1st Pet

A couple of weeks ago we went to the pet store with my understanding that we were going there to “look” at the puppies. Instead, we ended up coming home with a fish. He is a dark red and blue crowntail beta fish named Charlie. He got his name on the car ride home, where we tried to get Jameson to come up with the name on his own, but he seemed a bit too young to get the idea that he could create the name himself. Instead Sydney and I threw out a number of names to see if any stuck (staying away from Nemo on purpose). When we got to Charlie it was a clear winner as Jameson echoed from the back seat “Chah Lee”, “Fish name Chah Lee” (the way he says it sounds more like a Chinese Kung-Fu master than the Tuna that he is loosely named after). Charlie lives on our kitchen counter and Jameson periodically wants to “See Chah Lee”, which first means that he would like to stand on the stool next to the counter and put his head over the top of the bowl to look down on him. Then he asks to bring the bowl down and set it on the ground so that he can sit on his stool and look at him. He usually asks Sydney or I to sit on the floor next to the bowl as well so that we can join him. He asks if we can feed him “Doe doe bar” (his word for granola bar) and whatever else he is eating at the time but so far we’ve been able to talk Jameson out of dropping these things into his bowl.

2 Weekends ago my mom (aka. Tu tu) and Will (aka. Wough) were in town for a visit from Hawaii. Jameson had a great time hanging out with them for the couple of days that they were here. We visited down town Manhattan Beach where he ran around on the pier chasing gulls and pigeons, had dinner @ Rock & Brew, rented bikes and rode down to Redondo Beach Harbor for a couple of beers at Naja’s, walked the entire square around El Segundo (from our house to grand street, to the strand, to Imperial then back home) and met Will’s niece and her husband near downtown at a place called Olvera street. While at Olvera street (which is a small walking street lined with Mexican restaurants and street vendors reminiscent of those that you would see in Tijuana at the border crossing) within minutes I knew that we had found our opportunity to get Jameson a small guitar, which is something that we had been talking about doing ever since he loved playing with one at a friend‘s house. There were many colors to choose from but it was no surprise to Sydney or I that when asked what color he would like Jameson quickly and confidently shouted, “Geeeeen!”. We also left Jameson in day care on Thursday morning so that I could take my mom to Hollywood Park, where she proved to be the top handicapper over Will and I, coming home the big winner.

The following weekend Sydney’s mom (aka. Omi) was in town for a quick visit from Santa Cruz. She really enjoyed playing with Jameson commenting that he has become so much more interactive. We also went to Rock & Brews for dinner to meet with some friends of ours and their baby (our out of town guests will certainly begin noticing a theme in our restaurant choice, but it is a great place for kids as it is all outside and people bring their children and dogs to sit on picnic style tables while enjoying good food and beer for the parents). On Sunday we visited the “Fiesta Hermosa” which is a street fair in Hermosa Beach full of craft fair booths centered around the pier. We also made our way up Pier avenue to the fire house where they were having a pancake breakfast fundraiser. Jameson got to look around in a fire truck and an ambulance, but neither of those was quite as exciting as his chance to see their mascot, one of the fireman’s daughters in a Dalmatian costume!

Last weekend Sydney was gracious enough to allow me to drive to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker for the 3rd year in a row. I didn't do very well in the tournaments that I played in, but I really enjoyed the opportunity to play and am confident (boosted by the fact that my friend placed 74th out of 4,000) that someday I'll be able to make the money in one of the tournaments there. I really did miss Jameson and Sydney while I was gone and often times throughout the weekend wished that one or both of them were there for different things that I saw or did. When I got back home on Sunday it felt really great to see how excited Jameson was that I was home. I got there just after he woke up from nap time and he was quickly energized when I got home, running around the apartment showing off his newly improved jumping skills and dance moves. It's easy to forget about losing a poker tournament when you have the two of them to come home to.