Since it was a nice sunny day, I decided to take Nathan out to the park. During that time, there were no other kids or adults. So we had the park all to ourselves.
He is so happy about going to the park.
At the park, he was always curious about touching and feeling the playground and making sounds with his hands. So when we got back home, I made sure I cleaned his hands pretty well!
We took Nathan as well as mr. master-jedi Jaffy mon and two of my nieces Jewel and Joy to Disneyland.
On our way to Disneyland
My nieces and I goofing off inside the van
Before heading to our hotel, we decided to eat at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood. This place has very good reviews. Their chicken and waffles were very good. I don’t like waffles at all but after trying Roscoe’s waffles, I would definitely go back there again and order it. My nieces got their chicken breast sandwich and they loved it.
Finally checked into our hotel room
In Disneyland again!
Autopia ride in Disneyland
On Matterhorn
I usually exaggerate my screams on adult rides just for the fun of it. 🙂
About to go on Star Tours
Nathan waving ‘Hello!’
We tried this Roundup Barbecue near Big Thunder in Disneyland and it was very good. It is a pre fix meal which included all you can eat chicken and ribs, corn bread, beans, corn, etc.
Roundup Barbecue had some entertainment too
Disneyland closed at 12 midnight. But Main Street was still open until 1am. So we decided to have some ice cream at 12:30 am! Well except for Nathan because he was already asleep inside his stroller.
Good thing about Disneyland is their Rider Switch Pass which allowed us to take turns riding adult rides without having to stand in line in the regular line as well as the fast pass line. Since Nathan is still too young to get on some rides at Disney, we took turns. My nieces and I rode first while Nelson and Jeffrey watched Nathan. Before getting on a ride, I asked one of the Disney employees for the Rider Switch Pass. After we got off the ride, I gave Nelson the Rider Switch Pass. Depending on the ride, Nelson and Jeffrey went straight to the ride without having to wait in line.
Inside California Adventure Park
New Little Mermaid ride… Jeffrey’s favorite ride 🙂
Nathan’s 3-D glasses for the Toy Story Mania ride
On Flik’s Flyer ride in Bugs Land
At the Monsters Inc ride
Waiting outside of Ariel’s Grotto for dinner
Nathan trying to wear my watch as eye glasses
We decided to have dinner at Ariel’s Grotto so we can get tickets for the best spot to watch World of Color. The pre fix food included all sorts of fruits, cheeses, salad, sausage, seafood, our main meal and desserts.
Nathan’s food at Ariel’s Grotto was spaghetti with lollipop meatball (which was free and his food included a glass of milk)
I got the Cioppino (seafood dish) while Nelson got the tri tip
Our dessert!
Nathan doing some coloring at Ariel’s Grotto
I actually like ElecTRONica because of the loud music and all the nice light effects everywhere… and of course the cups and glasses I have been collecting from ElecTRONica.
Light cycle
Went for a swim at our hotel
Nathan’s floatie
We ate at ESPN restaurant in Downtown Disney for dinner on Monday night. While waiting to be seated, we decided to have some fun at the arcade inside the restaurant.
There was this Cupcake Store inside Downtown Disney. So my nieces and I had cupcakes while Jeffrey and Nelson drank Jamba Juice.
We had dinner at Hokkaido to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday. This seafood buffet served Asian food such as Chinese, Japanese and others.
Picture with grandma Patricia, grandpa Angel and cousin Selena. I believe this is Nathan’s first time seeing a lit candle on a cake! His facial expression says it all!
I guess my father-in-law’s wish came true…. he now has two beautiful grandchildren!
After dinner, we all decided to walk to Toys R Us nearby.
Wow, this bear is bigger than I am!
After having lunch with my husband’s family, my husband showed his family the new Brooklyn building at Pixar since they haven’t seen it yet.
But the boys decided to have some fun first… that is if they can get the ball rolling…
Nathan is saying ‘You boys are an epic FAILURE!’
Since the boys couldn’t get the ball going, we all hung out at the basketball court
Look at me soar!
Are the little critters laughing at me?
Ok, I think they are posing for the camera now and not laughing at me
With grandparents and Selena
Selena hitching a ride with Nathan
This weekend is the first weekend that farmers opened their fields to the public for cherry picking. Good thing we already have a BOB stroller because it was very easy to move through the cherry farm. While other cherry pickers carried their heavy buckets on their hands, we used the stroller to carry our bucket of cherries! 🙂
Who’s pushing me??
Hey, you gotta pay for that cherry!
Daddy helping me pick my first cherry
I like this one… this one will go into my b-e-l-l-y.
