cindy's world

Yup, UPS lost the rug. My dad’s theory is that the rug was so large that it doesn’t “fit” in their usual storage areas or in their normal trucks, so some UPS employee put it elsewhere temporarily, and no now one knows where that is. Mr. W called the rug company and told them about the situation, and they immediately said they’d investigate the issue with UPS themselves, and if they don’t get a satisfactory response from UPS in the next day, they’d refund our money. Mr. W said he’d really rather get another rug. Today, the rug company emailed that they haven’t gotten anywhere with UPS and will be cutting and sending another rug for us on Monday, via a different shipper. If this drags on any longer, Allie isn’t going to need a rug to break her falls. She’s flying through stages so quickly. She’s so fast she’s *almost* running now, and much more coordinated. But don’t tell that to the bruise on her knee.

Last Saturday, we thought we’d take Allie to a petting zoo in San Clemente that’s doing a pumpkin patch thing for Halloween. It isn’t big or fancy, and it smells like the ponies, zedonks, chickens, rabbits, etc. that it houses, but it was crowded with kids and Allie had fun. Pumpkins were super-cheap at $4 each, but Mr. W didn’t want to carry a giant pumpkin around with him all day. Too bad; Allie would’ve probably enjoyed eating mashed pumpkin for the next 4 months. The patch was western-themed, so there was lots of hay, a “ball pit” to jump around in with hard kernels of corn in lieu of plastic balls, a fenced-in train that goes in a small circle, old western town facade and a cardboard maze for the tiny tots.

Scary Halloween Allie Cat!

Save a horse, ride a…

…bale of hay? Allie: “Okay, you guys, stop messing with me.”

Fake fall foliage, pumpkins in 88-degree sunshine…yup, must be October in Southern California.

Allie is a chameleon.

Or a pumpkin saleswoman. Allie: “Pumpkins! Get your big, fresh pumpkins right here, $4 each!”

Allie: “You KNOW you want one of these for a jack-o-lantern. That’s why God invented Halloween.”

Allie: “If you buy a pumpkin from me, I’ll do a happy wiggle-wiggle dance for you.”

Allie: “Look at this one with the cool twisty stem. What a swell jack-o-lantern he’d make! Get a second one for a Jill-o-lantern.”

See, isn’t that worth $4 bucks? 😀

Allie taught me something that day about perspectives. There’s our way of seeing things, and then there’s a child’s way. Sometimes when a child leads us somewhere…

…it looks like there’s no purpose. She’s looking at nothing, we think, so we lose interest and move on.
Meanwhile, she’s still faithfully holding her post.

But if we give her time, we will see what she sees.

Look, a new friend!

Sometimes you have to look where others aren’t looking…

…have faith in a change of direction, even if it’s kind of uncomfortable at first…

…to look where others overlook…

…in order to find…

…that when you follow your heart…

…that there’s treasure everywhere.

When you find that treasure, you run to it…

…and you grab it and celebrate the wonders of life. Especially if the treasure is mommy’s and daddy’s bag of fresh bakery cookies.

May you live like a child this Halloween…but be as careful as a grownup. 🙂

Monday was Columbus Day, and hubby and I had the day off. We still had Jayne come over (altho giving her a late start in the morning) since she’s loathe to lose an Allie day when she was going to be gone for 2 weeks visiting her parents in New York. It was a great opportunity to re-meet the guy I married.

Soon after we left the house, I realized I’d left my wallet in the diaper bag from the day before. I felt bad all day as Mr. W would have to pay for everything. This becomes important later in a different way.

The weather was warm very early in the day, so hubby and I went to the Lake to try out a first for us — stand-up paddle-boarding! I didn’t think it’d be very hard since I’d done stand-up kayaking already, to the demise of my first smart phone. However, a lot of things change with pregnancy, they say, especially things like balance. Thankfully, neither Mr. W nor I fell off the board. It took a few minutes to get used to how to hold the paddle and switch it from side-to-side, and I tested the limitations of the board’s rocky-ness early on so I know it could lean left and right pretty far without actually flipping over, so I was comfortable. Mr. W confessed he was less comfortable, and that almost the entire time we were boarding, he’d felt he had to make constant weight distribution adjustments to maintain stability. I guess it helps to have a lower center of gravity. As for ease of movement, I’d put it somewhere between pedalboating and kayaking. The paddling wasn’t as futile as the stupid foot pedals in the paddleboat, where you think you’re gonna die of exposure stranded out there in the middle of the lake pedaling like mad and getting nowhere (except when a lifeguard boat or a kayak goes by and the wave pushes you a little), but it wasn’t as swift as kayaking, either. It was, however, more easily maneuverable than the kayak, possibly because it has less momentum and pretty much when you turn your hips, the big board turns with you. When we were done with that, it was 10:30a and time for me to pump, so I did that for the first time in the car with the double-electric pump running on a battery pack. Worked out pretty well.

