31 March 2010
Dinner Out
A little over two weeks ago I threatened Hirono that I wouldn't shave until we went out together, just the two of us. It took a bit over a week before she realized I was serious. We finally made it out tonight for dinner. It was a local Cyprus cuisine restaurant. A bit overpriced for the quality but still pretty good. Their wine list was quite good. The most important part was that we could spend about two hours alone together over a nice dinner and glass of wine. It was the first time the two of us had gone to dinner alone since before the girls were born.
21 March 2010
Hallelujah
Another step forward in health care. Let's see if the Senate follows suit or wimp out. The Senate is generally filled with a bunch of toothless losers, so I have no illusions that this will come to easy closure.
On the home front, the girls are growing rapidly. They're able to put sentences together with words I've never heard from them before. Leia even has very clear statements of her desire: "I like trucks." or "I want soup." Can I get another "Hallelujah!"
So many behaviors about the girls continue to rapidly change. Alisa is in a phase where she wants to sing all the time. She'll say "how about.....", pause, and then name a song. She only knows the title to a handful of songs, so her choices have been limited. Thank goodness she's never asked for a Japanese song from me. Her current favorite seems to be "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". I never sang it to her before she asked for it. So it must have come from day care or her nanny.
Nanny? Yes, nanny. We have a nanny come over six days a week now. On weekdays she picks up the girls at 5pm and stays until 7pm. On Saturday's she's here 10:30am till 7:00pm. She is awesome! She has her own little 12 month old boy, Jerius. He's the cutest little boy and the girls love him. Teresa, the nanny, can easily take care of all three and do the dishes. She even brings her own cooking over sometimes.
Both girls are getting used to the stairs. They constantly try to climb on stairs whenever we go outside, which is as often as possible since the most common word from both of them now is "Outside!" They're definitely getting easier when out, as well. They're more likely to hold our hands. They generally stay together because they want to play with each other. Today they were so well behaved that we were able to drop by a restaurant unplanned for dinner. Not only is it extremely rare to go out for dinner, we did so unplanned. No extra diapers with us. No crackers or other food than what the restaurant served. No toys or distractions. We just ordered the food and ate when the food arrived. Heaven! (Full disclosure, we ate a pizza parlor and the kitchen was open enough to distract the girls while the food was being cooked.)
On the home front, the girls are growing rapidly. They're able to put sentences together with words I've never heard from them before. Leia even has very clear statements of her desire: "I like trucks." or "I want soup." Can I get another "Hallelujah!"
So many behaviors about the girls continue to rapidly change. Alisa is in a phase where she wants to sing all the time. She'll say "how about.....", pause, and then name a song. She only knows the title to a handful of songs, so her choices have been limited. Thank goodness she's never asked for a Japanese song from me. Her current favorite seems to be "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". I never sang it to her before she asked for it. So it must have come from day care or her nanny.
Nanny? Yes, nanny. We have a nanny come over six days a week now. On weekdays she picks up the girls at 5pm and stays until 7pm. On Saturday's she's here 10:30am till 7:00pm. She is awesome! She has her own little 12 month old boy, Jerius. He's the cutest little boy and the girls love him. Teresa, the nanny, can easily take care of all three and do the dishes. She even brings her own cooking over sometimes.
Both girls are getting used to the stairs. They constantly try to climb on stairs whenever we go outside, which is as often as possible since the most common word from both of them now is "Outside!" They're definitely getting easier when out, as well. They're more likely to hold our hands. They generally stay together because they want to play with each other. Today they were so well behaved that we were able to drop by a restaurant unplanned for dinner. Not only is it extremely rare to go out for dinner, we did so unplanned. No extra diapers with us. No crackers or other food than what the restaurant served. No toys or distractions. We just ordered the food and ate when the food arrived. Heaven! (Full disclosure, we ate a pizza parlor and the kitchen was open enough to distract the girls while the food was being cooked.)
11 March 2010
07 March 2010
Another Bout
I've starting coming down with another sickness. Feverish (no fever, yet) and lymph nodes swollen so much they are tender to the touch. Hopefully it goes away quickly. We have a meeting with the CEO tomorrow at 10am and I really don't want to miss it.
The girls continue to grow quickly. My parents were in town this last week to help Hirono and I ease into life with her working at Apple. She started last Monday and is already into overtime. They were a huge help; but, I'm afraid they'll likely catch whatever it is I have now.
