Melanie and Her Birthday Bear
I tried to get a good picture but my phone camera too slow…
I also thought i got a video but user error and i did not! Oops.
More photos in the afternoon and had no smiles.
Horrible Luck! Breaking things left and right.
We had a wonderful visit at the park with Charlotte…. but just as we were parking when we arrived – i dropped my cell phone on the cement and cracked the screen!
$200 later i have it back to normal.
Then later in the week, i let Vincent open the garage door as we were coming in (with the remote) and he pressed it while were going in and CRASH! There goes mommma’s windshield and wipers. $300 down the drain….
AND to top things off i royally screwed my iPhoto app on my computer by accidentally unplugging it’s drive while updating it. Long long long story short, i do have my photos back, but it was a pain in the butt and took soooo much of my time to figure out. Boooo….
The other news that i got mad about this month was that my TurboKick certification expired and i can’t pay to renew unless i go to another workshop or sign-up for their monthly dues, which i won’t do since i’m not teaching. BOOOOO i said BOOOOOOOO.
A Sunny Day in January
Weather was a bit warm this weekend so we filled up the kiddie splash pool and played with the water. This was Melanie’s first time in the splash pool! Unfortunately, Vincent broke the splash pool by stomping on it too hard. Nothing a little duct tape can’t fix though! It actually made it nicer for Melanie’s first time as the water wasn’t going all over her.
Melanie sat and played calmly.
Vincent liked dumping water over his head.
As per usual.
Crazy kid! “I wanna see! (the picture)”
We brought out the kiddie pool too since the splash one wasn’t as fun anymore.
Melanie is 11 months
Well geez. Melanie is 11 months! Between the holidays, family visiting, and road trips, i kept putting off the blog post and whatddya know, a whole month slipped by….. Oh well. Lots to update on now! At least I had a chance to photograph her last month though. Super fun time with my girl.
As you can see, since her 9 month post, she sprung another tooth! She’s also officially sleeping through the night now, 8pm-7am! Taking great naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. She likes her paci, swaddle blankie, and pink light-up giraffe that plays lullabies that her Grandma bought for her (similar to Vincent’s seahorse). She loves to see herself in the mirror, and also try to copy you if you blow raspberries with your lips, or do anything interactive with her.
Over our vacation she also learned how to go from sitting to army crawling and back up to sitting. In fact, now when i do my photoshoots, she just wants to crawl around instead of stay still. We put up the baby gate so we can plop her in there when we can’t keep an eye on her 24/7.
Speaking of eyes, she swallowed an eye from one of Vincent’s craft projects at school. She kind of was choking on something and i realized this was laying on the floor with any eye missing! It came out in her poop 4 days later!
She totally loves to play with the TV remote, pieces of string, pens, and other items that a baby should NOT play with. One of her favorite toys is this plastic fire hose from Vincent’s lego toys. Its got a piece at the end she could totally choke on.
She always goes for the iPad/iPhone charger too.
Don’t mess with Melanie and her toys. She will scream and cry if you try to take it away (or do not share with her if its something she really wants)!
She also learned to self feed her puffs. She really chows down on them so thinking of giving her other foods she can feed herself.
She’s good at waving hi with her hand – opening and closing her fists. She definetly does this on purpose — for examples when someone new comes into the room.
And she just learned to clap. Jeff said she clapped about a month ago, but tonight at dinner, she really got the hang of it. She was sitting up, clapping, all by herself out of nowhere. And of course when we start to do it she really gets into it. Big smile on her face.
She also just figured out how to go from an army style crawl, to a regular crawl. I think its the cutest thing!
Check out this video of Melanie crawling to her brother’s toy — i have a feeling that these type of arguments (at the end of the video) will be the story of my life…
We’re also trying to get her to practice standing or pulling up.
I weighed her the other day and she was just under 19 lbs and about 28″, which puts her in the 10-20th percentile for her age. She started off (when she was born) being in the 75th percentile, so that is a pretty drastic change. Not sure why. She eats good, i am still nursing and pumping at work (though she does also supplement with formula at daycare).
She loves Butters so much still! Pulling on his fur and poking his eyes out. I mean Butters must like this torture on some level, he doesnt ever seem to move or try to get away from the abuse. Though he does get that sour look on his face sometimes.
