Hawaii Recap

Mommy didn't get a chance to upload all the Hawaii pictures but she found some that she felt she had to put up.

This is what happens when mommy and daddy leave me with Godmother and Godfather...the abuse...*sigh*

I loved the warm waters and swimming! Did I tell you I'm now taking swimming lessons and absolutely love them. Hopefully I'll learn to blow bubbles underwater!

Say cheese!! Mom's shoulder is the greatest Kleenex on this planet. Everyone should have one!

Who could say they've been to Hawaii without trying on a hula skirt and lei?! And no, Daddy did not let Mommy buy this outfit..oh well.

Mahalo!!

Battery Park Playground

This past weekend, my Aunt Michelle was here visiting with Andrew. During one of their free days, we decided to go to the playground at Battery Park.

The sandbox area is my favorite although mommy does not like all the sand that gets in my shoes and clothes. I decided to venture to some new friends and see what they were up to...

Here I am riding the baby slide and then I took Aunt Michelle over to the water area. This day the water was turned off as the weather was a bit cooler. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for my mom, this meant no getting wet. :(

The swings are one of my favorite things to do at the park. Look closely at the children next to my swing. Mommy might have to swing us like that once my brother/sister is born so that both of us can get on a swing without waiting forever....

I went back to the sandbox to see if they were doing anything interesting. I found my own pink shovel and decided to dig myself instead of waiting for others. That's right, Daddy always taught me to be a go-getter.

Here is a passageway that is a little tricky to get through. Hi Mommy!!

Meet my favorite friend in the park, Albert the dodo bird. He usually has water spurting out but with the weather a bit cooler, all the water was turned off. Boo hoo.

We had such a great time with Aunt Michelle and Andrew. Hopefully they'll be back soon!!

*Hugs*

Matthew

Videos of Me!

Just in case you want to see me in action -- my mom and dad created a youtube site for me. Follow this link for video updates of me going forward!

http://www.youtube.com/matthewandrewkim

Enjoy!

Helping Mommy in the Kitchen

You see what a big boy I've become?

Victorian Gardens

Hi Everyone,

I know, there has been a lapse to my posting but with mommy and daddy working and my going to school 4 days a week, who has the time anymore!?

Anyway, I've posted some snaps from my fun filled weekend at Victorian Gardens, a small amusement park at Central Park's Wollman Rink. It's usually an ice skating rink during the winter but in the summer, they've turned it into an amusement park.

I loved all the rides at the park with a wheel to drive. Everytime the ride ended I cried since I had to get off. The next picture shows me going down a slide on a potato sack with daddy! It was a bit scary so I had to brace myself...

And here I am taking a rest in the shade with mommy. Mommy was too tired and pregnant to take me on the rides since she's expecting my baby brother or sister in just less than 3 weeks now. It was a really hot day so daddy slicked my hair down so that my head would cool down. He's so good to me. *sigh*

Daddy and I in a race car!!

Lately, I've been saying lots of words and running non-stop. I can name all my friends at school now and some of my teachers. I can say shoes, apple, TV, mommy/daddy, grandpa and grandma in korean (shortened form), bus, taxi, wheel, Leah (my cousin), fish, dog, bap (rice), milk (in korean), up/down and much much more. I've also started to sing my ABC's -- just the A and C part though. Hee hee.

I'm learning to play with my friends at school, drink out of a cup with no lid and I can now sleep on a cot for naptime at school. I'm also eating a lot better than I used to and at school I've learned to hold my spoon and eat cereal with milk. It's not always neat but I like my independence and don't like mommy and daddy to feed me anymore.

Daddy's friends from Canada came this weekend and updated our computer with some programs so now I'll be able to post some videos. So, stay tuned!

I'll try and post one more time before my new sibling comes. Mom and Dad think my sibiling will come early as mom is already having early contractions and slightly dilated. Yikes!

