June 30, 2007

This morning Papa babysat Gianna while I went to a charcuterie lecture. It was great! In the afternoon, Auntie Susy arrived from Arizona. We all went out to meet Auntie Mirella at the American Girl store.

Here's Gianna posing as an American Girl doll. I think she fits right in. :)

Papa wanted to stop by the doll hospital. Here he is with the doctor on call. Too silly!

Tonight Papa and I went to Alinea for dinner while Auntie Susy babysat Gianna. Auntie Susy said that Gigi slept for a little while, but when she got up, she cried and cried. Susy had the same experience as Auntie Suzanne. :(

June 29, 2007

Today we went on a walking tour of Chicago with Uncle Mark and Mirella. One of the stops was at a church where a bullet hole still remains from the ganster days of the past. Here's Sid showing off his dodging technique.

We walked from the Drake Hotel at the beginning of the "Magnificent Mile" to Millineum Park where the Taste of Chicago was being held. At the park, we came across these two VERY TALL men.

I couldn't tell if Gianna was laughing or crying. Hmmm.

Here we are at a famous sculpture in the Park. It looks like a big metal jelly bean.

Gigi liked looking at her reflection.

The Taste of Chicago goes on for ten days. We got there on the first day, but it was still very crowded.

Here we are at Buckingham Fountain. It's supposed to be the largest fountain in the U.S.

The Budweiser horses were trotting around, and we got to get up close and personal!

It felt like we were in a beer commercial. :)

We all had a fun time. For dinner, the three of us went to Fontera Grill. It was delicious, but I forgot to take pictures.

June 28, 2007

It's our 15th Anniversary! It was a FABULOUS day!

Today Uncle Mark and Auntie Mirella took a bunch of us on a tour of Chicago. They rented a van and a driver to shuttle us all around the town. We were out from 10 AM to 10 PM! It was a fun filled day!


Here's Papa waiting in the van with Gianna who took her morning nap in the van. The rest of us got out and looked at the view from the aquarium. It was a very windy day. I'll have to get a picture from Auntie Mirella.


One of the stops on our tour was the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We got to see the "action" on the floor. Gianna loved it, because she got a chance to crawl around. :)

For lunch, we ate at Al's Italian Beef Sandwich shop. The sandwiches were delicious! Auntie Mirella fed Gigi some yogurt so that I could eat my lunch.

For dessert, we went across the street for Italian Ice. Gianna really enjoyed this cool and tasty treat!

While we were there, we had the chance to meet Mario's son who now runs the shop. He's the man in the white shirt in the middle.

We also stopped off to go to the top of the Sears Tower. During our visit there Gianna took her afternoon nap. She was such a good baby!

We drove by the infamous Cabrini Green projects. Scary!

Gianna woke up in time for our next stop... a huge wine & liquor store. Papa LOVED it. It was even bigger than the store in Orinda. Here's Gigi trying to get some good ol' bourbon! That's my baby!

For dinner we went to eat Greek food. Here's Gianna having her first taste of tarama salata, my favorite!

One of the featured dishes is flaming cheese! It was very exciting!

Here's the whole gang at dinner.

Here's Gianna showing off the "Chicago" bib that Auntie Mirella got for her. I think she's trying to order some Ouzo.

At dinner, Gianna got to know Uncle Phil much better. She met him last night, but tonight, he won her over. Uncle Phil sang and danced for Gianna, and she LOVED it!

June 27, 2007

Oh my goodness! We arrived in Chicago at 5:30 AM! We made it to the Drake Hotel by 6:30 AM, but there were NO rooms available! Luckily, Gigi fell asleep on the couch in the lobby, but around 7:30 AM, three EXTREMELY noisy businessmen decided to have a very LOUD conversation right next to the sleeping baby. :(! I was so upset! They woke her up!

I was so tired and weary, that I called Mirella to ask if we could rest at their place. So we walked over to Uncle Mark and Auntie Mirella's place. They live in a beautiful condo! It was like a luxury hotel and gym combined together!

By the time we made it to their place, Gianna was exhausted and cranky. She ended up crying herself to sleep. :( We all fell asleep and woke up in the afternoon! We checked into our hotel room, got cleaned up, and headed out to dinner at Bacino's for Chicago-style pizza.

Here's Auntie Mirella explaining the deep-dish pizzas to us.

Gianna was trying to take a slice, but I gave her polenta instead. She loved the polenta!

Despite our happy party, Gianna fell asleep. She was such a good baby!

We woke her up so that we could catch a cab back to the hotel. Here she is in her portable car seat that Papa got. It was wonderful!

