Alex G's Galaxy

Alex-ism

2009-06-10T20:21:00.002-10:00

Alex, Dan and I were at the park the other day. Alex was running around. When he stopped for a breather, he told us, "My edges hurt."

Always thinking...

2009-02-28T00:37:00.003-10:00

A conversation between Dan and Alex:

A: Daddy, why do airplanes have lights?

D: So that the planes can see each other in the dark and they won't crash.
.
.
.
.
.
A: But airplanes don't have eyes.

A-L-E-X

2009-02-12T22:23:00.003-10:00

Dan and I have taken for granted that we can spell around Alex without him knowing what we are spelling. It's getting trickier, as he's better able to decipher the sentence around the "key word."

For example, "Do you want to go to the p-l-a-y-g-r-o-u-n-d." He may not get the exact word, but suddenly he's full of ideas, and sometimes they are less desireable than even the word we were trying to avoid. "Yes! I want to get ice cream!"

But lately, the funny part has been that after a round of spelling, Alex will chime in with his own spelling.

"Dan, are you going to H--o-m-e D-e-p-o-t?" (One of Alex's favorite spots, by the way!)

Alex responds with, "I want to go to q-f-a-g-t-t-a!!"

OK, kiddo, if we find a place named "Qfagtta," we'll be sure to take you there.

Un-bear-ably Helpful

2009-02-12T22:19:00.003-10:00

I was looking for a picture of a bear on google images today. Alex walked in and asked what I was doing, so I told him.

Google images pops up all these cute pictures of bears. And I mumble something about wanting a black and white one.

Alex runs away and comes back with his stuffed Po. From the movie Kung Fu Panda. Yes, Po is THE kung fu panda himself.

And he says, "You can use my Po, mom. He's black and white and he's a bear bear."

Genius.

Spiderman is back, and he needs some fish

2009-02-04T23:22:00.004-10:00

So I went to my Junior League meeting tonight. Dan and Alex stayed home for a boys' night.

When I got home, Alex asked how my meeting was. This is one of his new favorite things, as I always ask him "How was school today?" and he answers and then asks, with perfectly imitated inflection, "And how was your work today?"

Anyway...so I thought about what to say: "We discussed The Bachelor and how all the girls are so catty" or "We planned parties we are throwing which involve expensive purses."

But we are also planning a beach clean up and picnic in a couple of weeks. So, I told him that we were going to get together with some of mommy's friends and clean up the beach because sometimes people throw their trash on the sand and it goes out in the water and that's just so sad, and we want to do something to make it better.

He got very excited and replied, "I can help with that. I can pick up all the trash. I'll be like Spiderman and help people and the fish because I can pick up all the trash. And I'll have a big bag for all the trash and all the trash can go in my bag!" Then he said, very seriously, "But I can't go down to the bottom of the water. The fish will have to bring some of the trash up to help me."

So, it looks like all we need is some coordination from the fish and a really big bag and Alex will take care of it all while the rest of us dive right into that picnic. Thanks Alex.

Want Ads Posting: Mom Seeking New Spiderman

2009-01-17T15:28:00.003-10:00

Sometimes it's hard to tell what a toddler is thinking. They throw a shoe and you wonder, "Are they mad, sad, tired, were thier shoes just uncomfortable, or were they pretending that their shoe was a rocket ship??" And really, who knows sometimes?

But the other day, Alex was able to clearly and concisely tell me how ticked off he was with me.

Mom: "Alex, clean up these toys and we can watch your Backyardigans."

Alex: "I want to watch Backyardigans, then clean up my toys."

Mom: "No, the toys need to be cleaned up first. Then you can watch a movie."

Alex: "Well....I am not your Spiderman anymore. I am Daddy's Spiderman, but I'm not your spiderman."

Ouch. That kid knows how to cut deep.

Flight School

2009-01-16T17:41:00.003-10:00

It's not time for more trip pictures. Instead, it's another installment of crazy stuff Alex says.

Yesterday, Dan and Alex went across the street to the big field to play T-ball. The field is on the grounds of Univ. of Hawaii's Lab School, so there are some portable buildings with wooden ramps which Alex loves to run up and down. He likes to use them as "runways" for taking off as an airplane.

When they got back, Dan was laughing about the "take off check list" that they had created.

Apprently, it went something like this:

A: "Daddy, let's be airplanes and take off."

D: "OK. Are your wings out?"

A: "Yes."

D: "And you checked your engines?"

A: "Yes."

D: "And you called the tower and you are cleared for take off?"

A: "Yes."

(There may have been some more questions....Dan is pretty thorough.)

D: "OK. We are ready to take off....GO!!"

And the two of them take off, running across the field with their arms out....until Alex's croc flies off. They have to stop, Alex puts his shoe back on and declares that they have to go back to take off again.

So, back to the runway. Dan asks Alex to do the pre-flight checklist this time.

A: "Daddy, have you seen a cow?"

D: "Yes."

A: "OK. Take off!!!"

And you thought that this guy's piloting skills were amazing??

Trip update...I'll start adding pictures, finally!

2009-01-05T18:48:00.003-10:00

This is how it began...Grandma Bette met us at the airport with all things warm, lined, fleecey and otherwise ready to combat the cold! There are snow pants that go with this, as well as a hat, mittens, and a scarf, but this is the only picture I managed to take for 3 days as my battery died a couple of seconds after I snaped this one!

