Ethan's 3rd birthday party

We celebrated Ethan's third birthday last weekend. Ethan invited about twenty kids - 16 kids his age and a few cousins. Most of the kids were three year olds who go to school with him. We did a Batman themed party at My Gym (a place - kinda like a gym, where kids can climb, jump, run, tumble and play). They had a puppet show, played games, chased bubbles, and acted silly. Obviously the kids had a great time! We had some snacks, refreshments and Batman cupcakes for the parents. Here are some of the pictures from the party:

Company party

Last weekend we went to my company party. It was a great time - they had it at the San Mateo Event Center and as always, they did it UP! They had all you can eat food (burgers, chicken, hot dogs, etc etc etc), drinks (alcohol and non-alcoholic), ice cream, popcorn, churros, cotton candy. They also had tons of carnival games, rides for kids and adults, and lots of arts and crafts and other things to keep everyone entertained. It was a beautiful day, although a little on the hot side. The rides were long so standing under the sun felt even warmer! But we all still had a great time!

Jaekob is driving this Yahoo race car...okay, well maybe not exactly!

They all went on this ride - the bath tub races! Ethan helped John steer too! And I think Jaekob was the one who won the race!

Yaya has a butterfly on her face. It looked very pretty in person because it had lots of glitter!

Ethan is OCD about spider-man so his face is painted with a big spider and two spider webs. He loved it and DID not want to wash it off at the end of the day!Ethan is on a paddle boat all by himself. Erisijah and Jaekob had their own paddle boats too!

The next couple weeks will be busy. We have Ethan's 3rd birthday coming up, our 4 year wedding anniversary, and a big Disneyland trip with the Castillo family. So hopefully I'll get some great pictures to share on the blog.

Santa Barbara weekend

We went to Santa Barbara last weekend. We just decided to go earlier that week because we both felt like we needed to get away. It was nice! The drive was beautiful and didn't seem as long as I thought it would be. We left on Saturday morning and stopped in a small dutch village called Solvang. We had a little snack and walked around and looked at the cool shops and interesting buildings. We arrived in SB in the afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we headed to the beach. We hung out, had lunch, and played in the sand. On Sunday, we went bike riding, visited the cute shops on State Street, went to the Mission and headed to East beach, which was beautiful!!

Here we are on our bike. The kids had fun! Everyone was so amazed that little Zoe was enjoying herself so much.

Ethan is playing with some wax/string thingy. He had a good time in SB as well. He loved the beach and playing in the water.

Late Morning, we headed back home. Ethan flew his batman kite that afternoon.

Zoe at 9 months old, Ethan's soccer class

A few other pictures of us loungin around on Saturday morning:



9 month old Zoe:

Zoe is wearing her new Harajuku Lovers t-shirt (mommy has a matching one!).



Zoe had her 9 month doctor visit on Friday. The doctor said she was doing well and was right on track. He said that the fact that she could crawl, waive, pull herself up to stand, and clap were all things babies her age were doing. She weighed only 16 lbs and 10 ounces (13th percentile, down from last visit), was 27.25 inches long (39th percentile, up from last visit) and her head was only 42 cm (5th percentile). She is definitely more petite than Ethan was when he was a baby – he was always around 75th to 90th percentile. But it could be a boy vs girl difference. Over the weekend, Zoe obtained a new skill…dancing! All of a sudden, she started dancing to music. It is so cool! Guess she likes to dance like her Kuya, her mommy, and her Lola.




Soccer time:





On Friday, Ethan had his first soccer class. He joined about 20 other 2-3 year olds in a parent/kid soccer game. They played games and practiced kicking the ball and focused on not using their hands. Most of the kids, including Ethan, picked up the ball to get to their desired location faster. But I guess that’s normal! He really liked it. He had fun and was so excited to wear his little shin guards. So cute… The video is a little long - sorry. I don't know how to edit these videos yet..but I'm working on it.

Stand up and say hello!

Lately, Zoe has really started becoming a big girl. She has been able to pull herself up onto her feet while holding a chair or her crib railing. She doesn't know how to get back down yet so she usually just screams to let us know that she is done standing. She also waives hello and goodbye and even claps her hands! It is so much fun to watch them grow up into little people. And to think, in a couple months, Zoe might even be walking!

Check out Zoe as she stands and then waives. The video is a little long but just hang in there - her little "hello" waive is worth the wait. (Oh, Ethan makes a short appearance in the video - he is playing with plastic tongs from the kitchen, in case you are wondering.)

The Boardwalk

As many of you know, Ethan loves Batman. Here, Ethan is showing off his new Batman PJs. He is showing off his cape in the first picture and "flying" in the second picture.

This weekend was lots of fun! We went to the Boardwalk on Sunday with Jaekob and Erisijah. The weather was beautiful so we really enjoyed ourselves. We had lunch, played some games, went on rides and then played in the sand for a little while.

Here is Zoe in her little summer dress. You can see her tooth in this picture. She already has another tooth coming in although you can't see it in this picture. She just turned 9 months old and is pulling herself up on things and is anxious to walk. They grow so fast!

Ethan is enjoying his ice cream cone here on the beach. He made such a mess but I guess thats what little kids do!

We all went on a train ride. The boys sat in the front and the girls sat in the back. Check it out...

Our weekend

It was a very fun but well...eventful weekend... First, Jaekob and Erisijah (John's neice and nephew) and John's brother James came from Virginia. We went swimming on Saturday at our house (see pictures below). Then on Sunday, it was Father's day...so we took John out for a nice breakfast and headed to the park so Ethan and John could play soccer and play in the playground.

After the park, I got a pedicure - it was a great father's day present for ME. Later in the afternoon, we went to Brian's (John's cousin's) high school graduation party. There was a ton of great food and we all had fun. Zoe tried some buttered bread and seemed to really enjoy it. Unfortunately, it did not sit well with her - she ended up having an allergic reaction (red hives all over her body) and had to be taken to the emergency room. Okay, so Daddy didn't have the most relaxing Father's day after all...but we're just happy that Zoe is okay. We're not sure what caused the reaction because there were a lot of people handling Zoe and lots of different foods on the table - including some nuts. We're going to have be very careful...looks like Zoe has allergies like her Kuya Ethan, Mommy and Tito Jason.

Today, Zoe started her new daycare (same as Ethan's school). When I dropped her off this AM, she didn't seem to happy about being left with her new teacher. But she did seem to be interested in all the other kids crawling around. So hopefully they keep her occupied. The next few days might be hard for little Zoe but she will get used to it and eventually enjoy being there (like her brother does!).


Erisijah aka Yaya and Ethan at Brian's graduation party







Zoe sitting in a high chair - yes, she turned herself all the way around...

Jaekob and Zoe playing while the others were still in the pool

Yaya just about to get into the pool

Ethan, Jaekob and John's cousin Brian hangin out in the pool