Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Jess and Greg found a great house in Kings Beach (Tahoe) for rent, so we headed up there with Montie too for a weekend in the snow.  Ryan actually made it to the snow park this year (last year, Steve took Ryan but Ryan had a meltdown in the parking lot shortly after getting his ticket) and had fun going down a small hill in a tube, climbing a snow mountain, and building snowmen. 

Keira just stayed bundled up in her little bear outfit and hung out in the Baby Bjorn.  Montie got to chase a tennis ball in the snowbanks around the house.  Her health is deteriorating due to her year-long battle with skin cancer, so this may be her last jaunt in the snow.  If you were to see her, you'd swear she was just a pup, as she could not get enough of playing fetch.  We had a great time hanging out, playing MJ Experience and Taboo, and being snow bunnies!

Welcome to Keira Naomi Liu!

Pink Power! Keira was born on 11/18/10 at 1:17 PM.  She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and measured 19".   We think she looks like Ryan did at the same age.  Ryan is getting used to having a baby sister and was quite surprised to learn that she does not have any teeth (it's one of the first things he tells people when he talks about Keira). 



Here's one of the few pictures we have of her with her eyes open. She's a pretty mellow baby (except when she has a bubbly tummy) and sleeps a lot.

 Ryan finished his first round of soccer school with Kidz Love Soccer and enjoyed it tremendously.

 He also enjoys reading, although I think this book is a little advanced for him!

More funny Ryan-isms

• "I just want...I just want to say...BEANS."  This all started because one day SOMEONE in the house (who shall remain nameless) tooted and I said, "Beans" because that's what we had eaten with dinner.  We all laughed, and so now Ryan says "Beans" anytime toots happen or he wants to try to get us to laugh.  
• "Something's wrong...something's wrong with my feelings."  I think he was thinking about a spill he took earlier that day where he smacked his face into the ground.  After awhile, I think Steve may have asked "are you still hurt or are your feelings hurt?"  Thus, Ryan was commenting on not feeling happy later on when thinking about getting hurt. 
• "Hungry intruders appear!  This was NOT part of the plan!"  These are actually a couple of lines from a book called Scaredy Squirrel at Night.   This particular scene is when Scaredy Squirrel has an elaborate scheme to get rid of things of which he's afraid, but then they all turn out to be raccoons, a moose, an owl, and a frog just showing up to snack on the bait Scaredy Squirrel has left out. 
• "Exclamation point...say it loud!" Ryan can recognize letters and has learned which ones spell things like "STOP", "GO", "NO", "TO", "PLOP", and "RECYCLE".  When we were reading a book called I Stink ! (about a garbage truck), he asked me what the exclamation point was.  I said it means we're supposed to say the word or sentence loudly. Now, any time he sees a word with an exclamation point, he says, "Exclamation point...say it loud." and then says the word/phrase REALLY loud.

this kid says the craziest things!

Here are some things Ryan says that make me laugh:

• You Rock!
• I slow dance with girls. (Steve prompted him to say this when Ryan was swaying along to "Find Yourself", the closing song from the movie Cars)
• No, not today.  Saturday. (in response to various questions like, do you need a diaper change?  shall we take a bath?  do you want to put your shoes on?)
• Delicious!
• Watch out, Montie, Ryan coming! (said to our dog when we enter the house)
• ohhhhhh...mommy....look what I have...cooooookies! (and then he takes out his play cookies)
• no, I good (in response to questions like "are you still hungry"?  "do you need a diaper change" "do you want a drink?)
• his sing-along versions of "Real Gone", "Life is a Highway", "Sh-Boom", and "Route 66" (the last one gets him making a funny rockin' out squint and pout as he shakes his head back and forth) with lyrics that sound like "GO SAYNLEWIE CHOC'LATE MIZURI" (for "goes to St. Louis, down to Missouri)
• his recitation of The Lorax.  He's memorized most of the story - I think he knows it better than I do!

