Chasing Pigeons

One of your newest enjoyments is chasing pigeons and sparrows around. We were having lunch at In N Out where there is never a shortage of both. This is just a quick video clip of you attempting to wrangle yourself up a pigeon.

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Mmmm Cheeseburger

So what'the significance of you eating a cheeseburger from In N Out? Well, we've been taking you there now for a few years. The Papitas are your favorite. Slowly but surely, we've tried to introduce you to eating a cheeseburger. A good source of protein and just an overall awesome burger has been absent from your eating ritual. Well, as can be seen in the short video, you are slowly and most by force starting to come around.

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Burpee

Here's your version of the popular exercise move called the Burpee!

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Marbles now in place

Before

After

Today is the big day! Armageddon has finally arrived. We will be heading down to Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). You need to undergo a minor corrective surgery to help one of your undescended marbles. Your mom an I have been aware of this issue for a while. We were hoping that it would take care of itself as you grew, but it continued to be an issue. We expressed our concerns to your doctor and she recommended that we come here. We initially had an appointment for a consultation back in May. At that appointment, the doctor made the assessment that surgery would be required. He was able to locate your left marble, but your right one was on its own program. It was stuck up higher than normal so he would have to go in and adjust a few things. Yesterday we read the instructions before the procedure and one of the requirements was for you not to eat after midnight. This would be a tough task to follow seeing as the first thing you do when you wake up is ask for something to eat. It kind of made me feel like you we're a gremlin. A really cute one, like Gizmo! They were also not to be fed after midnight because they would turn into wacky creatures. So our idea was to keep you up as late as possible and feed you as much as you could handle the night before. You did eat very well and we had you stay up until about 10pm. I really didn't sleep well myself. I woke up many times throughout the night, but what else is new.

I got back up at 6am so that I could go for a run. I was worried that you would also wake up early as you usually do. Sure enough you did and you went to the restroom and unloaded your hose. Luckily, you were still pretty lethargic and you proceeded to go to our bed and back to sleep with your mom. This gave me the opportunity to go for that run. I ran for about 7 miles and when I got back, you and your mom had just woken up. By then it was almost 9am. We quickly showered and got ready. I gave you some water and we were on our way. We had to just keep telling you that we would feed you after we saw the doctor. Your appointment was for 1245pm, but they wanted us to be here by 1030am. We arrived and filled out some paperwork. Then we were taken to the Pre-op room. You mostly played with your IPad and they also had a small play area where you were pulling a wagon and your mom read some books to you. Unfortunately, a previous child's surgery went long so that delayed your start time. It really sucked to have to keep waiting and have the anticipation continue to build. Finally, around 145pm, they gave you some oral medicine to calm you down a bit before they finally put you under for the procedure. Then the OR nurse came by with the anesthesiologist to take you away for your surgery. By this time you were pretty groggy and didn't seem to mind. We both kissed you goodbye and told you that we loved you. We headed down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Now, we sit here patiently waiting. Well, the doctor just came out at 350pm. He said that everything went well. Hoo-ray. You're such a brave little guy. I'll finish this up in a bit!


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4th of July 2013

This year the 4th of July fell on a Thursday. Nevertheless, it was a day off for everyone. We decided to pick up your old friend from Lynwood Zaira to join us for the day. I can’t believe how much she has grown up. She was only six years old when you were first born. She was also the main catalyst behind your infamous YouTube video. First we went down to the AMC theater to watch the movie Despicable Me 2. You did as well as we could expect from you at the movies. You’ll tend to watch for a few minutes at a time, but then your mind starts to wander off. We’ve tried to take you more frequently this year so slowly but surely you’ll enjoy the experience more. After the movie, we headed to Antoinette’s house. Boy were you excited about going down there. Right away it clicked in your head that you’d be able to go swimming.


