Happy 8th Birthday!

Holy moly. EIGHT years!? Where does the time go!? Today we celebrated Todd's 8th birthday at the SB Gymnastics Club. It was the first time since Todd was born that we had an actual party with his actual friends (well, we did try to have one with his kindergarten classmates on his 5th birthday, but only one classmate came, so that... doesn't count?) and he was soooo excited! So were we, but in a different way-- could we handle a room full of kids? Well, that is precisely why we held the party in a location where we could pay the staff to actually run the show :-D

The kids had fun bouncing around and doing all kinds of obstacle courses and exercises on the floor mats and gym equipment. The staff kept them sufficiently busy so that they were pretty tuckered out by the end of it!

Boys being silly:

The outside of the gym:

Lot of festive decorations inside:

Panoramic shot of the facility before the kids arrived. Trying out the new panoramic feature of my new phone's camera. Click for the original sized shot:

Santa Barbara County Fair and Expo, 2012

Every year before/around my birthday, the SB Fair and Expo comes to the Earl Warren Showgrounds. This year, we decided to go with Ron and June and their 4-year-old son, Jake. Todd had such a blast being able to go on rides with a friend rather than having to rope Mommy or Daddy to accompany him, or simply go by himself. Most of the rides, both boys could go on, but there were a few where Jake was too short to go on, and even one where Todd was too TALL to get on. Surprising! But at least the height restrictions were equitable amongst the two boys :-)

JoJo's baby shower

All of our church friends threw a baby shower for Kevin and JoJo at our church's main building. It was one of those rare co-ed showers, which I always love better than the girls-only ones. Todd enjoyed the games immensely, particularly the "Advice Mad Libs" that we brought along :-) Here is Daddy and his own "baby":

Bee cake pop

Went to Taylor and Justin's gender-reveal cake party today. It was a yellow-and-brown bee theme, so the cake pops were shaped like bees. Todd managed to find the lone cake pop that featured a bee wearing glasses. Here is my little close-up shot of him:

Charlotte and Levi's birthday party

Our friends' kids, Charlotte and Levi, born just a couple days apart, celebrated their 2nd birthdays today. Todd was one of the oldest kids there, but that didn't stop him from finding another kid close to his age and having a ton of fun with both big and little kids alike.

Here are shots (taken by Matt Coon, Charlotte's dad) of Todd playing in/around a clubhouse that the birthday kids' parents build out of several large cardboard boxes:

Here are Todd and a new friend using their fathers' phone to take pictures of each other while Mackenzie looks on:

And here's a nice closeup of Todd after finishing his scavenger hunt and getting his goodie bag:

Trouble at School

Todd sometimes gets into a wee bit of trouble at school, for talking. He'll occasionally get "talking tickets" for talking in class when he's not supposed to, but other than a bit of rambunctiousness that's natural for boys his age, he's been pretty well-behaved at school.

Well, today, when Daddy went to pick him up right after school for karate, his teacher had to tell him about an incident at school today.

Todd was sitting (eating?) with one of his classmates, D, when a 1st-grade boy, G, came up and joined them. As grade-school boys are prone to do, the conversation quickly turned to the direction of "potty humor". One of the first things out of D's mouth? Telling G that "your mom walks around the house naked". This devolved into the 3 boys coming up with other statements having to do with the word "naked". Three boys enjoying a bit of crass humor.

Evidently, when G got home, he relayed the "mom walks around naked" statement to his parents. His dad got mad, and talked to Todd and D's teacher about it.

Obviously, there are two sides to every story, but from what Todd told us, it didn't sound like he and D were actually making fun of G, all three were partaking of toilet humor, and it's likely that G's dad simply blew it out of proportion because he didn't want his little boy talking about people being "naked".

We warned Todd to think about the things he says and gauge them against 1) would he like it if someone said that to him? and 2) would it upset their parents if they told them about it?

Prime time for the "WWJD?" lesson we've been learning with the book I've been reading him at night!

New School

This Fall, Todd began attending Santa Barbara Christian School. It is the most expensive out of all the private schools in SB, but he's got a really good teacher and some good classmates, so it's worth it.

