I WOULD LIKE TO GO ON A SECOND DATE WITH YO GABBA GABBA. CALL ME PLEASE.

The show was SUPER AWSUM guys. I am so glad that we went and I am looking forward to our second date with Yo Gabba Gabba (minus the crazee accessible seating drama of course) when they come back to SF Bay Area again. Milo and Matilda had so much fun. Little Matilda seriously was rocking out the whole time on my lap. She is only 10 months old but she was dancing and waving her arms during the whole show. Milo still talks about the show and he likes to tell strangers that he went to see a big Yo Gabba Gabba concert and how they all came out of the box on stage. We get our daily dose of Yo Gabba Gabba on our boom box and we shake our sillies out.

Thank you YGG, you surely rock my kiddies world (and mine too). Please come back soon because we want to see you again.

1. Waiting for the show to start. 2. It was very exciting to see the whole gang and they shot out all these confettis. 3. Yacht (band) rocking out but the kids weren’t sure what’s going on.

4. YGG dancing with Ms. Leslie Hall 5. I love the bug costumes. 6. The centipede costume reminds me of No Face character from Spirited Away.

7. There’s a Party in my Tummy. 8. Biz Markie rocked the stage. Parents were cheering like crazee for him. 9. I enjoyed all the backdrop illustrations.

10. Weather theme confettis being shot out at the audience. 11. One final dance with Ms. Leslie Hall. 12. It’s time to say goodbye!

We headed to the party after the show. It was a room where we could meet the characters and balloons were all over the floor for the kids to play with. We were told that we could get a chance for hassle free merchandise shopping but guess what guys???!! The selection were so limited. It was NOTHING like what we saw at the main floor and it was so disappointing because we wanted to get stuff for the little ones but we waited thinking we could get the same stuff at the party!!! Milo was all prepared to shop for some YGG stuff and when I told him that we couldn’t, he kept telling me let’s to the party and get it. But he had so much fun meeting all the characters that he forgot about it. Now, I need to figure out where I can get those shirts I saw. We got the Muno shoes for him already.

Milo was SO excited to meet all his Yo Gabba Gabba friends.

Milo decided to get more dancing out of his system and then we ended our night with a quick story time with DJ Lance Rock and Ms. Leslie Hall.

THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY.

Christmas came early for my kids. The people at Yo Gabba Gabba read my post about my difficulties getting accessible seating tickets to their show and decided to send an amazing goody bag to my kids. It was truly a wonderful surprise for them and for me too. We had no idea especially since it was not Yo Gabba Gabba that did damages to the ticketing process.

Milo was ecstatic when we had him open up the package. He was not sure what was going on and why he was getting all these goodies for no reason. We blasted the CDs and danced around ever since. He would hang all the little characters around his fingers and pretend they are dancing with him. Matilda has been trying to get her hands on them but no luck yet since Milo has claimed them for himself.

We cannot wait for the show this Saturday because that’s when the party is coming to a city near us. YOOOOOOO GABBA GABBA!

Dear Ms. Tricia Olson: You are too cool and so awsum. Thank you thank you. You made my kids so happy and made us so happy because they are so happy. bestbest+jollypop to you + YGG.

I BUMPED MY HEAD WHEN I RODE THE AMBULANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

I am still trying to catch up in time with the rest of you. It was a crazee medical week last week. SO much to share and here it goes. Milo’s first night time trick-or-treating was good. We made it halfway around the neighborhood before he got too freaked out with the darkness. I think it’s just too much for him visually especially when there were lots of blinky halloween decoration lights.

Last week we had to take Milo to the urgent care at the clinic for his wheezing and he ended up in the hospital via ambulance for 4 days and 3 nights. It turned out that he had a pretty significant respiratory distress secondary to an asthma exacerbation. (We did not know he has asthma and this was the first time ever.) His oxygen level was pretty darn low for awhile and eventually he only needed his medication every 4 hours, in which it was safe for him to go home. Those couple days were very hectic. Matilda and I would run home in the evening and in the morning we would hurry back to the hospital to hang out with Milo. My hubby stayed with him every night and he would go home when I am there just to shower and get more supplies for the night.

Milo was discharged on Wednesday afternoon and it is so nice to have him back home and just have everyone in the house.