June 26, 2007

We left for Chicago today with only two pieces of checked luggage! Crazy! We gate-checked the Micralite stroller, and I had my rolling LV luggage with all of Gianna's stuff in it. Thank goodness Papa got us into first class! We had the back row, so we could mess around and not bother anyone.

Papa and Gianna were having a good time!

Here's Gianna listening to the in-flight movie.

June 23, 2007

Today Grandma and Grandpa came out to visit, so we all went to Chilli's to have lunch. It was a practice run for us, since we'll be in Chicago next week.

I bought Gianna this highchair cover. It worked really well! Here's Papa giving her a french fry!

June 22, 2007

Today Gianna is 9 months old!

Here's Gianna celebrating her 9-month birthday with some happy screaming. :)

We started off the morning with a "Mum Mum" cracker. This is the first time that Gianna actually ate the cracker. When I've tried giving her the cracker in the past, she would just make a funny face and spit it out. Today she actually ate it all up!

We also went to see Dr. Yano for Gianna's 9 month check up. Unfortunately she has an ear infection in her left ear! :o

Dr. Yano presribed Gigi some antibiotics, and he specifically said NO SWIMMING until we see him again after our trip! Luckily, the medicine smells (I didn't taste it) like an orange creamsickle, and Gianna loves it!

Her 9 months stats are 29 inches tall and 19.5 lbs.

June 20, 2007

Today we went to visit Auntie Lauren, Auntie Robyn, and Emmy. Gianna loved being at Auntie Robyn's house. She has so many fun toys! She also fed Gigi some scrambled eggs and rice!

Gigi especially liked this toy kitchen set. She loved the spatula!

June 19, 2007

Gianna is teething again! Luckily I found a vibrating teether, similar to what Griffin has. Here's Gigi trying it out.

June 17, 2007

Today is Father's Day! I finally decided to let Gianna try to hold her own food and feed herself. I gave her half of a banana. It was a total MESS, but I think she had a fun time.
After breakfast, we went out to Ala Moana to pick up Papa's gift. Here he is showing off his first father's day gifts.

We gave him the 'token' tie and a polo shirt. Notice the G's all over. Funny, huh?

Then we went to the Kahala for Father's Day brunch with Grandma and Grandpa. Here's Papa and Gigi being silly.

We also saw Auntie Liulani there. She showed Gigi around the place. She LOVED Auntie's nametag and necklace. Poor Liulani, she got drooled on by Gigi. :(

Here's Grandma feeding Gianna some guava tapioca. It was a dessert item, and Gigi ate it all up!

Here's Grandpa, Gianna, and Papa. It was a beautiful day!

Don't they look alike?

Gigi really enjoyed herself!

June 14, 2007

Today we flew home to Hawaii. It was a busy morning of packing!

Here's Gigi enjoying the ride on the airport monorail.

Do you see the look of relief on my face? We were delayed for 45 minutes in the plane before takeoff. And Gigi cried the entire time! Papa and I had no idea what was wrong. We gave her all sorts of medication to try and make her feel better. By the time the plane finally took off, she was fast asleep.

June 13, 2007

This afternoon, the whole family went for a stroll at the Lafayette Reservoir. The trail was 2.7 miles. During the stroll, we took a quick break to go down to the water and see the ducks.

One duck came by to say hello to Gianna.

During our water break stops, Gigi also drank water from her sippy cup.

Uncle Ted took a picture of the three of us.

Near the end of the stroll, I packed Gigi. She was getting restless. It was probably the heat.

After the stroll, Uncle Ted rented a paddle boat. Gianna had to wear a life vest, because she was an infant. She was SOOOOO unhappy. She cried the whole time. We were only out for about 15 minutes, because she was crying so hard.

It was a beautiful place. Too bad that Gigi was so unhappy. :(

In the evening, we went to drop off Gigi at Auntie Suzanne's house. She is our babysitter for the Police concert.

Here's Gigi getting acquainted to Popcorn, the beagle.

Gigi's checking out Griffin.

Auntie Nola and Auntie Suzanne had their hands full!

Here's Papa and me. We're off to see the Police concert.

It was AWESOME! Our seats were in the center, on the aisle, and on the field! The sound was great! When we made it back to the city a little before midnight, Gigi was asleep, but Auntie Suzanne said that she cried a lot! :(

Thank you Auntie Suzanne, Auntie Nola, and Uncle Dave! Gigi was a happy camper for the rest of the night. I would have never known that she cried so much if you didn't tell me.