Half a Birthday to You!

Today is Hana's 'half-birthday'-she is officially one and a half years old. I mentioned this to Kevin yesterday and asked him to pick a cupcake up for her on his way home from work. I honestly didn't think he'd remember. Not only did he remember but he also brought her a huge balloon that he modified to include 1/2. On Saturday mornings, Kevin and Hana usually head off to Starbucks or Lucky to pick up breakfast. He said that she gets excited every time she sees the balloons at Lucky.

She was definitely super excited when she saw this one!

Kevin even decorated the cupcakes with her name in pink icing and added candles. Somebody is a 'Daddy's Girl'! As soon as Hana saw the cupcakes, she said "Mmmm!"

A half-birthday is a silly thing to celebrate but somehow, Hana turning one and a half seemed like a special thing and we couldn't let it go by unnoticed.

Pumpkin Time

Kevin and I have had a few passionate discussions about Halloween and whether we'd let Hana particpate. We decided that while we do not like the connotations of Halloween, we realize that it is somewhat of an American tradition and don't mind Hana participating. But we have agreed that any costume that leaves our home will not be 'scary' or 'evil' at all. Yes, Hana can look forward to a lifetime of animal or Disney Princess costumes.As our Saturday excursion, we decided to visit our local pumpkin patch and let Hana pick out a pumpkin. And to her embarassment, I decided to dress her in her costume. Sure, no other child at the pumpkin patch was in costume but I assumed it was because their mothers were not as gung-ho and well-planned as I was! Hana is very lucky that she will not remember these embarassing things that I made her do in her youth ;)! But she does love attention and our little kanga got plenty of it!
We forced Hana to pose on 'the great pumkpin' and she barely obliged. She was way more interested in the big kids on the bouncy slide. I picked out a cute little pumpkin and we headed home though Hana could've played there forever.

Baby Loves Disco - Part III

We ventured to Baby Loves Disco again today. This is the first time Hana has attended as a walker. We went with Kevin's co-worker Dennis, his wife Christine and their adorable son Jacob. Jacob and Hana only drink milk and water at home but today we let them

indulge in juice boxes and they loved it!

Hana threw out the straw and decided to chug her juice straight from the box.

Here is Hana 'bouncing' and playing with a guitar. We don't know whose guitar it was but we thank them for sharing!

We love this picture below! It's so hard to get good pictures of Hana because she is constantly moving. This time I was able to catch her in a candid moment that shows how much fun she has with Dada.

Hana doesn't get as excited with Momma and I struggle to get her to pose with me!

The event got really crowded and there were kids everywhere we looked. Jacob had fun doing his line drills back and forth and Hana had fun roaming the dance floor. With this many people, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. I turned my head for a sec and panicked when I turned around and could not spot Hana in the sea of toddlers.

We had a great time watching Hana and Jacob run wild at BLD. Because of the high volume of music and the many families particpating, it can be very intense! Luckily, the kids behaved so well that we were able to enjoy sushi and shopping afterwards.

Another wonderful day in San Francisco!

Gorgeous Day at the Beach

It's been a while since we had a free Saturday where we had no place to be. Yesterday was dark, dreary and rainy so we were pleasantly surprised when we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day. We get our best weather in the spring and fall and try to take full advantage of it. We decided to try the new (and only) pho restaurant in town and then head to the beach.

At the restaurant, Hana spit out all her food and threw it everywhere. Dada tried to convince me that it was normal for kids Hana's age to act like this but I was still embarassed and kept trying to clean up after her. The restaurant owner loved Hana's big blue eyes and after receiving a big hug & kiss from Hana, she told me not to worry about the mess. That made me feel a little better. Still, it might be a while before we take her out to eat again. We pulled out Hana's wagon and stopped at 7-11 to buy her a Lunchables since she didn't eat anything at lunch. We think Hana is such a big girl until we put her in a setting like this and she looks so small. Dada's shadow is definitely way bigger! We spent two hours at the beach. Hana spent her time alternating between riding in her wagon and running around. Last weekend was really busy and she still took ZERO naps. We were hoping that all the running around at the beach today would wear her out but as I type this, she has been in her crib for 30 minutes, yelling for us the whole time. Perhaps no naps this weekend either. She has way more energy we do!!
We try to come to the beach on weeknights after dinner to let Hana run around but for some reason, today's visit was more fun than usual. Hana has become aware of the waves and loves to watch the "wa wa". Energetic as she may be, she'll never turn down a shoulder ride from Dada!!