I would’ve loved to post a picture of me on the paddleboard, but altho we pulled in 15 minutes before our time was up, Mr. W refused to run to the lockerroom for the camera while I waited in the water. =P

After the Lake, Mr. W and I headed out to a couples massage. It was nice and relaxing, and a little painful, as my muscles are pretty messed up with all the new leaning-forward positions I’ve had to hold after having a baby.

Then, we grabbed some super-juice blends (carrot, beet, spinach, parsley and garlic for me; carrot, apple, beat & ginger for him) and some kale chips for a pre-lunch on our way to Laguna Beach for a late lunch. At a friend’s recommendation for a great view, we ate at The Deck right on the sand.

We got there just before happy hour so we were able to indulge in the relatively inexpensive seafood happy hour menu, but Mr. W was the only one that had alcoholic drinks, since the timing was such that I was missing out on the 2nd pumping, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it later in the car. The photo above is my Arnold Palmer. This is important for later, as well. (Do you see what’s coming?) The martinis the place served were HUGE; the only thing missing from Mr. W’s martini glass was a fish swimming around in there. At one point, MR. W asked me, “Can you drive?” As I didn’t think he was mocking my Asian roots, I assumed he wanted another alcoholic indulgence and I told him that was fine, and he ordered another giant martini.

On the drive home, I wanted to turn right after the beach street and go on local streets home. Altho this way was more direct, it was potentially more time-consuming because of all the traffic signals we’d have to go through for 8 miles or so. Mr. W strongly suggested (insisted) that I take the toll road. It made me uncomfortable, but I finally did as I was told. And you know that little voice that is usually right when it makes you feel uneasy about doing something? I got pulled over for speeding. AND I didn’t have my wallet and hence no driver’s license. The motorcycle cop walked over to Mr. W’s side, and I’m sure when he leaned down, greeting me politely from the passenger side window, he could smell the alcohol. “Hello, license and registration, please.” Mr. W was already pulling out his ID and was explaining sheepishly that I’d left my wallet at home because I hadn’t intended to drive, but we had just been at Laguna Beach and he’d had a few drinks, so he asked me to drive instead. The CHP officer leaned in and asked me, “Have you had anything to drink, ma’am?” We both simultaneously said no as I explained that that was why I was driving. (Thank gawd, I didn’t decide to just “try” one cocktail, so that I could completely honestly say I had not had a drink.) He asked me whether I knew how fast I was driving. I hesitated, and then admitted I wasn’t totally sure. He said, “Eighty-one. Sixty-five zone.” Okay, and I knew that if I’d let Mr. W drive instead, he would’ve been pulled over for going 100 in a 65 zone while under the influence. I apologized to the CHP, said I didn’t realize I was going that speed as I wasn’t familiar with the feel of a car that isn’t mine. He said he understood, but one indicator that I was going to fast is that I’m passing everyone else on the freeway. I knew I was very suddenly passing cars shortly before I was pulled over, but I’m pretty sure it’s because the people who travel that stretch daily KNOW the motorcyle cop always hides right there around the curve of the road, out of sight until it’s too late. I told the cop he’s right, and that I’d pay better attention. He tapped Mr. W’s ID and said, “You’re good. Drive carefully.” And walked back to his motorcyle. Whew. (I’m glad I didn’t have to flash my engorged boobs.) (I kid, I kid…about the flashing, that is.)

And that nicely wrapped up my Monday with a big red bow.

My parents came over on Sunday to visit Allie (they sometimes remember to say they’re visiting us, too, but we know better), and we went to a park to let Allie frolick in her new Skidders shoes (which are like half-sock and half-shoe, so Allie walks better in them than hard-soled shoes, and doesn’t slip around on hard floors like she does in just socks). So Allie frolicked, and frolicked, and we let her frolick barefoot on the grass so that she could connect with nature (and dog pee), and then she saw a boy sitting by himself in the grass. So she frolicked over to him, smiling at him, greeting him, flirting…and he just IGNORED HER. I told her, “Don’t worry about it, Allie, he’ll regret this in about 10 years.” My mom took the video, and I posted it on the social networking site. The following conversation ensued on comments.

