The pee-pee excuse, building blocks, and sneaking watermelon.

Today Kai did not take his nap. He has gotten good at climbing out of his crib with the excuse of having to go "pee-pee" often. Yesterday, he earned the Thomas train friend "Percy" as he urinated 3 separate times in the potty while standing. Of course, he got it all over the place, but the majority was in the pot. So I couldn't help but reward him, which he was ecstatic to add Percy to his train collection.

I am certain he learned to pee standing from his favorite bathroom book (which makes "flushing" sounds when a button is depressed) and undoubtedly from watching daddy (well, certainly not from me!) Either way, I am impressed because I've been too busy to seriously potty train him, and Kai is doing a good job of teaching himself. And to add, he's been putting on his own diapers and pants.


Greg informed me that Kai also had a favorite spot to pee. I was like, huh? He had seen Kai for the second time now "water" the plants outdoors between the porch and the trampoline. Seems like we have a nature boy here taking after daddy!

...and he likes to freak me out when he points his penis at me and says " pee Mommy! pee pee Mommy!" as I fear getting rained on.


Caught in the act! Kai attempts to eat half a watermelon himself.

"UH!..."

Greg showed me these blocks given to Kai from Tigo class. He thinks that this indicates Kai is well organized, I'm thinking there may be another engineer in the family.

Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival in Berkeley

Another overcast morning, so I got the family to head out for some fresh air and some sight-seeing off North Shattuck in Berkeley.


Here is a digger that Lukas would have loved to have seen!

We stopped at the Missing Link store (see the missing link in the floor?) a bicycle shop that Greg had heard about.

The Missing Link sponsers cyclists who have left their bibs and medals for show here. Kai tries out this pretty pink bike with training wheels. He does not like it and immediately jumps off.

You can enter the competition to do sidewalk art. 1st prize: $250 and the next 5 top drawings get a $50 gift certificate from elephant pharm.

Many participants advertise their store (in front of their store).

Kai checks out a dead Pee Wee Herman on the store front.

Kai is given a balloon at Citicorp.

I am assuming this little girl drew the "stop" sign?

Another Starbucks in the development stages.

Phone booth art?

Yup! I sure do! Dad knows all about it too.

Kai Update

Kai catches Mommy and Daddy showin' each other some lovin' with my camera.

This is me- just about to pounce Kai. Scary me, huh?



Here we are playing with the camera again!

Kai Update

1. I was scolding Kai by giving him the 3-count warning, when he surprised me by counting from 1 all the way to 10, in order!
2. He is quick at matching A to Z letter to letter (about 3-minutes).
3. Can correctly point out 8 of 10 objects on the first trial (diamond, square, circle, star,etc.)
4. Tricks me into giving him a Thomas Train by dumping his poop out from his diaper into the potty trainer. (The deal was he poop directly into the trainer!) I caught him in his devious action.
5. Kai imitates the growling huffing sounds I make when I get frustrated.
6. Exclaims "oh CRAP!" when he gets frustrated. Oops, my fault- I didn't realize I would say that often.
7. Demands I sing him a song by Renee Olstead "Boat to China" so that he can sing along too just as well by filling in the blanks I make.
8. I caught him kissing Shelby (the 15-month old girl at daycare) on the cheek and then lift her shirt up to poke her belly button. Now I can see reason why Shelby likes to bite Kai.
9. Will hide behind pillows with me when daddy arrives home. But cannot stop giggling and gives us away.
10. Will get his own breakfast by climbing the counter to get a box of cereal up in the cupboard or a bowl of strawberries off the counter.
11. Tried to make us coffee by grinding brown sugar in the cofee grinder.
12. Will bring daddy coffee in a travel mug, but caught stealing sips along the way from kitchen to bedroom...and then laugh.
13. Ask him how old he is. Response "two old!"
14. He's every body's buddy at daycare. The mothers tell me that he's their favorite. I don't even know whose kid belongs to which mother.
15. Can escape from his crib. When he takes naps, I leave the side rail down, so that he is given the privilege to clamber out when he wakes. This has worked well so far.
16. His night schedule is messed up. He will sleep at around 9pm. Last Saturday he kept me up to 3am so that he could eat snacks and watch TV snuggling next to me on the couch.
17. Today, he shocked himself. I don't know how but I heard a sound like bubble wrap popping while he played with my massage chair. I think he might have put his mouth on the cord attachment. The sudden loud crying was a hint too. Now when I say don't touch that you want to get "electrocuted"? He will drop the object.
18. Learned how to escape from the minivan by activating the sliding door, and then run.
19. Likes to freak me out by running his fastest to the top of the stairs, then suddenly stop.
20. Did I tell you just how tired I am chasing after him? He is not just a handful, but two...no three...no four handfuls, yup.

Tigo class nature hunt/walk

Tigo class today was special. We went on a nature walk through San Pablo city in search of plants, flowers, shells, etc. for a nature project.

We walked across the bridge to the Alvarado Adobe Historic building. which I never knew about (and I used to work at the hospital about a block away!)

We came upon this fountain...

... and then this grand one. Before I realized it, Kai was soaked! He was happily playing with the water! (and drinking it too despite my warnings.)

Turns out he was the only boy in this class. And he took advantage of it too, chasing after the girl with the mini-skirt around the plaza. Thank goodness she was a fast runner, I'm not sure what Kai would have done to her?

So back at Tigo class, Kai gets out of hand with the paintbrush and glue. Not only does he get it all over me- but on himself just as well, which I believe he purposely did it so that he could wash his hands in the sink, over and over again...

Ta-Dah! His completed nature work of art along with a new hairstyle (again, from playing with the water at the sinks).

Home again. I took this picture just in case my phone camera did not work out as well.

We cycle 18 miles to Golden Gate Bridge and back!

It's an overcast day in San Francisco, but that doesn't stop us from cycling from the Embarcadero to the Golden Gate Bridge. (picture taken from the Bay Bridge)

The boys sit before the Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's giant bow and arrow sculpture near the Ferry Building, while we unload the bikes and prepare for the ride.

Created by Louise Bourgesois, the Crouching Spider, a 4,333-pound stainless steel, silver nitrate, and bronze arachnid has a $6 million price tag the city cannot afford. It also has siblings in Ottawa (which we saw), Seoul, and Toykyo. This temporary exhibit will be here until June 2008, with a possible 10-month extension.

Just past Fort Mason on the way to Crissy Field.

Some beautiful architecture along the waterfront.

Memorial Day respects paid to those who served our country.

Kai's cool ride! They certaintly got a lot of double takes.

This is where we break for lunch.

This ship is pretty big if you scale it in size to the Golden Gate!

The Exploratorium dome with the Palace of Fine Arts- this is where Greg and I had our wedding photographs taken (in 1994).

We had a scare, Kai was running around with a bag of grapes and started to choke on one. Greg had to tip him upside down to dislodge it (this is the second time this year!) Our problem is that Kai just loves to stuff as much food in his mouth before attempting to even chew it.

A great perspective of the Golden Gate as we cycle underneath.

Here we go! It was pretty loud, windy and cold crossing the bridge.

The fog still lingers also.

Video: Ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.

Greg and Kai pose before the Golden Gate Bridge sign.

Yup, exactly what it looks like if you look up.

Taken from the Sausalito side of the GG Bridge. Tourists get a bird's eye view from up there...

...to see this.

So back to Crissy Fields. We let the boys loose to get their running energy out. Here they are tackling each other while a dog watches over them.

We see more ships pass by.

The boys toss stones and sometimes even throw it at each other.

VIDEO: Boys play at the beach.

I like this picture, as it gives another perspective on just how grand the GG bridge is when compared to the Bienert's in the foreground (the little people).

We head back toward PIER 39, and take a break to get coffee and dessert. Kai climbs a tree and is trying to distract the musicians doing a show in the square. Lukas joins in on the climb.

Daddy Greg and Kai go up the elevator while Lukas watches. Later on, Kai hitches a solo ride to our surprise.

Having cycled 18 miles through the city. (WOW!) We stop for a well deserved dinner of Sushi in Orinda. The boys give us some quiet time at dinner by sleeping through most of it by the sushi counter.

Once the boys awake, we had to take them outside to calm down again. Lukas kept crying, and Kai couldn't stay still.