Weekend routines

On a typical weekend, I will get up at the usual time of 7am and have a nice breakfast with either Mama or Papa. The other parent will usually try to get in a few extra winks, but I feel that is becoming more difficult because I am becoming more vocal. I can ask for "nana," my favorite yellow fruit. I can also bang on my eating tray because it makes a good amount of noise. In either case, the other parent is not going to sleep much longer. Two parents are more fun than one anyway.

My walking skills have improved tremendously over the past few weeks. I can make laps of the living room without sitting down or holding on to anything. I can even do the laps while carrying something good, like the new spoons and sporks (spoon-fork combination eating utensils) Mama bought me.

We usually get to do some sort of short errand in the morning before it is time to have lunch and a nap. A trip to the grocery store or the big Costco are entirely typical. I like shopping because there is always so much to see, noises to hear, and new odors to smell.

The remains of the day are usually reserved for going to the park or elementary school. Sometimes we take Zadie on a nice walk down at Shoreline park in Mountain View. There are always lots of wild birds down there. I don't know the species, but my parents don't either. They are reduced to wading birds, herons, seagulls, pelicans or ducks. I am sure there are others but we'll learn their names later. The esteemed ornithologist, John James Audubon would be unimpressed.

Football playoff history

Congratulations to the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts for winning their respective conference playoff games this weekend.

Congratulations too to Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, the two head coaches for guiding their teams to victory. What makes this event notable is they are the first African-American head coaches in the history of the NFL to make it to the Superbowl. Not one, but both of them - and they are longtime friends with the utmost respect for each other. That's cool. That's also why I am doing my best to impersonate the big linemen on the field. I am down in my stance getting ready to tackle someone, maybe Zadie dog if she isn't careful. I may not have the intensity of Brian Urlacher, but I am surely cuter than him. See you on the 4th of February for the big game.

Active bath

Remember way back, when bathing was more of a passive process? I would lay in my bath hammock in the kitchen sink and get my parts washed. It was sometimes fun, sometimes not. Well not now; bathing is always fun. Especially in the big bathtub with either Mama or Papa. I like the anticipation - getting in the cool white tub, pretending to know how to run the faucet, and the feeling of warm water from the duck.

Mama has taught me how to say bubbles, the fleetingly transient and transparent balls that she blows. She has also shown me the letters of the alphabet in their colorful and foamy state. I like to play with my tugboats from auntie Pattie. Just ask me how much I like to splash the water out of the tub. I tolerate getting my hair washed and figure it's a small price to pay for the rewards of bathing.

It's a long weekend to honor the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Enjoy it, I know I will.

Sliding and standing

Over at the elementary school, on any given sunny afternoon, one will find lots of kids climbing on the playground equipment. If you are lucky you'll find me, Mama and Papa there too. I have taken to the slide like a fish to water. It makes me very happy to slide down by myself, head-first if possible. I have been able to climb up the stairs by myself too. If you haven't been down a good slide recently, I highly recommend it.

If you haven't noticed, some of my recent pictures suggest that I have been standing on my own. Perhaps even walking a little. Well, on the eve of my 16-month birthday, I can honestly say that I am on my way to being a full fledged walker, a categorical toddler. For long distances, say from the couch to the love seat, I'll still get down on all fours and crawl. But on the odd occasion bipedal transport seems the better option.

And some recent vocabulary as of today. Moo are the animals that look like dogs but are much bigger. Neigh (horses) are animals that look like dogs but are brown. Duck are the small yellow animals in the bathtub and kitty cat is just too darn hard to pronounce.

Happy new year

We had a nice quiet New Year's eve. In fact Papa was tired and went to bed before midnight. It was after the Times Square ball came down but before it was 2007 in California.

That's ok, we had a busy day. I played with Zadie dog. I am pleased that we get along so well, or rather, she tolerates my antics. She doesn't mind too much when I pull her tail, pet too hard, or bite her stuffed snake. She's a good doggie. I bet she wonders when I am going to stop growing. We're already about the same weight and I am definitely taller than her when I stand up.