Dwaine: That little girl is so beautiful. I can’t believe how well she’s walking already!
Me: See, spoken like a guy with taste, unlike that stupid kid sitting on the ground in the video.
Dwaine: LOL
Me: Of course, if he did show some friendliness toward Allie, I’d probably call him a cradle-robbing pedophile, push him over, then grab my baby and run.
College Roommie Diana: boys are stupid at that age…and at many other ages thereafter.
Me: damn good point, Diana.
Dwaine: We’re trying…
Diana: haha. i don’t mean to generalize- “SOME boys are stupid at that age…and at many other ages thereafter.
Dwaine: Too late. My feelings are hurt.
Me: Diana means just the boys we’ve dated are stupid. You were smart enough not to date either one of us.
Dwaine: Very diplomatic Cindy. 😛
Me: I’m trying…
Diana: i just watched the video-that’s hilarious. the boy is not even cute.
Dwaine: In about 15 yrs he realize what he did and send Allie Cat a friend request…but it’ll be too late. That’s how guys learn…
Me: Allie: Who’s Pedro Gonzalez? I just got a friend request from him. He LOOKS kinda familiar…oh, wait a minute. *clicking on Cindy’s FB* *looking at old videos* I KNEW IT! *clicking DECLINE on Friend Request*
Dwaine: …poor Pedro…
Me: hey, what goes around, comes around.

(I didn’t copy/paste the other random comments on the video itself, like how big Allie’s getting, wow she’s walking, etc)

I only blogged once this past week?! Geez. Busy. And oh yeah, I must not have been on the computer at home. I wonder why.

Speaking of busy, we had a very full long weekend! On Saturday, Kyden and his family drove all the way down from San Jose so that he could have his 3rd birthday at Disneyland! As an invited guest, Allie also got to visit Disneyland for the very first time (not counting the time she was at Downtown Disney outside of Disneyland with her cousin Alexandra when she was 2 months old).

I started the day by getting her out of bed at her usual time after she woke up, a little after 6am, and then winding her down early and letting her hit her first name on time at 9am (she actually took it 10 mins early). I was jumping for joy that she woke on her own in 75 minutes, so that I didn’t have to wake her so that she’d hit her 2nd nap on time, which she did at exactly 1pm. We did have to wake her from that one so that we could leave for Disneyland and get there by 3p. I pumped while she napped and fed her via bottle on the drive to save time. That didn’t go too well; she was too distracted to eat more than 3-4 ounces and we had to dump 2 ounces. Ouch. We really tried, but still ended up being 15 minutes late because it took longer than expected to get to the Plaza Inn via the old “People Mover” (anyone remember those days?) and everyone else was already there, but Kyden forgave us, I think. (Sorry, Flip Flop Girl, aka Kyden’s Mommy!)

A coworker with a 2nd job as Disneyland security signed Mr. W and I in as his free guests. That saved us a LOT of moolah! The stepkidlet came along with her premium annual pass, expecting to meet a friend there later, altho she ended up just hanging out with us the whole time we were there. That worked out for us, since that means we had a photographer. 😀 (As always, hover mouse pointer over photos for captions.)

The Disney party at the Plaza Inn was super-cute. Each person (including kid) got to decorate their own cake!

This was the first time Allie ever touched cake, white flour, frosting, food dye, sugar… and I’m happy to say, she did NOT like the taste of any of it.

She took one tiny pinch of cake, put it in her mouth, made a face. She tried again just to make sure she didn’t like it. And that was the last time she tried the cake AND the frosting. And this is a kid who eats dried leaves from the lawn.

Allie: How could you let me put that in my MOUTH, mommy? I want my sippy cup!

She had a lot of fun at the party, and got to see lots of things she’d never seen before. She saw a person dressed up as a birthday cake. She saw lots of kids in party hats. She saw sprinkles and M&Ms and frosting. She saw a giant mouse run by.

She saw the birthday boy and the birthday daddy chasing down the runaway mouse.

She even helped point out which way the giant mouse went, just to make sure he’s caught.

We caught up to the giant mouse and his girlfriend!

Okay, it wasn’t us. It was a team effort. It took lots of people. All Kyden’s guests, in fact.

“Good job finding the mice so we can catch them, Allie! Mice running loose in a restaurant would NOT do!”

Allie even found an old friend at the party, the birthday boy’s sister, Sienna! Kyden was helping make sure Sienna had her vitamin C and phytonutrients for the day.

I’m totally bummed because Allie and Sienna walked up to each other and HUGGED, and I had my camera ready to go, but missed it cuz Kyden was patting my stomach and I was talking to him instead. Oh, well. Birthday boy gets priority, those ARE the rules.

I caught the birthday daddy, Uncle Mike, having a serious discussion with Allie about signing on to his pest control company, since she helped catch the big mice.

Allie must’ve disagreed with him, cuz Mike tried to Jedi-Mind-Trick her next. I’m not sure that it worked, tho.

We had a lot of fun, but we left after an hour or so, so that we could explore Disneyland with Allie in the hour or so we had left. She was so happy people-watching, seeing all the colors and balloons go by, and she hummed along with the music blaring over the loudspeakers.

