We visited Auntie Isa & Uncle Jay one weekend, and it was the longest car ride that Clementine has ever taken so far. She did allright, thank goodness!
On Saturday morning we went to the Santa Monica Pier's Wake Up With The Waves weekly concert series for little kids. It was a cool & overcast day, and the last show of the season (I think it's mostly held during the summer/early fall).
Clementine liked dancing along to the music. She liked that a LOT. After the concert, we walked around the pier and then took a spin on the carousel before we left.
She was not amused. Oh well, maybe she'll like it better next time.
Click HERE for our pics and videos of Clementine dancing!.
We visited the Academy of Sciences again, and this time around we took Lola Julie. Unlike last visit when we went in the morning, we arrived in the afternoon this time which was MUCH less crowded, and after Clementine's naps/feeding. After wandering around the aquarium, we had a late lunch at the food trucks parked by the museum. Lola had the famous Lobster Roll and the super yummy Clam Chowder from the Chowdermobile. What a fun outing we had!
Clementine celebrated her first Christmas this year. We were in Elk Grove as usual, spending Christmas Eve dinner at Tita Yeyet's and Christmas at Erica's. It was quite the event for Clementine, with her aunties, uncles, grandfolks, and furcousins all under one roof.
Our little girl also got quite sick over the holidays. She developed a bad cold/cough which hit her hard on Christmas Eve, and the poor baby would wake up crying every now and then through the night. She was in good spirits during the day, and slept between her mommy & daddy (just like Corser) to comfort her at night.
We went up and spent the night in Elk Grove this weekend. As usual, Russell and Chris had their Late Night Happy Fun Time starring a bottle of Crown Royal. Oddly, it was Clementine who was suffering the ill effects the next morning.
Thank you Tita Yeyet for a wonderful dinner (as always!), and thank you Erica & Chris for an awesome breakfast (as always, also!)
We took Clementine and Lola Julie to one of our favorite restaurants, The Ramp in the Potrero district. It's right on the docks, and it's always nice and sunny in this part of town.
Our daughter made her grand entrance on June 21, 2011.
I started feeling contractions on Monday June 20. After half a day of what's called "false labor" (although the pain felt pretty damn real to me), the contractions quickly turned into "REAL" labor by early afternoon. After some scrambling around the house to gather our things and arrange for our friends Raul & Rachel to pick up Corser, Russell and I rushed to UCSF Children's Hospital around 8pm.
They strapped me with belts and sensors to monitor the baby's heart rate & my contractions. Unfortunately, the contractions came too fast and too strong, which stressed the baby, causing her heart rate to go dangerously low. I was rushed... I mean, RUSHED (just like on TV & movies, with the hospital staff running through the halls, yelling out for help) to the Operating Room twice, to prepare for a possible emergency caesarian section. The doctors pumped me full of drugs to slow down the contractions, which brought the baby's heart rate back to normal. This happened twice over the course of a few hours. But the doctors informed us that if this happened again, they strongly recommended to proceed with delivering via C-section due to possible risk of losing the baby.
So when the heart rate dropped a 3rd time, we went for it. It was a truly frightening and stressful experience. I was rushed to the OR, while Russell had to stay in the hospital room. Our little girl arrived in the wee hours of the morning, kicking and screaming from the get go.
Clementine de Joya Gong was born on 4:38am. 6 lbs, 4 oz. 19.5 inches long.
The delivery went smoothly. The medical staff at UCSF were extremely attentive and supporrtive; I felt genuinely cared for during our stay. Clementine stayed in the room with us, and Russell was at our side the entire time. We stayed 4 more nights, through Saturday morning, so I could adequately recover from the surgery.
Click HERE to see our pics from that first week at the hospital.
Here are video journals to chronicle our first days with the baby.
Our friends Justa & Tammy threw us a baby shower! Well, knowing Russell and I, it couldn't be a standard baby shower party. We decided to have a Fiesta to celebrate Cinco de Mayo AND a baby shower together! Tammy made gigantic colored pompoms and did all the decorations. Justa worked with Russell on the activities: A "Message To Baby Gong" from our guests, and a guess at "What Will Baby Gong Look Like". We also had a custom-made pinata shaped like a baby... please don't think that's an indicator of what kind of parents we'll be!
Isa flew up from LA for this party, and got to have a preview of what it feels like to be an Auntie. Many of our friends already have chirruns of their own, and a whole new slew of babies were born in the past year (ours will be the 8th). There were tykes galore running around all over the house! Friends were telling us to "get used to it - this will be your life soon!" Ai ya...
Russell, Corser, and I spent my birthday weekend in Los Angeles. We stayed at Isa & Jay's place, and we all went out with Monica & Chris for dinner on Saturday night.
Tita Lorna & Tito Raul hosted us for Easter Dinner at their place in Thousand Oaks. The newly remodeled kitchen is uber-lovely!
It's another Cabo Wabo Xmas for the Cayco family! This year, the de Joyas & Chuidians were joined by Miko, Bea, and Monica. Yep, it was a full(er) house this year!
As usual, everyone gathered on Christmas Eve for a Filipino dinner at Tita Yeyet & Tito Pepeng's house.
Save some for the rest of us, Isa!
Christmas Dinner was held at Chris and Erica's place. Keeping our tradition from last year, the "kids" made the Christmas dinner. Everyone was in charge of their own dishes, but we all chipped in to help each other with the prep work in the morning.
