Pre-Halloween Festivities

This past weekend Miles invited us to hit up a local pumpkin patch before heading out to a baby shower this past Sunday. Dawn and I were up for it and excited to take Toshi to his first Pumpkin Patch. We also found a brand new baby pumpkin onesie in the donated clothes bin we had from Miles. So Dawn took the beanie from that outfit and put it on Toshi for "Baby's first Halloween" experience.

We wanted to get there early so we could have good photo opportunities.  This way there won't be so many people and we could move pumpkins around and kinda set up photo spots as we saw fit. Needless to say we had a blast!! It was such a fun filled weekend spent with family and friends but it was awesome to spend time with Miles and his family.  If you haven't noticed we learn a lot from these guys ;) haha.

Anyways, lets get on to some pictures!!

As soon as we walked into the pumpkin patch there were some pretty cool costumes set up.

Looks like Toshi was trying to figure them out... like, "Who dis?!"

So, before the kids got crazy and wild we asked if we could take one cousin photo. Out of the 10 photos I took this was the only good one I got haha. Maybe Miles has a better one... All I know is that I wasn't afraid that Jack was gonna let go of Toshi. He had a HUGE hug or grip around him. The cool part was that Jack actually wanted to hold Toshi and take a picture with him!!!

We then found a nice little haystack that Toshi could sit on and we lined up some pumpkins behind him. This way Toshi could lean back a bit and have some support from the pumpkin. Photo idea/credit goes to ... dun dun dun .. Miles! haha

I love the way Toshi is smiling in this one!

After Aya's baby smiling dance ... I guess he wanted more? Or maybe he was just confused at this point haha. But this look is also so adorable :)

Miles also took some pics that came out really, really good! Here are a few

This one is currently my desktop picture at work!! I love this one!

HEE-HEE!!

Thanks to Miles and his family for inviting us to a pumpkin patch day. We had a blast!!

Smiles all around

Say cheese!!!

Toshi is starting to show his amazing personality ... both good and bad. Let's start with dessert:

Toshi, as you can see, is starting to show off his cute smile! :) We have caught him a few times when it was just myself and Dawn but he has also showed it off to friends and family.

The bad is that Toshi is starting to show his cranky side haha. We've noticed that when we pull the bottle or nipple out from Toshi's mouth (after a feeding) he gives us this, "WTH you doing?!?!" scream. It's soooo dramatic and this is after he chugs down 4.5 mL of milk haha. Also, he gives us a warning that he is getting tired and this is right around 830PM or so. It's a great indication for bed time now. 

We both think that this is great and Toshi is starting to show a pattern which is soo freakin' awesome.  Instead of the crazy, random cries at odd hours he is settling into a routine.  The only part of the routine that sucks is the huuuuge poop at 6AM hahaha j/k. 

A lot has happened since I wrote the last post. Not many know but I finally got a family wagon. Yes, I got rid of my beloved Honda Fit which, by the way, was an amazing car. Super good on gas, spacious to do everything I ever wanted to do (cycling, mountain biking, surfing, and hauling stuff), and it looked super good too!! I had suspension and rims on my fit and it was just perfect for me. If I couldn't go fast I wanted to look really good. Here is what I had on the fit:

So I upgraded to a Subaru Forester!! :D It's such a great family car and the best part for us is that we don't have this huge car loan. I was really worried about finding a car big enough for the family but I also didn't want to have a huge car loan. I also wanted something like an SUV but I don't want to drive a huge boat like a 4Runner or something. The Forester is a compact SUV that puts a smile on my face all the time. So I actually bought this car from a really good friend of mine and I can absolutely trust that he took really good care of his car. I love the exhaust note of the turbo engine, the handling aspect of the mods he put on and it's just perfect. I added tint and a double din DVD player since I wanted an iPod player and a back up camera and this just put it over the top haha. I absolutely love this car!!

