my friend matthew turned 4 today, and he had a “super science party” to celebrate!  i didn’t know what that was, but it sounded like fun.  like a lot of other birthday parties that i’ve been to, i got to play in the playground (slides are still my favorite!), i got to eat lots of yummy food, and i got to hang out with my friends, aunties, and uncles.  it seemed just like a normal birthday party to me.  but then… a man showed up wearing a lab coat, and he set up a table of science stuff.  he said he was a scientist.

all of the big kids gathered around the table, and the scientist guy guided them through a series of experiments.  all the grown ups and little kids (like me) watched from a distance as they did things like poked balloons without popping them and made slime with a magic powder that soaks up lots of water.  it looked so fun that i had to get in on the action!

i dragged mama to the table with me so that i could use her as a booster chair.  i got my very own pipette and i mixed stuff together to cause a chemical reaction.  i made space mud!  it was so cool!  i even got to bring it home with me.  (mama and daddy are very excited about that.)  the scientist guy said that i was the youngest participant in any of his science adventures.  yay!  i wonder if i’ll make it into the guinness book of world records.

happy birthday matthew!  thank you for inviting me to your super science party. science is fun!

something is wrong with mama and daddy. they are getting very forgetful. last week, when mama and i went to visit uncle henry, she forgot koda! and last night, when daddy and i went to visit grandma, he forgot ME!

all day, mama was telling me about how she and daddy were going to help auntie cheryl celebrate her 40th birthday, and that i was going to hang out with grandma for a few hours. mama was very worried because it was going to be my first time hanging out with someone other than mama, daddy, or miss denise (my nanny). i wasn’t worried — it sounded fun. i love birthday parties, and i love hanging out with grandma. but there was obviously some miscommunication because i didn’t realize that mama and daddy were going to auntie cheryl’s party without me and that i would be hanging out with grandma by myself!

so when i woke up from my nap yesterday, daddy and i went to go visit grandma. after about an hour, daddy left. i blew kisses to him, and everything was fine. but 10 minutes later i started to panic. where’s daddy? he forgot about me! where’s mama? does she even know i’m here? i kept running to the door to put on my shoes and look for them outside. but the door handle is different than ours at home, and i couldn’t open it. i was trapped!

i cried for about and hour and a half. grandma held me, took me out to the backyard, tried to play with me, tried to feed me dinner… nothing worked. i refused to eat even one bite of my dinner or drink even one sip of milk or juice. grandma kept trying to take my shoes off, but i wouldn’t let her. i wanted to be all ready if mama and daddy ever came back for me. finally, i got so exhausted from crying that i passed out in the middle of the living room floor wearing my daytime outfit — shoes, and everything.

a few hours later, i was being lifted off the ground. i opened my eyes and saw mama. yay! she found me! i looked over her shoulder and saw daddy, but no koda. i asked mama, “doda?” she told me that koda was waiting for me at home and that we were going there to see him now. all was good in the world. i blew kisses to grandma as we left her house, then i passed out in the car on the way home. grandma, i’m sorry i was so difficult last night. i love you very much, but i was upset because i thought mama and daddy forgot about me.

this morning at 5:30am, i woke up… STARVING. (that’s 2 hours earlier than my usual wake up time.) i guzzled about 4x my usual amount of milk and ate a full breakfast. i was not interested in playing, i just wanted mama to hold me. she kept trying to lay me down next to her so that i would go back to sleep, but i insisted on sitting on her lap and i pulled her arms around me. mama held me tight while she talked to me and sang to me. i just sat there, quietly. mama was in disbelief that i sat so still for so long.

when daddy woke up at 7:30am, we played for a bit. then he made me my second breakfast (about 2 hours earlier than my usual second breakfast). at 11:15am, daddy and i took a nap together. i don’t usually nap until around 2:30pm, and i haven’t napped with daddy in over a year! my schedule is all screwed up today.

i love auntie cheryl and all, but i hope she doesn’t turn 40 again — ever. last night was rough. and today, i’m all messed up. why does she need mama and daddy to help her turn 40, anyway? she’s a grown up and should learn to do things by herself, don’t ya think?

i always like having playdates because i have fun hanging out with my buddies.  but i especially like going on double dates with koda.  and it’s even better when we get to go on dates with girls!  do you remember when we went on a double date with celine and shasta last year?  well, we had another date with the same girls this evening.  i helped koda get ready by putting on his collar (with mama’s help) and trying to squirt sunscreen on him.   koda didn’t seem to like the sunscreen.  i dunno why.  i love having sunscreen rubbed all over me because it means that i get to run around wild outside!

