happy mommy

This is attempt #3 at this blog post (problems with blog app...hard work lost. Twice! boo).

Thursday was Mommy's 31st birthday, and what a lovely birthday it was. Here is a recap of events of the week (birthday and otherwise).

Thursday morning I woke up to this goofball:

First on the agenda was bringing Rosie to her first dentist appointment. We found a dentist nearby that got great review on Yelp. He lived up the expectations set by the reviews. He was very deliberate with the process and explained everything as we went. He let Rosie explore the space and had us talk first in hopes to gain Rosie's trust. And it paid off because she let him prod around in her mouth with absolutely no protest. And then, of course, the best part of the visit: a new toothbrush and a prize from the vending machine! I even got a gift for bringing Rosie in. Since our visit Rosie's been much more willing to let us help her brush. I forgot to take a shot of her in the dentist chair (with the oversized novelty toothbrush) but here she is in the waiting room 5 seconds after we walked in. She felt right at home:

After the dentist we treated ourselves to breakfast at, you guessed it, IHOP! It was actually tastier than I remember IHOP being. But maybe it was because someone was serving sweet kisses:

The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxed at the house and was able to FaceTime with Ba Ngoai and Ba Co in Vietnam. I love seeing Ba Co's beautiful smile and was happy she could also see Rosie in all her silliness and sweetness. Later on Rosie headed to Tia's house as I went to class. My classes started this week so Rosie got some quality time with her aunts and cousins on Wednesday and Thursday. Rosie has achieved a very sweet balance of not wanting to see me or DaddyO leave but loving to be with her family so quickly gets over our departure. After class I was greeted at home by Rosie and DaddyO and was the showering of gifts quickly began:

After many thoughtful gifts, we sang happy birthday (what I was looking forward to all day) to cupcakes Rosie made with Tia and cousin A. We then got Rosie ready for bed and took a walk. Once Rosie fell asleep we had a really nice dinner at a new restaurant downtown, Lokanta. Mike and I were able to have a really nice, uninterrupted conversation (often difficult to have when Rosie's awake) and had a delicious meal. Only weird thing was getting a mojito made with rice wine (for future reference, it dOES change the taste despite what the server claimed).

Friday! Just when I thought the birthday was over, it continued! Rosie and I picked up DaddyO from work and headed to dinner in San José (after an ever so lovely trip to the DMV). There we headed to San Pedro Square Market where we caught up with some good friends we hadn't seen since moving to Pleasanton, and of course good friends we always make a point of seeing whenever possible:

After a wonderful evening with everyone (including Auntie, Uncle G, and A), we had to walk off all the goodies and went on a pursuit for great coffee at Philz. Rosie is always such a trooper on these late nights and was quite the character. There was lots of sweet laughter (Di T would be proud!).

31's off to a great start!