Wednesday, 31 December 2008
We just returned from a party at the Otakes', bathed Chase, and put him to bed a little after 10 pm - way past his bedtime. He had a very late nap around dinner time, so he wasn't too wired. He was still holding the little princess doll Sky gave him when we left the house, as it was one of the toppings on her birthday cake, as she turned 3 tonight. The fireworks in the valley are getting a bit crazy and LOUD, so it's a good thing we came home when we did. Driving through the smoke and pyromaniacs is not ideal. I am going to go outside on our lanai and video tape a bit so you can see just how crazy it gets. No matter how many times they try to ban illegal fireworks, people always do them here in Hawai'i. Let's just hope Chase sleeps through it all (and I think Chris is sleeping already!). At least it's rainy out, so hopefully my brother Jay won't have to fight too many house fires this evening.
Hope all of you are enjoying ringing in the new year. 2008 seemed to go by so quickly, as we watched Chase turn from a happy baby to a very happy and active toddler. I hear it gets even better. We're looking forward to 2009. It will be the year for home improvements and hopefully working full-time for me. May the new year bring you and your families much joy, luck, and good health.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Active Chase
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
It's been nice to go to yoga in the morning, so I have the day and evening to myself (although sometimes it wipes me out so I end up taking a mid-morning nap, which might not be so good, but hey, I'm on vacation...I deserve it.).
It's also been fun to play with Chase all day, since he's not at the sitter's this week (though I've still been sending him to the Halsall's a couple days so that I can get some house cleaning done). He's back to his normal, energetic self, over his colds and illnesses. He's so much fun at this age, always doing new things and always laughing. He is quite content playing by himself with his race cars, putting crayons in and out of boxes, or making towers with cups or blocks and then tearing them down (perhaps he's going to be a demolition man when he grows up). It's nice because i can clean the house and cook while he's playing (most of the time - as long as I'm in the same room as him. Otherwise, he follows me like he's my shadow and sticks to me like glue.) He's really into building towers and snapping mega blocks together. In the bath, he lines all his cups up and then stacks them in a tall tower before knocking them all down and laughing hysterically.
He is quite verbal these days too, speaking with a loud gurgling voice and mimicking everything we say...and he's so quick! Gotta watch what comes out of our mouths these days! Today, I was reading a book to him, and I went through the animals once. He pointed to a picture of a bull and said, "Bull". I said, "What?" I'm just amazed at the stuff that comes out of his mouth.
With all these viruses going around, there are always people sneezing and coughing everywhere we go. Chase always covers his mouth and pretends to cough whenever he hears someone sneeze or cough. He remembers to cover his mouth better than some of my kindergartners at school!
We have these Playhut tunnel things I bought awhile back off of Craigslist. You can arrange the tunnels however you want. He loves crawling through and playing hide-and-go-seek in them, running away from anyone that tries to chase him while going through the tunnels. It's nice because you can break them down and fold them flat when you're not using them. But if he sees them just laying there, he immediately wants you to set it up so he can play.
He's really into hiding things behind his back. We'll play this hide-and-go-seek/peek-a-boo game. He'll take toys and put them behind his back. Then we'll go, "Uh-oh? Where did they go?" He'll walk around and turn around, still with the toys behind his back. He figures that if they're behind his back, we can't see them...even though his back is to us. Suddenly, he'll take them and reveal them from behind his back, and start laughing, as if he's saying, "Ha ha! Fooled you! Silly guys! They're right here!"
It's been nice to go to yoga in the morning, so I have the day and evening to myself (although sometimes it wipes me out so I end up taking a mid-morning nap, which might not be so good, but hey, I'm on vacation...I deserve it.).
It's also been fun to play with Chase all day, since he's not at the sitter's this week (though I've still been sending him to the Halsall's a couple days so that I can get some house cleaning done). He's back to his normal, energetic self, over his colds and illnesses. He's so much fun at this age, always doing new things and always laughing. He is quite content playing by himself with his race cars, putting crayons in and out of boxes, or making towers with cups or blocks and then tearing them down (perhaps he's going to be a demolition man when he grows up). It's nice because i can clean the house and cook while he's playing (most of the time - as long as I'm in the same room as him. Otherwise, he follows me like he's my shadow and sticks to me like glue.) He's really into building towers and snapping mega blocks together. In the bath, he lines all his cups up and then stacks them in a tall tower before knocking them all down and laughing hysterically.
He is quite verbal these days too, speaking with a loud gurgling voice and mimicking everything we say...and he's so quick! Gotta watch what comes out of our mouths these days! Today, I was reading a book to him, and I went through the animals once. He pointed to a picture of a bull and said, "Bull". I said, "What?" I'm just amazed at the stuff that comes out of his mouth.
With all these viruses going around, there are always people sneezing and coughing everywhere we go. Chase always covers his mouth and pretends to cough whenever he hears someone sneeze or cough. He remembers to cover his mouth better than some of my kindergartners at school!
We have these Playhut tunnel things I bought awhile back off of Craigslist. You can arrange the tunnels however you want. He loves crawling through and playing hide-and-go-seek in them, running away from anyone that tries to chase him while going through the tunnels. It's nice because you can break them down and fold them flat when you're not using them. But if he sees them just laying there, he immediately wants you to set it up so he can play.
He's really into hiding things behind his back. We'll play this hide-and-go-seek/peek-a-boo game. He'll take toys and put them behind his back. Then we'll go, "Uh-oh? Where did they go?" He'll walk around and turn around, still with the toys behind his back. He figures that if they're behind his back, we can't see them...even though his back is to us. Suddenly, he'll take them and reveal them from behind his back, and start laughing, as if he's saying, "Ha ha! Fooled you! Silly guys! They're right here!"
Saturday, December 27, 2008
BLACKOUT! Chase is 18 Months Old!
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Well, Chase's 18 Month Birthday (as if we're even counting the months!) was a blur because we spent most of the day trying to find food. Why would we do that (other than Tanya being hungry all the time)? Well, like one news reporter said, it was supposed to be a successful Black Friday for retailers...But, it turned out to be "Black" for another reason. Last night, around dinner time, there was a huge lightning and thunder storm. Then, all of a sudden...
At about 7 pm last night, the whole island of O'ahu had a blackout. (Thank goodness we had just pulled the pizza out of the oven, and Chase was just finishing up eating!). The power at our house did not come back until about 2:30 pm this afternoon. With nearly 20 hours without electricity, the Honolulu airport had to cancel flights, sirens were blaring throughout the city (and I worried about our friends with ALS who depend on ventilators - some had to be ambulanced to hospitals, many of which were full), and the whole city basically shut down. Even Barack Obama and his family lost power all night at the house they are vacationing in. No one was spared. Every single house, business, restaurant, and hotel on the island was without electricity all night. Cell phones couldn't be charged, blogs couldn't be updated, the refrigerator couldn't be opened, and the washing machine couldn't finish its cycle. Our evening newspaper was only 5 pages altogether, an indication that no one could get much done with the power out.
We have a panoramic view of Waikiki from our lanai, and at 7 pm last night, all I saw was complete darkness. Surprisingly, a fireworks show still went on by the beach, but it was about the only light visible, as all the street lights in the valley, all the houses across the mountain and below, and all the hotel lights went black. The only lights we could see were the headlights from cars driving through a complete sea of black. We were not well prepared either. The last time we had a blackout was when the earthquake hit in 2006. I remember rushing to my dad's to make sure he was okay. They didn't have a generator to run his bi-pap machine on and had to run a power cord across the street to connect to a neighbor's generator. Even though that was 2 years ago, we didn't have working flashlights or lanterns in the house. Luckily, we found some candles and matches. We bathed Chase by candlelight. Our house sure did smell nice and fragrant by morning! Lots of revelers in the valley decided to light fireworks out of boredom.
I was hoping our power would be back on by morning (especially since I had a load of Chase's clothes sitting in water waiting to go through the rinse cycle.), but this morning, I heard the loud drone of my uncle's generator on the driveway. The power actually came on for a few minutes because I heard Chase's Christmas cd playing. But, it played about one song, then went off again. That was about 6:30 am. I called yoga to see if they had classes. I knew hard core yogis would work out as long as the heaters were working! When I couldn't get through to the studio, I went back to bed. But, I got up again for the 9 am class, and found out that they had electricity! In fact, at that time, much of Kaimuki town had electricity, but our hill did not.
Thank goodness for the solar water heater because I was able to take a hot shower when I got home. Kai and Jason met us to pick up baby furniture and other newborn baby things, then they took us out to lunch for Greek food. We headed to the mall after that, as we knew they were open. Lots of people were there doing the same thing we were, killing time and finding food to eat until the power came back on. Everywhere you went you could hear people talking about the blackout, and whether their houses had power or not. We called my aunt to see if the power came back on before heading home. When we knew the power was on, we went grocery shopping so that I could cook dinner. We only opened the refrigerator once during the blackout, so we figured our food was okay. All of our lights were on by the time we returned. We were able to dry the very wet load of clothes from last night, and I was able to cook dinner.
We had a productive day, amidst the blackout frenzy. I organized Chase's toys in the dark last night, guided only by his REI shark keychain flashlight. We got a new comforter, which we've been needing for these cooler winter nights, on sale at Macy's. And, of course, Chris bought some GI Joe toys at KB Toys, for himself or Chase, I'm still not sure, but Chase sure did have a blast playing with them and talking up a storm about them.
By the way, did I mention that Chase is 18 months old today?! Yep, with his new little boy haircut and tons of energy, our little baby boy is turning into quite an active little toddler!
What Chase is Really Into These Days:
* Watching TV (uh-oh): He actually stayed focused on watching "The Grinch" for about 20 minutes on Christmas Eve, and the next day kept pointing to his Grinch shirt. But, he prefers to read books for sure. I think he's just noticing that the TV has animals and kids on it.
* Playing Peek-A-Boo: He'll cover his eyes and stay still for a LONG time (at least 5 minutes), thinking that if he can't see us, then we can't see him. He'll stay real quiet and still and we'll go, "Where's Chase?" He'll slowly peek an eyeball out and start laughing!
* Making towers of mega blocks (big LEGO type blocks) or any four sided box/block. ...Then knocking them over!
* Saying animal noises when you ask him what sound a certain animal makes. His favorites: "ROAR!" for a tiger or lion & "Moo" for cow
* Climbing and jumping all over Mommy as if she is a human jungle gym. He also loves to climb up steps, run over suspension bridges, and slide down vertical and spiral slides on jungle gyms at parks. He'll do all that, and then run over to do it all over again, about ten times in a row NONSTOP!
* Using his signs and words to communicate:
Words he signs: milk, done, more, hot
He has about 15 words in his vocabulary (including "bus", "bath", "done", "yes", "no", "rice") and he mimics everything else we say.
Chase's main staple has been poi since he was 4 months old, but we're trying to throw more variety of foods into the mix. Although Nana did give him a See's candy chocolate lollipop to lick on Christmas day, we still frown on junk foods. Because he doesn't eat a lot of processed foods, or things with excess sugar or salt, he tends to eat a lot of bland foods. He tells us what he likes and what he doesn't like. We're starting to expand his taste buds.
Now that we have our power back on, we're so grateful for the power of electricity. I plugged in my cell phone, which was on its last bar. I was able to make a home-cooked meal. I could check email and update my blog. Think we better go get new lanterns and flashlights and a battery-operated radio so that we're better equipped the next time we have a blackout.
Tonight, Chase got introduced (meaning Daddy opened the gift for him) to his big Christmas gift, a Strider bicycle, which is a balance bicycle (a bike without pedals) for little guys. He didn't want to keep his helmet on, and he was a little intimidated by the whole balancing on a seat, but he loved spinning the wheels with his hand.
Well, Chase's 18 Month Birthday (as if we're even counting the months!) was a blur because we spent most of the day trying to find food. Why would we do that (other than Tanya being hungry all the time)? Well, like one news reporter said, it was supposed to be a successful Black Friday for retailers...But, it turned out to be "Black" for another reason. Last night, around dinner time, there was a huge lightning and thunder storm. Then, all of a sudden...
At about 7 pm last night, the whole island of O'ahu had a blackout. (Thank goodness we had just pulled the pizza out of the oven, and Chase was just finishing up eating!). The power at our house did not come back until about 2:30 pm this afternoon. With nearly 20 hours without electricity, the Honolulu airport had to cancel flights, sirens were blaring throughout the city (and I worried about our friends with ALS who depend on ventilators - some had to be ambulanced to hospitals, many of which were full), and the whole city basically shut down. Even Barack Obama and his family lost power all night at the house they are vacationing in. No one was spared. Every single house, business, restaurant, and hotel on the island was without electricity all night. Cell phones couldn't be charged, blogs couldn't be updated, the refrigerator couldn't be opened, and the washing machine couldn't finish its cycle. Our evening newspaper was only 5 pages altogether, an indication that no one could get much done with the power out.
We have a panoramic view of Waikiki from our lanai, and at 7 pm last night, all I saw was complete darkness. Surprisingly, a fireworks show still went on by the beach, but it was about the only light visible, as all the street lights in the valley, all the houses across the mountain and below, and all the hotel lights went black. The only lights we could see were the headlights from cars driving through a complete sea of black. We were not well prepared either. The last time we had a blackout was when the earthquake hit in 2006. I remember rushing to my dad's to make sure he was okay. They didn't have a generator to run his bi-pap machine on and had to run a power cord across the street to connect to a neighbor's generator. Even though that was 2 years ago, we didn't have working flashlights or lanterns in the house. Luckily, we found some candles and matches. We bathed Chase by candlelight. Our house sure did smell nice and fragrant by morning! Lots of revelers in the valley decided to light fireworks out of boredom.
I was hoping our power would be back on by morning (especially since I had a load of Chase's clothes sitting in water waiting to go through the rinse cycle.), but this morning, I heard the loud drone of my uncle's generator on the driveway. The power actually came on for a few minutes because I heard Chase's Christmas cd playing. But, it played about one song, then went off again. That was about 6:30 am. I called yoga to see if they had classes. I knew hard core yogis would work out as long as the heaters were working! When I couldn't get through to the studio, I went back to bed. But, I got up again for the 9 am class, and found out that they had electricity! In fact, at that time, much of Kaimuki town had electricity, but our hill did not.
Thank goodness for the solar water heater because I was able to take a hot shower when I got home. Kai and Jason met us to pick up baby furniture and other newborn baby things, then they took us out to lunch for Greek food. We headed to the mall after that, as we knew they were open. Lots of people were there doing the same thing we were, killing time and finding food to eat until the power came back on. Everywhere you went you could hear people talking about the blackout, and whether their houses had power or not. We called my aunt to see if the power came back on before heading home. When we knew the power was on, we went grocery shopping so that I could cook dinner. We only opened the refrigerator once during the blackout, so we figured our food was okay. All of our lights were on by the time we returned. We were able to dry the very wet load of clothes from last night, and I was able to cook dinner.
We had a productive day, amidst the blackout frenzy. I organized Chase's toys in the dark last night, guided only by his REI shark keychain flashlight. We got a new comforter, which we've been needing for these cooler winter nights, on sale at Macy's. And, of course, Chris bought some GI Joe toys at KB Toys, for himself or Chase, I'm still not sure, but Chase sure did have a blast playing with them and talking up a storm about them.
By the way, did I mention that Chase is 18 months old today?! Yep, with his new little boy haircut and tons of energy, our little baby boy is turning into quite an active little toddler!
What Chase is Really Into These Days:
* Watching TV (uh-oh): He actually stayed focused on watching "The Grinch" for about 20 minutes on Christmas Eve, and the next day kept pointing to his Grinch shirt. But, he prefers to read books for sure. I think he's just noticing that the TV has animals and kids on it.
* Playing Peek-A-Boo: He'll cover his eyes and stay still for a LONG time (at least 5 minutes), thinking that if he can't see us, then we can't see him. He'll stay real quiet and still and we'll go, "Where's Chase?" He'll slowly peek an eyeball out and start laughing!
