Another Obsession

Yesterday Afton and I watched a show on PBS about the Salton Sea mud pots. What is more fun than mud to a little boy, except maybe rain puddles? We have spent the whole morning watching videos about geothermal mud volcanoes and now he is convinced that we are going there at any moment. When I said to get his shoes on he asked if we were going to the mud. When I told him we were going to the store he said "after the store we go to mud?" I guess there is a day trip to plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1liFUqHhvY&feature=related

Afton is Funny

Afton: Knock, knock.

Me: Who's there?

Afton: Ghost.

Me: Ghost who?

Afton: Ghosts don't say who, they say BOO!

Mr. Rath

Afton has become such a big boy. I can now say that he's fully potty trained as he went the whole night in his big boy underwear without an accident! He loves anything that has to do with space...space shuttles, planets, galaxies (he likes to find the swirls on his night sky blanket), astronauts, ect. We went to the Aerospace Museum at Balboa Park today and he was all wide-eyed. Granted he was also a bit overwhelmed with all the planes attached to the ceiling and the echo sounds, but as we continued he got much more comfortable. It's a good thing too because we paid for a year membership. Now we can go anytime we want and bring along 2 visitors with us. I'm excited to go again and check out the NASA exhibit.

Afton also loves the beach. He loves to dig holes and bury his feet, saying "where did my feet go? They disappeared!" If you build a castle he is sure to be the opposing army as he will trample it right as you think it's looking good. He will also drag whoever it is holding his hand right into the waves, pulling until you're afraid you're going swimming instead of just wave jumping. If you ask him what he wants to do that day he will say the beach. The park is a runner-up though.

Sushi. Afton thinks whenever we go out that we are going to eat sushi. He gobbles up my tuna and salmon nigri anytime we go. I end up having to order another round so that I can get a bite. There is a waitress at our sushi place (Yummy Sushi) that knows him and will provide extra tofu in his miso soup, since that is his favorite part. He also gobbles up all the edamame and white rice with soy sauce. He thinks he can use chopsticks too, which he can as long as they haven't been pulled apart.

One of my favorite thing Afton does is playing independently with his trucks, motorcycles, and cars. He takes them on rides over the couch and ramps them off of the pillows. I put one of his trucks in the bath with him and he spent 15 mins running it through the car wash, i.e. putting bubbles on it and pouring water over it to clean it up. If Afton doesn't ask if we are going to sushi when we go out, he asks if we are going to the carwash. He says our car is dirty. Always. Even after we have just gone to the carwash.

The boy loves to sing. Not real songs or even a consistent tune. He picks up his guitar, and more recently his flute (not on it's own but along with the guitar), and sits in his seat and sings. Mostly the songs are about Hoho his favorite character from Ni Hao Kai-lan. I have tried to get him to sing his ABCs or any of the many children songs he knows but he prefers to improvise, and he's pretty good at it too.

What a good boy I have. He surprises us everyday with the things he knows. He is getting really good at using the computer. He knows what games he likes (mostly on nickjr.com) and what button to click to watch netflix or listen to iTunes. He has mastered Nippon's iPhone and will play Angry Birds and Pocket Frogs all day if you let him. He speaks in full sentences and will tell you what he wants to eat or drink. I guess I have to admit now that he isn't a baby, and if you say he is he will tell you, "Not a baby...Afton Rath."

MIA

So I've been missing for a while now, and hopefully I will be found soon. Ha! We finally set up our desktop which has all my pictures and bookmarks and stuff on it. Yes, I have had access to the internet, but I really hate typing a lot on the laptop which is why I haven't been posting since we moved to San Diego. Also my camera is full and I still need to upload all the images so that this blog can have current pics. Anyhoo, enough with excuses.

We have been in beautiful San Diego for over two months now. We LOVE the weather, especially after seeing the soaring temps in Phoenix. I'm definitely not missing the 110+ degrees. I have had my issues adjusting to all the pollen here though. My allergies were awful for the first month. Not only was I sneezing but it aggravated my asthma and I've gone through 2.5 (!!) inhalers since arriving. Not fun. But it seems that my body is adjusting (or course right before I go to the doctor next week) and we've been able to take evening walks to the park without me coughing and wheezing the whole way.

I'm pretty sure that I will get more visitors here than I ever did in Tempe. No question. A couple weeks after moving in Nippon's cousin Mick stayed with us. Even my mom has already come to visit, which is super awesome. Several other family members were in town too (for my cousin's graduation...CONGRATS CORBIN!) so we all got together for a BBQ, went to the beach in Coronado, hit up the zoo, shopped in Old Town, and just relaxed and enjoyed each others company. Then my sister and brother-in-law came and we found some yummy new places to eat (Crab Hut is my new food craving), went to the beach (of course) and did some hanging out. Next visitor is my brother Lee in August. I love that people want to come visit, even if it is not just to see me but to visit this awesome city that we were lucky enough to move to. Once we move into a house it will be much more comfortable.

