Browse Author: beakatude

Happy Hour and Highchairs

IMG_6099I had the day off today because I have to work on Saturday.  After Kumquat’s nap, we headed out to Golden Gate Park for a 4-mile run with Ranee and Sophie.  After the run and a little playtime at the park, we went to Pa’ina for a little HH.  Before heading out, Ranee called the restaurant to ask two things:

1. What time is Happy Hour?

2. Do you have highchairs?

IMG_6189Haha.  That’s how two hardworking moms do it.  The kalua pork and cheese fries, poke and COCKTAILS were awesome.  I love random days off.

IMG_6184This girls were pretty cute too with their pretend phones.

Sick Koa

IMG_6064For the past few months, Koa has been throwing up pretty frequently.  Sometimes it’s just a clear mucous and other times it’s his entire bowl of kibble.  When we took him to the vet last month, she said it was normal and that he might benefit from Pepcid once a day.  She also said that he could have an allergy to something in his food.  So, this past weekend, I started him on Pepcid every morning and also bought him a new kind of kibble.  As the days went on, he wasn’t throwing up anymore but he also became super lethargic.  I mean, he’s already a really lazy dog that sleeps all day but when I took him out to walk, he would pee all of it at once (abnormal for a guy that usually pees on every vertical surface down the street) and then sit down and pull back toward the house.  It’s been going on for about 4 days now and we’re getting increasingly worried.  I called the vet yesterday and she said to just stop the Pepcid and monitor him for any improvements.  So far we haven’t seen much change.  It’s a bummer to see that he no longer has a hop to his step and suddenly wants to just sleep all day.  He hardly eats but he drinks lots of water.  He’s still pooping but it’s kinda squishy.  I know this is a pretty gross blog post but I thought I’d just tell everyone that’s he’s not doing so well.  Hopefully it will all pass like a bad cold and he’ll be back to his old self in a few more days.  Here’s a video of him on our walk this morning.


We only got to the perimeter of our building before he wanted to head back home.  For anyone of you who have walked him, this is NOT normal for him.  Poor doggie.

Sunrise

IMG_5958On Sunday morning, I was up early so I headed out for a run all by myself. Here’s McCovey Cove (next to the ballpark), which is where I usually start.

IMG_5960On my way back, I watched the sun rise behind the Bay Bridge.

IMG_5962SF is such a beautiful city and I love living so close to the water.

Mac&Cheese Bites

IMG_5933This was a really easy toddler recipe that I put together last night.  I prepared two boxes of Annie’s Organic Shells and Cheddar and added some frozen peas and corn.  After making a bowl for Kumquat’s dinner and packing away a portion for her lunch the next day, I still had plenty to store.  I sprayed a muffin tin and scooped the pasta into the wells.  Then I covered the tray with foil and put it in the freezer.  This morning, I took out the tray and wiggled the cups out.  They all went into a Ziploc bag and they’re ready to eat another day.  Aren’t they cute?!

Reese’s 3rd Birthday

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On Saturday afternoon, Reese celebrated her 3rd birthday with a giant Dora the Explorer bounce house in her front yard.  She spent all day in there so this was the only photo I got of her before it had deflated.

DSC_3668We were delayed by our perpetually flat tire so we didn’t quite make it in time for the cake but this is what they had – Dora cupcakes!

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Here is Reese taking a little break from the bouncing.  DSC_3692

Jack was playing pin the mustache on the donkey.

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Reese got a bunch of presents and all the kids were so excited to see what she received.  Even Baby Isla was fired up.  Big Brother Jack “helped” with a lot of the unwrapping.

After most of the guests had left, we stayed behind for a little post-party dinner.  The Bangs showed up in time for that part and it was nice to have a smaller gathering of close friends to do a little more catching up.

IMG_5791Baby Isla was cool with Jes holding her today.  He wasn’t sure what would happen because she cried every time Jimmy came up to her at Zoe’s birthday party.  She and Kumquat also hung out for a while and it was like seeing the future female version of Bang and Jes.  So cute.

Parenting Dilemma

DSC_3680-2We went to Reese’s 3rd birthday party today and Kumquat and I had a little drama.  Kumquat’s favorite toy of the day was this shopping cart. She had such a good time pushing and pulling it back and forth in the front yard.  That was until an older girl came by and tried to take it from her.  They struggled for a bit and Janie really held her own but eventually the older girl won and Janie was left in tears.  I tried my best to mediate but the girl won because 1) The older girl is bigger and stronger, 2) I didn’t want to cause any drama with Michelle and Ryan’s new friends and 3) I don’t really know what the rules of sharing are anymore.  Kumquat was playing with it for a while so is this one of those situations when she’s supposed to let others play with it too?  All I know is that I now had a distraught little girl in my lap because someone had interrupted a perfectly good activity that she was thoroughly enjoying.  Honestly, I wanted to cry too.

DSC_3687Well, of course the girl played with it for only a few minutes and abandoned it in the play room.  Kumquat found it again and was so happy to have it back.  Not even a minute later, the same girl came by and took it from her again!!!!  Kumquat cried and I didn’t know what I should have done.  Do I yell at the girl to stop bullying a much younger girl who has no idea what “sharing” means?  Do I stand by and watch the bullying happen?  Do I allow Kumquat to fend for herself with the risk of someone getting physically hurt?  I could see the fight in Kumquat’s face and she was ready to throw down!  Alas, I wimped out and allowed the girl to take the shopping cart once again as I consoled my daughter with a red guitar, which seemed to help distract her for the moment.  I just kept telling her (and myself) that they would be going home soon and then Janie would have the shopping cart all to herself for the rest of the evening.  I was also putting on my mental to-do list to go online tonight to order Janie her very own shopping cart from Amazon.

IMG_5783So, as I had promised, the girl finally went home and Janie had the shopping cart all to herself and went about her merry way.  She had her balloon, fairy wings, and the shopping cart for hours to pushing, pulling, and playing without the threat of a bully taking it all away from her again.