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Monday, October 27, 2008

Spice Of Life Festival

On Sunday, October 19, Mommy and I joined Uncle Josh and Auntie Christina at the Spice Of Life Festival in Berkeley. Daddy was quarantined at home - he was still really sick...

It was a beautiful day - it got a bit chilly towards the end of the day, but it was still beautiful!


My name in lights!
(too bad I can't find any key chains with my name on them!)


We devoured our Ciao Bella gelato!
Check me out eyeing that mango goodness...


Mommy gives me some too!
I'm so glad that sorbet is dairy-free! I need a treat every now and then!



I got to lick the spoon!


Uncle Galex gets some practice pushing me around!



My horsetail photos... Can you guess which ones were taken with a DSLR?

Tita Christina shows me my pictures...


Mommy and me - full from our falafels (which weren't that great, but I ate them up anyways!)


"Joshtina"


Uncle Josh tried to carry me on his shoulders... I guess he wasn't very comfortable!

Isaac Family fun night!

On Saturday, October 18, all the Isaacs were at Grandma's house! It wasn't a special occasion, it was... just because! We enjoyed a nice In N Out dinner (I could only eat the fries, but boy... do I love the fries!)

Daddy was really sick, so he was confined to the guest room for most of the time. Uncle Josh brought his Wii-Fit for entertainment - I loved watching my cousins play!

My cousins kept me company while Mommy fed me.





Funny faces!

Movin up to the bigger vacuum!

I love to vacuum with the duster buster at home, so I was ecstatic when Mommy let me vacuum with Grandma's bigger vacuum! It's still light enough for me to move it around by myself... Don't worry, this isn't child labor - I'm just cleaning up my own mess!





The Optometrist's office

On Saturday morning, Mommy and Daddy had Eye exam appointments. Grandpa joined us (totally against his will - he kept insisting that he stay at his house, but we brought him along anyways!)

They have this great kiddie area, filled with toys for me to play with! My fave toy of the day was the kitchen. I kept pretending to cook something on the stovetop, and I would bring the pot over to Grandpa and he would pretend to eat whatever was in it, and I would wash the pot in the pretend sink.... we went over this routine at least 5 times! Grandpa was such a great sport to keep playing with me!

I'm running back to Grandpa in the waiting area...
his soup is ready!

Staying over at Grandma's house

Grandma and her sisters went to Las Vegas for a few days and we stayed over at her house to keep Grandpa company. Uncle Josh was there on Thursday too! Uncle Josh, Grandpa, Mommy and I had lots of fun playing outside with the dogs. Actually, I'm still a little afraid of the dogs, but I got to spend some time with them and by Saturday I wasn't afraid to pet Sheena!

Mommy and I took a walk to the playground after my nap. I met a little girl who was a year older than me, and if Mommy let her, she would have dragged me around the playground by my hand! She was a pretty butchy girl ... think Rosie O'Donnell as a terrible 2 year old! Mommy and I were both pretty filthy by the time we got back to Grandma's house, especially me! Mommy washed me off in the shower... my first stand up shower! (man, she's getting big too quickly!)

A little static will make my hair jump!
I look like a mad scientist!


PEESH PEESH PEESH
(help me climb up here, please!)


Mommy made us Chicken Curry for dinner, I couldn't have any even though I LOVE curry chicken because there's butter in it... and we got Ice Cream from Loard's for dessert. Auntie Christina had the Fudge-Ana (say it 3 times fast!)

We had a little slumber party on Thursday night - Uncle Josh and Auntie Christina slept over too! We all conked out pretty early though... so it was a very tame sleepover. I fell off the bed at 2:30 in the morning... scared the bejeezus out of Mommy and Daddy - they kept me up a bit longer, just in case I had a serious bump. I definitely wasn't used to sleeping in a bed other than my own!

On Friday, Daddy and Uncle Josh both worked from "home" (Grandma's house). Daddy was starting to feel sick today and so was Auntie Christina, but we still managed to get out to the Englander for dinner... Grandpa kept raving about their Fish and Chips!

Mommy and I slept on the aerobed in the living room (I didn't want to fall off that bed again!), but Daddy slept in the guest room since he wasn't feeling well... a horrible start to a horrible sick weekend for Daddy :(

Helping with the Dishes


Grandma teaches me how to wash the dishes... pretty soon I'll have to wash the dishes for my dinner!

Happy Columbus Day!

