L.B. Fun

This is my first update in about 4 months. I've been busy with my new school schedule and training for the L.A. marathon next weekend. You may notice that I look little thinner since the last pics. Anyways, you are now 2 yrs and 5 mths. You're becoming more defiant at times, and even more funnier. Still not saying any real words, but every now and then it sounds like you're saying something. Yesterday we went down to the Shoreline to have a nice lunch and let you run around for a bit. We had lunch at the Yard House, which is one your mom's favorite places to eat. You had fun coloring and and enjoying the outdoor beach weather. After a delicious meal, we went for a long walk to the lighthouse. I should say more like a run because you don't ever really walk, instead you trot and or run full speed. We were able to work off our lunches, but before we left we decided to grab one more thing. A chocolate malt, which is a no no for papa since he's trying to eat better. With the weather becoming more spring-like, it looks like we will be able to have more outdoor adventures with you and continue to add new stories.

dpgmarine

Knotts Berry Farm

Well today was your very first trip to an Amusement park. What a lucky day to go. First day of November and the temperature is 87 degrees. So we got down there a little after 10:00am. Me being the Veteran that I am, we were able to get in for free and only had to pay for the parking. We went straight to Camp Snoopy and started looking for rides that you could go on. You took some pictures with Snoopy and then it was off to the rides. You seemed more anxious to step on puddle of water than get on the rides. Most of the rides have a height requirement that you were just slightly under. Pretty funny considering you just turned two. Luckily one of us was able to get on most of them with you. You really enjoyed the car ride with your mom and the truck with me. You did bonk your head once and quickly learned that you need to hang on while on the ride. As time went on it started to get warmer so we decided to call it an early day. It only took us around two hours to get you through all the rides. So, everything was going well and we were on our way back to the car in the parking lot when in slow motion you eat some concrete with your forehead and front teeth. What an ending to a great few hours of fun. You actually bleed a little, but were soon fine. We stopped at In-N-Out for lunch and then straight home. You feel asleep rather easy and enjoyed a long nap. Hopefully you'll get to go again soon and know more about what's going on.

dpgmarine

Halloween

Today was Halloween and you had a blast. You were a little D.I. complete in urban gear. You had your black boonie cover, black long sleeve shirt, urban color cammie trousers and your black and white vans. How cool are you? First we took you down to the Stonewood Mall here in Downey. It was crowded, but not too overwhelming. We got there around 6:00p.m. and the most of the stores were already giving out candy. It seemed that most were already out of candy before we even got there. It didn't matter because all you wanted to do is walk around the mall. There were lots of different costumes in the mall including other little military people such as yourself. While in Macys one kid came up to me and asked if you were a soldier. I told him you were a little Drill Instructor for the Marines and he said cool. Later we passed by another kid who was dressed in full desert digital cammies. As we passed them the older guy said "Look, he's Special Ops" referring to you. I thought that was pretty funny. Candy was very sparse so we made our way through the whole mall and took off. Next we went over to Nancy's house to go hang out for a while. You were actually there just a few hours ago with your mom. We got there and your homie Sebastian was sitting on the steps in his spider outfit giving out candy. We mingled a little and then we went around the block in search of more candy. We were able to acquire a little more on our little trip and then it was time to go. We said our goodbyes and we were off back to the casa. We fed you some more stuff since you seemed hungry and didn't really eat much today. Well you were pretty tired and so we put Sesame Street on for you while me and your mom were watching a documentary. As expected she fell asleep while I was still watching the movie. I guess Sesame Street ended so you came into the living room and I asked your mom to put you to sleep. She asked if I could brush your teeth and you started to climb up on her while I went to the bathroom. I went towards your room and noticed a funky odor. Mom started yelling for you to get off and started saying Yuck....I go into our room and there were wet poop stains all over our duvet cover. Mom starts yelling that you've got poop all over you. Panic mode sets in. We bring you to the room and I open up your diaper and there is just a huge amount of I don't even know what to call it. All I know is that it smelled so bad that it could have woke the dead. I clean you up and decide you need a quick shower. I take you in and wash your body off and you're as good as new. I wish I could say the same for our sheets and your pjs. You also ended up getting poop on your mom's pjs. Hilarious! I threw the sheets and your mom's pjs in the wash and your pjs in a bucket with soap. Tomorrow morning we'll take the comforter to the laundry mat to get that cleaned that up. I guess this was our trick for the night. Well everybody is asleep right now and the time on deck is 11:20p.m. I just want to say that you looked so handsome and I can't believe how much you've grown to this point. Hopefully you'll sleep in since we put the clocks back an hour tonight. A tentative plan for tomorrow is to take you to Knotts Berry Farm so we'll see how that goes. Well it's time for me to go. Good night! One more thing, the house still stinks like death even with all the Febreeze I sprayed!