just a quick update

• December brought excellent holiday celebrations with friends and family.  It's always a hectic time as I'm finishing up grading for the semester and then trying to prep for Christmas.  However, we really enjoyed time with our families and friends at things like Christmas in the Park, my annual cookie baking day with my girlfriends, Xmas eve at my parents' house (this year was Espana year with paella on the menu instead of our regular posole and tamales...what, someone didn't tell you that we're actually a Mexican family?), and Xmas day with the Stachnicks and Lius. 
• Just before the new year and through mid-January, we went to Albert and Pat's home in Hawaii Kai.  We got to spend time with Valerie, Nathan, Daniel, Eleanor, and aunt Grace in addition to visiting places like Haleiwa, the Honolulu Zoo, the Waikiki Aquarium, and the beaches at Ko'Olina and Ala Moana Beach Park.  
• At the end of January, Steve and I got away to Sonoma to celebrate Wendy and Sharon's birthday.  It was a great weekend of wine, excellent food, and fun with our friends.
• Flu season took Ryan and I out (we're still recovering) of school for some time, although I'm battling to go to work so that my students can keep moving forward with their work.  While I have to work this week, Ryan and Steve went up to the snow with some of our friends.  As of 6 PM today, Ryan was already having fun making snowmen.  The picture is of Ryan with Gia, Tim and Wendy's daughter. This is his first time to the snow, so I'm sad that I can't be there but am happy to hear that he's having a good time.
• Bad news of the season is that our dog, Montie, was diagnosed with cancer.  It's showing in her skin; the lesions are what initially drove us to get her checked out several months ago.  However, after going through different tests to get her diagnosed, we now know what caused the lesions and are currently having her go through chemotherapy.  It's not really about curing her as this form of cancer is very aggressive, but we're trying to make sure she's as comfortable and as happy as possible.  If you were to see her now, you'd never guess anything is wrong.  She is still super hyper, wants to go out for walks and to play fetch, and will eat anything that is put in front of her or left out within her reach, so we're happy that at least she's feeling well enough to be acting like her usual self.  We're also watching Kobee right now, so we have two princesses in the house (one is sleeping on the futon on the floor, one is sleeping next to me as I type this).

Cisco myPlanNet

I designed this game. It sapped most of my Chi over the last 9 months. But it's released. Seems to be going well so far!

Cisco myPlanNet on Facebook

Happy Fall! Happy Halloween!

Ryan now loves his school and seems to have made some friends (Cole and Sebastian are the names I hear most frequently when I ask who he played with at school).

We braved the traffic and went to Half Moon Bay this year to get pumpkins and play around the pumpkin patches.



During a non-soccer weekend, we took Montie to Carmel and stayed overnight. It was a gorgeous, warm weekend, so we went to the leash-free beach and played fetch with Montie in the waves. Ryan spent his time watching Montie and smashing sand castles. We also stopped in at the Dennis the Menace park in Monterey on the way back and visited the train, maze, and playground.



For Halloween, Ryan and the Rosenthal twins (Joe and Brian) all went as dinosaurs. Steve and I dressed up as cavepeople, although Steve was more into his costume and new personality than I was.

September update

Ryan started daycare. He was supposed to have a trial run before classes started, but then we both got sick, so the first day I was back to work was his first day going solo (we did have a few days where we went and stayed at the center together, so he wasn't totally unfamiliar with what was going on). If you saw Steve's facebook status, you know how some of it went:
me: so, Ryan, what did you do at school today?
Ryan: (matter of factly and in a happy chirpy voice): I cry.
me: and what else did you do?
Ryan: Played cars. Ate apples and fish (goldfish crackers).

Day two involved more crying. Day three involved crying but by the time I left the building, he wasn't screaming his head off, so all was well. I'm used to dealing with his crying (see previous post) so it's not really a big deal to me. One of the student teachers said that she's noticed some progress as each time he gets and stays less upset, so that's good. The staff is really great about caring for the kids who are having a hard time seeing their parents go, so I know he's in good hands.

His vocabulary and pretend-play are really fun to see in action; he'll do things like pretend to make food for us and then give it to us. When we ask, "what is this?" he'll tell you a different food item each time (asparagus, pizza, cookie, mushrooms, jelly sandwich, nectarine, cake etc.) and wait until you pretend to eat what he's given. Then, he'll run back to his "refrigerator" (it's an empty wine refrigerator) and get more things for you. Cars is still his favorite movie; now he'll chime in with "OHHH YEAHHHHH" at the start of the movie (just when Lightning McQueen says it) and can be frequently heard saying KACHOW! (another McQueen saying). Yes, he's watched it a bit too much, especially when he was sick. Another favorite thing to do is to go "too fast" (he really means "fast") and run around the house, often while pushing his pretend lawn mower or his "vacuum" (it's that toy that you push and it makes a popping sound -- I know many of you had this when you were a kid). Sometimes it's while he chases Montie. ah, there's no peace and quiet in my house unless people are sleeping!

and so begin the terrible twos...

