Winner, winner

Talk about a busy day. In addition to meeting Curious George at Matthew's school and Wipeout Cancer obstacle course, we had a block party this evening. It was super fun!

First, there was a fire truck! Not a toy one, but a real one. Mason and I got to sit in the truck.

We had a good time hanging out with our neighbors and meeting new ones. Mama and dada met a new family that moved in down the street. They have 2 girls who are almost the same age as me and Mason. We also discovered that one of our neighbors has a new baby girl who's only 5 months old. Potential new playmates!

There were activities for the kids too. We drew pictures in the street with chalk. Katie, our neighbor, made us balloon animals. We played with bubbles. Mason liked dumping the bubble juice on the ground and trying to blow them. At one point in time, we both sat in a puddle of bubble juice.

To top if all off, there were raffle prizes. The prizes included T-shirts from a local bike shop, mixing kit and cookbook from Whole Foods, gift certificates, plants from a local nursery and an iPad mini! (One of the party organizers works at Apple.)

Guess who won the iPad mini? Mason! Was he excited? Not really, he was more interested in the bubbles.

Wipeout Cancer

Have you ever heard of a TV show called Wipeout? Neither did I. How could I when mama and dada don't let me watch TV?  But, I found out what the show is this weekend when I participated in the Wipeout Cancer kids obstacle course. The organizer is friends with mama and dada. She won Wipeout, an obstacle course competition, in 2010.

When mama found out about the event, she wanted to sign me up right away. But we had some scheduling conflicts - birthday parties. Good thing those parties got rescheduled so mama could sign me up (even though I didn't meet the age requirement...shhh). I was excited when mama told me about it, especially when she told me that Matthew and Kyden were going to do the obstacle course too.

When we got there, mama and I checked in, got my goodie bag, T-shirt and lunch ticket. We dropped our things next to Matthew's tent, said hi to auntie Christi, auntie Judy and auntie Mimi (who were volunteering), and went to pick up my lunch. On our way to lunch, I got to meet auntie Liner, the organizer.

After lunch, all the kids in our "wave" gathered on the grass so auntie Liner could warm us up and walk us through the course. Mama did the warm-up with us. While I waited for my turn, mama told me that she'd be on the course with me, but I'd have to do the obstacles by myself. Well, I did great! Here's a run down of the course:

• Running through tires: I opted to walk over the tires
• Army crawl through a net: No problem, except that I crawled diagonally across instead of straight ahead. Mama said that she used to swim diagonally when she did triathlons. It must be genetic.
• Balance beam: Piece of cake...just like little gym, except I had my shoes on.
• Running under hurdles: Yup, I remembered do duck. 
• Going through a spider maze: this one was kinda tricky. good thing they had great volunteers to help me figure it out. Mama really wishes she took a photo of me doing this obstacle, but she was busy trying to coach me along.
• Over/Unders: I didn't have any problems with the jumping over, but my head kept getting stuck on the unders. Don't worry, the "hurdles" were made of foam noodles. So they were soft.
• Kicking a soccer ball through cones: again, thanks to super volunteers who helped me with this one.
• Moving water-filled, wet balls between two buckets of water: those balls were slippery! the volunteer was really helpful. I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't get more wet. I wanted to do swing on the trapeze over the water hazard, like the older kids.
• Giant inflatable slide: Wee!!! I went down the slide twice!

The older kids had more obstacles including, climbing a cargo net wall and swinging across a water hazard, and their races were timed. At the end, we all got medals and mini Jamba Juices. Yum!

I had a great time. I can't wait to race again next year!

Meeting Curious George

Matthew invited me to storytime with Curious George at his school today. Kyden and Sienna also came.

I got to check out his school before one of the teachers read us a Curious George book. After the book, guess who showed up? Curious George!

You'd think I'd be excited about meeting him, especially since I really like Curious George books. But I wasn't very interested in meeting him. I was more interested in the balloon animals in the other room. I asked for a pink helicopter with blue propellers.

I liked playing at Matthew's school. He has neat things at his school, like a tent with a play kitchen and musical instruments outside. After playing for a while, I decided it was time to meet Curious George. I even let mama take a picture of me with him too.

