The Baby Blog

to AJ! He turned 4 yesterday... Can you believe it?!
4 years ago... I went to the hospital twice, both at 2 in the morning... Daddy was not a happy camper because we lived in Benicia and the hospital was Alta Bates in Berkeley (at least there was no traffic!)

4 years ago... after a very long labor, with no improvement, the doctors wheeled me in for a c-section, and in less than 30 minutes he was out of my tummy, and introduced to the world!

In 4 years we have seen the first steps, the first teeth, the first weekend away from Mommy and Daddy, his first day of pre-school, his first alphabet, and my favorite---- his first pee-pee in the potty!!

Now he's telling you stories, teaching his younger brother how to play with others (sometimes borderline "bossing him around"), sending him to time-out if he doesn't listen, and buying new clothes as he quickly grows up --- my favorite is buying little underwear!!

Time continues fly by so quickly but nothing melts my heart more than the "I love you, Mommy" that I get everyday!

Happy Birthday, son!

Physically of course... mentally I am still in bed sleeping! Anyways, trip was very tiring, but fun! Sorry to have left my fellow dancers hanging on Saturday... the gig preparation slipped my mind after a point when I had to get into the packing mode.

Road Trip
I sat with the kids the whole ride there which got a little difficult because at one point they wanted to watch the DVD. Damoomoo borrowed Ledge's laptop, and when I had to sit through the program installation stuff I started to get car sick. Not even halfway through the movie they fell asleep, and I decided to join in on the nap.

As the sun began to set I knew we had to be getting closer and soon it was the grapevine, then Magic Mountain... then TRAFFIC! From the Pasadena/Glendale freeway split all the way to Anaheim took us 2 hours! AJ was already saying that he wanted to go home! We reached Disneyland Drive at around 9:45 and can see parts of the fireworks. Unfortunately it was all on Mio's side who became terrified, and trying to jump out of carseat crying! It was so sad :( AJ on the otherhand kept trying to reassure him that it was okay, and told all of us that he wasn't scared.

Grand Californian Hotel
This place is AWESOME! From the valet to the rooms the place was sooo DISNEY! I was in heaven! Unfortunately we were also hungry! We never really stopped for food thinking we would still make it while the restaurants are still open. We didn't think we would arrive at 10pm!

We ate at old reliable Denny's and headed back to the hotel where I got the kids ready for bed. AJ fell asleep knowing that Goofy's Kitchen and Disnelyand would be there when the "sun woke up". Waking him up at 7:15am was easy once I mentioned that he was getting ready for Goofy's Kitchen... a little sluggish, but he said "Goofy's Kitchen"..."Antonio, my best friend". Me was good, until it came time to brush teeth!

We really enjoyed celebrating the birthdays at Goofy's Kitchen. AJ and Antonio were inseparable. Mio was inseparable from Lolo. At one point we were pushing all 3 boys in our sit n stand stroller! Having the Davids made the trip so much more fun!

We did split up a little and rode some "boy rides". AJ drove at Autopia. "Mom, it creeking out!" he would constantly say during the drive. Translation: Mom, this is freaking me out! Mio was fearful from any character that came around and any loud music or sounds. But he was awake to enjoy the parade with me (Nana and Lolo sat down cuz AJ fell asleep). He recognized most of the characters, but still fearful of the Ursala float!

After dinner I left the kids with my in-laws and hooked up with Ledge and Daphne to run back into the park to ride Space Mountain. THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME! If you enjoyed the old one... you will definitely enjoy the new improved ride! Then we ran to New Orleans Square to ride the Haunted Mansion which they decorated to a Halloween based Nightmare Before Christmas!

Before we left the park I did get the boyz their Golden Ears with their names on it!

To the imagineers of Disney... you rock!

Check out was sad and early, as my father-in-law DID NOT want to hit traffic again, but we also ended up making more stops. As he packed the bags we waited in the lobby. The hotel staff has 1 person who sits at a table and has coloring pages with boxes of crayons and colored pencils so kids have some sort of entertainment while parents check-out! Genius I tell you!!

My name is Mighty Mom, and I am addicted to Disney!

I'm going to my mostest favorite-est, happiest place on earth... DISNEYLAND!!! I must thank my in-laws for letting me tag along on this trip they intended as birthday present for AJ, AND the David Family who because of a conference decided to reserve extra rooms, that we will all be staying here!!

Now, if you saw me when I got to stay at the Disneyland Hotel for the first time.. watch out cuz this is the utlimate Disney vacation *but without Daddy since he has a gig! I will be using my free tickets I earned while working at the Disney Store, and Mrs. David arranged for a character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen to celebrate AJ's birthday... They are sooooo excited... mostly me!