The next morning, we had to get up insanely early to go see his ocularist for a prosthesis scleral shell fitting. We made this appointment over 2 months ago. All in all it wasn’t too bad. Milo was not put under for the whole process. The impression was made at 8am and we went back at 11:30am for the shell. Milo was not too happy about it but he survived and so did we. We have been taking the shell out daily and each day we add more hours on his wearing time so that he can adjust better. It is pretty scary to put it in and take it out, especially the first day, and especially difficult when he is crying and squeezing his eye real right. After the first day, we noticed the shell turning sideways and it is still doing that on day 4. The ocularist told us to try it for a few days and if it’s still happening, we would need to go back for another impression. Milo does not have much luck with prosthesis but at least it’s not like last time (or at least not yet).

This past week was a crazee medical week. We pretty much lost a week and I thought Thanksgiving was in two weeks but realized that it is next week! I want my week back. I am so behind in everything, let along have time to blog. There are so many things I need and want to do. I guess I can catch up if I give up this week’s sleep but that is not possible since catching up on sleep is one of the things that I’ve been wanting to do since I had Milo. And most importantly, poor Matilda seemed forgotten last week because we were just so busy with Milo and she was so great at being so easy for me.

In sum, Milo is doing well since his asthma attack. He has all these inhalers he has to take and one of them is every 4 hours (my hubby gets up in the middle of the night to administer it) and hopefully he can cut down a bit after seeing his pediatrician. Now, I need to go and purchase a giant bag, a cute one of course, to put all his medications (eye drops, Epipen, inhalers, sclera shell case) so that it can easily be transfer between bags.

BUT WE GOT OUR TURKEY. I wish I can time freeze like that Evie girl from Out of this World. And if I could, I would rent out my time freezing fingers to others and can make some good money and not have to worry about getting projects while being a full time mom.

P.S. – Update to my last post about my Yo Gabba Gabba tickets, the people at Yo Gabba Gabba are so great at responding to my email and have been wonderful. The supervisor level people at San Jose Team email me and told me that they are dealing with the issue. San Jose Mercury News email me and told me that they will keep an eye on it (whatever that means). And I received lots of direct message due to the post which all has been very nice. I am still spreading word around when I can. I know the parents and staff at Early Staff appreciate my story and will know how to deal with situation like this in the future. Thank you everyone. xoxox – don’t mess with me because i will do something about it.

MY FIRST DATE WITH YO GABBA GABBA.

We decided to get tickets to take Milo to see Yo Gabba Gabba this November when they are in the Bay Area. It occurred to me that I will need to get front row seats for Milo and Matilda due to their vision and hearing impairment. I called San Jose Civic about accessible seating and they directed me to tickemaster.com. The process turned out to be super easy and I was told that my accessible seats are on the front row. I was thrilled and told Milo how we are going to see them and he was ecstatic. Later that day, I went to check the seat map of our seats and discovered that the tickermaster representative had booked us at the Fresno location!!?? I called ticketmaster.com and luckily I was able to get a refund. (It almost seemed too easy when I did it because they made a big point about how the tickets are nonrefundable and blah blab blah.)
FORESHADOW OF THIS LITTLE EXPERIENCE: THIS WAS JUST A PRACTICE RUN AS TO WHAT IS TO COME.

Between Muno and Plex, Milo picked Muno as his Halloween costume because they didnt have Plex in his size.

Here comes the craziness and I will try my best to refrain from using bad mouthing language:

CALL TO TICKETMASTER.COM – OCTOBER 26, 2011 AROUND 9PM (SPOKE WITH KIMBERLY):
I called to get tickets for the correct location and was told that there were no accessible seating for vision and hearing impairment for this event but they have wheelchair seating on the balcony level in the back. WhatWhatTheWhat was in my head so I repeated my question and I was told the same thing and that I should contact the venue because it is up to them to release those seats. AND she made a point to tell me (more than once) that it is very rare that they get requests for accessible seating for vision and hearing impairment. I did not respond to her because I was confused and surprised by her comment and not sure why she felt the need to say that to me. Was I suppose to say oh in that case never mind, let me just get some regular seats for my vision and hearing impaired kids so that they can go and sit super far away and won’t be able to see or hear a thing.

