What to do with a 3-yr old who jumps off couches and loves hanging on playground equipment? Enroll her in gymnastics! A seasoned gymnast now at 3 months, we’ve been impressed with her speed and agility (something neither of us has). She also happens to be frighteningly flexible. Here she is going down the “tumble track” which, if we owned a mansion, would be installed in our living room right away!
And here’s some “real world” gymnastics at our local park:
Yes, that was dangerous, and I’m probably an idiot for capturing it and posting it to our blog, but she does flips like this all the time and it looks so cool.
Happy New Year, everyone! Yes, it’s been a while since I updated, almost 2 months in fact, but it’s been a busy 2 months! Let’s start with Halloween…
Oren (3rd from left) posing with her ghoulish cousins before trick-or-treating.
Most of you know that every year, I create a custom costume for Oren (with a lot of help from the mom-in-law). In previous years, she’s been a Chinese gymnast, Supergirl, and Princess Leia. Much like Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man, it allows me to unleash my inner-seamstress. And because she was too young to complain, she’d wear anything we put on her. This time around, we decided she was old enough to choose her own costume. Her first choice was Tinkerbell, but Target didn’t have one in her size. Her surprise second choice was the witch costume, which happened to be Katrina’s staple costume when she was growing up. Of course, Trina’s version was a white-faced, bloody ghoul witch, so we grabbed a pack of makeup as well.
Mommy creating spookiness.
Since I didn’t have to do any sewing this year, I focused my efforts on the jack-0-lantern. I thought I’d go with a scary cat to go along with the witch theme:
Meow!
If you want to see a step-by-step slideshow of the carving process, check out my page on Whrrl.
The Thanksgiving holiday was a special one this year. First off, we hosted both our families. Trina made a turkey with all the fixings, while I carved (with the help of this video on YouTube). I think the spread looked pretty good (tasted good too):
Hope you're hungry.
It was also special because we all had the day off afterwards to recover (and check out the malls on Black Friday). Trina and Oren always had off, but in my case, it was a result of the HGEA agreement with the state to give certain UH employees paid leave during the holidays (with a paycut). This includes 2 weeks during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays as well as Spring Break. So I guess I use the word “special” half-heartedly; while it’s great to have time off during the holidays with my family, a 5% paycut (coupled with my wife’s previous paycut) means living much leaner (first thing to go was cable and our Blockbuster Online account). Of course, that’s hard to do during the holidays, but we tried our best.
It’s hard for me to remember what happened during those 2 weeks off; it’s just one big blur of lazy days, movies, shopping malls, soda (lots of it), food, family and friends. All I know, is that Oren had tons of fun. Evidence:
Christmaaaaaaaaas!
Oren loved it all. The shopping, the tree, the lights, the gift-wrapping, the gold antlers and santa hats, and the carols (she sings them year round, actually). Speaking of carols, I was able to attend her Christmas program this year. Her class, the Peeking Pueos sang “The Chipmunk Christmas Song”.
She was supposed to be Simon but she refused to wear the glasses. Primadonna.
But Oren wasn’t as joyful during our family’s Christmas Eve party in Kailua. When it was her turn to sing the same song in the talent show, she went all Michigan J. Frog on everyone; you know, the Loony Toons character who only sings and dances for his owner. We were a little bummed that she didn’t perform, but she eventually warmed up… 2 days later at the in-laws. She even threw in a “Single Ladies” dance routine afterwards!
Unlike previous Christmases, everyone knew what to get Oren this year; PRINCESS STUFF. We were up to our eyebrows this year with Princess outfits, art supplies, video games (we gave her a Leapster), toys, and more. Here’s her favorite piece of Princess schwag, courtesy of Aunty Kristie:
Miss Aiea!
Yep. A tiara and high heels, too. The good part about this Princess obsession is that it might justify a trip to Disneyland sooner rather than later.
New Year’s Eve was spent at the familiar joints. First, my half-sister’s place in Kalihi then to Kat’s family’s party in Liliha. Was it me or was it a lot louder this year? I’ve never heard that many bombs go off in my life (and they’re still going off in Aiea!). The Valdez’s usually bring the most ammo to the NYE parties, but we cut back on the fireworks budget this year. Luckily, my uncle came through. It’s amazing how loud the paperless strings sound when you braid them together! Oren got a little more brave this year with the fireworks. Not only was she twirling sparklers and throwing pops, she held her first punk and lit her first fountain!
Do you feel lucky, punk?
On the business side, 2009 was a great year for Valdezign, due in part to my wife, who’s my inspiration, but also because of all the great people I’ve met on Twitter. Without your support and encouragement, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I worked on quite a few side projects, one of which was putting up my Valdezign Store! After being featured in the Entrepreneur section in MidWeek in September for my personalized Twitter shirts, I wanted to make sure there was an easy way for people to buy them, as well as showcase some of my new designs. My latest shirt is a fundraiser for Hawaii Public Libraries. Like the Twitter shirts, they can be personalized, but this time with your favorite library branch:
With the HSPLS facing budget cuts and furlough days, I wanted to do something to help. All proceeds from the shirt sales will go to Friends of the Library Hawaii.
And that’s the way it was for 2009. Thanks for bearing with me on the long post. I’ll try to update more frequently to avoid this in the future.
Finally! A blog update! Have some catching up to do, so here we go… For my birthday (almost 2 months ago), I bought myself… um, received as a present from the wifey, a Lumix DMC-TS1 waterproof/shockproof digital camera! Considering the amount of pool time we’ve been logging, it was the perfect gift. The camera is very unassuming; it looks like your typical, silver-bodied point-and-shoot. But according to the specs, it’s waterproof up to 10ft and shockproof up to 5. Still, I was very hesitant to take it in the water. Not many electronic devices are compatible with liquid. But we did, and the results were AMAZING. Here are a few shots:
I was also amazed at the clarity and sharpness of the underwater pics. Of course, conditions were perfect on that day so that helped: cloudless, sunny, day and a new, clean, pool. The onboard flash does fire, though, if needed. On top of the underwater capabilities, the camera also shoots in HD! Here are a couple videos. Sound pickup was pretty decent, too.
And because it’s shockproof, I don’t worry when Oren picks it up and starts snapping away. She’s actually taken some decent pics! Maybe I’ll round them up for a future blog post. Anyway, the camera is awesome, to say the least. I recommend it to anyone living in Hawaii. We’re all in the water so much, we might as well document it. And by the way, it’s available for purchase here on the blog in the Favorites page above!
Here’s Oren starring in yet another fantasy football intro video, this time as Jerry Maguire! As far as the profanity, don’t worry. The line I fed her was “you my mother father”. As always, working with my daughter on these vids is a blast. She takes direction well. She knocked out most of her lines in one take!
And in case you missed it, here’s her unleashing hell on her opponents in 2008.
Welcome the newest member of the Valdez family, Kalia! She was adopted from the Humane Society last month. Besides the clawing and pre-dawn meowing, things have been surprisingly enjoyable. With my family only ever owning dogs and Katrina’s cat experiences relegated to adopted, outdoor strays, welcoming a cat into our family (and indoors) was a huge step. In fact, the first name Katrina came up with for the kitten was “Caligula“, anticipating that it would be a little terror. Thank God our daughter couldn’t pronounce it, hence “Kalia”. She is an affectionate and playful kitten who follows us everywhere! Our daughter has really taken to her; maybe a little too much, considering all the headlocks and full-nelsons she puts Kalia in.
We want to thank Julie & Kyle, the family cat whisperers, for helping us with the adoption (and for the cat goodie bag)! This cat is a perfect fit for us!
Oren, like a lot of a kids, are talented mimics. Here she is with her niece at a family get together (our cousin Randy’s annual Hawaii visit from New York) at Legend Seafood and a few silly shots of us from Father’s Day.
I tip my non-existent hat to the marketers over at 20th Century Fox for reeling in my 3-year old daughter to Night at The Museum 2. I was wondering at what age she’d be ready to take to the movies, and we got our answer when the movie trailer featuring a talking statue of Rodin’s Thinker uttered those three famous words. Soon, Oren was flexing and chanting all over the house, “boom boom firepower!” We knew it was movie time!
We got to the theater just as the movie started, which was key–it didn’t give her a chance to get bored with the previews and commercials. For the first half she was quiet, attentive, and still. After about an hour, she told us she wanted to go home. Not wanting to give up our first movie outing in months, we did what any responsible parent would do–we bought snacks! Sure, she was a little amped after the fruit punch, but she stayed within the row and her non-movie voice questions were kept few and far between.
Overall, it gave us complete confidence that we could do this again. Thank you, Oren!
Christmas ain’t got nothing on Mother’s Day! We had three events planned: one for my mom, one for my mother-in-law, and of course, one for my wife (now mother to my child). I got started early on Saturday and brought some IHOP over to my mom’s. Then, like any proper Filipino family, we busted out the karaoke machine. My mom schooled me (I sound a lot better when the music’s turned up ) but Oren busted out one of her signature medleys, including a Christmas song and took home best in show!