dpgmarine

Sleep Over

This past Friday night, you had your very first sleep over courtesy of your godparents Robert and Marissa. In the meantime, your parents were out in Hollywood at the House of Blues for a rap concert starring Tech N9ne who happens to be your dad's favorite artist. We actually planned to pick you up after the concert which was about 1:15a.m., but you were asleep and they were kind enough to let you spend the night. The report back to us was that you did very well, missed us a bit, and ate a whole lot of food. Your homeboy Joshua seemed to enjoy your company and would try to emulate the things that you did. You ended up watching Transformers with Marissa before falling asleep. We were awoke around 7:00a.m. by a phone call telling us to come and get you. I'm very happy you did well and hopefully more and more people will enjoy your company in the future. A great night of music for us and a first for you!

dpgmarine

Happy 2nd Birthday

Well you did it Vladimir! You made it through another year. You have changed so much throughout this last year. It's been quite the ride seeing you grow up. There's been the good and funny times, and the not so funny and cranky times. All and all, you are growing up into this special little man that knows how to make me smile whenever I look into your eyes. And though you may be the size of a three year old, you still have a long way to go. I can't wait to see you today after work and just enjoy being in your presence no matter what crazy things you might do. This is your day and I hope you know how much I love you!!!

dpgmarine

Scratching the surface

Yesterday was a very scary day for you and us. Around 1:00p.m. I got a phone call from your mom saying that you had an accident at your nana's house. Immediately, my heart jumped into my throat, until she said you were doing okay. Apparently, you were able to push your way right through a window screen and fell outside into a rose bush. I couldn't believe it. I got off work and went straight home. Your mom was already on her way to pick you up. We were able to get you an appointment to see your doctor around 3:30p.m. When I got home your were in good spirits. It looked like nothing ever happened to you. That was until I turned you around to the backside to see the damages. It looks like Freddy Kruger paid you a visit. You were cut from your back all the way down to your legs. Ouch! You gave me a hug, and I squeezed you tight. What a tough little kid you are. You only would cringe if we actually touched your wounds. So after seeing the doctor, we were told to keep a close eye on the cuts to make sure they don't get infected or start to swell up. Neosporin should do the trick in helping the wounds heel right up. This was a definite learning experience. I thank God that you weren't seriously hurt and it just serves as a reminder to everybody involved that children need to be constantly supervised because in the blink of an eye something like this can happen. After your doctor visit we went to Home Depot and purchased some screen clips that will hold a screen in place so something like this won't happen again. A cheap $3 fix but more important, a wake up call to all of us!

