Fremont Street Experience

We headed to downtown Las Vegas one night for the Fremont Street Experience. Tyler didn't like it as much as the water show, but he did watch the lights and danced to the music from his stroller.

Gingerbread Train

Messy but fun. Tyler and Matthew decorated a Gingerbread train ...

Santa Claus

Tyler was very excited to see Santa. He patiently waited in line for his turn and when it was his turn he cried like there was no tomorrow! Go figure, hahaha. Maybe next year.

Lake Mead

We went to lake mead to feed the fish. Unfortunately there were more ducks then fish that day. Didn't matter, Tyler had tons of fun throwing the bread into the water.

Bellagio

Tyler really really enjoyed the water fountain show at the Bellagio. It was playing every 15 minutes and we must have saw it at least 3 times. He kept saying "waterfall again". LOL, it was too cute!

We also went inside to check out the Christmas display. Most of everything was made of flowers, the polar bears were super cool!

Excalibur's Tournament of Kings

Circus Circus

Tyler is still a bit too young for most of the activities at Circus Circus. He was able to enjoy the mid-way. Heck, he even won a few prizes all my himself!

Shark Reef Aquarium

We also went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Casino. The camera was dying so we didn't get very many pictures

Lied Children's Discovery Museum

We took Tyler and Matthew to the Lied Children's Museum to see the Grossology exhibit. It was very similar to the Children's Museum in San Jose.

Ethel M's Xmas light display

We stayed in Henderson, NV with my Aunty Annie, Uncle Stephen, Cheryl and Matthew. We bunked in the living room on the futon sofa. Matthew was very excited to have Tyler over.

We took the kids to see the Ethel M's Christmas light display one night.

Bass Pro and Silverton Casino

Grandma Jenny came over for the holidays. To start things off we went for a quick trip to Las Vegas to visit some family. Aunties, uncles and cousins. I'll be highlighting just the places we took pictures. Here's Bass Pro and the Silverton Casino.

More updates

I updated a few of the past entries with videos. Feel free to go back and take a look. It's been a busy holiday season and mommy hasn't had time to write as much as she wanted to. Sorry for the delay ...

2009 Xmas @ school

Tyler's school did a mini performance with a Christmas potluck and gift exchange for the holidays. Mommy attended the event. It was nice to see Tyler interacting with the other children in his class. :)

Slacking on pictures

I am not sure what it is, but lately we haven't been taking pictures. Here's what little we have in no particular order.

ABCs

Tyler can recognize all of his letters and for the most part knows their sounds. He is now learning the ABC song.

Riding my motorcycle

Tyler got a new motorcycle ride on toy for his Birthday. Here he is riding it down our driveway.

Trick or Treating

Went up to Fremont for Halloween. Tyler did very well trick or treating. He didn't need us to go with him and would go up to the door with Andrew. He would even try asking for 2 candies, lol.

More Halloween fun!

We took Tyler to several Halloween activities ... puppet and story time at the library and mommy and me. We also practiced wearing his Halloween costume at home.

Can you guess what he is?

Gilroy Gardens

For 9.99 we couldn't pass up tickets to Gilroy Gardens, a local theme park here in Gilroy. Haylie and Tyler had a blast!

Uesugi Farms Pumkpin Patch

Tyler had so much fun at the first pumpkin patch. We took him to another one. This time we went with Haylie and family. This place was much bigger than the first patch equipped with more things for the little kiddos to do. Tyler and Haylie both rode a pony, the merry go round and the train. :)

Spina Farms Pumkpin Patch

In prepartion for Halloween, we took Tyler to a pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin.

He was interested in the pumpkins for a good 5 - 10 minutes, then quickly moved on to the train. :)

Bye Bye Hawaii

Bye Bye Hawaii! We had a great time visiting with family. Next trip isn't planned until next year. Aloooooha!

Fun filled Friday

Thursday Sept 17th

Zippy's breakfast
Shopping with G-ma Jenny Babies R Us, Price Busters, and Costco,
Dinner with Fukuji's

Random day Wednesday

Mommy's getting lazy ... so here's the shorthand for Wednesday. Did everything again with Shaelyn and family, except the dinner at Cindy's house.

McDonald's breakfast
Pearlridge shopping and Jumpy house
Big City Diner lunch
Cindy's house dinner

Tuesday - We will miss you, Grandma Abear

Tuesday was a sad day for all of us. It was the reason for our on the whim Hawaii trip. Luckily for mommy, Tyler is still too young to understand, so not a lot of explaining was needed. Tyler behaved really well at the service. He and mommy said good bye to mommy's Grandma Janet (Tyler's Great Grandma Abear). We love you grandma and will miss you very much!

The rest of the day was spent at home with family. We made a pool out back for Tyler and blew more bubbles. Had left overs for dinner with Black Bean Shrimp. Hung out and talked stories ...

Monday - Ko'olina Beach

Tyler and mommy wasted no time and on their first full fledged day headed to the beach!

It was a beautiful day weather wise, but there was a jellyfish warning. No biggie. Mommy knew what they looked like and we stayed clear of them.

Shaelyn and family met us at the beach and Tyler had lots of fun. We picnicked under a big umbrella, swam, dug deep holes, tried to build a sand castle, caught crabs, saw fish, and blew bubbles.

Sunday, 9/13 -- Hello Hawaii

Sunday - Tyler was excited to ride on the airplane. Poor little guy didn't realize what he was in for. 5 long hours in a confined to a small tiny place isn't fun for a toddler. He was easily entertained at the airport and actually quite happy to sit in his car seat on the plane (at first). He probably slept for maaaybe an hour right after take off and then was rudely awakened by some slight turbulence and the flight attendant talking over the PA system. Tyler woke up grumpy and was NOT a happy camper. His airplane fun was done and he kept saying "airplane all done" and "ride car". Mommy had to distract him with toys, coloring books, reading books, and the portable DVD player! Thank you Elmo.

Fast forward ... we finally landed. Hellloooo Hawaii!

Aunty Tammy and Uncle Scott picked us up from the airport and right away we headed to see Grandma Jenny. She had set up lunch with the family. Tyler took some time to warm up, but once he did ... he had found his new friend, his cousin Shaelyn.

Back at Tam's house Tyler took a nap and mommy got them settled in. It wasn't long before people came to visit again, have dinner, and have a mini celebration for Tyler's 2nd birthday. We sang to Tyler and had him blow out candles and enjoyed cake and ice cream for dessert.

Tyler's 2nd Birthday Party!

Tyler's birthday was on Sept 4th, but we held off for the next week to have his party so we didn't have to compete with any Labor day weekend festivities.

Nothing fancy ... we just BBQed at the house and rented a bouncy house and cotton candy machine. Tyler had loads of fun.

That was short lived, lol

It took what seemed forever to catch up on the blog, but it seems instant to fall back behind. *sigh* Mommy has lots to post ... please stay tuned.

Can it be true?

Oh my, something must have frozen over. I think mommy has finally caught up with the blog. YAY! You might need to go back into the archives to see all of the new stuff. Since I did quite a few in the past few days, only the most recent ones show up on the main page. Enjoy!

I did it!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Tyler! Happy Birthday to you!