From my last post I stated that we started to have Toshi sleep in his own room.  It was definitely rough in the beginning but I'm so proud of him that he is able to sleep on his own now. It's like he is used to his routine of going to bed around 9PM.  For the whole month he has been on such an awesome roll of going to bed easily without too much crying.  

One night, Dawn checked up on him and look at how she found him!!

Still not quite sure on how he got there but the wedge to keep him in place is all the way at the other end of the crib!!!! You can see just a small part of it on the bottom left of the 2nd picture. 

Right around this time Toshi was just over 3 months and before I forget I want to share his "3 month" picture:

We also wanted to see how Kekoa responds to Toshi and needless to say ... we're not sure if he is comfortable just yet haha

Kekoa, for the most part, doesn't want Toshi on him ... at all.  One night we tried to do this again and he got up in a hurry!! So this was a super rare photo moment for Kekoa and Toshi haha. 

As everyone knows kids start to lose their hair around this age.  His hair up top is starting to thin out as well as the back of his head. He tends to sleep facing his left so we hope that he isn't developing a flat spot on his left side =/.  You'll probably notice that in the pictures of him sleeping up top. But this is his bald spot on the back of his head:

There was one night that Dawn was busy cooking dinner and it was right around his feeding time. It was also his last feeding before sleep so he was hungry and tired which is a hard combo to deal with if your not the milk-jug delivery guy.  So I took Toshi to our bedroom and I started to play the ukulele for him. It's been a while since I played but my fingers somehow just knew where to go. If you asked me to write it out I probably wouldn't know how to play it but it just "came out" haha. So I played for about 15-20 minutes and he just stared at me and became calm.  I couldn't believe it but he kept his focus on the ukulele and me while I played for him. Totally amazing moment for us and I think it was one of those bonding moments that has brought us closer as father and son, you know?? So awesome :D

Well to wrap up this post I'll show some pictures of the visitors that Toshi had over the past month. Kim and Jayne wanted to see Toshi and he was all smiles for the girls :)

Oh ... and "Look mommy, I can feed myself!!" haha

A special shout out goes to Toshi's cousins Isaac and Caleb! They just turned 3 years old and this is what Toshi had to say:

We love you both and we hope you had a ton of cake, ice cream, and awesome toys!!! 

Someone's getting bigger

One of our saddest moments, well Dawn's saddest moment, is that Toshi is getting bigger.  He is pretty close to being 3 months now and he is finally out growing a few of his clothes. There are a few onesies that he is unable to fit in (both day and night type of onesies) and he has a bed upgrade!!

Toshi now sleeps in his very own room :D

We cleaned up his crib and got rid of most of the stuffed animals, pillows, and other random stuff that was in there. We also get the added bonus of finally putting the FOSCAM camera to use.  We have been putting Toshi down after his last feeding of the night which is roughly anywhere between 7-9PM (however the feeding time works out).  He is still adjusting to this change and we're debating whether or not to go to him when he starts crying.  It's tough and it truly is hard to sit and just let him cry it out.

Over this past weekend we went to a baby shower for Naomi, Dawn's friend, up in LA.  Toshi let us stay for a bit and he was cool enough to be good for Naomi. Toshi was getting a little fussy at this point though.

Toshi has been holding his head up more and more as the weeks go on and so we were able to have a good photo shoot with mommy.

Got drool??

Be our guest, be our guest ...

Within the past week or two we had quite a few people visit from near and far.

I'll start with our Labor Day weekend BBQ as we had our friends come over to the house and do pot luck style. The spread was soooo good that looking at these pictures makes me want to have a round 2!! Anyways, before we get to the food, Kenji (now living in Hawaii) and his sister Mariko made a stop at our place to meet Toshi.  We actually got Kenji to hold Toshi as well and if anyone knows Kenji he sweats when he holds babies.

You can't see it but Kenji's sweat glands started working instantly as he held Toshi ... hehehe :P I wish I could draw a giant sweat bead but I'm not skilled in photoshop.