Happy New Year everyone. 2007 is going to be great.

More East coast pictures

I alluded to the fact that the original set of photographs had a portion of the people that comprise Papa's family. Here are some of the other people with whom we are related. These pictures have fewer people so I think I know who is who.

The first picture has me being held by Grandma Mira and patted on the head by Grandpa Jon. The second picture is Mira's only brother Kevin which makes him my great-uncle. The other two pictures are of my cousins Sasha and Toshi. I've included them again because they are closest in age to me. Toshi is three, Sasha is two and I am 15-months old. Happy holidays everyone. New year's day will soon be upon us.

Zeke goes East

These pictures are more like Christmas than the last set. Christmas is family and here are the people that comprise part of Papa's family. There are a bunch of pictures here, let me try to get this straight.

The first one has me in a yellow shirt while we are getting ready for a hike outside in the cool weather. From left to right; Grandpa Tetsu, Mama, me, Papa and Grandma Linda.

The second photograph has Papa's older brother's family with some extras; Uncle Ru, Tetsu, Cousin Toshi, Cousin Maya, Auntie Soomi, Cousin Sasha and Linda.

Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Maria are happy about the holiday - they are on their way to Cancun, Mexico with their three kids (Akio, Maya and Sasha belong to them).

Cousins Maya and Akio are shyly posing for a final picture with their grandparents.

It was a long flight to New Jersey, only made longer by a missed flight, delays over Newark, and a diversion to Hartford for more fuel. Since we were standby on the flight, Mama and Papa sat separately allowing me to annoy two sets of passengers. Wah. Next time I am going to get my own seat. The return flight to San Francisco went much smoother.

Happy holidays

It is hard to take a picture of Christmas. Papa tried to take a shot of the family together in the backyard, but it wasn't very festive - and I was thinking more about an overdue nap. So he took another one of the lights in the living room, but it wasn't very personal. I wish that they could be combined to create both a festive and personal picture. But photographing Christmas is hard. I guess the best we can hope for is enjoying our time together and wishing everyone in our lives a safe and happy holidays.

We are travelling to the East coast to see Papa's family. This will be my first cross-country flight and I hope that I can behave myself on the airplane. Five and a half hours will be a long and difficult trip for a 15-month old. Cheers.

Sunday apprehension

Sundays are hard. Mama, Papa and I get to play together all weekend, which is great, and we always have lots of fun. But then Sunday evening rolls around and I have to think about going to Daycare in the morning. Not that Daycare isn't any fun - it is. It just isn't family. I wish every day could be like the weekend. We could stay in our pajamas for most of the day and read our books [upside-down!]. It wouldn't matter because we'd be together. We could play with our toys and learn to walk better. But alas Mondays always seem to sneak up on us.

I have noticed while all of the other Ginko trees in the neighborhood have turned brilliant yellow and dropped their leaves, the Ginko in our backyard has only just decided to turn. I think it may be because it is quite a large tree and it gets watered daily from the lawn sprinklers. Winter must be coming soon.

Over at the school

We had another fun weekend at home. On Saturday, we went to see our friends on the coast for a crab feast. You remember way back when Papa was trying to introduce me to crab? Well John, Alison and their daughter Skye celebrated the season with a party at their house. John is a good fisherman and always gets enough crab to feed everyone. I haven't been back to the coast since we moved in June - that's too long not to see the Pacific.

We also went over to the school to look for more slides and stairs to climb. There are so many to choose from - all shapes and sizes. I even slid down some by myself today. In the picture you can see a musical instrument with different length bars that make different notes when you bang on them. I am distracted at the moment by the ever-present wood chips. They are always good fun too.

Mama put up some Christmas lights on the front of the house. All of our neighbors put theirs up this weekend too. It is nice seeing the holiday cheer in this part of town. Off to bed, it gets dark so early these days.