Baby Benjamin's Blogorama

Eventful Weekend!

Posted by Eric

A little late in adding this blog entry...been a busy week. This past weekend was very busy. We celebrated two birthdays and added a new milestone!

First we went up to Silverlake to celebrate Auntie Wendy's birthday. It was great seeing everyone, but it was a late night for Benjamin, so he was a bit cranky at the end.

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The very next evening we again went up to L.A., specifically Chinatown to celebrate Yeh-yeh's birthday. Chinatown was really busy that night with a large banquet at the restaurant as well as some type of music festival across the street.

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The next day was a "date day" for Cathy and me. Yeh-yeh and Nein-nein came over to watch him while we went out to have a quiet lunch and watch a grown up movie. It was great. The sad thing was this was probably only our third or fourth time out by ourselves in the year since Benjamin was born. We have to get our act together and go out more often.

Cathy also gave Benjamin his first little haircut. It was only a small trim, but it already makes him look a little more..."boy" than "baby".

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Finally, the biggest thing...

First Steps

First steps!

Take care!

Vacation Time!

Posted by Eric

With a week off from work, we decided to travel a bit as well as spend some time with family.

We spent a few days in San Diego and made it into Benjamin's first trip to Sea World. We got a hotel near the park and took advantage of their water taxi service to Sea World.

Sleep has always been an unpredictable affair for him and we knew vacation would mess things up even more. His nap schedule was all over the place this week and sleeping in the stroller while at an amusement park was not going to make things easler. Luckily Benjamin willingly slept in the crib at night. Not so luckily he woke up at 1:30 am for three nights in a row and needed Cathy to put him back to sleep. Ugh!

Our travel day was low key and not too stressful. We made a brief stop in San Clemente to have lunch with Puo-puo and a bunch of her old schoolmates. I think Grandma was very happy to have Benjamin there.

The next morning we were off to Sea World. Benjamin woke up in great mood.

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Unfortunately, by the time we had breakfast, rode the water taxi, and arrived at the park it was Benjamin's naptime. So the first couple of hours just meant walking around the park.

Benjamin woke up in time for lunch and then it was off to the Shamu show. His interest lasted only for a few minutes. Maybe when he's older...

What he really enjoyed was the aquarium. He especially liked the grouper...

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We all had a good time just being together.

The next day Benjamin got to go into the pool for the first time. I'm not sure he knew what to make of it, but he did seem to enjoy some of the splashing.

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We made one more stop to Sea World on the day we left San Diego. The sea lion show seemed to hold his interest a bit more than the other shows.

After we got back from San Diego, where did we decide to go for a few hours? The Long Beach Aquarium! We took the Aqualink from the Marina to the Aquarium. Benjamin definitely enjoyed the boat ride!

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The next couple of days were spent with the grandparents. On Friday, Puo-puo and Gung-gung watched Benjamin for a couple of hours as we ran some errands. We even got to see them briefly on Sunday for breakfast! Sunday afternoon was spent with Nein-nein and Yeh-yeh.

What a week!

Big Boy Breakfast

Posted by Eric

This Fourth of July, Benjamin got to get his very own Kid's Pancake at Coffee Cup Cafe for the very first time! Yum!

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Next time he may eat more than an ear's worth!

Later it was fireworks for the first time!

Father's Day!

Posted by Cathy

Sorry for the belated post! Life got a little crazy there. The day after Benjamin's 1-year old birthday party was Father's Day.

Last year, we came home from the hospital on Father's Day. Nothing could really top that off, but we had a nice day nonetheless. We started the morning with a quiet celebration for Eric. Benjamin gave him a heartfelt card, thanking him for being such a great daddy. He also gave Eric a T-shirt to wear when he goes running. Benjamin is very supportive and proud of his daddy for training for the Long Beach half-marathon!. (As part of the marathon, Eric helping to raise money for Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach!)

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The three of us had breakfast at Coffee Cup Cafe. We  ordinarily wouldn't have ventured there on a weekend; it's always incredibly crowded with a wait time of about 30-60 minutes. But since it was a special day we decided to go for it. Benjamin did very well and enjoyed people-watching. He's now waving and smiling at strangers. Sometimes, they may even get a "Hi" from Benjamin (or close version of it)!

Of course, we also celebrated Father's Day with the respective grandfathers. We had lunch with Yeh-Yeh (Eric's Dad) and dinner with Gong-Gong (Cathy's Dad). It was a full-day of family fun!

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Happy (belated) Father's Day to all the daddies! And a special shout-out to Eric who is the best daddy ever!

Birthday Bash!

Posted by Eric

Benjamin's 1 year birthday celebration continued on this weekend. His actual birthday was on Thursday and we celebrated it quietly with a visit from Puo-puo, Gung-gung and Jiu-jiu. Cathy made a small individual cake for Benjamin to dig into.

We ended the day with Benjamin playing with some new toys...

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 The next big bash was Saturday for friends. We set up tables outside and got food catered. Cathy made some cool centerpieces with photos of Benjamin.

