A Happy Holiday Weekend, Indeed

Belated Thanksgiving greetings to all! As was evident, Flambo took a break from blogging (ah, but when does she not???) for the 4-day weekend. And why, you might ask?? Because she needed to recover from the raucous festivities of her 32nd Birthday celebration!!! That's right, it was my birthday last Friday!!

The cake my co-workers got me. You can't see it, but the candles spell out my name.

But I jest. It was hardly raucous. In fact, it was the sweetest birthday any mother could imagine, as I was able to sleep in that morning, and even had a nap that afternoon. A NAP. Nothing, not even diamonds or truffles, could be as luxurious a gift as a nap!!

I am, however, guilty of one thing, and that is - I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES THIS WEEKEND!! ARGH!! Which means that I have no photos to share of Boba in her unbelievably-cute sailor dress during our family Thanksgiving party. Or of Daddy as he played in Turkey Bowl 2006 (our annual family football game - which his team lost). Or of me as I happily devoured my Thanksgiving bowl of sinigang in place of the traditional turkey. Yes, at our Thanksgiving holiday party, turkey takes a back seat to Filipino favorites, such as Lumpia (spring rolls), Pancit (fried noodles), and Barbecued Pork. Yum!! I tell you, as much as I adore the traditional Thanksgiving meal - I mean, stuffing is just so damn exotic to me - nothing beats Pinoy food.

Anyway, if someone out there has pictures of this last weekend, would you send them to me, pleeeease??? I'll buy you a platter of lumpia.

Many thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special, like those who sent sweet messages by email & phone. You guys are the best for remembering! I really do have some wonderful people in my life.

Love to you all this Holiday season!!

If Boba could talk, I would ask...

• Why do you wake up at 5:30am? WHY?? No matter what time I put you to sleep - 7pm, 8pm - you are up, chatting in your crib like you were discussing lipgloss with a girlfriend or something. I've even taken you to bed with me to see if that will make you sleep longer, but you just roll off the bed and waddle over to your toys at almost exactly 5:30am every morning. What is that?!?!?
• What is it about the word "No" that is so freakin' funny to you?? Don't you see I am trying to discipline you, because whatever you are doing is not making me happy and could potentially gouge an eye out??
• Do you mind when I finish your YoBaby yogurt for you? Because it is just soooo good.
• Does "Bab'm" really mean "Food"? Or does it just mean "Get me out of these present circumstances immediately because I am TOTALLY bored"?
• Do you realize that when we are trying to put your hair in a ponytail that we are NOT trying to kill you??
• Is changing your diaper that much of an inconvenience? Because I'm not sure how comfortable I would be if my underwear weighed as much as I did.
• Can you please hold back on the backwash a bit when you take sips from Mommy's drinks?

And finally...

• What the heck is it with your obsession with feet??? Your parents are getting very, very nervous.

"I AIN'T TALKIN'!!!"

Funny Boba tidbits

• Boba's got a thing for the color green. When she plays with all her toys, she will inevitably have a green toy clutched in one hand for the duration of her playing. It's not just that soft lime-green that's so common in baby items, either; light green, dark green...it just has to be green. I didn't know toddlers could have color preferences so early, but it's uncanny. She'll be playing with her blocks and - behold - she hangs on to the green square. Or, she'll be thumbing through her Sesame Street mini-books and - whaddaya know! - she'll keep the green one in her hand. I guess I know what color we'll be painting her room when we finally buy a house!
• She's also got a thing for elbows. Well, loose skin in general, but elbows in particular. I know, it sounds very weird...what happens is that while you hold her, her arm will hang against your arm, and her hand will creep up to your elbow...and begin pinching the skin. It is the WEIRDEST damn thing, but in an almost sweet and loving way. If she can't reach your elbow, she'll go for your knuckles. I know!!!! Told you it was weird!!
• She likes to smell my feet. 'Nuff said.
• She has a persistent habit of pulling on her ears. I know you all are thinking, Stupid woman, the child has an EAR INFECTION!!! Believe it or not, I thought the same thing when she started doing it, and we have taken her to the doctor no less than THREE times since it started happening (around her 1st birthday) and each time we have been reassured that her ears look perfect. Finally one doctor told us, "You know, that could be a self-soothing kind of thing, like the way other kids twirl their hair or suck their thumb." I've accepted that as a reasonable explanation, but I have to say whenever she does it I'm reminded of that movie from the '70's called Escape to Witch Mountain ("Tony, can you hear me? Can you hear me, Tony?"). Anyone get that reference???
• My god, the girl loves Filipino food. I tell you, she reveals more and more every day how much she really is my daughter. She has a complete love for sinigang. All my Pinoy homies know what an AWESOME thing that is!

