Googleween

Last year, we decided to take Adrian (last year's Kung-Fu Panda) to the adult's Googleween since Adrian was too young to really partipicate in the kid's Googleween. Now a year later, the older and more mobile little cheeky Monkey had fun "Monkeying" around, collecting candy and mingling with other cute little kids at the kid's Googleween.

Unlike the crying episode that we experienced when Adrian first tried on the outfit at the store, he actually sat patiently while I dressed him, headpiece, body and all! :)

Have a Happy & Safe Halloween Y'all!

Happy 4th Birthday, Alan!

We hope you had fun celebrating your special day! :)

Our Lil Kitchen Helper?

Who knows? Maybe in the future, but definitely not now. Our little munchkin (aka The Rockstar) likes to pull items out of the kitchen cabinets and scatter them onto the floor. He has a special routine for the little yellow/white chopping board, which he likes to place on the floor and then proceed to dance on top of it. I have yet to capture this on camera, but I'll be sure to keep the camera close by! :)

5-Year Old Birthday Parties x 2

We were doubled booked for two 5th birthday parties and coincidentally the start times overlapped! We headed out to little Hayley's party at the The Jungle - a familiar place for our little boy who was there with his cousins back in August (see link for details). The difference between this visit versus the last is that our little monkey is no longer a crawler, but instead now a walker! What a difference a few months make! We had to leave a little early to head over to little Vivian's party at her house.

Happy 5th birthday, Hayley and Vivian! :)

Adrian's New Leash

Now that Adrian is more comfortable being on his own two feet, he's become more independent and prefers to walk himself instead of being carried by either one of us (this saddens me as it clearly demonstrates his growing independence and that our little munchkin will become less and less dependent on me - a tough pill to swallow for a super overprotective 1st time Mum) =(
Well, back to the original subject matter - our little munchkin requires more attention when we're out and about -- especially at the store. Since he no longer wants to be contained in a shopping cart or in his stroller and certainly not in our arms, our inclination was to get a "baby leash" to ensure his safety. Sadly, judging by the reaction on the little munchkin's face, we may be looking at adding another item to the pile of rejected baby items!

Balancing Act

What do you think our little munchkin is doing? Take a wild guess! This is a normal sighting at our house when we get finally get home on a week night. Ed and I are either busy preparing our dinner or eating while our little munchkin entertains himself with ANYTHING he finds in our cupboard. He's certainly no stranger in the kitchen and seriously knows where everything is. Today, a tupperware and the regular favorite -- the sifter garners his attention. Remarkably, there have been times where he would actually return the item(s) in its rightful place. Then there are days where our kitchen floor is literally covered in bowls, plates, tupperware, lids, chopping board etc. You name it and it's there, yup on our poor kitchen floor! :)

Hide & Seek

You may recall from a previous post how Adrian loves to duck behind the pillows after a bath. Our little nudist still enjoys carrying out this tradition to this day. Diaper changing has also proven to be a challenging task. As soon as we remove his diaper, the little munchkin takes off and refuses to come back for a fresh clean diaper. He runs around like a free spirit and usually requires some coaxing before we're able to successfully dis-arm him (and protect our carpets from any accidents)! :)

Pumpkin Patch Trip '09

We took Adrian to a local, hence smaller minus the fun activities that are offered by the larger pumpkin patches last year when Adrian was still an infant. Now that our little munchkin is toddling well as a toddler, we brought him to a nicer pumpkin patch, Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. Our little family spent a really pleasant Sunday afternoon surrounded by a 1000 other families checking out various types and sized pumpkins, a mini touch & feel maze specifically for young children and a beautiful ginormous pumpkin being perfectly carved by an expect. More pics of our Pumpkin Patch experience are available here.

A day out at Gilroy Gardens

We met up with Andy and his family & Phuong and her family for a day out at Gilroy Gardens. Thankfully, the weather was perfect for an outdoor event and the lines were somewhat pleasant. This was Adrian's first trip on a carousel and riding inside a rotating strawberry. Too bad we didn't have time to check out all of the attractions, but I'm sure we'll be back again next year. Additional pictures can be found here.

Wheeeeeee!

That look, that expression, and that smile says it all! Adrian is having a wheeeeeee time going head first down a slide at Curtis Park in Mountain View. We started taking Adrian to a park around 4 months and periodically thereafter. It's amazing to see the progression from having to hold him on our laps as we slid down the slide to having either one of us on the top AND bottom of the slide to watch and ensure his safety - all the while encouraging him to slide down independently. And look at him now! No words of encouragement is needed as our little munchkin just plunges himself down as soon as he's reaches the top of the slide! You go little Superboy! :)

(Note: We still position ourselves on the top AND bottom of the slide! Hey, safety always comes first!) :)

Ransacked

Who dunnit? Yup, that would be my little munchkin caught RED-HANDED for ransacking my handbag! In addition to the obvious scattering of my belongings, Adrian left a nice little "dent" on my lipstick! This isn't the first time that we've caught Adrian in the act, and it surely won't be the last!

Family Near & Far

What better way to dine and be merry with family from near and far than to slave over your own dinner at Hot Pot City in Milpitas! Coincidentally, my aunt & uncle were here visiting from Vietnam (uncle in grey top over on the left and aunt in a black v shaped dress bottom center) and my brother-in-law, Garrett (in blue dress shirt) who was out here on business! It was great catching up with everyone despite leaving the restaurant with a lingering trail of grilled/BBQ-y odor.

What's for dinner, Mama?