Andrew and Ethan

Went up to Fremont to visit Andrew and Ethan. Tyler was quite crabby, but still enjoyed himself. Andrew is very interested in playing with Tyler. Tyler needs to learn how to share better, LOL. Despite that, they played on the ride on toys towards the end of the night and had a blast. Thanks guys!

Children's Discovery Museum

We took Tyler on the VTA (light rail) to the Children's Discovery Museum. Both were a hit! He called the light rail a train and probably could have rode it all day long, LOL!

Haylie's 3rd Birthday

Haylie turned 3 this year and had her birthday party at Pump it Up. Tyler had a blast!

Swimming in the summer

Aug 23 -- Tyler is approaching his last swim session before we take a break, so here are some pictures.

Fun filled weekend

We had a pretty fun filled weekend. Had Friday dinner with the Murakami's and Dante at Rock bottom. Mommy had some yummy smoked salmon fish and chips and Tyler had his usual eat out kids menu dish of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. YUM! He seems to love chicken, but will only eat it when it resembles a nugget. If it's pieces of chicken minus the "breading" he usually won't eat it! He is a very picky eater. Still doesn't like cheese and won't get marinara sauce items including spaghetti or pizza! It's becoming quite a pain, LOL. People say he will grow out of it, so we are just waiting.

On Saturday T and mama went to a town house community's annual garage sale. There were quite a few units that participated and we stayed for about an hour and a half. Mommy mostly bought toys for Tyler. Good deals!

Later on that day we went to the Murakami's for a BBQ. Tyler and Haylie played together, we all stuffed ourselves with food and finished off the night roasting smores by the open fire. :)

Bye Bye Daddy

Daddy had a business trip in the beginning of August. He stayed with mommy for 3 days and did well. Didn't even ask for daddy much. Only noticed that he wasn't there in the morning when mommy let's him watch Elmo while she gets ready for work, LOL.

Right now, I'd say he's a mama's boy.

Tyler's Arizona Trip

Tyler had July 30th and 31st off from school, so daddy took Tyler to Arizona . Woohoo! Mommy couldn't make the trip, so she had to stay back and work. But at the same time, she had some well deserved time off. This was the first time since he was born that mommy would be away from Tyler.

Don't get her wrong, mommy missed Tyler and daddy VERY much ... but it was really nice for some time away.

Lake Tahoe

We went on a Lake Tahoe trip with the Murakami's and Dante. It was a pretty long drive for Tyler. Thank goodness for the DVD player. We definitely would not have made it without it. Tyler had his fair share of Elmo on the Friday night we drove up.

The cabin was awesome. Nicely remodeled and fit for a King/Queen. Mommy, daddy and Tyler got to bunk in the master bedroom because it was the only room with a King sized bed. Tyler was in for a treat since there was no crib. He got to sleep between mommy and daddy. Good for him, bad for mommy and daddy. Tyler moves around ALL night long and kicking and punching. Not fun for anyone.

We didn't have much planned while up in Tahoe ... so we hung out at the cabin, went to King's Beach, went to gamble a bit and hung out at the cabin some more. It was a fun weekend ...

Tyler counting

Tyler and the alphabet song

Ethan's Birthday

On Sunday, we drove up to Fremont for Ethan's birthday party. We were pleasantly surprised by a bouncy house, a cotton candy machine, and a snow cone machine. Boy was it any child's dream come true! Any child except for Tyler, lol. He loves bouncy houses, so he had fun there. But for the life of us (which might also be good), we couldn't get him to try the cotton candy. LOL!

The snow cone, although he's had and loved shave ice in Hawaii. This one was hard and bigger ice chips, so he didn't care for it. Mommy didn't even care for it herself. Hahaha!

4th of July Fireworks

On the eve of July 4th we headed down to Gilroy to visit Evan. Fireworks are allowed there and we thought it would be a neat experience for Tyler. He loves Evan's house because of all of the toys. :)

I can't say he really liked the fireworks. He said wow when he saw the ones that shoot up in the air. But when it happened when he wasn't expecting it in conjunction with the loud noise it makes, he got startled and cried.

Hopefully next year ... he will enjoy it more.

Hoku's Birthday

Happy Birthday Hoku! And look what we got her ...




It was a specially made cake for dogs! It didn't taste bad at all. I would say it tasted a little like carrot cake.

After we got her cake, we went to Palo Alto (i think) to a Chili Cookoff. It was held at a really huge park and there was music, dancing and games while we waited for the chili to be cooked. We had to buy tasting kits in which we could use to go and try all the different chili. At the end of the day , we voted and the winners were announced. Tyler didn't eat any chili but had fun running around the big grassy area, playing on the swing set and running through the water area.

It was too bad we didn't know we could have brought the dogs. Hoku and Wicket would have loved it.

4th of July BBQ

Friday July 3rd was a day off from work and school for the 4th of July holiday. The entire family (including Hoku) enjoyed a BBQ at the Murakami's. Hoku was estatic! She loves going to visit Wicket (the Murakami's Shih Tsu). Not so much because they play together, but more for the treats that he hides all over the house. The first thing Hoku will always do is run through each and every room sniffing out raw hides. Poor Wicket just watches as his treats gets gobbled up. When Hoku does try to interact with him, he doesn't really engage in any sort of "play" with her ... so at the end of the day, they end up doing their own thing.

The BBQ was fun, wish we had taken pictures.

Father's Day - ELMO! :P

6/28

Happy Father's Day Dada!

Dada was so nice to share this day with Tyler. Instead of doing something "manly", the family took a trip up to Oakland to Watch Sesame Street Live, Elmo's Green Thumb.

Tyler loved seeing all his sesame street buddies up close and personal. He wasn't even scared. :)

Btw, daddy's gift was getting his car detailed.

Visiting Action Day

Mommy can't remember why her and Tyler were "off" ... but we went to visit his friends over at Action Day. Mommy thought for sure Tyler would remember, but she was wrong. He was very clingy and didn't even want to play with his friends.

Nevertheless, all his former teacher's were very happy to see him. It's just too bad he didn't want to interact with them. They would have loved to see how much he has changed since he had left.

Brayden's Birthday

Brayden turned 2 in June. We went to celebrate his birthday at a park in San Jose. Tyler really enjoyed the bouncy house. Too bad he still doesn't really know how to jump!

Cherry Picking

Sometime in June we went cherry picking. Some of the trees were low enough for Tyler to help us. He was very interested in picking the cherries, but not so much in eating them.

Back to the grind

Whoa, it's been waaaay too long. Mommy totally forgot what she meant to write in this post. Oh well ... post it anyway. :)

Bye Bye Hawaii

Mommy woke up sad on Sunday. She always gets this way when it's time to leave Hawaii. We did a pretty good job of packing the night before , so today was more or less just hanging out at the house. Tyler now very comfortable at the house would run around and play on his own. It was nice. Mommy wishes he could have done it from the very beginning.

Uncle Stan picked up Zippy's for the road and came over to Aunty Tammy's to take us to the airport. We thanked Aunty Tammy and Uncle Scott for letting us stay with them and that was it ... we were off to the airport.

Good bye Hawaii! Till we meet again! ALOOHA!

50th state fair

On Saturday we took Tyler to the 50th State Fair at the Aloha Stadium. All I can say is what a rip off! We spent $10.00 on ride coupons and could only go on 2 rides because EVERY rider needed tickets! BOO! The one we went to in San Jose only needed rides for the kids, accompanying adults didn't have to pay.

Anyway ... we took Tyler on the merry go round and the airplanes and the super slide. 3 rides?!?! Yes, we got lucky. The airplane dude didn't take our tickets. :)

We didn't really play any of the games, except for one kiddie fishing game where everyone was a winner. Tyler got 2 balls. We also watched a pig race. That was a first and quite entertaining.

Back at home we relaxed a bit and started packing up our stuff. Our nice long vacation was over. Grandma Jenny and Grandpa Stan brought us some Blazing Steaks for dinner. We all just hung out at home.

TGIF!

Man, Friday already! This vacation has surely gone by fast.

Mommy can only remember 2 main things we did on this day. We met Uncle Scott in town in the early afternoon for Happy Hour at Dave and Busters. We all tried hanging out at the bar and watching the Basketball game. But eventually got scolded because Tyler was not old enough to be at the bar! Ai Sos! So Aunty Tammy and mommy took Tyler up to the midway to look and sit on some of the games. Tyler especially liked pretending to drive all the cars and sitting on the Motorcycle. When those things got old, we strolled him down to Ward Warehouse and did some light shopping. Daddy got a new UH shirt and Tyler got crocs. By the time we got back to D&B's the game was over and we needed to head out for dinner.

We met Cindy, Dean and Dorien at Sam Choy's breakfast lunch and crab. Tyler slept in the beginning of it and then woke up to be crabby for the rest of it. He didn't want to sit in his high chair, wouldn't let Cindy hold him, and only wanted to go up to the band and watch them sing. *sigh* Sorry Aunty Cindy! Next time ...

Couldn't find very many pictures relating to today's events.

Back to the beach

On Thursday, although it wasn't bright and sunny ... we decided to go back to Ko'olina again. The timing of when we got there ended up not being ideal. Tyler swam in the water for a very short time and then got fussy. For whatever reason, he was tired and fell asleep as Daddy wheeled him around in his stroller.

Since our 2nd beach day didn't turn out as fun as mommy had anticipated, we took Tyler to Chuck E Cheese. He had a blast there, as he always does. Ran back and forth between the rides.

Grandma Jenny came over to visit after school. Tyler had fun playing with her. He ran all over the place and had lots of fun climbing up and down the futon bed in the spare room.

That evening we went to Justin's for dinner. He cooked up some ono steak with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Tyler had fun playing with the 2 dogs and going to see the lizard. Our night ended with some yummy Baskin and Robins ice cream! YUM!

Shrimp Truck Wednesday

On Wednesday Uncle Scott had to go back to work, so it was back to Tyler, mommy, daddy and Aunty Tammy. We went to Wahiawa in the morning ate breakfast at Sunnyside and visit Grandpa Stan for a bit, while mommy met with an old friend of hers. Shortly afterwards, we went to visit Grandma Kaitoku. Grandpa Kaitoku was staying at a rehab facility, so we didn't get to see him. Tyler acted very shy and we ended up not being able to stay for very long. Grandma though was very happy to see him.

Initially we were going to attempt to go to another beach today, but the weather ended up not being so great. It was raining raining ... but raining enough to not want to go to the beach. haha! Instead , we went to pick up Shrimp at Daddy's favorite truck Giovanni's. We took it to go and headed back to Mililani where we ended up hanging out for most of the day.

That night we ate at Big City Diner and visited Justin at Nancy's where he was bartending. We had a few drinks then had to head home. Tyler was with us and he was not allowed at the bar.

Ko'olina Beach Tuesday

Mommy is calling this a big day for Tyler. Her first attempt for a beach day didn't go well and mommy had high hopes for today. Instead of going to a traditional beach ... we decided to head to Ko'olina where they have several man made coves. Man made in the sense that they put breaker walls out to slightly enclose the area. This way there is not very many waves and the watch is much much calmer. You'll see what I mean in the pictures below.

On the way there ... we thought it would be a good idea to get Tyler some kind of floaty thing that he could use in the water. Lucky for us, the Kapolei Target opened a while back, so we figured why not check it out. Being in it, reminded us of the ones in California. They are exactly the same except that the front $1.00 section isnt really there. Instead they have what I am going to call a "Hawaii" section. LOL! We found Tyler a nice green turtle floaty thing where he could sit and wade in the water. Hopefully he likes it ... it wasn't exactly cheap.

We were almost there. Next we picked up some food at Zippy's and were finally on our way. I forgot to mention that some of Scott's family were actually staying at the "resort" over in Ko'olina. So we actually headed over there for a visit. In the end, we ended up leaving our car there and taking the "golf cart" to the beach. It was fun. Tyler seemed to enjoy it.

At the beach, we had to ease Tyler into it. He still didn't really enjoy the sand, but did play on it for a bit. Mommy held Tyler and took him into the water (although he really wasn't getting wet just yet) and showed him the turtle floating on the water. We made a big deal about it and made fun noises so it appeared the turtle was enjoying the water. After a few minutes we asked Tyler if he wanted to sit in the turtle and viola, he said YES! For the rest of the time, he actually sat and played in the turtle. He kept saying turtle and water and we pushed him around. He did really well and both mommy and daddy were very proud of him. Back at the resort we ate and then rested up a bit then said our good byes and headed home.

That night Grandma Jenny and Grandpa Stan invited us over for dinner. Grandma Abear, Aunty Yvonne and Aunty Annie were all there. We had good food and great company. Tyler had a blast being the center of attention. We even tried to take some pictures. Most in which Tyler is not looking.


Ko'olina Day 1





Kaitoku 2009 Family Dinner

Rest of Memorial Day Weekend

Oh my, mommy is SO far behind on the blog! SORRY!

Let's try and finish up the Hawaii trip, lol. If mommy can remember.

The day after the wedding was another gathering. Present opening and cake eating. By now Tyler was pretty adjusted to the time and warmed up much quicker. So when everyone came over, he actually played with the other kids the came. Despite Aunty Tammy not having kids yet ... Tyler had managed to collect a pretty good amount of toys at her house. The kids had a blast playing with the balls, cars, flash cards, and bubbles. It was a nice relaxing day. :)

On Monday ... we went out for some memorial day shopping at waikele. Bought a few things and even ran into a few friends. Tyler protested and didn't want to be in any of the stores, so he mostly stayed outside with daddy and Uncle Scott. We ended up taking him on the Trolley, which he loved!

*Time passes*

We ended up at Aiea bowling alley later in the afternoon. Tyler was easily amused by all of the bowling balls and would roll them around in their stands. He watched us as we bowled, but showed no interest in copying us. My good friend Justin stopped by and we chatted and caught up. It was very nice to see him. On the way home we picked up Curry House for dinner ... and I think played Guitar Hero.

Aunty Tammy and Uncle Scott's Wedding

Saturday was a very long day. Mommy's wake up call was at 4am to start getting hair and make up done. Picture taking was bright and early at 8am. Somewhere in between Tyler and daddy woke up and got ready. It was a very nice day with the sun shining and a bright sky, perfect for the outdoor ceremony. Tyler was in a semi good mood. Typical Tyler fashion, he got bored very quickly and mommy saw him and daddy walking around everywhere. He played with a few other children, had a snack, and didn't seem to mind the huge crowd of people. Everything got underway at about 10am and went swimmingly.

