Ok, I’ve now succumbed to Twitter mania. For those who don’t know, Twitter is basically a short update blog which other Twitter users can follow through the web or mobile device. Posts are called “tweets”, which makes sense since you’re basically communicating through a short burst of words (140 characters to be exact).
It’s evident to us that Oren is a water baby. Here she is at the annual beach house gathering in Waimanalo using a kickboard for the first time and totally owning it! (Music by Pure Heart because of the wind noise).
In an attempt to thicken her stringy locks, Daddy channeled Vidal Sassoon and put Oren under the scissors for a major hair redo. After removing almost 5 inches, Oren seemed to enjoy her new do (we call it the “Suri Cruise“) and celebrated with a bubble blowing party!
My buds James and Matt flew into town last week for a wedding so we rounded up the kids and had a nice potluck at Matt’s parents’ house. Matt’s son Dylan was a “player” that night, with two beautiful girls by his side. Oren was her usual clingy self for the first hour or so, then, Isabella coaxed Oren out of her shell by offering up her crayons and coloring books. She even amazed all of us (especially me) by taking her dad’s camera and setting up a photoshoot with Oren!
As you can see, OD&N looks a little different. I was getting bored with the old theme, plus, I wanted something a little more flamboyant to honor Oren’s Filipino heritage. I’m still tweaking things here and there, so let me know if you guys notice anything buggy. Thanks!
The Valdezs and Yuens visited baby Ensen and the Kams a couple weeks ago for some food and video game fun. While the 4-player Wii action ensued, Oren shimmied under a bed to play with one of the Kam’s cats. Daddy also took the Guitar Hero stage for the first time and did pretty good… on easy.
Oren donned her new “swim armor” today. It’s a swimsuit with built-in foam pads on her chest and back as well as a foam collar. I could actually use one of these with my lack of swimming skills. She loved the feeling of being able to float around the pool with less assistance from us and was even taking running plunges from poolside!
Ok, I’m back updating the blog again. I’ve been fulfilling my duties as UH West Oahu staff photographer the past few weekends, but now I’m back as the official Valdez Family blogger. A few weeks ago, the former PRWorks crew got together for a karaoke night, and Oren did her thing. She joined Mommy for a couple songs, and watched in admiration as Daddy hit some money notes on several Disney themed duets with Uncle Nate.
I sat through about 3 hours of opening acts to finally see one of my musical idols, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds) perform for the first time in Hawaii at the Kokua Festival. Above is a Quicktime VR panorama of the scene (click and drag to scroll through the picture).
Rainy Bai San
After 15 minutes sitting in our car, the sun finally came out for Bai San. After the traditional food offerings and paper burning, it was off to 604 for another classic potluck. We even squeezed in a little bday celebration for cousin Noa. Oren took advantage of the occasional sunny spots to play with Grandma and her cousin Tehani in the garden. An apology to Aunty Marge: if your flower garden looks a little bare, my daughter is the culprit. She has a bad habit of plucking flowers of their stems. But, just to let you know, she only plucks PRETTY flowers.