So here are rides/attractions I will definitely be covering:
1. Tower of Terror
2. Space Mountain
3. Aladdin Show
4. Parade
5. Electrical parade (i have yet to see one!!)
6. Californian Screamin
7. Picture with Goofy
8. Buzz Lightyear ride (gotta make sure I have something for the kids!)
9. Indiana Jones

Fast Passes --- the best invention!! wow... what will i be like when I finally make it to Disney World or even the cruise...?!

Friday was very busy... work, taught in Concord, drove back to V-town to meet up the Damoomoo. Left the boyz in Nana's hood for the night and headed out to Oj & Tin's party in the city. I knew that there was talk of rain, but it really sucked that I had to drive back on the wet roads through the golden gate bridge, through Highway 37, and on to the double V... we didn't get home til almost 4 am!!

Anyways, I had a blast chillin' on the couch with the girls watching the guys bond over DJ stuff, breakdancing, and late in the night--- golf. So with a new friend by his side... Damoomoo got drunk which lead to me driving. It's weird because it is very rare since we've been together that I would drive him. And of course the night ended with hardcore Likha folks in the end just chillin' and cracking jokes. Much laughter and happy birthday wishes to Rok Star and Tin...

So for the big 3-0 it's the Pimps and Ho's convention in Vegas, right?

Another birthday of a different nature.
Saturday morning my dad called to invite over to Fremont for his birthday celebration. Apparently his girlfriend is back in town and they had a gathering for his b-day and her visit. Got introduced to some of her relatives who are in the area, so that was nice. It's just weird because I'm not quite sure how "comfortable" I want to get with her AND her family... My dad has had 3 marriages, and now a girlfriend. I know there is a reason why each did not work out, but it just makes you a little hesitant. She is nice and loves the kids, and from the looks of things, loves my dad... but we'll wait and see how it all unfolds...

Back to Dance
Yes, the studio is much closer with one less bridge to cross! Much better and "huger", still a lack of ventilation but I guess when you sweat you're moving and working off that cheeseburger I ate just before practice (McD's is just a block and half away). TIRED... it was great watching the boys play with Alina and Isaac. and fun to eat out afterwards...Zachery's Pizza! yummy

Tuesday night Damoomoo had "remembered" that he had to work that night for the Eagles concert. So it left me trying to figure out what to do for dinner, how to clean up, wash dishes, and do laundry all at the same time... The gift of mult-tasking, right? Well add to that list, a 2 year old who was crying about everything not going his way, which meant every 15 minutes. Then that same 2 year old literally ignoring me. Here's what happened.

I decided to just grab some McDonald's chicken nuggets and french fries (dinner for both me and the kids). While we were driving the 4 mile drive down Alamo, Mio kept crying because I couldn't give him the french fries long enough. (This is after him crying over the fact that AJ was singing "his song", and the moon was on kuya's side)

When we finally arrived I pulled out a blanket and we had a picnic. I had to keep telling Mio to sit down while we were eating instead of running around, doing half tumbles (bending over til his head touched the ground), and jumping/dancing. The whole time my pleas of "Mio, sit down and eat" went nowhere.

Afterwards as we were watching TV, Mio starts jumping up and down on the couch until he finally falls down. In typically Mio fashion he just gets up and walks away with only a little whimper. As I call him back to tell him not to do that, he just walks away!

I'm already at my "pulling my hair out" mode, so I figure let me get them upstairs for a bath to calm them down. As I gather all their pj stuff, they start to play on their slide. I see Mio trying to walk up the slide which is something I do not allow because it's the same rule at the school that I want AJ to get used to as well. I told Miom, "do not walk up the slide, please use the steps to go up" He doesn't even look at me, he just continues up the slide. THAT's IT!

I pull him off the slide and "throw him into the tub". Afterwards I told him that he is timeout, in his bedroom. He goes, I turn off the lights in the hallway and leave for my room. He begins to cry. After a few minutes, I decide that he is okay enough to talk to. I sit on the floor, and literally have to hold his face up so that he looks at me in the eyes. I told him that to be a good boy, you have to listen to mommy. When mommy calls you, and your name is MIO, then you need to listen. When mommy says stop, that means stop! We sat there for about 1/2 an hour just to make sure he understood.

The next day, when I asked, "Mio can you please put your cup on the table?" He did not hesitate, and even asked if their table was the right place! Wow, it worked... for now... but so far so good.... Now if I could only get him to sleep through the night without crying for juice.

Daddy got the bank holiday so I requested the day off. My mom decided to go to the PI for a week, but she was able to make arrangements with Lola Cora and Ninong Rokstar to watch them on Monday.

After a decision battle of whether or not to take the kids to P-town or just go straight home after the party marathon, I won...so we took the kids to over. After a long good-bye, enough time for AJ to get comfortable (he and mio were knocked out even before we hit the freeway), we finally made our way home!