We both like the fact that there are simply more kids to play with-- there are a total of 14 in his combined 3rd/4th grade class. Small enough for individualized attention, yet large enough for him to make a variety of friends. That way, if he befriends a kid that I feel is a bad influence and would prefer he didn't hang out with, he has other kids to play with instead. Unlike his old school, where it had dwindled down so much in size that the one "bad seed" was the only kid near his age! Todd enjoys it for the same reason-- more kids to have fun with! :-)

The kids are learning some good stuff this year. Aside from the usual language arts, math, social studies, science, art, music and library, the kids are also learning about real life. There is a class economy in place, whereby each kid holds a job that pays a weekly salary. Out of this salary, the kids must pay desk rent (unless they save up enough to "buy" their desks). Kids receive "tickets" for things like talking during class or not turning in homework. These tickets cost money, as well. On the flip side, kids can be rewarded for something especially well done, in the form of coupons that can later be redeemed for "cash". And at the end of the month, kids can redeem their cash for items in a store-- or save up for a really big item!

I think it's a really nifty way to teach kids about all sorts of things in real life: how to manage your money, how to save for a goal, feeling the effects of punishments, enjoying the effects of rewards and being responsible about doing their jobs and earning their "pay".

All in all, we're pleased with the school so far. Todd's learning some good things and making some good friends. Here's to a successful school year!

Happy 7th Birthday

Todd spent his actual birthday in LA, what with his school closing down early. This year, we thought it would be nice to have the family come up to SB so they could see the new house.

We got to show the entire family not only the new house, but the surrounding community and amenities (clubhouse, pool, billiards room, etc). The sun came out in the afternoon, making for a pleasant deck experience, overlooking the lake.

Todd enjoyed playing with his new toys: a bocce-ball-like game from Amir and Priyanka, a new electric circuit set from Ron and Debbie (Amir, the electrical engineer, enjoyed that one, too!), ice cream maker from Grandpa, microscope from Oma and Opa, and magnetic dartboard and pyramid-shaped Rubik's-Cube-like puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa Duaine.

The little man is 7 now. Wow, hard to believe it's been that many years already. He's so tall, most people think he's 8 or 9, yet he still has a baby face typical of 5/6 year olds. My little boy is growing up!

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Another long drive to LA (or near LA) today!

Every year since Daddy's first year at UCSB, the Geeks have gotten together for a St. Patrick's Day dinner, hosted by Sara. This year, it was held at Jason and Sara's little guesthouse cabin in the hills of Topanga.

To our surprise, Todd had the most fun playing with their cat! He had tons of fun waving the "fishing" toy (which consists of some pieces of wood tied to the end of a long, hard wire) at the cat, watching with glee as the cat came up to bat at it. Good thing the cat was there to keep him amused for hours, since there were no other kids to play with.

Still... no cats for us. Daddy's allergies to them aside, I still maintain they are evil, plotting creatures. I petted the cats soft head only to be swiped at! Clearly, cats are to be left alone :-)

Old friends, new friends

Drove down to Rowland Heights today to visit Daddy's old childhood friends, all of whom have children of their own now. Todd was right smack dab in the middle, age-wise. Two older girls aged 9 and 11, and little boys age 2 1/2 and younger. The oldest of those little boys arrived shortly after we visited his mom in Seattle. Todd enjoyed playing with the younger of the 2 girls, until she decided that he was too small to play on the rocking swing and wouldn't let him jump in it anymore. Miffed, Todd refused to play with her (not that I blame him much) and went inside.

We then got to see Grandma a few houses up, and visited with her and Grandpa Duaine for a little while. Todd got to meet their doggies, too! Doggies are always fun to visit! :-)

Halloween 2009

Little man dressed as a pumpkin for Halloween. That makes... the 3rd time in the 6 Halloweens he's lived through ;-)



We were in Sylmar for the weekend, and so Todd got to go trick-or-treating in the same neighborhood Mommy used to go around when she was little. As luck would have it, little Johnny (now 3) was getting ready to go out with his mom and grandma, and so the 5 of us trooped around the neighborhood. Todd was excited to have a little friend accompany him, and it emboldened him to go up steps and ring doorbells by himself. It was great for Mommy to see old, familiar faces in the neighborhood, and catch up with some of them. Todd's first trick-or-treat adventure was a success! :-D