Here’s k with “yogurt mouth”. I really hope k doesn’t end up being a picky eater. Did anyone watch that Oprah on Monday about getting your kids to eat vegetables? So far, k will try pretty much anything. Let’s hope she stays that way.

Here’s k playing with her cell phone. It rings and you can record messages! It’s pretty funny how she has a toy cell phone and I had a toy rotary phone.

Here’s k standing by herself. Hopefully we can get some video of her walking efforts soon.

This is the duck I decorated for D to enter in a contest at work as a fundraiser for juvenile diabetes. Sad to say it didn’t win. Apparently, people go all out, making entire displays with props, and such.

Friday night I had dinner in Irvine with a couple of my college roommates. We were saying goodbye to R, who is moving across the country pretty soon. We will miss you!

Guess what we did on Saturday? Yes, we were watching college football. Too bad we couldn’t watch the USC-Stanford game. D was following it on the internet and we couldn’t believe it. I never thought I would live to see the day when Cal was ranked #2 in the nation. I told D to enjoy it while it lasts.

Sunday morning we picked up D’s cousin and his wife and went out to breakfast. They came down from Northern California for the Angels-Red Sox game. (They’re Red Sox fans!) We ate at the Gourmet Pie Co. We ordered the pancake sampler (buttermilk, apple cinnamon, blueberry, and banana nut) and the country gourmet mess (potatoes, bell peppers, onions, ham, eggs and gravy, which we asked for on the side). The portions are pretty huge. We ended up taking the leftovers and had them for dinner, too!

On the k front: She’s starting to walk! We’ve seen her walk about 5-6 steps (my mom has seen her walk 7 steps). She also likes to take things off our shelves and play with things other than her toys.

Just to let you know, I’m sort of reviving the “D + L Reviews” blog on our Xanga site (link on the right). Recommendations for books for k or parenting books are greatly appreciated!

So today I officially said “Goodbye 20’s, Hello 30’s”. I guess this really means I’m an adult. In some ways, I do feel like one (married, with a kid and a mini-van (D just got a Mazda 5)). However, I do still have juvenile tendencies (I still like Hello Kitty, I watch The Hills/Newport Harbor, and browse at Forever 21). I’m not sure when those things will go away…hopefully before I’m 40!

On Saturday D and I watched the Cal/Oregon game. Seriously, that was not good for our health! We had heart palpitations and trouble breathing. I think k was worried about us. OK, not really, but let’s hear it for touchbacks!

Right after the game we dropped off k at my parents and had “date night” at Johnny Reb’s. Recommended: swamp water (Arnold Palmer in a mason jar), St. Louis ribs, fried catfish, sweet potato fries. OK: biscuit, dirty rice, pinto beans. Stay away from: corn bread, mashed potatoes (unless you like them gooey).

Last night D went golfing with some co-workers after work, so we celebrated his birthday tonight. I made salmon with a pineapple-soy reduction, roasted asparagus and rice. I bought the fresh water (not farmed) salmon from Trader Joe’s. D said he decided that salmon is his favorite food, so I guess that will be his birthday dinner from now on. k had some and seemed to enjoy it too.

After dinner D read k her favorite bedtime story, “Good Morning, Good Night”.

Since D and I have birthdays 1 year and 11 days apart, it makes sense for my family to celebrate them both at one time. This year I requested a mocha cake (it has Kahlua) from Paula Deen’s holiday magazine. It was delicious!

I love how the weather is getting cooler. It’s time for k to go back to wearing footed pajamas. Here she is right after her bath. (We’ve started giving her baths in the regular tub and she doesn’t like to sit down! D holds her while she stands up and I do the washing.)

Wow. It really is September now. The new fall t.v. season is on, not to mention college football 🙂 Saturday D listened to the Cal game on the radio while I watched Oregon beat up Michigan. For some reason, I got into that one. Gotta love those “statute of liberty” plays–haha! Go Pac-10.

Saturday night we went to dinner hosted by a couple that D knows from b-school. D happened to run into them while having lunch in Irvine during the work week a while back. They have a 22 month old daughter who is so cute…she was sharing ALL of her toys with k. It’s hard to imagine k will be that age soon, talking and walking.

Sunday was “Super SEYO Sunday” at WPC. We had a guest speaker, Jason Wright, formerly of the Seattle Super Sonics. I think that’s a cool team name, btw. After the luncheon we stopped in at Joe’s Italian Ice, which my mom had raved about. D had the Orange Twist and I had the Bada Bing Cherry Joe Latti. I really liked my italian ice–it had chunks of cherry in it! I want to try the other flavors now.

Here are some pictures of k standing up:

k’s hair is getting pretty “fro-y”. It won’t stay down! She gets that from D.

Playing with the blinds. k can make anything amusing.

The labor day weekend started off good. On Saturday a huge college football game was on; Cal vs. Tennessee. Both teams were ranked and the game was on national TV. The game was in Berkeley and Cal won 45-31. Out offensive looks as good as advertised, and our defense was OK.

But then on Monday, I ran the Disneyland Half-marathon. It started out at 6 a.m. and the temperature was 76 degrees with 61 percent humidity. A Disneyland cast member said that we were under a red flag warning due to the heat. By the time I finished it was 83 degrees. I thought I was going to run it quite a bit faster than last year; however, I was a minute slower. The experience was unpleasant and I thought of quiting. My feet were over-heating and I felt dizzy and had a little cramping. On the bright-side, even though 1,000 more people signed up; 159 fewer males beat me. I have decided to no longer run the Disneyland Half-marathon due to the race being in September (too hot), and the price is expensive($105), and I have to get there at 4:30 a.m. I signed up for the Surf City USA Half-Marathon (formerly Pacific Shoreline). It is on February 3rd 2008 (cooler), it is only $75, and I don’t need to arrive there until around 6 a.m.

This morning we went to Downtown Disney so D could pick up his bib # for his upcoming 1/2 marathon. They were already setting things up. Here are D and k by the finish line:

While D stood in line at the hotel, k and I took a little walk. I bought some beignets at the “express” Jazz Kitchen. They were pretty good, but I think I still have to go to Cafe du Monde in New Orleans to try the real thing.

I’m glad we’re not spending the whole day at Disneyland today…it was already HOT at 9 a.m.!

Even though there is still about a month left of summer, it seems like fall is near. It was overcast today, there are back-to-school ads everywhere, and D is gearing up to watch college football for hours on end.

On Saturday we went to Ikea. It was k’s first trip to one of my favorite stores.

Lately I’ve been having the urge to decorate/organize/clean our place more, but I can usually only do these things for an hour or so at night, when k is asleep.

We ate dinner at Portillo’s, which originated in Chicago and serves Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs. D enjoyed the atmosphere (“It’s like you’re on vacation.”) The service was friendly and efficient and the food was good, if not good for you. Here is k with an Italian beef.

Today we went to a Japanese cultural fair in Irvine. k is saying hi to an Akita.