If that grin is any indication, tons of extra layers were no hinderence to the fun!

Trip Update

2008-12-30T09:54:00.002-10:00

Our little northern exposure experience is, sadly, almost at an end. The weather got better and I got better at dealing with it, so I wouldn't say that frozen feet and fingers are the memories I will have of this vacation.

After it got a little warmer, it got a lot warmer! 50 degrees! Seriously! It rained because it was so warm it couldn't snow! I am glad we came when we did, though, because the snow drifts were just amazing when we got here...piles and piles and more piles that Alex played and rolled and dug around in. It was so much fun (to watch, that is).

We also caught up with all the Wisconsin friends. We haven't been in WI since September 2006, so it's been over 2 years. Since so many of Dan's friends have little kids, there was a really big difference to see! We had seen so many little babies last time(and had a little baby of our own), and now there were all these little preschoolers running around, talking, playing games, laughing and enjoying each other. It was really great to see.

Did you pack my mittens???

2008-12-23T19:49:00.003-10:00

Apparently, we were not paying attention when the instructions on "how to go on vacation" were being given.

We left Honolulu and went to Wisconsin for our vacation. Not that Wisconsin doesn't have some lovely attractions: family, friends, snow, snow, more snow, and SNOW!

Alex has been LOVING the snow. I will post pictures when they are available. I forgot my camera battery charger in Hawaii, so I have to beg photos from Bette.

Dan and I are just trying to keep warm. In the past 3 years, our temperatures have ranged from 65ish to 95ish. Year round. Sure, we flew to Southern California last winter, but it got down to 45ish, maybe, at night. We were still in t-shirts and jeans during the day.

When we landed in Minnesota to change planes, the pilot announced, "Local time here in Minneapolis is 4:55 and the temperature is 8 below." Dan and I looked at each other and said, "8 below what??" Then we stepped off the plane, into that little walkway-tunnel-thing, which is NOT heated, btw, and both stopped midstep to declare that we'd had enough of winter and it was time to go home.

That is a small taste of how we are doing so far. I'll keep you posted. I'll leave with this happy thought: today we enjoyed what the folks up here call a heat wave. Yes, it was 23! Holy cow! People running around in their shorts and slathering on the sunscreen! Yeah...it's going to be an interesting week!

Gingerbread Fun

2008-12-07T20:30:00.015-10:00

Alex and I made a gingerbread house today. We attended a fundraiser for Easter Seals Hawaii with 3 other teachers I work with and their kids. There were 10 of us all together and plenty of laughing, sugar and holiday spirit!

So, here are the ingredients. We actually brought some extra things, but this is what the "kit" included:

And here we start the building process...the walls go up with frosting and toothpicks. Alex thought it was hilarious that the glue was frosting. I mean, really, it was too funny to explain...."It's like the glue? But it's frosting? And it's yummy? Can I try it? Mmmmm...can I try some more?"

And the decorating begins....

I realized the gum drops might get pushed down when the roof went on, so we added the roof:

and continued the decorating. You can see that Alex's jaw is a little crooked here...that's because he is discovering the joy of eating gum drops. He popped one in his mouth and then mumbled to me "My teeths are stuck." At least, I think that's what he said! Granted, it did not stop him from eating them, of course!

Hmmm....where should the next candy go?

I'm starting to get bored of this whole thing...ok, not really, but maybe if Mom thinks I'm bored she won't notice when I decide that the perfect place for the candy is:

MY MOUTH!!

Seriously, I don't know what is up with that face, but he looks like a kid who does not get candy very often....his mom must be horrible :-)

And it continues...I added the miniweats for the roof...Alex was not interested in those. He can have those at home. He was much more into things that he doesn't see often. He was definitely into the "one for the house, one for me" mode of building/sharing.

About halfway through the whole experience, all that sugar kicked in. I tried to get Alex to stand next to the finished house and smile, but here was the best...yes, the BEST picture we could get!

So, here is a picture of the completed house by itself. Yes, I should have moved all the "construction mess" that was left over. Sorry. I was ready to get out of there by now!

Ok, one last photo of us.

Little talker

2008-11-22T17:31:00.004-10:00

Just wanted to record and share these amusing phrases that Alex used recently.

Before he was born, a friend told us that the best things to write down were the things that a kid says. She said that no one really cares about the day he walked/talked/ate carrots for the first time or any of that stuff that you record in the baby book, but that the little words and comments were the best. I know that I've already forgotten so many cutenesses, so I'm going to make an effort to post them as soon as I can, so I don't forget, or forget to tell you all....

He opened the refrigerator and put his milk away for later:

~I put my cup on that shelf. I just picked up the back of my feet and I could reach it!

Bringing me his underwear to help him put back on after a bathroom visit:

~ Can you help me? The outside is not on the outside.

To the Rescue (By request...for Jooliyah!)

2008-11-15T17:56:00.005-10:00

Here is Alex in his Halloween costume. He was a firefighter. We went to the mall and trick-or-treated. Our street isn't really a good spot for trick-or-treating. It was a fun time, and Alex really seemed to enjoy watching other kids and spotting some of his favorite characters--Elmos, pirates, dogs, etc.

Since this was the first time out, I thought that the first piece of candy might result in Alex running to find a spot to sit and chow down, but he didn't really seem to understand that there was candy being handed out. We had to guide him up to the candy-passer-outers, and he kept getting distracted and walking out of line to point out other kids' costumes and things. I guess that's good. I should enjoy that as long as it lasts.

