Florida Day 5

After another late night out with the folks, I tried to sleep in again. Daddy woke me up though because it was our last morning in Florida and we still had one more thing to do.

We went to a place called Butterfly World. There were lots of butterflies there.


Stripey butterfly


Mommy and I had our snack time while taking a break from the butterflies


The best part was walking around on my own and looking at things

After Butterfly World, we went to lunch at a place called "Baja Fresh." Mommy and daddy were really excited to see this place from Southern California here in South Florida and they came here specially to have the food, but...


This is what I think of Baja Fresh. Just kidding, my mouth was just full...

Then before I knew it, we were at the airport and back in Boston, which kind of felt like Miami because it's spring now! We had a great trip, and I hope I get to go back again. Still I'm happy to be back home where I can sleep in my own crib and play with my own toys. Until next time... Good night!

Florida Day 4

After a late night, I wasn't really ready to wake up this morning, but daddy got me up anyway because he said it was our day to go to the beach!


I'm ready to go!

When we got there, it was really really windy so we couldn't go lie down in the sand. Good thing there was a playground so we had something to do!


Daddy put me in the swing backwards, but I still liked it


I got to play in this big yellow tunnel. It's like I'm surfing in the tube!


Here's the beach at Fort Lauderdale

We played in the sand for a while, but then it got too windy so we left and went for lunch. Daddy said we were in the South so we should have "barbecue." We stopped at a place for yummy ribs and pulled pork that was just like kalua pig. Of course


I'm ready for my franks and beans!

After lunch was through we went to a place to see more birds. This one was called Flamingo Gardens. It's a wildlife sanctuary for animals that can't live on their own in the wild anymore because they got hurt or too used to living with people.


This isn't one of the flamingos. This is called a peacock.

We saw lots of animals, and I really liked the show. There were so few people there that we got to see all the animals up close. My favorite was a very fat possum that was missing its tail. It got hit by a car, and afterwards it was living in the administrative office and everyone was feeding him donuts and junk food. He got to be twice the normal possum weight on that diet so the guide has him on a healthy diet now.


Fat possum eating grapes


The guide holding a baby alligator. It is missing its tail and one of its legs. He said after it gets big enough, it's going to go do alligator wrestling at the "Seminole" reservation

After we left the show we went into the aviary where mommy and daddy let me walk around. There were so many different kinds of birds. One of them wanted to cross this bridge and it kept squawking at me, so daddy picked me up and let it walk across the bridge.


Look at the ducks!

Finally we met Aunty Lana and Great Aunt Ann back at the hotel. They took us for dinner at Uncle Tony's restaurant, Sushi Rock, in South Beach. Now that I can walk, I don't like sitting for very long. Daddy let me wander around the restaurant while we were waiting. I found a good seat under the sushi bar.


Don't mind me...

Of course the grownups got sooo much food. This is something from Aunty Lana's dinner. It's a "lobster" or as they say in Boston, "lobstah."


I touched it for a second then pulled my hand back so it wouldn't get pinched

The best part of dinner though was what came last: Uncle Tony made me a sculpture out of orange! Mommy said it is some guy named "Mickey." I don't know this Mickey, but he was delicious!


I finished all of Mickey

I had a great day and the best part was seeing my family again! Also, I didn't go to the hospital today, so that was a plus. Tomorrow, butterflies and then back home!


Great Aunt Ann, Aunty Lana, me and daddy on Ocean Avenue in South Beach

Florida Day 3

On Sunday I woke mommy and daddy up again--so much fun! They told me that we were going to Miami Beach to ride on a duck! I was very excited as duck is one of my few words. But the car ride was so long I fell asleep.


Here's a mailbox in Miami that looks like a robot

After I woke up we went to see the duck. It turned out to be a duck boat, like the one I rode on in Boston with Ah Mah and Ah Gong.


The "duck" we rode on

The boat drove around town and then splashed into the water. We went by all these famous people's houses. I never heard of any of them before, but they look pretty nice. I wonder if I will live in a house like this when I grow up?


This one belongs to a famous basketball star whose little statue is on the post there

After the boat ride, we went back to Great Aunt Ann's restaurant to meet Aunty Lana and Uncle Tony. I hadn't seen him in a long time, since their wedding. I was very happy to play with him again. He's a lot of fun!


Uncle Tony!

They took us to see the birds and animals at this place called Parrot Jungle Island. I was a little scared of the loud screeching parrots. Daddy got to feed them, and one jumped on his arm. I didn't want any part of that! The keeper came and pushed it off with a big stick, but not before daddy got to see how sharp his claws were.