They served lunch, but mama only let me eat a banana. I was going to have lunch at the Wipeout Cancer event soon (more on that in a separate post). After playing for a while, we all left for the obstacle course.

Thanks for inviting me to check out your school and meet Curious George!

Disneyland with friends

For the record, mama and dada are not crazy Disney fans. But based on our recent vacations, you'd think otherwise. Of all the vacations I've taken in my lifetime (7 including this one), 4 of them have been at a Disney resort.

This latest trip was with my buddies -- Matthew, Edison, Kyden and Sienna. This is an annual trip for Matthew and Edison. It's part of their family pilgrimage to ComicCon. Kyden and Sienna were visiting LA for a wedding. Mama thought it would be fun to go with everyone because I'd have friends to hang out with. Dada said he could use a break. Mama kindly reminded him that a trip to Disneyland with me and Mason might not exactly match his definition of a break. I don't know why she'd say something like that.

Here's a recap of our trip:

Sunday (7/14): We loaded up the Swagger Wagon and drove to Disneyland. Mama told me that I would Disneyland was really far from our house and that we'd have a very long drive. Mason and I did great on the drive down. We listened to CDs, played games and took naps (except for dada). We even stopped for foryo at the Yogurtland in Tejon Ranch!

Monday (7/15): Mason was so excited about Disneyland that he woke up at 3:30 am. Dada tried to get him back to sleep, but he was too excited about Disneyland and pillows. So, they went out for a run at 5:00 am while Mama and I slept a little longer. Since we were all up early, we got to ride a few rides in Disneyland before we met up with my pals for a character breakfast (more like brunch) at Paradise Pier. After brunch, we hit California Adventure. While Mason and Sienna napped, us big boys went clubbing at Dancin' with Disney, followed by the Disney Jr. show. After the show, we rode the world's slowest bumper cars (Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies) in Bug's Land, followed by Luigi's Flying Tires in Car's Land. Dada and Uncle Mike got to ride the Radiator Springs Racers. From there we headed to the Little Mermaid ride. I started to fall asleep while we were in the Toy Story Midway Mania line, so I didn't get to ride that one. After dinner, we said good bye to Kyden and Sienna and made plans to meet up with Matthew and Kyden at Disneyland the next day.

Tuesday (7/16): Mason and I slept in, which made mama and dada really happy. We spent the day at Disneyland. We rode all my favorites - Autopia, Buzz Lightyear (twice), Dumbo, the Carrousel, the Astro Orbitor, Small World (twice), and the train. I also got to experience some new things like Pirates of the Caribbean, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Tom Sawyer Island and the water ball in TomorrowLand. I didn't like Pirates because it was too dark. Mason's favorite was the water ball. Mama can't believe that we spent all that money and drove all the way to Disneyland for a water ball that we could've found at a park or shopping center.
At lunch, mama and dada offered me the following choices:

1. If we go back to our hotel and take a nap, I can stay up late and watch fireworks.
2. If we continue to ride rides without a nap, no fireworks. 

I chose option 2. Who wants to watch fireworks when you can ride more rides?!

Wednesday (7/17): We drove home. The drive home was just as good as drive to Disneyland.

I can't wait to go back for another visit, but mama and dada have been talking about going someplace called Mexico for our next family vacation. I hope there're good rides at Mexico. If you have any good recommendations for other non-Disney family vacation spots, let us know!

Boys only

Mama left us boys again. And like last time, Mason got sick just before she left for Las Vegas and dada had important meetings with an executive. Do you think mama and Mason conspired to make it extra challenging for dada? Maybe they're testing dada's super dad powers.

Well, I can tell you that his super dad powers are just fine. Us boys are doing just fine without mama. Dada's meeting happened without a special guest appearance by Mason. Dada managed to make Mason's fever go away before his meeting happened.

Who needs mama? She can just stay in the hot desert. We're just fine without her. Hmpf!

P.S. Mama, if you're reading this please come home soon. I was just kidding about not needing you.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Hooray! We got to celebrate grandma's birthday today.

