i spent the day at gilroy gardens with five girls.  FIVE!  well, one of them was baby sister, but still.  i spent the day at gilroy gardens with four girls that aren’t related to me.  from left to right:  baby sister, ava, zoe, maddie, me, and malia.

it was zoe and ava’s first time at gilroy gardens, so i showed them around.  we went on lots of rides together and they loved it.  especially zoe — she was so excited and giggly all day long.  she wanted to ride all the rides with me and she tried to hold my hand.  she even tried to bust a move with the ol’ stretching-her-arm-around-my-shoulder trick.

zoe and i are a match made in heaven.  while dada was eating his funnel cake, she and i hung out by the railing together and watched the trains go by.  she was even wearing a thomas the train shirt!  oh, and get this:  when mama was taking a photo of us on the strawberry ride, zoe told her “you hafta close the door!”  a girl who likes trains and is OCD about closing doors?  i think i’m in love.

most kids say that christmas is their favorite holiday, but i just looove halloween.  and what’s not to love?

first, there are the pumpkins.  dada got a pumpkin for everyone in the family, and we were all going to carve our own jack-o-lanterns.  but mama was a pumpkin hog and she wanted to make three of them into angry birds.  she sure is obsessed with that game.

i liked helping mama sketch her designs onto the pumpkins, but then she tried to make me clean the insides out of the them.  as soon as my hand touched the slimy pumpkin guts, i was done.  gross!  so, i let mama do the rest.  and since mama made my pumpkin into an angry bird, i took baby sister’s.  i had to have a jack-o-lantern that matched my halloween costume, just like last year 🙂

matthew came over to go trick-or-treating with me, but before we could go, we had a halloween dinner.  we made our own pizzas!  how fun!  i kept putting more and more and more cheese on mine.

then, we got dressed up and went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  i knocked on the doors, and matthew said “trick or treat!  happy halloween!”  matthew and i made a great team.  (baby sister stayed at home to help dada give out candy.)

after our treat bags were full, matthew and i went back home.  but that wasn’t the end of the fun.  kids were still coming to the door, so matthew and i took over the candy-giving duties.  opening the door and giving out candy was just as fun as trick-or-treating.

what a fun night.  we had a blast!  matthew is such a fun trick-or-treat buddy that i hope to make this a halloween tradition — trick-or-treating with matthew around our neighborhood, and maybe even the pizza-making 😉  but somehow, i have a feeling that baby sister will want to tag along next year.

(click here to see more halloween photos.)

matthew invited us to join him at “haunt the hollow” today.  it was an event at happy hollow where kids like us could go trick-or-treating.  in the morning we rode the train, played in the playground, and went on some rides.  then after lunch, it was time to put on our costumes and go trick-or-treating.

i came thiiis —> <— close to being a shark for halloween (again) this year.  but mama finally came to her senses and got me a new costume.  i was superkyden!  the three of us were superheroes:  spiderman, superman, and supercow 😀

we went trick-or-treating at booths set up all over the park.  most places gave out healthy treats like fruit leather and organic crisped rice bars.  at one booth, they let us drive (well, sit in) the sharks zamboni.  how cool!  at first, i thought i got to sit in there cuz sharkie and i are buddies, but it turned out that they were letting just about anyone drive it.  after we got tired of collecting healthy halloween treats, we fed the goats, played some more, and then called it a day.  i liked the healthy snacks, but dada was disappointed that he didn’t find any chocolate when he raided my candy bag.

when i woke up yesterday, auntie mimi was at our house!  i guess she and mama had a sleepover after their egg-making party.  they have been making eggs red for the past two days.  i don’t get it. aren’t eggs supposed to be white? but then mama showed me the pictures from my red egg party that i had when i was 100 days old. i guess baby sister turned 100 days old today, because we had a red egg party for her.

our grandparents, aunties, uncles, and friends came to celebrate baby sister. i was very unhappy for most of the day. everyone thought that i was jealous of all the gifts that baby sister was getting, but that wasn’t it at all. i just wanted mama to pay attention to me. she had been ignoring me all day to set out placecards, make sure lunch ran smoothly, and chat with friends and family.  once mama held me, i was just fine.

even though i cried a lot, i actually had fun at baby sister’s party.  i got to watch the fish and the water fountains at the restaurant, play with my friends, and spend time family.  i even got some presents!  i hope everyone else had fun, too.  (click here for some pics from the party.)

so when’s my next red egg party?  when i turn 200 days old?  oh wait… i think that might have already passed.

baby sister likes to sing duets with mama.  every night, they sing “we could be in love”. that’s their song.

i was so excited to go to the halloween party at the little gym today.  as soon as i woke up from my nap, i got all dressed up in my awesome costume, piled everyone into the SUV, and headed over to my gym.  when we got there, dada parked the car, mama unbuckled my seatbelt, and then she took my costume off of me.  then we all drove away.  what the…?!  i was SO  MAD.  i was pointing to the gym and screaming as we drove away.  mama said that it looked like the party was over.  i guess i slept through the whole thing.  but can you blame me?  after the day that i had yesterday, it’s a wonder that i didn’t sleep the entire day away.

yesterday morning, we left the house before 9:00am to go to lemos farms, the crack pumpkin patch.  we stayed there until about 2:30pm.  i slept in the car on the way home for about 15 minutes.  when we got home, everyone was so tired and wanted to take a nap — well, everyone except me.  so i stayed up.

after spending about an hour at home, it was time to go to aris’ birthday party at my regular gym.  i thought it would be just like when i had my 1st birthday party there, but it wasn’t at all.  we played fun games that i’ve never played before.  it was so fun, but sooo crowded.  aris is so popular that there wasn’t even enough room for all the adults to stand in the party room — they had to stand outside or stay in the gym while we were eating.  but all of us kids got our own chairs.  hee hee.  can you find me in this photo?

