Summer time, summer time.

Whew! What a busy summer it's been. We've been trying to do and see as many things as possible before school begins in a few weeks. The past 2 weekends have been lots of fun. Miles got to check out a graffiti permission street/block party in the Mission at Lilac st. Here are some highlights:


Enjoying fresh mango slices w/ Aunty Diane in the Mission.


Posting infront of Fury One's piece.


Mi Amor!


He saw this one and said, "Mommy! Take on of me and the baby!"


Miles saw his Uncle Yzer and found out that he was not only a good DJ but a dope Writer!


Miles wanted to take flicks too-so here's one he shot of his other Aunty Jen.


..And he took this one of writers in action.


He got a treat from his Aunty Jen and found out how yummy taffy is.


And before we left the graff/block party, he found his favorite characters (that writer must have kids)!

This first weekend of August was a lot of fun too. He had a sleep over at nanay's & papo's house while Justin and I had our date night (give thanks for that!). I think it was the first time we had a date night this whole summer besides one night when Miles was in Hawaii and before Justin left for Korea. It is sooo important for us parents to have these! We feel so refreshed afterwards--and its not because of the wine or beer (hahaha) but the fact that we can just take our time, enjoying a nice dinner and even taking a stroll--just the 2 of us--to enjoy quality time as a couple. So while we did our thang, I heard Miles played all night with Dangdang! I have to admit, into our date, Justin and I were missing Miles' company like a couple--of losers! We really are a group of 3--Alvin, Simon, Theodore...Run DMC...Haiku de Tat...you name it.

Anyways, the next morning we went to the Aloha festival in our old SF presidio hood. We picked up Miles cousins, Boo & Angel and they spent the weekend with us in AC. Miles misses them already and wants to go swimming at the AC pool again with his older cousins.



Miles fell asleep early and Angel baked up some goodies.


Angel's finished product!


Miles is devouring the cupcake while we have family fun w/ photo booth!












We had a good laugh w/ photo booth & good times with Boo & Angel! We miss you two already!

Nanay's 60th Birthday

This weekend was a busy one. My mom aka nanay, had a 60th birthday party. It was a small gathering but there was enough food to feed a village. It was also an excuse for me to attempt making kalua pig via slow cooker. It was 20 hours of our pad smelling like bbq! Not a pleasant smell after an hour of it (It would make a vegan sick!). But, I also made mac salad to go with it--Miles' granma's recipe--and while I thought the kalua was terrible (I seriously considered throwing it away rather than serving it)--it must have been ok because it was gone at the end. The 20 hours ended up being worth it!

I will post more pics up when I borrow some from papo's camera but let me tell you...as we all sang Happy Birthday to nanay, we were also watching Miles & Darrien, being anxious to blow the candles out--I remembered that 2 years ago, the 2 boys were sitting on nanay's lap as babies with fat rolls and everything! (I'm sure I posted the pic in a July 2006 post) But Now, here they were, standing on their own, singing happy birthday, blowing the candles & everythang!?! It's almost scary how fast time has passed! I think overall, nanay seemed happy to reach this age and to be surrounded by family and old friends. I think this was probably the only time we ever had a function in honor of nanay but I think it's about time! Papo planned it not only cause she's the big 6-0, but also because she's about to retire! Here's to everyone hitting milestones!


Miles hangin' out with his Kuya Andre.


Darrien & Miles jumping w/ Aaron playing outside.

OMG, July is almost over?!

I thought I would be able to blog more during the summer since I didn't have to study but I was so wrong. Miles has been keeping me busy 24/7. I'm gonna miss being at home with him and planning out our days together! But thank goodness for this summer break! Once school starts it is back on the grind and I really appreciate having had this summer of quality time with my big boy.

Oh and about his nappy intervention--which lasted for a lil over a week, Justin and I caved! After that week, we realized that we were torturing Miles and ourselves more than helping him! He doesn't use it as much as he did--only for sleeping--so we are going to keep encouraging him to go to sleep without it but we will not take it away. I'm sure he will be able to ween himself off slowly as he did when I was nursing him. Let's cross our fingers on this one!

Here are some pictures of Miles' summer:


This is his Iron Man mask which he insists we draw on him regularly.

This was one of his favorite things to do.

He finally got to open his Christmas gift from his Aunty Tintin & Aunty Maritess...'tis the season for shave ice!

Darrien gives Miles a bear hug @ the Cache Creek hotel room.

Miles takes a picture of nanay & papo @ Cache (he's a photographer in the making)

Miles & his daddy are in the kiddie tunnel of Splash Zone @ Monterey aquarium.

He loved trying things out at the exhibits.

Big head Sr. & Big head Jr.

He loved watching sardines swim in circles.

And he got a good laugh watching the sardines swim with their mouths wide open, eating.

Our touristy family picture--thanks to the man who took it!

"fine dining"...at Denny's. Hahaha!

Water play @ Dangdang's house.

Aunty Teresa & Uncle Tom with all their children!

Cousin Lucy & Miles keeping each other company @ Oxbow Market.

The Elacio/Sano/Ejanda/Cadabes cousins--Miles, Lucy, Darrien, & Wicket.

Lucy hanging out in the pizark.

Miles is trying to swoop on Lucy's scooter.

Dangdang doing his favorite thing, grubbing!

Nappy Intervention

This was something that I had been avoiding. Besides the obvious fact that Miles is not a baby, why take away something that has been keeping the peace?! I remember watching something on TV and the subject of the pacifier came up and one lady goes, "Well if it keeps my son happy and quiet, I'll keep him on it 'til he's 14--it don't matter!" Hahaha!

