Monaloca

Long before Nalani was born, our friends the Yamadas gave us a couple free passes to the SF Zoo. They expired at the end of June but with at least eight months to spare we figured we had plenty of time. As human nature usually dictates, we waited until the last minute to finally trek over the bridge and to the coastal, wind-blown corner of my favorite city.

Melina’s highlights from our visit included two ant eaters as big as her and a polar bear – neither of which we have at the Oakland Zoo – and the flamingos, probably because they’re pink. I always love to see penguins, also something we don’t have in Oakland.

Nalani slept through most of the outing. One day soon she’ll start to enjoy zoo visits, too!

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This month’s theme at Melina’s preschool is transportation, which seems all too appropriate given how much biking we’ve been doing. Mina got her first two-wheeler for her third birthday. It has no pedals and no training wheels, which is supposed to help her learn to balance. Look at the video to see how well she’s doing after just one week!

I’ve also started to pick her up from school one day a week on my bike, just like I did last summer. When I ask if she remembers she says, “I’m sorry Mama, I don’t remember.” No matter, it’s fun exercise for mama and fresh air for the little girl as we journey across town.

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This month is all about smiles… and more sleeping, eating, and spitting up like a fountain. Nalani’s favorite time to give big grins is on the changing table, probably because the distance to our own smiles is perfect for her to take them in. She’s also started to make little conversational cooing sounds. Daddy claims she said “I love you” (as in “i-la” followed by “ooo”) and Kai swears she said his name. I believe that one, since she makes the “i” sound quite a bit.

I recently re-read that the technical definition of “sleeping through the night” is five hours. In that case, Nalani has been sleeping through the night consistently since five or six weeks old. Of course those hours – which are often up to six or seven – typically fall from around 8 or 9pm til 2 or 3am, and then she wakes up to eat every two hours til the sun comes up.

But she did sleep nine (yes, nine!) hours straight once, the night after Melina’s bday party. And at two months she’s definitely settled into a routine where she goes to bed not long after the other kids and wakes up for some active time around 7 or 8am, just like Melina. Fingers crossed we don’t have another super early bird like Kai, since the rest of us like to sleep in.

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We celebrated Melina’s third birthday with a Pink Party in the Park. The night before the big event I asked which of her pink dresses she was going to wear, and she paused briefly before saying, “I think I’ll wear orange.” In the end she chose dark pink – as opposed to what she calls “real pink” or light pink. Her friends and their parents also didn’t disappoint, wearing everything from salmon pink to deep maroon and red.

We ended up with a large crowd and spectacular weather. Melina was a little confused when friends from different parts of her life started to show up. She’s not used to having school friends and playgroup friends and neighborhood friends – not to mention her cousins – all in one spot.

Big hits of the day included the train in the playground, pink cream cheese for bagels and pink and red fruit, a yummy banana cake in the shape of a flower, and of course a pink flower pinata! It took 15 kids and at least five adults taking multiple turns over 20 minutes (and some slits I made in the cardboard the night before), but the pinata finally cracked while still hanging from the tree. Kai was proud to deliver the final blow.

Cousins and grandparents joined us back at the house after the big event, and by the time everyone left Mina was 100% wired and 110% tired. We were able to get her to bed by 7pm, which is unheard of these days. But not before one final attempt on her part to have another cupcake, in the Melina version of uber-polite: “Can may I have a cupcake please?”

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Less than a year ago Melina refused to ride a merry-go-round much less a real pony. That all changed this spring. She adores a ride of any kind, and was thrilled when she saw “little horsies” at Kai’s school’s annual spring fair.

Because the ponies might frighten, the kids weren’t even strapped in and I walked along side her. Mina was all smiles for the over five minute ride, and kept saying “this pony’s really bumpy!”

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Melina’s first words the day after her birthday were “Is it still my party?” While her pink party in the park isn’t happening til next Sunday, we had a fun-filled, extra long weekend leading up to her day – itself full of special treats. It’s no wonder she thought the fun would continue well into the week.

We started her big day with a walk to our neighborhood cafe with Kendall and her mom, where both girls got pink donuts. Melina barely touched hers but loved the idea of it. We then had a play date at the park with Connor, a nap (which she took with surprising ease), and the thing she’d been looking forward to most: a princess pedicure with Lily.

Melina had been talking about pink toenails for a week, but when we arrived chose orange instead. Lily, whose favorite color is orange, chose sparkle pink. 20 minutes after we left Melina looked at her toes and said “I want sparkles!” Next time, babe. We topped off the day with dinner and ice cream at T-Rex with Lily’s family.

Earlier this weekend we drove down to SJ to visit with my parents and play at Happy Hollow. Melina had a blast on all the kiddie rides and was really bummed she couldn’t ride the roller coaster. (She’s too short.) The day before we took an impromptu visit to Livermore to picnic and visit our favorite winery with friends. Melina and Kanoa enjoyed the bocce ball court, and we adults enjoyed the ease of a family-friendly winery, especially one with wine as yummy as BoaVentura’s!

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