Finally, this picture. He insisted on putting the hat on backwards, since the long part just seems to belong in the front. Oh well. Whatever. He was still pretty darn cute.

Pumpkin carving!

2008-11-01T12:16:00.014-10:00

This year we introduced Alex to all the fun of Halloween. Last year I put together a costume and he wore it to school, but we didn't let him in on the big secret...you know....the CANDY part. We started the Halloween fun with pumpkin carving on Thursday evening.

Pumpkin guts picture taken by Alex!

Great job, boys!!

Cousin Charlotte!!!!

2008-09-19T16:46:00.006-10:00

My sister and her family were here last week! They were technically in Hawaii to visit her husband's brother and his family, since he will be leaving for Iraq soon, but hey, we are here, too, so we got to hang out as well!

It was nice to see Sarah and Richie, but this visit was really all about BABY CHARLOTTE. This is Alex's 5 month old cousin, who none of us had met yet. Well, we got a lot of cute baby time in while she was here.

Here are Alex and Charlotte on the hotel bed. Alex had requested to hold the baby quite a few times this evening, and I finally set up a way that I thought everyone would be safe...namely surrounded by as many pillows as possible and sitting in the middle of the bed!

I don't know what Charlotte was thinking, but Alex is certainly happy.

And here's another one, just for Grandma and Grandpa W :-)

Oh, the cuteness!!!

Know your resources and use them wisely

2008-09-17T21:35:00.005-10:00

It's just one of those facts. Kids look for their moms, even when dad is only two feet away. That's just how it goes, right? And so begins today's story....

I was laying down, trying to take a nap. I had set Alex up at the kitchen table with everything that should keep a toddler happy for a while...playdough, the garlic press (he had the plastic playdough version and broke it, so a real garlic press has had to stand in...it seems to be more durable, too), and his little tool bucket, for hammering and sawing of course.

Dan is on the computer, about two feet away. No, this is not an exaggeration. Our computer is in our dining room. A lovely dining room, but "cozy" describes it well.

I hear from the kitchen "Mooooommmmmmyyyyyyy. Come help me with my playdough." As any good mother would, I ignored him. Dan was right there, after all.

Then another "Mooooooommmmmmmyyyyy! Come help me with my playdough!" This was louder. When he repeated it a third time, I started to worry...not about him, but about our neighbors and tenants. So I respond, "Alex, mommy is taking a nap right now. Ask Daddy."

Well, he now knows where I am! He runs into the bedroom. "Mommy. Get up and come help me with my playdough." Again, like a good mom, I try to pass the buck.

"Alex, Mommy is laying down right now. Can you ask your dad for help?"

Alex starts to walk away....I dare to think "Oh my gosh, it worked!"

He gets to the bedroom door and yells "Daaaaaadddddyyyyyyy. Can you come and help Mommy get up?"

Next stop, Sistene Chapel

2008-08-23T18:05:00.003-10:00

There is a quote I remember hearing, by Michelangelo, if I remember right. It goes something like, "I do not create the sculptures from the rock. The sculptures are already there, I just take away the extra rock."

I think Alex was channeling the old artist's soul today. He was eating a pretzel. We were in the car, and I hear, "Look mommy, an R!"

I said, "Oh, you see an R? Is it on a sign?"

"No, there's an R in my pretzel." So, I tell him to pass it up and I take a look, and he's right, it does look like an R.

"Oh, wow, you made an R with your pretzel."

"No," Alex said. "I just bite my pretzel and then I see the R!"

Swim Class Champ

2008-08-14T22:33:00.005-10:00

Alex took his first swim class this summer. It was a parent-tot class, so technically we both took a swim class this summer :-)

The combo of the swim class plus more time spent in the water this summer (a great way to spend the afternoon with a toddler on those looooong summer vacation days!) have turned him into quite a fish! I'm going to try to sign him up for a solo class this fall. He's supposed to be 3, but the class starts the week before his birthday, so I'll have to call and see if he can join anyway.

Here are a couple of pictures from his class "graduation." Yes, they are wearing medals! There were actually three kids in his class, but one didn't come on the last day.

Ok, I admit that Alex looks scared. He's standing on these little crenelation stair steps. No, I'm not holding his hand, but can I tell you how many times over the summer he climbed all over those stairs and I had to tell him to get down? (They are only about 6 inches off the ground, by the way, but still, I didn't want him to fall off.) So here, on the last day, there is my little scaredy cat, making me feel bad for taking a picture rather than holding his hand.

Now there is my little ham. Shaka, everyone! He is obviously pretty happy here. I think maybe he was just upset that he had to share that other picture with someone else!

You can kind of see the stairs in this shot, a bit Olympic, except that there isn't a taller one--a "no gold, we're all winners" kind of thing. Oh, and the medal has the swim school's logo on one side and a SHARK on the other side. He actually wore it the rest of the day and was so proud to tell everyone it was his shark medal, and then he'd bare his teeth and bite...in a very menacing way.

I've been holding out....

2008-08-14T21:51:00.005-10:00

Alex started at a new school last week. I'm starting a new job at the end of August, and it is soooo close to our house, so Alex will be going to a different preschool, also close to our house. By "close to our house" I mean that everything is within about 3 blocks! This means many mornings of walking to school! I am excited. Not only will this be good for our gas consumption, but it'll be a bit of exercise and fresh air and "doing our part" on the green front! Win-win-win!

