Happy (Mardi Gras) Birthday Dinner!

I didn't see Mommy all day today because she left for yoga before I even woke up.  Then, she was busy throwing a bridal shower for Auntie Jenn all afternoon.  Daddy was busy training for Swamp Romp, so he was running all over town and in the ocean with the rest of the team.  So, I spent most of the day playing at Nana's.

By the time Mommy and Daddy got home, it was time to go out to dinner.  We did the annual birthday dinner meal at Ruth Chris' for Daddy's birthday.  I was so lucky because, when we got there, I got to collect all these bead necklaces from each place setting.  Mommy told me it was for Mardi Gras, but I just was happy to put them all around my neck.  I climbed all over the walls and pulled the chains for the blinds.  I don't think that fancy restaurant is meant for kids like me, so Mommy and Daddy said we were lucky to have a table that had a lot of room in the corner for me to play.  Notice in the pictures that even I got a present to open.  Nana figured I should get a gift too, even if it's not my birthday.  She got me another Snappy Sounds book.  I love those!

An Early Birthday Gift

We surprised Daddy today by taking him to The Wheatgrass Center down the hill from our house.  No, we weren't there to get wheatgrass shots.  We were there to get Daddy Five Fingersshoes for his birthday.  He had tried them on a couple of months ago, but wouldn't buy them for himself.  So, it was the perfect birthday gift.  

Afterwards, we went to Kahala Mall and tried the new restaurant The Counter.  Daddy was hoping to casually run into "Jin", or actor Daniel Dae Kim, who is co-owner of the new build-a-burger place, but no luck.  It was kind of expensive, and Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let me try french fries, but I had fun yelling over the loud music.

I also had fun playing with the crayons.  Of course I didn't color with them.  I just stacked them, rolled them over the box, and put them in and out of the box.  

Happy Early Birthday, Daddy!

Meemo

Have you ever wondered what "Meemo" means?  Mommy and Daddy have been wondering that same thing for weeks...trying to figure out what I mean when I say "Meemo".  Everytime I would point to something different, on counters, on the couch, on tables, and say "Meemo".  They were so confused because I'm usually very clear about what I'm talking about.  After all, I can say words and point to things like "airplane," "mouse," "watch," and "Elmo".  Well, this evening, Mommy was happy to announce to Daddy that she finally figured out what I've been saying.  

You see, this afternoon, she showed me some old video tapes that her cousins Lauren and Geoffrey had upstairs.  I got all excited because they're cartoon ones with animals on them, like "101 Dalmations", "Jungle Book," "The Fox and The Hound", and "Babe".  I carried them and followed her all over the house until Mommy finally gave in and said she would try to show me one of them.  Mommy tried to hook up the VCR, but with all the other stuff hooked up, she was having some difficulty.  She kept fiddling with the TV buttons, the wires on the back, and kept pushing different buttons on the remote control.  One time, she asked, "Where is that remote?"...

And, I said, "Meemo."

I guess it's true that I take after my parents when I always say "Bice" (bicycle) around Daddy, and I always say "Meemo" (remote) around Mommy.  

No Sleeping on the Job!

Mommy has been fighting my cold this week.  She was bound to get it because she works with little kids who are sick all the time, and whenever we're home, I love to give her kisses and hugs and sneeze and cough all over her face.  

So, today, she must have been tired because she actually let me watch "Thomas the Train" on TV.  The only thing is, she was lying down on the couch and was trying to take a nap!  I caught her closing her eyes, so I climbed up on the couch, jumped all over her tummy, and started peeling her eyelids back and slapping her face.

That woke her up real quick.

There will be no sleeping on the job!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I colored the card & Daddy arranged the flowers in his fancy water bottle vase.

Even though I'm not sure what Valentine's is all about, I surprised Daddy with a card when I woke up at 6:30 this morning.  Then, when Mommy came home from yoga a couple of hours later, we surprised her with some flowers and a homemade card from "The Boys" (I did all the coloring).  