Following the ceremony was the reception, which is usually fun and relaxing. We got to enter the ballroom early and took pictures in the photo booth. We could not get Tyler to smile though. He seemed a bit confused as to what we were doing. Shortly afterwards, Tyler fell asleep. The room filled up quickly and the formal program began. Mommy started feeling a bit nervous. As part of her duties, mommy had to give the MOH speech. She had written it way in advanced and practiced a bunch of times, but still felt scared. In the end, it went better than she had expected. She didn't stutter too much and people actually laughed!

Weddings are weddings, so I don't want to bore you with each and every detail of it. It turned out beautiful and everyone had a great time.

After the wedding we cruised at the hotel and checked out the beach. Tyler was still not a fan of the sand. He seemed very interested in the water though. But wouldn't let us put him down near it.

The new Mr. & Mrs. Scott Fukuji were staying over at the hotel again tonight, so mommy, daddy and Tyler drove back on our own. It was a short evening. We ate at
Mililani Restaurant and was soon fast asleep.

Please enjoy these pictures.

Getting Ready



Ceremony


Reception

the day before the big day

Friday morning we quickly packed our over night bags. We were staying over at the hotel that night, to avoid having to drive down early early in the morning on Saturday, the day of the weekend.

All of the wedding stuff was dropped off at the hotel and the entire wedding party rehearsed the ceremony in the hot mid day sun at about 10:30am. It was pretty hot and humid. Tyler was a bit cranky. Daddy had his work cut out for him having to entertain him while mommy was busy. Luckily Jalen and Zach were there also. Jalen had bubbles and Zach had cookies. Both are Tyler's favorites! :)

We were fast learners, so it didn't take long before we were done. The rehearsal lunch was held at On On Chinese restaurant not too far away. We had to have had at least a 6 - 7 course meal. The food was ONO! Tyler again got restless pretty quick. Even with all the new faces at the table. While everyone else finished eating, he was looking at the fish tank and walking around outside with daddy. As we were about to leave, he goes poopoo! And what do you know ... no changing table in the bathroom. Tyler has no shame! Mommy changed him right outside on the bed of Uncle Scott's truck. hahaha!

Back at the hotel, we settled in and took a short afternoon nap. Once re-charged we went to Ala Moana shopping center where we did more shopping and had dinner at Island Burgers.

It was an early night for the ladies since our morning wake up call was at 3:30am. Mommy put Tyler to bed while daddy and Uncle Scott and his groomsmen went out.

Nails Nails Nails

Mommy ran out of cool ideas for this blog title. :( It's not a very exciting day to blog about ... so she made the title the highlight of her day.

For the most part, today we hung out in Mililani. We went to Wal Mart to buy a few things. More candy for the favors was one of them ... mommy can't remember what else. Grandma Jenny also happen to be there too! What are the chances?!?! Actually kind of high ... the island isn't that big. LOL

Later that day Jalen came over for a visit. He let us borrow one of his high chairs. Mommy didn't think they would need one, but Tyler won't sit still in a regular chair. He wants to stand and then get off and climb up and you name it he wants to do it. Thank goodness for the high chair. Although, Tyler's eating habits have been weird so far. He only seemed to like breakfast foods (waffles and cereal/milk) and rice.

On to the highlight of mommy's day ... Aunty Tammy took her bridesmaids to Aiea to get pedicures and manicures!! WOOHOO for feeling pretty! The french manicures came out really nice. Tyler hung out with the "boys." Tyler somehow ended up with quite a few toys at Aunty Tammy's. So even if he just stayed home, he still keeps himself busy. Mommy is not really sure what they did.

We had yummy Dong Yang for dinner. Our friend Jan and her son Zach came to visit and the rest of the night was dedicated to making favors.

Wonderfuly Wednesday!

Aunty Tammy cooked us breakfast on Wednesday. Bacon and eggs with Portuguese sausage too. Tyler only eats eggs and rice ... but that's good enough for mommy! Bacon and sausage is fatty anyway, although Tyler is the ONLY one who could actually use some fat.

Tyler was slowly but surely getting back to a normal schedule. :) We all went for a drive down to the North Shore. Tyler feel asleep on the drive, so we did some light shopping first. Daddy bought some coffee and mommy again tried to find Tyler an Aloha shirt for the wedding. No such luck though! We then ended up at Waimea Beach Park. It must have been our lucky day because we got parking in the lot. Tyler was still asleep when we got there, but soon after was playing on the sand! Okay okay, so maybe not soon soon after. He got up and was very interested in the water, but the noise of the crashing waves onto the shore seemed to scare him. It took some coaching, but eventually mommy got Tyler down onto the sand. He played for a bit until he realized the sand was "stuck" to his feet. He did NOT care for this at all. At school he loves the sand box ... but in that he is usually wearing shoes. Oh well ... he'll just need to get use to it.

After the beach we at shave ice at Matsumoto's. Brad got his normal plain cherry and mommy her strawberry cream with ice cream. Tyler could not get enough. He slurped up mommy's through the straw and took huge bite fulls. :)

The sugar rush was all he needed to be in an even better mood. We swung by Wahiawa Elementary School to visit Grandma Jenny. Tyler visited many of the teachers in various class rooms. He does much better with new people these days, so at least he smiled and waved at them. Right before we left, he even played a bit with the Kindergartners on the playground. He had such a fun time! Maybe he's ready for school!?!?! (hahahaha)

Back in Mililani we ate a very late lunch at Genki Ramen. After this ... I believe Grandma Jenny came over to help put together favors and to play with Tyler.

Honolulu Zoo

On Monday, Tyler had a pretty bad day. His schedule was all off because of the time difference and he was very crabby. He stayed home with daddy that day while mommy went with Aunty Tammy to get the rings cleaned, learn how to tie up the wedding dress, and look for an Aloha shirt for Tyler to wear to the wedding. I could write lots about Tyler and his woe's but let's just skip to Tuesday.

Tuesday was a MUCH better day for Tyler so we took him to the Honolulu Zoo. He has been there before, but I doubt remembers much of it. The zoo itself is nothing compared to the ones here in California, but was definitely good enough. It had most of the major animals Tyler knows. He couldn't see well from his stroller, so mommy brought along the Elmo backpack with a strap, which he only wore for a brief 15 minutes if that. Soon he was running and roaming free and it was quite the challenge to keep up with him. :)

Just to note, more so for mommy ... Tyler fell asleep on the way to the Zoo so we stopped off at Ala Moana shopping center before. And afterward, also stopped off at Pearlridge Shopping center.

Dinner that night was at the Fukuji's (Jalen's). Tyler played with Jalen for awhile before he got tired and crashed on his Turtle pillow.

First crabby patty day in Hawaii

Tyler was very excited to see the airplanes at the airport. He loves pointing them out when they are flying in the sky. I am not sure he understood that we actually rode on it ...