Later we went to see the petting zoo. I like the goats. I was saying "Muh" to the goats, which is what my book says goats say.


Muh!

It was really fun there, and I saw so many animals! Later we met Uncle Chai and his family for dinner. We ate at a place called Sushi Siam. The food was yummy, and Uncle Chai's family even got me a present! Thanks Uncle Chai!


Sushi Siam

Tomorrow, the beach, flamingos, and one of the highlights of my trip: "Mickey!"

Florida Day 2

So here's some pictures from my second day in Florida.

When I woke up in the morning, mommy and daddy were sleeping right there in the same room with me. It was fun to wake them up.

After breakfast daddy picked up a big blue car, and we drove out to a place called the Riverwalk. It's a river that flows through Fort Lauderdale and there are lots of boats to see around there. We walked for a while, and I fell asleep in the warm air.

When I woke up, we were at a museum. I was still kind of feeling out of sorts so I didn't like the loud noises and the scary things there. I did like the clock out front though. It reminded me of the one in the Children's Hospital. It says it's 11:00. Time for lunch!


Clock tower

After lunch we went back to the hospital for the second time. I got the Florida Panthers suite. I liked it because I know what lions say, and every time I caught sight of the mural, I could tell mommy and daddy "Rahrrr!"


I'm a panther

After the visit, we drove down to see Aunty Lana and Great Aunt Ann at their restaurant in Sunny Isles Beach. They work really hard and yet they had time to make us dinner!


Fancy fruit sushi that Great Aunt Ann made


Me and Aunty Lana

That was all for the day, so we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. It was a long day even though we didn't do that much. Tomorrow, ducks, more of Aunty Lana, and I meet Uncle Tony!

What Happened to the Big Boat?

You've probably figured out that we're back from our trip. We had a little snag with our cruise plans but we had a wonderfully fun time anyway.

So what happened was that when we got off the plane in Florida, I had a little fever. That's not a good thing since I've had a little condition called "neutropenia" for some time now. Hopefully it will go away in a couple of years but until then, it means that my body isn't as good at fighting off some kinds of infections. When I get a fever, mommy and daddy say I have to go get checked out. I haven't had a fever since we've known about my condition, but I figured I might as well get one before we got on the boat...

Anyway, so off we went to the children's hospital in Fort Lauderdale. It was my first time in an "Emergency Room" and I didn't really mind too much. There was no one waiting so we went right to the back and a nice nurse put in an "IV" and took some of my blood away for some tests. It didn't hurt at all! I was really interested in the IV, but then she put a sock over it so I couldn't see it. A little while later she came back and connected some medicine to the IV, which didn't feel like anything going in.

I hung out and read books and watched the "Continuous Ambient Relaxation Experience" channel on TV, which had lots of waves and ducks on it. That was a treat since I don't usually get to watch TV at home. After a little while, I got sleepy and took a nap with daddy on the little bed. I needed all the space so I pushed daddy off to the side while I snoozed.

Finally the nice nurse came and said we could go home for now. Aunty Lana came and picked us up and brought us yummy Cuban food and took us to a hotel for the night.

The next day we went back to the Emergency Room. This time they didn't put in any IV. Instead, mommy cuddled me while a mean nurse bit me on the leg really hard. Daddy said it was an "injection" of more medicine. Whatever it was, I didn't like that nurse nearly as much.

My fever went away after the first day. Daddy said it must have just been a bug in my stomach since my poop was like water for a couple of days. In the end, my tests were okay, but we missed out on our cruise. That's okay though because we had tons of fun with Aunty Lana, Uncle Tony, and Great Aunt Ann the whole weekend. Plus, that means we have to go back again for more fun in Florida! I'm going to write up what we did in Florida as soon as I get a chance so stay tuned...

Playtime at the Zoo

Last Thursday, mommy and I went to the Franklin Park Zoo with some of my baby friends from StrollerFit. It was my first time seeing the new Gorilla exhibit. I also got to see lion, tigers, zebras, camels, and a capybara.


Ooooh, gorilla!


Lion!


"Grrr!"


After lunch, Emerson and I got to roam around in the playground for a little bit. I hope our mommies will take us back to the zoo again soon!

Mommy, daddy, and I got back from our trip last night. Even though we ended up not going on the cruise, we still had lots of fun. And I'm still a bit pooped out from the trip. I'll try to post some pictures later this week.

I'm ready for our trip!

Mommy got this hoodie towel/beach cover up for me the other day and I didn't want to take it off! We're going to be gone for a few days, and daddy said I get to go on a BIG ship in addition to an airplane. I'll tell you all about it when I get back next week.

Another busy weekend

On Saturday, I took mommy went to another Stroll-a-thon in Coolidge Corner - this time to raise money for Climate Action. Too bad daddy couldn't come because he had to work. Otherwise, he could have gotten me another pinwheel! Ronak, his parents, and Aunty Kristin (who's in town for the Boston Marathon) also came to join us for the nice walk.


Powered by wind!

I got to test drive the new Phil and Teds Sport stroller - thanks, Diane, for letting mommy and I use it! You can see how comfortable I am in the lime green stroller. I wish daddy could get me one of these.


Strolling for Climate Action


We got to play with some EarthBalls after we finished the Stroll-a-thon.

After nap time and picking daddy up from work, mommy took me back to Ronak's house for dinner. While the adults were busy chatting away, Ronak and I had some play time and story time. After dinner, Ronak got to open his birthday presents! He's going to be one year old on Wednesday!


Ronak and I love books!


So how does this thing work?

On Sunday, I took mommy and daddy out on another date with Emerson and her parents. This time we went to Johnny's Luncheonette. Emerson and I had some of mommy's Belgian waffles with blueberry compote. It was so yummy that my face was blue the rest of the day.


Emerson and I people-watching

More fun with Ronak

Mommy and daddy took me over to Ronak's house again on Thursday night. Ronak and I thought we would give our parents a break and help by making dinner.


Hmm... which pot should we use?


Uh oh, I think we're in trouble


What do think this is for?

Luckily for us and our parents, we got take out from Comella's. Yummy Pelano's Mess (Eggplant Parmigiana with shells, spaghetti, and lots of cheese and red sauce) is my favorite! Ronak and I had so much fun during dinner imitating the silly adults. Our parents were very amused by our behavior. I don't know why it's so funny. Anyway, here's a video of Ronak and me.



Needless to say, both Ronak and I were covered in red sauce after dinner. After getting a good wipe down by our moms, we had more playtime. I got to check out all of Ronak's toys and where Aunty Sarita keeps the tupperware. I had so much fun stacking all the tupperware on top of each other. Then I got to meet Aunty Kavitha, who's visiting from LA. I hear that I'm going to have another playmate in July! And it's going to be a baby boy. Yay! Ronak and I can teach him all kind of cool tricks to keep Aunty Kavitha busy.


"Smiling" for the camera with Aunty Kavitha

I was so tired from all the fun we had that I took two long naps the next day!

Mariners won!

I rooted all afternoon for Ichiro and the Mariners. Even though Ichiro didn't do so well, the Mariners won! Here's a video of me doing my victory lap.

Go Ichiro!

In honor of my namesake being in town for the series against the Boston Red Sox, mommy dressed me in my Ichiro jersey today. Thanks, Uncle DK and Aunty Linda for the cool shirt!

I thought maybe mommy was going to take me to the game since she got me all dressed up. It turns out we were just going out for a "walk".


Ok, let's go, mommy!


Which way to the Red Sox vs. Mariners game?

After we came back inside, the UPS man came and dropped off a big box. Mommy opened it up and set up a big tent inside our living room. She said it's a sun shelter for when we go on our trip later this month.


I don't need this much shade

Later daddy came home and we listened to Ichiro batting against Dice-K of the Red Sox. He didn't get any hits before I had to go to bed, but I hope he gets one soon!

Easter

Happy Easter everyone! We had a busy day today, so let's cut to the chase...

First off, after breakfast mommy and daddy bundled me up and we went outside. Someone had dumped all these colorful plastic egg-like things on the ground! Lucky we had a basket so I could pick them up. Later daddy confessed that he had "hidden" them there.


You could have hidden these ones better, daddy


Almost done!

After collecting all the eggs, we went out to lunch. I had eggs. And French toast. It was so yummy I had seconds and thirds! Later we went for a stroll on the street to walk it off.


That was a yummy brunch!

On the way home, I fell asleep, so mommy tried to put me in my crib. Silly mommy, I was just sleeping because I couldn't walk around strapped in the car seat. Once she put me in my crib, I woke up so we could play some more!

Because it was cold outside, we went to the Atrium mall to use their playspace. There was lots of parking, and the elevator came suspiciously quickly. When we got up, we found out why... the whole mall was closed! That meant no playspace, but then again, mommy and daddy let me use the whole mall as my playspace! I walked all around and there were no grownups to get in my way!


Walking my mommy

Finally we went home, and I crashed for a little while. I woke up and mommy and I did a little drawing before dinner and bedtime.


Drawing a lizard on daddy's New York Life Annual Report


This is a fun "prospectus"!

It was the best Easter ever!