Actually, Ryan isn't that bad, although a daily meltdown of some sort is getting to be more normal than not (at least it doesn't last too long). This one came about because he wanted to see what was on the camera and I didn't let him hold the camera. Here was a moment before the meltdown:



Usually, the meltdown is because he wants to watch more Curious George...or doesn't want to stop what he's doing to get a diaper change...or wants to play in the car rather than sit in his car seat...or who knows why. Sometimes he'll stop yelling to tell me "MAD BOY!", which makes me have to work hard not to laugh. I just tell him that I know he's disappointed, when he's calm he can leave the room, and then I walk out of the room. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Yes, I'm procrastinating

I have a TON to grade before this Friday's deadline, but here's a quick update:

• my friend Anna got married on 5/16 to Hayes Ruggiero! I've known Anna for 32 years and have never seen her happier than this day. The wedding was in Santa Cruz on a gorgeous day, and the eats were excellent at Bittersweet Bistro in Aptos. AWESOME band and lots of fun!
• Ryan is still talking up a storm. Short sentences and excited declarations are his thing (ride in mommy's car, play blocks, play outside in water, Montie/Kobee crazy, awesome!, ooh -- big truck, ooh -- loud plane). He's still pretty even tempered although an occasional outburst occurs (like when he rammed me with his head).
• Kate, Barbara, and I ran/walked a 5K on 5/30 in Alameda. It benefitted Girls, Inc. and was sponsored by See Jane Run (their tagline for the race was "I Run for Chocolate and Champagne", which is what sold us on this race). We weren't particularly fast, but considering that I did not train at all, we did just fine!
• Crazy time of year is here: grades are due on Friday and I have much to do. Sorry if I've been out of touch with all of you! Gotta go now!!

Welcome to the world, Sophia!

We're now an aunt, uncle, and cousin! My sister, Jeri, gave birth to Sophia Emiko King on 5/23 (about 1 week after her due date). Jeri is a warrior! Ryan hasn't met his new cousin yet as he had a cold when Sophia was born, but we look forward to getting all of the fam together sometime soon.

New photos and latest antics

1. Foosball Fiend
2. No, I will NOT wear a hat!

Latest antics:

• Singing along to "I'll Follow the Sun", "Here Comes the Sun", "Come and Go with Me", "Say Anything", and, of course, "Rock a Hula Baby" and "All Shook Up".
• Dancing to all kinds of music. Jumping up and down when holding someone's hands
• pretending to cook and wanting to wash dishes (ok, it's really that he wants to play with the water)
• trying to hang onto Montie's tail while she walks around (NOT good)
• new words: wallet (not "wock" anymore), guitar (variations of this word but always accompanied by strumming), cook, wash, oishi (means "tasty" or "delicious" in Japanese - he usually has to be prompted and says "ishi"), thank you (ta-too), cheers.
• likes TV WAY too much. Favorites are "Harold and the Purple Crayon", "The Wonder Pets" (I think it's the guinea pig); still likes "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" and "Curious George".

Funny how time flies...

A true blogger I am not. But here's a quick update:

• the semester ended very close to Xmas time, so no holiday cards got sent this year (sorry everyone! Maybe we'll send a Valentine's Day card?). I had my yearly baking experience with the girls (Wendy, Anna, Danielle, Melissa, and Rose) at Danielle's house; it's been an annual tradition for many years now and is a great way to catch up a bit and have some fun with old friends. We had lots of fun at Dana and Jim's holiday party followed up by Jessica and Greg's holiday party - I hope we didn't scare off any of their friends with our singing.
• Xmas eve was spent at Mom and Dad Saito's house. Being the crazy Japanese-American family that likes to take on other culture's holiday traditions if they involve tasty food, we had tamales, posole, and fancy decorated minicakes that Jeri made. The tamales and posole are a tradition since we visited my great aunt Yuki in Alberquerque, NM many years ago. Jess, Greg, Jeri, Ray, Pat, Albert, Maykel and Junna (dancers with the SJ Ballet and new friends of us all) and the rest of us participated in a Hawaiian style version of the "12 Days of Christmas" complete with ukelele accompaniment. The evening was capped off with gift opening, with many laughs about the "Jim Sart" gifts, another Saito tradition that started when we began receiving junk mail addressed to "Jim Sart" due to my father's messy penmanship. "Jim Sart" gives crazy gifts like a denim TP cover to Jess and Greg, a toucan-shaped can opener to Maykel and Junna, a banana container to us etc.
• Soon after Xmas, we left the cold Bay Area and headed off to Pat and Albert's Hawaiian home in Hawaii Kai. It was 80 degrees for most of the time we were there (a big difference from the 30 degree weather that we missed having to suffer through in Cupertino - yikes!). We got a good laugh from the Hawaiian weatherman who declared it was going to be a chilly night in Honolulu...72 degrees (and he was dead serious). We spent 2 weeks there and went to the beach (Ryan is still not a fan of the sand and surf), visited the Honolulu Zoo (where Ryan got butted by a small goat and kept wanting to see "more pigs"), watched some movies (Tropic Thunder, The Women, Valkyrie), ate A LOT, hiked Diamond Head (just me and Steve; I'm so happy we didn't have to carry Ryan!), shopped at Ala Moana, endulged in some shaved ice from Matsumoto's in Haleiwa and Kokonuts in Koko Marina (where President Obama stopped during his HI holiday), and visited various places like the USS Arizona Memorial, Kahala, Ko'Olina, North Shore (Haleiwa), and Turtle Bay. We didn't get to see any monster surf on the North Shore as it was remarkably flat with no wind the day we drove up there. I'll post some pics of our Hawaiian baby Ryan when I get a chance; that keiki get one nice tan! He was really great on the plane (except for the many diaper changes I had to do because he kept sucking down watered down juice like there was no tomorrow).
• Ryan's latest new words and short phrases: geecko (for gecko), peacock, wock (for wallet), pocket, circle (sorry to all of the people around us on the airplane - he kept saying circle because of the circular sticker on the back of each seat), more + whatever he wants, no + whatever he doesn't want, "mama car" (when he saw an SUV that looked like my car), "mama yeh-yeh go walk" (when he wanted us to go out with him).
• Ryan's latest antics: being a daredevil (he likes to stand up on the bed and then just fall back...he assumes the bed will always be there to catch him), getting swung around in the air, dragging a plastic bag with something inside it (he went through the whole Kahala Mall with one), finding things to put in his pockets, asking for his "dog" before he goes to sleep (he had not attached himself to any toy or blanket until now), running.