Much love,

Matthew

Kauai, Hawaii

I woke up the next day to find fairy godmother had arrived in Newport Beach and after packing up all our stuff, we headed out to LAX for our airplane ride out to Kauai, Hawaii!

Can you tell how excited I am? I've been learning to smile on demand when my parents say "Cheese" and point a camera at me!

That's right, Superman is talking to you!

During our stay in Kauai, we rented a 2 bedroom condo. It was stocked with a kitchen and washer/dryer capabilities, which came in really handy. This is the view from my parent's room upstairs. Isn't it beautiful?

Uncle Dennis, Aunt Janet and Cousin Leah were already in Kauai and had overlapped 2 days with us. So, we decided to use our gear to go on a hiking trail. Turns out the hiking trail was only a lookout post. We ended up gearing up but only for a few minutes -- haha.

Here is cousin Leah enjoying the wind! And here are the Kwons! They are also expecting baby #2 on January 1!

Here is the Kimbo family and in the next picture, here we are with my Uncle Mike and Aunt Michelle.

After the lookout, we took a lunch break at a nearby park. In the park, there were a lot of roosters. I tried to catch them but they were too fast. Instead, I decided to snack while keeping the roosters in line. There were a whole bunch of beaches right outside our condo and I made good use of the condo's beach equipment -- shovels, pails, mats, balls, etc.

I wanted to explore the rocky areas but mommy had to help me out since there was algae on the rocks and it was slippery. Even mommy almost fell a couple of times. I loved swimming in the warm ocean. It was extra salty too so I floated without assistance!

Daddy and I having fun.....and a shoreline picture.

I kept an eye out on the shore so that we didn't drift too far away. Here we are at another lookout at the Northern part of the island. Do you see the beautiful greenery and mountains. Kauai is known for its vegetation as it rains very often. We learned that quickly and were always armed with umbrellas for the frequent yet short sun showers.

We will be back Hawaii -- the land of rainbows!

Bye!

The West Coast!

So I've made it to the West Coast and I've been chillin' like a Californian. We spent a few days with Grandpa Kwon since he was in town for business and then headed to San Diego to explore the zoo and Sea World.

But before we headed off to San Diego, Grandpa Kwon stayed with us in Newport Beach for one night where Godfather lives. He's so lucky he lives so close to sand, surf and sun. He's got the good life.

Here we are hanging by Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. There were lots of surfers and people fishing on the boardwalk. The fish of the day there is mackerel. A lot of fishermen caught baby mackerels and some caught bigger ones.

Grandapa Kwon, Mommy and I

The crashing waves were fascinating....you had to be there to experience it..

I got a little scared from the sound of the waves crashing so I held on to Grandpa Kwon just in case...

Grandpa Kwon left to go back home and take care of business back in NY and we headed out to San Diego. The first stop was Sea World and we made sure to make sure we caught the main attraction, Shamu the Killer Whale. Here I am waiting in the stands with Daddy for the show to start.

Look at Shamu go! Godfather is a great photographer...look at this shot! Quality!

We saw Manatees at Sea World that were huge!!! They look like a mix between a walrus and seal. They are really cute like me. This one is not real obviously -- duh.

We also saw tons of flamingos! Did you know that they don't get their pink shade when they are born? It takes them 2 years to get their pink color and the pink color comes from all the crustaceans they eat. They smelled really bad though...must be their farts, or maybe it was mommy. hahahah.

We then took a short break at the Sesame Street play area. There was a small place for little people like me to play with blocks and run around on a mat that was a bit squishy. There was a bigger playground area for bigger kids with lots of rope climbing and tunnels. Maybe next time I'll be big enough to go to that playground.

I made lots of friends by bumping into them as the floor was not so stable.

Sorry, I didn't mean to crash into you like that. I'm Matthew. I like your overalls. Can we be friends?

You'd think this was all play and no work!? Well, no siree, I picked up blocks and helped construct things. I'm very helpful -- just ask mommy.

