claire and bella invited me to go with them to the oakland zoo today!  they are regulars there, but i had never been to a zoo, so i was very excited.  mama told that we were going to see elephants, lions, giraffes, and lots of other animals that i had never seen before.  but we didn’t.  we didn’t see any tigers or bears, either.  i guess all the animals were playing hide-and-seek.  and they must be really good hiders because we never found them.  (it actually looked like they were doing maintenance on some of the animals’ homes because there were tractors and bulldozers at work.  the other animals must have been sleeping.)

we eventually found some animals that weren’t hiding.  there were zebras, camels, chimpanzees, gibbons, flamingos, and lots of other birds.  and then we went on a train ride and saw emus and wallabies.  i had never seen animals like those except for in my books!  i thought it was so cool to watch the gibbons swinging from the tree branches, just like i swing from the bars in gym class.  and emus are so funny-looking that i couldn’t stop laughing every time i saw one 😀

we made our way over to the children’s zoo area where we found some bunnies, pigs, sheep, and goats.  everyone says that sheep say “baa”, but they don’t.  i tried to talk to them, but they didn’t say anything to me at all.  so, i quickly moved on.  i picked up some hay off the ground and offered it to a big goat.  i thought he would “take it” like koda does when i give him sticks, but he ignored me.  so i went over to the corner and found a baby goat hanging out by himself.  he looked lonely, so i gave him a hug.

finally, it was lunch time.  auntie di suggested that we have a picnic, and what a great idea that was!  bella even shared her grapes with me 🙂  picnics are so fun — i hope we get to do that more often during summertime when the weather gets warmer.  but umm, can someone please tell mama that it’s not cool to take photos of me and my friends while we are chewing mouthfuls of food?

i had a such a fun time at the zoo that i took a 3+ hour nap when we got home.  (that’s twice as long as my usual naps!)  i can’t wait to go back to the zoo when the animals aren’t hiding.  and  i hope i get to see bella and claire more often, too 🙂  don’t tell anyone, but bella kissed me goodbye when we left.  it was just a cheek kiss, but still…  we’re taking it slow.

thank you, bella and claire, for inviting me to the zoo and showing me around today.  i hope to see you both again soon!  xoxo.

when i woke up this morning, i found mama!  today must be thursday 🙂  mama wanted a big hug, so i hugged her.  but what i really wanted to do was show her the new things that i learned while she was gone.  so right after i hugged her, i blew raspberries all over her arms and legs.  she thought that was hilarious.   she asked me who taught me how to do that, but i didn’t tell.

mama missed me so much while she was gone that she took the day off from work so she could spend the entire day with me.  we went to gym class (a different class than i usually go to), met a new doctor that has a slide in her waiting room, and then went to lunch at a ramen place.  at lunch, i showed mama another new trick i learned — sipping water through a straw and then spitting it out all over the place!  mama didn’t think that was hilarious at all.  and i wouldn’t tell her who taught me that trick, either — i’m no tattletale.  but i made up for the spitting by giving her eskimo kisses all afternoon.  she can’t stay mad at me when i’m that cute, right?

i was having such a fun time with mama that i took my nap an hour and a half later than usual.  it was perfect timing, though. ‘cuz when i woke up in the evening, uncle henry came over with puppies!  we all played together in the backyard.  they had just gotten spayed/neutered, but you would have never known it  because they were just as active and playful as always.

what a fun day i had.  i wish every day could be thursday so i can hang out with mama all the time!  (no offense to daddy or miss denise.  i like hanging out with both of you, too 🙂 )

ever since yesterday, i haven’t been able to find mama.  i thought she might be hiding from me, so i have been running around the house calling “mama? mama?”.  i looked for her everywhere — even in the toilet — but she is nowhere to be found.

eventually i realized that my future bedroom has a window that overlooks the front of our house.  (i know it’s going to be my room because my new bed is in there!)  so i started checking for mama’s car in the driveway.  it’s not there.  i guess mama isn’t hiding in the house after all.  daddy told me that mama is in texas and that i will see her when i wake up on thursday.

i don’t know when thursday is coming, so i keep peeking through the blinds to check for mama’s car.  it’s still not there.

is it thursday yet?

when i woke up from my nap today, i was sitting in my car seat and we were parked in front of a store.  the smell of daddy’s savory pizza and the sweet aroma of mama’s latte lingered in the air.  that instantly put a smile on my face.

mama picked me up out of my car seat, and said we were gonna go shopping.  cool!  i like shopping.  but it was all a trick.  i was taken to a big napping prison!  the entire place was filled with beds.  mama laid me down on one bed after another and asked me if i liked them.  no mama, i don’t like it!  i just woke up from my nap.  why are you trying to make me take another nap?! i kept pulling her towards the door so we could get outta there.  but she and daddy didn’t get the hint.  they just kept talking to the stranger who greeted us.

finally, i convinced them to leave.  we got back into the car and i thought we were headed home.  but then daddy drove us to another napping prison, and we went through the same ordeal all over again.  we did this three times at three different napping prisons.  mama said we were shopping for my big boy bed, but i know better.  mama and daddy just wanted me to sleep all day.  i still haven’t figured out why.

things i like:

• communicating through a combination of words (my favorite is “no”), signs, pointing, and some well-timed grunts
• getting food for koda.  i need help loosening the lid on the food bin, but i do the rest by myself.  it takes about 30 scoops for me to fill his bowl because i don’t get very many pieces of kibble in each scoop — sometimes, none.  but at least i’m getting good at not spilling kibble all over the floor 🙂
• eating mama’s spicy food, then wiping the flames off of my burning tongue onto her shirt.  and then i go back for more.
• (mandarin) oranges.  i have always loved eating them, but now i can even peel them by myself.  (mama still has to start it for me because my fingernails aren’t long enough.)
• having my teeth flossed.  mama flosses them for me first, then she lets me take a second pass by myself.  i like flossing so much that i sign “thank you”(unprompted) after mama helps me with it.
• mama’s ponytail.  it’s hilarious when she whips it around because it looks like koda’s tail wagging.
• “calling” mama and koda on the phone.  i usually hold a phone up to my ear (including gung-gung’s old motorola microTAC), but i even make calls with my shoe, my snack cup, and anything else laying around.  one time, i even put a  piece of mandarin orange in my ear like a bluetooth headset.  when i call koda, i hold the phone up to his ear so he can listen/talk.
• youtube.  i mostly like to watch the videos that daddy made of koda and/or me, but i have a few other favorites (like the wiggles singing “twinkle twinkle little star” and my dream girl singing “head, shoulders, knees and toes”).
• stomping.  i learned this from “if you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet…”, and i’ve added stomping to my repertoire of dance moves.
• swinging on the big kid swings.  everyone thought i hated swings, but it’s just the baby swings that i don’t like.
• slides.  i know, that’s old news.  but i really like playing on the slides at the playground.  and now i can even walk UP the slide by myself!

things i don’t like:

• when daddy massages mama’s shoulders.  he says she likes it but it looks like he’s hurting her!
• being forgotten at other people’s houses without mama and daddy
• going on trips without koda
• giant sea creatures that are bigger than me (like whales and sharks) that get right up in my face like they’re going to eat me

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!