Another trip to Washington

We made another trip to Washington to visit my grandmother and other relatives over the weekend. We enjoyed getting to spend lots of time with Aunty Pat and Uncle Elmer (They're always such wonderful hosts and I'm going to call their home the "E&P B&B") and I was so happy to see my grandmother a couple more times before she passed away. I was so thankful to be able to spend some time with her during her last days.

While in Washington, we also spent some time with the Shaws (Willis' cousins), Uncle Glenn and Aunty Diane and our friend, Andrea.

Here's a look at our trip in pictures.


After getting off the plane at the SEATAC airport, we passed this kiddie play area. Since we were cooped up on the plane we thought Austin could use a few minutes to stretch his legs.


Playing at the Southcenter Mall kiddie play area. (Can you spot him in the pic on the right?)


Had to have a pic with this giant gumball machine at Fry's.


Fun at the Bellevue Square Mall kiddie play area with Na and Nathan. (This was a trend for this trip now that we have an active, mobile toddler and it was too cold to play outside.)


Steve, Willis, Austin (sleeping) and Mike


Austin and his shadow floating along behind him.


Austin is showing Nathan how it's done. Nathan is only nine months old, but he still wanted to copy everything Austin did.


Austin liked the train on Nathan's clothes. He kept pointing to it and saying "choo choo."


Austin finding something to do as we were cleaning up my grandmother's room.


Andrea stopped by for a quick visit.


Having fun before and after dinner at the Sitters' house.


Us with the Sitters and the Ahunas.


Hanging out in the awesome family lounge in the Southcenter Mall. (I wish malls around here had something like that. A big room, long counters with cutouts for changing diapers near the sink, a microwave, cushiony seats, play tables, flat screen tv, nursing rooms with their own tvs, and a kiddie height toilet and sink.)

Reading

Austin decided to pull this book off the shelf all by himself and flip through it. It looks like he's really reading it. :)

The boys

We went to watch Willis' basketball game yesterday morning. Tesshin and Austin took the first half of the game to warm up to each other. Austin was content to sit in my lap to watch the first half of the game. At half time, Joy and I urged the boys to get up and run around. When the game started up again the boys were more comfortable and started running after each other down the sideline to one wall, standing up against the wall, then all the way down to the other wall, over and over again. They're just two months apart and both at that active toddler stage. It was so cute to see our little guys having so much fun running and laughing with each other.
(Here are some quick pics I took of them with my phone)

(Austin waiting patiently for a turn to pull Tesshin's toy bag. Tesshin was so nice to share and handed Austin the bag. Austin was so happy. It's so nice when the simplest things, like pulling a bag around, makes them happy.)

The Aoyamas came over to hang out after the game. Austin was so worn out from running around the gym that he fell asleep in the car. He didn't even wake up when I took him out of the car and put him in his crib. After his nap, he ate lunch then played some more with Tesshin. More running around, chasing each other, playing with the ride-on train, playing with the basketball and soccer ball, drawing with crayons. (I filmed the boys chasing each other back and forth between Austin's room and the living room, but it's in the video camera.)

Fun times at Polliwog

We had a morning appointment with our tax preparer then picked up some lunch at Giuliano's for another picnic at Polliwog Park. We had planned to have another play date with Lucca, but she got pink eye so she couldn't make it. It was a cool day but we still had a fun time.


Going down the slide. (Austin says "weee" every time he sees this pic)


Austin had to go check out the trash truck ("guckk") that was parked across the street then played a little soccer.

18 months old

Austin is 18 months old today! We went to the doctor for his regular well-baby visit and he is now 19 lbs. 13 oz.

(Austin had fun looking through and pushing the buttons on this Elmo book while we waited for the doctor to see us. It kept him busy almost the whole time.)

He did very well during his checkup. He let the doctor examine him and only got upset when she tried to look in his ears then later for a minute when the nurse gave him his shots. His ears look good but he has green goo down the back of his throat. He must be fighting a bug that keeps causing his nose to run and the goo is probably what has been causing him to cough.

Some updates:

Austin can point to me and say "Mama" or "Mommy" and can point to Willis and say "Daddy." He calls his Granny "Nanny," but Auntie still sounds a little like "Daddy."

"Guckkk" is how Austin says many things, such as "cloth" and "truck." It is now also for "clock" and "duck."

He picks up new signs fairly easily and tries to say the word at the same time. Yesterday he learned the sign for "sit" at day care. By the evening he was showing me the sign and trying to say "sit" (sounded like "szit"). (Luckily I had looked at the calendar in his classroom that day and saw that they learned the "sit" sign or I would have no idea what he was talking about) He also recently started to say and sign "tree" pretty frequently.

He knows how to rub his hands together while washing hands and tries to push the soap dispenser pump to get soap. He can shake his hands when he's done but usually tries to suck the water off his fingers before I have a chance to dry them. He also knows how to rub lotion on his hands.

Sometimes Austin likes to sing along when I sing to him. He hums and moves his head and he sings along if I forget the words and sing "doo doo da da da" or "la la laa laa." He also likes to dance if there's music playing or if we say, "let's dance."

I love to hear Austin tell us stories in "his" language, gesturing and pointing and everything. I love to hold out my arms so he can run into them for a big hug. I love his kisses and his laughter. I love that he is such a sweet, silly, happy boy.

Susan G. Komen 5K

Austin and I participated in the Susan G. Komen 5K at the Rose Bowl yesterday. Allison, Austin and I stayed over at my Mom's house for an early start in the morning. We parked, got our bibs and t-shirts then I fed Austin breakfast while Allison, Jen and Jenny were getting freebies from the booths. Thank you to Allison for picking up an extra set of freebie goodies for me! :) The weather was cool and cloudy, just right for the 5K. Austin was comfy and cozy in the stroller and fell asleep as soon as we started. It was pretty crowded on the road in the beginning, but it was fun to weave and sprint around the walkers whenever we could find an opening. Occasionally getting stuck allowed me to catch my breath before the next sprint. With slight inclines and declines, it was a great workout and my legs are feeling the effects today.

After the 5K, Austin got to sit in a real fire engine, he got a fireman badge sticker from the fireman and we walked around while the others were waiting in a long line at a booth. We enjoyed a short concert by Jamie O'neal who was performing at center stage. Once the others were done we went to get some yummy Chinese food at Kim Chuy in Alhambra. Austin sat nicely all the way through lunch in the old school metal high chair and finished his food. He went crazy over the noodles that I was giving him from our won ton soup and he had fun holding them out in front of his mouth to take a bite from the middle. :)

We hung out for a while at my Mom's house after lunch. Austin had fun playing with all the toys there then had a nice long nap.

(Checking out the rocket that Bob built for Daniel)