The plane ride wasn't too bad. We originally had 2 sets on the right with Tyler as a lap baby, but the flight attendant was kind enough to re-seat us once everyone boarded. We ended up in the middle with 3 seats, as if we had actually purchased a ticket for Tyler. This turned out to be great. Tyler slept for a bit, watched DVDs, read books, played with cars, ate lunch, ate a snack, threw up, colored, and studied flash cards. (not necessarily in that order, lol) And after all this, we were still flying. Towards the end he got quite antsy. Luckily for us there was another toddler behind us who Tyler played with. :)

Grandpa Stan and Grandma Jenny came to pick us up at the airport. As expected, Tyler was a bit shy ... but did exchange smiles as we drove to get lunch. We met Tammy and Scott at Mililani Restaurant and enjoyed some good tasting local style plate lunches.

Back at Aunty Tammy's house Tyler slowly warmed up to his new environment and started interacting with the family. Dinner that night was at Grandma's and we at least mommy had home cooking!

It was a short night for us, being 3 hours ahead, Tyler got tired so we headed back to Aunty Tammy's house where we were staying.

Hawaii ... here we come!

Aunty Tammy is getting married on May 23rd. Tyler and the family are off to Hawaii to enjoy some sand and sun! Will try and blog while we are there, but not sure if I will have time. :)

Trying to get rid of his cold ...

Tyler just can't seem to shake his Bronchitis. After finishing his medicine we went back for the follow up and he was all clear. But ... 5 days later, we were back at the doctor's getting more medicine. *sigh* Hopefully this time, it will go away for good! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Tyler's school planned a little Mother's Day event on Friday, May 8th. Mommy left work a bit early so she could be there. The children had learned songs with hand motions and were suppose to sing to the mommy's. His class is fairly young, so not much singing was heard other than the voices of the teacher's. Tyler didn't bother to do the motions, but did clap and say YAY at the end of the songs.

Next the teacher's called them up one by one to pick up their Mother's Day gift. Tyler happily went up when his name was called, he took the gift, came to me ... but didn't want to give it to me. LOL! In the end I snatched it. They made a magnet with his picture and a card with his hand prints.

Afterwards, we all had a little snack and went outside to play. Mommy tried to take pictures, but didn't get many. Enjoy!

(You will see pictures of strawberries also. We went strawberry picking on the actual Mother's Day day. It was pretty fun, except for the crazy wind)

Happy Boys Day!

For Boys Day, we didn't do anything particularly special, but mommy bought Tyler a Thomas the Train set. He absolutely LOVES it. I didn't take many pictures, but here he is playing with it.

Potty time?

It's pretty obvious when Tyler is making Poo Poo. He stops in his tracks, makes a noise and sometimes even a face. May 9th ... mommy saw him doing this and asked him if he wanted to use the potty. To her surprise he said yeah! He actually sat on his elmo potty seat, which goes on the regular potty and in a couple of minutes made poo poo in the potty! YAY! Well, not victory exactly ... but a first step to what seems will be a long process. After mommy saw the poo poo and wiped up Tyler, she asked him if he was all done and he said yeah! So she took him off the potty and proceeded to show him how to flush the potty. Just then Tyler decides to pee. All over the floor. He seemed quite proud of himself and pointed at it and said pee pee very excitedly. Mommy couldn't help but laugh. :)

Take your kids to work day

eBay had a day your kids to work day on April 23rd. Mommy was very excited. Tyler's new personality was great and she was looking forward to bringing Tyler to the office.

Tyler typically has the same schedule everyday. Wakes up anywhere between 6:00 - 6:30, eats breakfast between 7:30 - 8:00, goes to school by 8:30, has a snack at between 9:00 - 9:30, has lunch between 11:45 - 12:15, nap from 12:30 - 2:30, snack again at 3:00. Between all the times listed above he has all sorts of different activities at school, from reading, drawing, art, playing outside, etc ...

But of course, he decides he wants to nap at 9:00am on this particular day. So mommy had to bring him in his stroller and park him at her desk for a while. This doesn't seem like a bad thing, but Tyler has a new thing where he wakes up from sleeping VERY grouchy! And as mommy thought, this is exactly what he did. He cried and everyone came to see him, which made him cry even more!

Luckily a lot of people have random toys at their desks (and mommy brought a toy bag as well) ... so after about 10 minutes of fussing, he was running between the cubes and pushing a big exercise ball through the aisles.

Right before lunch, we then headed to eBay's North campus (mommy works at the South campus) where the main activities were going to be. There is a HUGE grassy area and LOTs of things to do. Bouncy houses, tricycles, balloon man, face painting, carnival games, and food. It was a pretty HOT day, so mommy decided to start with a snow cone. Tyler has had shaved ice back in Hawaii ... but I'm not sure he knew this would be similar. Right as we were about to sit down and enjoy our snack ... Tyler starts coughing up a fit. Before mommy knew it BARF was everywhere. Mostly on the grass, but pretty much also all over his shirt. And boy was it gross. Mommy quickly removed Tyler's shirt and wiped up as much of it off his face and shamelessly headed for the car before more people stared at us.

Back at the car, Tyler still wanted to eat the snow cone. So we ate it in the back of the Tahoe. In the meantime, mommy called daddy to make Tyler an appointment to see the doctor. From past experiences ... Tyler barfing has always lead to him being sick.

Low and behold ... Bronchitis AND ear infection. BOOOOO! 10 days of antibiotics, 4 oz twice a day. :( After the weekend, he could go back to school. *sigh* This surely wasn't the day mommy had planned. Tyler didn't get to participate in any of the cool activities.

Hello Appleseed!

Tyler started his new school, Appleseed Montessori, on Monday, April 20th. Both mommy and daddy went together for the big day. Tyler was quite curious, yet scared at the same time. He cried when we got there and took a good 5 - 10 minutes to warm up and start playing. But of course, the moment mommy and daddy tried to leave ... Tyler started balling. Tears were streaming down his face as his new teacher Ms. Christina held him and we said good bye.

We went to the office to finish up his paper work for a good 10 - 15 minutes later. As we left, we could still hear him crying. It was heartbreaking for mommy. She hates leaving Tyler when he's crying. But that is what is recommended. The longer the parent's stay, they say the worse it gets when they have to leave.

Mommy felt horrible for most of the day. Always wondering how Tyler was doing. Wondering if he ate his lunch and if he was able to nap in his new surroundings.

That afternoon to her surprise, his teacher's said that his morning was definitely a rough one ... but after nap time, he did great! WOOHOO! Mommy was excited to hear this. :)

The rest of the week was quite similar. Tyler would cry during drop off, but still have good days. Towards the end of the week, he would only fuss a little and would wave bye bye after we dropped him off.

We know it will take time ... we just hope it isn't a lot of time. Leaving a crying son at school is not fun. (and this is mommy's job ... 98% of the time) :(

Thank you Action Day!

Tyler's last day attending Action Day/Primary Plus was April 17th. (mommy and daddy found him a new school closer to home). If anything, this day was much sadder for mommy than it was for Tyler. She got his teacher's a bag of goodies and a thank you card. Tyler didn't really understand it was his last day and was his same cheery self.

That afternoon mommy went to pick him up early to ensure she could speak with his teachers. They were all sad that he was leaving and said they would miss him very much. His class actually did an art project just for him. It was a good bye card that said they would miss him very much. It's cute, when I have time I should take pictures. It has all of his classmates names and hand prints and a few pictures of the girls. :)

Thank you Action Day!