Before I eat my first cherry, I inspect it…
I sniff it…
I inspect it again…
I sniff it one more time…
Once it passes my inspection and sniffing approval, I eat it!
Hey, no pictures. I am busy eating my cherry.
That cherry was delish!
My husband wanted to get our son a better stroller. However, most comfortable and better strollers are expensive. I told my husband that we can just wait until our son’s cheap, simple stroller breaks before buying a better one. But he didn’t want to wait so we went to REI store in Berkeley to buy a BOB stroller. REI was having a sale on their new BOB models. Even though it was on sale, it was still expensive. Plus, the cup holder and tray accessories are sold separately. We bought the cup holder but the tray won’t be available until June or July.
My husband asked me if I knew what BOB stands for. I said ‘Boy Oh Boy’? Of course that wasn’t it. It stands for Beast Of Burden.
BOB stroller is much easier to maneuver than Nathan’s simple stroller that we bought from China. With the old stroller, I have to use both hands to turn the wheels. With the BOB stroller, I am actually able to turn the front wheel with one finger. 🙂
Unlike the old stroller, BOB has a pouch at the bottom for storing items as well as pockets on both sides of the seat which can be used to store some of Nathan’s little toys. Since we bought the cup holder accessory for the BOB stroller, I can now keep Nathan’s sippy cup within reach instead of taking it in and out of his baby bag all the time. Nathan’s old stroller doesn’t have a built-in cup holder. I doubt you can even buy a cup holder accessory for it. There is no place to even put a cup holder in that simple stroller.
The only thing I don’t like about the BOB stroller is the weight. According to some website, it weighs about 80 lbs! So lifting the BOB stroller into and out of the SUV is really challenging for me. With the old simple stroller, I had no problems taking it in/out of the car. The BOB stroller may be heavier than the old stroller, but it is actually easy to push or pull without much effort.
Another good feature of the BOB stroller is that the cover provides a good shade from the sun. The cover can be set to half or full coverage. The old stroller has a cover but it doesn’t provide any shade at all. The BOB cover has a clear plastic cover at the top. So if I want to see what Nathan is doing while the cover is open, I lift this flap at the top to expose the clear plastic cover.
The old stroller has a hard plastic handle. For some reason, after pushing Nathan in his old stroller for a long while, my hands hurt. Also, since the old stroller has no suspension, I felt a lot of vibrations on the handles. So after I take my hand out from it, my fingers shake. On the other hand, the BOB stroller has some type of padding on the handle which gives me a more comfortable grip on the handle. Plus the BOB stroller has a pretty good suspension.
Nathan’s simple stroller (picture taken in China. He was 13 months old.)
His new BOB stroller
I can fit in it as well. 🙂
My very first Mother’s Day is finally here. Even though I still cleaned our house and did laundry on Mother’s day, it was still the best day of my life. It felt like it was my birthday or Christmas. Just the thought of being with my husband and our 1st child made me so happy.
So far, I have been a mom to Nathan for 5 months now. Five months isn’t long but it sure feels like it. How do I feel about being a mom? Well, many things. Not one single word can describe about how I feel as a mommy to Nathan. Being a mom is definitely a new chapter in my life.
During the first few months, my son was a daddy’s boy. Nowadays, my son comes to me more than before. When I play with our cat Smeagol, my son kinda puts out this jealous reaction and tries to hold onto my leg and pull me away from our cat. Also, if I am sitting down or feeding him, he holds his arms out and gives me a big hug.
Of course being a mom can be frustrating at times. My son is hitting the terrible 2s very early. Few months ago, when I tell my son not to do something bad, he would listen. Nowadays, if I tell him not to do something bad, he would listen but he would also talk back. He can’t say words clearly. But he would yell out ‘NA’! Or he would just throw his toys onto the floor to protest against me after I said ‘No’ to him.
As a mom, my life has been more busy than ever. Overall, women do more work than men. Some women still work while managing their homes and families. My husband couldn’t believe that story until one day after getting gas from Costco, the news on the radio said that women do more work than men especially when it comes to dealing with family, the household and a career. About 80% of the time, I take care of Nathan even when my husband is at home.
Since my life has been busy than ever, I lost 10 lbs. In a way, I guess that is a good thing. After I did IVF years ago, I gained 10 – 15 lbs. It was hard for me to lose those lbs. Now that I have Nathan, I lost 10 lbs pretty quickly. I still eat the same amount of food, sweets, etc. I mean I am not cutting down on food. I LOVE FOOD. I was not intentionally losing weight and have no desire to lose more weight. I had friends and family tell me they gained weight and need to lose weight. So I ask them ‘Do you want to borrow my son?’ 🙂 Honestly, I don’t know how I lost weight. I guess I get a good workout when I carry Nathan up/down the stairs like 10 – 20 times a day and when I chase him around when we play together. My son can actually run pretty fast. He would want me to go run around our couch with him over and over again… like a marathon. Nonstop!