I don't really know what the significance of Columbus Day is, but it seems like a lot of people like to go shopping... Daddy was one of the few people to have this day off, so we went to the mall - really, we went there to play... not shop!

Daddy's always there to catch me when I fall!


I'm a little too brave for my own good - I'm trying to run away from Daddy's reach!


Daddy helps me down the small slide...

Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians!

Surprise Ninong JB!

Auntie Charlie wanted us all to help her surprise Ninong JB on his birthday at Ruth's Chris. We were the first to arrive at the restaurant (seriously... this never happens - maybe you should always tell us it's a surprise so that we'll get everywhere on time... like Surprise! Church is at 10:00 this week! Surprise! Monday Night Dinner is at 6pm this week!)


The Bobo's at the restaurant didn't have our table ready in time (even though we had a reservation!), so we met Ninong JB at the front door... we even had to wait another 20 minutes with Ninong JB for our table to be ready! The manager offered to give us free appetizers for being bobo-licious (as Daddy likes to say). I think Ninong JB was surprised to see us all there!

Surprise!


Sitting pretty at Ruth's Chris.



Cheersh!
Peek-A-Boo... can you see me?


Auntie Charlie and Ninong JB


Mommy, me and Daddy
One day, (but not in the next 5-10 years) they'll be able to sit next to each other again...

Can't wait to eat!

Pizza and a Movie


On Friday, October 10, we headed over to Zachary's pizza in Berkeley for dinner with Ninong JB, Auntie Charlie, Auntie Mansi, and Uncle RJ & Uncle Jamie from New York... our waitress was very accommodating - she offered to bring me chicken because of my allergies! She didn't even hesitate to bring me something they didn't have on their menu! and to top it all off, she did a little "Shoop" with Uncle RJ!

We decided to watch a movie after dinner - we made all the way into the theater, but just like last time, I just wasn't having it... Mommy and Daddy got their money back and we left the theater... Daddy has a theory that I'll only make us leave if the movie is bad... After all, I let them watch Superbad and Batman Forever! We got reports the next day that the movie was bad!

Sitting in my Book Box

Mommy didn't put me in here, I swear!

She thought I was just playing with my toys, but found me playing IN my book box!


HELP! I can't get out!

Meeting Xavier Vargas!

We wanted to make sure I wasn't sick for our first meeting with Xavier... so I had to be fever free for 2 days before heading up to E-ville...

We knew Auntie Chee-Deh had been craving sushi from the first moment she knew she was pregnant, so we decided to treat the Vargas' for a sushi dinner... Mommy and Auntie Chee-Deh were happy with this! We also dropped off my swing and infant chair, just to give the new parents some freedom whenever they needed it!

lil' Xavier slept most of our visit - I used to sleep all the time too! I can't wait til he's bigger... then we can play together and I don't have to be so gentle with him...


Xavier Vargas...
Daddy and I have a picture of me posing like this too!


Daddy, Xavier, Ninong Ray and me!



Sunday, October 26, 2008

Making Faces...

Here are a few of my faces...

Ahhh... I get it


My drama face...
I'm a drama queen and I make this face whenever I don't get what I want...
(I'm about to say no... can you see my tongue in the "n" position?)


hfffff!
You're funny!


My flirty face...
How can you resist me?!?


My obligatory camera smile...
I'm actually saying "CHEESH"


Are you seriously still taking pictures of me?!?
seriously?!?

Sausage and Suds Festival

We expected to have a quiet day at home on Sunday (October 5), with just a quick trip to the grocery store and dinner at home. As we were walking home from the grocery store, we heard live music coming from E 14th... What was going on? Oh yeah! The Sausage and Suds Festival!

Daddy went home and dropped off our groceries, while Mommy and I walked towards the music to see what was going on... We got there with about an hour left in the festival... Needless to say, most people were already heavily enjoying the Suds!I get a better view of the crowd...


Did you notice the Einstein hair?


Daddy and I are waiting in line for a Chicago dog.


The reason for the Einstein hair? I was wearing pigtails for a few hours, but I noticed the hair ties in my hair while walking to the grocery store - I HAD to take them out! My hair stayed in pigtails even though the hair ties weren't in my hair!

Back in the Bay Area!

by Mommy

It was a bit difficult to adjust to "normal life" again after being in Toronto for 3 weeks... it was nice having James off for 2 weeks, as he was able to give us his undivided attention! It was nice having my mom around to play with Addison and watch her if James and I wanted to go out... It was nice being in a bigger place where Addison could run around and go up and down the stairs as she pleased... but it's nice being back home - where there are less places for Addi to hide!