* Making towers of mega blocks (big LEGO type blocks) or any four sided box/block. ...Then knocking them over!
* Saying animal noises when you ask him what sound a certain animal makes. His favorites: "ROAR!" for a tiger or lion & "Moo" for cow
* Climbing and jumping all over Mommy as if she is a human jungle gym. He also loves to climb up steps, run over suspension bridges, and slide down vertical and spiral slides on jungle gyms at parks. He'll do all that, and then run over to do it all over again, about ten times in a row NONSTOP!
* Using his signs and words to communicate:
Words he signs: milk, done, more, hot
He has about 15 words in his vocabulary (including "bus", "bath", "done", "yes", "no", "rice") and he mimics everything else we say.
Chase's main staple has been poi since he was 4 months old, but we're trying to throw more variety of foods into the mix. Although Nana did give him a See's candy chocolate lollipop to lick on Christmas day, we still frown on junk foods. Because he doesn't eat a lot of processed foods, or things with excess sugar or salt, he tends to eat a lot of bland foods. He tells us what he likes and what he doesn't like. We're starting to expand his taste buds.
Now that we have our power back on, we're so grateful for the power of electricity. I plugged in my cell phone, which was on its last bar. I was able to make a home-cooked meal. I could check email and update my blog. Think we better go get new lanterns and flashlights and a battery-operated radio so that we're better equipped the next time we have a blackout.
Tonight, Chase got introduced (meaning Daddy opened the gift for him) to his big Christmas gift, a Strider bicycle, which is a balance bicycle (a bike without pedals) for little guys. He didn't want to keep his helmet on, and he was a little intimidated by the whole balancing on a seat, but he loved spinning the wheels with his hand.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Lots and Lots of Christmas Presents
Christmas was a whole day event, involved with opening presents all day long. We started in the morning at our house. We actually left a few unopened as Chase was more than happy with his first gift, the dump truck of mega blocks from Aunty Melissa. Each time we opened something new, he kept going "Oooh!!! Ooooh!!!" We decided towards the end that we could just leave most of the gifts wrapped and store them away. Even if we opened one a month for the next year, he would be totally ecstatic an wouldn't know the difference.
We continued to open gifts at Nana and Popsicles (aka The Halsall's). We spent 6 hours there, opening gifts eating dinner in between, and opening more gifts. In fact, we weren't sure we were going to be able to finish opening! Chase got a rocking horse from Nana and Popsicle. But, so far, he likes to pile all his stuffed animals on the horse and bounce them around. He is not so sure about sitting on it himself and bouncing around on it. Chase loves his race car track set and his Elmo Live. He's interested in the Strider bike Chris got him, and always says "bies" for "bicycle" when he sees it. Like the horse though, he's a bit intimidated by the whole balancing thing, so as long as we hold him on the bike, and push him around the house, he' fine. He mostly likes to spin the wheels with his hands.
This year, we probably could have gotten away with less presents for Chase (as he really doesn't know what Christmas is all about anyway), but we went a bit overboard. Perhaps I could still put some away and rewrap them for next Christmas?? His birthday??
We continued to open gifts at Nana and Popsicles (aka The Halsall's). We spent 6 hours there, opening gifts eating dinner in between, and opening more gifts. In fact, we weren't sure we were going to be able to finish opening! Chase got a rocking horse from Nana and Popsicle. But, so far, he likes to pile all his stuffed animals on the horse and bounce them around. He is not so sure about sitting on it himself and bouncing around on it. Chase loves his race car track set and his Elmo Live. He's interested in the Strider bike Chris got him, and always says "bies" for "bicycle" when he sees it. Like the horse though, he's a bit intimidated by the whole balancing thing, so as long as we hold him on the bike, and push him around the house, he' fine. He mostly likes to spin the wheels with his hands.
This year, we probably could have gotten away with less presents for Chase (as he really doesn't know what Christmas is all about anyway), but we went a bit overboard. Perhaps I could still put some away and rewrap them for next Christmas?? His birthday??
Mele Kalikimaka!
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Merry Christmas! May you, your families, and loved ones enjoy a wonderful Christmas!
Merry Christmas! May you, your families, and loved ones enjoy a wonderful Christmas!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
On Christmas Eve
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
I unsuccessfully tried to get a Santa picture with Chase. Last year, we passed altogether. This year, I had a feeling Chase would just be scared by Santa since he was scared of the one at Chris' work gathering, and he is scared by most men in beards anyway. But, I figured we could try anyway. Well, for starters, I took him at a bad time...on Christmas Eve, in the middle of the afternoon, when Chase was grouchy and ready for a nap. We actually waited in line, but after 10 minutes of Chase fussing and wiggling, I decided it was time to get out of line and go home. By the time we pulled out of the mall parking lot (and my great parking spot on such a crowded, busy day!), Chase was fast asleep. Probably a good thing we didn't wait to see Santa. It wouldn't have been a great picture. Guess we'll just have to wait till next year.
The best part of today was going to visit Uncle Jay at the fire station. My brother has been a fireman for over 6 years now? But, we haven't yet brought Chase to the fire station. He's about the age where he would start to appreciate it. So, we headed over to the station. We had to wait a little bit until they got back from putting out a fire. Then, we watched Uncle Jay empty the hoses, and he asked if we wanted a ride (but don't tell because civilians aren't supposed to ride in the fire trucks!). We hopped in the back, and Uncle Jay drove the truck into the street and stopped traffic so that he could reverse it the huge ladder truck and park it in the fire station. Chase got to try the steering wheel out for himself afterwards (when the truck was not moving of course).
But, the best part was when Chase noticed the basketballs on top of the lockers. He had fun throwing the ball to his uncle, playing on the exercise equipment, sitting in the jet ski, and hitting the lockers to hear the loud sound they made.
We had dinner at the Halsall's tonight. We decorated the tree after Chase went to sleep, making sure that all the unbreakables are at the bottom and taking a BIG step back to admire the tree (from afar) with the bright blue LED lights. Chase is going to have an exciting day tomorrow....And I wonder what his favorite gift will be? (probably the empty boxes and tissue paper) He's getting lots of new toys and things! What a spoiled kid!
I unsuccessfully tried to get a Santa picture with Chase. Last year, we passed altogether. This year, I had a feeling Chase would just be scared by Santa since he was scared of the one at Chris' work gathering, and he is scared by most men in beards anyway. But, I figured we could try anyway. Well, for starters, I took him at a bad time...on Christmas Eve, in the middle of the afternoon, when Chase was grouchy and ready for a nap. We actually waited in line, but after 10 minutes of Chase fussing and wiggling, I decided it was time to get out of line and go home. By the time we pulled out of the mall parking lot (and my great parking spot on such a crowded, busy day!), Chase was fast asleep. Probably a good thing we didn't wait to see Santa. It wouldn't have been a great picture. Guess we'll just have to wait till next year.
The best part of today was going to visit Uncle Jay at the fire station. My brother has been a fireman for over 6 years now? But, we haven't yet brought Chase to the fire station. He's about the age where he would start to appreciate it. So, we headed over to the station. We had to wait a little bit until they got back from putting out a fire. Then, we watched Uncle Jay empty the hoses, and he asked if we wanted a ride (but don't tell because civilians aren't supposed to ride in the fire trucks!). We hopped in the back, and Uncle Jay drove the truck into the street and stopped traffic so that he could reverse it the huge ladder truck and park it in the fire station. Chase got to try the steering wheel out for himself afterwards (when the truck was not moving of course).
But, the best part was when Chase noticed the basketballs on top of the lockers. He had fun throwing the ball to his uncle, playing on the exercise equipment, sitting in the jet ski, and hitting the lockers to hear the loud sound they made.
We had dinner at the Halsall's tonight. We decorated the tree after Chase went to sleep, making sure that all the unbreakables are at the bottom and taking a BIG step back to admire the tree (from afar) with the bright blue LED lights. Chase is going to have an exciting day tomorrow....And I wonder what his favorite gift will be? (probably the empty boxes and tissue paper) He's getting lots of new toys and things! What a spoiled kid!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Quarantined At Home
Monday, 22 December 2008
Though all my Seattle friends are quarantined in their houses due to snow storms (and I'm so jealous of their amount of snow this year...though lucky I don't have to drive in it), we were quarantined in the house today due to Chase still being sick. It didn't make sense to bring him out, where there's only going to be crowds of people, some of whom are probably sick anyway. He's already battling enough of his own viruses, and I want him to get better by Christmas. So, other than a few errands, we pretty much stayed home most of the day. He watched Signing Time videos so he could learn a few more signs and laugh at all the kids in the videos. He snacked here and there, but still didn't eat a substantial meal. He had more energy today, but I was still worried he might have croup. Doctor thinks it's probably just a wheezing cough and that we should just continue with the nebulizer.
Chase absolutely refused dinner and screamed through his bath. He held on for dear life to the changing table as I struggled to get a diaper and clothes on a screaming baby who was clenching his fists and ankles so tight that I couldn't even properly clothe him for bed. At least we don't have freezing temperatures out. It's okay for him to go to sleep in just a diaper. It took him some milk and mommy's hugs to get him to fall asleep. Poor baby. Late this afternoon, though, he actually had fun playing. But of course, his version of playing was ripping up bits of paper towels and taking tissue out of the kleenex box and throwing them behind the sofa. He definitely found humor in that. And then I brought out my old wooden train pull toys that we've had since we were little. Chase had fun with that too. But, he much preferred climbing all over me and sitting in my lap or kissing me on the lips and hugging me, rather than playing with all of his toys. I know he's getting better. Let's hope he's better by Christmas (for his sake and mine!).
Though all my Seattle friends are quarantined in their houses due to snow storms (and I'm so jealous of their amount of snow this year...though lucky I don't have to drive in it), we were quarantined in the house today due to Chase still being sick. It didn't make sense to bring him out, where there's only going to be crowds of people, some of whom are probably sick anyway. He's already battling enough of his own viruses, and I want him to get better by Christmas. So, other than a few errands, we pretty much stayed home most of the day. He watched Signing Time videos so he could learn a few more signs and laugh at all the kids in the videos. He snacked here and there, but still didn't eat a substantial meal. He had more energy today, but I was still worried he might have croup. Doctor thinks it's probably just a wheezing cough and that we should just continue with the nebulizer.
Chase absolutely refused dinner and screamed through his bath. He held on for dear life to the changing table as I struggled to get a diaper and clothes on a screaming baby who was clenching his fists and ankles so tight that I couldn't even properly clothe him for bed. At least we don't have freezing temperatures out. It's okay for him to go to sleep in just a diaper. It took him some milk and mommy's hugs to get him to fall asleep. Poor baby. Late this afternoon, though, he actually had fun playing. But of course, his version of playing was ripping up bits of paper towels and taking tissue out of the kleenex box and throwing them behind the sofa. He definitely found humor in that. And then I brought out my old wooden train pull toys that we've had since we were little. Chase had fun with that too. But, he much preferred climbing all over me and sitting in my lap or kissing me on the lips and hugging me, rather than playing with all of his toys. I know he's getting better. Let's hope he's better by Christmas (for his sake and mine!).
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sick Boys
Sunday, 21 December 2008
So far, winter vacation has started off with a bumpy start. Chase has been sick all weekend: feverish, clingy, has hardly eaten any solid food, and only late this afternoon, did he start to perk up and want to play (by throwing all my clean clothes behind the sofa, and laughing). And, looks like Chris has caught his cold again. I seem to be okay, but I'm taking my vitamins and my Emergen-C.
Yesterday, while my car was in the shop getting new brakes, we tried to decorate the Christmas tree, but we realized that it's easier to decorate the tree when Chase is asleep. We've already had a few ornament casualties since Chase didn't realize that the glass ball ornaments are a bit fragile when you throw them. And he's getting frustrated seeing the big gate around the Christmas tree.
Today, when Chase wasn't laying on me, he wanted to be carried. Usually he's fine entertaining himself. But today he was just like a zombie on me. So, I looked for these videos I bought him. The only thing is they were already wrapped. I had to unwrap three Christmas presents before I finally found the right one. I put in the Signing Time videos (which teach sign language), and he was only minimally amused. He watched the yardmen weedwack our hill, and then he copied us as we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening whacking mosquitoes in the house. Chris took him for a walk to the park, where they played for a bit. I stayed back to clean the car (Thanks Uncle Gary for washing!)....We did load after load of laundry today, and Joel and Sonyei visited (and we stood there just whacking away at mosquitoes) to drop of a Christmas present for Chase. You know the kid is sick when he is not running, jumping, and laughing all over the place, and he absolutely refuses any kind of food!
I got Chase to eat some rice, but that's about all he wanted to eat. He took a bath and fell asleep on the changing table. We won't send him to the sitter's tomorrow, as I know that's probably where he's been picking up these viruses anyway. Hopefully, everyone is healthy by the time Christmas rolls around!
So far, winter vacation has started off with a bumpy start. Chase has been sick all weekend: feverish, clingy, has hardly eaten any solid food, and only late this afternoon, did he start to perk up and want to play (by throwing all my clean clothes behind the sofa, and laughing). And, looks like Chris has caught his cold again. I seem to be okay, but I'm taking my vitamins and my Emergen-C.
Yesterday, while my car was in the shop getting new brakes, we tried to decorate the Christmas tree, but we realized that it's easier to decorate the tree when Chase is asleep. We've already had a few ornament casualties since Chase didn't realize that the glass ball ornaments are a bit fragile when you throw them. And he's getting frustrated seeing the big gate around the Christmas tree.
Today, when Chase wasn't laying on me, he wanted to be carried. Usually he's fine entertaining himself. But today he was just like a zombie on me. So, I looked for these videos I bought him. The only thing is they were already wrapped. I had to unwrap three Christmas presents before I finally found the right one. I put in the Signing Time videos (which teach sign language), and he was only minimally amused. He watched the yardmen weedwack our hill, and then he copied us as we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening whacking mosquitoes in the house. Chris took him for a walk to the park, where they played for a bit. I stayed back to clean the car (Thanks Uncle Gary for washing!)....We did load after load of laundry today, and Joel and Sonyei visited (and we stood there just whacking away at mosquitoes) to drop of a Christmas present for Chase. You know the kid is sick when he is not running, jumping, and laughing all over the place, and he absolutely refuses any kind of food!
I got Chase to eat some rice, but that's about all he wanted to eat. He took a bath and fell asleep on the changing table. We won't send him to the sitter's tomorrow, as I know that's probably where he's been picking up these viruses anyway. Hopefully, everyone is healthy by the time Christmas rolls around!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Winter Vacay Is Here!
Friday, 19 December 2008
I am officially on Winter Vacation. Though we don't have any snow like in Seattle, it does get darker earlier, and it is rainier in the winter. I'm hoping we have some drier days ahead so that I can take Chase to the beach (thankfully it's still warm out). Since we don't have any travel plans over the next three weeks, and my Christmas presents are all wrapped (though we still haven't decorated the tree yet), my goals are fairly simple:
1) Get 50+ report cards written
2) Clean the house
3) Clean the house
4) Clean the house
I hope Chase gets better soon so that we also can spend some quality time together and decide whether he's going to visit Santa or not. Poor Chase has just finished his antibiotics, but we visited the doctor's again today because he's had slight fevers the past couple of days. It's nothing he needs medication for though. Just looks as though he's fighting another "virus". I've managed to stay healthy so far (knock on wood), so hopefully he gets better soon.
Ah, my other goal is to figure out a way to add more pictures to my blog without having to pay for more storage. I may have to start another blog under another name. I guess after 4 years of blogging, I'm taking up too much space in the blogosphere. Just give me a couple of days, and then you'll be able to see Chase sporting his new little boy haircut.