Do you think I'm joking? Ask her yourself. humph!

The mat was a bit hard to walk in so while walking across the mat, I ran into some other lady who saved me from falling flat on my face. Whew!

All the playing, building, making friends and bumping into people got tiring after a while. I decided to lay down and rest for a bit.

But I got right back up since Daddy said I had to make the best of my day at Sea World -- so I got right back up...

....and ran into my friend in overalls!

But then, my legs gave in and I had to rest...

Maybe if I got one leg up, I'd be closer to getting back up....

nope!

But I still made sure to say hi! while lying down.

Finally, I was just about to get back on my feet and walk back over to mommy when....

Crash! Out of nowhere these other kids came tumbling on top of me!

Thankfully, it was nothing big so we just dusted ourselves off and got back up.

At Sea World, we also got to go through a shark tank, see the penguins and view lots of freshwater fish. At the end of the day, we watched a seal and otter show with a guest appearance by a HUGE walrus. I wish we had pictures to show you but Godfather has to also enjoy his time too, you know. Sheesh, you people are demanding!

The next day, I woke up bright and early, ready to hit the San Diego Zoo!

Here we are, the Kimbos at the Zoo!

The first stop was the Children's Zoo. I met my first meerkat! They reminded me of the prairie dogs I met at the Bronx Zoo. They are really cute and stand up straight on their hind legs.

Then mommy and I went to look at a macaw (similar to a parrot) perched on a branch.

The colors of the macaw were so pretty!

We then hit the petting zoo! I made friends with a lot of nice goats

and gave them kisses...

Mommy told me to stop after awhile since she was afraid I might catch something from the furry goats...

But I just couldn't help myself...

They were just too cute!

Okay, can I pet one more goat mommy, I promise I won't kiss anymore....

See, I'm such a good boy. *sigh*

Daddy, made sure I washed my hands thoroughly, especially after all the goats I kissed and touched. He's so good to me.

Godfather and I finally took our first picture together since Daddy made him take all the pictures so far. Daddy said something about being the 3rd child makes him a "slave". Good thing I won't ever have to be a slave. haha.

Look! I posed for a picture myself in this face hole.

Next, we visited a bug exhibit. It was mighty disgusting but I was brave. Mommy couldn't take any pictures of me since she was getting freaked out. These are cockroaches!!! Aren't they massive?!

How disgusting...but still kind of neat.

After the bug exhibit, we went to see the main attraction at the San Diego Zoo, pandas!!! I think this is Zhen Zhen. She is about 2 years old -- older than me! Aren't they cute?

I wanted to kiss them too. But mommy said I have to stop giving out free kisses until I turn 21. She said only family and friends that she says are okay are allowed. Oh well -- at least I got to kiss goats.

We then went up an escalator and I got to go up all by myself! It took a lot of balance so I had to hold daddy's hand.

Next, we went to see the new Elephant exhibit area. They just moved the elephants over so they could have 3x more space to roam. There were also llamas, camels, gazelles and monkeys along the way we also saw.

The elephants were nice and big to spot. Even I could spot them from my level and pointed it out to everyone.

We don't have pictures so you'll have to take my word on it, but we also saw tons of exotic birds, a hippo, rhinoceros and tigers, lions and a baby leopard.

Before we left the zoo, I got to climb through a tunnel all by myself! It was a good break from all the animals that we saw that day.

I think my outfit matches with the tunnel...hmmm.

Godmother is arriving this evening and all the Kims are headed out to Kauai, Hawaii for eight days! We will be meeting up with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Janet, along with Leah! We can't wait. Then a few days later mommy and daddy's friends, Sarah and Chris will be joining us. Hopefully the weather in Kauai will cooperate and we'll be able to go hiking, ATVing (well not mommy or me of course!) and maybe visit another island!

See you after we get back from the Island.

Kisses,

Matthew