Sunday, January 19, 2014

Anyone interested in squeezing some chubby cheeks!?

This morning I spent preparing some baby food and Iris did not want to be set in her jumper or high chair. She enjoyed being “worn” and watching me peel sweet potatoes for the steamer. Tiring for my back though!

Ready for some football!

Iris’ new favorite spot is crawling up the post of her pack and play. She really likes trying to pull herself up.

Around lunchtime we headed out to Oakland Chinatown since they were having their street festival for Chinese New Year. In the plaza they were having a wu shu performance and Simon was very interested to watch.

After the performance, we walked around the festival and Simon visited the small petting zoo they had. He was really excited to feed, brush, and pet the animals. He used to be shy about feeding animals at The Little Farm. Goes to show how much he has matured. Here he is with the alpaca.

We ended up back at the plaza to watch some more martial arts performances while eating popcorn chicken.

Simon says the performances were “awesome”. Iris was just hanging out.

It was a beautiful day out and with a little breeze so these pinwheels were just too enticing so I had to buy one.

I really wish I had bought more and other kinds since they were so pretty. I hope I can still find some around Chinatown.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Our little turtle boy.

Ron gave Simon his old iPhone to play with so Simon was playing while sitting next to Iris. He was playing the talking Tom cat app and Iris was laughing along with Simon.

With Iris being more mobile now, Ron removed the bassinet portion of her pack and play. Iris didn’t know what to make of it and squished her face on the side.

“Ahh! Let me out!”

I got these outfits for the kids before Iris was born. Simon loves zebras so I found this print very cute and wanted the get one for Iris to match him. I asked Simon to pose with Iris for a picture and this is how he decided to hold her.

So I asked him to reposition his hands on her belly instead. Much better.

Iris got too excited and started to try to jump and knocked Simon over.

So, as for the title of this post, we are trying to find a new home for our cats Mochi and Tiramisu (aka Misu). Home At Last Rescue is allowing me to feature them on their website, they have posted them on Petfinder and Craigslist, and I have brought them to their mobile adoption tables on Saturday. This is the second time that Iris and I have been out with them on 4th Street in Berkeley. The poor kitties were living in our garage in Walnut Creek for the last year or so. Simon has pretty bad allergies to the cats so we had to move them out of the house. Ron’s allergies have also worsened recently. They shared the third car garage with some of Ron’s fish and the room was pretty well insulated and they had space to move around. Since we moved to Berkeley, the garage space is not insulated and fairly cold and dark. We also use the garage as storage since the house is smaller so they don’t have as much space. I originally contacted the Berkeley Humane Society but they don’t take owner surrenders and the Berkeley SPCA does euthanize animals that don’t get adopted. The SPCA suggested I contact a rescue group like Home At Last and they were so kind to offer their help to find them a new forever home. They were a little less enthusiastic about being outside today.

We are taking the best care of them as we can, under the circumstances, but as senior cats and very loving cats, they need an indoor home and some more attention. I am sad when I think about really having to give them up but I know they need a better place than our garage. They need a warm lap to sit in and a warm bed to sleep in with an owner who will have more time for them. Some people ask why we just don’t give Simon medicine? But is it really okay to medicate your child just so you can keep your cat? The cats have been a big part of our lives but if I can find them a better home, then I think that is the best for them. So if you know of anyone interested, please have them contact Home At Last Rescue. The kitties profile is available on Petfinder, click HERE.

What about Maxwell? He prefers the outdoors so has been an indoor/outdoor cat since we moved back to Walnut Creek. He is 15 years old and very set in his ways so would not do well in a new home. At least I don’t think he would do well and it would be extremely difficult to find someone who wants a 15 year old cat. So he will enjoy the rest of his life roaming around the Berkeley Hills and sleeping in his soft bed in the garage.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Iris is very curious in the morning when I brush my teeth so today I had her brush with me.

Getting an early start to good hygiene is a good thing, right? We got this great toothbrush from our favorite dentist, Dr. Tiffany! It has a brush on one end and a nubby thing on the other for Iris to chew on.

Simon’s lunches get simpler as the week wears on. Today just cucumbers, strawberries, and mini corn dogs. When I had lunch at school one day with the kids, I think the teacher indirectly hinted that I might pack too much food for Simon because he has a *large* lunch box. Generally he finishes his lunch but I’ve been packing a bit less and seeing if he still complains of hunger in the evenings when I pick him up. He always requests a snack on the car ride home so I think that is habit so it has still been a little hard to tell if he is really hungry or just wants his snack. He’s lost a lot of his baby fat and I just don’t want him to get too skinny.