Because of her love of Butters, we decided to have a Hello Kitty first birthday party next month!
Trip to LA for New Years
My cousin Sandee invited us over for New Years. She lives in LA, as do my other two cousins, Candace and Keith. We stayed at Sandee’s house which was her childhood home and she is now in the processes of renovating. It looks fabulous! I wish i had taken more photos, but didn’t really take any! Here is what i have… We didn’t do too much besides chill, hangout and eat.
She took me and my sisters to Daiso one day. It’s like a dollar store (except i think everything was a $1.50). I was laughing at a lot of the stuff in there, like this bathroom toy. I think Vinny would have loved it. I almost think i should have bought it now. Oh well, i just took a photo instead.
On New Years Day, we had a party. An eating party! Lots of delicious food — sushi, chicken salad, mostly japanese food which is my favorite! On New Years Eve we had our soba noodles. Vincent was having fun hanging out with our relatives. Getting cozy! Playing iPad.
Didn’t want to miss out on the cake, even though he was about to fall asleep.
We tried to go to Knott’s Berry Farm but it was a complete fail.
Lines were SOOO LONG and and Vinny cannot wait. He has no patience. We rode one ride then left! So sad, and a complete waste of my mom’s money 🙁 But at least we won an Elmo at a carnival game!
I laughed because the one ride we did get to go on, we totally have at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz which has a much smaller line, a lot cheaper, and is only 40 minutes from our house. Of course it wasnt branded with Snoopy….
… and that is all the photos i have of LA!
Las Vegas
The day after Christmas we drove down in our brand new van to Las Vegas, NV! The main reason for going was because my sister Jill wanted to take her Aussie husband to see the city. Jeff and i used to frequent Las Vegas B.C. (before children) but since then we have not been. We like to gamble, and stay in the hotels. A trip to vegas with kids doesn’t sound fun, but we had Grandma and Grandpa to help watch them.
Earlier in the day, Mike took Vinny to Toro Park. Jill, Glenn, and Don went along too.
Cute photos, Thanks Jill!
The road trip took about 10 hours including stops/breaks and traffic. We left at about 1:45p and got there at around 12:15 midnight. Overall the kids did fine. Vincent just played on his iPad mostly and became obssessed with the game “Subway Surf” (he calls it big boy surf)
He even got Uncle Brad and Grandma Jerrie to play during the trip. Even if its a one person game.
We stayed at the Aria hotel, an ultra modern/contemporary hotel that i guess attracts the elite crowd. Lots of asian people and swanky women who hold Prada bags and travel with dogs. I felt a little out of place, but better this way then the other end of the spectrum. I like the way the hotel was designed.
Our room was nice, king bed and plenty of room for our stuff to spread out. I was reading reviews on the hotel before we arrived and they had no coffee maker! What! I dont drink coffee but i still find that absurd. You should have seen the line at the hotel Starbucks! Vincent did fine sleeping between us. He got to fall asleep to the iPad every night.
The first day we got there, Jeff had food poisoning from Wendys the night before. So i was stuck with the kids. I ordered room service for breakfast — $100 for a bagel and cream cheese, berries, waffles, orange juice and yogurt.
It was pretty darn tasty though, and a lot better than starving or venturing with both kids and only 1 stroller! The berries were delicious!
While Melanie napped i took Vincent walking around. We explored the hotel, rode the tram (Vincent saw the train on the night we arrived, all the way from out 28th floor) and the nearby “Crystals” shops.
They had giant christmas tree.
A cool light/water display.
And a nice red race car.
The thing he wanted to do most though was ride the escalator. At first i said no since i brought the stroller, But then i figured, why not, free entertainment. Parked the stroller, then went up and down… and up and down…. and up and… well you get it.
Selfie! See us?
Saturday night was the Britney concert. I went with my sister Susan and her friend Brad. We sat in the last row of the first section. Not bad seats at all. I enjoyed the show — it was put together very well, dancers were awesome and i was thoroughly entertained. I also read reviews on this concert and was prepared for Britney to lip-synch and only flail her arms, and barely connect with the audience except for a few “What’s up Vegas?” shoutouts. Pretty much reviews were spot on, but i did think Britney danced pretty well and did more than move her arms a bit. There were certainly a point at where i questioned if she was just tired or if she was supposed to not be dancing… but for the most part her dancing ability exceeded my expectations.
