Transient bal-noo

Sometimes life is great; a nice sunny day, a new yellow bal-noo (balloon), a full tummy and the beginnings of a walk to the park. Life is good. Could it be any better?

Maybe, perhaps the bal-noo wants to have some freedom too. Let me wriggle out of the ribbon loop tethering the bal-noo to my wrist. There, what a beautiful sight. The bal-noo is rising up softly, up above Papa's head, up past the trees, over the neighbor's house my new yellow friend goes. I'm happy for the bal-noo.

Wait. It's getting pretty far away. Now it's really far away. It's up where the airplanes are. It's not coming back is it? Papa? Wah, bal-noo is gone. Bal-noo, BAL-NOO!

Head over heels

Happy Mothers day everyone. I hope everyone called their own mother today. I didn't have to because Mama is already here flipping me upside-down. I like it. How much do I like it? Almost as much as Thomas the "choo" or my new red sandals. Maybe what I like even more than being upside down is how good Mama is to me. Happy Mother's day Mama, you're the best.

Lots of new words for my vocabulary this week; two, nine (not sure about the other numbers), wawa (either the ocean or a flower in Mandarin), pee-pee, onion, please, on, nuts (don't ask), star, and purple. There are probably others but my parents sometimes misunderstand me.

Orange fastball

Backyard orange picking again. Here in Northern California the climate is such that one can grow citrus trees in the backyard. I get to find all of the goodies and pick them up. I actually don't like to eat oranges, but find they make a good thump when you throw them. I am lining this one up to throw at Papa. He's watching me from across the yard. He'd better watch out.

Bal-noo!

I am excited about today, but then again, I am pretty excited most days. Today I have a bal-noo; actually it's a balloon and I've had it for a week, but balloon is too hard to pronounce and it's been hidden away in the closet. Today I got to play with the bal-noo in earnest. The plastic Easter egg tied to the end of the string is to prevent it from flying away like the one GrannyM got me last week. I was very sad when that happened.

I mean what could be better than waking up from a nap, playing with a bal-noo, and not wearing any pants? It is a great day when that happens. Speaking of great days, I enjoyed my stay in Thousand Oaks with GrannyM and Pop-pop Bob last week. They took good care of me and Mama, and I had great fun playing with my cousin Jake in the pool. I hope I get to see everyone again soon.

Sometimes the best thing about travelling is coming home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they say. Papa's exuberance upon our return proves it. Now the problem is that I miss my grandparents. I just know they miss me.

p.s. New vocabulary: boo-boo (small owies), bye-bye, done (I'm full), down, bus, Bo-bo and Aaron (my new daycare friends), help, baay-be (small things/animals), I even said "Zeke" once this week.

Gotta boogie

Mama and I went to Southern California to visit GrannyM and Pop-pop Bob. We are spending the whole week down there so I'll have plenty of time to play with my grandparents. Papa is staying in Northern California where he'll take care of Zadie dog-dog. Mama plans on working through the week via the internet - too bad Papa's science job isn't portable like that.

Anyway, we have lots planned to do already. I've been to the swimming pool with my water wings, I think I am going to get to see Jake my cousin, and maybe even visit the ocean at Carpinteria like Mama did when she was young. Hope everyone is well, I've gotta boogie.

It's official

I am a boy, therefore I adore Thomas the Tank Engine. He is pretty much ubiquitous these days if there is a small boy like me in your house. Thomas comes with the territory; I've had a Thomas ride-on toy since I was very young, and a couple of the small wooden trains from my cousin Toshi. This particular engine is from Kem and Uncle Misha from their last visit. It has some bottom sensors so it can follow a water trail that is drawn on a special canvas mat. Sort of like a free-form track set. It plays the same saloon music as the ride-on train, but I like it just for pushing around on the ottoman.

Papa says he didn't have Thomas when he was a kid. Grandpa Tetsu has a big train set that I saw when I visited them at Christmas. I think all small boys must like trains - maybe dadas and grandpas too.

p.s. New vocabulary: fish, shoes, socks, num-num (meaning I'm hungry), more (meaning I'm still hungry), apple, eyes, and hat.

Happy Easter

I've been training for this day. I've picked up some rice-filled eggs earlier, and plucked some oranges from the backyard, but today I had a real Easter egg hunt. Mama and Papa dyed some hard-boiled eggs. They also filled my plastic eggs with one of my favorite things to eat - wheat bread. They hid the eggs around the backyard and I found them for my basket. I can't wait to go inside to eat my treats.

Mama also made a 'meat rabbit' for dinner. She felt that it would be unfair if I couldn't eat a pair of chocolate rabbit ears, so in substitution she created a rabbit-shaped meatloaf. I got to eat part of the ears for my supper. Easter is a pretty good holiday.

Aim for the sky

Sometimes we have to set goals for ourselves. For instance, here I am trying to make a basketball shot on a 10' net with a tennis ball. Quite a feat for a 19-month old. But I need to have goals or I'd get bored with myself.

I was watching the gusty and cold Masters golf tournament on television today. It ocurred to me everyone was having a hard time just making par. Tiger Woods is in the final pairing while Phil Mickelson is just four strokes off the lead going into tomorrow's final round. I have strong admiration for both Tiger and Phil for it seems that they've always set and achieved lofty goals. The competition between them can only make them individually stronger. Since 2001, Tiger has won this tournament three times, Phil twice. The eventual winner tomorrow will take home a check for $1.3M and the much-coveted green jacket. Good luck to everyone down in Georgia.

I am going to keep shooting until I get it right. You can count on it.

Tastes like chicken

Just a random post to keep everyone abreast of what is happening in California. I am changing my daycare facility again. It will be hard to leave the current one since I have spent almost a whole year there. It was hard leaving my first daycare in Pacifica way back when. The current caregivers have already expressed their sadness for my departure. I will miss them too; they really are a wonderful bunch of people. The upside is that I will be joining a different daycare where I will be learning Mandarin Chinese. Tomorrow is my last day because the next day is Good Friday - which means it is Easter weekend. Yay.

I have fun imitating Mama, in fact that's her hairbrush in the picture. I found it in the bathroom when she wasn't watching. Some new words were added to my vocabulary this week. I said 'mother' the other evening. 'Elmo' is my Sesame Street friend. Mama asked me to say 'hammer' so I repeated it after hearing it just once. My parents are so easily impressed.

April oranges

Happy April. I can't believe it is the second quarter of 2007 already. Life just happens - marching undeterred toward the future. I am thinking less heady thoughts. I am picking up oranges in the backyard.

Remember just before Christmas there were some oranges in the non-festive family photograph? Well the oranges have matured and we've been eating them in earnest for the past month. They continue to fall down though - there are just too many of them. Picking up oranges will be good practice for the Easter Egg hunt next weekend.

p.s. Our friends, Alex and Stacey, welcomed their second child into the World last night. Their first one, Quinn is about my age. Congratulations to their burgeoning family, the Amagasus are very excited for them.