I am officially on Winter Vacation. Though we don't have any snow like in Seattle, it does get darker earlier, and it is rainier in the winter. I'm hoping we have some drier days ahead so that I can take Chase to the beach (thankfully it's still warm out). Since we don't have any travel plans over the next three weeks, and my Christmas presents are all wrapped (though we still haven't decorated the tree yet), my goals are fairly simple:
1) Get 50+ report cards written
2) Clean the house
3) Clean the house
4) Clean the house
I hope Chase gets better soon so that we also can spend some quality time together and decide whether he's going to visit Santa or not. Poor Chase has just finished his antibiotics, but we visited the doctor's again today because he's had slight fevers the past couple of days. It's nothing he needs medication for though. Just looks as though he's fighting another "virus". I've managed to stay healthy so far (knock on wood), so hopefully he gets better soon.
Ah, my other goal is to figure out a way to add more pictures to my blog without having to pay for more storage. I may have to start another blog under another name. I guess after 4 years of blogging, I'm taking up too much space in the blogosphere. Just give me a couple of days, and then you'll be able to see Chase sporting his new little boy haircut.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Funny Chase
Monday, 15 December 2008
Chase was in an incredibly good mood this afternoon/evening. I didn't pick him up from the sitter until almost 4 pm since I had to attend an IEP meeting at school. We went to the mall to check out KB Toys, who was having 30% off the whole store due to its soon-to-be-closing. Chase has always admired the little pig that oinks and moves its tail and walks. I wanted to get him a doggie one since he loves dogs so much. I asked the cashier to put in batteries for me so I could test it out (since the dog that flips over scares Chase). This one worked out. Chase didn't even let me put it in the box. He held it and hugged it the whole time, during grocery shopping, in the car ride home, and of course, once we got home, he just threw it on the ground once he saw all his other toys. I put the dog back in its box and wrapped it up, adding it to the collection of other presents for Chase. Yeah, he's not spoiled at all. He's only got about a dozen boxes under the tree...And that's just from our household.
We had fun playing during dinner. I'd lean my head to the right. He'd lean his head to the left. He'd start dancing in his highchair when he heard music. He was in such a good mood that I was able to cook and prep dinner AND wash dishes, while feeding him. He had fun saying the word "rice", really enunciating the "s" sound. He watched me pour the rice in the rice pot, wash the rice, and when it was done, he pointed to it immediately, and asked, "Rice?". It's nice that he feeds himself now. He loves using his fork and spoon to feed himself. The only mishap was that he dropped a plate that had food on it...and it wasn't a childproof plate. It was one of our nice salad plates. But, oh well. That's what I get for not watching him more carefully. It probably won't be the last plate to go.
Chase was super funny in the bath too (and he kept saying the word "bath", really enunciating the "th" sound.) He must have spent 20-30 minutes in the bath. He had fun playing with containers, filling them up with water, drinking the water, blowing bubbles in the water, and making towers (then hitting them down of course). He covered his ears with his cups, like ear muffs. Then he handed them to me to try. He just laughed and laughed as we went through every color cup there was.
He went down really easy. I ate dinner, wrapped more gifts, and watched Anthony Bourdain until Chris got home from work(s). The only thing that sucks now is that my allergies are driving me nuts. There has been so much rain that everything is blooming and growing now. Plus, there's probably a lot of moisture and mold around. Everything I'm allergic too. Great.
Plus, there have been lots of black ants around the house lately. After putting Chase to bed, I spent an hour on my hands and knees, spraying Simple Green around the kitchen floor killing ants that were devouring crumbs from Chase's dinner. Then, I discovered a container full of ants. It wasn't washed good. Guess all the rain we've been having are driving the ants indoors. I HATE ANTS.
Chase was in an incredibly good mood this afternoon/evening. I didn't pick him up from the sitter until almost 4 pm since I had to attend an IEP meeting at school. We went to the mall to check out KB Toys, who was having 30% off the whole store due to its soon-to-be-closing. Chase has always admired the little pig that oinks and moves its tail and walks. I wanted to get him a doggie one since he loves dogs so much. I asked the cashier to put in batteries for me so I could test it out (since the dog that flips over scares Chase). This one worked out. Chase didn't even let me put it in the box. He held it and hugged it the whole time, during grocery shopping, in the car ride home, and of course, once we got home, he just threw it on the ground once he saw all his other toys. I put the dog back in its box and wrapped it up, adding it to the collection of other presents for Chase. Yeah, he's not spoiled at all. He's only got about a dozen boxes under the tree...And that's just from our household.
We had fun playing during dinner. I'd lean my head to the right. He'd lean his head to the left. He'd start dancing in his highchair when he heard music. He was in such a good mood that I was able to cook and prep dinner AND wash dishes, while feeding him. He had fun saying the word "rice", really enunciating the "s" sound. He watched me pour the rice in the rice pot, wash the rice, and when it was done, he pointed to it immediately, and asked, "Rice?". It's nice that he feeds himself now. He loves using his fork and spoon to feed himself. The only mishap was that he dropped a plate that had food on it...and it wasn't a childproof plate. It was one of our nice salad plates. But, oh well. That's what I get for not watching him more carefully. It probably won't be the last plate to go.
Chase was super funny in the bath too (and he kept saying the word "bath", really enunciating the "th" sound.) He must have spent 20-30 minutes in the bath. He had fun playing with containers, filling them up with water, drinking the water, blowing bubbles in the water, and making towers (then hitting them down of course). He covered his ears with his cups, like ear muffs. Then he handed them to me to try. He just laughed and laughed as we went through every color cup there was.
He went down really easy. I ate dinner, wrapped more gifts, and watched Anthony Bourdain until Chris got home from work(s). The only thing that sucks now is that my allergies are driving me nuts. There has been so much rain that everything is blooming and growing now. Plus, there's probably a lot of moisture and mold around. Everything I'm allergic too. Great.
Plus, there have been lots of black ants around the house lately. After putting Chase to bed, I spent an hour on my hands and knees, spraying Simple Green around the kitchen floor killing ants that were devouring crumbs from Chase's dinner. Then, I discovered a container full of ants. It wasn't washed good. Guess all the rain we've been having are driving the ants indoors. I HATE ANTS.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Does He Still Look Cute When He Does That?
Sunday, 14 December 2008
I couldn't go to yoga this morning because Chris had to be out of the house by 4 am this morning. Why on earth would Chris actually set his alarm to get up that early?! Well, he only does it about once a year. He went to go bike ride as a wheelchair escort for the Honolulu Marathon this morning. It was raining like crazy again all morning, so the runners must have been drenched, running through mud puddles and flooded streets. I actually found out that two of my students, a third grader and fifth grader, finished the marathon. Way to go!
After Chris rested up, we took an antsy Chase for a ride (so that he could finally settle down for a nap!). We went to Toys-R-Us to get him an Elmo Live. This one was $10 off today, so I wanted to buy this one (and return the other one that I already wrapped!). No more Christmas presents for him already. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. We'll see if it actually happens.
The big event today was that Chase got his very first haircut! We went to this kids' salon called Pigtails and Crewcuts. He got to play with the trains and balls while waiting for his turn. When he was up, he got to choose what kind of vehicle to sit in. I chose the fire truck for him. He stayed very still the whole time, with a worried look on his face. He was so overwhelmed (and scared) that he didn't even move. Once he got in the chair, he didn't want to play with the trains (that he was clutching ever so tightly in his sweaty fists), nor did he want to turn the steering wheel on the fire truck he was sitting in. Chase was so frozen, that the hairstylist even cut layers in his hair. Finally, at the end of 15 minutes, when it was all done, he broke down and started crying.
We were shocked. He looks like such a little boy now! He's not a baby anymore! He doesn't have his mullet/rat tail anymore. We kept it of course, and split it up in three sections, some locks of hair for each set of grandparents and ourselves. The rest of the afternoon, we kept asking each other, "What does he look like doing this? (the hulk, for example)"..."What about that?" "Does he still look cute doing that?" His face is much rounder without all that hair. He looks different, but in a good way. We both agree that he's still cute. He just looks more like a little boy now.
The funniest thing was that we told Chase not to tell Nana about his haircut, so that we could see if she would notice or not. Within minutes of seeing her, Chase touches his hair, and she goes "Oh, you got a haircut today!". Silly kid.
I couldn't go to yoga this morning because Chris had to be out of the house by 4 am this morning. Why on earth would Chris actually set his alarm to get up that early?! Well, he only does it about once a year. He went to go bike ride as a wheelchair escort for the Honolulu Marathon this morning. It was raining like crazy again all morning, so the runners must have been drenched, running through mud puddles and flooded streets. I actually found out that two of my students, a third grader and fifth grader, finished the marathon. Way to go!
After Chris rested up, we took an antsy Chase for a ride (so that he could finally settle down for a nap!). We went to Toys-R-Us to get him an Elmo Live. This one was $10 off today, so I wanted to buy this one (and return the other one that I already wrapped!). No more Christmas presents for him already. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. We'll see if it actually happens.
The big event today was that Chase got his very first haircut! We went to this kids' salon called Pigtails and Crewcuts. He got to play with the trains and balls while waiting for his turn. When he was up, he got to choose what kind of vehicle to sit in. I chose the fire truck for him. He stayed very still the whole time, with a worried look on his face. He was so overwhelmed (and scared) that he didn't even move. Once he got in the chair, he didn't want to play with the trains (that he was clutching ever so tightly in his sweaty fists), nor did he want to turn the steering wheel on the fire truck he was sitting in. Chase was so frozen, that the hairstylist even cut layers in his hair. Finally, at the end of 15 minutes, when it was all done, he broke down and started crying.
We were shocked. He looks like such a little boy now! He's not a baby anymore! He doesn't have his mullet/rat tail anymore. We kept it of course, and split it up in three sections, some locks of hair for each set of grandparents and ourselves. The rest of the afternoon, we kept asking each other, "What does he look like doing this? (the hulk, for example)"..."What about that?" "Does he still look cute doing that?" His face is much rounder without all that hair. He looks different, but in a good way. We both agree that he's still cute. He just looks more like a little boy now.
The funniest thing was that we told Chase not to tell Nana about his haircut, so that we could see if she would notice or not. Within minutes of seeing her, Chase touches his hair, and she goes "Oh, you got a haircut today!". Silly kid.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
A Rainy Date Day
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Today's yoga class was great. It's always nice to do yoga on a rainy day. But it's not so nice to have rain on a day out. Today was Date Day. The Halsalls watched Chase while Chris and I went to see "007: Quantam of Solace". It rained like crazy, thunderstorming, and flooding the streets. After Kua'Aina burgers for lunch, we killed time in a store. That's when we heard the thunder and the rain pounding the pavement. We got caught in a huge storm, without our umbrellas, and had to run across two huge intersections, completely soaked before we got into the theater. We ended up eating dinner at the Halsalls, so we could have some leftover turkey soup, perfect comfort food for a day like today.
Today's yoga class was great. It's always nice to do yoga on a rainy day. But it's not so nice to have rain on a day out. Today was Date Day. The Halsalls watched Chase while Chris and I went to see "007: Quantam of Solace". It rained like crazy, thunderstorming, and flooding the streets. After Kua'Aina burgers for lunch, we killed time in a store. That's when we heard the thunder and the rain pounding the pavement. We got caught in a huge storm, without our umbrellas, and had to run across two huge intersections, completely soaked before we got into the theater. We ended up eating dinner at the Halsalls, so we could have some leftover turkey soup, perfect comfort food for a day like today.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Night At The Mall
Friday, 12 December 2008
Congratulations to my part-time teacher Christina who gave birth to a healthy 8 pound baby boy, Raiden, this morning, on her birthday! What a special day!
Today was drier, but it's still wet out. My slippers were still wet when I put them on this evening. Went to CPK for an early dinner with some teacher friends. Chase was a bit overwhelmed by the new faces and chose to stand on my lap rather than sit in his high chair. Brenda (my new part time teacher) and her boys tried to entertain Chase. The two boys held Chase's hands as we walked through Macy's, but he started crying when he saw me. After a bottle of milk, he soon warmed up to the boys and started running around with them in the clothes section.
Met up with Chris and the Halsalls for my 2nd dinner of the night. We watched the 5th graders perform Christmas songs on stage at the mall. Great singing, choreography, and lots of Christmas cheer. It was a fun night. We woke Chase up from a slumber to give him a bath (because boy did his feet stink!). Then straight to bed!
I've been told that I'm over my limit for picture posting. We'll have to investigate further and see what I can do. The funniest thing today was when Brenda's son put his sunglasses on Chase. He just stood there and drank his bottle. He had the whole "I'm cool" look going on. It was funny. I'll post the picture if I can figure out how to do it for free!
Congratulations to my part-time teacher Christina who gave birth to a healthy 8 pound baby boy, Raiden, this morning, on her birthday! What a special day!
Today was drier, but it's still wet out. My slippers were still wet when I put them on this evening. Went to CPK for an early dinner with some teacher friends. Chase was a bit overwhelmed by the new faces and chose to stand on my lap rather than sit in his high chair. Brenda (my new part time teacher) and her boys tried to entertain Chase. The two boys held Chase's hands as we walked through Macy's, but he started crying when he saw me. After a bottle of milk, he soon warmed up to the boys and started running around with them in the clothes section.
Met up with Chris and the Halsalls for my 2nd dinner of the night. We watched the 5th graders perform Christmas songs on stage at the mall. Great singing, choreography, and lots of Christmas cheer. It was a fun night. We woke Chase up from a slumber to give him a bath (because boy did his feet stink!). Then straight to bed!
I've been told that I'm over my limit for picture posting. We'll have to investigate further and see what I can do. The funniest thing today was when Brenda's son put his sunglasses on Chase. He just stood there and drank his bottle. He had the whole "I'm cool" look going on. It was funny. I'll post the picture if I can figure out how to do it for free!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Nasty, Wet Weather
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Talk about a super nasty day! I don't remember it being this bad in a long time. I think the last time it was like this was when I came on vacation from Seattle in the winter time, expecting sunny, blue skies, and all we got was wet, wet, wet. Wet is actually an understatement. Many schools on the North Shore were actually cancelled today due to no electricity and flooding. Never have I had to use my umbrella to walk around out campus. But, since we have a totally outdoor school (not housed under one main building like schools on the mainland), EVERYTHING was getting wet. I had to catch coats that were flying around in the rain, backpacks had to be brought inside the classrooms, and when you entered a classroom, you had to close the door real fast before the rain and wind slammed you against the door! One kid even borrowed my umbrella to go to the bathroom. I brought my Seattle boots out just for the occasion. Good thing I did, because the lawns were so full of water, that they were flooding onto the sidewalks/footpaths. We decided to just go into all of our classrooms today instead of pulling out kids and having them walk down to our room through the wetness. When I left school, the rain had died down, but it looked like a hurricane had gone through the town. Many branches and debris were on the road, lots of traffic lights were out, and it was just a wet, wet day.
When we got home from the doctor's/pharmacy (Chase, yet again, thanks to the VOG, sick season, and being in a daycare setting with other kids, is dealing with a sinus infection and a bad cough/wheezing.) to get Chase's antibiotics (He actually really loves the medicine!) and cough medicine, I came home to a very wet lanai. Thank goodness we had closed all the windows before we left. Everything was strewn about. All the shoes outside were soaked. Buckets were full of water, and stuff had blown down into the yard. It was pretty crazy, not to mention Chase scared me when he flipped over a bench backwards and fell flat on his back, hitting his head on the tile floor of the mall. But, he's okay. He ran around like crazy after a bit of consoling from Mommy. I think the kid's got a pretty hard head.
It would have been a great night for hot yoga, but I debated going Christmas caroling with the ALS Support Group, and when I passed on that due to Chase's sickness and the inclement weather, I passed on yoga as well.
Let's hope tomorrow is a drier day! Shucks, we really should have planted more grass seed though. It would have gotten a good watering today!
