the magic word I can say, "Hocus Pocus!" instead of "please." The magician turned an adult man into a giant seahorse. Mama says it would've been funny if I volunteered grandpa for this trick.  But I don't think grandpa would've enjoyed that very much.  So I spared him.

After the magic show, we grabbed lunch at this seafood place a few blocks from the quarium.  I tried clam chowder for the first time. Guess what? I liked it so much that I helped grandpa and grandma finish their bowl. 

After lunch, we headed back to the quarium to check out the new Jellies Experience exhibit and the seahorse exhibit.  Mason, who slept through lunch, woke up by the time we got back to the quarium.  So, mama just fed him lunch while the rest of us explored the exhibits. 

After a quick stop at Pinkberry, we headed back home. Yup, there's a Pinkberry right across the street from the quarium. I love ice cream and mochi!

Dada purchased a membership to the quarium.  If any of my friends or cousins want to go, just let me know!

Despicable 3 Birthday Party

Chloe had a Despicable Me themed birthday party in the park today.  A couple of my friends came dressed like minions. Since mama and dada haven't seen the movie before (even though they own the DVD), they didn't dress Mason or me like minions.  Oh well.

The strange thing about Chloe's party was that her birthday is actually in July. But I guess it really doesn't matter. You can have a birthday party anytime. Hmmm...maybe mama will have Mason or my birthday party later so we can have a party at the park too. That would be fun!

The park is Sunnyvale, but we've never been before.  Mama was pleasantly surprised.  It had different playgrounds and lots of grassy areas. They rented a Toy Story 2 jumpy house with a slide inside.  I had a great time jumping around the jumpy house.  I even went down the slide, which was a pretty steep.  Mama also went down the slide too! 

Similar to Matthew's party, they served made to order tacos. It must be the latest trend in birthday parties. Dada must've been hungry because he kept stalking the taco station while they were setting up and getting the food ready.  The tacos were yummy!  Dada ate nine tacos this time.  That's one more than Matthew's party!

While we were waiting for the tacos, Daisy Mae entertained us. I have no idea who she is. Neither did mama.  But that's okay.  She sang some songs, including a Justin Bieber song.  Ummm...weird.  After the songs, she painted our faces (or legs or arms).  I couldn't wait for my turn, but I also couldn't decide what I wanted.  I flip-flopped between a car and train.  Eventually, I settled on a train, thinking I'd get Thomas painted on my face.  Let's just say she's much better at painting animals than trains. 

There was also a unicorn pinata.  But I wasn't interested in whacking a poor, defenseless unicorn with a stick. Most of the other kids took turns smacking the unicorn, until it was decapitated and the guts (aka candy) fell out.  When the candy hit the ground, I decided to get into the action and collect as much candy as possible.  I was partial to the Jolly Ranchers over the other stuff. Too bad mama and dada won't let me have any.

Happy Birthday Chloe!  Thanks for inviting me to your party!