It's been 5 days since Miles has been weaned off of his most loved object in the world, his nappy aka pacifier. He has used it to put him to sleep since I had weaned him from nursing. It's a lot of work to put him down for his afternoon nap cause he tries to avoid going to sleep as much as possible. But at night, after we read a few books, he asks us to tell him more stores which we make up, usually involving transformers per his request and he'll fall asleep listening.

The first 2 nights were a nightmare for all 3 of us. I have to admit feeling guilty for taking away his comfort. He would cry and scream for over 2 hours during the day and also at night. It seemed as horrible and difficult as getting a drug addict off of a drug! Seriously, the screaming, crying, tossing, turning, sweaty, sleepless night and day reminded me of a scene off of Trainspotting or Requiem for a Dream. Miles was moody & grouchy all day long--he seemed like another person! I had to wonder where my easy-going son went!? But after we got over that 2-day/2-night hurdle, it has been A LOT better. I actually just hid the pacifiers "just in case." I remember the first night, he actually said to me, "Mommy, why you don't want to share my nappy to me?" And then he asked, "Are you mad at me mommy?" And I responded, "No." Crossing his eyebrows and frowning he tells me, "I'm MAD AT YOU!"


(that was the expression on his face!)

Omg, I wanted to laugh but I just put on my poker face and said, "It's OK if you're mad at me, I still love you." And of course he jumped to the other side of the emotion spectrum and smiled and said, "I hug you mommy." In the morning aftermath, Miles wakes up so proud that he did not use his nappy and loves to tell us that he is a big boy. He's totally associating his big boyness to everything else, including the potty.

This morning, when I took him with me to use the bathroom, he said, "Mommy, pull my diaper down please." So I did, not thinking too much of it. But then he tries to sit on the potty but looked uncomfortable, so he stood in front of it, waited a bit, and the next thing you know I see him peeing in his potty!!!! OMG, that made my day! I was so proud of him, I woke Justin up and we both hugged him and you know the deal...And all Miles had to say about it was, "I'm a big boy--I pee in the potty."

Before, it use to take a really good Hip hop show (like the Blackstar party I went to on Saturday, OMG MOS DEF is the best btw) to make me sooo happy. It use to take finding a few really good records to satisfy me. But now, as a mom, I'm just as ecstatic and more satisfied to watch Miles hit a milestone, like going pee on his own.

Oh, the joys of motherhood!


Miles and Justin like to dress up as ninjas.

Happy Father's Day

Thanks to Bobawts, we (the 10 of us--Bob, Awts, Jen, Eric, Dangdang, Miles, Jus, mom, dad, & i) had a mini-road trip/getaway for the family at my parents' favorite place-to-be, Cache Creek. It is to them what Disneyland is to kids, "the happiest place on earth." So for father's day, in celebration of the fatherly work by dad, Eric, & Jus--as well as celebrating Eric's 26th (OMG! I thought I was 26?!) Birthday--we had rooms and enjoyed swimming with Darrien & Miles. What a family affair--we kept running into more... Miles' Aunty Angela & Aunty Rhea even stopped by at night for dinner while their parents gambled a bit. Performing Saturday night was also Justin's Uncle Tony from Society of Seven so Miles got to meet him along with the other band members who all knew Justin since he was Miles' age.

And while we (Jus & I) did not care to gamble, we still enjoyed the yummy food, the pool, and lounging in the hotel room. Darrien and Miles had so much fun in the pool. It was so nice to have a view over looking the mountains surrounding the hotel. Miles was like, "Yook (look) mommy, Diamond Head!" Poor kid thinks every mountain peak is Diamond head.

After Cache Creek, we chilled at the Elacio crib and had some birthday cake.


Dang dang has his eyes on the prize.


Happy Birthday Uncle Ewick!


Mission accomplished!

Aloha!

Miles and I are have been back from Hawaii for a week now. We really do miss it there! But most of all--Miles is missing his grandparents terribly. Last night, he wanted to play pretend. So I told him I was the baby and he was the daddy and he needed to put me to sleep. So he put his quilt over me, offered me his nappy, hummed, and next thing you know he says, "do you miss papa, baby? how about granma? cry for granma!" And the little sadist is so amused to see me pretend to cry.

Hawaii was so much fun. I hung out at the beach with mama Susan and Miles, I ate food from zippy's and side street inn (omg, i wish there was one of those here!). It was ono! Miles had a good time with his grandparents. He was so at home and before we left he told grandma, "the house is going to be sad cause I'm leaving."

The plane ride back was smooth sailing. I almost panicked when the dvd player did not work after I had promised Miles I would let him watch transformers on the way back. But thanks to the playdoh and markers--we were ok.

When he's not busy with his transformers, he's dressing up as Iron Man. Right now, he's into robots --especially transformers--and super heroes. Iron man, spider man, and batman are his faves.

I got a few short funny stories of the boy, including the very poignant words that come out of his mouth. I will update more but for now, here's some photos:


Miles at the 50th State Fair enjoying his treat!


Miles daily music time fun.


This is how he spent part of his "toy money" from grandma Rosey...he believes he is a super hero!

Here are more from what Miles was busy with in May...


Miles' schools' trike-a-thon


Hangin' with Uncle Eko @ Dolores Park


Kasama + Miles find a treasure!


Visiting Uncle Arjuna, Aunty Christina, & Mousey


Another fun day w/ Kasama @ Train Town


Lunch with Cousin Lucy

I'm going back to Hawaii...

...to pick up the boy! Yay! In the meantime, here are some pictures taken during Lucy's visit to the Bay in May. Justin was able to catch the cousins having some fun at Aunty Lea's:







Miles got to go walking through a forest in Hawaii. He also went to the 50th State Fair which I heard was pretty fun--a place that Justin would go to as a child. Here are a few pictures of Miles on his summer vacation with his gamma & papa: