Play Dates!

Owen had two play dates this past week. On Saturday, we had breakfast with Auntie Trang and her nephew Christopher at Snooze! (Yep, my second time in one week...I'm not losing ANY weight this month.)

When I went to Snooze with my mom last Wednesday, there was no wait at all; but when Trang and I went on Saturday, we waited 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES. Thankfully, there was a play area outside for the boys (and a PokéStop for the adults, lol).

Owen, that's cheating!

There was also a coffee and water station outside (free!).

The boys were SO good throughout the whole wait, but then Owen started getting super cranky about 10 minutes before we got called in; and after we were seated, poor Christopher began falling asleep. Poor babies! We had planned to go to the park afterwards, but we immediately threw that plan out the window.

As soon as our food came, there was no talking - just eating. Owen finished his entire sweet potato pancake, and I will always remember the way Christopher shoved his scrambled eggs into his mouth. Those boys were starving!

I had the Benny Duo (Bella! Bella! Benny and Benny Goodman). The next time I come back, I'm trying the pancakes. Thanks for treating us, Auntie Trang!

Today, Owen and I decided to go to Spectrum...again...and this time, we met up with Nina and the kids! We started off with lunch at Pieology.

Afterwards, we went to Barnes & Noble. My primary goal for going to Spectrum today was to go to B&N and get him another copy of "Goodnight Moon" since his first one (from Jeanni) has been destroyed. (See photo below.)

I was using the restroom when he came running in with half the book in his hands. He held it up to me and said, "Uh oh..." with tears in his eyes. RIP "Goodnight Moon" #1.

Trying to get a decent photo of these two is impossible.

"No, wait. Sit down!"

"Here, some Elmos! Now, stay there. Look at Mama!"

"DON'T MOVE! OKAY, GREAT! NOW, SMILE! Ah, forget it."

A little while later (for whatever reason), Owen began to laugh at his cousin Keyan, which made Keyan laugh, which made Owen laugh even MORE. The kids couldn't control themselves, so we headed out. Sneaky Auntie Nina bought Owen his third copy of "Goodnight Moon" (my mom bought him a second copy a few days ago, which stays at my mom and dad's house). Thanks, Auntie Nina!

After B&N, we all headed for the playground. Nina and the kids left shortly after to beat the traffic, but I wanted to stay a little while longer to hit up a few more PokéStops (I was running out of PokéBalls) and to check out Honey & Butter, a macaron shop. It was a good thing I did because I finally caught a Pikachu!!! (Yessssss...)

Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY not losing any weight this month.

Got an assortment of macarons - Fruity Pebbles, French Toast Crunch, Nutella, Churro...*droooool*

At least I exercised this morning! And I'm only going to have a salad for dinner. :P Overall, the play dates were a success, and I'm glad Owen has the opportunity to play with kids close to his age.

Until next time!

Spectrum Dates and Pokémon Go

Since we're blocked from going to Disneyland, we've been hitting up the next best thing - Irvine Spectrum. We basically go there for three things: the water play area/splash pad, Barnes & Noble, and *ahem* PokéStops.

And, okay, fine. YES, I've downloaded the game and admit that I'm slightly obsessed, but can you blame me? I was a child of the 90's, and Pokémon was my life. I remember watching the show, buying/collecting the cards, and drawing my favorite Pokémon (and I'm pretty sure I still have some of those drawings). So yeah, this is basically a childhood dream come true for me.

I've been to the Spectrum THREE TIMES since Sunday. (Note: it was Ralph's idea to go on Sunday, and it was my mom's idea to go today.)

On Sunday, our plan was to stay home and make ice cream sundaes for National Ice Cream Day; however, after Ralph's morning run, he asked me, "Do you want to go to Spectrum and nerd it up?" And I looked at him and replied with, "Heck yes." We were made for each other. Clearly. A couple of hours later, we were on our way.

We had lunch at Chipotle first. Gotta be energized before we hit up all those Stops and catch all those Pokémon, amirite?!

While eating, we opened our Pokémon Go apps and were displeased to find out that the servers were down. Ugh. Why?! We had hoped that the app would be up and running by the time we were done with lunch, but it wasn't; so, we went to Barnes & Noble.

I'm so glad we did because Owen enjoyed the Children's section so much. He didn't want to leave!

A little while later, we headed to Cream for some ice cream. Luckily for us, servers were up again, and there was a PokéStop close by. We got our ice cream and captured some Pokémon.

After that, we headed to the splash pad (which was ALSO near a PokéStop, hurrah!) and let Owen run around. He's still hesitant going through it, but he still gets a kick out of just watching the water and other kids play.

The following day, we went back and did the same thing: lunch, Barnes & Noble, and splash pad.

Instead of ice cream, I had my coffee.

Best book ever!

Today, my mom took us out for breakfast. We went to Snooze, a new breakfast/brunch place at Tustin Market Place. They specialize in Eggs Benedict and French toast, but I opted for the Breakfast Pot Pie. It. Was. Heaven. Their house brew was pretty fantastic too.

Isn't my mom just the cutest?!

My mom's Toffee Pudding French Toast. Yum!

On the left (Owen's breakfast), sweet potato pancake with hash browns and fruit; on the right (my breakfast), Breakfast Pot Pie with a sunny side up egg, hash browns, and chicken sausage. THANKS, MOM!

After breakfast, the plan was to go swimming, but my mom suggested we go to Spectrum instead. Of course I was aaaaallll about that plan! We hit the usual spots, but since Owen wasn't really into the splash pad today, we hung out at the playground instead.

It wasn't open when we got there...but we were still full anyways. Maybe next week. ;)

Surprise, surprise. He wanted to read "Goodnight Moon".

He loves his "Wowa".

The only good thing I've caught at Spectrum was Jolteon, and that was today (shortly before the servers crashed again). No worries, I'm sure we'll be going to Spectrum many more times this Summer.

Until next time!

Summer Fun, 4th of July Weekend, and Updates

I took full advantage of my Disney Pass and took Owen to Disneyland/CA on both my days off before we were officially blocked out for the Summer. On my first day off, we just hung out at Disneyland, and I finally gave in and bought Owen a bubble wand.

On Dumbo!

As Owen calls them, "BUHBUH!!!"

On my second day off, we met up with Ralph's family at California Adventure to celebrate cousin Matty's 4th birthday. It was one of the hottest days of the week, but we had loads of fun, as usual. I even got to go on a "big kid" ride (Tower of Terror) while Nana watched Owen.

Cousins!

With his Nana.

With Auntie Jen and cousin Desirae.

At the water playground in Bug's Land to cool off.

"I'll have some iced milk please."

Cooling off with our spray bottle/fan that I forgot to take with us to the park (this photo was taken when we were already at our complex). Fail.

Our Disney adventures are now on hold until August. :(

The following day, we celebrated my coworker/friend/favorite Canadian Jeanni's retirement at the Hacienda on the Lake. OCUA will not be the same without her.

Owen was, as usual, "active" throughout the night. I spent a majority of the time chasing him around.

The following weekend was 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, Owen and I went to my mom and dad's for lunch.

Quite possibly the ugliest and hardest cake I've ever made...but it was still yummy!

With his "Wowo" and "Wowa".

On July 4th, we went to Riverside to celebrate with Ralph's side of the family. I didn't want to torture myself by making another flag cake, so I just stuck to one of my go-to desserts - Paula Deen's Banana Pudding (though I used strawberries and blueberries instead of bananas).

We left the party a little early to watch the fireworks at Mission Viejo Lake. It was already past Owen's bedtime, but he stayed awake throughout.

Halfway through, he motioned for his stroller, and that's where he stayed the rest of the show. I don't think he was very impressed...but at least he wasn't afraid! Right...?

It's been a couple of months since I've posted "Owen Updates", so here's what's new:

Eating

Well...

...let's just say he's not picky like his "Datton". He eats everything, but his new favorite foods are garlic fried rice, cantaloupe, and hot dogs.

Sleeping

Still consistent in his sleeping habits. Awake no later than 7am, morning nap by 10am, afternoon nap by 3-4pm, and bedtime before 9pm. And he always wakes up happy and babbling.


"Playing"
He's reaaallly pushing his boundaries now. Several blog posts back, I had a list of things that Owen does that drive me and Ralph crazy. Here are a few more things to add to that list:

• Taking down all of Ralph's books from the shelf and throwing them on our bed.
• Going to the bathroom and pushing shampoo/conditioner/body wash bottles into the bathtub.
• Climbing on top of the ottoman/coffee table and standing on them.
• Grabbing the TV/cable remotes and pushing every button as quickly as possible before we take them back from him.
• Grabbing our shoes from the cabinet and playing with them...and he seems to favor my work shoes, which makes me cringe (ya'll know I'm a urology nurse, right?).

*Sigh* Seems like the "terrible 2's" came 7 months too early.


Talking
Owen can now understand simple commands such as, "put it back", "close it", "sit/get down", "don't touch", "give to Mama", "kiss Daddy", "blow kiss", "say 'bye-bye'", etc. He knows to go to his room when we say "change diaper" or "take a nap"; he also knows to go to his highchair to eat when I say "om om".

New words he has learned to say:

• Mama (yay!)
• "wah-wah" - water
• "shuh"- shoes
• "moh" - more
• "Elmuh" - Elmo, though he thinks every single Sesame Street character is Elmo...
• "Poh" - Pooh
• "Tigguh" - Tigger
• "buh" - book

He knows some shapes (star, cross, square, triangle, circle), though he can't say the words yet; and he can show you where his head, feet, hands, belly, tongue, and kili kili (Tagalog for "armpit") are. He no longer calls Wendy "Deedee"; he calls her "Nah", and Ralph and I suspect it's because we always tell Wendy "no".

I think that's it's for "Owen Updates". As for me, I lost 3.6 pounds last month, making it a total of 21.4 pounds this year...though I think I gained back 10 during 4th of July weekend, heh. It's getting harder to run outside because of the weather, so I've been going to the gym at our complex; I think it's for the best because I need to start doing some strengthening exercises to gain some muscle anyway.

Eating healthy has been a challenge, especially when there are BBQs/parties/gatherings left and right...but I've found fun in cooking healthy meals.

More protein, veggies, and fruits.

Even though I've lost a ton of weight, my gut still remains. I honestly look like I'm 4 months pregnant, so I'm gonna do a 30-day "abs challenge", starting on the 13th and ending a day before my birthday. Let's hope we see some progress.

Until next time!