when we got to the girls’ house, koda and shasta played together for hours — non-stop — like long-lost puppy lovers.  between me calling for koda (“doda!  doda!”) and celine calling for shasta (“da-ta!  da-ta!”), there was a lot of babbling going on in that house.  celine and i also shared our snacks with each other, and we played together a little bit, but not much.  i guess we just weren’t all that into each other today.  emily, however, is a whole ‘nother story…

emily is celine’s 5 year-old sister.  she brought out lots of toys for me to see what i would like — a piano, cash register, finger puppets, etc.  she even assembled a giant wooden train track and played thomas the train with me   my favorite toy was the cash register.  i liked it so much that i think mama is going to buy one for me.  and that’s saying a lot because mama never buys me any toys.  but my most favorite thing of all was emily.  she is so pretty, and so smart, and she showed me how to play with so many new toys that i’d never seen before.  i really want a big sister.  or maybe i just have a thing for older women.  i’m not sure — they sort of seem like the same thing to me.

i had so much fun in san diego, but i missed koda.  i asked about him hundreds of times, and each time, mama and daddy told me that koda was playing with kiara and that we would see him when we got home.  mama was careful to tell me that we would see him either sunday or monday, but you know how it is when you’re on vacation — you lose track of what day of the week it is.

when i wake up in the morning (and from my naps), i always call for “mama”.  but this morning, i called “doda?  doda?  doda?”  (that’s what i call koda.)  he didn’t come.  i guess it wasn’t sunday or monday yet.  but then every time i asked for koda throughout the day, mama told me that we would go pick him up after my afternoon nap.  i was so excited to see him that i took an extra short nap and i skipped my snack.  i was so happy when when we got into the car to drive to uncle henry’s house.  and then when we got there, i couldn’t stop smiling and kicking and shrieking!

when we went inside, koda and kiara were out in the backyard.  i ran to the sliding glass door and pounded on the glass and screamed for koda.  he must have been excited to see me too, ‘cuz when he came inside, he licked me all over my face and neck.  bleccch.  i wanted to hug him, but i didn’t want to get licked again.  so i waited until he was lying down and then i gave him a big hug.

welcome home, koda.  and thank you to kiara and uncle henry for keeping him company while we were gone

we just got back from a long weekend in san diego.  we flew down there for auntie barbara’s graduation and decided to stay and make a mini-vacation out of it.  auntie barbara earned her masters in nursing, she is a member of a couple of honor societies, and she did all that while working full-time. i have the smartest auntie ever!  and now that she is a nurse practitioner, she can write me prescriptions for some good stuff

here’s a quick recap of my san diego trip.

5/19 (thursday): mama, daddy, and i met grandma, grandpa, and uncle randy at the airport and we all flew to san diego together.  dropped off our stuff at auntie barbara’s house, and then we all had lunch at the cheesecake factory.  went back to auntie’s for a nap.  mama woke me up so that we could catch the end of auntie’s grad reception at the mission bay yacht club, but it was over by the time we got there

5/20 (friday): attended the school of nursing commencement ceremony.  went to lunch at maria maria (carlos santana’s restaurant).  i slept through the entire lunch, but i heard it was delicious.  after my nap, we went to sea world for about 5 minutes.  we thought it closed at 10pm, but it turned out that it closed at 6pm.  we decided to leave and come back the next day.  so instead, we went to kate sessions park where i played in the playground, ran around the grass, and made friends with some dogs.

5/21 (saturday): sea world!  i loved the penguins, life-size elmo, and elmo’s flying fish ride.  (i even got to make our elmo pig fly by pulling on the lever.)  i hated the beluga whales and other giant sea creatures when they got up close and personal.  (it was okay to see them swimming around at sea level, but when they swam right next to me in the underwater viewing area it sort of freaked me out).  i was indifferent about shamu and the sleeping polar bear.  i wish mama had brought my swim clothes to sea world because there was a water attraction that i really wanted to play in.  she said she didn’t bring it because the weatherman told her that it was going to be overcast and cloudy.  he lied.

5/22 (sunday): flew home.

my san diego highlights:

• getting to spend the whole weekend with grandma, grandpa, auntie barbara, and uncle randy (who i usually only get to see for a couple of hours at a time)
• the big pile of presents that were waiting for me when i arrived at auntie barbara’s house!  i thought she was confused because it wasn’t my birthday or anything but she said she wanted me to have things to play with while i was visiting.  (little did she know that her coasters, refrigerator door, and rock band drumsticks were all the entertainment that i would need.)
• riding on (shuttle) buses to and from the airport parking lot, terminal, and car rental place
• swinging on the bid kid swings!  (mama always thought i hated swings, but i just hate baby swings.  i love swinging by myself on the bid kid swings!  ’bout time that she figured that out.)
• making daddy chase me up and down the big grassy hill at park.  i wore him out
• taking the elevator in auntie’s building up and down from the underground garage to her condo
• getting to share a room with mama and daddy.  i even got to sleep in their big bed for a little while.  (auntie got me a pack ‘n play to sleep in, but it was cramping my style.  so mama put me to sleep in the big bed, and she moved me to the pack ‘n play after i was conked out.)