(click on the picture to enlarge it)
It was another wonderful Christmas filled with Food, Family, and FUUUNNN! For more pics, click HERE to see the album.
Isa, Jay, and Marley-dog drove up from SoCal to spend the July 4th weekend up north. They spent Friday night in Elk Grove with the Chuidian family (and had a Filipino food feast courtesy of Tita Yeyet, from what I heard!), and drove to San Francisco to spend the rest of the 3-day weekend with us! We had a small backyard grillfest with some old friends who have just moved back to San Francisco. The sun came out for a second, just enough to warm us up before the afternoon fog blew in. Well, that's Ocean Beach living for you!
We took our little domestic terrorist to unleash his wrath on the unsuspecting denizens of Carmel for the weekend. The 3 of us stayed at the Adobe Inn, checked out "Yappy Hour" at the Cypress Inn, and had dinner at The Forge In the Forest (which offers a doggy menu).
Corser makes his mark on Carmel.
Carmel-by-the-sea has a reputation for being one of the country's most dog-friendly places to visit. And it's true: there are doggies walking around everywhere with their people, being welcomed into stores and cafes and inns, getting ooh'd and aah'd and coo-coo'd over by puppy-loving passers-by. It was apparent that the pooches strolling about the town LOVED the attention, sitting and heeling like Good Dogs, wagging their cute little tails while getting their heads petted and ears scratched. And as usual, Corser had his fair share of admirers, people asking how old our puppy is, or reaching to pet him, or bending down to make their acquaintance with His Royal Highness.
The light you see in his eyes? That's pure unadulterated EVIL.
The problem with taking Corser to a dog-friendly town, it turned out, is that Corser is not a dog-friendly dog. He snapped at the server, argued loudly with the restaurant manager, and rebuffed the sweet shop owner who tried to ply him with sausage treats. We offered our apologies and received stinkeye in return. Yet, we love him just the same.
Russell's Aunt Lorna invited us and a bunch of other Gong family cousins to her house for dinner. She is going to teach me how to make her famous Sticky Rice! I was taking pictures, but unfortunately my camera's batteries ran out of charge about halfway through, so I didn't get to capture the final presentation of the rice, which was last to come out. Throughout the night, plate after plate of food came out of the kitchen, a seemingly endless parade of freshly and expertly prepared dishes. What a feast, Aunt Lorna!
The de Joya, Chuidian, and Pastor families gathered in Elk Grove to celebrate Christmas together. It was also the 3rd Annual Cabo Wabo Christmas. Here's a picture of my dad, taken in the inaugural year:It's now 2 years later and the tradition is still going strong.
Tita Yeyet made an incredible Christmas Eve dinner of Kare-Kare, grilled pork chops & roasted tomatoes, Dungeness crab, and Lechon, followed by a spread of desserts. It was a raucous night with 4 doggies and 3 cats in the house (Mollie quickly showed them who was boss!), and family members all taking turns at the dining table. Afterwards, the cousins stayed over at Erica&Chris's house. This year, the "kids" would be in charge of making Christmas dinner, and we had quite a menu planned. It was the first time we'd be attempting dinner for our parents, and we have a lot of expectations from prior years feasts to live up to! It was a lot of work, but a LOT of fun, and it looks like we're going to be doing it this way from now on. Already looking forward to Cabo Wabo Christmas #4!
We took a trip down to SoCal to hang out with Isa, Jay, Marley-dog and Sidney Vicious for the long Labor Day weekend. Highlights from the trip: - Sweet Tea Vodka - Del Taco - Scoops Ice Cream (shoulda tried the Brown Bread, darnit!) - Ostrich tacos at El Coyote Cafe - Seeing the freaks at Venice Beach - Meeting friends & family for san-nakji at Masan Korean Restaurant (and everyone had some, yay!) - Hanging out with Isa & Jay's pals Meg & Lyle, and meeting the Charlielator Click HERE for our pictures!
Our friends Justa & Tammy threw us a baby shower! Well, knowing Russell and I, it couldn't be a standard baby shower party. We decided to have a Fiesta to celebrate Cinco de Mayo AND a baby shower together! Tammy made gigantic colored pompoms and did all the decorations. Justa worked with Russell on the activities: A "Message To Baby Gong" from our guests, and a guess at "What Will Baby Gong Look Like". We also had a custom-made pinata shaped like a baby... please don't think that's an indicator of what kind of parents we'll be!
Click on this image to get a closer look of the potential Baby Gongs.
Russell, Corser, and I spent my birthday weekend in Los Angeles. We stayed at Isa & Jay's place, and we all went out with Monica & Chris for dinner on Saturday night.
(click on the picture to enlarge it).jpg)
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Corser makes his mark on Carmel.
The light you see in his eyes? That's pure unadulterated EVIL.
I was taking pictures, but unfortunately my camera's batteries ran out of charge about halfway through, so I didn't get to capture the final presentation of the rice, which was last to come out. Throughout the night, plate after plate of food came out of the kitchen, a seemingly endless parade of freshly and expertly prepared dishes. What a feast, Aunt Lorna!
It's now 2 years later and the tradition is still going strong.
We took a trip down to SoCal to hang out with Isa, Jay, Marley-dog and Sidney Vicious for the long Labor Day weekend. Highlights from the trip:
