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!