Talk about a super nasty day! I don't remember it being this bad in a long time. I think the last time it was like this was when I came on vacation from Seattle in the winter time, expecting sunny, blue skies, and all we got was wet, wet, wet. Wet is actually an understatement. Many schools on the North Shore were actually cancelled today due to no electricity and flooding. Never have I had to use my umbrella to walk around out campus. But, since we have a totally outdoor school (not housed under one main building like schools on the mainland), EVERYTHING was getting wet. I had to catch coats that were flying around in the rain, backpacks had to be brought inside the classrooms, and when you entered a classroom, you had to close the door real fast before the rain and wind slammed you against the door! One kid even borrowed my umbrella to go to the bathroom. I brought my Seattle boots out just for the occasion. Good thing I did, because the lawns were so full of water, that they were flooding onto the sidewalks/footpaths. We decided to just go into all of our classrooms today instead of pulling out kids and having them walk down to our room through the wetness. When I left school, the rain had died down, but it looked like a hurricane had gone through the town. Many branches and debris were on the road, lots of traffic lights were out, and it was just a wet, wet day.
When we got home from the doctor's/pharmacy (Chase, yet again, thanks to the VOG, sick season, and being in a daycare setting with other kids, is dealing with a sinus infection and a bad cough/wheezing.) to get Chase's antibiotics (He actually really loves the medicine!) and cough medicine, I came home to a very wet lanai. Thank goodness we had closed all the windows before we left. Everything was strewn about. All the shoes outside were soaked. Buckets were full of water, and stuff had blown down into the yard. It was pretty crazy, not to mention Chase scared me when he flipped over a bench backwards and fell flat on his back, hitting his head on the tile floor of the mall. But, he's okay. He ran around like crazy after a bit of consoling from Mommy. I think the kid's got a pretty hard head.
It would have been a great night for hot yoga, but I debated going Christmas caroling with the ALS Support Group, and when I passed on that due to Chase's sickness and the inclement weather, I passed on yoga as well.
Let's hope tomorrow is a drier day! Shucks, we really should have planted more grass seed though. It would have gotten a good watering today!
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
ALS Support Group Christmas Party
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Though we didn't get to go to the North Pole, there was great food (and desserts), a one-man band, Christmas carolers who practiced on us (and are going to go caroling for patients who are bedridden at home this Thursday), and catching up with old friends and new ones. We did Christmas crafts, a little light bulb angel ornament, as well as Christmas card gift bags. And, of course, we came dressed in our Christmas hats. Chase had his Santa hat with his Grinch shirt and Elmo tool belt (the tool belt was merely for entertainment for the kid). I had my funky spiral hat, which I got lots of favorable comments on. Chris wore his black Scrooge hat of course.
My brother Jay came and got to meet some of the new clients with ALS. There are a few new families with diagnosed loved ones. It's always nice to meet them and talk to them about their symptoms, their outlook on life, and living with ALS. It was nice to meet Chester, who is spending his time with his family, traveling the world to many exotic locations, while he is still mobile. And, Paul, who is still driving (until he crashes his car, he says). It's nice to see people still maintain their sense of humor with this dreadful disease.
Chase loved running around the place, making a mess during dinner time (you can always tell where a toddler sits), and dancing during the caroling with maracas and bells in hand.
Though we didn't get to go to the North Pole, there was great food (and desserts), a one-man band, Christmas carolers who practiced on us (and are going to go caroling for patients who are bedridden at home this Thursday), and catching up with old friends and new ones. We did Christmas crafts, a little light bulb angel ornament, as well as Christmas card gift bags. And, of course, we came dressed in our Christmas hats. Chase had his Santa hat with his Grinch shirt and Elmo tool belt (the tool belt was merely for entertainment for the kid). I had my funky spiral hat, which I got lots of favorable comments on. Chris wore his black Scrooge hat of course.
My brother Jay came and got to meet some of the new clients with ALS. There are a few new families with diagnosed loved ones. It's always nice to meet them and talk to them about their symptoms, their outlook on life, and living with ALS. It was nice to meet Chester, who is spending his time with his family, traveling the world to many exotic locations, while he is still mobile. And, Paul, who is still driving (until he crashes his car, he says). It's nice to see people still maintain their sense of humor with this dreadful disease.
Chase loved running around the place, making a mess during dinner time (you can always tell where a toddler sits), and dancing during the caroling with maracas and bells in hand.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Never Underestimate A Child
Monday, 8 December 2008
Chase stayed home from the sitter's today, but his Nana watched him a couple of hours, then Chris came home from work to watch him, then I came home from work to relieve Chris. Chase was in a good mood and super hyper all day (Being sick does not slow this kid down one bit...In fact, right after we nebulized him in the morning, he did about 8 laps from the front door down the hallway to the bathroom to wave bye to me.). Besides the awful cough he has, you can't even tell he's sick. So, we just played. We went to a park, and he had fun running on the suspension bridge and sliding down the slides. The thing that amazed me today was how fast he's learning and picking things up. He had fun taking baby food containers off the shelves of the kitchen cabinet and stacking them into towers. Whenever they fell over, he would say, "Uh oh!" He showed me the sign for "milk" today. He said "dog" and "bird" when he pointed to them in books, and he said many of the animal sounds when he pointed to the different animals (his favorite sound these days is "roooooaaarrrrr!" whenever he sees a picture of a lion or a tiger).
I think we can start potty training Chase soon. We've always asked him if he needs his diaper changed. Usually you can tell by the concentrating look, the pause in activity, the grunting face, or all of the above. The past couple of weeks he's been pointing at his private area when he goes #2. So, he'll point, then we'll ask if he needs to change his diaper. He'll run to the appropriate diaper changing area (his bedroom in our house, or the quilt at Nana's house). He'll even lie down for us to change him.
Well, this afternoon I gave him a warm bath so that he could play and help loosen up the congestion in his chest. He gave me "the look", and he pointed down there, and I asked him, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" He gave me this concerned look which affirmed that, yes, he probably does. But, he knew that we don't like him to go in the bath because that just ends bath time all together. So, I said, "Wait, don't go yet," as I frantically started fishing his bath toys out of the water. I told him, "Here, try to go on the potty." I showed him how mommy uses the toilet, but when I tried to carry him and hold him over the toilet, he wasn't down for it. He was probably scared of that big bowl of water. I told him, "You either have to go in the toilet or in your diaper. Don't go in the bath." I asked him if he was all done with bath time. He gave me another concerned look, as he didn't know what to do. He started to pee a little. I said, "Chase, don't go in the bath. Do you want to come out?" And, before you know it, he had pooped in the water. But, at least I was prepared for it. He was a little mad that bath time was over, but he had fun checking out his new monster pajamas in the mirror.
So, perhaps it's time to get a potty of his own, and he can try it out for himself.
I always underestimate what my kid knows. Since he's only saying words and babbling, I just don't know how much he remembers and learns from time to time. But, boy was I surprised when he taught me a lesson tonight. Because we bathed early, I fed him dinner, and then we got to play a bit and read books before bedtime. He was looking at this Baby Einstein Santa video someone gave us, and started pointing and talking to all the animals on the back of the DVD case. I named the animals for him: a dog, a penguin, and mice. Then, he pointed to the tiny 1 inch Baby Einstein logo/trademark: a bright, colorful caterpillar. I told him, "That's a caterpillar." He pointed to the bins of toys and books in the living room. I said, "No, I don't think you have a caterpillar," thinking about all the various stuffed animals and books he has. Then, he got down, walked over to a bin of books, and pulled a book out and gave it to me.
He immediately pointed to one of the colorful insects on the cover of the book, Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars.
"Oh, you're right Chase! We DO have a book about caterpillars! THAT is a caterpillar." So smart I tell you.
(...And I thought he didn't know what he was talking about.) Never underestimate a child, especially your own.
Chase stayed home from the sitter's today, but his Nana watched him a couple of hours, then Chris came home from work to watch him, then I came home from work to relieve Chris. Chase was in a good mood and super hyper all day (Being sick does not slow this kid down one bit...In fact, right after we nebulized him in the morning, he did about 8 laps from the front door down the hallway to the bathroom to wave bye to me.). Besides the awful cough he has, you can't even tell he's sick. So, we just played. We went to a park, and he had fun running on the suspension bridge and sliding down the slides. The thing that amazed me today was how fast he's learning and picking things up. He had fun taking baby food containers off the shelves of the kitchen cabinet and stacking them into towers. Whenever they fell over, he would say, "Uh oh!" He showed me the sign for "milk" today. He said "dog" and "bird" when he pointed to them in books, and he said many of the animal sounds when he pointed to the different animals (his favorite sound these days is "roooooaaarrrrr!" whenever he sees a picture of a lion or a tiger).
I think we can start potty training Chase soon. We've always asked him if he needs his diaper changed. Usually you can tell by the concentrating look, the pause in activity, the grunting face, or all of the above. The past couple of weeks he's been pointing at his private area when he goes #2. So, he'll point, then we'll ask if he needs to change his diaper. He'll run to the appropriate diaper changing area (his bedroom in our house, or the quilt at Nana's house). He'll even lie down for us to change him.
Well, this afternoon I gave him a warm bath so that he could play and help loosen up the congestion in his chest. He gave me "the look", and he pointed down there, and I asked him, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" He gave me this concerned look which affirmed that, yes, he probably does. But, he knew that we don't like him to go in the bath because that just ends bath time all together. So, I said, "Wait, don't go yet," as I frantically started fishing his bath toys out of the water. I told him, "Here, try to go on the potty." I showed him how mommy uses the toilet, but when I tried to carry him and hold him over the toilet, he wasn't down for it. He was probably scared of that big bowl of water. I told him, "You either have to go in the toilet or in your diaper. Don't go in the bath." I asked him if he was all done with bath time. He gave me another concerned look, as he didn't know what to do. He started to pee a little. I said, "Chase, don't go in the bath. Do you want to come out?" And, before you know it, he had pooped in the water. But, at least I was prepared for it. He was a little mad that bath time was over, but he had fun checking out his new monster pajamas in the mirror.
So, perhaps it's time to get a potty of his own, and he can try it out for himself.
I always underestimate what my kid knows. Since he's only saying words and babbling, I just don't know how much he remembers and learns from time to time. But, boy was I surprised when he taught me a lesson tonight. Because we bathed early, I fed him dinner, and then we got to play a bit and read books before bedtime. He was looking at this Baby Einstein Santa video someone gave us, and started pointing and talking to all the animals on the back of the DVD case. I named the animals for him: a dog, a penguin, and mice. Then, he pointed to the tiny 1 inch Baby Einstein logo/trademark: a bright, colorful caterpillar. I told him, "That's a caterpillar." He pointed to the bins of toys and books in the living room. I said, "No, I don't think you have a caterpillar," thinking about all the various stuffed animals and books he has. Then, he got down, walked over to a bin of books, and pulled a book out and gave it to me.
He immediately pointed to one of the colorful insects on the cover of the book, Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars.
"Oh, you're right Chase! We DO have a book about caterpillars! THAT is a caterpillar." So smart I tell you.
(...And I thought he didn't know what he was talking about.) Never underestimate a child, especially your own.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Crazy Costco
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Note to Self: Do not go shopping at the busiest Costco in the nation on a Sunday afternoon.
We just happened to be in the area and needed a few things, so we stopped at Costco....It was nuts! I probably got stink eye from people as I fought for a parking stall. I thought I was going to ram my cart into someone, as I waited in traffic to navigate the aisles. I didn't even stop to get samples. It was just too crazy! We had to take a food break afterwards so I could refuel myself from the craziness.
At least I found one good buy today (not from Costco though): A fun spiral, bouncy hat for myself, and a black Scrooge hat for Chris. (We were advised to have Christmas hats for our ALS Support Group Christmas party on Tuesday night, but since my husband needs convincing to wear a hat for such an occasion, I thought the Scooge one was most appropriate.)
Chase has been coughing all last night and has a runny nose. When we got home, he had a 102.7 degree fever. Poor guy. Chris was under the weather this weekend too, so hopefully I don't catch it. We'll have to keep Chase home from the sitter's tomorrow. I would try to nebulize him, but not at this late hour, since it will keep him wired all night. So, let's hope that Tylenol helps him out tonight, and that he sleeps okay and we will reassess the situation in the morning.
One amazing thing he did today was when I was feeding him lunch. I asked him if he wanted more, and he showed me the sign for "MORE". I had never seen him do that before, and I've been using the sign for months. At least I know he's been paying attention! It was pretty neat to see him using his signs again.
Note to Self: Do not go shopping at the busiest Costco in the nation on a Sunday afternoon.
We just happened to be in the area and needed a few things, so we stopped at Costco....It was nuts! I probably got stink eye from people as I fought for a parking stall. I thought I was going to ram my cart into someone, as I waited in traffic to navigate the aisles. I didn't even stop to get samples. It was just too crazy! We had to take a food break afterwards so I could refuel myself from the craziness.
At least I found one good buy today (not from Costco though): A fun spiral, bouncy hat for myself, and a black Scrooge hat for Chris. (We were advised to have Christmas hats for our ALS Support Group Christmas party on Tuesday night, but since my husband needs convincing to wear a hat for such an occasion, I thought the Scooge one was most appropriate.)
Chase has been coughing all last night and has a runny nose. When we got home, he had a 102.7 degree fever. Poor guy. Chris was under the weather this weekend too, so hopefully I don't catch it. We'll have to keep Chase home from the sitter's tomorrow. I would try to nebulize him, but not at this late hour, since it will keep him wired all night. So, let's hope that Tylenol helps him out tonight, and that he sleeps okay and we will reassess the situation in the morning.
One amazing thing he did today was when I was feeding him lunch. I asked him if he wanted more, and he showed me the sign for "MORE". I had never seen him do that before, and I've been using the sign for months. At least I know he's been paying attention! It was pretty neat to see him using his signs again.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Christmas Parade & Honolulu City Lights
Saturday, 6 December 2008
We took Chase to a Christmas parade downtown and to see the Honolulu City Lights. Tonight, they lit the Christmas tree in front of Honolulu Hale (where our city council is), and all the decor downtown. Many downtown buildings have huge displays. My favorites are the red and green Japanese paper lanterns that line 'Iolani Palace grounds. I also love the Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Hawai'i style of course, with their bare feet, flashing their shaka signs.
The Christmas parade was awesome. We found a nice little nook to park our stroller and eat while we watched the floats. So many creative floats. The funniest was the police department vehicle with the policemen signing Christmas carols (and they said, "Can you tell this is not our day job?"). When the parade stopped for awhile, they joked that they they knew two songs..Where are the policemen when you need them to keep the parade moving?! The pimped out Handi-Van was quite hilarious. The other float I liked was more a hydraulic sled. The kids riding inside had fun I bet. Besides, there are not too many sledding opportunities here in Hawai'i. And, of course, only in Hawai'i would you see someone (a girl no less) throwing flame torches in a winter parade. I wanted Chris to bring Chase up to the curbside so he could get me some candy from the parade people, but he didn't want to pimp Chase out for my sweet tooth. We ended up near a concert area, where local musicians were playing music, families were getting into the Christmas spirit, and people were eating and picnicking around the grounds. We stayed just long enough to let Chase run around, get some food, and head back for our half mile walk back to the car. It was well worth it.
We took Chase to a Christmas parade downtown and to see the Honolulu City Lights. Tonight, they lit the Christmas tree in front of Honolulu Hale (where our city council is), and all the decor downtown. Many downtown buildings have huge displays. My favorites are the red and green Japanese paper lanterns that line 'Iolani Palace grounds. I also love the Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Hawai'i style of course, with their bare feet, flashing their shaka signs.