Did you notice…no stroller! Yup, we were able to run around and dart in between people cuz we didn’t have to make room in the crowd for a stroller. At some point, Allie decided we were still too slow, so she took the initiative in trying something faster…

…and when that was too dangerous in a crowd, she opted for something even faster.

We landed in front Sleeping Beauty’s castle, holding our own sleeping beauty. I’m happy when Allie sleeps at least 11 hours at night and over an hour in her naps, she doesn’t need to do 100 years straight like Aurora.

We did ride one ride: Pinocchio. It was the scariest ride ever when you look at it from a baby’s point of view. Mr. W and I sat in front of the buggy with Allie in between us, and she looked around wide-eyed at everything. Most of the ride was in the dark with glaring ominous characters. She started whimpering toward the end, but that was when the blue sparkly fairy came out and brought us back to sunlight again, so it went fine. (We would’ve gone on Small World, but the line was 45 minutes by the time we got there.)

We got home in time to put Allie down for bed on time, even with some minutes to spare, but wouldn’t you know it, she was too full of residual happiness from the Happiest Place on Earth. She fell asleep nursing, but popped wide awake in her crib when I transferred her, and stayed up and played for almost an hour on her own. Ack. She was sound asleep before 8pm, tho.

I have a ton more photos, but I don’t want to overwhelm this post (altho it may be too late for that). Happy 3rd Birthday, Kyden! Thanks for the adventure!

Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is at its fullest and Chinese people traditionally spend the evening sitting outside, admiring the moon (and writing poetic homages to it back in the day), drinking tea and eating mooncakes.

My parents came over in the afternoon brought a box of assorted mooncakes. When Allie awoke from her afternoon nap, we took the little beaver (she decided on Sunday to start gnawing on her very expensive crib’s front and side rails, and has taken the paint off and a few layers of wood, as well) out for an early dinner at a local Chinese restaurant near the lake. We didn’t get lake views like we do at our favorite sushi restaurant, but Japanese has to stand aside for Chinese yesterday.

Food was good, altho all the dishes were a bit on the sweet side. My dad recognized his motherland dialect in the conversations between the staff, so he figured the restaurant is Shanghai-style. That explains the sweetness. If you guys like Shanghai-style Chinese food, visit Lakeside Chinese Cuisine (they don’t seem to have a website I can link).

Despite another epic nap of over 2 hours in length in the afternoon, Allie was able to nurse to sleep and be laid gently in her crib, which I was grateful for, because if she has to be put in her crib awake again, I know she’ll end up eating more of her crib. While I was nursing, Mr. W ran out to Babies R Us and picked up a crib rail protector called the Easy Teether by Leach Co., which is basically just a fabric wrap that velcros around the front rail of the crib. It probably won’t stop Allie from chewing on the crib, but it’ll keep her from ingesting more of the paint and wood splinters. The deep gouges and damage she was able to do in just one day, 2 naps’ worth of time spent in her crib, were pretty horrific. I wish I’d been prepared for this ahead of time. There’s no “touch-up” possible for what was done; when she gets older and that piece converts into her full-size bed’s footboard, that entire piece will have to be sanded down and refinished. Glad we paid more for the hardwood option instead of soft pine. =P The very light color of exposed wood, however, makes me just a little suspicious.

Anyway, after leaving Allie and medicating the cat, who promptly made himself throw up his meds so that I had to readminister more meds, Mr. W and I went outside to take a peek at the full moon. We probably only sat there for 30 seconds before I went back in and ate a miniature mooncake with some red wine. I cut another small mooncake in half, keeping in mind what college roommie Diana had warned me about how bad mooncakes are health-wise, chatted with the stepkidlet and her boyfriend who had come back from the grocery store and were eating at the kitchen table, then read myself to sleep.

Next year, maybe Allie would be able to stay up until the moon comes out and could join us for a taste of mooncake. It’s fun to think about how dramatically different things will be a year or two from now, just as it was fun, when I was pregnant, to think about how different things this year would be from last year. (Boy, did I underestimate “different” in my naivete, tho.)

On Saturday, my cousin Jennifer’s baby Alexandra turned 1 year old! Time flies! Jennifer and her hubby hosted a buffet brunch at Back Bay Bistro, a really nice place sitting right over the kayak/small craft launch area of Newport Beach. We rushed Allie there as soon as she was up from her morning nap. Okay, I had to wake her over 90 minutes in, as she took a longer nap than usual. Figures.
Jennifer had an adorable theme of owls.

