So much to say...

So much has happened since my last blog. I've been wanting to write all about it: S. Cali trip, sleepless nights, and pumpkin patch experience. However, now that time has passed, I don't feel like writing everything down anymore. Maybe just a brief update.

Oct 10-13
We drove down to S. California to visit Disneyland, California Adventures park and Legoland. We first stopped at Harris' Ranch for some yummy meat and then dinner at Downtown Disney. I had one of the best Mac and Cheese at Catal Restaurant.

Second day, we went to Disneyland. Overall it was a great experience and I think Aidan had fun. The only lousy experience was trying to meet Mickey Mouse at Toontown. There were soooo many people (you couldn't tell when you first lined up), and the line was moving super slow. We just left after half-way through Mickey's enormous house. California Adventures was fun as well. Aidan's favorite was the water park. Anything water was fun to him! The same day after California Adventures, we drove down to San Diego, checked-into Doubletree Del Mar and headed out for dinner. The following day, we drove up to Carlsbad to Legoland. I was a little disappointed. I heard this is a great park for little kids, but Aidan was a little TOO little. He didn't meet most of the height requirements (34") but he did spend a lot of time at the water park area. It's more fun if your kids are over 34" because the lines weren't that long and kids all seemed to have fun. We drove back home the following day.

What I learned from this trip, is not to jam packed so many theme parks! I should have stayed in Anaheim another day, instead of driving down to San Diego. Just too much too little time. Also, next time we're definitely flying. Sitting in a car with a 21-month old is not fun anymore. It was too long a drive for Aidan and for us.

Bye Bye Paci!

Last night was the second night in a row that DanDan slept through the night without a pacifier. I am so glad he is able to cut it out of his life just like that. He actually has been pretty good with his pacifier, using it only when he sleeps. But still, after hearing horror stories, I'm glad this is an easy one for me. No paci fairies, no donating paci to poor children, just plain cold turkey! I am so proud of him!

DanDan has been talking a lot more even though we're unable to make out of the sounds coming out of his mouth. It's funny how he likes to talk in our ears or face when we're sleeping. Like he wants to whisper some secrets to us. He's still as musical as ever. Especially now that his mouth is not being shut by a paci, when he lies down in bed at night, he would sing for a little while before falling asleep. In the morning, instead of quietly waiting for us to get him, he would be saying "ma ma" and talking to himself loudly. It's all broadcasted through the baby monitor. Even though I know he's not saying "ma ma" to call me his room, it still motivates me a little more to go in his room early in the morning to fetch him.

I am thinking about what to dress him up for Halloween. I really want to get him an airline pilot outfit since he's been obsessed with airplanes in the sky. We live close to the airport and we see airplane very often. But I can't seem to find a 18-24-month outfit. They are either 18 months, or 2T-4T. Gotta keep searching. Or maybe I should just get different pieces separately, so that he can actually re-wear the shirt or pants or jacket after Halloween.

Ah, my boy is growing up so fast.

San Mateo County Fair

Last Sunday (8/19/07) we went to the San Mateo County Fair. Got some free tickets from work, including free parking, so we ventured out to the San Mateo Event Center. It was a beautiful day and it was pretty warm.

We got there after lunch at our favorite Taiwanese restaurant in Foster City and it was very crowded yet. The Fair opened from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m., so we were actually quite early. Luckily, we were able to find a pretty good parking spot and didn't have to walk too far away.

It was a pretty big fair with different farm animals, children's playground, exhibitions and hands-on museum, games, entertainment, and food. Aidan got to check out different animals and he seemed very interested in them. I think he got tired very easily because of the warm weather. He was actually pretty clingy to me.


We played a few games and won a couple stuff animals. Aidan was actually not very into stuff animals except the big Winnie the Pooh at home. Since he's still too young, we didn't get on any rides. We missed the little kids section and since it has gotten hot and close to his nap time, we opt out of visiting that section.

I think the highlight of Aidan's day was the visit to the hands-on exhibition area where he was turning this wheel around, hitting a musical instrument with a rod, and playing with some games. I had to physically pull him away from spinning the wheel.

The other highlight was when we got some frozen treats. Daddy went to get mommy a frozen yogurt, and he got a chocolate-dipped frozen banana AND a chocolate-dipped frozen cheesecake! Man, were we sugar-high after that! Aidan particularly liked the cheesecake. He usually likes banana, but I think it was too hard and cold for him to bite in. After the cheesecake, he got some frozen yogurt from me. Weekends are
definitely days when he got his sugar intake.

We left after the treats since it's getting late and

Aidan was getting sleepy. He took a nice long nap after that. We were able to leave just in time to beat the crowd and the heat. He was still so full of energy in the end (after the sugar) and wanted to jump all over. He's been trying to squat and jump, but still can't quite jump up yet. But it was just too cute when he was trying to do so.

First FootBall Game

Aidan and mommy both went to their first football game last Saturday. Uncle Melvin got some extra tickets to the pre-season 49ers vs. Raiders. These tickets were expensive and hard to come by. Lucky us! This was our whole family's first time going to the Coliseum.

Aidan was having so much fun looking at the big screen tv, checking out those people running around. And best of all, his new obsession: airplanes. There were so many planes flying above us and he kept on lifting up his arm to do the plane action. So Cute! Since it's the Monster Park, it gets really cold at night and we had to bundle him up on a summer night! I think Aidan enjoyed a football game a lot more than a baseball game (even though AT&T Park is a lot nicer).

Aidan is 18-month old!

Aidan turned 1.5 yrs old on Monday the 9th. I can't believe he's growing up so fast. We went for his 18-month well-baby check up today and he's grown taller and heavier. He's right at around 50% for his weight (25 lbs 10 oz) and at 75% for his height (33 inches). Doctor said his head circumference is back on the chart at 90% or 95%. His head was so big that it was actually off the chart the last time we went in for his 15-month check-up. What can I say, he's a smart kid with a big head... I mean brain.

He's all over the place, making up all these weird words and humming songs that we sing to him. He got a few favorites and I think he actually got the tune of the songs pretty accurately. Will he be a future American Idol? At the check-up, we were trying to count to see if he can say 7-10 words. I guess he could, maybe not voluntarily speaking those words all the time, but he surely can imitate what we do and say. His current words are: nana (banana), wa-wa (water), mum mum (food), hi, bye, yum yum (unfortunately for the tylenol we feed him), uh-oh (his favorite expression lately) and other mumbo jumbo.

He's still a happy kid most of the time. But his evil-two behavior has come out as well. He would scream and fake-cry if he doesn't get what he wants. Really have to make sure we're not spoiling him (but it's so hard when he's so darn cute).

Now I am looking forward to my family visiting next month so that they can play with Dan Dan. My brother and sister have never met him (just through webcam), and they would love to play with him. Hank and I could use some babysitting service as well. ;)