The Christmas parade was awesome. We found a nice little nook to park our stroller and eat while we watched the floats. So many creative floats. The funniest was the police department vehicle with the policemen signing Christmas carols (and they said, "Can you tell this is not our day job?"). When the parade stopped for awhile, they joked that they they knew two songs..Where are the policemen when you need them to keep the parade moving?! The pimped out Handi-Van was quite hilarious. The other float I liked was more a hydraulic sled. The kids riding inside had fun I bet. Besides, there are not too many sledding opportunities here in Hawai'i. And, of course, only in Hawai'i would you see someone (a girl no less) throwing flame torches in a winter parade. I wanted Chris to bring Chase up to the curbside so he could get me some candy from the parade people, but he didn't want to pimp Chase out for my sweet tooth. We ended up near a concert area, where local musicians were playing music, families were getting into the Christmas spirit, and people were eating and picnicking around the grounds. We stayed just long enough to let Chase run around, get some food, and head back for our half mile walk back to the car. It was well worth it.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Peggy's Memorial Service
Friday, 5 December 2008
Attended Peggy's memorial services today at Kawaiha'o Church. Such a beautiful church. I think the last time I stepped foot in that church was for my high school baccalaureate services. Since it's the Christmas season, the church was beautifully decorated with lights and holiday decor. Chase and I sat towards the back, near all the other families with kiddos. There was beautiful music, singing, and eulogies. After the first twenty minutes or so, I had to take Chase outside and listen from the front entrance. He was okay sitting on my lap at first, but then he began climbing and standing and yelling. So he played outside with his toys for awhile, until the family that was in front of my car said they were leaving. So I took the opportunity to go as well. Chase is just way too active to sit still at a funeral. There were specials on TV and in the newspaper honoring the local artist for her work and contribution to Hawai'i. Even a few of her Peg's Legs got dressed in penguin costumes and antlers for the occasion, just as Peggy would have had she been here. But, she was there for sure, smiling down on everyone for her celebration of life. She has finally earned her wings.
Attended Peggy's memorial services today at Kawaiha'o Church. Such a beautiful church. I think the last time I stepped foot in that church was for my high school baccalaureate services. Since it's the Christmas season, the church was beautifully decorated with lights and holiday decor. Chase and I sat towards the back, near all the other families with kiddos. There was beautiful music, singing, and eulogies. After the first twenty minutes or so, I had to take Chase outside and listen from the front entrance. He was okay sitting on my lap at first, but then he began climbing and standing and yelling. So he played outside with his toys for awhile, until the family that was in front of my car said they were leaving. So I took the opportunity to go as well. Chase is just way too active to sit still at a funeral. There were specials on TV and in the newspaper honoring the local artist for her work and contribution to Hawai'i. Even a few of her Peg's Legs got dressed in penguin costumes and antlers for the occasion, just as Peggy would have had she been here. But, she was there for sure, smiling down on everyone for her celebration of life. She has finally earned her wings.
"Uh-oh"
Friday, 5 December 2008
Chase has a new phrase this week.
"Uh-oh"
I use the phrase often after I drop something (trying to refrain from cursing).
He's picked it up. Earlier this week, he would try to mimic me and would say "Uh, ooh, uh, ah".
He's been working hard on it ever since.
By today's he's got it down. Now whenever he drops something, or if I drop something, he goes
"Uh-oh!"...
Plus, he's added a few more words to his repertoire: "bath,", "bye," and "bus"
Chase has a new phrase this week.
"Uh-oh"
I use the phrase often after I drop something (trying to refrain from cursing).
He's picked it up. Earlier this week, he would try to mimic me and would say "Uh, ooh, uh, ah".
He's been working hard on it ever since.
By today's he's got it down. Now whenever he drops something, or if I drop something, he goes
"Uh-oh!"...
Plus, he's added a few more words to his repertoire: "bath,", "bye," and "bus"
Elmo!
Friday, 5 December 2008
We visited Taiga this afternoon since it's been awhile. Taiga shared one of his favorite cars with Chase (which he never ever would do before!). Miya found out about Chase's love for Elmo and decided to give us a lot of Taiga's Elmo paraphernalia (especially since they're trying to make room for Taiga's baby sister to arrive after the new year). We came home with a fuzzy Elmo chair that spins, an Elmo tool set belt, and an Elmo car. She's going to figure out a way to get the Elmo tool bench out of his room too. Chase must of thought it was Christmas (as if he even knows what that is anyway), because he was having a fun time sitting in his new chair and wearing his tool belt. Thanks, Taiga and Auntie Miya!
These pictures show Chase walking around with his blankets too. Reminds me of when I was a kid and would walk around with my baby blanket wrapped around my neck. Chase loves his Luna Lullaby and Aden & Anais muslin blankets. We have to keep one in almost every room of the house (or he'll end up putting it there anyway) and keep one in the car. They're super soft and comfy and big..perfect blankets for our hot and humid Hawai'i weather.
We visited Taiga this afternoon since it's been awhile. Taiga shared one of his favorite cars with Chase (which he never ever would do before!). Miya found out about Chase's love for Elmo and decided to give us a lot of Taiga's Elmo paraphernalia (especially since they're trying to make room for Taiga's baby sister to arrive after the new year). We came home with a fuzzy Elmo chair that spins, an Elmo tool set belt, and an Elmo car. She's going to figure out a way to get the Elmo tool bench out of his room too. Chase must of thought it was Christmas (as if he even knows what that is anyway), because he was having a fun time sitting in his new chair and wearing his tool belt. Thanks, Taiga and Auntie Miya!
These pictures show Chase walking around with his blankets too. Reminds me of when I was a kid and would walk around with my baby blanket wrapped around my neck. Chase loves his Luna Lullaby and Aden & Anais muslin blankets. We have to keep one in almost every room of the house (or he'll end up putting it there anyway) and keep one in the car. They're super soft and comfy and big..perfect blankets for our hot and humid Hawai'i weather.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Visiting Daddy's Workplace
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
For a couple hours this afternoon, I got to experience what it is like to work in an office. Security badges to get through every hallway and doorway, cubicles galore, and because it's the holidays, much Christmas decor (no I did not mean for that to rhyme). I admit that cubicle culture is foreign to me, having only worked as a teacher in schools and in restaurants/bars. I wonder how anyone gets any work done. (Though I have to admit, the Christmas decorations were quite impressive. Perhaps I can get some people to come over and decorate my classroom.) I teased Chris about his desk because it's just as messy as he is at home, with about 3 pairs of random shoes strewn about and papers covering his desk. Why did they put him near the front of the aisle? Peer pressure, I said. "Perhaps you should clean your desk." Chase found some nice treasures in Daddy's cubicle. He left the office holding a little reindeer and bright blue Peeps stuffed animal.
Today was Keiki Arts Festival. It is the only day the entire year that kids and spouses are invited into the building. Though we didn't submit a drawing for Chase, the biggest thing is getting to take a picture with Santa Claus (which Chase just hated and whimpered through the whole 5 second sitting, even though a kind elf tried to distract him with her colorful bells), the balloon making (which took us half an hour, though some people waited an hour), and of course, the refreshments. We sat Chase down for the face painting while I saved his place in the balloon line. Amazingly, he sat very still to get a Christmas tree painted on his leg and a red stocking painted on his hand. There were such neat balloon things made, like a rattle (with two little balloons inside a clear one and a handle that the baby could shake), Elmo, and reindeer. We got a dog made for Chase. He loves it, and immediately made the doggie walk on the floor and said "Woof woof".
Daddy was so excited for this day because he got to show off his son to all of his coworkers. They all told me how proud a Daddy he is, and they tried to figure out who Chase looked like, me or Chris.
We celebrated our belated birthdays tonight at the Halsalls with fettucine alfredo, the ritual of magic candles on birthday cakes (which Chase thought was just hilarious!), and presents. Of course, Ron (my father-in-law) and I had to have our own cakes.
For a couple hours this afternoon, I got to experience what it is like to work in an office. Security badges to get through every hallway and doorway, cubicles galore, and because it's the holidays, much Christmas decor (no I did not mean for that to rhyme). I admit that cubicle culture is foreign to me, having only worked as a teacher in schools and in restaurants/bars. I wonder how anyone gets any work done. (Though I have to admit, the Christmas decorations were quite impressive. Perhaps I can get some people to come over and decorate my classroom.) I teased Chris about his desk because it's just as messy as he is at home, with about 3 pairs of random shoes strewn about and papers covering his desk. Why did they put him near the front of the aisle? Peer pressure, I said. "Perhaps you should clean your desk." Chase found some nice treasures in Daddy's cubicle. He left the office holding a little reindeer and bright blue Peeps stuffed animal.
Today was Keiki Arts Festival. It is the only day the entire year that kids and spouses are invited into the building. Though we didn't submit a drawing for Chase, the biggest thing is getting to take a picture with Santa Claus (which Chase just hated and whimpered through the whole 5 second sitting, even though a kind elf tried to distract him with her colorful bells), the balloon making (which took us half an hour, though some people waited an hour), and of course, the refreshments. We sat Chase down for the face painting while I saved his place in the balloon line. Amazingly, he sat very still to get a Christmas tree painted on his leg and a red stocking painted on his hand. There were such neat balloon things made, like a rattle (with two little balloons inside a clear one and a handle that the baby could shake), Elmo, and reindeer. We got a dog made for Chase. He loves it, and immediately made the doggie walk on the floor and said "Woof woof".
Daddy was so excited for this day because he got to show off his son to all of his coworkers. They all told me how proud a Daddy he is, and they tried to figure out who Chase looked like, me or Chris.
We celebrated our belated birthdays tonight at the Halsalls with fettucine alfredo, the ritual of magic candles on birthday cakes (which Chase thought was just hilarious!), and presents. Of course, Ron (my father-in-law) and I had to have our own cakes.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, 30 November 2008
My high school/college friend/roommate Chris and his wife Ali, along with kids Adam and Claire visited Hawai'i this past weekend. I hadn't seen Adam since he was 1, and this was the first time we met 6 month old Claire. I was laughing because here was a 6 month old 21 pounder, and then there was Chase, a 17 month old 21 pounder. She's solid, that Claire. Chase enjoyed "parallel playing" with the sand and toys, alongside the big kids. Claire enjoyed using Chase to pull herself up. While eating some Thanksgiving leftovers, Ali and I compared baby stories and were amazed that Chase and Adam had very similar sleeping, nursing, and temperament patterns as babies. She said that if I have a second one, it should be much easier. That would be nice!
Our visit was so short, but hopefully we'll get to see the Hendersons again if we make it to Seattle this spring.
My high school/college friend/roommate Chris and his wife Ali, along with kids Adam and Claire visited Hawai'i this past weekend. I hadn't seen Adam since he was 1, and this was the first time we met 6 month old Claire. I was laughing because here was a 6 month old 21 pounder, and then there was Chase, a 17 month old 21 pounder. She's solid, that Claire. Chase enjoyed "parallel playing" with the sand and toys, alongside the big kids. Claire enjoyed using Chase to pull herself up. While eating some Thanksgiving leftovers, Ali and I compared baby stories and were amazed that Chase and Adam had very similar sleeping, nursing, and temperament patterns as babies. She said that if I have a second one, it should be much easier. That would be nice!
Our visit was so short, but hopefully we'll get to see the Hendersons again if we make it to Seattle this spring.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
33 Years and Counting...
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Started off the birthday with a great yoga class this morning. It's always nice to do hot yoga when it's cold and wet out.
When I got out of class, there was a message on my cell phone. I never get phone calls at 7 in the morning. Checked my messages and it was Chris and Chase singing "Happy Birthday" to me, although Chase didn't really sing at all. I think I could hear him breathing on the phone though.
It turned out to be a day of eating. Chris made my usual scrambled eggs for breakfast. We met friends for dim sum for lunch. Miya had done a wonderful job of assembling people last minute to go eat dim sum. The 5 boys were there. The thing I love about dim sum is that the food just comes right out. You pick what you want and they just pile all the little tasty morsels on the table. It was faster than a fast food drive inn! We ate to our hearts' content, then Miya brought out a cake that said "Happy Birthday, Tanya" (When did she get this all done in the last couple of hours?) She brought candles and plates. The boys had fun helping me blow out the candles, though I REALLY blew them out because no one wants spit all over the cake. Chase was mesmerized by Aiden and his dinosaur toys. It was nice to get together and enjoy lunch with some friends.
We headed to the mall, and I shopped and got waxing done while Chris and Chase went to go wish Popsicle a "Happy Birthday" (Chris' dad has the same birthday as me.). It's always fun to have great conversations with your esthetician, as we gabbed about Halloween costumes and ex-boyfriends. Hairstylists and estheticians find out all the gossip, and then you return every month or so to continue the stories.
They picked me up, and off we went to dinner. We went to a nice Japanese restaurant recommended by my friend. We were the second table seated and we were there for a couple of hours. Chase only wanted to be seated for about 10 minutes. Then, Chris had to clean off all the sticky rice molded all over Chase's clothes and fingers. We took turns entertaining him because he just wanted to be loose. Chris did most of the entertaining (after all, it is my birthday), and I kept sending Chris out in the rain to go get wipes, go get a book, go take Chase for a walk, and go get this and that for Chase. It would have been better if we had someone watch Chase, but our other sitter option, Aunti Stevi had her birthday today too. Kinda hard when everyone has the same birthday. At least Chase wasn't fussy. He was just super active. But, the chanko nabe we ordered was delicious. Fresh veggies, tofu, chicken, shrimp, clams, crab, salmon, and mochi in a savory, simmering broth. We had a few of our favorite morsels of sushi (unagi for me and ume for Chris), and finished off with some udon noodles at the end.
Well, not quite...We actually finished off the night with Bubbies ice cream in sugar cones....Mmmm!!!...Got Chase home, bathed, and to bed. Took a couple more phone calls from friends, then watched a movie with Chris.
One of my friends in Seattle sent me a card and said, "I hope you have a terrific birthday - maybe Chase will be sweet and easy, you'll get some fun "me" time and dinner will be waiting for you on the table....a girl can dream right?!" Well, my dream must have come true because it was a full day of eating and fun with my friends and the family...a pretty terrific way to spend my 33rd birthday.
Started off the birthday with a great yoga class this morning. It's always nice to do hot yoga when it's cold and wet out.
When I got out of class, there was a message on my cell phone. I never get phone calls at 7 in the morning. Checked my messages and it was Chris and Chase singing "Happy Birthday" to me, although Chase didn't really sing at all. I think I could hear him breathing on the phone though.
It turned out to be a day of eating. Chris made my usual scrambled eggs for breakfast. We met friends for dim sum for lunch. Miya had done a wonderful job of assembling people last minute to go eat dim sum. The 5 boys were there. The thing I love about dim sum is that the food just comes right out. You pick what you want and they just pile all the little tasty morsels on the table. It was faster than a fast food drive inn! We ate to our hearts' content, then Miya brought out a cake that said "Happy Birthday, Tanya" (When did she get this all done in the last couple of hours?) She brought candles and plates. The boys had fun helping me blow out the candles, though I REALLY blew them out because no one wants spit all over the cake. Chase was mesmerized by Aiden and his dinosaur toys. It was nice to get together and enjoy lunch with some friends.
We headed to the mall, and I shopped and got waxing done while Chris and Chase went to go wish Popsicle a "Happy Birthday" (Chris' dad has the same birthday as me.). It's always fun to have great conversations with your esthetician, as we gabbed about Halloween costumes and ex-boyfriends. Hairstylists and estheticians find out all the gossip, and then you return every month or so to continue the stories.
They picked me up, and off we went to dinner. We went to a nice Japanese restaurant recommended by my friend. We were the second table seated and we were there for a couple of hours. Chase only wanted to be seated for about 10 minutes. Then, Chris had to clean off all the sticky rice molded all over Chase's clothes and fingers. We took turns entertaining him because he just wanted to be loose. Chris did most of the entertaining (after all, it is my birthday), and I kept sending Chris out in the rain to go get wipes, go get a book, go take Chase for a walk, and go get this and that for Chase. It would have been better if we had someone watch Chase, but our other sitter option, Aunti Stevi had her birthday today too. Kinda hard when everyone has the same birthday. At least Chase wasn't fussy. He was just super active. But, the chanko nabe we ordered was delicious. Fresh veggies, tofu, chicken, shrimp, clams, crab, salmon, and mochi in a savory, simmering broth. We had a few of our favorite morsels of sushi (unagi for me and ume for Chris), and finished off with some udon noodles at the end.