In the private room, there were orange and white balloons, colorful stuffed toy owls in wicker baskets in the center of each table, owl stickers, even an owl finger puppet board book for each attending baby. I think Allie may have been the youngest, as all the other “babies” were at least walking independently. In each owl “nest” wicker basket were an assortment of differently-colored construction paper, on which the guests were asked to write a message to Alex for a time capsule, which the parents plan to give Alex when she’s about to go off to college. It was hard imagining this 1-yr-old as an 18-yr-old, but I still got all sentimental writing my note, imagining her as a young adult about to start her semi-adult life. (I chose a yellow owl and blue owl sticker to decorate my note, as together they make UCLA colors, hee hee.)

The private room opened out onto a little grassy yard, which Jennifer had set up with a bubble machine and a colorful tunnel for the kids to play with.

Crawl, baby, crawl!

Yay! Almost to mama!

Allie got to hang out with her older cousin Elle, whom I still remember as a newborn. Crazy.

I’d kept trying to find Alex so Allie can have a pic with the birthday girl, and Alex was adorably dressed that day, but some grownup or other always monopolized her. =/ At least she got a little time with her auntie Jennifer, Alex’s mom. I guess Jen will have to be Alex’s representive. 🙂

There would’ve been no photos of me as usual except that handed Mr. W the phone and made him take some of me with Allie Cat.

We had fun, but it was a short event for us. We got there half an hour late (altho there were plenty of people with kids who were an hour or more late), and then were one of the first to leave to make it back for Allie’s afternoon nap. In the hour+ we were there (plus half an hour of drive time each way), I barely had time to eat and definitely didn’t want to stand idly in the long buffet line when I could be hanging with Allie feeding her so that Mr. W can eat (and he did eat), so that’s what I did. Mr. W pestered me the entire time to go get food, but I was too busy to care. My uncle, Alex’s grandfather, sat across from us and watched admiringly as Allie obediently ate all her chicken w/zucchini, carrots, and blueberries w/multigrain cereal, then fed herself her puffs and drank from her sippy cup. “She eats very well!” he said, impressed. I got a flashback of Alex’s mom Jennifer at age 4, sitting at the family table for each meal crying, as my uncle stood over her with a ruler in his hand, rapping at her hand and loudly on the table as he demanded in Mandarin, “EAT! EAT EAT EAT! CHEW CHEW CHEW!” Yeah, Jennifer did not enjoy her mealtimes. =P
Knowing the stress and planning involved with getting this brunch together, and knowing that Alex had to be there on time and stay until the last guest left, I’m feeling even less inclined to do a 1-yr party for Allie. They say the 1st bday party is for the parents instead of for the kid, anyway. I keep thinking things will be easier time-wise once she’s on 1 nap a day, which should be sometime in her 2nd year (next year). Maybe I’ll start with the public bday shindigs with a lake event for her 2nd bday. But then there’s the other issue — Allie’s bday is always gonna fall on/around Thanksgiving weekend. Potential guests would most likely have plans to be with family, or be out of town. This will be interesting.

First, I mourned her death.

Then, I tried to recreate her.

Yesterday, I discovered…she is resurrected! Oh, joy of joys! She’s supposed to be bigger, prettier, and more multi-faceted than ever. I’m not sure how I feel about that last part, yet. I mean, she did famously well the first time by sticking with what she knew.
Rachel: You don’t want to do too much too soon. You know what happened to the girl who did too much too soon, don’t you?
Jill: No…what?
Rachel: Sh-she died, Jill.
(extra points to the person who could tell me where that’s from)
Oh well, I suppose if you’re going to rise a new phoenix from the ashes of the old one, you want to come back with a bang, and all the splendor you can muster.

Eddie and Michelle had a kids’ birthday party to attend in local city Irvine this past Saturday, so they contacted me and asked if they could swing by afterwards so that our daughters can finally meet. The last time I saw their daughter Scarlett was through Michelle’s belly at her baby shower. Allie was 3.5 months old at the time. Now Allie is 9.5 months and little Scarlett is 4.5 months. They didn’t interact much, but I can see them running around together in another year or so. 🙂

It was a triple-digit weekend and Allie was wearing a cool pinafore-style top with matching ruffled diaper-cover shorts, white with red needlepoint embroidery, very Bohemian looking (a gift from Rebecca). But as soon as I brought the babies face-to-face, I realized that I’d forgotten who Scarlett’s parents are. In the past, when the four of us hung out, I’d be in UCLA gear and Eddie would be in USC gear. So of course Allie had to be changed into something more appropriate.

