Totland Playground, Fenton’s, Nike Women’s Marathon, Burke Williams Spa, Family Dinner, Monday Blues, Tired Tuesday

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I haven’t had any energy to blog due to a few hours of lost sleep this weekend and sore all over… Slowly getting back to normal. The older you get, it seems it takes longer to recover. This will be a long post.

Saturday, October 19:

Ron went back to WC to move more of his fish tank to Berkeley so I spent the morning and afternoon with the kiddos. We visited Totland Playground which is a city playground that has toys for the children. Simon really enjoyed the dump trucks.

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And was curious about the different ride-on vehicles.

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Iris and I just hung out under the shade while Simon played.

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We had McDonald’s for lunch before heading back for naptime. Simon napped while Iris played. Here’s her little giggle.

Love her little smile.

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I chose Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland for my birthday dinner. We just had sandwiches and delicious sundaes.

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The day had a few tiring temper tantrums by Simon but a sweet treat at the end of the day helped immensely.

Sunday, October 20:

I left Berkeley at 4:30am in order to get to SF for the Nike Women’s Marathon. The official start time was 6:30am but since we were in the last pace group, we didn’t start until about 7:15am.

The Bay Bridge in the early morning. First time that I drove across by myself.

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The morning crowd waiting for the start.

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Trying to stay warm and smiling.

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Finally officially starting!

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It was a fun race as always but difficult this year due to the cold and fog. But we made it to the finish!

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Our prizes.

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If and when I do this again, training will be required or else I’m not going to attempt it again.

My other reward for the day, a warm bowl of curry chicken noodle soup.

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Birthday treat from Ron was a treatment and pedicure at Burke Williams Spa after the race. Since it was a surprise, I didn’t bring clothes or shoes so scored these $3.81 sandals at H&M to wear home and not ruin my pedicure and to let my feet rest from wearing running shoes (which were Ron’s since I couldn’t find my own shoes! Thank goodness we are close enough in size :P)

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In the evening, I rushed back to WC for family dinner with my parents, Tim, and Callie. We had Japanese at Miraku and they sang for me and served me ice cream with a candle. Simon helped me to blow out the candle.

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The last celebration for this year. Four birthday meals, one cake, donuts, and ice cream galore. Plus wonderful wishes from family, friends, and co-workers. My heart and tummy are bursting!

Oh! And what did Ron and the kids do while I was gone all day? They visited the Oakland Zoo.

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Monday, October 21:

Iris seemed to have a difficult Monday afternoon. She only napped 5 minutes so was sleeping when I got home from work.

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Simon had the Monday morning school blues but ended up having a good day and being happy in the evening. He was fooling around a little during dinner and playing with his rice but he ended up eating quite a bit.

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Iris woke up as we were eating. We are going to wait until she is six months to feed her solids. So next month she can join in eating rice!

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Tuesday, October 22:

My legs still ache from the marathon. Ibuprofen is my friend. Hopefully only a few more days of soreness.

I’m not the only one who was tired today. Simon fell asleep on the car ride home. He drew the picture on his lap, a smiley face!

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He enjoyed his dinner again except he skipped the vegetables. He had rice, BBQ pork (char siu) and watermelon.

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Iris was full of energy when we got home. Happily playing while we are dinner. On the bouncer, she really likes the rolling clear ball and tries to suck on it or tugs on it to try to remove it. She can spin herself around to find the toys she likes. Great exercise for her back, legs, neck, and arms.

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She did not nap much during the day so went to bed at 8pm. Her nose is a little stuffy so she had a hard time sleeping during the day. I’ll be watching her closely tonight.

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Today Simon almost had a breakthrough. He almost didn’t cry when I dropped him off at school. I said if he didn’t cry at all, he would get a smoothie boba drink. So he made it up until the end with some whimpering and only crying as I said goodbye. I ended getting him a half-size drink because he was so brave. I actually left through the school’s front door then came back in to drop something off with an administrator and he had already stopped crying. I know he is fine during the day. Just the morning is the hardest for him to bear. Tomorrow he said he would try not to cry “at all”. He seemed like he promised the teacher too so we will see.

Happy Friday

Friday, October 18, 2013

Iris is always the happiest when waking up in the morning. She doesn’t cry out but just makes some little sounds and when she sees you, she breaks out in her little grin.

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Today I had birthday celebration #2 with my co-workers at our Children’s Hospital Primary Care pharmacy. My dad brought me a dozen beautiful red roses.

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Then we went to eat at Koryo Jajang. They have a combo of half Jajang noodles and half spicy noodle soup. It was yummy but a lot of noodles! Be sure to ask for extra spicy if you like it hot. Thanks again Dad for the lunchtime treat and the beautiful flowers!

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My little princess waiting for me at home. She had a good time in both her bouncers.

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I love watching her little hands exploring all the toys on these bouncers.

Happy it’s Friday!

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Puppy Simon

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Today I was taken out to lunch by my co-workers in Chinatown. I had one of my favorite noodle soups, bun bo hue, a spicy broth with white noodles, pork meat, and pork blood. I haven’t had a good bowl of this Vietnamese noodle since I moved out of Stockton so it’s been more than 10 years! This one was pretty good but next time I would ask for a little more spice.

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Then we went back to the pharmacy to have some red velvet cake.

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I was lucky to have my dad and brother be able to come celebrate with me. Thanks Dad for the lunch treat!

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It wasn’t just my birthday, my co-worker’s birthday is next week too so we shared cake cutting/serving duties. Oh, and I’m wearing my Hello Kitty sweater since there are two other obsessed ladies who work with me there. Hi Cici and Lien!

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My sweet little munchkin waiting for me at home.

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Simon did some pretty cool art projects at school today. He made a glittery fan.

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Plus this tree from dried leaves he picked at the nearby park.

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Tomorrow they make chicken dumplings so I hope he has fun and enjoys eating them.

Tonight Simon pretended to be a little puppy by walking on all fours and panting with his tongue sticking out. Silly puppy Simon!

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Small Hands Book

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Simon made this book at school today. It is titled “Small Hands”. He even read it to me (he memorized the words). Great memento I think.

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Iris seemed extra chubby and cuddly tonight. I just wanted to hug and squeeze her!

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Simon and I just hung out and watched some television tonight.

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I’m still avoiding unpacking for one more night. Just too tired. I’m hoping for the return of the “amazing sleeping baby” for at least one night to get some better rest.

Inchworm and a Porcupine

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Iris is oh so happy with her new inchworm toy. I was ordering other stuff on Amazon and this had high ratings so thought I’d get it for her. Annie says she had fun with it today.

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Lately Iris has been able to turn herself from her back to her front. Only rolling on her left side. Her arm used to get stuck but she finally figured out how to free herself so she apparently was doing this all day on the playmat.

Simon’s new hair style for the day: Mr. Porcupine! Ron helped him with his hair this morning. It stayed all day too since it looked exactly the same when I picked him up.

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I had a rough commute to pick up Simon today as I got stuck on the short stretch of freeway I usually take then also got stuck on the city streets which were packed. Not sure what was going on but there were way more cars than usual on the road today. Thankfully the drive home was short and I didn’t have to fight through Caldecott Tunnel traffic like I used to especially considering there was an accident near there today. For this I am thankful we moved but still staring at boxes left to unpack. I stayed up until midnight last night and woke up at 4am to feed Iris, pump, and shower. Got back to bed around 5:15am until waking up again at 6am to start the day. I’m going to take the night off from unpacking and get a little more rest.