As soon as daddy's head hit the pillow...zzzz's and snores! He was EXHAUSTED. We finally had a full night of sleep without the kids waking up in the middle of the night asking for juice, and best of all... we slept in! We woke and watched last week's episode of Smallville, then sat and watched a couple of HBO movies ON DEMAND, "Maria Full of Grace", and "Elephant". Pretty intense movies!

Then at around 2pm we made our way out of the house and over to the mall to grab some lunch and enjoy our day without kids! We sat down and had an undisturbed lunch at Red Robin and just walked through the mall. I picked up a couple of sash belts from Old Navy, a skirt, and a black sweater/top (I don't have any plain black tops in my closet!)

By the time we left daddy had to get ready for another softball game, and I went to pick up the kids... Mio just woke up from his 2 hour nap, and AJ was fast asleep. By the time we made to Benicia to watch daddy, his game was over, and it was time to head back home.

I needed to finish laundry, Daddy cleaned out Nala's (the class hamster) cage, and get ready for our week to begin! Now it's back to the grind and traffic... If you don't have to, do NOT go across the Carquinez Bridge during afternoon traffic towards Vallejo... IT SUCKS!!!

Yet again we had filled to the rim weekend. We joined Daddy at his softball tournament only to leave after lunch so he can prepare for his gig in Novato. I took the kids home and just cleaned and started laundry (which I have yet to finish by the way!)

Sunday Daddy left again really early for the second day of softball (which was in Sunnyvale!) and we slowly got ready to attend Alexa and Natalie's birthday parties respectively. Lucky for us it was all in the East Bay! We met up with Ninang so I wouldn't feel "alone".

As soon as we got past 6 Flags Marine World, the boys started screaming "Antonio's House!". And as we walked to the house, Andres was already claiming Antonio as his best friend, and Mio is his best friend, too. As soon as we walked through the door, Andres took off his shoes and socks and walked upstairs straight into Antonio's room, and I never saw him after that without Antonio by his side! Mio on the otherhand, was himself... all over the place and just playing... while avoiding the dog!

When Daddy finally made it over, after loading myself up with tons of great food, we all headed over to Natalie's birthday party in Hercules. It was great to see them, but we missed the face painting! But there was a jumper... did you know how tiring those things are!

At the end of the night all the kids started to get hungry. Christy was out there feeding her sons, and soon enough Mio was up there with an open mouth "aawww", asking for food, too! How embarrassing! Even after I got our own bowl of noodles, he was still approaching Christy and Liza for food!!! But eventually daddy helped me out and grabbed some bbq sticks and noodles, too and we got them fed!!

It was a Sunday so we all eventually made our way out the door.

Ninang, Rich was great fun to hang out with... tell him to let me know when he'll be hanging out at "Copeland's"... hehehe

B+

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time)And it takes something big to distract you!

Now I'm really gonna observe to find which questions I got wrong!

Weekends always start on Friday, right? Well, Thursday was a head start. Both Damoomoo and made plans to leave work at 2pm so that we could take AJ to his doctor appointment. Well, damoomoo got to leave a lot earlier for his interview and just "hung out" til we got to the double V.

I really like their doctor that we got assigned to at Kaiser Vacaville. While at Vallejo, I decided against the doctors and went with a Nurse Practitioner because she was real thorough and easy to communicate with. But when we met with our new doctor, he was young and Filipino! So he and the nurse's aid (who took AJ's "vitals") were very nice and gentle with AJ. They spoke to him just like I would and that made me comfortable. So, I think we'll stick with him. I will fully determine if this is right when he meets with Mio.

Friday was a teacher in-service day so AJ's school closed at 2pm... another short day for me. But since I left work early 2 days in a row, my day was sooo hectic! I picked up AJ and still needed to return to work, with Nala the hamster in hand! Luckily everyone in the office was "okay" with the furry little friend sitting on my desk. But the longer she stayed in the office, the more I knew that it was time to clean/change the bedding in her cage. Hamster pee-pee smells really strong!

So on our way home we did the food shopping for our get together with DOM families at our house, and a side trip to Petco for hamster stuff. I spent an hour disconnecting the cage, cleaning it, and putting it all back together! Hamster cages are not just pieces of metal anymore!

Saturday was loads of fun catching up with the "softball wives", and seeing all the kids. AJ and Mio had so much fun playing host to all the kids. The playroom literally exploded in less than 15 minutes!

Sunday, as much as we wanted to rest, was just as busy... Damoomoo dj'ed a wedding for our friend (they had the actually ceremony in Hawaii a couple weeks ago), and I made plans to start attending practice. I picked up the kids and had dinner with my in-laws, and damoomoo arrived a little after midnite!

Monday was a slow start, but a start to the week nonetheless.
Work is busy as I am working on my first full project and still have a lot of re-learning. I am starting a "walk-a-day" exercise program with one of my friends/co-workers today. So hopefully the little bit of exercise will do me some good and tackle away this tummy of mine!