Taking it one day at a time

This past week Tyler was battling a runny nose and a semi cough. His nose literally dripped like a faucet. It got raw from all the wiping and Tyler was pretty miserable. He is still too young to take any medicine for this, so he just has to tough it out. I'm not sure who it is harder on, Tyler or mommy/daddy. Sure a runny nose is not fun, but a crabby kid with a runny nose isn't fun either.

Easter 2009

For Easter this year, we went over to Tracy and Jay's up on Fremont. Tyler was feeling a bit under the weather and therefore was kinda crabby. But eventually he did warm up. We had lots of delicious food to eat as always and the kids had an easter egg hunt. Tyler didn't quite grasp the concept of the hunt and was more interested in shaking the eggs, since the first one he found had quarters in it and made noise. Mommy and daddy ended up doing most of the hunting for him. He was then interested in opening all the eggs. Go figure! It was a wonderful day for him ... he got to try Twix and he loved it!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

We went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom with Aunty Cindi, Uncle Shaun and Uncle Dante. It was the first time we had been there and we were actually impressed. It had a little something for everyone. Kiddie rides, games, food, roller coasters, animals and tons of shows.

We saw Tweety Bird, Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the Cat. Tyler rode on a bunch of rides. The guys rode on a bunch of rides. We then watched the dolphin show and all ate at the IBM buffet. Then we played games and rode some more, while Tyler napped after lunch. With great timing, he got up just in time to see the animals.

It was a good time and mommy and daddy are thinking of maybe going again sometime this summer.

18 months

I know I always say this, but boy does time fly. Tyler is already 1 1/2 years old. Can you believe it? This little 4 pounder is now a good 22 lbs and about 31 inches tall.

He does so many fun and entertaining things. He already recognizes shapes (Triangle, square, rectangle, circle, oval, octagon and star) and can point them them on flash cards, in books and on puzzles. He is now learning his numbers and so far is favorite is 2. He recognizes it and can say it. His vocabulary has grown and off the top of my head here are some new words that he can say.

• Please (although it sounds more like peas)
• Two
• Eight
  
• Blue
• Star
• Baa (for sheep)
• Boo (for cow, don't ask. we are trying very hard to correct him to moo)
• Hippo
• Car
• Tree
• Teeth
  
• PeePee
• PooPoo
• Dirty
• Stinky
• Star
  

Amazing isn't it? And as always ... here are more pictures!

Tyler's bonding time with Grandma Jenny

With Kristy and Kim gone ... Tyler got to bonding with Grandma Jenny all day on Tuesday. They played, read book, sang songs, watched Elmo, ate and napped together. I am sure there were other things in between ... :)

Since it was Grandma Jenny's last night, mommy came home from work early. We all then went to the park to play. Grandma Jenny strolled Tyler in his red radio flyer wagon and mommy walked Hoku. At the park, Hoku sat nicely tied to the fence and Tyler walked up and down the playset. He really liked to steering the steering wheel and it took some convincing and even demonstrating (by mommy) to get him to go on the slide.

Now since mommy takes so long to write these, she can't seem to remember what they had for dinner that night. It wasn't anything fancy and it might have been Arby's. LOL I guess that's not all that important.

Grandma Jenny spent as much time as she could with Tyler before he slept. Tyler was very happy that she was there. I am hoping he will now remember her ... but I guess that will have to be tested later.

The next morning, up again bright and early ... we all got ready for our day. Grandma Jenny was ready for her flight, T was ready for school and mommy was ready for work. We said good bye to daddy and was off to the airport. Tyler doesn't yet understand that Grandma Jenny isn't from Califonia and can't come to visit him at anytime. He calmly waved good bye to her at the airport and smiled. Mommy then hugged her mommy and waved good bye. Bye bye Grandma Jenny ... we will see you again in May for Aunty Tammy's wedding!

Tyler's time away from mommy and daddy

As always mommy is behind on the blog. :P To continue with our adventures with G-m Jenny, Kristy and Kim ....

We got back home pretty late in the evening on Sunday. Had some pizze for dinner and didn't really do much.

Bright and early on Monday morning, daddy had to go and pick up Hoku from boarding, mommy went to work and Grandma Jenny, Krisy and Kim got to stay home and watch Tyler.

Tyler had taken to her so well, that it really wasn't a big deal when we left him. He was surrounded by all of his toys and then some. And if all else failed, Elmo was his very best friend.

At work, mommy had wished she had taken off ... just because she was lazy. She would have much preferred to have hung out at home with Grandma Jenny and T. In any case, right before lunch an earthquake hit Morgan Hill, the town directly south of San Jose. It was about a 4.7 and mommy felt it pretty strong at work. She called Grandma Jenny to see if they felt it too. It was her first earthquake (i think) and she reported that the house shook and nothing had fallen down. :)

Mommy brought home Chinese food for dinner that night. Tyler had a fun filled day with his new friends. Kristy and Kim flew out to Vegas. And then ... sleep. :)

North Star Resort

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning to get a head start to North Star. Mommy, Kristy, and Kim went snowboarding, while grandma, daddy and Tyler stayed at the resort.

It was Grandma Jenny's first time in the snow and Tyler's second. Too bad it was a bit icy. The weather up there has been quite warm and there hadn't been any recent snow storms. It's okay though ... we all made the best of it.

We only snowboarded for half a day and then had lunch. We still had a long drive ahead of us. But no need for those boring details. Here's some pictures.

Trip to Reno

We went on a road trip to Reno/Tahoe over the weekend. Hoku went to boarding on Saturday morning and we packed up all our stuff in the Tahoe and headed North. Tyler usually doesn't mind riding in the car, but I think a 4+ hour ride is a bit much. In the beginning he watched DVDs and even read a few books. After a while, he got pretty antsy and bored. We took a lunch break near Roseville at a place called Tahoe Joes.

*Time passes* LOL. We were finally there! Reno, Nevada. We stayed at Circus Circus. Tyler got to walk around the MidWay. He tried playing games, but they were geared towards more older children. He did like looking at all the lights and prizes and riding a red car.

Everyone gambled a little except for daddy. (such a party pooper, he is!) We were all grand losers. Only winning little here and there and then losing it back. It's okay though, we had lots of fun.

For dinner, we tried out the buffet. It was an international spread so there was lots and lots of choices. Tyler especially enjoyed the soft served ice cream.

Back at the hotel room, Tyler seemed a bit confused. He kept pointing at the door and waving bye bye. I think he wasn't sure what we were doing there and wanted to leave. It was a bit of a challenge to give him a bath without his ducky. Mommy ended up having to bathe with him. After while he was tired enough and went to sleep between mommy daddy on the bed. Grandma, Kristy and Kim had their own room.

Friday shopping

Mommy took off from work on Friday and the entire gang including Tyler went shopping. We got a pretty early start and spent most of the day at Gilroy. Tyler was in a pretty good mood and had fun watching the birds fly around as well as playing on those car rides. He doesn't seem to care whether or not it is actually moving and will just sit in them and steer with the wheel. Even so, mommy did put quarters in for him to ride.

Tyler got 2 pairs of shoes and mommy got a few pairs of jeans and a shirt. The family from Hawaii, bought a bunch of things. :) It was a relaxing day for us ... too bad daddy was at work. :P

March visitors

Grandma Jenny came to visit again! This time Tyler was very open to her and took to her very well. She flew on the evening of March 25 and was up bright and early to see Tyler the next morning. At first Tyler was a bit shy, as he always is with new faces. But after a while, he warmed up nicely to her.