Well, not quite...We actually finished off the night with Bubbies ice cream in sugar cones....Mmmm!!!...Got Chase home, bathed, and to bed. Took a couple more phone calls from friends, then watched a movie with Chris.
One of my friends in Seattle sent me a card and said, "I hope you have a terrific birthday - maybe Chase will be sweet and easy, you'll get some fun "me" time and dinner will be waiting for you on the table....a girl can dream right?!" Well, my dream must have come true because it was a full day of eating and fun with my friends and the family...a pretty terrific way to spend my 33rd birthday.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Friday
Friday, 28 November 2008
I survived Black Friday shopping with a 17 month old toddler. Starting at 8:30 am, I left the house with a mission to get only the things on my post-it note. Bikram yoga studio was the first stop. Chase was super clingy to me, probably overwhelmed by the regular yogis trying to visit with him. My friend's daughter (a few months younger than him) tried to shove Scooby Doo graham crackers in his mouth, which he took of course. But, he just wanted to hang by me while I tried on clothes. I managed to find out that Chris had visited the studio before work and bought some items for me already, but somehow I still managed to get some things for myself as well. After all, it is my birthday tomorrow.
Spent the next few hours at Ala Moana Shopping Center braving the crowds. Again, stuck with my list. Went only to the places where I had a birthday coupon to use or a store that had a crazy % off deal. Made out with some Christmas gifts, a cardigan, and some sandals that I needed, all on sale of course.
Chase had one meltdown (too much time in the stroller). He wanted to swim with the koi, and those fish entertained him a bit while I ran into Stacy and her sister. I tried to hold him back from leaning too far over the wall, and he kept pushing my hand/arm away. He just wanted to get a really close up look at those fish, Mr. Independent! Chris met us at the food court for lunch, but was not crazy about the crowds, so he just watched Chase while I got and ate my lunch. By afternoon, Chase just wanted to be free. He tried to run all over the mall, but of course, I couldn't let him do that in such a crowded, big mall.
So, I let him run all over the shoe area in Nordstroms (which I'm sure they just loved, him making circles around the cashier area and jumping on their nice leather couches). At one point, I told Chase, "Okay, Mommy's going to go bye bye." And, of course, what did he do? He just waved bye to me.
He crashed on the way home. But he still had plenty of energy to run around at home the rest of the afternoon.
I survived Black Friday shopping with a 17 month old toddler. Starting at 8:30 am, I left the house with a mission to get only the things on my post-it note. Bikram yoga studio was the first stop. Chase was super clingy to me, probably overwhelmed by the regular yogis trying to visit with him. My friend's daughter (a few months younger than him) tried to shove Scooby Doo graham crackers in his mouth, which he took of course. But, he just wanted to hang by me while I tried on clothes. I managed to find out that Chris had visited the studio before work and bought some items for me already, but somehow I still managed to get some things for myself as well. After all, it is my birthday tomorrow.
Spent the next few hours at Ala Moana Shopping Center braving the crowds. Again, stuck with my list. Went only to the places where I had a birthday coupon to use or a store that had a crazy % off deal. Made out with some Christmas gifts, a cardigan, and some sandals that I needed, all on sale of course.
Chase had one meltdown (too much time in the stroller). He wanted to swim with the koi, and those fish entertained him a bit while I ran into Stacy and her sister. I tried to hold him back from leaning too far over the wall, and he kept pushing my hand/arm away. He just wanted to get a really close up look at those fish, Mr. Independent! Chris met us at the food court for lunch, but was not crazy about the crowds, so he just watched Chase while I got and ate my lunch. By afternoon, Chase just wanted to be free. He tried to run all over the mall, but of course, I couldn't let him do that in such a crowded, big mall.
So, I let him run all over the shoe area in Nordstroms (which I'm sure they just loved, him making circles around the cashier area and jumping on their nice leather couches). At one point, I told Chase, "Okay, Mommy's going to go bye bye." And, of course, what did he do? He just waved bye to me.
He crashed on the way home. But he still had plenty of energy to run around at home the rest of the afternoon.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Chase is 17 Months Old!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to Chase! Hope all of you are spending quality time and giving thanks for good health, good family, and good friends. We will be heading to the Halsalls' soon (and then to the Hyatt to "hunt and gather" our turkey dinner...The boys will go of course. They only have one bullet, so they better know what they're doing. Ready to go meals that are loaded into the car are hard to come by these days.). Here's Chase playing with Daddy's favorite G.I. Joe toy. He likes putting the guy on the stand and putting the gun in the guy's hand.
Things He's Into These Days:
* Drinking whole milk from a bottle! (He enjoys milk more than water these days. Last week he went through one whole gallon jug of milk from Costco...in just 7 days!)
* Putting things into containers (wow, maybe he'll be organized and anal-retentive!). He gets really frustrated if he can't take all the crayons out and put them all back into the box. He'd much rather do this than actually color with the crayons. He also still likes putting rocks into bowls, putting lids on their appropriate containers, and trying to fit containers into other containers, putting shoes in their shelves, etc.
* Reading, reading, reading (We have books in his crib, books all over the house, books in the car, & books in his stroller.)
* Finding the littlest things: He'll always find the tiniest piece of lint on the ground, or the littlest rock, or the tiniest bug or truck in a picture of a book and point to it. He's very observant and has attention to detail, that's for sure.
* Pointing (He points to things when he wants something, and usually says, "Yes?".)
* Running and jumping and climbing and sliding (He now climbs up and down all our furniture without help, and he can climb the stairs without holding onto a railing or holding onto someone's hand. He also loves going down slides on his tummy.)
* Spinning round and round in circles (He loves "Ring Around The Rosy.")
* Building towers and stacking blocks, then trying to carry them around while balancing them
* Dancing (The boy's got rhythm. He'll start dancing if he hears music, whether it be music from a book or the radio. The boy likes to move!)
* Putting things behind things. He loves putting his toys behind the gate (and then asking me to get them for him) or putting things behind the couch.
* When I ask him, "Where's your nose?" or "Where's your head?", he points to the correct body part. He knows his eyes, head, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and toes. He also likes singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" with Mommy and Daddy.
* Mimicking what we say and our sounds. Every time I open the sticky front door, he grunts like I do and laughs. I even said "Oh damn!" the other day when I dropped something, and he copied what I said. Gotta watch what comes out of our mouths!
His Favorite Books:
* Five Little Monkeys: When I read, "Five little monkeys jumped on the bed..." he'll make a jumping, bouncing motion with his body. Then, I'll say, "One fell off and bumped his head" and he'll hit his head gently with his hand. I'll get to the part where Mama calls the doctor and the doctor says, then he'll go "No, no, no, no, no". It's really cute to see him interact with the book and understand what we're reading.
* Pop-up Books
* Little People books. These books have a lot going on, but he enjoys all the action. He likes looking at details. He'll find the tiniest bug or smiley face on the spine of the book and point to the same one on the back of the book. Or he'll find the little tractor in the background of the page. He likes finding the little things in the pictures.
Things He HATES:
* Having stuff on his hands. If he gets rice on his hands, he'll go, "Eh, eh, eh" and motion for you to clean his hands. The other day, he had a strand of hair stuck to his hand. He'll get sand stuck to his hands. He'll fuss until you clean his hands. Since when did he turn OCD?
Words He Says:
* This
* Daddy (with the emphasis on the second syllable...."Da-deeee")
* Yes?
* Down
* Done
* No
* Wow! (with inflection and expression)
* Whoa! (I think I must say this a lot.)
* Bark (when he sees a dog in a book or in person, he always says, "Bark, Bark")
* Moo (when he sees a cow in a book - though it sounds just like "Mmmm"/And if I ask, "What animal says "Moo"?, he points to a cow.)
* Hooray! (He says it when we're singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" and raises his arms towards the ceiling.)
Sounds He Repeats In His Babbling/Talking:
* Dugga, Dugga, Dugga (He must just like playing with his tongue.)
This is a really fun age. Chase understands everything and is so much fun! Plus, now that he sleeps through the night for 12 hours at a time, we can enjoy our dinner and a Blockbuster movie night uninterrupted (most of the time). On this day, we give thanks for having a healthy, funny, and very happy boy. My Uncle Jimmy called this morning to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving, and he remarked on how Chase looks like my father when he was a baby. That makes me smile, and I hope my dad is smiling down on us as well.
Here's the Thanksgiving dinner spread (compliments of the ready -to-meal from the Hyatt hotel, Chase playing with his vintage McDonald's plate (a.k.a. Chris' old plate), Chase frustrated because I'm taking a photo rather than reading his favorite drawing book, and Chase taking a bath after Thanksgiving dinner).
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to Chase! Hope all of you are spending quality time and giving thanks for good health, good family, and good friends. We will be heading to the Halsalls' soon (and then to the Hyatt to "hunt and gather" our turkey dinner...The boys will go of course. They only have one bullet, so they better know what they're doing. Ready to go meals that are loaded into the car are hard to come by these days.). Here's Chase playing with Daddy's favorite G.I. Joe toy. He likes putting the guy on the stand and putting the gun in the guy's hand.
Things He's Into These Days:
* Drinking whole milk from a bottle! (He enjoys milk more than water these days. Last week he went through one whole gallon jug of milk from Costco...in just 7 days!)
* Putting things into containers (wow, maybe he'll be organized and anal-retentive!). He gets really frustrated if he can't take all the crayons out and put them all back into the box. He'd much rather do this than actually color with the crayons. He also still likes putting rocks into bowls, putting lids on their appropriate containers, and trying to fit containers into other containers, putting shoes in their shelves, etc.
* Reading, reading, reading (We have books in his crib, books all over the house, books in the car, & books in his stroller.)
* Finding the littlest things: He'll always find the tiniest piece of lint on the ground, or the littlest rock, or the tiniest bug or truck in a picture of a book and point to it. He's very observant and has attention to detail, that's for sure.
* Pointing (He points to things when he wants something, and usually says, "Yes?".)
* Running and jumping and climbing and sliding (He now climbs up and down all our furniture without help, and he can climb the stairs without holding onto a railing or holding onto someone's hand. He also loves going down slides on his tummy.)
* Spinning round and round in circles (He loves "Ring Around The Rosy.")
* Building towers and stacking blocks, then trying to carry them around while balancing them
* Dancing (The boy's got rhythm. He'll start dancing if he hears music, whether it be music from a book or the radio. The boy likes to move!)
* Putting things behind things. He loves putting his toys behind the gate (and then asking me to get them for him) or putting things behind the couch.
* When I ask him, "Where's your nose?" or "Where's your head?", he points to the correct body part. He knows his eyes, head, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and toes. He also likes singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" with Mommy and Daddy.
* Mimicking what we say and our sounds. Every time I open the sticky front door, he grunts like I do and laughs. I even said "Oh damn!" the other day when I dropped something, and he copied what I said. Gotta watch what comes out of our mouths!
His Favorite Books:
* Five Little Monkeys: When I read, "Five little monkeys jumped on the bed..." he'll make a jumping, bouncing motion with his body. Then, I'll say, "One fell off and bumped his head" and he'll hit his head gently with his hand. I'll get to the part where Mama calls the doctor and the doctor says, then he'll go "No, no, no, no, no". It's really cute to see him interact with the book and understand what we're reading.
* Pop-up Books
* Little People books. These books have a lot going on, but he enjoys all the action. He likes looking at details. He'll find the tiniest bug or smiley face on the spine of the book and point to the same one on the back of the book. Or he'll find the little tractor in the background of the page. He likes finding the little things in the pictures.
Things He HATES:
* Having stuff on his hands. If he gets rice on his hands, he'll go, "Eh, eh, eh" and motion for you to clean his hands. The other day, he had a strand of hair stuck to his hand. He'll get sand stuck to his hands. He'll fuss until you clean his hands. Since when did he turn OCD?
Words He Says:
* This
* Daddy (with the emphasis on the second syllable...."Da-deeee")
* Yes?
* Down
* Done
* No
* Wow! (with inflection and expression)
* Whoa! (I think I must say this a lot.)
* Bark (when he sees a dog in a book or in person, he always says, "Bark, Bark")
* Moo (when he sees a cow in a book - though it sounds just like "Mmmm"/And if I ask, "What animal says "Moo"?, he points to a cow.)
* Hooray! (He says it when we're singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" and raises his arms towards the ceiling.)
Sounds He Repeats In His Babbling/Talking:
* Dugga, Dugga, Dugga (He must just like playing with his tongue.)
This is a really fun age. Chase understands everything and is so much fun! Plus, now that he sleeps through the night for 12 hours at a time, we can enjoy our dinner and a Blockbuster movie night uninterrupted (most of the time). On this day, we give thanks for having a healthy, funny, and very happy boy. My Uncle Jimmy called this morning to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving, and he remarked on how Chase looks like my father when he was a baby. That makes me smile, and I hope my dad is smiling down on us as well.
Here's the Thanksgiving dinner spread (compliments of the ready -to-meal from the Hyatt hotel, Chase playing with his vintage McDonald's plate (a.k.a. Chris' old plate), Chase frustrated because I'm taking a photo rather than reading his favorite drawing book, and Chase taking a bath after Thanksgiving dinner).
Monday, November 24, 2008
Visiting Lisa
Monday, 24 November 2008
Picked up Divina this afternoon, and we went to visit Lisa. Living in the house she grew up in, down the street from where she went to high school, the young school teacher is now bedridden and incapacitated. But her mind is fully functioning, which is the hardest thing about ALS or Lou Gherig's Disease. It was a sad visit with Lisa. My dad always had a soft spot in his heart for dear Lisa. She always had a connection with him, as she looked up to him for advice when she was first diagnosed with the disease.
http://lisa.oceanit.com/mambo454/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Diagnosed with ALS in her late 30's, Lisa got hit hard and has been progressing fast. Unfortunately, she got the bulbar ALS, which affects the speech/respiratory first. She must be only 40, if that, and this horrible disease has taken her body almost completely. Her face is droopy, like Peggy's was. She has a feeding tube and a trach, totally dependent on the ventilator 24/7 to breathe. Her stomach is bloated like my dad's was (she joked that she is expecting). She can only move her eyes. It was frustrating for her to move her head to use the signal to beep. Her mom spells everything for her on a pad of paper, and goes "First half...A, B, C..." until she gets to Lisa's desired letter. She knows it's the letter when Lisa looks up with her eyes for "yes". If she looks to the side with her eyes, it means "no". It took about 5 minutes for her to spell out "He is adorable," referring to Chase, whom she met for the first time today. I apologized for having not visited her the past couple of years. It's been a busy time with baby.
Lisa still has her sense of humor though, even though the muscles in her face has atrophied so she can no longer form a smile. Her mom told us that she's smiling inside her heart.
I feel really sad for her. Her dad talked to me. He asked me how long my dad lived with ALS, how we knew he was dying, and the events that led up to his death. I told him about the oxygen, the respiratory failure, the morphine we administered, how we were all by his bedside when he passed. Lisa's dad expressed how he wishes it was him. Why does he have to see his young daughter go through this? It should be him, he said. He's ready to go. "Take me," he said. It must be so hard for her parents, to know that they will outlive their daughter.
Though Divina was at her bedside most of the time, I was chasing around my little guy, making sure he wasn't destroying the house. He took their white board pens and tried to throw them away in the garbage can, threw the coasters behind the couch, ran up and down the hallway, etc. When I wasn't chasing Chase, we were sharing with Lisa and her mother Jane about Peggy's condition before she passed. She also asked about Divina's husband Britt, who's been slowly progressing with ALS for almost a few decades now. I could tell by the questions that Lisa was asking, that she's trying to figure out what to expect for herself, when she will be able to tell it's her time.
Lisa shed a lot of tears. I think she knows her time is coming up. She's finding it harder to communicate. She doesn't want to be a burden to her family. She actually wrote a letter to her parents this past June and asked them to take her off the ventilator, but they convinced her not to. Now, she's holding on, hoping to see her niece graduate from high school next June. Her mom told me that an ex-boyfriend of hers (whom she dated for 14 years), recently found out she's sick and has been visiting her. You can tell from the photographs and letters around the room that she has a lot of friends who have been there to support her along the way. But, if she can no longer communicate, she would like to go.