So, I apologize dear readers for holding out on you....what I have been keeping from you? Well, some darn cute pictures of a little boy on his way out the door on his first day!

Here's a happy Hawaiian boy--notice he's not wearing any shoes.

Here you can see a bit of his new backpack. I have to tell you about this backpack. I thought it was great. Alex even agreed. It's plain black, but has a little pocket on the side for a water bottle and looks like a big boy backpack, but it's actually his size. I thought that was cute. Alex thought it was cute. Until he got to school and saw that another kid had a Sponge Bob backpack. He looked at me and said "Mom, you are so not cool. Where's my cartoon character backpack?"

Ok, he didn't really. But that's what I thought he said. It may have been something more like "Mommy- Sponge Bob! Where my Sponge Bob backpack?!?"

I'd say that's a pretty direct translation. And so it begins....(the part about me not being cool)

Anyway, here's one more....

"Mom, stop taking pictures, let's go to school!"

Who's to blame??????

2008-07-07T22:01:00.006-10:00

We went to eat at one of our favorite little restaurants here on the island. It happens to be a Mexican place. I ordered a ceviche salad. For anyone who doesn't know, ceviche is technically raw fish, but it is "chemically cooked" by marinating in lime juice. The acid in the lime juice does something magical and the fish turns out very limey, not too fishy, and very yummy.

Anyway....I offer Alex a piece of fish. That's what I called it: fish.

Alex says no or ignores me, I don't remember which one.

So, I say instead, "Alex, would you like some ceviche?"

And he replies, "That's not ceviche. That's Nemo."

Hello??? What member of PETA recruited my 2 year old??????

And although Dan and I filled his little plate with a wonderful assortment of Mexican delights--beans, rice, tortilla chips, tomato chunks, and ceviche, he ate everything BUT the items that could possibly have been former relatives of Nemo. I guess it doesn't help that we went to the Aquarium again earlier today!

Holy cow (no pun intended). I know I did this and went all vegetarian on my parents, too. But I was more logical and reasonable. I waited until I was 12, until I could make my own cheese sandwiches, before I started swearing off eating animals!

So...where did this moral compulsion come from??? Did we show him "Finding Nemo" too early? Did he read some liberal propaganda pamphlets at an Obama rally? Is it just a matter of heredity?

Or is this where the curse begins? When I told my family that I was no longer going to eat meat, did my mother mutter under her breath "Just wait until you have children....just wait. I curse you with kids just like you!"

A Yogurt Treat for a Big Potty Boy!

2008-07-05T23:25:00.011-10:00

We went out for frozen yogurt a few nights ago. This was to celebrate a great couple of days with the potty. Yeah, us!

While there, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots of Alex. He was actually dancing (that's my excuse for missing the top of his head!), but I don't do video yet, so just imagine it:

Yes, he' s dancing in this one, too. Imagine the little booty shaking, head bobbing side to side, and the spoon-hand out the side for a dramatic finish with each bite:

Now for the real entertainment of the evening. Apparently, frozen yogurt is not really captivating enough, so a few minutes after I pulled out the camera, Alex willingly gave up dessert for a chance at some amateur photography.

Here are a few of the shots....

Alex's first shot of Dan. Don't worry, this was an experiment. He gets better!

Last one a wee bit low, this one a little high...and he didn't tell me to "Say CHEESE!"

Good one of Daddy!

Another one of Mommy, still with no "1, 2, 3, CHEESE!"

A pretty good one of Daddy and Mommy together.

My budding photographer! I wonder if that will pay any better than artist....

At what point....

2008-06-30T16:26:00.002-10:00

do you wake a sleeping kid?

Alex and I went to stroller strides today. This involves me working out like a mighty woman and him probably actually burning more calories, with all the running, playing, picnic table climbing and laughing that he does with his little buddies.

Then we stuck around for a short beach trip with another family and then came home (OK, confession time--there was a very official looking sign that said "beware of jellyfish" stuck in the sand. But there were 3 other families, all with kids, in the water. The lifeguard didn't really know why the sign was there b/c he'd just come on duty. Was it so wrong to say "We just got all dressed in our swim stuff and we are not going to waste all of our--ahem, MY-- effort???").

Alex fell asleep in the car around 12:45. It is now almost 4:30. In a few minutes this nap will turn into a bed-time killer.

But if he needs the sleep?....What if I wake him up and he's a total mess the rest of the afternoon?....I wanted to go grocery shopping and that is hard even when we are all in a good mood....

I will be waiting by the computer for all of your wise and experienced answers. Just be aware that you have about 15 minutes.

2008-06-26T18:42:00.002-10:00

Quick post, but relevant details should say it all:

3 pees and 1 poop in the potty today!

Holy cow. This is not easy. I haven't blogged about this because I felt like a failure on the potty front. I know that potty training is about 10% the kid and 90% the parents, at least at first. And, frankly, I am a bit lazy so this was not really working for me. I didn't like to drag my toddler to the bathroom at the grocery store. I forgot to ask every 1/2 hour. I didn't want to be bothered with it all.

But finally I decided that it was time. I have time, and it is time.

So, let's just hope that it continues. I mean, that my new-found interest in the potty continues.

