Fun times in Hawaii

We left for Hawaii last Thursday for Tessho's cousin's wedding. It was a nice quick vacation for us. I feel like we got a lot in while we were there, but at the same time, got to relax and enjoy the sun and beach. On Thursday, we got in around 12 so we went and got the rental, pick up Tessho's mom and dad (at their hotel)and then picked up Jeff at the airport. We drove around (forever) looking for a restaurant called Sam Sato's. By the time we found it, it was closed for dine in but they had plates of chow mein and a few musubis left. That was lunch. Unfortunately Tessho hates chow mein so he ended up having Burger King. Later that afternoon, Tessho, Jeff and Dad had to go to rehearsal. Tesshin, Mom and I had dinner with Auntie Barbara and Mrs. Yamada at Moana Bakery & Cafe. Awesome burgers there! Freshly ground meat (filet and sirloin) with fresh veggies. The guys were taking forever so Traci drove us to our condo. That was so nice! 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, full kitchen. It had a small balcony and a view of the ocean. Friday morning, we got up so early. It was 5:30 Hawaii time, 8:30 Cali time. Had breakfast, dragged Jeff out of bed and went to the beach across the street from our condo. We were out there for a few hours. We went back to the condo for lunch and then started getting ready for the wedding. That's where the 3 bathrooms came in REAL handy. The ceremony was at St. Rita's Catholic Church and the reception was at the Haiku Mill. It was such a nice day. No rain at all. There was a nice breeze blowing through the church which helped. Tessho and Jeff served as ushers so that was nice that they could be part of the wedding. Dad also co-officiated so that was nice, too.

We went snorkeling Saturday morning. That was so much fun!!!! We went with a bunch of people: me, Tessho, Tesshin, Jeff, Mom, Dad, Auntie Barbara, Mrs. Yamada, Sandy, Traci, Paul, Jacob and Joshua. We were the big group. That was my first time snorkeling and I had a blast. I got sick from the boat ride, but I eventually pulled through and got 30 minutes of snorkeling in. Tessho is a freakin' fish so he went out there the moment we stopped.

We went to the Da Kitchen for dinner that night. Had to pack all of our stuff that night. We left Sunday afternoon and got back to Beach around 10:30pm. Thank goodness Monday was a holiday and I'm off today to catch up on things. What a great family trip! Can't wait to go back to Hawaii someday.

Quick stop at the Changs

Tesshin and I drove Aoyama Baachan to the airport on Monday. On the way there, Tesshin said "Mommy, I gotta go pee pee". So rather than parking the car, we dropped her off and I immediately called Debbie to ask if we could stop by and use her bathroom. Luckily she lives real close to the airport. And more importantly, we were lucky that she was home so I hurried over there. Austin had gone to the potty before Tesshin so he was eager to point out his "Cars" potty seat. The boys got to play with each other for a little while, playing with Austin's trains and beach ball and football. It was great. We don't get to see each other that often but they played like they just saw each other yesterday. They were both chatting away and having fun. It was nice for me to catch up with Debbie, too. We had to get home to see Daddy so we didn't get to stay too long. As we were driving away, Tesshin says "Mommy...can we come back and bring Austin a cake and play?" Sounds good to me.

Hide and Seek

When the Moraitis' came down to Long Beach last month, their daughter Ali introduced Tesshin to "Hide and Seek". I was hoping that he wouldn't want to participate but he LOVED it. Of course, he would hold my hand and tell me to help him find Ali. He also wanted me to squeeze my big butt in the small nook and crannies that he would hide in. Now, for some reason, I hate playing Hide and Seek. I never liked it as a kid. I still don't like it as an adult. I'm sure hours of therapy will help me figure out why I hate it and it can tell me what happened in my childhood to traumatize me this badly. But regardless of that, it brings such joy to Tesshin to play it so I would never deny him that because of my own psychological issues. And it brings me pure happiness to see him having so much fun and laughing. His favorite place to hide is under the crib (at home and at my mom's). His favorite place for me to hide is under the crib. I love it when he tells me where to hide, sneaks away into the hall and counts to 10. He'll shout out "Ready or not, here I come!" He'll come to where I'm hiding and he'll play along and say out loud "Is Mommy under the blanket? No. Is Mommy behind the door? No. Mommy, you're under the crib!!!" Or when it's his turn to hide, I'll shout "Ready or not, here I come!" and he'll shout back "Ok Mommy, I'm under the crib." My heart melts all over again. I'll never tell him that I won't play Hide and Seek but hiding in a dark closet...well, that's where I draw the line.

Away from Home

Tessho and Tesshin left for Sacramento last week. They are coming home tonight and I can't wait! Here's a picure of Tesshin that was taken yesterday. He looks like such a little boy now. No more baby face.