I guess Addison caught something on the plane because she started to have a fever on Friday - she had no other symptoms and she wasn't crankier than usual. I wasn't able to give her my full attention because I needed to review for my CBEST test (which I took on Saturday). The original plan was for James to take Addi out for the day (to visit the new Vargas' or to the park - just out of the house, so I could study in peace and quiet!). Well, he couldn't take her out because of her temperature and she couldn't really understand why I couldn't give her my full attention because I was home. I was able to study during her usual naptime (in EST) and James happily obliged and napped with her.

She continued to have this fever for the next few days, with her temperature increasing at night, every night. Her highest temperature was 104.2 and James and I were worried. We called "Baby 911" and they advised us to monitor her temperature, but no need to worry unless her temperature got any higher or if she had a fever for more than 3 days... basically JUST WAIT IT OUT.

She didn't have much of an appetite for these 3 days and she was VERY clingy... I couldn't wait for this fever to pass! She didn't seem to be getting any better, so I made a doctor's appointment. I don't usually like to visit the doctor's office and it's a little difficult to get there since I don't drive (unless James drives us), but this time I decided it had to be done... so we took the bus...

This was the first time for Addison and I to take the bus in the East Bay. I think bus riders in all other parts of the world are completely spoiled after taking AC Transit! Talk about stereotypical East Bay hospitality!

Let me start off by saying that I was a bit frazzled - I have a sick daughter, I'm completely exhausted because of it and I'm pushing our huge stroller with extra clothes, Addi's food and toys to keep her entertained in the undercarriage... I asked the driver if this bus goes to x... she says "check the sign"... Holy sh*t, a simple yes or no would suffice!
I asked the driver if she could give me hand in getting the stroller on the bus - she tells me that she's not allowed to... I respond with "Are you serious?" and she says, "Yes. I'm serious. The bus company doesn't want to be liable if I drop your child"... I'm like whatever and I struggle to lift Addi in her stroller up the bus steps (that don't EVEN lower!) Anyways - Addison and I were totally spoiled in Toronto, riding on buses that lower with friendly bus drivers that assist their passengers... grunt!

By the time we saw the doctor, Addison's temperature was a little below 100 degrees and she had no signs of congestion or an ear infection. We left the office with an almost clean bill of health, thank goodness! At least I know how to get to the Doc's office by bus now... let's see if we ever have to use it again!




Monday, October 20, 2008

Push push push!

by Mommy...

Addison and I were playing with one of those wooden "chasers" (or roller coasters, as I call them... actually, I don't know what it's called!) and I said "Push push push!", trying to get her to push the pieces along the metal bar, she squatted and tried to push out a poop!

Oops, we already have "push" associated with bowel movements... I'll have to teach her to push in other ways!

Friday, October 17, 2008

SomeToronto videos...


I'm really a monster when it comes to eating corn!
I love eating this stuff!


Here I am at the apple orchard!


I need to stand on the table to rock out on my new piano!


Ate Rayanne plays Pat-A-Cake with me!


I loved playing Lola's piano!


my cousin BenJonas teaches us how to rock out!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Note From Mommy

It's been a few months since I've written a "Note from Mommy"... I don't really remember when she started doing the following things, but she's doing them now!

I really, really enjoy my daughter.... I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter, but she's truly an entertaining little girl. She's loving and loveable... and if you've spent any amount of time with her, I hope you'll agree with me!

She loves to dance and sing to herself... if she hears music, she'll march in place and sway her body side to side! She'll sing to herself too! "do do do do". We have a kids CD from her Lola that we listen to once a day... other times we listen to 98.1.

She loves the mirror - James blames this on me and I blame it on him... I think she just likes to see someone her own size. She loves to make faces at herself and turn around while keeping her head forward and eyes toward her reflection. Oh ya, she loves to kiss herself too!

She's becoming increasingly affectionate with her 'Roo (from Winnie the Pooh) doll. She treats him like a doll. She'll carry him around with her (at home only!) and pretend to have him sit down in her chair, potty... etc. She kisses his nose and hugs him. She brings him to the mirror and watches herself hug him... She's kind of rough with her other stuffed toys (like Donkey, who she steps on)...

She also loves her Birthday bear and asks for him by name "buh-day". We leave him in the car to keep her entertained on car trips - he moves his mouth and sings "Happy Birthday"... Addi likes to sway to the music.

