Lukas's First Birthday

So I finally got around to uploading the photos from Lukas's first birthday. I can hardly believe that he is already one!

Mom's Visit to Alameda

Last week, my mom came to visit. Since things were slow at work, I stayed home on Thursday and Friday. My mom cooked a lot of food, but that always requires a lot of cleanup. Time went by quickly since she came with us into SF on Wednesday, we went grocery shopping on Thursday, and to the library for singalong on Friday along with dinner with the relatives. Edwin and I managed to see a movie in the theatre on Wednesday night. We went to see Green Zone with Matt Damon. It was OK. The cinematography was very shaky so I only watched about half of it.

On Saturday, we met up with our friend Sully and her daughter Kinsey. We had lunch and then went for a walk along the beach in Alameda. On Sunday, we went on another bike ride to a nearby park. It was a nice day out and very crowded at the park.

Lukas 11 Months

Here are some photos from Lukas's 11th month:

Lukas's First Tooth Brushing and Bike Ride

Another beautiful day out today, so we took Lukas out for his first bike ride. Well, his first ride in his little chariot behind Edwin's bike. He loved the ride, but hated the helmet. Photos and videos to come. I've been trying to upload photos and videos, so here is one of Lukas brushing his teeth (he loves putting stuff in his mouth, so why not give him a toothbrush?) back in January:

Visit to the Zoo

We had a lovely day at the zoo today. The weather was gorgeous, so it was a great day for a stroll. The zoo is only 15 minutes from our house, so we got a membership and will be returning soon since the summer will soon be upon us. The Banerjees tell us that we will appreciate it even more when Lukas starts walking so that it will tire him out. They say that it's even better when you go with Maika and the Schneiders because then they (the girls) go off on their own. (Though I have a feeling that we won't get to enjoy that luxury since I'm sure that Kai will be more likely to lead Lukas to climb over the fence to get a closer look to the animals- that kid has no fear!) Lukas enjoyed seeing the animals (pictures to come later,) but I think his favorite part was when we let him out of his stroller to crawl around on the playground. They had this big spider web made of rope which he loved and he practiced walking on the rubbery and cushiony floor. (Relax, dad, he's not walking yet, but he is trying to take a few steps.) He's pretty close, but I'm hoping that he gives us a few more months of no chasing. I used to think those kid leashes were kind of cruel, but they are starting to look better and better every day....

I like that we spring forward tonight. Hopefully, it doesn't mess with Lukas's sleep schedule too much. Tomorrow, we go into the city for a birthday party. If it's nice, we might need to take a short bike ride to try out Lukas's new bike trailer.

How to Piss Off a Loyal Customer

I am a very loyal customer. If you get me, I'm hooked. I'm still using this shampoo that they discontinued because I bought 3 huge bottles when I realized that they were going to stop producing it. I love Prego spaghetti sauce. That's the only sauce I will buy. I am definitely a creature of habit, so what pisses me off? Change the formula- yeah, how well did that work for Coke? Do they even make the Coke II anymore? If it ain't broke, don't break it! How about discontinuing a product? Yeah, but I understand that will happen. If it's not selling and I am the only person buying it, I get it. But here's what really pisses me off. I find a product that I really like, but they stop selling it and I know that it's not discontinued.

We found a composting bag called Biosak at Costco. It was great. Worked well, got Jeannette to become a fan so that we were buying her bags at Costco too. Well, we are almost out and we have been going to Costco's near and far looking for these bags. Costco doesn't have the labels/pallets for them. Cannot find them anywhere. We went to Target where they told me to check WalMart (huh? I thought you were competitors. And really, do you think that WalMart shoppers compost? I may sound like a snob, but I really don't think that they do.) So I'm checking their site. It's a company in Canada and they have a customer support email. I actually email them asking them where I can buy the bags. It's been a week and no response. If I, the consumer, work that hard to find you, can't you at least tell me how to freaking buy your product? Do you not need my business? I finally found them on Amazon, but then I have to pay for shipping which practically doubles the cost. Even after all this, I still want to buy this product. So, if anyone knows where I can buy these garbage bags at a retail store, ping me. Please. Or tell me you know of an even better composting bag that I should buy.

CA Academy of Science & Oscars

So this weekend was fun... on Friday, we had dinner at the Banerjees with the Schneiders. Always a good time. On Saturday, I had a ladies brunch with Kaori, Nikki, and Corinne. Edwin stayed at home with Lukas. When I got home, we headed out to go shopping at Babies R Us and Bay St. For those of you who are not familiar with BRU, picture Costco but for baby stuff. I really cannot go there with Edwin and Lukas anymore because at least one of them while have a meltdown while we are there since it in nearly impossible to leave in under an hour. We ended up having dinner at Burgermeister which always cheers up Edwin. We would have liked to have gone to see a movie, but we ended up at home watching a movie instead. It's definitely cheaper, but just not the same.

On Sunday, we met up with Jeannette and Freeman at the CA Academy of Science in the afternoon. We wish that we could have spent more time there, but we had an Oscar party to attend and Lukas needed to nap anyways, so we'll just have to go back some other time. Even though we were there for less than 3 hours, we still managed to spend $70. $25 for one ticket since Jeannette has a membership and can get one guest in free. The rest was spent on food. We know the rule about eating beforehand, bringing your own food, etc. But the food was good. Real good. Guess it better be at those prices, right? Lukas had a great time looking at the fish in the aquarium and playing in the toddler area. Pics to come later.

Then, we headed over to Nikki and Dan's for their annual Oscar party. They are the only ones I know that have an Oscar party every year. The only movies that I saw that were even nominated for anything were Avatar, Up, Star Trek, and Sherlock Holmes. It was a good time, but we had to leave early because Lukas did not nap well that day with all the activity. He's definitely getting to that age where he is getting into everything and doesn't want to sit still.

One Year Check-up

Lukas had his one year check-up yesterday at the pediatrician. He's pretty normal-50% for weight (22lbs. 5.5 oz) and 50% for head circumference (46cm), but only 25% in height (29 inches.) He used to be in the 80th percentile for height. I guess his friends have all gotten taller in the last 6 months. He's pretty much weighed the same for about 3 months now, but he looks a little leaner since he started crawling.

Party! Party! Party!

So as most of you already know, Lukas celebrated his first birthday on Friday. I worked from home on Friday and spent most of it running errands to prepare for his party on Saturday. We stayed home on Friday night to clean the house. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early, cleaned some more and started the party at 11. We ended up hosting 20 kids and about 40 accompanying adults. It went by fast, but it was fun.

We had veggies, Cheerios, puffs, goldfish, potato chips, shrimp cocktail, pizza, mac-n-cheese, and cake. Everyone left by 3:30 for their respective naps and we spent the evening at home trying to recover. The cleanup wasn't too bad since we used mostly paper plates and disposables. He now has lots of books, puzzles, and toys to play with. We haven't given him everything so that he'll have some new stuff to play with every few days. He ate cake, but wasn't that fazed by it. To him it seemed like it was just something else to eat, so I guess it will be a while before I give him more of it. Why start a sweet tooth when he doesn't seem to have one?

All in all, I think everyone seemed to have a good time. The kids seemed to like the balloons and the giftbags that we put together. It was a beautiful day outside and we spent it with good friends, so what else could you ask for?

On Sunday, we attended another first birthday for Lukas's friend Katie. They were born about 45 minutes apart and we met them on our Friday stroller walks. Hers was a princess party which was more intimate and definitely less crazy, but still fun.

Pictures to be posted later, but here's a video of when we were in Hawaii: