A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 20

Yesterday, we made tons of silly faces. :) There were lots more but Kaori kept laughing so they were too blurry to share. Hehehe.

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 19

Kaori took us to Chocobean Coffee and Cafe in Mission Viejo. We tried the bulgogi beef burrito and YUM it was delicious! :D They're coffee is awesome too.

talking code with his best friend

so that's what that means ;)

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 18

Bruce's favorite red tomato

that's drool, not snot ;)

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 17

Yesterday, Bruce was able to lift his body up with just his hands and toes. He kind of did the worm by leaning forward and plopped himself down. Hehe, he's getting there. ;)

love this peanuts outfit

skype date with daddy

"I'm ready to feed myself, mom!"

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 16

Day 16 was full of errands so Brucie fell straight to sleep when we came home. Afterwards, we headed off to his grandma's house and giggled himself to sleep. ;D

playing with nana

trying out the cute non-slip fish mat

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 15

rain, rain go away

come again another day...

Another day of rain. We watched the trees sway out the window and wondered when it'll be sunny again.

katsu hiding behind the sofa seat cushion

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 14

Bruce has been able to sit up by himself for a minute or two! While we were taking pictures, Katsu got excited and wanted to play ball so we decided it was a great opportunity to get a shot of both of them together.

this is one of my favorite photos :)

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 13

playing with his favorite toy, Mr. Giraffe

and an elephant too

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 12

Yesterday, I spent almost all of Bruce's waking hours playing with him. He's been a bit fussy and it makes me sad every time I hear him cry in his sleep. I briefly read up on it and I think the reason for his fussiness is because I coslept with him after sleep training him in his crib. :X I just couldn't help myself after the earthquake, I didn't want to sleep alone. How selfish, eh?

after I took out the camera,

he stopped crying and smiled

longest droooool

mister chubs

this is while we were playing mini air plane

(mini because my legs are short and we're very close to the ground)

left: he's done playing

right: maybe not! ;D

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 11

Yesterday, we came back to my dad's house and we finally Skyped with Brandon. :) A little down time after a hectic week.

Skyping with Mama in Japan at his grandma's house

Katsu posed for the camera while I was trying

to take photos of the carpet

carpet cleaned by Family Man Carpet Cleaning

~&~

Now that the carpets are cleaned, I'll just have to clean a few countertop areas (which may take another week) and set up my sewing machine to finally start back up on my long long wait list! I can't wait! :D

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 10

I'm finally caught up. :) It feels good!

So one of the problems that I had to take care of after getting here was carpet beetles. I won't go into detail because every time I think about it, I feel like they're crawling all over me and I feel sick. I woke up from a nap on Sunday to find a couple carpet beetles on my pillow! *barf* Anyway, I took care of it by calling the local carpet cleaners (I didn't want to use pest control if I could avoid it for Bruce and Katsu's safety) and got it done yesterday.

Bruce was unhappy after this photo was taken because we were limited to a small space and I had to hold him while the carpet was being cleaned. Needless to say, the carpet is now clean and I haven't found any beetles yet.

Have you had this problem? How did you take care of it?

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 9

Bruce rolled over with his toy after a diaper change

My dad took all of us out for lunch to Irvine China Garden. Dim sum, just what I was craving. :) Lo and behold, a photo of both Brucie and me! Lol.

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 8

Brucie's been babbling a lot more than before. Most of his sounds now are "Dada" since the first time he learned how to say it. It makes me smile every time. Kaori mentioned that he probably thinks I'm "Dada" and I suppose she's right. So I've been repeating "Mama" and "Mami" to him and on Day 8, he said, "Mna mna"! I didn't care that it wasn't perfect, I started crying. :'D

Lol, my parents keep saying I'm "oyabaka" which directly translated means "parent-stupid." It's when a parent praises or talks about their child a lot... kind of like bragging, I suppose. (Interesting post I found here.) But it's true. I can't stop watching him and talking about his milestones!

親馬鹿でいいわ〜！（笑）

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 7

"Happy Birthday, Grandma!"

My mom waas trying to find a hat for Shizuka and decided it was a great time to play dress up with Brucie. Lol, I think this was his fave.

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 6

Thank you for all your messages, emails, texts, and comments about your thoughts and prayers for my family and friends in Japan. So far, everyone we have contacted is safe and were finally able to find out that one of our family friends in Sendai survived. Most of them have property damage but they are all thankful that their lives were all unharmed. My paternal Aunt, was working on the 9th floor in Tokyo when the earthquake hit. She said it was the scariest earthquake she's ever felt with the building swaying back and forth and office supplies shaking/falling. She walked home since the trains were not working and biked back to work the next day. I don't know if I'd have the courage to go back to work after experiencing an earthquake of that magnitude.

I can't help but cry every time I see the images and interviews of the survivors. It's so devastating. I continue to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone in Japan.

~&~

I know I'm a little late in my Daily Dose of Bruce updates but a lot has been going on around here and the poopy internet connection at my dad's house doesn't help. Brandon just told me he's been refreshing my blog for new photos with no luck. :( We're Skyping right now and it's been a couple days since the last time we "saw" each other. Two thumbs down for Cox Cable Company and the router.

On Day 6, my mom picked Shizuka, Bruce and I up to spend the night at her place. (Kaori met up with us after work.) There really is nothing better than your mom's home cooked meals. I stuffed myself, like always. ;)

Brucie had his first rice cereal meal and Brandon took this picture below via our Skype date. He ate all of it and a couple hours later, he took a bath with his grandma (picture above). At midnight we all wished my mom a happy birthday!

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 5

Yesterday was a day of relaxation. After everything that happened the day before, I was pretty tired. It didn't help that Brucie was full of energy but how could I complain when he giggles and makes cute faces like these! :)

After playing for the longest time, he passed out in the midst of rolling over! I quietly laughed my butt off.

~ * ~

Night time was a different story. With news of the earthquakes in Japan, I was worried about my family and friends. Thankfully, my relatives are safe but we are still waiting to hear from other friends who were in Sendai. I hope we hear from them soon. My thoughts are with the people of Japan.

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 4

I woke up to my phone ringing at two in the morning. It was Shizuka, crying. She was on her way home when she fell asleep and crashed into a tree. My Dad and I rushed to the scene while Kaori watched Bruce.

Shizuka was conscious but bleeding heavily from her head with paramedics, police and firemen at her side. The car was totaled. I wanted to cry but held it in until later at the ER. She explained when she woke up from the crash, all she heard was my voice calling her so she climbed out of the window looking for me. Unable to find me, she realized she had her phone in her hand and called me. I can't even express how scared we all were. Thankfully, she was able to walk away from it with 47 stitches on her head! She came home later that day and has been resting since.

Brucie has been making her smile by making silly faces. You just can't help but smile when he's around. ;)

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 3

A delayed post for day 3 due to my sister's car accident early yesterday morning. I'll tell you details in the next post but she is home and recovering. :)

Two days ago, Kaori (my sister in Rhode Island who's back for an internship) took Bruce and I all around town to buy essentials I was unable/forgot to pack. Afterwards, we walked around The Shops at Mission Viejo and I ended up buying a couple caps for Bruce. It's so sunny here, it's a necessity. ;)

While we were at the mall, I had to feed the little one so Kaori directed me toward a mommy lounge. Oh my dear! I was so impressed with the space, I asked her to take some photos. Most places I've been to don't have an adequate space for diaper changes, so you can imagine my excitement when I walked into this clean and roomy corner.

We had so much fun catching up since we hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving. Speaking of Thanksgiving, she made my Dad and I Thanksgiving wraps for dinner and they were so good, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. :D

A Daily Dose of Bruce: Day 2

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Brucie said, "dtha-dthee" (Daddy)!

He's been trying to make the "d" sound for a few days now and although it sounds a little more like "dthe," he put the sounds together to form "dtha-a-dthee" and "dtha-dthee"! My eyes watered, I rushed to get the camcorder and got it on video! I cry every time I watch it. :')

Brandon couldn't have been any happier when I played it back to him via Skype. I'm so glad Bruce's first word is "Daddy". I'm over the moon~!