On Sunday, she recognized that there was poop in her diaper - she patted her butt and said "poo poo?" I should have prefaced this by saying that Addi was never one of those kids that were grossed out by having a dirty diaper - she could play all day in a poopy diaper and she wouldn't care (I'm assuming, since she's never had a poopy diaper all day!)... but she never lets us know if her diaper is full - we just have to smell it ourselves.... so this is a big step for her! Let the potty training process begin! Actually, yesterday, after she pooped I let her look at her um... waste product? and we walked to the toilet together and I dumped her poop in the toilet and we watched it go down together...

She loves to be tickled... especially by her Daddy! He just gets her in giggle fits every time he does it!

She's losing her manners...
She used to say "please and thank you" (peesh and dado) on her own, but now I think she learned that she gets a quicker response if she yells "MA-MEH" and repeats it over and over again... she'll point to something she wants and yells "MA-MEH MA-MEH MA-MEH". It doesn't matter who she's talking to... It could be me, James or anyone else - if she wants something, she yells "MA-MEH!" - we're trying to break this habit - FAST!

She's a screamer
We don't know how she learned to scream, but she's doing it now... she'll scream when she's excited - I think she learned it from Rayanne, who was screaming down the slide when we were at the play place, because I distinctly remember telling James "I hope Addi doesn't learn how to scream like that"!

She's strong
I think she can carry her own weight... seriously! She pushes our heavy chairs from the dining room table around the floor, she pushes the ottoman across the living room floor. She pinches HARD! She can push open the door to the guest room... Sometimes I think she'll give herself a hernia with all the pushing she does sometimes!

She loves shoes (shuush)
She loves to grab a shoe and put it on someone's foot - she's really good at this! I never taught her how to do this, I guess she just observes... but 99% of the time, she's right about the owner - she'll put my shoes on my feet and James shoes on his feet. Yesterday, while I was washing the dishes, she grabbed my shoe from the front hallway and came into the kitchen to put it on my foot... I don't know what inspired her to do this - it was totally random!

She loves to drop things and say "uh oh"
Does anyone... ANYONE have any advice on how to get her to stop doing this?!?
She'll ask for her sippy and throw it over her shoulder (on purpose!) and say "uh oh" or she'll drop her food on the floor and say "uh oh"... I know this is for attention, but it's starting to get annoying! I don't want her to do this anymore! She also learned how to take her sippy out of the sippy cup strap so now she can throw it out of her stroller! (she hasn't done this yet, but she will soon enough!)

She pretends she's taking pictures or talking on the phone
She loves to grab the camera (or something that looks like one) and hold it up and say "Cheesh". She'll also grab things and hold them up to her ear and say "Ah-lo". The funny thing is whenever I'm actually giving her the phone to say hello to someone, she gets really shy and the only word she'll say is "NO"! She also likes to pretend that she's vacuuming with the duster buster!

She's talkative
She sounds like a jibbering jabbering little thing from a far-away planet! I wish I could understand what she was saying!


She claps when she wants to be picked up
I don't know where she learned this, but she'll clap her hands twice then hold them up while saying "Up Up!"

She likes to carry a purse and say "bye bye"
She pretends she's going outside... she'll pick up my purse or her diaper pad and she'll even walk to the door!

She loves to be outside... just looking at everything and people on the street is entertaining to her.

She says bye bye and does a flying kiss when you say bye or good night
Even when you just want a regular kiss good-night!

She YELLS out "DADDY!!!" when we're in the bedroom and he's not
When we're going to bed, she'll look at the hallway to see if he's coming... if he takes too long, she'll yell out "DAAADDDDY!" and her face lights up when he walks in the room!

Every colour is blue, every number is two, every answer to "do you..." is "no" - even if she doesn't mean it!
Whenever we ask her "What colour is this?" She'll respond "Blue".
When we ask her "How old are you?" She'll answer "Two".
When we ask her a question such as "Do you want to eat banana?" She'll say "NO!" but then she'll open her mouth and say "Ahhhh" to ask for it!

I love her sideways walk, backwards walk and march in place.
When she wants to walk around something, she'll always walk sideways!
When she wants to sit on something, she'll walk backwards into it...
Sometimes, she'll walk backwards for no reason!
She marches in place when she's excited... which is usually before bedtime or naptime!

She pats the spot where she'd like you to sit
If you ever see her pat the sofa, or (our favourite!) knock on the floor, it means "Sit here please!"

Her bangs are starting to get in her eyes and bother her... but as soon as she realizes there's a clip in her hair, it's out!