Mommy worked from home that first day (Thursday), while Grandma Jenny bonded with Tyler. He was perfectly fine playing and interacting with her when mommy was in his bird's eye view. He did grumble a bit at first when she tried to sneak away. But overall, he did very well.

Kristy and her friend Kim flew in Thursday evening. Tyler never had this many visitors at once. I couldn't tell if he was excited or overwhelmed. Either way, he seemed to have fun.

17 months

Back to 16 months

Mommy again has been slacking on uploading pictures.

Here we go back into time when Tyler was 16 months. :)

No mommy! I can do it ...

Tyler's personality has really started to show. He here is refusing mommy's help to feed him breakfast.

Chuck E Cheese with Aunty Tammy

We took Tyler to Chuck E. Cheese when Aunty Tammy was here. He had a blast and ran from ride to ride. He even slid down the slide, despite all the older kids pushing him around! :)

Tyler and more dot art

Tyler's school teachers always tell mommy how much he loves doing art work. Soon mommy will have to start thinking of some more creative art work that he can do at home. For now, he still loves his dot art pens.

Tyler the dare devil

In addition to Mater, Tyler also has a green ATV. This one is not so much a push toy as it does not have a handle in the back of it. Tyler liked to just sit on it for a while and play with all the buttons that make sounds. Now he tries to stand up on the seat!! Boys will be boys, I guess. :P

Tyler riding Mater

Tyler has finally started "riding" his push and ride toys. He still prefers to push them around like shopping carts, but at least now he does try to ride them.

Tyler and Haylie

A few weeks ago we had dinner with a bunch of friends at Tony Roma's. Tyler is always entertained by Haylie. Here they are together hanging out.

Tyler dancing?

I have a question mark in the title because I am not sure if this is really dancing. But it is what he does when we ask him to dance. Mommy doesn't dance this way, so he must get his moves from daddy.

Room 13

In the midst of all that has been happening in the past few weeks, Mommy forgot to mention that Tyler finally was able to move into the next class. Technically, it's the next, next class.

You see, Tyler was in the "walking" class (Room 12) for a little longer than expected. The next class should have been Room 21 for 12 - 18 months. By the time there was spaces to move up, Tyler was about to turn 18 months ... so they skipped that class and directly moved him into Room 13 for 18 - 24 months.

This was a big change for Tyler. This new classroom had a set schedule for all most all of the daily activities. There was breakfast time, circle time, snack time, outside play time, lunch time, nap time, snack time, circle time and play time.

He did really well visiting the week prior the the actual move. He already knew one of the teacher's, which helped a lot. As the visiting week progressed, his teacher's thought he'd do just fine.

Tyler is still doing fine, except for the drop off. He still fusses/cries a bit when mommy drops him off in the morning. But after that the warms up and has a great day. Great job Tyler!

So long paci!

It's been almost 3 weeks of no pacifier! To our surprise, it was easier than we had ever anticipated. We first started by not giving it to Tyler in the daytime and only for naps and bedtime. Then we stopped at nap time and then for bedtime.

Don't get me wrong, it still was difficult. Tyler knew it was missing and would ask for it in his own Tyler way. He would continuously point at the kitchen counter drawer where we kept it and wouldn't stop until we opened the drawer so he could see that they were not there anymore.

Finally though ... he has seemed to have forgotten about it and no longer asks for it. Mommy does wonder what happens in school, since she has noticed that other kids in his class still do use it. His teacher's hasn't mentioned him trying to take them, so I guess he must not.

Anyway ... at least now all his pictures will be nicer without the pacifier. :)

Mommy's Yakudoshi Party

In Japanese tradition, this is a big year for mommy. It is a yakudoshi year, one that is suppose to bring bad luck. In order to prevent this bad luck from taking place, it is customary to have what is called a Yakudoshi (birthday) Party.

Mommy isn't superstitious nor is she very traditional ... but daddy decided that he would throw her a party anyway. Mommy chose one of her favorite restaurants and invited her closest friends. The part was Sunday night, after Aunty Tammy had left.

Everything was going as planned. Aunty Cindi had helped daddy with party favors and the menu was set ... it was all a matter of everyone just showing up to have a good time.

We got there a bit early since we had some setting up to do. To kill sometime, we went to check out Best Buy. While we were looking around, the lights went out. Complete blackout. We were quickly escorted out of the store. After scoping out the place, it appeared the only the one quardrant was out of power. And low and behold it was the one with our restaurant, Straits Cafe. We quickly went to see what was up.

Unfortunately, they did not have an ETA on the power outage and could not seat or serve anymore people. They gave us to option to transfer our parties reservation to their "sister" restaurant Sino ... which is what we ended up doing.

Mommy quickly called everyone to tell them the change of plans and we were on our way. Appetizers started arriving shortly after everyone was seated. It was quite yummy. We had all sorts of dim sum favorites and then some. Dinner was also a feast. We ordered lots and lots of food and ended up with leftovers for home.

Tyler did pretty well and entertained himself by running around and playing with Haylie. A little too much running though. He ended up barfing all over the floor. :( Time to clean up and head out. We got our to go boxes and went right outside for a quick dessert at the infamous Pinkberry. It was okay, but mommy doesn't know what all the fuss is about. It's not to die for! At least she didn't think so. But it was a great way to end the night. We bid everyone goodbye and headed home.

At home, mommy couldn't find her cell phone. She searched and searched and decided she must have left it at the restaurant. Of course, by the time she called no one picked up. *sigh*

So to sum it up ... her Yakudoshi party, which was suppose to ward away bad luck, seemed to have brought bad luck upon her. How ironic. Hopefully this just means she got it all out of the way and the rest of 2009 will be a piece of cake. :)

Bye Bye Aunty Tammy

Sunday came too quickly. Aunty Tammy ended up with an extra suitcase going home! (all that shopping!!) We didn't have anything in particular planned for Sunday. We ate breakfast at home and went to Tyler's swim class in the morning. We then had lunch at Boston Market and went to Kohl's. After that, it was pretty much time to head out. SFO is about 45 - 50 minutes away from SJ ...

It was a short trip, but we are glad Aunty Tammy was able to come and visit. It's too bad Tyler is in his clingy phase and she didn't really get to hold him much ... but they did get to play and she did get to hear him babble and try to talk.

Hopefully, he will be a bit more relax when we go for our visit in May.

Shopping at Gilroy

Aunty Tammy only had 1 full day in San Jose and it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to go shopping! We left daddy at home and went to Gilory with Tyler in tow. If we knew what we were in for, we would have left Tyler with daddy.

Up until now, Tyler didn't seem to mind going shopping with mommy. As long as she pushed him around and kept him full ... he seemed to enjoy himself. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Tyler loves riding in his stroller and was fine outside of the stores. (Gilroy, btw, is an outside mall) But as soon as we went into a store he immediately started grumbling and pointing back at the door. Even if he was being pushed around, he still angrily wanted to get out.

Usually Tyler likes to walk around and explorer new surroundings. Mommy, thinking this would at least keep him busy for a while gave it a try. It maybe lasted for a minute or 2 and before mommy knew it Tyler was heading for the door. It's funny too. Mommy would purposely take Tyler to the very back of the store and let him down and amazingly he would find his way back to the front and at the door. He surely didn't want to do any shopping today.