As soon as we got there and said our hellos you hung out with Sammy the cat. You enjoy petting cats and you even managed to not get bit. After a small meal, it was time to jump in. The pool was a perfect temperature for us to get it. I was surprised by your improved swimming skills. You’re not exactly a fish out there, but you were doing great. We were able to leave you alone in the shallow part and you held your own. You discovered that you can stand up without going under so you were hopping around by the edge. You enjoyed playing with Zaira, your mom, and me. You always enjoy splashing, but your favorite activity was jumping into the water. Zaira was diving in and as soon as you would see her, you wanted to immolate her. We were in there for a few hours and finally it was time to go. You both were pretty exhausted at the end of day. We took Zaira home and then decided to go to In N Out for dinner. We’ve actually started forcing you to eat your own cheeseburger. What cruel parents we are! You can almost eat the whole thing now, but their fries are still your favorite. We didn’t end up seeing fireworks anywhere special, but there were plenty being shot up into the sky. For a bit, we sat in the back of Highlander to view them, but some of the louder ones sort of frightened you so you requested to view them from the comforts of the couch. Shortly after that, you showed more signs of fatigue and finally went to bed. Another great day!

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Experiment

This morning we had planned to go to Portos, which is one of our favorite places for sweets. A thought popped into my head and we decided it would be a good opportunity to get your haircut. We’ve been keeping it pretty short for the last year or so. So we went to the barbershop just down the street from Portos. I asked you several times over if you were going to cry when you got your haircut and of course you said no. When we got there, only one person was ahead of us. Finally, it was your turn. Your mom had this “experimental idea” to let you sit in the chair by yourself. Normally, I’ve had you sit in my lap because you tend to squirm and move a lot while the barber is trying to cut your hair. Not this time my friend. You sat on the booster seat and then the cape was draped over you. On came the cutting sound of the clippers and instantly down came the tears. What a shock! You started moving and whining about getting your haircut. But wait, you told me that you weren’t going to cry. Here’s my surprised look (enter sarcastic image of my face). So I did my best to distract you by saying things that you currently like to say. These include Puddy pop, nasaya, mooka, and various other Vladimir phrases. It worked. In conjunction with your mom, we were able to keep your mind off getting your haircut for the most part and you did really well the rest of the way. Soon enough, you were done and looked like a handsome little man. Great job!


Afterwards, we went to Portos and you received your beloved bread and juice. An even bigger reward would come soon after. We had pulled out our inflatable pool from the shack in the back and took it to the gas station to fill up with air. It took us four dollars, but it was so much quicker than using the old foot pump. Well, guess what? It wouldn’t fit in the Highlander. So, since we were only about half a mile away from the house, I decided I would just carry it home. There I went, darting across the gas station, then across the street with this inflatable pool at my side. The sight of me trying to carry this must have been pretty funny. I was hoping your mom would have recorded some of the chaos. I didn’t care. I was already sweaty from a run I had in the morning. I didn’t make it far before you mom pulled over and said we should plop it on top of the car and just hold on it. Good idea! So we were able to do this until we made it home. Phew! We then proceeded to scrub it down and get the filth out. Then I had to use the foot pump to fill up the air that had seeped out. Finally it was ready to go. We threw you into the shower and then began to fill up the pool. It wasn’t even a quarter done when you came back out and wanted to jump in. So that’s exactly what you did. This was a very hot day, but the water was very cold as well. You didn’t care. You started jumping and diving right in. Next was your mom. She wasn’t the brave soul that you were and it took some convincing to get her to finally belly flop in. Lastly, I made my way in and boy was it cold. I don’t know how you were able to do it. I gritted my teeth and went down. It was very chilly. We hung out for a while and you couldn’t have had more fun. I’m sure we’ll get some more use out of the pool since summer just started. When we were done, we participated in another fun family activity; a family nap! Well, that was quite the fun first half of our weekend. Adios amigo!

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Just Another Day

Your mom went off for one of her work trips leaving you and me behind. I decided it would be a good opportunity for us to spend a little bit of time at the park. We are usually so busy with our daily routine that we don’t get to do this very often during the week. I picked you up from the daycare and we went home to pick up your scooter. You always get excited when we head down to “Duck Park.” You rode around on your scooter and had lots of fun. You’re becoming quite the rider. What I enjoy is watching you play on the slides and trying to interact with other kids that you run into. Now, you want them to follow your orders, but at least you’re willing to engage them. After some playtime, I rewarded you with a slice of pizza from Costco. Hoo-ray! Who doesn’t like a DOD (dog of death) or an eight hundred calorie slice of cheese pizza after running around at the park? 

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Worn Out

Your mom and I had a chance to go out to for dinner and a movie with our friends Alex & Gaby. We went to Outback Steakhouse and then it was off to the AMC. We saw the movie World War Z. It was actually pretty good. In the meantime, your cousin Linda was kind enough to stay with you for a small fee. As it turns out, your cousin Joshua came down for a bit and you two guys had a blast. I was told that you didn't even want to include Linda in your reindeer games. Usually, you make her participate in all that you do. However, with Josh there, this wouldn't be the case. Surprisingly enough, or not so much, you two guys played so much that you ended up knocking out pretty early for a Saturday night. I believe that you guys were down by 930pm. The two of you ended up falling asleep right next to each other. Fun was had by all.

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Kindergarten Graduation

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

We were still recovering from our Hawaii adventure, but we decided to take another short one down to San Diego. This time your papa decided to upgrade the room we would stay in from our normal Super8. This could be an after effect from our lavish condo with full kitchen that we had in Hawaii. We stayed at the Hyatt which had a bed plus a pull out sofa as well as a small kitchen. Very nice place and very roomy for our one night that we would be staying.


We got down there Saturday early afternoon and dropped our stuff in the room. We then went to a few music stores so that I could scour the shelves in search of rare rap music. I tend to do this whenever we go places. Next, we went to some small restaurant that your mom found to eat. You should have seen the sushi plate she got! The food was decent and it wasn’t something that “we usually eat” as your mom likes to put it. Although, I did end up eating chicken tacos so take that space coyote!! After that, we took you down to Mission Bay Park. Right away your face lights up when you hear the word park. You shot straight for the swings and then went on to play on the slides. We then surprised you when we brought out your scooter! You have a blast riding it along the water. The whole park stretches out for miles so there was no shortage of space for you to ride. You even found this little downhill part that allowed you to pick up speed and cruise along very quickly. Next, we decided to be cool people and rent one of those tandem bikes so that we could all ride together. We had the bike for an hour. It’s a lot harder than it looks, but we had fun. We probably looked like dorks, but we were all together so that’s all that mattered. We closed the night by trying to go to Old Town San Diego, but we couldn’t find parking so we decided to call it a night. We hung out in our nice room and you played with you Ipad and we also played with your toy cars and a little catch. Finally it was bed time. The bed was really comfortable and for the most part we got a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and went down to the gym. It only had two machines and some free weights, but I was able to get a workout in. I was in a bit of rush because I wanted your mom to go down right after me. So I headed back up to the room in a heap of sweat only to find your mom comfortably asleep. You had just woken up yourself and were ready to start your day. Mom decided to skip the workout (surprise) and so we went for an early buffet breakfast. This was included in our stay and let me tell you Vlad, your dad took full advantage of it. I had scrambled eggs, ham, toast, an omelet, pancakes, and anything else I could get my hands on. You had pancakes and got full. Your mom had a fulfilling breakfast as well. We were all stuffed. We got ready and headed out for our day. First stop was Old Town and this time we found adequate parking. We looked around and took pictures while your mom had to deal with buffet remorse along the way. We stayed there for a bit and then headed down to the Gas Lamp district in downtown San Diego. We looked around, went to the mall, and then eventually headed down to Seaport Village. There, we got to see the water, lots of big ships and boats and you enjoyed it. We got a quick and small bite to eat before we decided to head home. I drove, but then I was over overwhelmed by the Sandman. I normally can handle a drive like that, but I was just really sleepy. Your mom put on some of her music that was very monotone and couple that with the fact that she wasn’t really speaking to me led to my eventual demise. I had to switch out with her around Camp Pendleton and she would take over the driving from there. I caught my second wind and so did you because you had fallen asleep. We then headed to our familiar spot, Gondolas, for some pizza and spaghetti. That was the end of our trip. Another great weekend and another great adventure to add to the books!

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