Scarlett: Fight on!
Allie: *discreetly* Gag!
This is actually the only UCLA item Allie owns, and only because Christi (flip flop girl) had the foresight to buy this for her the time we visited them up north. The shirt is for girls 12 months, so I’d put it away into the “future wear” drawer. On Saturday when I finally took all the tags off and pulled it on my 9-month-old, it was a PERFECT fit. She would’ve outgrown it without my knowing had Eddie and Michelle not come over! And I would not have been happy about the missed opportunity for Bruinwear.
Scarlett, on the other hand, had spit up on her pretty ‘SC dress and had to be changed out of it, and her parents were prepared with another USC onesie, which she wore after the dress. 😛

On Sunday, my parents came over and took a ton of video footage of Allie, since she’s toddling around on her own and is now up to 5-6 steps walking without assistance. She did most of her continous walking on Saturday and may have gone more steps than 5-6, but she had already gotten to where she’d wanted to go so she’d stopped (we need a bigger house). It’s usually one end or another of the L-shaped couch, where we place her toys for incentive. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t get any footage of a long walk. I think Allie was just distracted because of all the people around her, and of all the dancing she had to do, of course, since we put some music on.
Here’s Allie rocking and doing the head-bang to rock:

And here’s Allie doing body rolls and hippy movements to R&B/hip-hop.


That last toothy smile? She was just hamming it up for the camera for my mom (who was video-ing). She does a lot of stuff to deliberately “play” with grownups. What a clown. Rebecca did say very early on that Allie would have a wonderful personality, a great sense of humor which she would develop very young, and would deliberately do things for a reaction, to make people laugh.

I’m behind, so this is gonna be mostly pix, with just a few of my usual lengthy descriptive paragraphs.

Last Friday, I did my very first outing alone after Allie went to bed (despite the fact that I’m still doing 4:30a wake-ups daily without fail to pump). Rebecca was in town, doing her daily radio show with her co-host Garrett broadcasting from a local-ish Laguna Beach restaurant called The Cottage as a special event, so I drove out to see her and to meet Garrett for the first time. Here they are at The Cottage office during their live broadcast.

Yes, that is THE Rebecca, our favorite clairvoyant! If you’re interested in giving her internet radio show a listen, or feel like calling in for a free mini-reading, she’ll answer questions live on the air! The Garrett & Rebecca Show is on 7:30p-8:30p Pacific time Mondays through Fridays, and you can listen to their podcasts RIGHT NOW for any of their past shows:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/garrettmillerradio
Now you can see what I was talking about on here about Rebecca. 🙂

So ANYWAY, Rebecca and I basically just hung out and caught up over chocolate mousse cake dessert at the restaurant after their broadcast, and Garrett joined us briefly before skidaddling off to his busy life by the beach. The Cottage Restaurant is awesome, BTW. I’ve seen it driving by but never went in. It used to be an old house, and now serves amazing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rebecca and I stayed until after closing and they were so nice about it, still coming by to offer us refreshments and service.

Last Saturday, Edgar & Ruby got married! We had to miss the ceremony because it was far away at 5pm, and no way we could be there and get Allie back in time for bed by 6pm, so we skipped the ceremony, put Allie down like normal, then Jayne came over and they babysat (not much to do but be here and get her out of the house in case of flood or fire) while Mr. W and I went to the reception. They had two photobooths with tons of props, and we had fun with THAT. After all, it was the first time we’d gone out together after Allie’s gone to bed. He’d been out with his friends here and there before, but I hadn’t been out past 6:30p since…Allie’s birth.
Here’s Eddie, Michelle, and us not quite knowing what to do with the props — our ourselves — on our first photobooth session.

Mr. W and I celebrated in style, as you can see.

We soon found that the problem with photobooths at weddings is that people can just come in and crash your photoshoot session. And then the camera bears witness to all the fighting that ensues.

I’m just kidding; Eddie’s always welcome where we are. Wait, that’s too blanket of a statement…
We did attempt to get some normal shots in…but the camera was messed up at the time because someone had turned off the light in the booth (as was explained to us later by the boothmaker, Edgar’s younger brother) so the camera went on totally slow shutter speed, causing the blurring. Oh, well.

The day after that, which was last Sunday, my Canadian cousin Mark being in town for the first time in 16 years (by his calculation, but I thought it was longer) gave cause for a family reunion of the relatives on my dad’s side. This is all us cousins with our kids (those of us who made it to the reunion):

Doesn’t my cousin Diana’s little todder Elle on the top make you want to giggle, or at least wave back? That’s what happens when you tell a little kid, “Elle, look here at the camera! Hi! Elle!” She says “hi” back.
My cousin Jennifer with Allie:

Allie never looks so hairless as when she’s with babies close in age (Jennifer’s daughter Alexandra is 2 months older), and the lack of dark hair makes her look whiter than she looks when she’s alone.

Don’t the 2 grandmas look so happy to be holding their respective granddaughters? Aww.