The View

Nippon sent me this picture of the view from our balcony.
Look at all that green!
YIPPY!!!

Crying Like A Baby

Yup, that was me when Nippon left about 30 mins ago. OK, I'll be honest, I'm still puffy eyed and a bit weepy. It's the weirdest thing. I know that he will be back in 5 days, so it's not that I will miss him. I mean, I will miss him but there's just something more to it. I think I know what it is. Today signaled "the change." This is no longer "our house." I mean, we will still own it and everything but it's no longer HOME. I really like our house and where we live and our friends and having family close and well everything! This is a big step for our family. Heading out into the great unknown. It's pretty scary, and of course totally exciting.

I wasn't the only weeper. Afton (who hadn't had a nap because I wanted him to spend as much time with his daddy as possible today) started bawling. I'm talking huge crocodile tears accompanied by wails of "I want Daddy" and "I go, I go." After Nippon was gone, I took Afton to his room to read books and have some milk, hoping that he (and I) would calm down. This didn't really work too well. We both basically had a 15 minute cry-fest. After sobbing our way through two books Afton passed out. I'm sure being over-tired had a lot to do with his tears, but I know mine were from inevitable change. I guess it wouldn't feel real if there weren't some emotions involved. Right?

The Big Move

We found a two bedroom apartment in the Carmel Mountain area of San Diego. It's a bit further inland than we wanted, but it felt like a better area for a 2 year old to run around in. There is a play area in the complex, several parks nearby, and shopping right around the corner. It's in a much less congested area than the other apartment we were going to get in La Jolla, even though it would have been awesome to live there!

Nippon starts his job on Monday, so he will leave tomorrow and stay with my bestie Jaime (which is probably the best part about moving to SD) and then go pick up the keys to the new apartment on Monday after work. He is only taking what can fit in his car which means he will be sleeping in a sleeping bag and eating on the floor. Luckily he won't have to do that for very long. He is coming back on Friday and we will pack up a U-Haul and move the rest of our stuff next weekend. That means that I need to have everything packed and ready by the time he flies back. I plan to go visit my family in Safford, so I better get a move on.

I will now leave you with a picture of Afton at Coronado Beach (from our previous trip to SD in Sept). He LOVES it there and talks about living in "Sa Deego" and going to the "beash" (beach). He actually says "California" with perfect clarity.

Packing + Stress = Sickness

I wanted to blame my cold solely on Afton, but I'm sure that the stress of moving is taking its toll. He picked up a nasty cough a couple of weeks ago along with a runny/stuffy nose and fever. He still has a lingering cough, but is basically fine. I on the other hand feel like poop. It started with a slight cough and feeling tired. I've been running around from Kid to Kid (to see if I could get any money from clothes Afton has grown out of and toys that I don't want to pack) to play dates with friends that we will be missing. Throw in packing, cleaning, and regular daily life and there is no surprise why I was tired. But then...the cough decided to turn into a seal bark, my nose sprung a leak, I'm positive my head is going to explode, and to top it off my body thinks it ran a marathon. I'm really not in the mood for this. Not that anyone is ever in the mood to be sick, but I've got packing to do and we are heading to San Diego on Sunday to find a place to live! I will now use the phrase that Afton has been using quite a lot lately...GO AWAY COLD! He doesn't say the "cold" part obviously, it's usually "Mommy" or "Banyan" (the cat), but the message is the same. GO AWAY COLD!

Book 'em

We've started going through things and begun packing last week. The DVDs are all ready to go (because they were super easy to pack) and the linens & bath towels are sorted and ready for donation. I've begun wrapping my knickknacks and have taken down almost all of our pictures. The thing that has taken some time though (so far) are the books. I hate to get rid of any of them, yet I know there are several that need to go. They have been read and used and loved and are not worth packing up. They are very HEAVY! Especially Nippon's computer programming books. So we spent yesterday deciding which will stay and which will be passed along to new readers. I have four large bags of books to take to Bookmans to see if they will buy any. I'm sure they will buy quite a few of them, as there are some great books in there. After that they will be taken to Goodwill. I was thinking that I would go to Changing Hands but they only give store credit. That means I would end up buying more stuff to pack. Not a good idea. But still temping.

World Cup Finals Here We Come!

India triumphed over Pakistan today at the World Cup semi-finals! I started watching it on streaming live toward the end of the match, with Harbhajan bowling and Pakistan in need of 73 runs from 51 balls. There was a couple minutes there where I wasn't sure they were going to be stopped, but when Nehra hit the batter out and then Tendulkar caught one, I started doing an Indian celebration. It's kind of like an Ewok celebration but there is more pointer finger dancing.