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Auntie Linda made him a cool dinosaur cake. To quote one  2 year old guest Cameron C., "Oh my gosh!"

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Plus there was an individual one for Benjamin.

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Lots of kids and lots of playing going on and lots of guests and lots of food and fun!

Benjamin and mom.

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Blowing out the candles!

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The chef, Auntie Linda, serves up the cake..YUMMY!

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Happy Birthday and thanks to everyone that came!

Now Father's Day!

Birthday Part 1

Posted by Eric

Before we go on...just want to wish Uncle Michael a belated birthday. I did not get a chance to post about last weekend when we celebrated his birthday with dinner at Wendy and Martin's house. It was a nice time had by all...

Today we went to Nein-nein and Yeh-yeh's house to celebrate Benjamin's birthday with the family. It was part one of the festivities since we plan to have something else for friends and kids, plus something with just us. Boy, Benjamin is going to have a lot of cake.

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There was a ton of family eager to celebrate his birthday. Too bad Benjamin was a little off all day because of shortened nap times. That's never good when you're dealing with a little one. We had to wake him up from his morning nap just to get out of the house in a reasonable time and we were still an hour and half late, because of traffic. We even tried to feed him in the car which actually worked out okay.

Benjamin didn't know what to make of all the fuss with the birthday cake. What you don't see in the pictures of the candle blowing is the 10 other cameras shooting away at the same time. Talk about paparazzi!

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Although it started off tentatively, Benjamin seemed to enjoy playing with the cake. I'm not sure how much he actually ate of it.

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It's hard to believe it's been almost a full year since he was born. Just a couple more celebrations to go!

Busy, busy...

Posted by Eric

So many things going on in the last 2 weeks...

Mother's day was celebrated at our house with Grandma's from both sides. We put some kalbi and corn on the grill and had both sides of the family over to celebrate our mothers. The morning started with breakfast of pancakes and coffee with just the three of us, and then we began to prep for the busy lunch!

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Benjamin spent some quality time with everyone including Puo-Puo and Jiu-Jiu...

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He played with cousin Eloise...

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And Auntie Wendy shared in some musical fun!

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Jiu-Jiu showed off his baby-sitting skills with Benjamin and Eloise!

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Benjamin showed off by eating lots of food including his vegetables...always impressive for grandparents to see.

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Happy Mother's Day to Puo-Puo and Nein-Nein!

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Later that day..after a nap, the three of us went out to 2nd Street and had some nice family time. Benjamin entertained us with some funny faces!

The next weekend, Benjamin went to two one-year old birthday parties for his playdate friends. He didn't like the hats!

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This past weekend was also Benjamin's 11 month "birthday" which he celebrated with his Monkey and Spidey...and practicing his standing!

Have a great week!

Happy Mother's Day!

Posted by Eric

Wishing a very Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!

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Have a great day!

Wedding Weekends!

Posted by Eric

The last two weekends have been busy. Uncle Michael (Eric's cousin) got married last weekend in Ventura and this weekend we continued the celebration with a Chinese banquet in L.A.

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We traveled up to Ventura the night before the wedding, which was to be held at the Pierpont Inn. We arrived just in time to have a pre-wedding dinner at Joe's Crab Shack across the street. It got pretty cold when the sun went down but we got to hang out with friends and family.

The next day was the wedding. Benjamin didn't sleep really well, so that meant Mommy and Daddy didn't sleep so well. Luckily, Benjamin woke up in a good mood and even had a little bonding time with mommy. We then gathered with family for a little breakfast of bagels and coffee.

The wedding ceremony was a nice little intimate affair outside in the Gazebo area. Benjamin got to hang out with family before the ceremony.

 

Unfortunately, by the time the reception rolled around he was tired and in need of a nap, so Cathy missed most of the wedding reception so that Benjamin could get a little shut eye in the hotel room.

After it was all over, Benjamin was awake, so we explored the hotel grounds.

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 We booked the room for an extra night and spent the next day leisurely. Benjamin decided to catch up on his sleep and took a 2 hour nap right before we had to check out. The Camarillo outlets were just a short 10 minutes away, but we only hit a couple of stores because Benjamin got fussy and tired. Oh well.

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The next weekend we were celebrating again. This time Michael and Cindy had a banquet in Chinatown for family. Benjamin's morning nap was cut short to get there on time, so he was cranky and clingy for a lot of it. He got a lot of attention and did have a second wind in the middle of the party. 

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Congratulations, Uncle Michael and Auntie Cindy!

P.S. milestone update. In addition to all the events Benjamin hit a few new milestones. The week before the wedding he began to crawl and waving purposefully! He's gonna be keeping us busy! 

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Of course his molars are coming in as well...everybody is tired and cranky!

Benjamin is a "People" Person!

Posted by Cathy

I recently got a subscription to People magazine. It was a gift from my dear friend and former co-worker, KathyRoth. Apparently, Benjamin is a fan of People as well!

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