We went to her house to play, do fireworks and eat dessert. Shhh...don't tell anyone we did fireworks.

Of course, I helped pick the dessert. While we were at the store picking up dessert, I said, "Grandma needs flowers." No one listened to me. So, I said it again...and again...and again. I kept saying it until mama pushed the cart over to the flowers and let me pick out a bouquet. It's a good thing I'm looking out for grandma.

Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you big much!

Happy 4th of July!

We met up with Caylie, Dexter (uncle Eddie's med school friend's kid) and Po-Po at Gilroy Gardens today. I had a good time showing Caylie, Dexter and Po-Po around. We expected it to be really crowded because of the holiday, but it was pretty empty. Hooray! No lines for the rides!

I drove Po-Po around on the bumper cars. I told her not to be scared and not to scream. She's in good hands with me! Caylie even drove uncle Eddie and auntie Lia. Guess what? Mason drove dada and mama...and he didn't cry! In fact, he did much better on the rides this time. He even rode the race car and fire engine ride by himself.

It was CRAZY hot in Gilroy today. At one point, dada said it was only 99 degrees. To beat the heat, we ran through the waterfall and played in the water play area. Caylie was more interested in browsing the selection of water toys and flip flops than playing with the water. Must be a girl thing. Dexter seemed to like the water too, but it was hard to tell. He just stood there with the same look on his face.

Mason and I had a great time playing water.  I got sprayed in the face by a fountain because I was staring at the hole in the ground. Haha! It was so funny, I did it again! Mama was laughing so much, she didn't get a chance to take a video. So, you'll just have to use your imagination.

We didn't have anything else planned for the afternoon. So, I took a super long nap. I woke up just in time for dinner. Mason didn't sleep for very long, so he was very grouchy. That means he didn't get to stay up to do or see fireworks. But I did!

Even though fireworks are illegal in most Bay Area counties and cities, dada managed to acquire some. We did snakes, which I think look like poo-poo. And then we did sparklers.



Dada got a 30 sparklers, but we only did 5 of them. Hmm...I wonder what we're going to do with the other 25. I hope Uncle Jeff doesn't arrest us for doing fireworks!

4th of July Parade

This week I've been learning all about the 4th of July at preschool. We've talked about fireworks and made July 4th themed crafts, like the hat I'm wearing in the picture. Today, we had a parade because parades are also a July 4 tradition.

We wore the hats that we made, rang bells and waved at everyone as we paraded around my school. I waved at Mason when we walked by his play yard.

Mama and dada missed the parade because they didn't know about it. When mama asked me if there were other parents there, I told her no. Mama's disappointed that she didn't know about it. Otherwise, she would've come to our parade and taken pictures. To make her feel better, I put on my hat and waved a flag when we got home so she could take a picture.

Comparisons

Today, mama took Mason for his 18 month well baby visit. While they waited for the nurse and Dr. F, Mason danced on the exam table, played with the spinney stool the doctor usually sits on, tried to unplug the computer and open all the drawers. The amazing thing is that he sat still when Dr. F examined him. He also didn't cry when he got his shots.

Dr. F says his growth looks good. She also pointed out that he's got a lot of teeth, and it looked like he was even getting his 2 year molars.

One area that we'll be working on is his language skills. He's definitely making progress. If he keeps progressing, it'll be all good. If he doesn't make more progress by Halloween, Dr. F's going to refer him for a hearing test and speech therapy.

Here're his stats:

• Weight: 23 lbs, 6.5 oz (18th percentile)
• Height: 33.75 in (87th percentile)
• Head circumference: 48 cm

So why's this post titled Comparisons? Well, mama was curious about Mason's growth relative to mine. So just for fun, she decided to plot our growth.  (I know, mama has a strange definition of fun doesn't she?)

What mama discovered is that we've been about the same height at every age. Mason has been about a quarter inch taller than me. The rate of our weight gain was pretty much the same until the 1 year mark. That's when my rate of gain increased.

Looks like my plan to turn Mason into a midget is failing.  I guess I should stop stealing all of his food and feeding it to Tachi.