My Reluctant Valentine

Here's hoping that you have a happier St. Valentine's Day than Teddy...
...and that someday he'll forgive me!

Happy Birthday, Teddy!

WaiPo cooked a special Chinese meal to celebrate her grandson's first birthday, served on his own personalized Japanese dishware from Aunt Keiko. What a lucky boy!

Special items on the menu: long life noodles, dumplings for prosperity, and a whole egg representing a round, smooth year. He washed it all down with some seaweed soup, which doesn't have any symbolism but sure is tasty! (And it's good for his hair.) For dessert, a homebaked banana butterscotch cupcake.

Best wishes for the upcoming year, my little monkey! May it be filled with adventure and joy!

More pix can be found on Flickr.

Kick, Push

Teddy had a birthday surprise for all of us last night! I wonder how long he'd been planning it? Having given away no previous hints that he was ready to walk, our big boy suddenly took his first steps last night. T-bone pushed his walker up and down the hallway a dozen times!

The great thing about his walker is that there is a little brake where you can adjust how quickly it rolls...plus he likes to bang the colorful wooden blocks. I highly recommend:

Lion King

We just celebrated our first Halloween in the new 'hood. Teddy just celebrated his first Halloween period! We were super lucky to find a first-rate Babystyle lion costume for him from Goodwill for $1. Score!!! I dearly love Halloween, but I like saving a buck even more! Coincidentally, his buddy Emilio across the street was also a lion this year and Carlos and Toni invited us over for beer, burgers, and pictures.



We started to take a cruise around the block to see the excellent neighborhood decorations, but someone got a little spooked. (I won't name names.) So Daddy spent the rest of the evening passing out candy (and watching football) while Teddy and I watched the trick-or-treat action from the bay window. A little Windex should be able to clean all the smudgy excitement off the glass. :)

A shoutout to my favorite costume of the night: the littlest ringmaster complete with red velvet tails, black silk tophat, and curly moustache. He was sassy enough to ask for an extra piece of candy, and cute enough to get away with it.

More pix can be found on Flickr.

Tater Tot

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting television exposure for children under 2 years of age--citing risks to diet, exercise, and sleep quality. Research has also shown that contrary to popular belief (and Baby Einstein marketing), there is no evidence that television viewing benefits children's brain development.

While we had the best intentions to hold out until 2011 before plopping Teddy down to TNG marathons, the battle's already been lost. Given that Naoki and I are both such couch potatoes, I suppose it was inevitable that our little guy would quickly become a tater tot. Found this adorable video on the internet, and it was all downhill from there. He loves the music and the cute characters! I have to admit that it does make life easier to be able to just push play and instantly calm down a screaming baby. And despite what the experts say, is there any chance he might learn some Japanese?



Editor's Note: For those of you who have wondered about the hiatus in posting, I've returned to work full time on a project in Milpitas. Good for job stability; bad for leisure activities (aka blogging and sleeping).

Full House

Although we're stressed about mortgage payments and overwhelmed by the work needed to maintain it, Naoki and I are truly glad we bought our house. As they say in real estate, it's all about location location location. Half of our neighbors are friendly young families and the other half are sweet little grandmothers; all are fun and welcoming. We're within walking distance of the errand essentials (supermarket, pharmacy, bank, post office) as well as treasure troves (Michael's, Ross). Most importantly (at least to Teddy), we're just blocks from a popular playground.



Owning a house has allowed us to entertain a constant stream of visitors. Happiness is having your friends and family all cozied up under the same roof. A couple of weeks ago, Naoki's parents drove in from Colorado and his sister flew in with her baby girl. We had a great time cooking, eating, chatting, shopping, playing cards--just hanging out as a family.



More pix can be found on Flickr.

Little Twin Stars

Naoki and I have always been disappointed that we didn't grow up close to our cousins. But it wasn't just a matter of proximity--we didn't visit often nor were we similar ages. Our hope for Teddy is that he will share tight bonds with his cousin(s) and have many fond memories of playing together.

He's already got a good start in the right direction. Naomi was born a mere 3 months ahead of him and they've already met up twice this summer! If their behavior during our family portrait session is any indication, those two will be thick as thieves and stirring up trouble in no time.



See Naomi flaunt her disdain for the entire affair, while Teddy impishly delights in her saucy behavior. What goobers.

More pix from our session can be found on Flickr.