She loves to colour things and hold crayons, pens and her colored pencils/pencil crayons. I was scolded at the optometrists office for letting her walk around while holding a pencil crayon... Since then, we've stopped letting her hold these things. She used to do everything while holding onto a pen... it was like her security blanket!

New words:

puzzle - PAH-ZO
apple - AH-PO
sausage - SA-SHH
crocodile - koa-ka
Uncle Josh - we tried to teach her these two words separately: Uncle - she says "kaa-kaa" and Josh - she says "jus"... it sounds like Caca juice!
spoon - POON
banana - NANA
avocado - CADO
bubble - BAH-BO
car - KAH
poop - POO POO

She can also do all the sounds in the "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can you" except thunder and lightning. She loves when Daddy reads!

I'm sure I've left out all kinds of things, but for now - I hope this will do!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

YYZ to SFO

After lunch at Lin Garden, Mommy needed to finish packing - we thought we'd have a little more time to do other things (other than pack), but time just slipped away from us!

Ninang Trae and Uncle Fran were kind enough to take 3 of our 5 luggages (and 2 carry ons and 2 backpacks!) at lunch. They slipped something extra in Mommy's luggage (which she didn't find until we were in California!)... Daddy drove us (including Lola and Tiyo Kevin) to the airport - we were a little pressed for time since... well, when aren't we pressed for time?!? Uncle Fran met us at the airport and watched us as we shuffled things from our 65 pound (!) luggage to the other 4 luggages. Success! Even though the Ketchup chips were crushed, they still tasted delicious days later!

There was a long customs line-up and I was already getting sick of being carried in the sling. Mommy and Daddy took turns carrying me, but all I wanted to do was run around! Customs and the metal detector were a breeze! We got through without a hitch... Mommy and Daddy wanted to eat before we got on the plane, since airplane food SUCKS now!


My Daddy! We can relax now! We have an hour until our flight...



Mommy, me and Birthday bear...

We took a ride in the golf cart to see how far our gate was... well, that ended up being the only reason we took a ride. We thought there was a restaurant closer to our gate than the one closest to the metal detectors entrance, but there was no access... so we ended taking the golf cart all the way back!

It's really helpful to have the lady with the golf cart driving around Pearson airport... This is such a thoughtful service for people who can't get around easily or parents with small children. I wish they had this service at every airport!



At the restaurant - Mommy and Daddy didn't end up getting anything to eat here because the waitress told them it would take way too long to get our food since it was so busy!
They didn't think I could open this sugar packet, but I did!
If you read carefully, my shirt says "SUGAR"!




Daddy and I on the golf cart...
Mommy was getting food for us and she rushed to the gate to make it on time!


We got our own row!
The flight was extremely full, with the only empty seat being the one in our row.
The check in attendant told us that someone was sitting in between us (Daddy was sitting in the window seat, and Mommy and I were sitting in the aisle seat). Daddy talked to the flight attendant about this and they were kind enough to make it happen!


Mommy and Me!

Note from Mommy:
This flight was borderline horrendous...
I guess I'm saying this now, since our flight to Toronto was easy-peasy... even though I was alone with Addi!
James and I agreed that we would tag-team Addi duty instead of doing it together, so at least one of us (at a time) could get rest and we'd feel at least a little rested.
This was a great idea...
Addi slept for the first hour after take off. I struggled to get her back to sleep and I was trying SO hard to get her to go back to sleep again and she just flat out refused! She was wide awake! I guess I was still exhausted from lack of sleep or ... I don't know what my excuse was, but because our last flight was a red-eye, I felt like Addi should sleep this entire flight too... BUT THIS FLIGHT WASN'T A RED-EYE... and it was at a time that Addi is usually awake... BUT I FORGOT... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING!

So I pretty much drove myself crazy for trying to get Addi to sleep on the plane, when she could have stayed awake and played... She was really annoyed with me trying to put her to sleep and I guess it made her cranky. She cried a few times (I DID NOT want to be the parents with the crying baby!) and she just wanted to run around on the plane (which she couldn't do ... those arm rests are at her eye-level!)

I guess James was just following my lead and trying to get her to sleep too... So she fought with him most of the time too!

I should have let her stay awake for at least the first half of the flight... then maybe she would have slept a little for the last half... AND she wouldn't have fought me and then be cranky for the rest of the flight. It didn't cross my mind that she would still get a full-night of sleep by the time we got home until... well, until we got off the plane!

LESSON LEARNED