my san diego lowlights:

• no koda.  i missed him a lot and asked about him all day, every day.
• sleeping through auntie’s reception at the mission bay yacht club
• not having my sun hat at sea world.  mama didn’t bring it because the weather man told her that it was going to be overcast and cloudy.  it was warm and sunny for most of the weekend.
• not getting to take a photo with elmo or even give him a high five.  the line was closed by the time we got there.  at least i got to wave to him and big bird.
• getting stuck on the tarmac for 1.5 hours before our plane ride home.  good thing i had lots of snacks to eat and bubbles to play with.  (who blows bubbles on an airplane?  mama is so silly!)

people in san diego are so nice.  like, when i went to the bathroom (in the airport) with mama, all the ladies in line in front of us offered to let us go ahead of them because they thought that i had to go potty and they didn’t want me to have an accident.  and, when mama dropped her jacket at sea world, she retraced her steps and found it hanging on a post right where she dropped it — with her iphone still in the pocket!

we had such a fun trip to san diego.  thanks for letting us stay with you, auntie barbara.  and congratulations on earning your masters degree — we are sooo proud of you!

last night, mama and i went out to dinner and froyo with gung-gung and uncle henry. while we were out, koda had a playdate with kiara at her house. and then when we were getting ready to leave and go home, mama forgot koda! i kept trying to go back inside uncle henry’s house to get him, but mama wouldn’t let me. and during the entire drive home, i asked for koda at least a hundred times. (i’m not exaggerating.)

then this morning when i woke up, i looked for koda but i couldn’t find him. i started to put food in his bowl just like i do every morning, but mama wouldn’t let me. that’s when i knew something was fishy. but mama said not to worry. she said he was having a sleepover at dog’s house (that’s what i call kiara) and that i would see him when we got home from san diego. san diego? what’s san diego?

well, we got onto an airplane this morning (that was a fun adventure that i will tell you about later) and as we were walking off the plane 1.5 hours later, i started calling for koda again. i thought that the airplane might have been called “san diego” and that koda would be waiting for us when we got off. he wasn’t. i still can’t find him. i hope he’s not mad at me for leaving him at uncle henry and kiara’s house. it wasn’t my fault. mama is the one that forgot him

exactly 6 months ago, i was in hawaii eating shave ice with mama, daddy, logan, auntie cheryl, and uncle greg.  and if you read about my trip, you might remember that that’s where mama and uncle greg got their big tv break. i completely forgot about it until auntie judy asked about it the other day. and through the power of the internet, i found the show!

the episode that they were on was called “destination tennis: maui”.  it’s a show on the tennis channel, and it aired a week and a half ago.  i’ll bet that about 5 people tuned in to watch. it turns out that mama’s 15 minutes of fame was edited down to about 5 seconds.  and forget about the fame — all you can really see is uncle greg’s big hat.  oh well. at least we got free shave ice out of it

uncle greg’s big ol’ rice paddy hat is quite a sight to see though, so if you want to check it out watch the episode (skip to 6:58).

yesterday, mama left us boys (daddy, koda, and me) and went out for some girl time.  but before she left, she made sure that i had food to eat for dinner, so we were all set.  we had a fun evening, a yummy dinner, and everything was going just fine.  in fact, when mama called to check on us at 8:20pm, daddy told her that we were all doing well and that he had already put me to bed.

so when mama got home, she was very surprised to see me running toward her yelling “mama!  mama!”  naturally, she asked what the heck happened.  well, lemme tell you.  when mama called to check on us, and daddy told her that we were doing just fine, he had spoken too soon.  we were NOT doing fine!  daddy didn’t do my bedtime routine right, so i was very upset.  after he put me in my crib, i screamed for 15 minutes and refused to sleep (which is very unusual because i go down very easily and quietly with mama).  it’s not daddy’s fault, though.  my bedtime routine is a constantly evolving and mama must have forgotten to tell him.  through a combination of words, signs, and pointing/grunting, i was mostly able to tell him about my beauty regimen, but i just didn’t know how to communicate “sit with me on the glider and practice ABC’s”.

so for future reference, i made a nighttime checklist.  it’s current as of today, but who knows when it’ll change again.  (and this is only for days that i don’t take a bath/shower.)