I gambled and didn’t lose any money! I pretty much broke even for the whole trip – about 3 days of gambling. I mostly played Roulette, video craps, and a few slot machines. I hate slot machines! I was down $100 my first night, was about to turn in for the night but texted Jill and Glenn and ended up gambling their money (they gave it to me!) and won my money back! Sweet! I think i took their beginners luck!
We took Vincent to Circus Circus to see the circus acts. We thought maybe they’d have animals, but nope. We also won the kids a few stuffed animals (Pikachu for Vin and a Hello Kitty for Mel.
It was a fun time with the whole crew! (Minus Melanie and Grandma who stayed at the hotel)
What else did we do? Oh, buffet. We had a breakfast/brunch buffet at the hotel. It was okay. Nothing too impressive. Lots of different foods. Didnt really get to eat dessert though because it was so early. Stole some fruit for my fruit boy for later. We also ate at the cafe several times. Food was pretty over-priced and nothing to write home about. Vincent had a lot of fun playing with his new car toys and sugar packets (making a road!).
We went to the Shark Reef. The line was sooo long! Ugh…
We bought the photos you take when you walk in! The aquarium was okay.
They had piranhas! And sharks of course. We have an awesome aquarium right here in Monterey so that is pretty tough to beat.
Vincent loved the tank shaped in a tunnel. He is is pretty obsessed with tunnels right now for some reason.
We met and had lunch with my aunty and uncle who used to live in Hawaii. They seem the same! The gave the kids gifts — Cars hat and build a truck toy for Vincent, and a musical monkey for Mel.
We went to the M&M store with 3 floors of junk. At the top floor was a race car!
We say the Bellagio water show.
Vincent was impressed. Melanie seemed to like it too! It was pretty cold outside.
We walked to Ceasar’s Palace afterward. It seemed so close, but took forever to walk there. By the time we got there the kids fell asleep. I remembered talking statues, but we were too lazy to find them at that point.
On our last day, we went to Childrens Discovery Museum. Perfect place for Vincent — he loved the balls and the water area. Couldn’t get him to leave.
We started our drive to LA after stopping for some lunch at Capriotti’s. The drive normally takes 4-5 hours but it took us 8 hours. Ugh… major traffic jam going over the mountains because of freaking SNOW. Doesn’t ever snow there, well — except when we travel through it. Then there was freak hurricane force winds while Vincent had a potty break at McDonalds! An adventure. My parents had already reached there hours before, despite only leaving 1 hour before us!
Merry Christmas … with the Entire Family!
Panoromic shot above! My whole family came up from Hawaii/Australia to celebrate the holidays with us. Woo! Not sure when the last time we were all together for the holidays was… probably never with the extended family and such. Only person missing here is Pat.
We spend Christmas morning at our house opening stockings and presents. Vincent was excited to finally open the presents that were waiting under the tree… he had a specific one he wanted to open from Aunty Sandy that he shook when it arrived in the mail and knew it was a “toy” — that ended up being a lego toy. 🙂
We had a tasty lunch at the McGirr’s (tri-tip and ham sandwiches), then spent the rest of the day chilling at home, playing and spending time together since Susan and Jill/Glenn had just come in late last night.
Here are some photos!
Stocking stuffed!
Lightening McQueen stickers!
Trying to get a photo of the two! It’s not so easy.
These were “santa’s” gifts. Vincent got Matchbox cars, popcorn, PJs, music book/cd, cupcakes. Melanie got teacup bath toys, PJs.
Vincent wanted to open and play with his gifts immediately after opening them of course.
Melanie really seemed to like opening gifts too with the help of her Aunties and Grandma!
Vincent helped open her gifts too of course.
Grandma bought her a cute dolly that sings songs. She pokes the face a lot and pulls on the hair.
Melanie was practicing crawling around.
Vincent got Kinder eggs from Australia! Don’t think he knows how lucky of a kid he is to have an Aunt that can bring them for him.
Probably one of Vinny’s favorite gifts was his Robocar Poli set from Grandma Jerrie!