The G's Pest Removal Service

2008-06-22T15:04:00.002-10:00

In the past week, we have caught and removed two mice from our house. The first one is a boring story: saw the mouse, bought some traps, mouse was caught and promptly sent away to mouse heaven. The second one is more interesting, so I'll just go ahead and tell that story.

Last night, we were all watching a movie together in the living room. I saw something out of the corner of my eye and announced that I thought we had another M-O-U-S-E. Alex knew there had been a mouse before, but he didn't catch on immediately. Dan got up, looked under the futon, then saw it scurry over the toy area. This is the one time that I am glad that we have so much STUFF. If it weren't for bins and a bookshelf and Dan's shoes and some little cube-chairs and more bins of stuff, the mouse would have been much harder to catch. Instead, he kept getting stuck behind things, Dan would move them, and he'd run a little farther, only to get stuck again.

Glad we don't buy into the whole feng shui thing. If there were clear and open paths for our chi, there would also be clear and open paths for our rodent invaders. And that, we do not need.

So, somewhere in this chaos, Alex figures out what it going on. And he says, excitedly, "Oooooo, a MOUSE? May I touch him, please?" Man, that kid can whip out the manners when he wants to, eh?

Well, we finally caught him. In a tupperware. Umm....yeah....what to do with a tupperwared mouse. Well, Dan took Alex and the mouse out to a grassy field and let them go. No, wait, he let the mouse go. He brought Alex back home. Alex apparently was delighted that the mouse was out of the container, but then asked Dan if he could touch it....please? Dan had to say that the mouse was free and happy but no, he wouldn't be able to touch it.

Let's hope that this was the last of the furry little visitors to our house for a long time.

Future Debate Team Member!

2008-06-22T11:07:00.004-10:00

Alex has become very talkative lately. Some days I actually wonder why we are teaching him to talk.

Some examples of his favorite phrases lately:

"I did already." He usually says this when it's time to clean up. What he means is "I cleaned up last week" but he's sure that this was recently enough to get me to leave him alone.

"But I'm still playing." Self-explanatory.

"But Daddy said it's OK." He's usually right. This isn't the beginning of the deceptive playing one parent against another game...yet. Daddy does have a different...um....tolerance for certain things. Mommy is meaner. That's all there is to it.

He's also figured out how to change a sentence into the negative or turn it around completely, which I am torn about. Am I proud? Or am I just really annoyed?

Example:

Mom: "Alex, it's bed time."
Alex: "It's not bed time for Alex. It's bed time for you!"

Mom: "Alex, we have to go in a few minutes."
Alex: "We don't have to go. We have to stay here!"

This is all just part of the process. My kid isn't any more amazing linguistically than any other two year old (unless you ask his grandmas!). But, as a parent, it's just amazing to remember him jumping up and down in the kitchen, grunting and pointing, only about a year ago and having to figure out what in the world that meant.

Now, it's almost like talking to a real person. A real person who lacks logic or any real reasoning behind his little arguments, but still, a person.

My Favorite Little Boy

2008-06-16T21:50:00.004-10:00

About 7 years ago I did a study abroad program in Puebla, Mexico. (Dang, did I just say 7 years.....am I getting OLD?????) We were accompanied by two awesome married professors that had this family ritual that they shared with us. Whenever we met together as a group, the 10 students and 2 professors would share their "highs and lows" since the last time we met. Since we were all living in separate host family homes and had different assignments (either classes or, in my case, an internship at an elementary school during the day), these sharings ran a pretty big gamut. I can remember at least a few of mine...

High: I got on the right bus today and made it back to my host family's house! (This scared the heck out of me the first day, so I was so happy I didn't end up in Guatemala or something!!)

Low: I forgot to ask for "no ice" in a drink and ended up sick for 2 days.

High: (Day 1) My host mom made quesadillas for breakfast this morning!

Low: (Day 53) My host mom made quesadillas for breakfast this morning...again.

OK, you get how the game is played.

So, the past few days, I've been asking Alex during dinner to tell me his favorite part of the day.This may eventually lead to the whole "highs and lows" ritual, but we have to keep it simple for now.

So, yesterday's was Elmo...of course.

I don't really remember the ones before that.

Today, though, I asked him, "What was your favorite part of today?" and he didn't even look up from his food. In fact, as he gave his answer, he was already sticking his next bite in his mouth. It didn't take a second of thought.

He answered, "Mommy."

OK, I'm the one in the corner, still wiping away the tears.

Here was our day...

-Got up, went to stroller strides. He played, raced cars and airplanes, rolled in the grass, played on the jungle gym and in the DIRT with 5 other little 2 year olds.

-Came home. Took Dan to work.

-Ate some lunch. Took a nap.

-Got up, went to the park. Played on the playground, swam in the pool for about an hour.

-Went to the afternoon stroller strides (I'm going to be sore tomorrow!). Played with one of his best little buddies Maia. More playground, more laughing, giggling, chasing and a lot more DIRT!

-Picked up Dan from work.

-Had acai bowls for dinner.

...and the best part of the day was MOMMY.

I anticipated the next words out of his mouth to be "And from now on, I want ice cream for dinner every day, and a pony and a new tricycle and oh, extra hot fudge on that ice cream." But it seems that it was all sincere.

I love that kid.

Father's Day....Bigger, Furrier, and Redder Than Ever!