The best part about the girls growing up is that they can communicate better. For example, Alisa had a string of communication triumphs today. Walking down the sidewalk she put together a string of 10 or so 2-word sentences. They were not related to each other; but, to things we saw as we walked. "Truck go", "Kitty eat", "Leia run", "Alisa swing" and so on. She also had a three word sentence at the end of the day. We gave them popcorn for the first time tonight and they both really liked it, Alisa more than Leia (go figure!) After the first couple of bytes Alisa turned to me and said, "Daddy cook popcorn! Oishii!!" Then she gets a huge grin on her buttery face when she says "Oishii" (Japanese for "yummy".)
Leia, on the other hand, is still excelling at her physical skills. She gave us all a big scare Saturday morning. Hirono had gone to work early that Saturday, leaving Alisa and Leia and I asleep in the bedroom. Eventually I woke up with Alisa asking me to go downstairs. Leia was nowhere to be found. The gate at the top and bottom of the stairs were both open. I went downstairs with Alisa only to find Leia already there. She had apparently opened the gate (or Hirono left it open) and she came downstairs all by herself.
Lastly, I found another gaming group. I'm not sure I'll have the time to play; but, at least the option is there. With work starting to slow down again (please!!!) I may be able to do two nights a month. It will be King Arthur Pendragon (v5), a really cool game that focuses on the passions and brutality of noble lords in Early Medieval Britain. Its not your normal Dungeons and Dragons game, that's for sure! Mortality rates for player characters are extremely high - so much so that the rules suggest starting with two characters already rolled and ready to go.
For those into RPGs, its not a level-based game where characters strive for treasure and experience. The goal is to win glory for your family and to pass on as much power as you can to your heirs. There are generally 3-4 generations of a family played within one campaign. You start your first character(s) in the game as vassal knights with a single manor and go from there. It loosely follows a book I'm currently reading, __Le Morte d'Arthur__ by Sir Thomas Malory. A friend picked up the book for me in Noida (Thanks, Soan!) and it led me to the game. This is going to be fun, if we can actually find the time to play.
The girls continue to grow quickly. My parents were in town this last week to help Hirono and I ease into life with her working at Apple. She started last Monday and is already into overtime. They were a huge help; but, I'm afraid they'll likely catch whatever it is I have now.
The best part about the girls growing up is that they can communicate better. For example, Alisa had a string of communication triumphs today. Walking down the sidewalk she put together a string of 10 or so 2-word sentences. They were not related to each other; but, to things we saw as we walked. "Truck go", "Kitty eat", "Leia run", "Alisa swing" and so on. She also had a three word sentence at the end of the day. We gave them popcorn for the first time tonight and they both really liked it, Alisa more than Leia (go figure!) After the first couple of bytes Alisa turned to me and said, "Daddy cook popcorn! Oishii!!" Then she gets a huge grin on her buttery face when she says "Oishii" (Japanese for "yummy".)
Leia, on the other hand, is still excelling at her physical skills. She gave us all a big scare Saturday morning. Hirono had gone to work early that Saturday, leaving Alisa and Leia and I asleep in the bedroom. Eventually I woke up with Alisa asking me to go downstairs. Leia was nowhere to be found. The gate at the top and bottom of the stairs were both open. I went downstairs with Alisa only to find Leia already there. She had apparently opened the gate (or Hirono left it open) and she came downstairs all by herself.
Lastly, I found another gaming group. I'm not sure I'll have the time to play; but, at least the option is there. With work starting to slow down again (please!!!) I may be able to do two nights a month. It will be King Arthur Pendragon (v5), a really cool game that focuses on the passions and brutality of noble lords in Early Medieval Britain. Its not your normal Dungeons and Dragons game, that's for sure! Mortality rates for player characters are extremely high - so much so that the rules suggest starting with two characters already rolled and ready to go.
For those into RPGs, its not a level-based game where characters strive for treasure and experience. The goal is to win glory for your family and to pass on as much power as you can to your heirs. There are generally 3-4 generations of a family played within one campaign. You start your first character(s) in the game as vassal knights with a single manor and go from there. It loosely follows a book I'm currently reading, __Le Morte d'Arthur__ by Sir Thomas Malory. A friend picked up the book for me in Noida (Thanks, Soan!) and it led me to the game. This is going to be fun, if we can actually find the time to play.
04 March 2010
Gone, Gone, Gone
Down the rabbit hole.
I'm lost in a world of work, babies, work, babies, work, babies. The girls are speaking much more complex word combinations and rapidly increasing vocabulary. My parents have been here to help during this really rough spell at work, thank goodness! Hirono started her job at Apple on Monday and she has to work the next three Saturdays. It will be fun; but, tough.
I'm lost in a world of work, babies, work, babies, work, babies. The girls are speaking much more complex word combinations and rapidly increasing vocabulary. My parents have been here to help during this really rough spell at work, thank goodness! Hirono started her job at Apple on Monday and she has to work the next three Saturdays. It will be fun; but, tough.
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