Overall, being a mom has been a wonderful and rewarding experience. Our son brings so much laughter into my life. One day, while I was using one of his toys as a drum, he started to dance away. My husband and I had a good laugh that day. When he is watching his favorite Sprout channel, he will smile at me when he sees me looking at him. Also, when he comes to me and gives me hugs and kisses, he makes me feel good inside. I am very happy that he is bonding well with me now.
My husband and I plan on adopting a baby girl. We were going to start the adoption process mid year of 2011. But we decided to begin our second adoption when my son is almost 3 years old so that our second child is 1 to 2 years younger from Nathan. Nathan will be 2 this October. So we will begin our second adoption late next year.
Family members were invited to celebrate Pixar’s 25th Anniversary as well as the opening of their new Brooklyn building. They had food set up in different buildings. In the main building, they had dim sum, steak in a skewer, sorbet ice cream for dessert, noodles, etc.
Inside the main building.
Jewel having some pot sticker
Nelson having some red wine
In the main building, there was an area setup where you can dress in weird costumes and have your picture taken and another area where you were able to create a 6 second movie for a flipbook.
Our photostrip
Our flipbook
Meeting at the amphitheater to hear John Lasseter speak about their 25th anniversary and upcoming movie Cars 2
Outdoor play area for children
Kara’s cupcake truck served chocolcate velvet, meyer lemon and creme de fluer cupcakes (of course for free!!!!).
I got all three kinds of cupcake
Inside the new Brooklyn building
Also on that day, Pixar showed the movie THOR in one of their big theaters. My niece and I watched the movie while Nelson stayed with our son and continued to mingle with his coworkers.
While my husband watered our lawn, our son played around in the front yard.
He loved touching and looking at the plants.
He was also curious about the cars in the garage.
‘Oh this will be mines when I am old enough to drive…’
‘No I will have this one because it is bigger…’
‘But I want the pretty girls to like me… so I will have this one…’
What Nathan loved the most was the water!
Pixar’s major changes are almost done! Some of the changes are adding another building, making a bigger gym, moving the basketball court, soccer field and volleyball court, etc. I think it took about over 3 years to completion.
Today my son and I went to Pixar with my husband so he can do some network stuff in the new building called Brooklyn. Pixar buildings are named after New York districts such as Soho, West Village, etc. Brooklyn is almost done and movers are here to move employee’s stuff into the new building and landscapers are here to finish placing the plants and grass onto the ground.
On May 6, Pixar will be having a house party to celebrate the opening of Brooklyn as well as their 25th anniversary. But today, my son and I got to tour Brooklyn before the crowd comes to Pixar next week.
Brooklyn’s atrium
Staircase
V-8 Cafe (named after Flo’s V-8 Cafe in Cars part 1 movie) Pixar will be celebrating their next finished movie Cars 2 in June.
This past Thurs, my husband got invited to try the food at the new V-8 Cafe. Certain departments at Pixar were invited. Not sure who the other departments were who got to have free food on that day. My husband told me he got roast beef sandwich and soup and he thought it was pretty good.
One of their public kitchen’s where employees can make their breakfast, store their own food or make espresso drinks
Their very expensive sub-zero fridge which cost over $14,000. This is one of the fridge we were thinking about putting in our remodeled kitchen but it’s too expensive. So we decided to buy a GE Monogram fridge.
Fireplace in the atrium
What’s hiding behind the fireplace??? it’s some secret room with a red lounge sofa, table, bar, flat screen TV and some fancy chandelier.
Cathedral… well it really isn’t a cathedral… My husband just calls it that way. Inside the cathedral, you can hear your echo… echo… echo…
Conference room
My husband and his coworker Neftali decorated the conference table with Cars characters.
You can see the atrium on the 1st floor which is below the Conference room on 2nd floor.
Pictures from top floor
Outdoor eating or lounging area on top floor
Downstairs there is also an outdoor eating area
View from the top floor:
Pixar’s main building
Swimming pool, basketball court and volleyball court. Left side it is the West Village building which contains other offices and their new gym. Past the volleyball court, it is the Soho building where my husband’s office is located.
At Disney, they have a lot of hidden Mickeys. At Pixar, they have hidden characters as well from their movies.
Bullseye from Toy Story
Eve from Wall-E
Mater from Cars
Sulley from Monsters Inc.