Halloween Pics

So, Ryan, who is the next president of the United States?

OBAMA!!! We actually got Ryan to say "bama" a few times and got it on video (someday I'll get that on here). Words cannot convey how completely happy I am about the fact that Ryan gets to live in a time when an African American has finally been selected to be president AND that we all get to see the end of the Bush years (please, Jeb, Jenna, and Barbara, don't try to add any more down the road). I have to admit that my own joy has been tempered a bit by the outcome of proposition 8; I am absolutely floored that my fellow Californians do not see the problem with amending the Constitution to take away rights from people, but perhaps this is the next civil rights battle that remains to be fought and won. I have hope that Ryan (and all of us) WILL live in a time when all people are respected and liberty and justice are truly for all.

On a lighter note, here is a list of things Ryan's up to these days:

• chattin' up a storm: he now says things like walk, sack (for his sleep sack or his PJ's), sock, milk, and rock (for either rocks on the ground or when he rocks out to Elvis Prestley's "Rock-a-Hula", which he seems to like for the strong downbeat and the fact that Elvis repeatedly says ROCK!). Then, there are the words he seems to have made up for things (he'll declare "B" when he sees an airplane, "SHA" when he sees a fan, "BEEDO
  WN" or he'll go "ooh ooh ahh ahh" like a monkey when he wants to watch TV, particularly Curious George) and then a whole bunch of gibberish that I don't understand but apparently has great meaning (it's the opening line of the next great American novel except that I don't speak babyese!).
• eating like there's no tomorrow: he seems to now like persimmons (as of today) and pumpkin is OK. He still likes things like pasta, cheese, and crackers. He was amused by his own ability to eat a peeled slice of apple but that amusement wore off after about 3 pieces.
• running, dancing, and pushing stuff: he likes to move fast, sometimes faster than he can really handle. At least he now catches himself with his hands (he used to just let his face hit the ground, which lead to 3 different boo-boos in about a week). He bounces and gets on his tiptoes when music plays and will sign and say "more" when the song ends. He likes to push chairs, his toys, the dog, boxes, the swiffer - anything that will move. Fairly recently, he and Steve met our friends Tim, Wendy, Jake, and Gia at Big Basin and they walked around the redwood trees for hours.

And on another happy note: My sister, Jeri, and her husband Ray are expecting a baby in May! Jeri and I both have May birthdays, but the baby is supposed to be born between our birthdays, although if she delivers late like me, the baby's bday could be closer to my bday. To see photos of the day she told my folks and Ryan's involvement in breaking the news, go to Jeri and Ray's blog at http://jeray08.blogspot.com/

Yes, photos are coming soon (I really stink at blogging!).

Happy Halloween!

We thought we could get out to one of the major pumpkin patches this year but ran out of time, so we just hit up a patch in Los Gatos for some photos and jack-o-lantern shopping.