Veterans Day Weekend, Part III - Meeting an old friend

SUNDAY

Sometimes people get a real kick out of the fact that Jason and I have a child. That's because many of them knew us when we were both young and, er, stupid. ("These morons have a kid?? Alert the authorities!") And not to make us sound like juvenile delinquents or anything, but we were both pretty spoiled brats up until our mid-twenties. Okay, I should speak for myself...I was a pretty spoiled brat up until my mid-twenties. (Jason was a spoiled brat up until his LATE twenties. HA!! Just kidding, I swear.) Anyway, some of our friends from L.A. who we used to "party" with still can't get over us being parents, and sometimes I think they're shocked by the sheer domesticity of our current lives. But I do believe, after seeing us, that they also witness how much we've embraced parenthood and all the responsibilities that come with it. Not to mention the joy in our lives that is Boba.

One such friend, who we both haven't seen in years, is the lovely Tera, an L.A.-based artist/graphic designer who Jason and I have known for almost a decade. We met her over at Balboa Park on Sunday afternoon, where she met Boba for the first time. One of the first things she said to us was, "I can't believe you guys have a kid." I replied, "I know!!!" But before long she was completely charmed by Boba, and I think she saw just how well our new roles fit us.

Mommy, Tera, and Mommy's new addition to her circle of girlfriends....Boba!

So it's still kinda crazy to me, but I guess I'm actually a grown-up and all! Sometimes it's hard to recall the naive twenty-three year-old who used to go out 4 times a week and sleep in until 11am. Believe it or not, I don't miss that life at all. Not to say I don't miss that independence, or that freedom (because, dear GOD, to have one hour of alone time....ahhhh), but Boba has made my present life so much more profound. And parenthood? Well, it ain't easy, but I'd say Jason and I are doing a pretty good job at it.

Veterans Day Weekend, Part II - Hangin' at the Mall

SATURDAY

I'm a big fat liar. I said this post was about hanging at the mall, except that I have no pictures of the mall. What?!? The horror!! Well, you'll just have to imagine the new Otay Ranch Town Center, recently opened in the Eastlake division of Chula Vista, just a few minutes away from Lolo & Lola's house! Since its opening a mere 3 weekends ago, Boba has visited it the last 3 Saturdays. Yes, that means she's been there every weekend since it opened! She's practically a Town Center "regular" by now.

So, Saturday morning we decided to visit the mall yet again, since Lola had not had a chance to check it out yet. To commemorate the occasion, Lola dressed her up in a cute new pink outfit, and naturally I have photos of that, so here goes:

Can you SEE how she's getting the hang of this whole posing-for-the-camera thing??

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite restaurants, where Boba flirted and smiled and charmed the pants off our waitress (not literally), and sampled my Bistro Shrimp Pasta with gusto. She even had her very first taste of Iced Tea - and yes, I was silently terrified of the caffeine factor, even though her "taste" consisted only of little drips of iced tea on her tongue. She was good for about 45 minutes - just enough time for us to sufficiently enjoy our meal! - before showing signs of her annoyance with being strapped into the restaurant high chair. So we finished up and whisked her off before she could have a proper meltdown, which, of course, she ended up having about 30 minutes later. But at least we were able to stoll down the main drag for a little while and take in the sights of consumerism at its finest.

After returning home, the rest of the afternoon was spent idly playing in her room or in the family room, where she enjoyed more viewings of "Ee-i-ee-i" and her new obsession: "The Wheels on the Bus Turn Round and Round". Boy, can the girl DANCE! I don't know where she learned it...it really must be an instinctive drive to move your booty, because as soon as she hears a beat, she gets down! Further proof that she is mine indeed.