Sunday was all about the wife. Our original plan was to check out A Taste of the Bayou, the only real Cajun restaurant on the island. Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch on Sunday. We settled for Islands at Ala Moana. Then, endless shoe shopping. I won’t get into that. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
Mother’s Day then carried over to this past weekend at the in-laws, with an eclectic mix of Greek food from Greek Marina and Korean food from Kim Chee 7. Think my stomach is still reeling from that! Oren had fun playing with her niece and nephew, that day. She even took a stroll with them (and their dog) around the block!
The toughest thing about holidays these days is trying to squeeze in all the family get togethers in one day. Because Easter last year fell on Oren’s birthday, it was easy. This year, we had plans for ourselves as well as with both our in-laws. “Easter Saturday” or “Preaster” as I’m calling it, started off with some egg-dyeing at home, then dinner at my mom’s house. I also helped my mom online shop for a new camera and netbook for her trip this summer. Easter Sunday was spent at the Souza’s house, where Oren cleaned up in the Easter egg hunt with her cousins. And by “hunt” I mean “pick them easily off the grass” It was a fun, yet exhausting weekend. Next year, we’ll have to take a holiday from the holidays!
My, how time flies! Our daughter Oren turned 3 years old and she made the most of her birthday weekend! First up was a family celebration at Makino Chaya all you can eat seafood buffet in Aiea. Besides the sticky carpet, everything was great. Oren stuffed her face with shrimp and finished off the night of non-stop eating by blowing out the candles on her birthday crepe!
The next day, we attended a wedding (which we also did last year… March 22 is a popular date!) at Michel’s at The Colony Surf. Not only was the view spectacular, the Eggs Benedict was as well! I made the mistake of wearing white, though, as Oren splattered strawberries and egg yolk all over my sleeve. Loved the haupia-filled french toast Katrina got, though. Wow!
The closing ceremonies were held at the house, where I baked a devil’s food cake; with Mommy adding the neon-pink frosting (per Oren’s request) and Oren finishing it off with a bag of gummi bears. How excited was she to blow out her candles? See for yourself:
It was another epic birthday for our beautiful girl. She continues to amaze us every year with her growing list of feats. We love her! We hope she stays 3 for a little while longer.
With the weather on Oahu so blustery the past month, Costco came thru in a big away by stocking a bunch of cool kites. Oren chose the fairy, of course, though the dragon was a close second! It took a while for us to get it to fly (chalk that one up to Daddy not putting it together correctly), but eventually, the fabulous fairy flew! Our daughter has surprisingly strong grip, we found out. Good job, baby!
At our friend’s daughter’s first birthday party, we had the opportunity of taking a mini behind-the-scenes tour of the giraffe pens at the Honolulu Zoo. As you can see in the video, Katrina and Oren got close enough to feed one of them! Oren got a little freaked at the end, but I was proud of her for being so brave. And this is the closest I’ve ever been to a wild animal… well, not counting Oren on a bad day of course. It was a spectacular experience. I recommend checking it out. Oh, I also got to try out Katrina’s school camera, the Nikon D40. Was extremely impressed! See some of my pics below:
Valentine’s Day has evolved over the years. What used to be a day stressing about flowers, fancy dinners, and gifts, has turned into a simple, frugal, family day. Oren started the weekend off by bringing home a slew of heart-themed preschool crafts. A mini photoshoot ensued. V-day started off with some pastries from Panya at Ala Moana, then some shopping (for others). Side note: Miki House has some cute stuff, but how can they justify a $175 dollar t-shirt?
Then it was off to Ward Center for some lunch at Kakaako Kitchen and chocolates at the Honolulu Chocolate Company… for me! Yes, I’m a chocoholic. The darker and bitterer, the better!
My wife selected a VosgesOaxaca Bar as well as a Mo’s Bacon Bar. Bacon you say? Not as exotic as you would think. Think of it as bits of chewy, salty peanuts. The Oaxaca was dark, bitter, and spicy. Wonderful. Oren scored a chocolate-covered strawberry, as well.
We chilled the rest of the day. I watched the NBA All-Star Game while wifey read a book. Shaq performing with the Jabbawockeez was awesome! Oren went nuts playing with the balloon we picked up for her, and we held yet another photoshoot with her V-day crafts. It was just another low-key Valdez family day, and I loved every minute of it. Happy Valentine’s Day!
My Aunty Ping was in Hawaii for a rare visit (lives in Virginia, was on extended stop-over from the Philippines) so we took the opportunity to take her to a few of our favorite places on Oahu. Can’t go wrong with Kakaako Park on a sunny day; rolling green hills, blue sky, crashing ocean, and of course, cardboard surfing! I brought along the fabulous Kodak Zi6 HD cam and propped it up at the bottom of a hill. Check out the crazy dragonfly/helicopter at around the 1:24 mark!
As always, working with my daughter on these vids is a blast. She takes direction well. She knocked out most of her lines in one take!
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