CALL TO SAN JOSE CIVIC BOX OFFICE – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 9AM:
I asked to speak with someone that can help me with accessible seating and he told me that they have no control of the seating arrangement and how it is up to the producer of Yo Gabba Gabba and I should call them to complain. I told him that I called ticketmaster and they informed me that the venue itself should be able to accomadate accessible seating for me. He then told me again that he cannot help me because they are not selling tickets to this show and that I need to call ticketmaster.com or call the producer of Yo Gabba Gabba and question them about accessible seating because they are the ones that have the ultimate control. Our conversation ended. I was pretty confused and a bit frustrated at how difficult it is to get accessible seating. It reminded me of speaking with lame-O airline representatives and how you get a different answer for the same question based on who you speak with.

I took a break since I had to take Milo to his weekly swim class. On the way, I kept thinking how I should approach this because it’s a bit ridiculous how NOT easy it is to get accessible seating and how ironic it is that it’s so hard to do it. AND the thought of reaching out to the producers of Yo Gabba Gabba did crossed my mind because I want to share with them how hard it is to get accessible seating and how they need to accommodate since it is part of the ADA law. I decided that I will call San Jose Box Office again to get more information about accessible seating and how it is arranged so that I can have all my information and start my complaint and get my answers. At this point, my goal was NOT about getting accessible seating for my kids, it’s about fighting for my kids’ rights. (I know it sounds kind of like a breakthrough point in a movie but unfortunately this is FOR REAL people.)

CALL TO TEAM SAN JOSE – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 10:30AM:
Instead of pressing 4 to be connected with the San Jose Box office, I pressed 0 under all other information (I was hoping that there would be someone else that I can speak with aside from the person that I spoke with earlier this morning at the box office). Claudia answered and I asked her who should I speak with about accessible seating for an upcoming venue. Right away she told me I should call the box office and Kevin or Peter can help me. She kindly transferred the call.

CALL TRANSFERRED TO SAN JOSE BOX OFFICE – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 10:32AM:
I started out the conversation again with can I please speak with someone that can help me with accessible seating. I was told by the other end that he was the one because he did not transfer me to another party and he responded by a yes. I told him that he might have been the person that I spoke with earlier in regards to accessible seating (I knew he was because I recognized his voice) and I would like to get a better understanding on this subject. He confirmed with me that I did not speak with him earlier (but I am sure it was him.). I told him that I want to find out more about accessible seating for the Yo Gabba Gabba event and he quickly told me that I will have to talk with the producer of that show because they do not sell tickets to this show and that San Jose Box Office has nothing to do with the seating arrangement and I should call ticketmaster to get the ticket. I told him that I did talked with ticketmaster and was told that I need to talk with the venue because they are the one that has control over the seating arrangements. Again, box office guy told me that he cannot do anything and that I need to call the producers of Yo Gabba Gabba. (As you can see, this is pretty much the same conversation that we had earlier that morning.) I then proceed to ask him how does accessible seating work for any shows that takes place at the San Jose Civic and I shared with him that I was booked by mistake for the Yo Gabba Gabba show in Fresno and they had accessible seating and it seems strange that the producer would make arrangement for Fresno location to have accessible seating but not at the San Jose Civic. The box office boy’s voice got very irritated and told me to stop calling him about this because 1) he cannot solve my problem and 2) he does not work at Fresno location so he has no idea what they do. With that being said, he pretty much confirmed with me that he was the one that I spoke with earlier in the day because he told me to stop calling him about this subject. I was too pissed off at this point to point this factor out to him. I told him that 1) I am not asking him to solve my problem 2) I am simply asking and gathering information as to how accessible seating is arranged so that I can have all the correct information and make complaints to the appropriate party and 3) he needs to calm down because I am not blaming him for anything. The all worked up box office guy kept on going off about how I need to stop calling him and that there is nothing he can do and how if I want to discuss SJBroadway he can tell me all about that. I pretty much tuned out at this point because I was getting very upset. SO, in a very calm voice, I said to box office guy, let’s get this straight, if I am to come into the box office today in person and told you that I need to get tickets for accessible seating for Yo Gabba Gabba you would tell me sorry I cannot help you. He said yes that’s right. I knew with that I was so done with him and that this is turning out to be even more crazee than what I expected. For reference sake, I asked him for his name and he did not say anything. I asked him if he was Kevin or Peter and he paused for a bit and said Kevin is not here. I said you must be Peter. He paused again and said no. I asked him again for his name. He paused and said there is no need for you to know my name because I am not selling you anything. I said are you refusing to tell me your name, he said yes. I told him that your name must be ASSHOLE because you are a complete ASS on this and he better read up about the ADA law. He was going off about something but I tuned out and was livid and almost in tears because I cannot believe the words that came out of that guy’s mouth.