And that was Saturday. Before I go, though, here are more cute photos of Boba in the Cute Pink Outfit:

Pretty In Pink

Her hair is pretty irresistable too

Veterans Day Weekend, Part I - The Zoo

Now that I have a full-fledged toddler, I've learned the value of planning multiple outings and activities for the little one, especially over a 3-day weekend - her daily jaunts to the local park just weren't going to cut it. So, here's how our weekend went down, with visual aids:

FRIDAY

We went to the San Diego Zoo! We really are so lucky to live in a city that has amazing parks/culture/entertainment offerings abound. We left shortly after Boba's nap, and since I am a Balboa Park employee, I was able to get in free, and my folks had a guest pass for Jason to use. Of course, Boba was free as well, so we sauntered right through the gates, free of charge! Awesome!

We checked out the Children's Zoo (the petting zoo section was under construction, bleah), the pigs, the monkeys, the bears, the giraffes, and attempted to see the Pandas but the line was too long. I was actually pleasantly surprised that Boba held up so well during our visit; normally, if she spends too much time in her stroller she starts to get super-antsy, and then a meltdown is inevitable. But she was in a pretty good mood throughout! Oh, sure...she demanded that Mommy carry her for about half the time (so I got a good bicep workout out of the day), but other than that it was a really wonderful visit to the zoo!

Checking out the Pigeon house

Hangin' with the monkeys

Sitting pretty in front of...

...the GIRAFFES!!!

With Daddy at the Koala section

After we walked out of the zoo, we saw signs for the kiddie train nearby, so of course we had to take Boba for her first real train ride! It was a whopping $1.75 per person, so that meant we spent $3.50 for the entire day! Hooray for us!

CHOO-CHOO!

Tomorrow, Part II - Cute stories and even cuter pictures. Stay tuned!

"DA?!???!"

That's what Boba yells whenever she realizes that her Daddy isn't in the room with her. It's absolutely hilarious. Must be the Irish in her. (??!!?)

In celebration of Boba and her love for "DA!!"...

Swimming in Tucson

Sliding down with glee...into DA's arms

Happy Halloween!!!

Boba's just on the cusp of caring about this kind of thing, so I took the liberty of choosing what she was going to dress up as this year. Of course, as soon as Jason put her costume on she proceeded to tear it right off. He distracted her with a DVD just so he could take these pictures to prove that we celebrated Halloween this year. I swear, it's like you commit some kind of parental crime if you don't dress your baby up in a cute costume! And this little cowgirl is pretty cute, right?

To be honest, this was sort of a cop-out costume, since we basically pulled all the pieces from her already-vast wardrobe. I just didn't like anything I saw in the costume shops and the last thing I wanted was to see another kid dressed up like her show up at our doorstep. See, we didn't actually go trick-or-treating this year, seeing as she's too young to understand it all, and wouldn't it be slightly tacky if we paraded her around only to get the candy for ourselves? (My apologies to those parents who did this; no offense, really!) Plus this Daylight Savings change is kicking our butts in the sleep department, given that she's waking up "earlier" than normal (normal, of course, meaning "crack of dawn"). And ALSO, Lolo & Lola returned last night from their loooong Southeast Asia tour so Boba was basically just overwhelmed and overstimulated by EVERYTHING that was going on around her. Make a long story, um, less long? Trick or treating was out of the question this year. Apparently, neither was getting into the Halloween spirit, but at least she looked cute for the two minutes that she had her full costume on.

Oh, and props to Daddy for picking up the ADORABLE faux pink Uggs (with a teeny buckle). They were just perfect.

Check down the progression of "Boba's Halloween Meltdown":

"Gotta get this hat off..." (Daddy proceeds to put it back on)

"Okay then, let me get this vest off..." (Daddy pulls it back on)

"That's IT! I'm making a break for it..." (Daddy promptly grabs her, puts her boot back on, and places her by the door to greet more kids)

(After ripping off hat & vest) "GO AWAY, TRICK OR TREATERS! I'M TOO TIRED FOR ALL OF THIS!"

*sigh* Happy Halloween indeed!