Kuida-Osumi date night

Tony wrote me this poem yesterday morning before our date last night, our first night out since last April.

Blue Hen, baby
organic and light
but we'll get heavy
in the black of night

Brown rice
golden yolk
our love baby
ain't no joke

Red hearts
purple mist
I can't wait
cause you're hard
to resist

We went to dinner at Blue Hen Vietnamese Kitchen out in Eagle Rock, which I've been wanting to go to since it opened a few years ago. We had a really nice time--it felt strange to be driving in the car without Maiya in the backseat. I ordered the Vietnamese noodle soup, Pho (pronounced fa-uh) and organic Cafe su da (condensed milk coffee), and Tony ordered the organic ginger chicken with tofu, organic greens and brown rice, and a zesty lime fizzy tonic drink, I forget the name. We also ordered the tofu Spring Rolls which were pretty tasty too. It was very nice to try some place new and different, instead of having dinner at one of our usual places that we always go to, and it was surprising that in almost 11 years, it was our first time having Vietnamese food together.

Afterwards, we drove around for about half an hour in Glendale looking for ice cream. We finally called our friend Gary, who I always call when I'm looking for something in the Glendale/Pasadena area, and he gave us directions to the nearest Coldstone. We had ice cream, Tony looked at plasma and flat screen tvs (his latest obsession) at CompUSA while I found two CDs for Maiya, Elmo's Greatest Hits and latin music for kids with Lalo Guerrero and Los Lobos at Tower Records. We need to find a CD recorder that records onto cassette since we don't have a CD player in either of our cars. We held hands walking back to our car.

Anyways, 3 hours after dropping Maiya off at my sister Gayle's house, we went back to pick her up. She apparently had a great time following around her cousin Kieth and playing with all their toys. Little Miss Busy Girl.

I love you TonyO... let's do it again soon!

PS. to my last post. I was wrong--500,000 people went to the march on immigrants rights yesterday, not 50,000--to protest that bill in Congress (HR 4437). They say it was the biggest march in L.A history. Amazing! Tony got caught in the downtown traffic and saw families walking across the First Street Bridge back to Boyle Heights when it was over. I got all choked up when I saw the news last night. What a beautiful sight. Check out this article in today's LA Times that is on the Common Dreams website.

It's Official. We're walking!

We saw on the news about the high school walk outs in support of immigrants rights. Tomorrow is the big immigrants rights rally and march Downtown. It's exciting that they're expecting maybe 50,000 people tomorrow. On the homefront, Maiya is officially walking now too! She has become a food-flinging, walking, toddler in front of our eyes! At home, she is probably walking about 80% of the time. It's so funny to watch her when she's trying to get somewhere fast.

I'm exhausted and just worn out from the week. It helps that Maiya is starting to sleep a little bit longer at night--3 nights she slept 5 hours straight in the past week or so, but I am still nursing 8-12 times a day, in addition to 3 meals a day. I worked Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday, we had a playdate with Maiya's friend Jessica, and Dean came over and hooked us up with an external CD drive so that I can back up 13 months of baby pictures. Then Thursday, I went to Great Leap for a meeting and to work on some grants, and then we went to the gym to workout, which about did me in. And darn it I still have that lingering cough. On a bright noter, this weekend, Tony and I are going on a date! It will be our first night out alone since his birthday last April. Wee hee!

Oh! Here are some pictures of the week and then it's off to bed for me!


Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a toddler walking towards you? Trust me, not easy.

Walking in the kitchen while daddy makes dinner. See that kleenex I'm holding? I love to wipe the floors with it. Mama says, "Yuck!"

My 2nd drawing--the first one was pencil marks all over the kitchen cabinet! The funny thing is that she is holding the same bag in this picture that she is carrying in the March 14th photo of her on her little car. Funny!

Pix for Bubbe & Zeyde & 10 things

Here are some pictures for Maiya's grandparents up in Idaho...


Maiya in her Indian-style dress from Auntie Nobuko

Maiya playing guitar with daddy

Maiya playing outside this afternoon

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. It's hard to find the energy sometimes. Ten random things you may or may not need or want to know.

1. I found Maiya's favorite shoe last night!!!!! It's been missing since Feb. 5th. I looked everywhere except in the couch cushion--where I found it at 2:30 am this morning. I was so happy I wanted to wake up Tony, but I didn't. I don't think I can explain how happy I am about it.

2. Guess who got a cell phone??? Welcome to the 21st century, TonyO! So many times I've wished he had a cell phone over the years. We upgraded to a family plan with Tony's dad and uncle--we all got Razors! Mine is pink, and I love it!

3. We're excited about the I-word, that has been spreading... Maiya, can you say, "impeach?"

4. Maiya's walking now. A lot, especially at home. A lot of walking and falling. See the red mark on her forehead in the picture above?

5. Maiya went to the doctor today. She is now 18 pounds! I know, I know. She has a healthy appetite, but she's also very, very active.

6. I still have a darn cough, and coughing fits, usually late at night. Another sore throat... been off and on since November, maybe it's time to go to the doctor.

7. Tony's been cooking almost every night. I think my favorite time of the day is dinner time at the Kuida-Osumi's. Grandpa Larry has been coming over for dinner 1 or 2 times a week the last month.

8. I am addicted to red vines. I am eating a container of 330 almost all by myself. Ugh.

9. We finally went back to the gym the other night. We gotta make it a more regular thing.

10. We're making plans for continued home improvement. When I was pregnant, we were out of the bedroom for 10 weeks because we were painting 2 rooms and a hallway, and doing hardwood floors. It was a stressful time. Wish us luck!

** Well wishes **

* Deepest condolences to our friend Gary whose dad passed away recently. Maiya and I went to the funeral on Friday.
* Belated condolences to Sue, whose son passed away after a hiking accident last month.
* Feel better, Uncle Meg, who got a new defibrulator (pacemaker) last week.
* Hooray for nephew Kevin who had a cochlear implant surgery last week and is recovering well!
* Our friend John, who at 34 years old, had a heart attack and a triple by-pass surgery on Saturday.

Health, wellness and our best wishes to you all.

13 Months and counting

Hey, I've got bangs! Kinda, sorta...

Maiya turned 13 months yesterday. She's taking more and more steps. Yesterday, she took 18 steps, advancing about 3 feet, into my arms. Sometimes it's step, step, step, sit. Or hold something with one hand, pivot, step, pivot, step. She's getting pretty quick at scaling the walls, and then crawling for even faster mobility. Her old favorite foods, are now casually tossed onto the floor, tofu, avocado, potatoes. She is really into whole wheat bread, pasta and rice, and enjoyed fruits from the health food store the other day.

My most recent column came out yesterday, Working Mom: For the Sake of the Children, which I wrote about going back to work at LTSC in the Child Development program. I actually even uploaded it on our website.

In other news, it's time for a change. The man continues to lie about everything. About 9/11, lied about WMD, the levees. How much more proof do we need before we make a change?