Luckily mommy wasn't shopping for anything in particular, so for the most part she stayed outside with Tyler keeping him busy. They watched the birds fly and the cars drive past, they chased the birds, Tyler walked around trying to run away from mommy, and he even sat in those car ride things. (Mommy didn't have quarters to make them go, LOL). We did this for a good 2 hours or so ... Aunty Tammy shopping and mommy and T cruising. Soon enough it was lunch time Tyler ate a peanut butter sandwich with some crackers and mommy and aunty Tammy had Sonic.

The next part of our day was much nicer, due to the fact that Tyler went down for nap for a bit and woke up in a much better mood. We left the outlets and went to Target, Wal Mart, Old Navy, and Costco. And just for some extra fun ... we took Tyler to Chuck E Cheese.

That was our day in a nutshell. Back at home we had pizza for dinner and played more wii fit. Here are some pictures Aunty Tammy took. Oh, the pictures are for the entire trip (mommy was too lazy to separate them). hehe

The first day of Aunty Tammy's Visit

Aunty Tammy had to go on a business trip last week and was fortunate to be able to stop in for a short weekend visit.

She arrived on Friday in SFO, so mommy took off from work. :) We had lunch and did some light shopping before going to get Tyler from daycare. When we got there his class was playing outside and mommy was excited because she thought she could see Tyler in "action." We looked very hard from afar and was disappointed to see that Tyler was being held by one of the teachers. His former teacher, Miss Katie, had just walked through the area and Tyler wanted to follow her to her class ... and when he couldn't he got upset. LOL

Anyway ... he stared at Aunty Tammy and I think even smiled. But even if she is related by blood, he did not let her carry him. Which is understandable (a little), as they kinda sorta just met. Mommy isn't sure Tyler would remember her from his last trip to Hawaii.

Back at the house, Tyler played and kept his distance from Aunty Tammy. He would interact with her as long as mommy was near. Once mommy walked into another room and he realized he was alone with Aunty Tammy ... he would immediately go and look for mommy. (he is in his mommy's little boy right now)

While we waited for daddy to come home, we played and ended up feeding Tyler his dinner. YUMMY peanut butter sandwich! He absolutely LOVES those. :) Once daddy got home, we all went out for dinner at the Olive Garden. At first Tyler was in a pretty good mood, but that faded fast. By the time we got seated (about 45 mins later) ... he was starting to get tired. Poor daddy ended up holding him and he feel asleep rather quickly.

Back at home, Aunty Tammy got situated and we played a little o bit of Wii Fit. :) Tyler, stayed asleep for the rest of the night.

Aloha Koa!

I am not sure if everyone is aware, but Tyler had two dogs at home. Hoku, a yellow Labrador Retriever and Koa a Pit Bull Terrier Mix. Tyler actually seemed to like Koa more and we think it's because Koa was more active than Hoku. Oddly though, Hoku seems to like Tyler more than Koa did.

The day after President's day was a very sad day for the Rex family. Koa was in Tyler's room, a place where he isn't allowed to go and when Brad tried to get him out ... he bit Brad. Tyler was with mommy downstairs drinking milk during the entire thing.

So now the question was ... can we trust Koa? We really wanted to say we could and that life would go on as it has been. But with this incident, now we just weren't sure. And we needed to be 100% sure to make sure Tyler would never ever be in any harm. So, putting our family's best interest first ... we decided that it was best we take Koa back to the Silicon Valley Humane Society, which is where we had adopted him.

This was one of the hardest things that mommy has had to do. Koa was part of the family and it was sad that he had to leave. We all said our good bye's and even took some pictures for memories. Tyler had no idea what was going on .... but nevertheless we made him say good bye to Koa. And on daddy's way to work, he dropped him off at the Humane Society.

Aloha Koa, we will certainly miss you! Here's tons of pictures of Koa. :)

p/s. Daddy went to the doctor to get his ear checked out and everything is fine.

President's Day Weekend

Tyler's daycare wasn't open for this holiday and mommy and daddy were rather excited to spend a fun filled day with Tyler. Too bad the weather was junky! We've been having what winter weather should be .... rain, rain and more rain.

We got an early start and decided to take Tyler to the mall's little play area. We have taken him before, but since he had just started walking then I think he was a bit unsure of himself. Plus all the older kids just run around without looking, often knocking Tyler down. Tyler must have not liked our plans, so he added a little twist by falling asleep on the way down there. So in the meantime, we did a little shopping. Unfortunately, by the time Tyler woke up, the mall was officially open and now the play area was PACKED! We still tried to take him, but he wasn't very interested. He seems to prefer less people than more, so I'm sure the crowd was a bit overwhelming for him.

By this time it was about time for lunch. Lunch ... what a challenge. Tyler is still a bit picky about his food and finding a place where he'll eat something other than bread isn't an easy thing to do. Ah ha! Mommy had a greatest idea! Shabu Shabu. Off to Mountain View we went.

Shabu Shabu is a Japanese style of eating, I suppose. They boil a large pot of seasoned water on your table and you can order food to cook yourself. This particular place has a limited amount of choices. Beef, pot stickers, udon (this is Tyler's favorite!), and mixed veggies. It was a great time. Tyler enjoyed his udon noodles and actually sat in the high chair and entertained himself the entire time allowing both mommy and daddy to eat! This might I add, does NOT happen often, which is why I am mentioning it.

Back at home, it was the same ole same ole. Tyler taking out each and every toy he owns and strategically placing them everywhere making a mess. Mommy and daddy, trying to teach him to clean up ... but still having it do it ourselves. Either way ... it was a relaxing day with the family.

So Lazy!

Mommy has been slacking on the blog this month. Work has been a bit hectic and mommy has actually been sick for a while. In addition, she also forgot her camera over at a friend's place the other weekend and what are blog entries without pictures?!?!

Enough about the excuses ... she is back!

Tyler's 2nd hair cut

Tyler's hair has been getting long. The sides were past his ears and the back was not enough for a ponytail , but surely on its way there. This past weekend, we took Tyler back to Daddy's barber shop.

When we first got there, he was in a good mood. We read books and he tried so hard to get the M&Ms to come out of the candy machine. His mood changed the longer we waited. By the time it was his turn, he wasn't as happy ...

He sat on dada's lap again and wore the "cape". In this video it shows him doing a very good job. He sat there in the beginning very nicely. But for the next side, he cried the entire time. Hence no video. Mommy was busy trying to get Tyler's attention.

Tyler talking to dada

Tyler has been trying his best to communicate with mommy and daddy. He rambles and babbles and will respond back to us if we ask a question. We can't wait for actual words! Sometimes we do hear words, but it doesn't seem that he is associating the word correctly. Maybe just saying them. This morning he sounded like he said hello and elmo!

Tyler, flash cards and a cup

Tyler is obsessed with putting things into something and then taking them out. He loves boxes and containers of any sort. Mommy started giving him lots of different things to play with. This past weekend it was clear plastic cups. Tyler quickly learned he could put his pens into the cup and easily carry them around. He did that for a while and then decided he wanted to try his flash cards.

Usually Tyler gets upset when he can't do something. Here is his attempt to put his flash cards into the cup.

Tyler and his bubble machine