She has made her own "bucket list" of things she would like to do. One she did a couple of weeks ago, when her family took her to see Cirque du Soleil. Next, she wants to drive around the island. She also wants to go in the ocean.
Before we left, her mom told us that she wanted to thank us for coming, that she wanted us to hold hands with Lisa, as we listened to Na Leo Pilimehana's song "Friends". As the local group sang the words "Friends are friends forever..." Lisa cried. In fact, it was hard for all of us to hold back the tears. I wiped the tears away from Lisa's cheeks, gave her a hug, and kiss. I know my dad would want to send a hug to her too.
Picked up Divina this afternoon, and we went to visit Lisa. Living in the house she grew up in, down the street from where she went to high school, the young school teacher is now bedridden and incapacitated. But her mind is fully functioning, which is the hardest thing about ALS or Lou Gherig's Disease. It was a sad visit with Lisa. My dad always had a soft spot in his heart for dear Lisa. She always had a connection with him, as she looked up to him for advice when she was first diagnosed with the disease.
http://lisa.oceanit.com/mambo454/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Diagnosed with ALS in her late 30's, Lisa got hit hard and has been progressing fast. Unfortunately, she got the bulbar ALS, which affects the speech/respiratory first. She must be only 40, if that, and this horrible disease has taken her body almost completely. Her face is droopy, like Peggy's was. She has a feeding tube and a trach, totally dependent on the ventilator 24/7 to breathe. Her stomach is bloated like my dad's was (she joked that she is expecting). She can only move her eyes. It was frustrating for her to move her head to use the signal to beep. Her mom spells everything for her on a pad of paper, and goes "First half...A, B, C..." until she gets to Lisa's desired letter. She knows it's the letter when Lisa looks up with her eyes for "yes". If she looks to the side with her eyes, it means "no". It took about 5 minutes for her to spell out "He is adorable," referring to Chase, whom she met for the first time today. I apologized for having not visited her the past couple of years. It's been a busy time with baby.
Lisa still has her sense of humor though, even though the muscles in her face has atrophied so she can no longer form a smile. Her mom told us that she's smiling inside her heart.
I feel really sad for her. Her dad talked to me. He asked me how long my dad lived with ALS, how we knew he was dying, and the events that led up to his death. I told him about the oxygen, the respiratory failure, the morphine we administered, how we were all by his bedside when he passed. Lisa's dad expressed how he wishes it was him. Why does he have to see his young daughter go through this? It should be him, he said. He's ready to go. "Take me," he said. It must be so hard for her parents, to know that they will outlive their daughter.
Though Divina was at her bedside most of the time, I was chasing around my little guy, making sure he wasn't destroying the house. He took their white board pens and tried to throw them away in the garbage can, threw the coasters behind the couch, ran up and down the hallway, etc. When I wasn't chasing Chase, we were sharing with Lisa and her mother Jane about Peggy's condition before she passed. She also asked about Divina's husband Britt, who's been slowly progressing with ALS for almost a few decades now. I could tell by the questions that Lisa was asking, that she's trying to figure out what to expect for herself, when she will be able to tell it's her time.
Lisa shed a lot of tears. I think she knows her time is coming up. She's finding it harder to communicate. She doesn't want to be a burden to her family. She actually wrote a letter to her parents this past June and asked them to take her off the ventilator, but they convinced her not to. Now, she's holding on, hoping to see her niece graduate from high school next June. Her mom told me that an ex-boyfriend of hers (whom she dated for 14 years), recently found out she's sick and has been visiting her. You can tell from the photographs and letters around the room that she has a lot of friends who have been there to support her along the way. But, if she can no longer communicate, she would like to go.
She has made her own "bucket list" of things she would like to do. One she did a couple of weeks ago, when her family took her to see Cirque du Soleil. Next, she wants to drive around the island. She also wants to go in the ocean.
Before we left, her mom told us that she wanted to thank us for coming, that she wanted us to hold hands with Lisa, as we listened to Na Leo Pilimehana's song "Friends". As the local group sang the words "Friends are friends forever..." Lisa cried. In fact, it was hard for all of us to hold back the tears. I wiped the tears away from Lisa's cheeks, gave her a hug, and kiss. I know my dad would want to send a hug to her too.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
A Day at the Beach House
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Spent the day hanging out at the Waianae beach house with the Keane's, the Halsalls' Irish friends. Loved the stories spanning their 40 year friendship, the Irish accents, and the good food. Chase ran around like a wild child from the moment we got out of the car until we left. He literally ran around for 6 hours straight, barely sitting down to eat lunch or dinner. We took a nice walk down the beach as the sun set, stopping to visit with a local guy playing guitar on the rock wall. Chase loved picking up sticks and things. His favorite find (besides the feel of sand between his toes, which he loved more than playing in the ocean) was drinking from the spout from the outdoor shower. He thought it was so much fun! We dined on grilled steaks, potatoes, corn, salad, and macadamia nut brownies outside on a picnic table by the beach house. It's a good thing we bathed and changed Chase into his pj's before we left because he was out like a light on our 45 minute drive home.
...And it was completely dry today! So much for the flash flood/storm.
Spent the day hanging out at the Waianae beach house with the Keane's, the Halsalls' Irish friends. Loved the stories spanning their 40 year friendship, the Irish accents, and the good food. Chase ran around like a wild child from the moment we got out of the car until we left. He literally ran around for 6 hours straight, barely sitting down to eat lunch or dinner. We took a nice walk down the beach as the sun set, stopping to visit with a local guy playing guitar on the rock wall. Chase loved picking up sticks and things. His favorite find (besides the feel of sand between his toes, which he loved more than playing in the ocean) was drinking from the spout from the outdoor shower. He thought it was so much fun! We dined on grilled steaks, potatoes, corn, salad, and macadamia nut brownies outside on a picnic table by the beach house. It's a good thing we bathed and changed Chase into his pj's before we left because he was out like a light on our 45 minute drive home.
...And it was completely dry today! So much for the flash flood/storm.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Oceanarium
Saturday, 22 November 2008
After a day of blustery, rainy, wet weather, and flash flood warnings statewide, we decided we should stay in no more. We went to dinner with the Halsalls at the Oceanarium, a restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki. This restaurant has a two story tall aquarium. They joked that it was my birthday dinner (both my father-in-law and I have the same birthday on the 29th). I'm totally fine with that. I stuffed my face with about 3-4 plates of food, and then topped it off with a plate of desserts. Chase liked watching the fish, though he wasn't quite phased when the man inside feeding the fish waved at him. This is the 2nd year in a row Chris and his mom have missed their opportunity to make a birthday sign for us in the aquarium. Chase had the most fun going up and down the stairs leading down to the restaurant. He played peek-a-boo with us from above.
After a day of blustery, rainy, wet weather, and flash flood warnings statewide, we decided we should stay in no more. We went to dinner with the Halsalls at the Oceanarium, a restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki. This restaurant has a two story tall aquarium. They joked that it was my birthday dinner (both my father-in-law and I have the same birthday on the 29th). I'm totally fine with that. I stuffed my face with about 3-4 plates of food, and then topped it off with a plate of desserts. Chase liked watching the fish, though he wasn't quite phased when the man inside feeding the fish waved at him. This is the 2nd year in a row Chris and his mom have missed their opportunity to make a birthday sign for us in the aquarium. Chase had the most fun going up and down the stairs leading down to the restaurant. He played peek-a-boo with us from above.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Farewell, Peggy...
Thursday, 20 November 2008
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200367/1001
Read the beautiful article written by Honolulu Advertiser's Lee Cataluna, a dear friend of Peggy Chun's. Peggy lost her 6 year battle to ALS last night. With deepest sympathy to the Peggy Chun Ohana.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200367/1001
Read the beautiful article written by Honolulu Advertiser's Lee Cataluna, a dear friend of Peggy Chun's. Peggy lost her 6 year battle to ALS last night. With deepest sympathy to the Peggy Chun Ohana.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
No Running!!!
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
After work, I picked Chase up at the sitter's and went back to school for a staff meeting. I don't usually attend staff meetings (since they're after my work hours and I don't get paid to go) but they said this one was an important one. I missed half of the meeting, but found out later that our principal (who has been on sick leave since the second week of school) is no longer going to be our principal. He was going to retire, and now he took a job as the director of Human Resources or something. So, now we're still on the hunt for a principal. The rest of the meeting was filled with less-than-encouraging discussions on budget cuts for next school year.
A few of us teachers went to the mall to hang out and talk outside Jamba Juice. We managed to just talk about personal stuff rather than school stuff, though my friend and I spent a lot of the time preventing Chase from running towards the parking lot (since we were outside) and throwing his ball into the bushes. He had fun running away from me, throwing his ball into mall-goers' paths, and jumping into the pretty bushes to fetch his ball. My friends quickly figured out why his "Kolohe" shirt he was wearing seemed more appropriate now. We noshed on pretzel bites and a Groovy Guava Jamba Juice. He drank about 11 ounces of milk prior to all this running and activity. So, when we went into Whole Foods later, he started coughing and threw up all over me and himself. It was nasty. He has never puked like that before.
I quickly called Chris (who was going to meet us at the mall because we were going to go visit friends with their new baby) and told him that we would need to come home first to bathe. I undressed Chase out of his puky shirt and shorts before putting him in his carseat. I tried to lay the dry parts on my shirt, so I wouldn't get puke all over the seatbelt. Then, we quickly drove home so we could get refreshed.
Once we were all cleaned up, we headed to Jared and Korin's house to visit baby Noah, who is only a couple weeks old. It was so neat to hold a tiny baby again. I forgot how little and light they are! And, so calm. This baby just slept while I held him and we all talked baby stuff. Chase wanted to climb all over the place to see him, but was more interested in Baby Noah's exersaucer and toys (which he won't be using for awhile, I informed the new parents.) It was fun. We took lots of pictures and went home to feed Chase and put him to bed.
Lesson learned: Don't let Chase run and play all crazy wild after he downs 11 ounces of milk and eats a whole cup full of pretzels. He HAD a really full tummy!
Monday, November 17, 2008
A Cranky, Crazy, Wet Monday
Monday, 17 November 2008
Gotta have a crazy Monday to start off the week. It has just been one of those days. We started training Brenda to replace the almost 37 week pregnant Christina, my part-time teaching assistant for the ELL program. Though I'm sad to see Christina go, I know she's checking out about now, and needs some R&R before her baby boy arrives. Usually I finish work at 1 pm and take my time prepping stuff for the next day and picking up Chase. But, I forgot I was going to go visit another elementary school to check out their computer programs for a 17 page grant I recently wrote. So, off we went. We stopped at Zippy's for a 20 minute lunch, then I had to head home to meet Divina from the ALS Support Group. She just posted a new blog for our group (www.hawaiials.blogspot.com), but was having some technical layout issues, so she came over to the house to get some quick tips. We struggled through some of our own technical issues a bit, then finally got a few things figured out within an hour or so. Next, it was off in the rain to pick up Chase, trying to beat the clock so I would get there before 4 pm. I probably got there at 3:59 pm, the last parent to pick up her child.
It's a good thing I brought Chase a bottle of milk because he tanked it before we even pulled out of the driveway. I had to head to Costco in the rain to get groceries. We ran into the Halsalls, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, they had to stop and read to him between carts (and we ended up purchasing a few books, because those are always good distractions for Chase). I was worried about toting Chase and the groceries down 80 stairs in the pouring rain by myself, so I tried to load the car quickly. As soon as I got everything loaded, then shook him clean of the layers of cracker crumbs and noodles and apple crisps (thanks to free samples from Costco!), we were off....
Well, almost. He started screaming and pointing to his empty bottle of milk. So, with the engine running, I had to look for the gallon jug of milk I just purchased and fill his bottle up (and of course, the jug was at the BOTTOM of all the groceries.) Chase tanked it down before we got to the second stoplight (but at least we got out the driveway this time). So, we're heading down Kalanianaole Highway, with a screaming baby. I told him he'd have to wait because we're almost home. Of course, "we're almost home" is kind of a lie because now it's commute traffic hour and it's raining, so the roads are quite busy. A few more traffic lights, and I just pull into a 7-Eleven so that I can pour him another bottle of milk (Thank goodness there's a whole gallon jug.) I told him that after this bottle, he has to wait until we get home. Yet again, he drinks that bottle, and starts screaming again. What does he do this time? Chase throws his bottle. I scold him and tell him "Oh well. No more milk because you threw your bottle." But then I get visions of spilled milk all over the car. So I pull on the side of the highway, where there's not much of a shoulder, and put my hazards on, to look for the bottle. Of course the bottle is upside down dripping on stuff. But, I think he drank most of it. (And yes, I've learned that I need to start carrying a bigger bottle now that Chase is into drinking from a bottle. This is all still new to me, this bottle/cup stuff.)
So, after cleaning everything up, I put that bottle away and offer him water. But, no. He screams. So, I tell him. "Well you're just going to have to scream all the way home." And, he did. (He was also tired though because he didn't have a second nap, so I figured part of this "tantrum" was from being cranky, and soon enough, he would fall asleep.) And wouldn't you know it? Just as we pull into the driveway at home, he STARTS to fall asleep.
But this is not good because it's pouring out. I have to figure out how to put a sleepy baby into my carrier in the rain. Then gather all the perishable groceries (Chris can get the rest when he gets home tonight), and attempt to carry them down 80 plus slippery stairs. Of course... Chase wakes up during all of this.
We walked in the door close to 6 pm. The next hour was filled with more screaming and tantrums. Chase didn't want to eat. As I tried to put groceries away, cook, and feed Chase at the same time, Chase proceeded to throw most of his food on the ground. I let him play for a little bit. That helped, until he realized that I was still cooking and not playing with him. So, he started bringing all of his toys and books and pillows into the kitchen, which was just not going to work. He tried to eat again in his highchair. I sat his crazy orange guy near him so he could be near him. Chase was eating noodles and started to feed orange guy the noodles. He started to get frustrated because this orange stuffed animal was not responding to his offer. I told him, "Chase, the orange guy does not want noodles." He threw noodles on the floor, and hit crazy orange guy on the floor, at which point crazy orange guy started breaking out into hysteric laughter as he does when you bonk him (I'll have to put a video of him on here one day...He really is a crazy orange stuffed thing.)
Finally, when dinner was ready (because I was famished and beginning to lose it myself), I sat down to eat with him. He was still more interested in playing. I gave him crayons to play with. He was content for about 5 minutes, until he realized that he could not fit 2 big crayons into the already full crayon box. He started getting really frustrated and impatient. He didn't want my help, and he was determined to fit those crayons in the box. He screamed and cried and grit his teeth. Stubborn child I tell you. I know my dad is smiling because this is just the sweetest revenge. (I used to have horrible tantrums when I was younger, and both Chris and I are stubborn.)
Soon enough, both crayons and food were all over the floor. So now the dining room and kitchen were a mess. I told him, that's it. We're done. Straight to the bath. But, first he had to pee all over the changing table, once I took his diaper off, and started laughing. Troublemaker, I tell you.
He thoroughly enjoyed his bath time. We sang our ABC's, "If You're Happy and You Know It" (and he really enjoyed stomping and raising his arms and saying "Oo ay!" (Hooray), and read books. He also tried to climb up the bath walls, stretching his legs into some pretty funny positions. He tried chewing on the bath faucet as well. He was happy and smiling, and near the end, gave me three big hugs. I think he just missed me all day (and he's REALLY tired).
I lay him down in his crib, told him "Goodnight. I love you," and he sucked on his blanket and went straight to bed. No wimper. No nothing. Out.
