A Day in Oakland
Yesterday, Kumquat and I spent most of the day in Oakland.
For lunch, we met up with the girls at the usual spot and got to do some catching up. Then once they went back to work, we hung out at Peet’s Coffee. I got to sip my decaf iced coffee and read while Kumquat napped on my lap.
Once she woke up, we headed to Bakesale Betty to pick up a dozen cookies to bring to my co-workers.
At the hospital, everyone was very good about washing their hands or not touching Kumquat if they felt they weren’t clean enough. Kumquat got to play with Sue (my manager), who informally checked her upper body and oral motor skills. KM held her in the classic “Lois Bly” hold too.
I also made a splint for my left wrist to help prevent a strain from picking up a 13-pound (and growing) baby all day. It’s for wearing at night so that I’m not over stretching it while I sleep. I have a tendency sleep with my wrists curled under me, then wake up sore while having to tend to a baby without giving it a chance to warm up. I’ve gotta make sure I don’t end up on disability again from my last “disability”.
After everyone was ready to go, we headed out for Happy Hour to celebrate Teresa’s birthday. I was prepared and brought a bottle for Kumquat to drink for her 7 pm feeding so I was able to enjoy a glass of wine (or two). 😉
Having these girls with me is so nice. They love holding, feeding, and playing with her so I got some “time off” and enjoyed the evening with less to worry about.
To finish the evening, we walked down the street to Fenton’s and got some ice cream. My scoop looks so big next to Kumquat. One day I’ll take her back here for her very own sundae. Can’t wait!
On Thursday afternoon, my two old friends, Elaine and Elaine, rode Caltrain up from the South Bay to have coffee with me and Kumquat. I hadn’t seen one of them since 2006!
Then on Friday, Stephanie had the day off so she took BART in from her home in Livermore to hang out with us. We went out for brunch (and mimosas) and Stephanie also fed Kumquat her noon bottle. Looked like they both had a nice time together.
On Sunday, it was Father’s Day. We spent the morning at church and Jes’ dad got to show off his prized granddaughter. Kumquat was pretty good during service but had a minor poopy blowout in the middle of it and I forgot the changing pad that has her diapers in it! So, I had to go downstairs to the nursery and put on Size 3 diapers on her little butt in the meantime (she wears Size 1). Oh well, it was better than a stinky baby!
In the afternoon, we hung out at the Magical House with Brother and Joy until it was time for dinner. This was Brother’s attempt at soothing the baby. He’s gonna need some practice.
My mom gave Kumquat a bath while we went to lunch and even trimmed her nails!
Later that afternoon we found them napping together.
Before dinner, we went back to Buena Park to video chat with Jason and Jia. They got to wish Dad a Happy Father’s Day and saw Kumquat very briefly.
Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant and Kumquat got to sit next to me in the booth.
On Monday morning, I stopped at McDonald’s to introduce Kumquat to the McCafe crew.
They were in the usual corner and finally got to meet the little baby that my parents have been raving about for the past two months.
Afterward, I met up with Patty and Patti for some coffee and breakfast at Panera Bread.
The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at The Magical House. I brought home Chik-fil-a for everyone and Kumquat got to smell my dad’s tasty chicken sammich.
Later that evening, we took Kumquat to Downtown Disney for the first time. All four grandparents came along and we had a nice evening stroll with the baby.
By the time we got home, we were all so pooped. The baby fell asleep and Jes and I finally got some time to veg out in front of our laptops. My mom took this photo and I didn’t even notice.
As soon as we got to Cerritos, we dropped of Kumquat and Koa and got some tasty Mexican food and margaritas at Don Jose. That really hit the spot.
On Saturday, it was filled with family festivities. For lunch, we had dim sum at Capital Seafood in Irvine. Kumquat was the star of the show and got to wear her purple dress again.
While we waited for our tables, we went next door to 85 degrees bakery to try their famous iced salted coffee and it was pretty good! There was a good turnout and we took up two huge tables in the middle of the restaurant.
For dinner, we had a Thai feast with the cousins at Thai Nakorn as we always do when we’re in town.
Marie and the gang got to meet Kumquat for the first time and so did Pish and his clan.
We all stuffed ourselves silly and even got to snack on Peking Duck-flavored Lays potato chips.
Later that evening, we stopped at Ti and Thilan’s house to visit our “third family”, The Tranandos. They were having a party for Elise’s birthday and they invited us over to join them. All the kids got to meet Kumquat and Makenzie still remembered her friend Jesse. It was so cute when they all swarmed the baby.
I also forgot how fun it is the sing the second verse of the “Happy Birthday” song.
Today Elaine took Caltrain up from San Jose to visit me and Kumquat. We had lunch nearby and she got to feed and play with Kumquat. This was the first time meeting her.
We were lucky to have such beautiful weather so we ate outside. It was fun catching up and Kumquat had a great time with her too.
Since I was in the wedding party, we were there on Friday afternoon for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The weather was really nice and sunny so Kumquat was able to wear the little dresses that we had packed away.
Our hotel suite was really nice and new and they even had a little welcome pack of baby lotion and soap for Kumquat.
On Saturday morning, Jes dropped me off at Rancho Soquel, which would be the wedding site. The girls got ready in a little cottage and had a good time hanging out and having our hair and make-up done. 
I loved how our dresses, flowers, Teresa’s shoes, and everything else at the wedding had the same vibrant purple.
Teresa was glowing and beautiful and luckily I was able to fit into my dress in time for the wedding.
It was a warm afternoon during the ceremony and I was so glad that I had chosen a strapless dress. Kumquat was a trooper too and we fed her from a bottle all afternoon so that I could enjoy some champagne and wine.
Here’s a family photo that Stephanie took for us.
The gang from work also attended and we had a fun time together.
Kumquat was not only at her first wedding but also had a photo taken in the photobooth.
On Sunday morning, I met up with the gang for breakfast and got to enjoy a little more sun and had a view of the beach.
Then before heading back to SF, we stopped at Teresa’s parents’ house up on a hill and they had a HUGE backyard complete with full outdoor kitchen, pool, garden, and bocce ball court.
Jes made his own pizza in their woodfire oven. Awesome.
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