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels were in town this weekend so we packed a picnic and some blankets and headed down to Crissy Field to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the show.
We had a great time eating, chatting and enjoying the scenery. Hana had a great time eating whatever she wanted out of the picnic basket.

Baby Hana has been replaced by 'big girl' Hana.

The last time we went to see the Blue Angels was in 2003 but I've had great views of their practice runs from my old workplace and Kevin was able to see them this week from his new workplace. Every time we watch them, we are blown away by the amazing skill and precision of these pilots. Hana got into it too-she would clap and yell 'good girl' as the planes whizzed by! We had an added bonus this afternoon. We were out in the yard and saw them fly overhead as they headed towards the bay for today's show.

There was a an attempt this year to permanently ban the Blue Angels from flying in SF. Without expressing our strong feelings on the matter, we will just say that we had an amazing time and hope to watch the Blue Angels fly by the Golden Gate for years to come.

Happy Feet (Muh-Yo)

Hana has never shown much interest in TV or movies and we were so proud! She would get excited during the first 5 minutes of Veggie Tales but that was about it, until this past month. Below is a picture of Hana engaging in her now favorite activity-watching Happy Feet. We have shown her other movies but she has not been interested in those at all. Kevin bought Happy Feet for her birthday and it sat on the shelf for a few months. I can't remember how it happened but Hana became obsessed with this movie and wants to watch it ALL the time. It just so happened that our DVD player broke after a couple of Happy Feet viewings. We haven't replaced it yet and opted to play Happy Feet on my laptop instead. This means that Hana now associates my laptop with Happy Feet and knows that she can watch her fave movie at any location in the house. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of watching Happy Feet (several times a day!), the main character's name is Mumble, which Hana pronounces "Muh-yo". Every time she sees the computer, she yells "Muh-yo" and throws a fit until we play it. I feel guilty about letting her watch it so much but we try to limit her to 20 minutes a day. One plus about the Mumble obsession is that Hana will sit still and cuddle in our laps while the DVD is playing, which she rarely does otherwise.
We used to trick her by starting the movie towards the end but she has caught on and gets upset if we don't start it towards the beginning. She has memorized every chapter of the movie and we know exactly how she'll react to every scene. Kevin and I find ourselves quoting Happy Feet all the time. One of the songs from the movie came on the radio while I was at work and it totally weirded me out. I immediately called Kevin because only he could understand! But when I told him I heard Gloria's (Mumble's love interest) song on the radio he replies "I can't even think of what the song is and am so glad!" Lucky him! We do not dislike Happy Feet but we are tired of watching it and we want Hana to stop her obsession!

How do get Hana to forget about Muh-Yo?!!
My birthday was yesterday and I asked Hana to get me the Surf's Up DVD, which we then learned is not released until Oct. 9th. We assume it's far too late in Hana's penguin obsession for her to go cold turkey but if only we can get her interested in a different penguin movie, then Kevin & I are spared the monotony of 'Muh-Yo' Happy Feet. We've never seen Surf's Up but penguins in Hawaii definitely seem more entertaining than penguins in Antarctica-I hope Hana sees it the same way!!

Grass Grows Fast

2 weeks, hours of work and hundreds of dollars later, our back lawn is done and we LOVE it!! Kevin has been working almost every night clearing out the old grass, sifting and leveling the dirt. The lawn was finished just in time for Kevin to declare it my birthday present. Not one of my typically gift categories (shoes, purses, jewelry, girl stuff) but I LOVE IT!! It is the same grass that is used at PacBell and Candlestick Park. Our dreams of Hana running through her lush green yard are now true. I hope my excitement shows because we have been dreaming about this for 1.5 years. (Please don't be alarmed by the photo below. Bubble fluid is non-toxic and she only drank a little bit ;)!)
I am very proud of Kevin for all of his hard work. I must say that I was a bit skeptical about Kevin taking on a project like this alone but I am very impressed.
I did help a little.
Yes, we were going to plant grass but we are not that patient nor were we confident that it would work. Instead we bought sod. Kevin was ready to shell out $1.86 a square foot at Home Depot but I am an avid bargain hunter and knew a better deal could be found. I found a nursery in San Mateo that sold even nicer sod than Home Depot had for only $0.49 a square foot-woo hoo!!
This is 75 rolls of sod, weighing in at about 40 lbs a roll, that needed to be transferred to our back yard. Hana's wagon definitely came in handy!!