Which will be me in about half an hour (Oh, and did I mention that Aunty Flo stopped by for a visit today?). It was just one of those days..... just a cranky, crazy, wet Monday. I just told Chris the story of my day, and he gave me a big hug and laughed. Yeah, have fun cleaning up the mess, buddy.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Peggy's Early Thanksgiving
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Chase and I are on our own today, since Daddy has to work with Keora again today at the park helping her do raku. He works at the park (where we met) a few times a year doing the hard labor for her. Today, he'll come home all stinky and sweaty after pulling hot ceramic pieces out of a garbage can.
This afternoon, Chase and I went to Peggy Chun's early Thanksgiving party at her house. Though we weren't close, Peggy is a well-known local artist who has been such an inspiration to others. She was gracious enough to "talk" to my dad when he was struggling with ALS, and now, close family and friends and others from the ALS support group, as well as many whose lives she has touched, will be thanking Peggy for being such a wonderful artist, friend, wife, mother, and grandmother. Over 130 RSVPs were sent in. Tents were ordered for the front lawn. A hospital bed was rented for her to join the activities outside. They rented a bouncer for the kids. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't get drenched in the already wet neighborhood of Nu'uanu. It was a potluck. So everyone brought food and drinks to share. We brought chow mein noodles and got there at the start of the party, at 2 pm.
Over the next few hours, people came and went. I kept commenting on how I never saw that dish or that dessert. I guess the best thing would have been to wait till the end, but then again, you took a risk of food being gone. I described the day to Chris as being a celebration of life. It was almost like a funeral, except the person (Peggy) was lying there on her hospital bed under the tent, with her ventilator on and nurses close by. A friend gave a blessing. Other local celebrities, like Wally Amos, from Famous Amos cookies, was there. Her husband Elroy did a "eulogy". One friend got on his guitar and sang a song for her, the song that had inspired her to paint a cover. People went up to Peggy to say a few words to her. One little girl got on the microphone and told Peggy that she was her biggest fan and that she was so sad that she had ALS, such a terrible disease. I talked to Peggy's husband, son Eric, and daughter-in-law Kimi. Kimi said Peggy is loving today. This is exactly what she wanted, to be surrounded by the friends and family (many of whom, including her new granddaughter, flew in from the mainland to pay their respects) and have fun. Prayer flags hung from the awning of the house. People sang and played guitar. Kids jumped like crazy in the bounce house. Once Chase woke up from his nap, he thoroughly enjoyed petting Peggy's dog Maka, going up and down the slide, riding the swing, and dancing to the live music. He even got to go fishing for mud (since he missed all the crayfish) in the pond.
Though Peggy has had a huge support network of friends and family (often referred to as Peg's Legs) that have been by her side over the past 6 years she's had ALS, members of the ALS support group came by to visit and bid her farewell as well. Even Vi Jones-Medusky brought all her kids, including her eldest daugher, model/surfer Malia Jones. I had fun talking to Malia's husband about my baby carrier and baby stuff, since they're expecting their first baby in a few months. Vi, who recently had a fun run/adventure trek to raise money for ALS (check it out on the support group's new 'work-in-progress' blog: www.hawaiials.blogspot.com), still can feed herself, but is in a wheelchair. It's always so heartbreaking to see these healthy athletes afflicted with such a debilitating disease.
Today was a big day for Peggy and her family and friends. It was a bittersweet day filled with lots of music, kids, art (We got to take away her 2008 calendar filled with her paintings.), love, and laughter. I'm fortunate to have been able to spend some time with her. As I told her before we left, she has been such an inspiration to everyone, through her love of art, life, and laughter. Even though I never knew her pre-ALS, I can tell from today's celebration what a wonderful person she is. Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy, and to the rest of the Chun Ohana!
Chase and I are on our own today, since Daddy has to work with Keora again today at the park helping her do raku. He works at the park (where we met) a few times a year doing the hard labor for her. Today, he'll come home all stinky and sweaty after pulling hot ceramic pieces out of a garbage can.
This afternoon, Chase and I went to Peggy Chun's early Thanksgiving party at her house. Though we weren't close, Peggy is a well-known local artist who has been such an inspiration to others. She was gracious enough to "talk" to my dad when he was struggling with ALS, and now, close family and friends and others from the ALS support group, as well as many whose lives she has touched, will be thanking Peggy for being such a wonderful artist, friend, wife, mother, and grandmother. Over 130 RSVPs were sent in. Tents were ordered for the front lawn. A hospital bed was rented for her to join the activities outside. They rented a bouncer for the kids. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't get drenched in the already wet neighborhood of Nu'uanu. It was a potluck. So everyone brought food and drinks to share. We brought chow mein noodles and got there at the start of the party, at 2 pm.
Over the next few hours, people came and went. I kept commenting on how I never saw that dish or that dessert. I guess the best thing would have been to wait till the end, but then again, you took a risk of food being gone. I described the day to Chris as being a celebration of life. It was almost like a funeral, except the person (Peggy) was lying there on her hospital bed under the tent, with her ventilator on and nurses close by. A friend gave a blessing. Other local celebrities, like Wally Amos, from Famous Amos cookies, was there. Her husband Elroy did a "eulogy". One friend got on his guitar and sang a song for her, the song that had inspired her to paint a cover. People went up to Peggy to say a few words to her. One little girl got on the microphone and told Peggy that she was her biggest fan and that she was so sad that she had ALS, such a terrible disease. I talked to Peggy's husband, son Eric, and daughter-in-law Kimi. Kimi said Peggy is loving today. This is exactly what she wanted, to be surrounded by the friends and family (many of whom, including her new granddaughter, flew in from the mainland to pay their respects) and have fun. Prayer flags hung from the awning of the house. People sang and played guitar. Kids jumped like crazy in the bounce house. Once Chase woke up from his nap, he thoroughly enjoyed petting Peggy's dog Maka, going up and down the slide, riding the swing, and dancing to the live music. He even got to go fishing for mud (since he missed all the crayfish) in the pond.
Though Peggy has had a huge support network of friends and family (often referred to as Peg's Legs) that have been by her side over the past 6 years she's had ALS, members of the ALS support group came by to visit and bid her farewell as well. Even Vi Jones-Medusky brought all her kids, including her eldest daugher, model/surfer Malia Jones. I had fun talking to Malia's husband about my baby carrier and baby stuff, since they're expecting their first baby in a few months. Vi, who recently had a fun run/adventure trek to raise money for ALS (check it out on the support group's new 'work-in-progress' blog: www.hawaiials.blogspot.com), still can feed herself, but is in a wheelchair. It's always so heartbreaking to see these healthy athletes afflicted with such a debilitating disease.
Today was a big day for Peggy and her family and friends. It was a bittersweet day filled with lots of music, kids, art (We got to take away her 2008 calendar filled with her paintings.), love, and laughter. I'm fortunate to have been able to spend some time with her. As I told her before we left, she has been such an inspiration to everyone, through her love of art, life, and laughter. Even though I never knew her pre-ALS, I can tell from today's celebration what a wonderful person she is. Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy, and to the rest of the Chun Ohana!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
"Yes?"
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Chase has been sleeping so good, that I successfully snuck out of the house at 6:45 am so that I could get to 7 am yoga on time without him realizing I was gone. It was a productive rest of the day around the house, which was fine since it turned out to be a wet day. I wanted to take Chase to a couple of school fairs around town, but once we got working on our house chores, time just flew by. While I did load after load of laundry (I think I did about 5 altogether), Chris took Chase to Home Depot to get a new sprinkler system for the yard and those ring things and dishes for the stove burners. While Chris was cleaning the bathrooms, I took Chase up to Auntie Stevi's so he wouldn't be in the way. He had fun playing with trucks and blocks and his car ride-on toy. He also had fun trying to run away from me as I tried to take out the piece of lint he was sucking on in his mouth.
Speaking of sucking, he's been doing less of the boob this week. Much less. I think he tried once today, but only for a couple of seconds each side, before he returned to playing. So, I think he's weaning himself, and I'm drying up. He's been wanting more and more milk from his 4 oz. Dr. Brown's bottle. He drank about 5 bottles today. His favorite word these days is "Yes?" He'll point to something or just look at me and nod his head repeatedly and say, "Yes?" in that cute little voice with his high inflection. He'll say "Yes?" to just about anything, whether it be a book he wants me to read to him, a drink he wants, or a food he wants. He says it before I even ask him a question! Guess he knows that if I ask if he wants food, something to drink, or if he wants to read, he'll most likely answer "Yes?".
Chase has been sleeping so good, that I successfully snuck out of the house at 6:45 am so that I could get to 7 am yoga on time without him realizing I was gone. It was a productive rest of the day around the house, which was fine since it turned out to be a wet day. I wanted to take Chase to a couple of school fairs around town, but once we got working on our house chores, time just flew by. While I did load after load of laundry (I think I did about 5 altogether), Chris took Chase to Home Depot to get a new sprinkler system for the yard and those ring things and dishes for the stove burners. While Chris was cleaning the bathrooms, I took Chase up to Auntie Stevi's so he wouldn't be in the way. He had fun playing with trucks and blocks and his car ride-on toy. He also had fun trying to run away from me as I tried to take out the piece of lint he was sucking on in his mouth.
Speaking of sucking, he's been doing less of the boob this week. Much less. I think he tried once today, but only for a couple of seconds each side, before he returned to playing. So, I think he's weaning himself, and I'm drying up. He's been wanting more and more milk from his 4 oz. Dr. Brown's bottle. He drank about 5 bottles today. His favorite word these days is "Yes?" He'll point to something or just look at me and nod his head repeatedly and say, "Yes?" in that cute little voice with his high inflection. He'll say "Yes?" to just about anything, whether it be a book he wants me to read to him, a drink he wants, or a food he wants. He says it before I even ask him a question! Guess he knows that if I ask if he wants food, something to drink, or if he wants to read, he'll most likely answer "Yes?".
Friday, November 14, 2008
Nordstrom's Cafe
Friday, 14 November 2008
Chase and I met Daddy after work for an early dinner at Nordstrom's Cafe, which is just a walk from his office. Chris pushed Chase around in the stroller after dinner, so that I could do a little shopping (for sale things of course!). Of course Chase had the most fun taking crayons in and out of the box during dinner (He would point towards the floor when one fell out and keep grunting and pointing until we picked it up for him. You know, you can't have only 3 crayons in the box, when there is space for 4.) After dinner, he had the most fun playing with the foot measuring tools when Daddy was window shopping for shoes.
Chase and I met Daddy after work for an early dinner at Nordstrom's Cafe, which is just a walk from his office. Chris pushed Chase around in the stroller after dinner, so that I could do a little shopping (for sale things of course!). Of course Chase had the most fun taking crayons in and out of the box during dinner (He would point towards the floor when one fell out and keep grunting and pointing until we picked it up for him. You know, you can't have only 3 crayons in the box, when there is space for 4.) After dinner, he had the most fun playing with the foot measuring tools when Daddy was window shopping for shoes.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Round and Round We Go
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Chris took Chase to the doctor's this morning because we were worried that his screaming in the middle of the night meant he might have an ear infection. But, turns out he just has a cold. His ears and lungs are fine. So, I cancelled the afternoon "Madagascar" movie with Miya and Taiga, and picked Chase up at the Halsalls.
They were sitting eating lunch when I got there, so I finished mine as well. I taught Chase how to do "Ring Around the Rosy". He loved it. We would fall down, then he would come over to me and grab my hand and say "Yes?", indicating that he wanted to play again. We spun round and round about ten more times....
That is, until he threw up his lunch.
Ha! Guess we shouldn't have spun around so many times after eating.
Went to yoga tonight, and it just about kicked my butt. I mean come on now... when there's humidity in the air from all the vog outside, there really is no need to turn on the new ceiling heaters along with all the floor heaters!. It was so hot in there that I thought I was going to pass out. And from looks of everyone else after class, I know others were suffering too. I swore under my breath the whole time for the teacher to open a darn window or door! And, Alexis, the owner, told me afterwards, "But don't you feel like a rock star when it's that hot?"...
Yeah.....NO.
Chase wasn't the only one going round and round today. I felt like I was going to get sick as well tonight.
Chris took Chase to the doctor's this morning because we were worried that his screaming in the middle of the night meant he might have an ear infection. But, turns out he just has a cold. His ears and lungs are fine. So, I cancelled the afternoon "Madagascar" movie with Miya and Taiga, and picked Chase up at the Halsalls.
They were sitting eating lunch when I got there, so I finished mine as well. I taught Chase how to do "Ring Around the Rosy". He loved it. We would fall down, then he would come over to me and grab my hand and say "Yes?", indicating that he wanted to play again. We spun round and round about ten more times....
That is, until he threw up his lunch.
Ha! Guess we shouldn't have spun around so many times after eating.
Went to yoga tonight, and it just about kicked my butt. I mean come on now... when there's humidity in the air from all the vog outside, there really is no need to turn on the new ceiling heaters along with all the floor heaters!. It was so hot in there that I thought I was going to pass out. And from looks of everyone else after class, I know others were suffering too. I swore under my breath the whole time for the teacher to open a darn window or door! And, Alexis, the owner, told me afterwards, "But don't you feel like a rock star when it's that hot?"...
Yeah.....NO.
Chase wasn't the only one going round and round today. I felt like I was going to get sick as well tonight.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Running Non-Stop
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Now that Chase is at a daycare where I can pick him up as late as 4 pm, sometimes I get errands done (like grocery shopping, cleaning, getting work done at school, or cooking) before I pick him up. Other times, like today, I pick him up around 2 pm so we can spend time together.
This afternoon, I took him to Kahala Mall. One of his favorite things to eat there is plain pretzel bites from PretzelMaker. He can eat about 15 of them in one sitting! He started running circles around the table we were at. Then, he ran away towards the bright kiosk in the mall. He didn't even look back for me. I had to chase after him. People were probably wondering where this baby's mother was.
He ran circles and circles around the kiosk, laughing hysterically as I played hide and go seek with him.
It's a good thing all those pretzel bites and running around tired him out for an afternoon nap.
When we got home, my brother Jason was watching TV in the house. Once Chase woke up, he was a bit groggy to say hi to Uncle Jay, but he perked up once we headed upstairs and saw the dogs. They visited the dogs, and then Chase ran more circles around the driveway.
People had told me that I better watch out if I name him "Chase" because that's exactly what I'll be doing. Sure enough, it's true.
Now that Chase is at a daycare where I can pick him up as late as 4 pm, sometimes I get errands done (like grocery shopping, cleaning, getting work done at school, or cooking) before I pick him up. Other times, like today, I pick him up around 2 pm so we can spend time together.
This afternoon, I took him to Kahala Mall. One of his favorite things to eat there is plain pretzel bites from PretzelMaker. He can eat about 15 of them in one sitting! He started running circles around the table we were at. Then, he ran away towards the bright kiosk in the mall. He didn't even look back for me. I had to chase after him. People were probably wondering where this baby's mother was.
He ran circles and circles around the kiosk, laughing hysterically as I played hide and go seek with him.
It's a good thing all those pretzel bites and running around tired him out for an afternoon nap.
When we got home, my brother Jason was watching TV in the house. Once Chase woke up, he was a bit groggy to say hi to Uncle Jay, but he perked up once we headed upstairs and saw the dogs. They visited the dogs, and then Chase ran more circles around the driveway.
People had told me that I better watch out if I name him "Chase" because that's exactly what I'll be doing. Sure enough, it's true.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
It's Snowing!
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
It's snowing near our house! Well, kind of. I can pretend anyway. I've had to close the windows on one side of the house, but always end up sneezing and scratching the upper side of my mouth anyway, when the wind blows. When we walk up the first flight of stairs, it's like we're walking on snow, as the stairs and the ground surrounding the stairs, are covered in white. The bees are buzzing overhead, and the fragrance of the white flowers are so strong. It's that time of year again when the mock orange tree flowers are blooming.
Yoga wiped me out this morning. We're just hanging out at home with Chase. We may go out and get some yogurt at my yoga friend's new yogurt shop. Then, we'll drop the kid off at the Halsalls, and the rest of the evening is ours. Looking forward to seeing Cirque du Soleil - Saltimbanco tonight!
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