After about ... 30 seconds or so Kenji needed a break and Mariko took over. It was a good chance to get a good picture of Kenji and Mariko. Toshi's face is like ...Who is you???

It was super nice to see Kenji and Mariko and especially for them to meet Toshi. We can't wait to hang out, Hawaii Style, with Kenji in a few months when we visit for Christmas. It was great to have everyone over at the house to enjoy the food, drinks, and of course each other's company.

We have Dylan, Justin, and Nari ready to grind some food.

Kalbi

Musubi, Kabocha, daikon slices, seaweed salad mix, green onions, kim chee, salad

Honey glazed chicken, chop chae

Syd and Adrienn were able to come by the house and have a bite to eat as well. This was their first time meeting Toshi too!! We were happy that Toshi doesn't mind being tossed around from person to person haha.

Later in the week Cynthia was in town (visiting from Hawaii) and her sister, Francis, were able to stop by the house, meet Toshi, chat for a bit, and have a quick dinner with us. I think we saw Cynthia when we were in Hawaii back in January so it has been a long time and she was very excited to meet Toshi.

Cynthia and Toshi:

Francis and Toshi:

anddd... group shot!

Toshi has been getting much bigger over the past few weeks and, believe it or not, he will be 3 months in a week!! Dawn and I can't believe how quickly the past few months have flown by.  To see the progress and development of Toshi is just sooo unbelievable.

Toshi has physically gotten bigger and he is finally fitting into most of his onesies. So now, we are cycling through more of his clothes instead of a select 5-7 outfits.  He actually out grew one of his outfits!! Like I said, it's just so amazing that Toshi isn't swimming in his clothes anymore.  He's growing up too quickly!! Ok, ok ... enough excitement haha. Toshi can now wear some awesome clothes .... :D

Toshi is wearing The Hundreds outfit thanks to Bobby and Misa:

He's soooo cute I can't stop kissing his chubster cheeks!! :D

Miles and his humble servants (as he likes to refer to them :P) bought Toshi a Dodger outfit.  The shorts are so big but we had to put it on.

Toshi is now at the point where he can fit in his bath tub without the hammock. We were skeptical at first but he actually fits quite well. Don't worry guys and gals I kept these pics PG this time.

He's probably thinking ... "Hmm... this is a tad bit bigger ... "

 "Well I can still see outside the tub for maximum angle of view here ... "

"Thanks for covering my giant nut sack daddy ... I didn't wanna make anyone jealous ... k, shoots den :)"

Since we were on a role with physical achievements we decided to test out the bumbo!!! Woot woot. Sadly, Toshi isn't quite there yet. He can sorta hold his head up but we don't trust him enough to leave him in there for an extended period of time and without supervision. But ... at least he can fit and fill in the Bumbo.

This picture is soooo cute .. perfect posture, hand position, and look at that smile!! And I made the picture a little soft.

Within all this fun we are able to squeeze in some time to help Miles coach the Venice Pirates. The season has just started and the Pirates are doing an amazing job!! Their practice is questionable since they seem lost but when it comes to game time it's like a switch is turned on and they kill it.  Super happy for these boys. Jack, the superstar with the killer crossover, and Stacy were able to pose with Toshi for a quick second before snack time. Hopefully Toshi can ball with Jack and Stacy one day.

With all this talk about Toshi I had to squeeze in our first son ... with 4 legs haha. He has been doing much better with Toshi and he is always, always following Dawn around with Toshi. No matter if they are home by themselves he will sit in front of Dawn like this:

Kekoa is such an amazing dog and he has adapted to this new change pretty well. He is still unsure of what Toshi is but I think when Toshi becomes mobile he will understand that he is a little boy .. human that is haha. We actually tried to put Toshi right in front of Kekoa and he freaked out and jumped out of the way.  But we are happy that he is always around us with Toshi.