This year, we dressed Ryan as a bee and we went as bee keepers. We actually worked on getting Ryan used to his costume for weeks; Grandma Ann frequently put the bee costume on Ryan as a jacket when she'd take him out for a stroller ride in the neighborhood. As we did last year, we went to Greg, Barbara, Brian, and Joe's house and roamed around their neighborhood. Ryan had a great time walking around at night, looking at the lights and decorations, and seeing people in costumes. He definitely was the busy bee and needed one of us to be constantly shepherding him down the road.

Ryan at 15 months

Ryan recently had his 15 month checkup. He's now a bit over 23 lbs, is 32" tall, and still has a big head (no new growth since last time but he's still in the 90th percentile for head size).

This photo was taken at a baby shower for our friends Rebecca and Patrick. You might notice the scrape on Ryan's face. He slid down a doorframe while standing in the hall; he didn't cry about it but then the scrape showed up.

Ryan is very active now; he likes to run around, stand up on the bed, lie down with Montie (our dog), and push stuff around. He's still very much a chatterbox and says things like "cracker" and roars like a lion/tiger when chasing ducks (and to which he also enthusiastically yells "DUCK!" when he sees them).

Ryan at 14 months

Photos will be posted soon, but as I'm getting ready to start teaching again, I figured I better jot down some comments now before I get too lost in the shuffle.

Ryan had his first real haircut by our friend, Melinda Cutillo. Ryan did NOT have fun, but I think it was because he hates having his hands held down. Melinda did a great job despite the bucking bronco she had to deal with. Before and after photos will be posted.

Ryan is walking/running around the house now. He has the occasional spill but is very happy to roam around on his own. He only insists on holding someone's hand when he wants to go down the steps into the living room, when he's getting wobbly because he's getting tired, when he's fallen, or when he's in a new place. He likes to chase Montie (our dog) and play hide and seek. He also likes to kick his mini-soccer ball or the adult sized ball when we're at Tornados games. He's learned how to give hugs to his stuffed animals, Montie, and us and will occasionally give you a squishy face and show off his teeth if you ask him to show you a funny face.

He's also chatting up a storm and says things like dog, ball, lights, shoes, keys, juice, fish, mama, dada/daddy, teddy, meow (for cat), mmm (when he sees someone eating something or when he's hungry), ba (for his water or milk sippy cup), bee (for when he wants to push on your nose - beep is what he's going for), wee (for the swing or fun things like spinning in a chair), wow, oooh, whoa, yeah? yeah? (for the phone - apparently we must say this a lot when we're on the phone), down, wawa (water), bird, baby (for any child), baby baby (accompanied by a swaying to mean he wants to see Baby Signing Time -- the song goes "Baby, Baby, Baby Signing Time"), and da fills in for all other things he doesn't know or wants. Of course, many of the words are missing the final consonant, so we probably understand him better than most people might. He knows some sign language (dog, bird, milk, more, all done) and seems to understand things you tell him to do (e.g. sit down to put on your shoes, give to me, let's go etc.).

He's also rather mischievous, as he wants to feed the dog and get into her water dish ALL of the time. He's also a bit of a drama king sometimes with vocalizing and showing displeasure with something, particularly when people leave the house, but then he can be easily distracted (and the tears/fake pout turned off) with toys or play. I guess that's a good thing, though, especially since I'll be back at work soon!

more pics and Disneymania!

Here's Ryan enjoying gyoza (Japanese dumplings) at the San Jose Obon Festival (July). He REALLY mowed them down! He also like watching all of the dancers in their colorful kimonos and happi coats. Maybe we'll dance for real (instead of just shuffling along) with Grandma Ann and Jichan next year!

At the Pajaro Dunes beach house - reading the Taboo gamecards (end of July). What you don't see is the big pile of cards accumulating on the ground just below him.

While we were down in Irvine for a soccer tournament, we decided to go to Disneyland with Ryan for a few hours. He enjoyed people watching, watching the Dumbo ride as we waited in line, semi-enjoyed the ride itself, and also went on the Casey Jr. train. He got to see a few characters (the White Rabbit, Alice, the Mad Hatter, and a few other random characters I don't even know) as they went out of the "employee only" entrance/exit, and he also thoroughly loved going into one of the shops and seeing the wall of plush toys, like Tigger here who I think reminds him of our cat, Marbles.

Walkin' in LA!

Ryan is now walking on his own (for the most part)! He decided to venture out during our trip to LA for a soccer tournament (at just about 13 months old - what a textbook baby!). Now, he can't seem to get enough of walking around, although sometimes he still has a deathgrip on someone's finger.