2008-06-16T21:44:00.002-10:00

Last week finished up great--more swim lessons, another loooong nap and more random fun like the Children's Discovery Center (like a children's museum) and the local playground.

Then, on Sunday...Father's Day. What better way to celebrate Father's Day than with ELMO?

Sesame Street Live is in town and when Grandma Bette was here last, she gifted us with some tickets. Instead of telling Alex ahead of time, we sprung it on him that morning and boy was he excited!!

There was so much singing! So much dancing! So many larger-than-life furry creatures with squeaky voices! I have never seen Alex sit still for so long, looking so happy in his short little life. He sat in Dan's lap most of the time and he did not move. At all. I was truly amazed, because Alex is pretty much a perpetual motion machine.

I have a couple of pictures to add, but I want to get this up to say THANK YOU GRANDMA BETTE. And I'll work on those pictures later.

Oh, the monkeys at the zoo!

2008-06-12T13:22:00.005-10:00

Yesterday we met Alex's little buddy Ty and his mom at the zoo. Ty and Alex are both good boys, but together they can be a force of chaos and madness. There was so much giggling and running and hiding and jumping and more giggling. They had tons of fun, fingers pointing and yelling "Rhino! Hippo! Monkey! Tiger!" etc, etc.

Ty and his mom had recently gone to a wild animal adventure park in California, so she was full of interesting tidbits, which Alex pretty much memorized word for word and repeated to Dan later that evening. This is funny to me because he spent so much time just giggling, shrieking, and chasing Ty that I couldn't believe he had actually heard anything she said. This makes me nervous, and makes me want to watch what I say a little more.

Speaking of watching what I say, yesterday I was in the kitchen, doing whatever and I started talking to myself out loud, kind of mumbling about what do have for dinner and when to get started on that.

Alex looked at me and said, "Who are you talking to, Mommy?" Hmm....I guess he's figured out that talking to yourself is not normal (OK, for adults, he talks to himself all the time, but I didn't think that was relevant to the conversation.).

So, I said, "Oh, just myself. Talking about dinner."

He thought for a second and then he responded with , "But who's listening?"

Ummm....yeah.....I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I just said, "You were!" and laughed and tried to forget that my two year old just implied that I was crazy!

Here is Alex on top of the little elephant statue right across from the elephant exhibit. In the picture you can see that he has on his shark hat and his dog backpack. As we went through the turnstyle at the zoo entrance, one lady commented that he had "brought the zoo with him."

Here he is at the hippo statue. Shaka, everyone!

Lessons in Swimming and Being Naughty

2008-06-11T15:05:00.004-10:00

Tuesday was even more fun that Monday. (I hope that trend continues!) We dropped Dan off at work, then went to Walmart for a quick shopping trip. I needed a rash guard (one of those shirts that you either wear because you are actually surfing and need the protection or wear b/c they are also SPF50 and will keep you from getting burned to a crisp). My needs are for neither one, rather I am covering up that extra pregnancy belly that will go away soon....it's only been 2 3/4 years...give me a break!

Anyway, we got that and then accidentally walked near the toy section, so I had to bribe Alex with a new puzzle. At least he is OK with at $4.00 puzzle, wait until he's begging for a toy and will not be satisfied with anything less than a video game. Yes, I do realize how lucky I am right now!

So, we then went to the main event for the day...swim lessons! I had to go early because I had actually signed up over the phone the day before, so I hadn't done any paperwork. Well, Alex was his usual bold self and tried to get into the pool without me a couple of times. One of the nice instructors offered to watch him while I finished the paperwork, and wouldn't you know it, Alex stood almost completely still for the next 5 minutes. It's only ME he won't listen to.

The lessons were great. Alex was not nervous....AT ALL and seemed to be having a blast. I am encouraged because this will encourage me to get him to the pool more often (there is a pool right down the street that I have not taken advantage of, although we've lived in this house for a year) and because we have the OCEAN less than a mile away, for goodness sake! We really haven't been using that resource like we should recently. I guess there is my answer to "what will we do today?" whenever I can't figure it out.

After class, it was a nice long nap and then we hit the playground for some good playing. Everything was great, everyone was under 5, running happily and playing nicely, until these three boys--about 10 or so--came through.

They did everything that you would tell your child "don't do that, you are going to get HURT!!!" but they were bigger, so they didn't get hurt and that just annoyed me, because they were setting the example of what not to do, and doing it without the threatened consequence. Things like going halfway down the curly slide and jumping off, or leaping from the platform rather than going down the ladder. All things they could do cuz they are BIG but that my toddler cannot do but now THINKS he can do! Anyway, I loudly said things like "we don't jump off the slide because we can get hurt" to Alex, hoping they would magically get the hint, but they didn't and the danger and mayhem continued. At least they were careful and didn't actually hurt any of the kids directly, but they planted seeds of death-defying behavior, and for that I am pretty ticked off.

And, because I just want to post a picture, here is one that shows that Alex is ready for the summer. It was actually taken about a month ago, but that is OK, we'll just say he was practicing. Alex, you are supposed to get the ice cream IN your belly, not ALL OVER it! Yum!

The Summer Begins...

2008-06-10T14:59:00.005-10:00

As school ended last week, I was full of a combination of excitement and nervousness. "Yeah! The whole summer to hang out with my son" followed by "What in the world am I going to do for the next 10 weeks with a 2 year old?!?!?!"