It was a blustery day today, so we hung out mostly indoors doing laundry and playing with my toys.  Mommy and Daddy pulled a fast one on me when they took me upstairs to play at Auntie Stevi's and suddenly they left!  They came back a couple of hours later (but I had fun playing with toys and eating and playing with the dog Selena).  They went to go watch a movie, hoping to see "Slumdog Millionaire", but they missed that one so had to see "The Wrestler", probably not one Mommy would have picked, but she said it had some substance to it.  

Daddy wanted to surprise Mommy with a special dinner for Valentine's, so we drove to the new Bangkok Chef restaurant that just opened up in Manoa.  Daddy knows that Mommy loves Thai food, but since it has been the grand opening week, and it's also a special day today, it was really crowded.  We had to wait awhile for the food, and once we got it, I was really cranky during the car ride home.  They tried to feed me dinner, but I just wanted to throw it all over the floor.  That showed them that it was bath time and, soon enough, bed time.  

I guess Daddy didn't feel good either because he went to bed soon after I did.  So, Mommy enjoyed her five dishes of Thai food all to herself and watched "Man on Wire".  

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day doing something special!

When we came home this afternoon, Mommy noticed Stewart's stuff all strewn about.  It's not like him to leave his tools laying around.  We played in the house for an hour, then we heard someone out on the deck.  Mommy checked and it was Stewart.  He was back around 4:30 pm, which was odd.  She asked how come he came back.  Apparently, he had to go to the doctor because while he was pulling some of the old railing off, one of those rusty sharp nails got stuck in his forearm and his arm started swelling up!  The guy is so crazy though that after a doctor's visit and a Band-aid, he ordered more lumber and came back to carry a 24 foot post down 90 stairs, in addition to putting all of his tools away.  He's nuts.

Mommy skipped yoga tonight to go to the ALS Support Group meeting. She hardly ever goes anymore because they're on her Tuesday workout nights, but this one was an important one on caregiving, and she was asked to speak.  There were a few new clients, some old ones.  Though it shook her up a bit talking about caring for Grandpa, she is hoping some of what she and others' shared was helpful.  It was a stressful time.  It could have been less stressful, but it wasn't.  Talking about it just brought all those memories (good and bad) back.  

Life's Rough

This afternoon, after Mommy did Costco shopping and picked me up from daycare, we watched Stewart, our handyman, tear apart our lanai railing.  I was a little apprehensive of the whole thing....the saw, the hammer, the swearing...I watched from afar, meaning the other side of the kitchen and just stared at him through the sliding glass door.  Every once in awhile, Mommy would go out there to go talk to him and I would kind of freak out because I wasn't sure if she was coming back.  But, when she showed me how I could practice using the same tools on my Elmo workbench, it made me smile.  Maybe I will be a handyman someday too.

We have no railing now on our lanai.  This means, if you walk out on our deck, you see nothing but the beautiful city view below, and a 30 foot drop.  It's kinda neat when looking out of the window, but scarier when you're out there on the deck.  The 30 year old galvanized bolts and nails were all rusted to practically nothing.  So, it's a good thing we're repairing the deck.

After Stewart was done for the day, I went upstairs to play at Auntie Stevi's house.  It's nice to be able to go to someone else's house and run wild.  That I did.  I climbed up and down the sofa, ran around in circles around the kitchen and the living room, screaming at the top of my lungs. Auntie Stevi asked Mommy what she fed me because I was so hyper.  I climbed and jumped on the exercise bench, threw myself into the couch a few times, and even pulled Mommy's hair just for fun (though she didn't like that last one too much).  

I wore myself out so much that I started falling asleep sitting in my highchair while I was eating dinner.  Mommy said I was a grouch during the bath because I was so tired.  I fell asleep a little after 7 pm.  Boy, it's rough being a toddler.