Last Thursday, the cousins had agreed and planned months in advance to all take the day off, leave our respective tots with their regular daycare situations, and have a child-free day to spend showing cousin Mark around. Mark drove out from Diamond Bar where he had spent the week at my parents’ house and spent Wednesday night at cousin Jennifer’s in Irvine so that we had all day in Orange County. Cousin Diana ended up with a work emergency so she spent the day (that she did have off) putting out fires at work (figuratively); cousin Olivia decided she didn’t want to be in Orange County where we’d made a day packed with plans, so after her attempts to snag Mark away back to Diamond Bar for lunch had been met with avid refusals (my refusal caused me to drop the f-bomb in front of 3-year-old Elle…oops), she settled for after-dinner dessert plans with Mark after he returned to Diamond Bar Thursday night. So it was just Mark, Jennifer, and myself for Cousin Day Thursday and it was A BLAST.
We started in Downtown Disney…

…went to Slater’s 50/50 for lunch so that Mark could do some more of his burger reviews…

(we ordered and split the Slater’s 50/50 burger which has a patty made from half beef, half BACON; the vegetarian burger; and the “peanut butter and jellousy” burger which has for its condiments PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY…blech)
…intended to hit up our lake for kayaking but ran out of time so we just went straight to Yama Sushi on the lake for omakase, and enjoyed the view of the lake from their patio before sitting down at the sushi bar.

Mark claimed that we were “sizing up” the sailboat on the lake here.

The omakase was amazing and Jen missed half of it cuz she had to run out mid-dinner when she realized she’d missed 15 calls from her husband, who was stuck in traffic on his way to pick up their daughter from daycare and couldn’t get there in time. Life sure has changed. She and I made tentative plans to have her return for sushi and lake activities in the near future with her husband and baby, and Mark vowed to not wait another 16 years before visiting again.

It was sure nice having a social life again, even if for a few days and in bits and pieces. For future reference, I was able to do a full day because I left after nursing Allie as usual in the morning after she woke up, handing her off to Jayne shortly before her nap, then I drove to Jennifer’s, pumped there, then did Downtown Disney and Slater’s, then we went back to Jennifer’s, I pumped again, and we got into our respective cars and drove to the lake, then we all split up from there and I went immediately home to catch Allie right before bedtime and nursed her to bed like normal. Oh yeah — after that post about a month ago when I said she’d stopped falling asleep after a nursing, that only lasted 2 nights and she’s now back to nursing to sleep, which makes life easier on me.

A couple of weekends ago, Allie and I went to a coworker’s son’s co-ed baby shower in San Clemente. Mr. W didn’t go, because he had to be on a liquid restriction for a medical procedure the next day, and he said he didn’t want to be around food that he couldn’t have. Mr. W participated to the extent that he picked out (and dressed Allie in) his favorite black-and-white polka-dot dress, perfect for the warm summer weather, he said, and while Allie and I went alone, Mr. W went to get a massage instead.

Soon after Allie and I got on the freeway, the entire strip was congested in stop-and-go traffic thanks to a 4-car accident and 4-5 California Highway Patrol cops surrounding the involved cars. Even though all the cars were pulled off the freeway already, all the gawkers big-time slowed the drive. Pretty early on in this mess, Allie started uncharacteristic fussing and whimpering in the backseat. “It’s okay, baby, we’ll get through this soon, you’re okay, you’re okay,” I’d kept saying to her, checking on her often from the rear view mirror, which reflects back from the baby mirror I’d put on the backseat so that I could see Allie’s rear-facing carseat. The freeway cleared for maaaaybe half a mile, then congested again thanks to an exit-ramp closure on the exact exit we were supposed to get off on. I had the traffic layer up on phone’s GPS, and all I could see was a giant streak of red for the duration of the trip. It looked like my map app was bleeding. Oh my gawd, this is the worst drive, ever, I thought more than once.

I decided to get off an exit early, get away from the congestion, and just take the surface streets to the party. My car’s nav couldn’t keep up and therefore didn’t redraw the directions in time, so I made a guess and turned after I exited. Of course I turned the wrong way. And since this was beachside streets, and near Pacific Coast Highway, and one-way split streets, and an intersection of freeways, the nav kept drawing and redrawing me in loops and circles no matter WHAT I did. Allie was screaming and crying through this. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, this is officially The Worst Drive Ever! Mommy’s so sorry!” I apologized repeatedly to the approaching-hysteria Allie.

After wasting 10+ minutes going in circles and being completely confused by the car navigation system’s constant redrawing of yet more loops and endless circles every time I turned (“Oh my gawd, you’re effing me. You have GOT to be effing me! Mommy’s so sorry, baby, this is the Worst Drive Ever! Please stop crying!”), I gave up and went back on the freeway at the exact point I’d gotten off. Allie quieted for a moment, but soon started crying and whimpering in the saddest way. Talking to her didn’t help, giving her her teething giraffe Sophie didn’t help. The crying turned into screams. I wasn’t used to this — this isn’t like her. Of course, most drives, I’m in the backseat entertaining her while Mr. W drove, so this is different for her, too.