Photoshopped image of the two kids in their best pose next to the tree.
My mom brought an old toy from my childhood — a fisher price house. Vincent and Melanie both really liked it.
At Pop-pop’s house — a fun to was awaiting Vincent!
A Cars race track!
Melanie was eating her dress.
The men looking at the BBQ – Mike asked Glenn if he knew how to BBQ. He’s Australian, man! Throw it on the barbie!
Melanie got a stroller and dolly from Oma!
Super cute.
Aunty Susan!
Aunty Jill (and Uncle Glenn in the background)
Jeff’s big bag of pretzels! (Grandpa Don’s back there somewhere)
Vincent was real obsessed with the race track!
Melanie liked her new PJs from Jeff’s Aunt/Uncle.
We had fun dressing her up like a present.
Christmas Card 2014
Thanks Costco! Quick and easy and cheap…
Getting Ready for the Holidays
This year is Melanie’s first Christmas! So we had to make her a stocking of course. We first tried a wreath, but then i wasn’t happy with how the bottom of the stocking was all empty. So i thought to do a candy cane which is a bit longer. I still don’t really love how its empty around it, but, decided to just live with it!
Jeff decided this is the year we can put up Christmas lights on the outside of the house! His dad had some extras from doing his house, so we didn’t even have to go the store (big bonus for Jeff!) Mike also loaned us his ladder.
Vincent was a good helper too, following along with his own ladder. Super cute. He thought the little hanger for the lights was cool.
One night we went for a stroll around Pop-pop’s neighborhood to check out Christmas lights. We didn’t find anything too cool except for these candy canes. Also the moon was really bright!
In front of Pop-pop’s house. Loving the look on these kids’ faces.
Melanie’s super cute kitty jacket from my friend Bonnie!
Another first for us was visiting Candy Cane Lane in Pacific Grove. We had dinner at Sapporo’s with the in-laws first (where Melanie grabbed her purreed carrots and spilled them ALL OVER herself…), then drove on over.
Lots of lights, lots of people, but lots of free fun.
Lego movie!
Thomas! Pretty elaborate.
We put up the christmas tree — our fake one. I actually really love our fake christmas tree. It looks pretty real and the lights are already strung in them! Genius! Vincent helped put on some ornaments.
This year, Grandma Jerrie got him a red firetruck ornament that made sounds and Melanie a pink first christmas bear that kinda looks like a rattle. I forgot to take photos of them, but unintenionally you can see them in the above photo. Vincent is holding his, and Melanies is right above his right ear.
We thought it was funny to put Melanie in the tree skirt!
We bought an advent calendar online for Vincent — it is by Eric Carle. It is pretty neat because each day you open it and there is either an ornament or a present to put under the tree.
Pop-pop also brought him a traditional one that opens the door to pictures of different christmas items.
You can see it on our mantle above the stockings.
I also taught him to cross of each day with a marker. So our routine would be to do all three calendars every night!
We also started Elf on the Shelf this year. Vincent’s old enough to participate in it. It’s pretty funny when he finds it, he gets quiet for a second, smiles real big, then points and said “right there! right there! right there!” (he can’t say his “th” sound very good yet so its more with a “d” sound)
Meet our New Mini-van
Say what! Yes, our first MINI-VAN! Jeff traded in his “cute” VW Tiguan with turbo for a Honda Odyssey 2015. When we bought the Tiguan just before Vincent was born, we both knew it was too small — the trunk especially. But we managed with it. With two kids though, we just need more room. And with our upcoming road trip to Las Vegas, there is no way all our crap would fit in the tiny trunk! We could have gone for an SUV, but really, a van is just more practical. The sliding doors, pull up shades, — its just made for a family, and that we are. No, we don’t have 3 kids, but the extra space is so nice. We can now fit other people in car too, besides just the kids, which is helpful for when my family visits.
We got an OK deal on the van. The guy that was signing us really pushed us to get the extended warranty, and we eventually caved. We also got the enhanced car alarm. We didn’t get 0% financing unfortunately like we lucked out with the Tiguan.
We have the navigation system, leather seats, butt-warmer.. you know the essentials!
Bye-bye Tiguan!