~8:40pm: head upstairs to my room

• help me smear up the wall using the door jamb as an arête so that i can turn on the light
• change my diaper and put on my pj’s
• read books while i’m drinking milk from my spill-proof cup

~8:50pm: head to the bathroom

• help me smear up the wall using the door jamb as an arête so that i can turn on the light
• help me wash my hands (pull up my sleeves, let me turn on the water, pump liquid soap on my hands, let me wash my hands, let me turn off the water, let me dry my hands)
• help me brush my teeth (put toothpaste on my toothbrush, let me turn on and off the water to wet the bristles, then let me brush.  when i’m done, help me brush the spots i missed, then let me turn on and off the water to rinse my toothbrush.)
• wash my face (let me turn on/off the water to wet the washcloth)
• floss my teeth (i tried doing this my myself today but wasn’t very good at it)
• help me moisturize my face (squeeze a tiny dab of baby lotion onto my finger and i will spread it on my face)
• put baby powder on my neck
• carry me out of the bathroom and let me turn off the light on the way out

~8:55pm: carry me to my room

• let me turn off the light
• let me turn on the stereo
• sit with me in the glider
• recite “goodnight moon”, practice saying ABC’s, sing ABC’s, sing “twinkle twinkle little star”, sing “never gonna let you down”
• carry me to my crib (make sure my blanket and bunny are in there)

it looks like a long list, but it’s actually very quick and easy.  if you follow this checklist, i’ll be asleep (with no protesting) by the time you get back downstairs

my buddy kai came over today for a playdate.  we had planned on hanging out for a few hours and maybe even having lunch, but we (and our mamas) were having so much fun that we lost track of time.  our playdate turned into an epic 7.5-hour eat- and play-fest!

kai brought over some hockey sticks and balls to play with.  (they were actually golf clubs, but they look just like hockey sticks to me!)  kai has a wicked slapshot.  i hope i can shoot like that when i am 2 years old.  today was my first time playing hockey, and i wasn’t very good at it.  mama kept calling delay of game and high-sticking penalties on me.  she said i wasn’t supposed to pick up the puck, which was confusing because it was actually a ball, and she usually encourages me to pick up and throw balls.  she also kept telling me to keep the stick on the floor, which was also confusing because i usually swing a stick (baseball bat) in the air to hit balls.

my face-off percentage today was 0%, and i’m pretty sure that kai should have been awarded penalty shot when i snatched the puck off the ground when he was on a breakaway   when it comes to hockey, i am definitely not a natural.

mama says that she’s going to get me a real hockey stick and some inline skates soon.  i’m going to practice a lot before i play hockey with kai again.  i wonder if the yamamoto hockey clinic offers private lessons.

p.s.  do lefties have any advantage in hockey?

p.p.s.  please don’t tell grandpa that i was playing hockey with golf clubs.  he might never invite me to the country club again.

mama and daddy said i’m going to get a new bed soon. but because i am such an active kid (even in my sleep) they know that i will roll around and fall out of bed on a daily basis.  so what’s their plan? to make me sleep on a mattress on the floor. what the heck??? that’s no way for a kid to grow up — that’s how starving college students live!

but i guess they have a point — i do move around a lot in my sleep.  even in my crib, i end up with at least one foot hanging out through the slats, and my head ends up wedged into a corner at the foot of my bed. but mama thinks she figured out why i always end up upside down.  every night, she lays me down in my bed and covers me with my blanket.  and naturally, my blanket is at the foot of my bed.  so when i scrunch it up to use as a pillow, i have to flip around to lay my head on it, right?

earlier this week, mama put a pillow in my crib.  at first, i hated it and tried to throw it overboard.  so mama moved it to the top of my bed and let bunny and dog sleep on it.  i slept at the foot of my bed like usual, undisturbed by the pillow.  but bunny and dog seemed to like the pillow, so i gave it a chance.  and guess what…  i love it!  the pillow stays at the top of my bed, i rest my head on it, and don’t have to flip upside down when i sleep anymore.  (don’t tell anyone, but i’ve figured out that it i fold my pillow in half, i can use it as a springboard.  i can almost vault out of my crib!)

now that i don’t flip around (as much) when i sleep, can i get a regular bed?  i don’t have to sleep on a mattress on the floor, right?  i hope not, ‘cuz i was browsing online the other day, and i found the bed that i want. whaddya think?  isn’t this the coolest bed ever?  mama says no.  she wants to get me a twin-sized bed, not a toddler bed that fits a crib mattress.  she says that my current mattress has to stay in the crib for the baby to use.  i dunno what she’s talking about.  it’s my mattress!

well, it’s a good thing that mama has one-click ordering on her amazon.com account.  when she’s not looking, i’m just gonna order the fire engine bed for myself.  it should be here by the weekend