Inch by slow agonizing inch in heavy traffic, I had to drive past the closed-due-to-construction exit that I was supposed to get off on, get off on the next exit a few miles away, turn around, and get back on the freeway the other way to get off on the correct exit going the opposite direction, all with my daughter freaking out in the back. After I exited, I was looking at the rear view mirror at her when suddenly, I saw a giant column of milk pour out of her mouth. As I watched, a second column spilled out, this time lasting even longer. Oh my God, oh my God, I thought to myself as I immediately pulled into the closest plaza and parked. Allie was quiet now, and looked glazed but calm. I plowed into the backseat, apologizing frantically for subjecting Allie to what is now historically THE WORST DRIVE, EVER-ever, grabbed a t-shirt I happened to have in the backseat and started mopping at her. She and Sophie were both covered and sitting in a pool of chunky half-digested breastmilk. I went through a mental panic trying to decide what to do. She needed to be bathed, she needed to be changed, she needed to be comforted, and she’s now probably hungry. But if I took her out here, I won’t be able to get her back in and we’d be stranded. We’re half a mile from my coworker’s house. Should I keep going? what kind of mother would I be if I took my sick baby to a party covered in vomit? I should just go home. But that would mean turning right around, and putting Allie through another drive through traffic when she’s already so unhappy. Should I take her to a hospital? What if she’s actually really SICK? She’d never vomited before like this.

I had called Mr. W repeatedly but of course he didn’t pick up his phone. I’d also called my coworker and she didn’t pick up, either. I looked at Allie. Allie looked at me. The phone rang. I picked it up and my coworker said, “Hi! Where are you?” I blubbered and poured my story in all its panicky glory into the phone. “No, no, don’t go home. Bring her here. We’ll clean her up and give her a break from the car.” That sounded good, so I left Allie and got back in the front seat. The poor girl started WAILING, her lower chin shaking, as if she couldn’t understand how I could abandon her in her time of need like this.

As soon as I got her to my coworker’s house, she was fine. My coworker was outside to direct us into her driveway (where she’d saved a spot for us to park), some other coworkers and retired coworkers excited to see Allie came out to greet us, and all I could do was apologize and then rush the baby into the master bathroom. My WONDERFUL coworker and I undressed Allie down to her diaper, and I cleaned Allie up while my coworker hand-washed Allie’s little dress and removed components of vomit-soaked carseat, threw those in the washing machine and put the carseat itself outside to dry. Digging through the diaper bag, I was dismayed to find that the only extra emergency clothes was a long-sleeved sleep-and-play with feet that likely was too small for her, and it was a 90-degree day. That, and a beanie cap. =P Luckily, it was warm in the house so we just left Allie as-is and she was instantly in a GREAT mood once she was no longer sticky. I fed her some pureed zucchini & rice, and papaya that I’d brought. She ate well, then played well in the living room among all the strangers, crawling around and pointing at balloons, chewing on party favors, talking to people, all while wearing a diaper, her bib, and her little canvas sneakers.

Allie sat quietly on the drive home (which took less than half the time I’d spent to get to the party, now that the freeways were clear), looking out the window, playing here and there with her toys in the car, and fell asleep the last 5 minutes of the drive, and still slept through the night. We theorized that Allie got carsick probably just from the combination of heat, being alone back there, being in my little sports car instead of her daddy’s car that she’s used to, and dealing with all the stop-and-gos and turns and u-turns that I was making.

I learned something that day. The lesson is to ALWAYS LISTEN TO KYDEN. You’d think I would’ve learned from his experience, especially when looking in the comments, it appears I’d predicted this day would come way back in February, but nooo. Speaking of failing to learn from experience, Allie’s diaper bag still contains no updated clothes, now that I think about it.

***
Addendum, 11pm.
While discussing the above event with Flip Flop Girl (Kyden’s mommy) online just now:

me: I usually go super-calm during a disaster-type situation as my brain automatically goes into task-mode, damage-control, etc., but now I know that when it comes to my baby, my brain turns to instant oatmeal.
flip flop girl: that’s really surprising
i would think that BECAUSE it’s your baby that you’d have to be the strong, calm one in that situation
me: It surprised and dismayed me, too. Now I know I need a trunk monkey who would come out during those times and slap me.
flip flop girl: hahaha
or better yet
he can take care of everything for you
that’s much better than getting slapped, right?
me: oh, I guess while I’m wishing for things, I may as well wish for that, instead.