Great match! I can't wait to see the India Vs. Sri Lanka match on April 2nd.

It's Official

We are moving to San Diego!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

Nippon had a job interview last week and yesterday they officially made him an offer, which he accepted. He is set to start April 18th so we don't have any time to waste find a place, getting our house ready to rent, packing, ect. ect. ect. It's going to be a bit crazy at our house for the next three weeks! I am super excited to start this new adventure, but I will definitely miss my friends, family, and familiar spots in Arizona. I guess change is always hard, but luckily it's fun too!

Lookin' At You

I've probably posted these pictures before, but they make me happy so....

A Real Cut

This is the picture the lady who cut Afton's hair took after a very easy and quick first salon haircut. I had been cutting Afton's hair at home, but since I was basically just trimming it to keep it out of his eyes, his hair was turning into a mullet. I decided to take him to get a "real" cut. I thought it was going to be a horrific ordeal but he was really good. I'm sure the Elmos video, race car seat, stuffed dog, and other fun toys were distracting enough. I almost thought his patience had left while waiting for the stylist to get a band-aid for the cut she gave herself about three snips into it. BUT he was a good boy and only asked a few times to get down. All in all it was a great trip. He still has some cute curls and his hair is out of his eyes. I think I can keep it trimmed for a while, but when the back starts getting longer than the front you know we will be back.

Aftonaut

Afton and I watched the last launch of the space shuttle Discovery last week.
I tried uploading the video I took of him watching, but it wouldn't load.
You should have seen his eyes wide in amazement!
It's a good thing that I DVRd it because he asks to watch "space shuttle" several times a day.
It's the first thing he wants to do when he wakes up in the morning.
It trumped the Wii.

Master Bowler

Afton really likes playing the Wii. He was getting so good at the old Wii Sports that we decided to buy him Wii Sports Resort so he has more game options. This is the score he got when playing bowling. Notice the 4 strikes in a row! Oh, and the fact that it's 11:36 and he is still in his PJs.

radionoggin

Listening to....

They made me happy today with an early release.
Now the car ride to Safford will be a bit more tolerable.

Lil Skater Boy

Once There Was a Christmas

I promise we did celebrate this holiday. We went to Safford to spend Christmas Eve with my family. We opened presents at my parents house before going to my Aunt Lisa's for a delicious dinner. Christmas is so much fun now that there are kids to enjoy it with.

Afton was spoiled, as were Nippon and I.

My parents gave Afton a tricycle. He looks so cute on it!
He finally mastered the pedaling and goes all over the house, though he still needs to get the steering down. Practice, practice!

My niece received this pony. You can feed it, brush it, sit on it, ect. and it responds.


This is the kids reaction to Scott bringing it in.


Adyson loved it.

Afton, not so much.

NOLA

Back in December we flew to New Orleans with Nippon's parents to help his sister move back to AZ. She just finished getting her masters at Tulane. Congrats Sushriya!!!
Here are some pics of the fun we had.

We had just walked back from Cafe du Monde, finished eating our beignets, and were waiting to take a cruise up the Ol' Miss.

We took the Steamboat Natchez up the Mississippi. This is the last authentic steamboat on the river. They take you up the river pass a lot of industrial parts of New Orleans and give a little history on the area. They also let you tour the engine room which was interesting and all steampunkish. Before we set sail a guy entertained us by playing a steam-powered calliope. How cool is that!?

Domino sugar refinery.

Industry or Mars?

Sriya took us on a tour of the Tulane School of Public Health.

The Bloody Marys in that town are da best! They are spicy and have okra, green beans, and green olives to garnish. They had me at okra.

We also went on a Cajun Encounters swamp tour. Afton liked the gator until Sra tried to feed him to it. Actually, he didn't mind that part either.

They said that it was very unlikely that we would see an alligator since the weather was chilly. Guess who spotted one though!?!? Yup, ME! Here is a shot of the little guy. Can you see him?

These herons were pretty much the only wildlife we saw (other than the baby gator).
That's okay, they are beautiful.




The Big Easy was more than fabulous. We made it to Bourbon Street (forgot to take pictures) and had some drinks. Hurricanes of course! Maybe that's why I forgot to take pictures. Nippon had to go back the next night and get something called a Grenade because there was an airplane flying around advertising them. He didn't want to miss out. The food was outstanding. I can't decide if Deanie's, Drago's, or Mulate's was my favorite. It must be a tie. Oh, and we also went to the Audubon Insectarium where we ate chocolate covered grasshoppers, scared Afton with a hissing cockroach, and wandered through an Asian inspired butterfly garden.

Can't wait to go back!