Well, I am happy to say that 2 days into it, we are both still alive and happy!

Yesterday's fun began with the Aquarium (we bought a family pass, so we'll be there often, I suspect). As we walked through, I was cataloging its various positive/negative aspects. Not a huge place, so it doesn't take very long to walk through, but it's mostly inside, therefore quite cool (so, a place we could actually go in the afternoon), plus there is a nice grassy area for a picnic if we are so inclined to think and pack ahead. There is also the "touch" section, which is oh-so-important and fun. Next time I think we'll even try the little audio tour phone things. We have been passing on them the past few times we went, but I think it might add to the overall fun.

The negative, as with so many destination spots is the darn gift shop with the twirling, squeaking, fuzzy and otherwise overly-attractive-to-a-toddler items all shelved too close to the walkway on the way out. Ok, it's hard enough that I just told him that we are leaving, now I'm also having to wrench a little plastic seal out of his hands as he begs "mommy, I wanna take the seal hoooome" and when I say no it's followed by the most pathetic, "puuuuulllllleeeeeease!?!" How can I tell him that "please" is the magic word when it clearly doesn't work magic on his very own mean mom?

But besides that, the aquarium is great and will be visited often.

After the aquarium and a nice nap, we went to the pool. That was a blast, too. We started swim classes today, so I wanted to make sure he'd be OK in the pool, since most of his water experience has been in the ocean, and it's different--getting in and out of the ocean is easier and you can be 1 inch in the ocean, as opposed to a pool--it's either in or out.

Well, I am glad that I was concerned enough to make the journey. After nearly 30 seconds of coaxing, Alex reluctantly jumped into the water like he was actually part fish and proceeded to paddle, kick, splash and blow bubbles. This made me less nervous about the lessons and actually made me wonder if we needed lessons at all.

We swam, cleaned up and then went to stroller strides. Alex likes to play with the other kids while I work out and chat with the other moms, so this is a great time for both of us.

When we arrived home, it was bath, dinner and straight to bed. What an exhausting day!

And the summer has just begun!

Daddy's Helper

2008-01-09T22:22:00.000-10:00

We had a lovely holiday. We visited the Watters side of the family with the Texas and Hawaii contingents meeting halfway and visiting Auntie Sarah in California. We saw Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park and the Science Museum, La Jolla, and other fun stuff. It was a pretty relaxing trip. Although we saw a lot, we did manage to sleep in a little bit. Since we do not have a t.v., Alex has not really explored the fun that is PBS. He has a couple of Elmo DVD's, but he got up each morning asking for Elmo and was delighted to find not just Elmo, but Big Bird and Oscar and Barney and Teletubbies and so many other new friends!

We all received some great gifts from Santa, including a big floor puzzle of Thomas the Train that Alex has become an expert at putting together and a bunch of new books, some noisier than others (thank you, Grandma Bette!).

He also received a tool set and tool belt with loops that perfectly fit the little screwdriver, saw, etc.

This afternoon, Dan had to go remove a little gate at the bottom of the stairs. He asked Alex if he wanted to come, too. Then Dan went to get his drill, and Alex announced, "Alex drill!" and went to get his drill as well.

Here are the adorable results:

Okay, Daddy. You get the top one and I'll get the bottom one.

I'm all done with mine. Do you need some help, Daddy?

Pneumonia News

2007-12-06T19:52:00.001-10:00

Alex and I stayed home from school on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was going to be Dan's day, so in order for him to keep the car, Dan and Alex dropped me off at work. But when I got there, a horrible storm had knocked out the power to the area, so we had the day OFF!!!!! We were supposed to have a half day and then a faculty meeting, so we just sent the kids home, had that faculty meeting early, and then all went home!

So, after three days out of school, there was a lot of catching up to do. I dropped of Alex this morning, a little worried because he'd been away for 5 days and I was worried that he'd not be too happy. He seems to enjoy school, but when he's away for a while (like after Thanksgiving--4 days off) he cried the next Monday when I dropped him off :-(

But he was OK. And the teachers said he was good. I was concerned that he'd be crabby or fussy, but it seems like he's doing great.

He still has this cough that sounds pretty bad, but he's on antibiotics and does the nebulizer 3 or so times a day, so he is definitely getting all the help that modern medicine can give him in getting better.

Speaking of the nebulizer. He is not too thrilled with the idea of sitting still for 10-15 minutes to breath the mist. Not thrilled at all. So we've been bribing him. He's watched the same Elmo video about 100 times in the last 4 days. His babysitter Tina happened to offer us some old DVD's that she isn't using anymore (since she's done with the in-home daycare she used to have) and I gratefully grabbed them up so that we'd have some variety. Tonight's nebulizer video was a Blue's Clues episode. I described it to Dan as CSI for babies. Without the bodies, of course.

Great Timing

2007-12-04T12:56:00.000-10:00

Why is it that kids have the most ridiculous habit of only having a medical problem when the dr.'s office is closed? They have a mild cough until 5:05 p.m., then it turns into horrible wheezing. Or they are able to sit happily in their high chairs every day of the week except Sunday, when they decide to kick themselves over and cut their heads open? WHY?

Oh yeah, because this means that you are stuck in the E.R., the LEAST EFFICIENT PLACE ON THE PLANET besides the electric company's answering service for MANY, MANY HOURS, when the same visit (had it happened at 2 p.m. instead of 7 p.m or on a nice Tuesday afternoon) should be solved with a quick trip the dr., a poke, prod, a prescription, and a sticker.