Big Boy Bed

This is the 3rd night Tesshin has gone to bed in his big boy bed. We've actually had it set up since December but with the whole potty training thing I didn't want to mess up his groove and overwhelm him with too much change at one time. Tesshin has been playing on the top bunk and loves for me to get up there too. (I wonder what the weight limit is on that thing?) And then just recently, he was hinting that he wanted to sleep in the big boy bed. We were amazed and totally encouraged it. We started on Sunday night. We kept the same routine - bocha (bath), 10 mintues of TV (Wow Wow Wubbzy), Goodnight Gorilla book and then lights out. Success!!! No crying, no waking up at night, nothing but 9 1/2 hours of blissful sleep. I've come to realize that Tesshin is a lot more aware of everything around him than I give him credit for. Maybe because he's so little in size, that I still think of him as a little baby, but he's a big boy. Since he's turned 2, he's shown that he definitely does things on HIS time and on HIS terms, but when it happens it's not a struggle. We're glad to have our bedroom back to ourselves. I was so happy last night, I stayed up until 11:30 watching TV in my bed. It was great!

Skype

So we're now using Skype to talk to Tessho's parents. I picked up a camera that we can hook up to our laptop from Jeff last week. I think we've been on it everyday since we got it. I'm glad Tesshin gets to "see" his grandparents this way since they live so far away. We visit my parents at least twice a month and we see Tessho's grandma at least once a month, if not twice. So this is a new way we can keep in touch with family whom we can't see on a regular basis. if you have a Skype account, let us know and we can connect!

Potty training

We haven't bought a box of diapers in SOOOOO long! Now that Tesshin is potty trained that's one less expense we have to incur. But our journey to get here was long. We first started trying to get Tesshin potty trained back in August. I got online and ordered 3 potty books from Amazon. Tesshin's favorite was Elmo's Potty Time. That had buttons you could push. I liked it too because one of the buttons had a picture of Elmo and he says "Elmo can use the potty!!!". We got him to go before his bathtime every night but then when I had to leave to go to San Diego to take care of my mom, potty training got put on the back burner. When things settled down after the holidays, Maggie (daycare lady) says "It's time to potty train Tesshin. He's 2 and a half". I'm thinking "What about the signs?" I asked her if I should get Pull Ups and she said (in a stern voice) "Do not waste your money on Pull-ups. They're just an extension of diapers and it'll delay the learning process". I'm thinking "If you're such a pro, then I'll leave it all up to you". Maggie had him trained in a week. It was the week we had that crazy rain so the kids were indoors. She let him run around with just underwear on and made him pee in the toilet. It was pretty funny picking him up at the end of day and he would have no pants on. But he still had his socks and shoes on. So now he pees and poos in the potty. Maggie, I will never doubt your skills again.

Favorites

Here are some of Tesshin's current favorites and a few of mine too

Tesshin's favorite:
food = avocado and gyoza
drink = Yakult
breakfast food = oatmeal
toy = basketball
article of clothing = Elmo shirt
Wii game = Mario vs. Sonic at the Olympic Games
phrase = "Jeff broke Wii. Need to fix it. "(He says this on a regular, just to remind us that his Uncle Jeff's Wii is broken. It's really not. That's just what we said so we didn't have to play it)



My favorite Tesshin-isms:
when he kisses my "owies" or "boo-boos"
when he finishes all of his food and says "ALL DONE!"
when he holds up two fingers when someone asks him how old he is
when he shows off his muscles and says "MUSCLE MAN!"
when he holds his finger to his lip and says "Mommy, shhhh, be quiet" (I think Tessho likes this one too)

My first poo poo

Tesshin did his first poo poo in the potty today!!! I put him on his potty seat to go pee pee but he gave us a little more. Tessho called it a "deer poop".
We've been trying to get him to go pee pee in the potty for quite some time. He's in his big boy underwear for most of the day. Maggie has been a big help. But the #1 motivator has been Peanut M&Ms. Tesshin loves getting those as his reward. We're starting a pee pee/poo poo chart too. I don't think it'll work as well as the M&Ms but it's worth a shot!

Weekend fun

We met up with the Fu's, Dave and Justo for Dim Sum on Saturday morning. I finally got to meet Ayumi (Jon and Karen's newest addition).

After we ate, we went to the park with the Fu's. It was fun seeing the kids run around and do their own thing. They are very independent. It was kinda tough getting pictures of the two of them together.

Suzuki Family

The Suzukis came and visited us in Long Beach this time around. They actually stayed with us in our teeny tiny house. It was a tight squeeze but it was so much fun. On Sunday, we went to Griffith Park to see the Hollywood sign and the sunset. Then we went to the Santa Monica pier. The kids got to play in the sand and froze they're tusshies off! We went to Disneyland on Monday and the Long Beach Aquarium on Tuesday. The kids loved feeding the Lorikeets and petting the sharks. Tesshin gets a little more comfortable petting the sharks each time we go. The sting rays get so close to Tesshin. He must smell real good to them. They left today. Here are a few pics