I know what you are thinking, “man Maile, your parents really celebrate every day and week that you’ve been alive like its a birthday.” And while that is kind of true, this Sunday was a particularly special day – it was my 100th Day Birthday (or Momoka in Japanese).
100 days is pretty important in Asian cultures. In Japan, you are served tai (sea bream) and sekihan (red bean rice) for health, luck, and to celebrate your special day. We didn’t have any sea bream or red bean rice – but I did get to do something very special.
Grandma Gail brought my mommy’s first kimono with her from Hawaii. Even cooler, the kimono was made by my mommy’s Grandma Kugiya. The very same Grandma Kugiya that I am named after (Grandma Kugiya’s first name was Chieko.) How cool is that?
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but check out how adorable I am in the kimono!
The full view
Up close and smiley!
(Dad Note: as with most things related to Japanese culture, I cheated off of Katie’s blog for the info on what 100 days was all about. Here is the post from Emily’s 100 Day Birthday and for Katie’s too. I can’t wait to meet my cousins!)
So Sunday morning started out strangely too. First, when I woke up at 3:15 AM, daddy came to feed me instead of mommy. I was so excited to see daddy that I pooped my diaper 3 times and then I stayed up and chatted with him until 4:30 AM. (Dad note: this is true and I didn’t have nearly as much fun as Maile did…)
Then when I woke up at 7:30 AM, Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal were there, but mommy was still nowhere to be seen. I started getting a little nervous, but then daddy explained to me that mommy was currently out running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. 13.1 miles – that’s almost one mile for every week that I’ve been alive!
Daddy and I quickly whipped up a sign for mommy and then we all headed out to meet her at the finish line…
I roll everywhere, so clearly I'm impressed by anyone that can run 13.1 miles!
Pretty sure any of these people would trade places with me in a second...
It took a little while, but we finally found mommy at the finish. She did great – we were so proud of her. I couldn’t stop looking at her. We went home and I had her tell me all about the run. Then I told her how I made daddy change my diaper 3 times at 3:45 in the morning. Then we both had a good laugh.
I was so proud of mommy - she is definitely my hero!
As you’ll see over the next couple of posts – things were very busy here this past weekend.
Things started on Saturday morning … instead of my normal play time, mommy bundled me up and put me in the car first thing in the morning. I tend to like the car, so I didn’t complain too much. Next thing I knew we were at the airport, but instead of getting on the big airplane, we just waited a bit. And then guess what??? Out came Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal! What fun!
Happy days are here - Grandma Gail and Grandma Cal are here!
Who looks happier - me or Grandma Gail? (I think Grandma Gail, but trust me, I was pretty happy too!)
Grandpa Cal and I rehashed what happened to the Red Sox in the ALDS - I told him I was disappointed in the guys, he told me it would be okay.
After we dropped off Grandma and Grandpa’s stuff, we took them to the Ferry Building for brunch and a walk around the farmer’s market. It was great fun and I even got a present (shocking, I know!) – my very own pumpkin!
Apparently, these things come in bigger sizes too, but I like my Maile-sized pumpkin!
And then I went to sleep.... (and that was only half way through Saturday!)
Nothing like a Friday night to go through some pictures. It had been awhile since I updated Flickr, so I grabbed the best pictures from the last couple of months, uploaded them and created a couple slide shows.
I forgot how much we did with Maile in her second month:
Grandma & Grandpa Koidin came for their second visit.
Maile met her new friend Hannah M.
Maile had more play dates with Hannah, Allison and Wills
Maile went on her first airplane ride(!) to Kari and Justin’s wedding outside of Los Angeles and met lots of mommy’s friends from back home
Maile attended her first happy hour with the San Francisco crew
Maile also met mommy and daddy’s friends from Fuqua, Erin, Sarah and Mike
Did I tell you that Daddy took the day off from work on Monday and we had a day together, just the two of us? It was the first time daddy was responsible for feeding me and everything for the whole day. He did a pretty good job, although I was so excited to be hanging out with him that I was even less excited about my naps than normal.
The best part of the day was that daddy took me to the store and bought me a new toy – a mirror! I’ve seen them on the walls and in the bathroom at our apartment, but I didn’t realize I could get one of my very own!
Not the best picture of our girl, but we wanted to capture our adventures (yes plural) taking Maile to see the Blue Angels for the first time. The Blue Angels come to San Francisco every year as part of Fleet Week. We took Maile up a hill near our house to get a good view.
Here come the Blue Angels...
Whoa. That was pretty loud!
Truth be told, the first day (Saturday), the show was cancelled pretty quick due to fog. We went back again on Sunday, but didn’t last very long. After the first fly by, we realized that Maile wasn’t quite ready for all the noise. But she got a taste and I’m sure we’ll be back in years to come!
I’m not sure this video does it complete justice, but Maile has a new trick in her arsenal. She looks over at you with a blank expression, locks onto your eyes and then gives you the cutest smile ever. It melts Chris and I every time. I believe its an ancestor to the “Dad-can-I-please-borrow-the-car-keys-and-have-50-bucks-to-go-to-the-mall” smile…
