wordless wednesday: gratuitous kid pic

on the mend

Z-Dub had his tonsils and adenoids removed and new tubes put in his ears early Saturday morning and then spent the entire day and overnight in the hospital. He was discharged midday on Sunday.

Since we arrived home he's been recovering at a very past pace, without requiring any pain medication. However, he's very grumpy because he's on a strict liquid and soft food diet. Z-Dub is a little weird because he doesn't want Jello, pudding, popsicles and ice cream. Instead he begs for chicken, hot dogs, pizza, chips, french fries and popcorn. HotMomma did break down and made him some Orzo pasta with parmesan and romano cheese mixed in it. He seemed to like it and it was soft enough for his throat.

Other than the diet thing he's also been very clingy to me, which has been a bit of a slap in HotMomma's face since it was Mother's Day weekend. I have no idea why, but all Z-Dub wants is his Daddy. It's almost annoying though.

Thank you to everyone here and on Facebook for your well wishes. We appreciate it very much.

Just after surgery, all Z-Dub wanted to do was sleep.

A visit from his Grandma.

Later in the evening he got a visit with his bro The Deuce.

Doing great!

Waiting to get that damned IV out of his arm and go home.

a mission

VegasDad circa 2003:

A consistent gym regimen (before kids, blog, etc.) and 190 lbs. of pure muscle.

VegasDad present day:

Haven't been to the gym in ages, feeling out-of-shape, pathetic and not even 160 lbs. of softness.

We've got a mission my friends. I'm on a quest to regain the glory of my days of peak physical shape. I don't want to be 190 lbs. again, but a nice muscle-toned body somewhere in between my current weight and my former would be nice. I'm being realistic because, let's face it, I'm no longer in my 20s. And frankly, I don't have the time and energy anymore to commit to what is required to be my previous self. 

Anyways, stay tuned. And if you hear or see me slacking, feel free to tear me apart with your words of disappointment and disgust. 

a post of randomness

Oh dear blog, how I've neglected you. It's been five days since my last post. And, frankly, my last post was nothing more than an embedded You Tube video. Not much to it really. 

Life has been kind of crazy lately. We've been reinforcing the potty training with Z-Dub. He's starting his third week diaper free. He's had a few accidents, but that's expected. He gets distracted by "fun" and forgets that he's not wearing a diaper. He also tends to "hold it" too long before telling us he has to go. As a result, some of his accidents have been while his pants were coming off to use the toilet. 

Speaking of Z-Dub, he's turned into a raging three-year-old lately. He's literally a back-talking, hitting, stubborn brat of a boy. We're working hard to get him under control, but let's face it, he's three and it's how kids his age act. We're trying to find a healthy balance of discipline and positive reinforcement when he's being good. So far, the most effective punishment is withholding toys. And threatening kidnap by pirates seems to be working as well. He scoffs at time out. 

Meanwhile, little The Deuce just keeps eating, pooping and growing. He's been teething lately, so he's a little on the grumpy side. Not too bad though. With the warm weather, he's been enjoying time at the pool. In celebration of a friend's birthday, we had a private cabana and pool at Green Valley Ranch Resort yesterday. The weather was beautiful and The Deuce and Z-Dub and their cousins had a blast splashing in the pool. They also like the endless parade of delicious food. I enjoyed one too many mojitos. It was a great day. 

Want proof, here's some pics.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that we got Z-Dub one of these over the weekend:

It's a Disney's Cars television set. It was an award for all of his peeing and pooping in the toilet. It'll also be great to "take away" as punishment for bad behavior. Just thinking ahead.

Disney Vacay Montage

We're back from our short Disneyland vacation to celebrate Z-Dub's third birthday. It was a fun and exhausting trip and Z-Dub had a blast. We took hundreds of photos, of course, but I thought I'd share just a few. I'm playing catch-up at work today and will be back to regular posting (and reading) tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy!!!

Ready for blast off!

Z-Dub's shirt says "Big Brother: Honor and Defend" and The Deuce's says "Little Brother: Search and Destroy."

Mom and son.

A Goofy encounter.

Excited for Autopia.

Sukita (cousin) and Z-Dub.

Still in line.

HotMomma and cousin DP.

HotMomma and her cousins from Sactown and little DP at Space Mountain.

HotMomma and me.

What's Z-Dub looking at? Perhaps the giant, talking Buzz Lightyear.

Goofing off.

The teacups at night. I couldn't catch a photo of Z-Dub riding. It was too fast for the camera at night.

The Deuce and his Auntie.

Enjoying the fireworks.

The fireworks.

Z-Dub shows off one of his Birthday presents.

Also, Z-Dub refers to Donald Duck as "Donald THE Duck." It's funny when he says it.