dpgmarine

Haircut #2

On Saturday morning we had a sudden urge to get your haircut. We had been contemplating for a while whether to let your hair continue to grow or give you a trim. Well it was decided you needed a trim so we went out to find you a barber. We drove around Downey for a little bit trying to find someone that was going to be able to put up with you at a reasonable price. Well we finally came upon a small barbershop down on Downey Ave that wasn't expensive and had someone waiting to cut your hair. It was a young female, but little did she know what she was in for. I had you sit on my lap and from the very beginning you knew something wasn't right. I'd like to say that you fought the good fight. And you did, but you forgot one thing and that is that I'm much more stronger than you. I had to restrain you because you really weren't happy. You started sweating and turning red while the barber tried snipping your hair with her scissors. At one point it also took your mom to hold your head while the barber ran the clippers through your hair. At first with the initial trim you still had your curly locks. So we decided that it needed to be cut more and decided on a number 7 clip for your sides and back. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, there was hair all over all three of us. You kind of calmed down later while we sang to you and finally the horror show was over. The other barbers and customers were very good spirited about it considering you were screaming for your life. At last, the deed was done. You looked like a completely different little boy. You looked so handsome. We had to get you home and shower you up so you wouldn't be so itchy. When I went to pay the barber I had intended on giving her a three dollar tip. Me being the clumbsy oath that I am, ended up tipping her a total of eight dollars instead. Boy was my face red. After all is said and done I think we found you a new barber, but I'm not sure when your next haircut will be. Only time will tell.

dpgmarine

Beach Smeach

On Saturday, we were finally able to pull out your first little pool. We had bought it last weekend from Big 5 along with an old school foot pump to inflate it. It was pretty warm in the morning so I decided to give it a try. Well it was simple enough. Plug the two holes and the begin the pumping process. I quickly found out that this wasn't as easy as pumping up a bike tire. In fact after only a few minutes I was already tired, sweating, and getting frustrated at the lack of progress. Luckily, Vlad's tio David was also on hand to try and help blow up the top portion of the pool with the mere air in his lungs. Together it would take us approximately 20 to 25 minutes before it actually looked like a pool. After all the hard work it was time to get you inside. Your mom applied sun tan lotion to you and you were ready. Unfortunately, the water didn't really have time to warm up, but you took it like a man. You were sat right down and didn't even really complain. Your tio and mama would join you and you had a blast. It quickly got warmer, but the water was still taking its time warming up. You were splashing the water, and throwing your toys outside the pool. It looks like you have a new cool summertime activity courtesy of Big 5. The only problem is, I don't want to deflate it after all the effort it took to get it up and running. Oh well, I gues we'll have to just suck it up!

dpgmarine

Ouch!

On Friday we were all off from work because of the 4th of July weekend. It was early in the morning and I had just come back from a morning run. After that, I wanted to cut the grass in the backyard since I hadn't done it in a while. After you had breakfast you came outside for a brief appearance. It was kind of warm, so we decided to just leave you in your onesie for the time being. Big mistake! You were just running around for a little bit and were actually headed back inside the house. Well, in typical Vlad fashion you ate it. This time it was your knee kissing the concrete. It was pretty rough on your little knee. You cried for a little, but mostly when neosporin was applied to the wound. Now the mark is known to you as "Ouch." Everytime I say that you, you lift up your shorts and look at it and say something. You especially don't want us touching it. This was your first big scrape on your legs and hopefully last for a while.

dpgmarine

Habits and Sayings

This is just a quick post to annotate some of your current weird habits and sayings before you stop them and I forget. I'll begin with some of your habits. In our living room we have tile flooring and in a certain spot there is a small black stain that you always sit next to and start blabbing away. Don't know why, but for some reason you always go there and point to it and start talking about it. Outside the house in the backyard, there is a large crack in the concrete and everytime you see it you proceed to step on it and yell in an angry fashion. You'll do this two or three times. In the bedroom(usually on the weekends) after we get up and put your shoes on, you immediately run to the very left corner of the sliding door and shake your head saying no. After I say no, you do it one more time and I again say no. It's always two times, no more no less. You also have this hair fetish(especially with your mom) where you grab our heads and sniff our scalps. After sniffing, you look at us and start laughing. You may do this over and over again until we stop you. On to some of your sayings. (These will be spelled to the best of my abilities) The first is something to the tune of "Ah Shlah". This is followed by a Hmm Mmmm. You also have a variation of this called "Ah Ta." Also whenever I ask you the question, "Do you know that Daddy loves you?" you say "Ahhh." We usually do this in sets of threes. Well that's all I can think of right now so I guess that's it.

dpgmarine