After a long week, we decided to go out for dinner at DAIMO Chinese restaurant. I tried to use a plastic table topper so that Iris could eat herself but the adhesive did not really work that well to stick onto these particular tables. She was more interested in pulling off the table topper than she was in eating her dinner. Fail for the table topper tonight.

Simon enjoyed some yummy noodles from the wonton soup. This place makes delicious wonton noodle soup. He ate the noodles over drinking his strawberry smoothie. He complained the smoothie was too sweet. I’m glad he prefers the natural sweetness of fresh fruits over artificial flavoring.

Check out Simon’s zebra pants! These were supposed to go with the zebra shirt he wore the other day but Ron didn’t see them when he was helping Simon get dressed at that time.

We are all looking forward to a three day weekend!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Simon’s lunch of BBQ chicken bites, edamame, apples, and a yogurt drink. Simon was really excited about the yogurt drink, see his little hand sneaking in the picture?

Simon’s outfit of the day, a zebra shirt! He received this shirt last year but it was too big. He is definitely growing into his 4T clothes now. This shirt is like having Ziggy with him at school.

I took this morning off work since Annie had to get some dental work done so I took the opportunity to stock up on food by making a trip to Costco and Target with Iris. We got to Costco before it opened but just waited about 10 minutes. We weren’t the only early birds.

We finished our shopping and checking out within 30 minutes. I tried to limit our purchases to what would fit into the stroller cart but still overfilled it. We still managed to exit Costco by stacking two boxes on the glider board that Simon usually stands on. I’m really glad we got the glider board.

Afterwards, we went to Target to buy Simon’s 2% milk with DHA+omega3 (I find it is the best priced at Target and sometimes it is on sale) and since Iris was awake, I decided to let her try sitting in the shopping cart. She was so exited and super happy! Her little feet are all blurry in the picture since she was so excited and swinging her feet back and forth. Loving Target just like Mommy!

Simon’s artwork for the day. He said these are roads of some sort.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

I shopped in Oakland Chinatown yesterday during lunch and bought a whole bunch of fruits for Iris to make more baby food. She is a good eater and has been eating right through our freezer supply. So last night she had fresh mango and I made a whole new batch of apple puree. Then I had a little bit of energy left to put together the ingredients for banana bread in the bread maker. Here is the result.

The house definitely smelled delicious in the morning.

Iris seemed to enjoy it.

Since I was up making Iris’ food, I woke up late so Ron made Simon’s lunch. Chicken quesadilla with red seedless grapes and steamed broccoli.

Apparently Simon really liked the quesadilla since he ate the whole thing but left most of the grapes and did not touch his broccoli. I hope he’s not getting too bored with his lunches. I still have yet to try making musubi… I’ll need to get on that soon.

Anyone under there!?!

Surprise!!

I said that Iris is a good eater, want to see proof? Check out her little belly in this Hello Kitty outfit! Thank you Auntie Tiffany for the cute purple Hello Kitty sweatshirt!

I’m glad our kiddo is no longer afraid of trying to draw. Daddy drew an example of an airplane and Simon is trying to replicate it. He did a pretty good job I think.

Simon was not eager to have me take a photo of him tonight. I asked him nicely if I could take a picture of him today and this was his response. Possibly a prelude to that disgusted look that teenagers are famous for.

Back to Iris’ eating habits… so far Iris has tried the following foods:
FRUITS
apple, pear, banana, strawberries, blueberries, papaya, clementines, mango, avocado, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon
VEGETABLES
zucchini, spinach, broccoli, corn, carrot, butternut squash, potatoes, sweet potato, leek
PROTEINS
chicken, tilapia, salmon, yogurt, cottage cheese, creamy Havarti (cheese), freeze dried yogurt snacks for babies
STARCHES
rice, different types of noodles, white bread, banana bread, baby puffs and other snacks, mantou (white steamed bun), oatmeal

She is starting to like more textured things but prefers it not to be “sticky”. She gets angry if it sticks to her mouth and cries out. Once she gets some water though then she is usually okay. She will also let you know when she doesn’t like something and shut her mouth and turn her head away from the spoon. She is cautious at times and will only open her mouth a little bit to taste the food first before taking a bigger mouthful. Smart girl.

I think that is everything… any suggestions for other things I can try with her? I feel like she may be getting a bit bored. Her doctor says I should let her try peanuts (with Benadryl nearby) soon to see if she will have a reaction and to help it so she will not have a reaction in the future. I haven’t been brave enough to try it but my “window” for the optimum time to expose her is closing… maybe this weekend…