And, finally, we fly a lot, but the short 36-minute flight home from SNA to LAS was one of the scariest we've ever experienced on account of the wind. HotMomma was reciting Hail Mary's as I sat in my chair with   white knuckles. Luckily we all made it home in one piece.

the birthday boy!

Today our little man turns three! It's amazing how fast he's grown from a little baby into a bright and fun-loving boy. A "big boy," as he says. He's super smart, handsome and kind. We're so very proud.

Happy Birthday Z-Dub!!!

wordless wednesday

brotherly love

curious case of the half bald boy

Some of you may have noticed very few photos lately of The Deuce on this here site. It's not that I haven't overlooked the little fellow. He's the center of attention at our house.

The reason, I'm embarrassed to admit, is bad hair. You see, both Z-Dub and The Deuce were born with a full head of thick black hair. Unfortunately, it falls out shortly after birth, growing back later in a lighter brown hue. In Z-Dub's case, his hair fell out quickly leaving a nice, round and bald melon. For The Deuce, the hair loss has been less than kind. The hair has fallen out on the left side of his head, but the right side, most of the top and back of his head still has thick and long black hair. The remaining hair, particularly on the sides, seems to be coming off slowly.

It simply looks funny.

Want proof?

Here's Z-Dub at four months old.

Here's The Deuce this morning, just a week from four months.

It sort of resembles the hair style of Kim Jong-il. Am I right?

I have a solution...shave the kid's head with some clippers. HotMomma won't let me. What do you think, leave it be or shave it off?

Or, am I a complete ass for caring so much about it?

the camera loves him, and so do the girls

Much like Mr. Lady's beautiful daughter, 3of3, Z-Dub had an opportunity to model some threads for RedSparks.com, the Web site where you'll find clothing and accessories for the cool kids. Of course, the camera loving Z-Dub had a blast taking photos, and I think I had equal fun taking them. It was great, creative, father-son bonding time.

We explored gritty downtown Las Vegas on Saturday for an urban backdrop amongst the homeless, hookers and drug dealers. I know, a little too urban for kids clothing, but I thought it was a good environment. Please don't call CPS. On Sunday we went a little more wholesome with photos at the upscale District at Green Valley Ranch, a park and our neighborhood. We literally took more than 200 photos and I don't know which RedSparks.com will be using, but here are a few unedited shots for your viewing pleasure.

The urban collection:

The wholesome boy:

By the way, the shirt and pants provided to Z-Dub for the photos were really cool. He really, really liked them. In fact, on Sunday night he had a bit of a tantrum when we tried to remove them for shower time.

a swanky new hang out

Living in Las Vegas is great. We're home to world-class resorts, restaurants, night clubs, shopping, etc. It truly is a playground for grown-ups. Not so much for kids though. Which brings me to the point of this post. We have a brand new resort/casino/spa opening up this weekend just a stone's throw away from our home. We've watched its construction from when it was just a desert lot nearly two years ago to now. It's a truly impressive property featuring a lot of great amenities. We can't wait to hang out there.

I wrote an article about it for Uptake.com. Check it out.

wordless wednesday: crack is whack

This is the view you get when you walk up the stairs behind a two-year-old with a severely wet and sagging diaper.

You're welcome.

Posting this is further proof that I don't deserve this.

chicks dig him

Z-Dub got a butt load of Valentine's Day gifts yesterday.

new toys

I got one of these today. I love it.

And I've ordered one of these. I should have it next week. Can't wait.

I love gadgets.

it's his filipinoness

The Deuce had his second month doctor's appointment on Friday. As we expected, he's healthy, happy and growing great. He had another round of immunization shots, so yesterday he had a low-grade fever for the first time in his life, but he handled it like a champ.

The interesting part of these early doctor appointments are the body measurement results that let you know where your baby's growth and stature stands when compared to the average child. I guess some brainiacs in the government or some medical consortium got together, worked some numbers and came up with the formula to show what they think is "normal." With all of the measurements 50 percent is ideal.

The Deuce is quite a heavy child, so his 13 lbs. 11 ozs. weight wasn't a huge surprise. He ranks in the 86th percentile in the weight category. Yep, he's chubby. His head circumference ranked almost in the middle at 45 percent. But it was his height that really shocked us. He only measured 22 inches long, which places him in the measly 11th percentile. Yep, he's chubby....and a shorty. However, he is half Filipino, which isn't exactly the tallest of ethnicities. I guess the Filipino genes are stronger in Deuce. No multi-million dollar NBA contract for him. Now we think Z-Dub, on the other hand, is quite tall. However, his measurements were always right about 49 percent, which is just average.

However, in the end it doesn't matter if our kids are tall, short, big or small, we love them just the same.