after the birthday party, we went straight to sonoma chicken coop to watch my rock star uncle jamie play with his new band.  it was their first gig!  i had fun watching him and listening to the music, but i didn’t recognize most of the songs.  i guess i have to watch them more so i can learn their songs and sing along.  i think they might be playing there again, so if anyone wants to come with me next time, let me know!  we can say “we’re with the band” 🙂

whew!  i’m getting tired just thinking about all the things we did yesterday.  what a fun and action-packed day it was!  but now you see why i was so tired today and slept through the halloween party.  today wasn’t a total veg-out day, though.  i did get to go on a walk with gung-gung, a bike ride with dada, and a run with mama.  well, koda and i ran while mama rollerbladed.  i can’t wait until i get to go rollerblading too!

matthew and i met up at the pumpkin patch today.  i brought mama, dada, and baby sister along, too.  we didn’t go to an ordinary corner lot with a pile of pumpkins.  we drove for nearly an hour to lemos farms which was transformed into a pumpkin patch on steroids. actually, make that crack.  the place was just nuts.  there was a petting zoo, train rides, hay rides, pony rides, jumpy houses, a live band, a haunted house, a face painter, a balloon-animal guy, homemade pumpkin goods (pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream) and more.  i know i’m forgetting something, but let’s just say that there was way more stuff than we could fit into a single day.

we fed the goats.  we petted the goats.  we rode the ponies (everyone was shocked that i rode the pony by myself).  we rode the train.  went on a hayride.  baby sister slept through all of that, but the bumpy hayride woke her up.  i think she was mad when she woke up and saw what my shirt said (“will trade sister for candy”).  see the look of horror on her face?  click on the photo to make it bigger.  i promise it will make you laugh 😀

we ate lunch while sitting on hay bales.  we played in the mini pumpkin patch.  we danced to the live music.  then we walked across the street to pastorino farms.  there, we walked through the field of pumpkins.  we took photos in the wooden cutouts.  we played in the giant corn stalks.

after all that it was after 2:00pm, but there was still so much more to do.  i especially wanted to ride the pony again, but everyone was too tired and ready to go home.  everyone but baby sister, that is.  she was just getting started.  too bad for her that she slept through most of the fun.

here are more pics from the day.

happy 3 month birthday to baby sister!

things she likes:

• singing. when mama sings to her, baby sister joins in. then everyone starts laughing because it’s so darn cute. then baby starts laughing. next thing you know, everyone is in hysterics.
• smiling and laughing. baby sister is always so happy!
• sucking on her fingers. she hasn’t discovered her thumbs, yet.
• her wash ‘n go hairstyle. i think it’s wild (not in a good way). but, whatever. it’s her hair.
• kicking and punching.  really, she’s just flailing her arms and legs wildly about.  she doesn’t stop moving, except when she’s sleeping.
• sitting up (with assistance). she likes having a view that isn’t a white ceiling.
• “flying” on mama legs. i guess you could call it elevated tummy time.

things she doesn’t like:

• lying on the right side of her head. and it’s not just that her head naturally rolls that way when she’s on her back. even when she’s on her tummy, she turns her head so that she’s lying on the already-flat left side of her head. this makes it hard to know if her head is flat because she’s always laying on that side or if it’s because the sutures in her skull fused too early 🙁
• blankets. she kicks them off of herself even when it’s cold.

everyone always comments on how much hair baby sister has.  what they’re really thinking is how CRAZY baby sister’s hair is, but they are trying to be polite.  i think she looks like a monchhichi that stuck her finger in an electrical socket.  and they called me “king crazy hair“?

for comparison, here’s a photo of me and my hair on one of its wildest days.  i was 11 months old.  this is nothing compared to baby sister, right?  and my hair didn’t usually look like that — mama just caught my bed head right after my nap.  baby sister is not even 3 months old, and her hair just gets crazier and crazier every day.

mirror, mirror, on the wall…  whose hair is the craziest of them all?

i had my first dentist appointment today. i was a little nervous when we got there, but everyone was sooo nice. (the toys, coloring books, and the cartoons playing on the flat screen TV’s didn’t hurt, either!)  first, the dental assistant let me pick out a toothbrush (i picked the green pooh one) and a sticker (i picked thomas the train). then she gave me a plastic case full of teeth stuff (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, etc.) and a green backpack to store all my goodies in.

looking around, i saw all kinds of fancy equipment that i wanted to play with — and nobody stopped me! the dental assistant sprayed water in my hand with the squirter, and mr. thirsty sucked it all up. then she used the tickle brush to tickle my fingers. after all that, i went for a ride in a special chair. it went up and down and leaned backwards, too.  i spent about 30 minutes just getting to know mr. thirsty, the tickle brush, and all their friends.  by the time we finished with all that, i was a little less nervous. i stayed very still while the dental assistant cleaned my teeth with the tickle brush. i even helped out by holding the container of special toothpaste.

then, auntie margaret — i mean, dr. santiago — came in. she checked out all my teeth. i have 20! she said that my teeth look great, and i should be sure to keep up the brushing because my molars have very deep grooves.  heh.  i have groovy teeth 😛  then, auntie margaret painted my teeth with “vitamins” (fluoride), and i was all done!  i got to pick two toys as a reward for being extra good.

auntie margaret said that many 2-year-olds don’t make it through a cleaning, and that’s okay.  but i had an exam, a cleaning, and a fluoride treatment! auntie said that i am one of the best 2-year-old patients she’s ever had. she is definitely the best dentist i’ve ever had.  if you want her to check out your teeth, go see her at gale ranch family dental group in san ramon.  sorry gung-gung, she only sees kids.