Crayons and 150 posts

There are some crayons in this box. I know because I stuffed them in there just a moment ago. Now I am trying to get them back out. I like order and patterns, you see. For example, I like to put my toys in their place, then take them out, and perhaps put them away again. It gives me a sense of security in an otherwise chaotic World. A little birdie told me Mama and Papa were the same way when they were young. Papa still does it at work - he's obligated to because he's a scientist. They too gravitate toward order and patterns; I think it gives them comfort.

I just noticed that this is the 150th post of my blog. That's a lot of entries over my two+ years. There's no telling when I'll run out of ideas to ruminate upon. It could be when I hit 200 entries, or three years, or some other as-yet-to-be-determined milestone. I am not sure when it will happen, but I do enjoy writing about the things on my mind. I hope you've enjoyed reading them.

Grandpa Tetsu and choo-choos

Papa's father, my grandpa Tetsu, came to visit us last week. He was on his way from New Jersey to visit Japan where his family grew up. Lucky for us San Francisco wasn't too far out of the way and we got to spend some time together.

What better way to spend a lazy weekday afternoon than watching the commuter trains at Mountain View station? By the looks of it, Grandpa Tetsu is equally excited to see the big diesels pull into the station. He seems to have an affinity for choo-choos as big as his hat.

Anyone who likes trains that much is a good person in my book. I should know.

Jumpy houses

I know I am not supposed to jump on my bed at home. But there exist places in the World where they expect you to jump up and down. This is one of them. It's a temporary outdoor lot where they've established several inflatable playthings to attract kids under the larger guise of selling Halloween pumpkins. I fully expect a similar plan for Christmas trees now that it's November. So long as I am allowed to jump around, I'll be happy. Weee!

My likes chocolate

So where has chocolate been all my life? This is my first time, in almost two years and two months of Earthly existence that I've tasted chocolate. Unfair. I just know my parents eat it routinely - every day I have no doubt.

I went trick-or-treating on All Hallows Eve once it was dark enough outside. I wore my fancy new lion outfit and was a very good boy. So good in fact that my parents allowed me to have a piece of candy, and then another. We met many of our neighbors along the street and I got to stay up a little later than usual. Yay for Halloween. I can't wait until next year when I can stay out even longer and get more candy.

I call it "My likes chocolate" because I don't actually like to use the pronoun "I" when speaking. Instead I like to use the possesive "my" when referring to myself. Silly little lion. Either way chocolate is here to stay.

I don't want to Halloween

Sometimes Mama and Papa make me do things I don't like to do. Things like poo-poo in the potty, getting out of the bathtub and stopping the Thomas the tank engine DVD. One other thing that I don't like to do is wear Halloween costumes. They are scary and furry and hot and I don't like them.

This is a practice run from the weekend. I tolerated the first pumpkin costume that I received from Nana Mira, but this second one has got to go. No offense to Uncle Billy and Auntie Carolyn who bought it for me, but right now I am one angry lion. ROAAARR. I may come around by Wednesday when we are going door-to-door for treats, but not today. No way.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed...

I am happy because we got to go on a little vacation to the California central coast. We were celebrating the wedding between Mama's brother (uncle Beeyay) and his now-wife, Carolyn. We stayed in the cute little town of Avila Beach just a few steps away from the Pacific Ocean. The actual ceremony was just a little further South in Arroyo Grande. I got to meet many of Mama's family - most of them hadn't met me before.

Mama found a nice babysitter to watch me during both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception. Danielle was good to me, the only slip up was when I launched myself off the bed and got a bump on my lip. She told my parents about it, and they know I was just being my rambunctious self. No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Papa took lots of pictures of the ceremony and reception. He posted them to his Flickr online photo account. This is a secret link which does not require a login or password to see the photos. Unfortunately you won't see any pictures of me over there.

A kiss goodnight

Papa's brother came down from Oregon for an impromptu visit. That's ok, he needed a break from work and had a few days off. He has visited us several times before but this time I was more accepting of his likeness to Papa. I can even pronounce "Uncle Misha" without much problem. He keeps a blog about his going-ons too (see right-hand sidebar). This picture is of me giving Uncle Misha a kiss before bedtime. It helps him sleep better; I know it.

Not much going on right now but we do have a big weekend planned. Uncle Billy (Mama's brother) is getting married this coming Saturday on the central coast. I expect to see lots of Mama's relatives from around the country. It will be fun to go on a little mini vacation.

Papa got a fish

Sometimes a plan just comes together. I didn't get to see Papa much on Saturday because he left the house before I even woke up. He said he arrived at Pillar Point Harbor before sunrise; it was still dark o'clock when he snapped the first picture of the calm, glassy water. Funny how he can get up so early on the weekend.

There was reason for the morning madness. He was meeting his friend John and some of his buddies for a try at salmon. The salmon are typically pretty far away at this time of year, North of the Golden Gate Bridge near Duxbury reef. It is a good 2-hour boat ride up depending on the ocean conditions.

The plan came together with three fish, two which measured about 39" and 27 lbs each and one other in the high teens. Lucky for the boat, because it seems many other boats had none.

John's fish is longer and heavier than his daughter Skye, which is pretty funny. Papa is happy to have caught one King this year. He likes to eat them, this one should last a while. Someday when I am bigger, I'll get to go with him and catch one too.

Come on, hurry up

I'm at the top of the BIG slide, about to go down all by myself. I can't believe you are standing back there Papa and letting me do this alone. It wasn't so long ago that I took my first trip down. And hopefully (as per last week's post) it will not be my last. What I do know, though, is a long and winding road is laid out before me. This slide affords me a nice perch to see both behind me and ahead to where I am going. I like this. Come on, hurry up, catch me if you can. Slide with me before we have to go home.

Gramma and Pop-pop

I had a good weekend. GrannyM and Pop-pop Bob drove up from Los Angeles to visit me. Actually they were up here for a bridal shower because Mama's brother or "Uncle Beeyay" (Billy) is getting married in a few weeks. Carolyn is going to be my new Auntie-in-law. We are all excited for them. Probably as excited as Pop-pop and I are for the airplanes flying overhead in the picture. We had gone for a walk down at the marshes in the San Francisco bay for some fresh air and to watch the birdies. The airplanes were a bonus.

Of course we went over to the school to enjoy the slides - I get to slide down all by myself now. GrannyM followed me down the big spiral one because she's really just a kid inside like me. I hope we never outgrow slides.

Whenever anyone sees me now, they think I am not a baby anymore. I had my second birthday at the beginning of the month (vitals 30 lbs., 36.5", 50 cm head circumference). My weight hasn't changed since May, but I have become quite a bit taller. Maybe that's why people think I am a big kid now.