CALL TO TEAM SAN JOSE – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 10:45AM:
I chose option 0 again because I want to find out the name of the box office guy and to file an official complaint. Claudia answered and I reminded her that I had called earlier and I told her what had happened. She was quick to apologize and assured me that she will go and find out the name of the guy and she will put in the compliant. I was a bit emotional when I was speaking with her because I was filled with so much frustration. Claudia told me that I should talk with Peter who is the ticket manager and he is extremely nice and would be able to help. I thanked her and was put on hold to be transferred to Peter.

TRANSFERRED TO PETER, TICKET MANAGER AT SAN JOSE BOX OFFICE – OCTOBER 27. 2011AROUND 10:50AM:
I got his voicemail.

CALL TO TEAM SAN JOSE *OPTION 0 – OCTOBER 27. 2011 AROUND 10:51AM:
I informed Claudia that I was not able to reach Peter and she told me I should leave a message for him and that Peter is extremely nice. She suggested that I should mentioned my bad experience with the box office guy to Peter.

TRANSFERRED TO PETER, TICKET MANAGER AT SAN JOSE BOX OFFICE – OCTOBER 27. 2011AROUND 10:52AM:
Peter answered and I told him that I need help with accessible seating for Yo Gabba Gabba and before I even told him what had happened, he quickly told me that yes he can help me even though they do not sell the tickets directly. I then told him what had happened and that I was told that they are not able to help with accessible seating and he confirmed with me that it is not true. He said he is able to look at the same seat map as ticketmaster and he saw available seats for accessible seating. Since he cannot sell tickets directly from his box office, Peter put in a request for Kathy from ticketmaster to contact me with my reserved accessible seats. I think at this point I was relived because there’s actually someone that is reasonable and know what the hell they are talking about. But at the same time I think I was still thinking about that nasty useless box office guy and how stupid it is that I had to go through all that just to get seats.

All this ended pretty much when Milo was done with his swim lesson and I am sure parents and teachers at the pool were wondering what was wrong with me since I was on the phone and was so emotional. Milo had no idea of course what happened.

When I got home, I called Claudia to thank her for her help and to ask her for the name of the rude ass box office guy. HIS NAME IS MICHALE. Claudia assured me that a verbal complaint has been made to a supervisor and that an internal talk has happened and that he is or has already gone through some people skill training. (In my opinion, Michael needs more than people skill training.) She again apologized and said that box office staff should have excellent customer service and she did not know what happened.

CALL FROM KATHY AT TICKETMASTER.COM – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 12:30PM:
Kathy got Peter’s message and helped me processed the accessible seat tickets that Peter had reserved for me. I asked her why is it that Peter can see the availability of the accessible seating in his system but the representatives I spoke with at ticketmaster.com could not. She said that she could not see them as well. I was confused because Peter told me that his system for the seating map is the same as ticketmaster.com. Why do they make it so difficult for people that need accessible seating to get a ticket? It’s already annoying that people that needs accessible seating have to call or email versus getting it online like a regular seat. And since San Jose box office does not sell tickets to this show directly how will people get accessible seating if ticketmaster cannot see those accessible seat or if they get someone like Michael that is no help. ANSWER THAT TICKETMASTER.COM AND SAN JOSE BOX OFFICE??!!!! Please refer to this ADA requirements on ticket sales ticketmaster.

CALL TO PETER AT SAN JOSE BOX OFFICE – OCTOBER 27, 2011 AROUND 12:50PM:
I called to say thank you to Peter and told him that I got my tickets. He apologized for my horrible experience and told me that they had talk about it internally.

Yet again, I learned a lot via my kids’s disabilities and how hard things can be and will be for them and for many out there. When things like this happen, I really wish I have more time to get involved to help. But as of now, all I can do is to be a constant advocate for my children and to blog about it so that others can see and will pass it along. I will for sure share this eperience with Early Start’s teachers and parents. Please kindly re-tweet this or share this on your blog and pass it along. I have every intention to email this to the producer of Yo Gabba Gabba, to City of San Jose, to ADA.gov, to my local news team and to other places that I can find along the way. If you can think of anyone else, tell me. I love sharing!

THIS SHOW BETTER BE GOOD.