Jumping on Daddy w/Monkey PJs

These pictures and video express the fun relationship that Tony & Maiya have together. They are so cute together. It is no wonder they are my favorite people on this earth. Peace. Out.

My favorite is the walrus!

Auntie Keiko took me & Maiya to Sea World yesterday. It was both Maiya and Keiko's first time there, and my first time in 13 years. I can't believe I drove 260 miles in one day. We had a lot of fun and the rain stayed away the whole day!

Auntie's favorite was the Shamu show.

Sitting in the Soak Zone. Auntie was "soaked" for $14 for 2 drinks.

Dolfin encounter

These pretty birds are just looking to steal fish from the dolphins.

Second row of the Soak Zone for the dolphin & whale show.

Good thing for our rain jackets keeping us dry!

We enjoyed seeing the penguin exhibit, polar bears and watching a sea otter.

But our favorite part was seeing the walruses in the underwater viewing window. The walruses swam right up to us and flipped over slowly several times. One of them looked like he was as long as our bedroom and wider than a hippo. They were pretty humongous and yet were really graceful for their bulky size. One had tusks and a mustache wider than my face.

Update in pix

Surprising Grandma Machi for her 70th Bday @ the Red Lobster

My two favorite people ever

Backyard Play - Going through a growth spurt - almost 3!

Latest fun is blocks and lacing beads

FWIW

For what it's worth, I took a little quiz, and this is who they say I should vote for based on my responses of the issues. Never heard of Mike Gravel before, but a quick glance at his website confirms that the quiz is fairly accurate for me.

84% Mike Gravel
82% Dennis Kucinich
72% Barack Obama
71% John Edwards
68% Joe Biden
67% Chris Dodd
66% Hillary Clinton
65% Bill Richardson
38% Rudy Giuliani
33% Ron Paul
33% John McCain
29% Mike Huckabee
26% Mitt Romney
14% Tom Tancredo
14% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

On another completely unrelated note, there is a new show on Nickelodeon about a Chinese American preschooler that starts in February. We don't have cable, but it will be interesting to see if it's a good show or not. It's called Ni Hao, Kai-Lan.

Update for 08

I haven't been around much this year because we have been busy with health issues. So far, my wish for our family is better health in 08.

* Tony's dad was in the hospital for 17 days from Dec. 29. He was released last night and is now back at home.

* My low back/sciatica was in pain, off & on since before Christmas. Last week I couldn't walk, turn, sit or crawl. I finally saw my chiropractor/healer on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and I go back today. He took me off breads, pastas, and processed foods, and gave me calcium lactate supplements. I am feeling much better now.

* I had $800 of dental work on the day after New Year's (crown & a filling). I have to go back today to get my permanent crown. That will teach me to wait so long between checkups. Tony, who hadn't gone in 4 years was perfect--so he spent his $800 on a tube amp (audio nerds and stereophiles will know what this is!). Maiya will have her first visit to the dentist soon as well.

* I bought a Jack La Lanne juicer last week. We have been through 5 pounds of carrots, 7 apples, as well as other fruits and veggies already. I've tried to reduce/eliminate candies, cookies, and all the crap I ate during the holidays. It is part of my Healthy Jenni Plan for 08.

Birthday wishes for Grandma Machi who turns 70 today... and of course to MLK, who would have been 79 today. Also to Grandpa Don and Uncle Shag whose birthdays are tomorrow. Before I go, I'll leave photos from my nephew Kevin's 3rd Bday Party and my funky girl.

Car seat battles: The not-so-cutesy-stuff

I was telling Tony that Maiya and I were in an argument last night in the car coming home from work/childcare. He said something like, "You should blog about this, instead of all the cutesy stuff."

When I picked her up from childcare, she was all happy as usual. As we walked out of the center, she said sweetly, "Mommy, your back is hurt?" "Thank you for asking. It is feeling a little better right now." We went into the office as usual so she could visit her friends (my coworkers) and have a snack, which is one of her favorite parts of the day. She often doesn't want to say goodbye.

So later, we're getting in the car and she is stalling as usual. Sometimes it takes us several long minutes just for her to stop futzing around and get into the car, and then more dilly-dallying to actually get her into the seat. Finally she gets in the car and is purposely sitting on the seatbelt so that I can't buckle it. I ask her to move back so I can strap her in. She digs in, not letting me access the seat belt. I am getting exasperated and say, "Maiya, move back please. Now." My gentle parenting philosophy flies out the window at this point. She doesn't, so I have to get my body inside the car to lift her butt so that I can get her in, which is killing my back. When my head is in the car, she starts hitting me in the head with "Lamby" a little stuffed animal. I get mad and grab Lamby from her and violently throw him in the front seat.

MG: I want Lamby!
JK: Not right now.
MG: I want my Lamby! Gimme Lamby! (She's now strapped in by force)
JK: No, MG, now right now. You were hitting Mommy with Lamby and that wasn't nice.

So for the next 10-15 minutes, she is demanding Lamby. I am asking her to either apologize for hitting mommy, or ask nicely, instead of demanding him in a mean way. "You are not getting him back when you ask me nasty like that." Two choices. She keeps demanding in a nasty voice. Finally as we're moving from the 110 freeway to the 10 heading West she says,

"Mommy, no talk to me. Stop talking me!"

Fine with me! At this point in the retelling of the story Tony laughs and says "Isn't this not supposed to happen for a few more years? At least until the pre-teen years? Anyways, finally, somewhere around Crenshaw or La Brea we both cooled off, and she did stop acting horribly and finally asked nicely for Lamby, so I gave it back to her, explaining that she asked nicely. She did say that something in her tooth was bothering her mouth, actually she said, "My sparkling teeth is not so good." And that she was upset that she didn't want to go home, she wanted to go see Uncle Bill. But I explained that daddy was at home, so we were going to go home, and then pick up daddy and go to Costco.

By the time we get home, she is in a good mood. Just another night. Just wait until I blog about some of our getting dressed battles. Or the swearing, which is new. At least we are over the teeth brushing battles and the war against pants, shoes and jackets. For now. Lately I hear that Threes are worse than Terrible Twos. Can't wait!

HNY08

It's midnight... Harmonically Yours!
~ Wishing you peace & harmony in 2008 ~
Happy New Year
from Jenni, Tony & Maiya (2 yrs, 11 mos.)
1/1/08