Lucas is Finally Walking!

Lucas took his first few steps earlier this week. Here's a clip of the steps he took today. Still somewhat wobbly, but he's getting there!

Orange County Fair

We came here today to have Lucas experience his first fair. Thought that we'd only stay for a couple of hours but ended up being there 6 hours.

When you enter, the first thing you will notice is that wafting through the air are the scents of barbecue and grease. I was pretty excited and had a mental checklist of what I wanted to eat: barbecue brisket, jumbo corndog, fries, funnel cake, and barbecue corn. I even skipped breakfast! But, as is always the case with me, I get so full so fast. After eating the brisket sandwich I didn't feel like chomping down on the corn, let alone even think about the corndog. The brisket was that good though!

After a couple of hours enjoying the petting zoo and the pig races, I was ready for the funnel cake. This time, Lediya and I shared it. Sweet strawberries and the powdered sugar complimented the fried though nicely.

All in all a great experience. Lucas enjoyed the petting zoo immensely, he was hitting the goats so hard was surprised they didn't hit back. Will return again next year!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

This guy can write. In fact, this book is one of the most original that I've come across in a long time.

Like the layers of an onion, Diaz peels back the layers of years to reveal the back history of Oscar and his sister Lola. And what a history it is! The Banana Curtain is unveiled and the horrors of Trujillo -- the raging narcissist and despoiler of women -- are unflinchingly revealed, creating shudders of revulsion and flashes of understanding in this reader.

Junot Diaz creates a language and a tempo unlike any I've read before, peppered with Spanish colloquialisms, street talk, and video game terminology. Somehow, though, it works - and works beautifully - even if you don't know an "hola" from an "adios" or have never played a video game in your life.

I will not soon forget Oscar Wao, the 300+ pound romantic, Lola, Yunior, or his mother and the Gangster and his ill-fated grandparents. The book is compulsively readable. For all of those who say that "the novel is dead", I say: read Junot Diaz.

San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park

Just got back from a quick weekend getaway to San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park. Lucas enjoyed both very much. He especially liked the pink flamingos and the monkeys that were wrestling around with each other.. We actually visited the zoo twice in one day - he got tired in the afternoon so we went back to our hotel to rest and returned to the zoo in the evening when there were much less people. Best exhibits: elephants and the monkeys.

The next day we had breakfast at Papaleccos and then drove over to Balboa Park. It's a very nice Spanish-themed urban park, with numerous museums in the area. We went to the free Botanical Gardens and checked out the lily ponds. We also treated to Lucas to a miniature train ride that he liked a lot.

All in all a great weekend down in San Diego. We stayed at the Double Tree hotel in downtown that was very close to the attractions where Lucas had a chance to play in the pool for a bit. We'll come back again when Lucas is ready for Sea World.

Free Food For Millionaires

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee is an excellent novel about a young, bright daughter of immigrant parents, Casey, a young woman full of potential, just graduated from Princeton in the mid-1990s. She has everything, or seems to, but can't quite realize the value in what she has. Min Jin Lee does an excellent job of conveying the New York City of the oversmart and overprivileged of that time. The title, "Free Food for Millionaires", is a reference to the free lunch provided periodically at an investment bank during that time. It's a perfect summary of the worlds Casey lives in - the striving world of her parents and the overprivileged one of her Princeton classmates, where peoples needs and wants are seemingly either denied and oversupplied. Happiness is never full--something is always missing. That lack of perfection makes this a strong novel. Lee does some interesting things with her characters -they and their stories take some unexpected turns.

Overall, though, this is an enjoyable read, full of flawed and human characters. This one would probably be a perfect book club read--it will give readers much to discuss.

New Cell Phone and Wireless Carrier

My Verizon Wireless contract was up recently and instead of renewing my contract, I decided to look for better options and cost savings. While browsing Fatwallet, I read about the Sprint SERO (Sprint Exclusive Referral Offer) plan. SERO, which originally started as a plan for Sprint employees and their family and friends, is ultra-discounted and contained many useful features. For $30 per month, the plan includes 500 anytime minutes, free mobile to mobile, free nights and weekends (starting at 7 p.m.), unlimited Internet, and unlimited texting. This is way better than my old Verizon Wireless plan and is $20 less expensive. I especially like the unlimited Internet and unlimited texting, two features that I did not have on my old plan and phone.

Since I will be getting unlimited Internet and texting, I started to look for a phone that can do both. I originally wanted the HTC Mogul for its touchscreen and slide out QWERTY keyboard, but was turned off by its bulk and the low battery life. I also looked at the HTC Touch, but couldn't stomach using the touchscreen to text message. So I settled on the Motorola Q9c, a thin and svelte smartphone running Windows Mobile, has a physical QWERTY keyboard and with excellent battery life. I also liked the fact that it could be endlessly customized with the thousands of applications for the Windows Mobile platform. It also has a built-in GPS chip. The phone cost $149.99 after rebate.

I've been test driving this plan and phone for nearly a month now, and I'm very happy with the results so far. The signal has been pervasive at most places, with at least two bars. On a recent drive to Vegas, the signal was strong in the middle of the I-15. Internet speeds are fast since the phone is running on the EV-DO Rev 0 network, averaging about 600 - 900 kbps. I've already upgraded the phone to Windows Mobile 6.1, loaded 2 GB worth of music onto the 4 GB miniSDHC card, installed applications that provide me real time GPS position and live traffic, watch and save flash videos (Youtube), watch live and recorded TV on my home PC, catch up on all my RSS news feeds, use the phone as a wireless modem for my laptop, keep up to date with my appointments and tasks, and so on. I can browse the Internet anytime and anywhere and also easily send email and text messages using the physical QWERTY keyboard. It also has excellent call clarity and a loud duplex speakerphone.

If you are nearing the end of your cell phone contract, SERO is worth considering with all the perks that come with it. I had a good run with my LG VX8300 and Verizon Wireless, but it got too expensive for the features that I was paying for. For $32 a month including taxes, it's a deal that cannot be beat. The phone is great too!

Las Vegas and Kaelyn's 2nd Birthday

This past weekend we went to Las Vegas to celebrate Kaelyn's 2nd birrthday at my parents' house. It was also Lucas' first trip to Las Vegas. We had a lot of fun! Kaelyn's party was great, and we brought along an inflatable pool for the kids to play in. Lucas also enjoyed climbing up and down (mostly up) on the stairs. The kids also had a blast with my dad's slot machine! Lucas just loved holding on to the coins. We also went over to the new Palazzo, next to the Venetian, to check out the shops.








All in all a very good weekend at Vegas with the family. Happy 2nd birthday Kaelyn!

Biking and Hiking with Lucas

This weekend we biked and hiked with Lucas for the first time. We're introducing him to more outdoor activities so he can get used to it and we can all go biking and hiking as a family together. For biking, we installed a bike seat on Lediya's bike so he is sitting in front of Lediya. We also got him a helmet. We biked around the neighborhood and he seemed to like it. Next we'll take him to the beach. Today ,we went hiking at the El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach. I have an REI kiddie hiking backpack where he can sit in the backpack behind me. We did the 2 mile hike to test it out. It worked great, except for the fact that I probably won't be going on longer hikes because having a 20+ pound child on your back gets tiring after a while. But, if I can build my strength in that area then maybe Yosemite might not be out of the question.

We're hoping that he gets used to these outdoor activities. He seems to like nature a lot so it's a good start. Next up: camping!