This is a long wind-up to ask the question, "Where do you think we spent last night????"

That example about the high chair happened about 6 months ago, so it is the coughing-turned-wheezing that we will focus on today. Alex had a cold on Sunday. He coughed a lot that night, even waking himself up a couple of times. On Monday, Dan and I juggled the daycare so I could go to school and get things ready for the sub, then come home and take him to work in time for a meeting. I had a sleepy, droopy little boy the rest of the day, but he was not overly sick-looking. Then we looked up some things on the internet, which led to a call to the dr., which led to that e.r. visit at about 8:00 p.m.

Again, I will mention that the e.r. is the least efficient place ever. The last time I was there with Alex (that high chair incident) they asked me details over and over and over again. I thought it was some subtle child abuse check ("Can you tell me what happened? When it happened? What was he doing? What did you do when he fell?") to make sure my story stayed the same or something. But this time, WHY DO 4 DIFFERENT PEOPLE NEED TO ASK ME "SO WHEN DID HE START COUGHING?" Seriously, my answer is not going to change. There is really no way that I did something bad to him to get him to this state.

And, to prove the point even more, we had a nurse come by with, "He'll need another nebulizer treatment in a few minutes." The respirtory therapist came by and did the treatment.Nurse comes back by, "Just a few minutes on that treatment."

"Ummmm...I think we just had it."
"No, he needs another one."
"But he's already had two."
"Oh, he's had two? OK."

A few minutes later, different nurse, "Just waiting on that second treatment."
"We've already had two."
"Oh?"

And we wait and wait. Dan goes to the counter..."What are we waiting for?"
Oh, you guessed it, different nurse, "Alex needs a second treatment."

NO HE DOESN'T. HE NEEDS TO GO HOME.

And we went home. I wonder how much earlier we could have left if we just posted a sign letting everyone know the status at all times.

So, the outcome: Alex has pneumonia. Apparently it's not that uncommon in toddlers and little kids. It can come from a cold virus that just goes awry. The dr. said that she's seen a lot of it recently. The petrie dish known as preschool has apparently been good to Alex this week, allowing him to stay home and watch Nemo and Elmo repeatedly.

Not so good to Mommy, however, who has about a million things to do before Christmas break starts next Friday. I have report cards that are due soon, my students are doing the Mass on that Friday and are performing in a Christmas program that I am supposed to be helping them rehearse for as well as make props for. Sigh. Again, I will comment on the great timing of toddlers and their illnesses! It's not like he could wait until break started or get sick on a Friday night and be all better by Monday. Oh well, it's been an OK couple of days, even if I'm humming the theme to Elmo's World all day.

Thanksgiving and an Attack of Courtesy

2007-11-23T22:36:00.000-10:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving. We spent it at Tina's house (I realized in my last post that I called her both "Tina" and "Nina"--well, to clarify, "Nina" is the Alex-version of her name. Mystery solved, not a typo!) with a big crew of people-Tina, her three boys, her brother and his friend, her fabulous friend Larry (who is so fabulous that he actually had his name legally changed to Larry Fabulous...not kidding, I've seen his passport!), another friend named Teddy, and the couple that rent an apartment from her. Plus us. That was quite a few people, and we wiped out two turkeys and all the various T-Day fixin's. It was nice. Even nicer was that although I helped clean up, it was not my house that had to be cleaned up. And as much as I like Thanksgiving leftovers, I am glad that our fridge is not stuffed with them. That was a great deal :-)

In other news...Alex is turning into quite a polite little boy. We have really pushed "please" and "thank you" and have even managed to get him to say these without prompting most of the time. He has even picked up "no, thank you." I think that was by imitation, though. I don't really remember teaching that one, although when he offers you a slobbery cookie or a grape that has been pre-chewed that he wants to share just because he loves you so much, it is actually kind of hard to say "no thank you" because you want to encourage sharing as well, even sharing of slobbery cookies.

Today Dan asked him to pick up a banana peel that had mysteriously found its way off the table and onto the floor. Alex looked at him and said, "No, thank you, Daddy."

Ummmm...I don't think he was offering you a banana peel, Alex, he was asking you to put it into the trash. I guess we'll need to work on this usage a little bit :-)

Smarter than the average goldfish

2007-10-27T20:22:00.000-10:00

Tonight we visited Alex's babysitter Tina. He LOVES Tina. She lives up a steep hill, so when we drive up a hill, he always asks "Tina?" hoping we are going to visit. Whenever he is pretending to call someone on the phone, it's Tina:

"Umm....Nina? Yeah. Ummmm.....Yeah. OK. Hmm-hmmm. OK. Yeah. Bye"

This is really how his phone conversations go. It makes me wonder what I sound like on the phone if this is his imitation of me.

Anyway, we visited her tonight and she had a couple of little toys to send home with Alex. She doesn't do her home daycare anymore and is cleaning house. So every time we go over there, she sends a few more things home with us.

Tonight's additions to our already toyful home were a little telephone (which made me laugh--it has a cord and is attached to a big base--Alex has two little play "cell phones" I don't know if he'll know what to do with this big clunker!) and a little dog. The dog goes with a bus that she sent home earlier--you know, the kind of toys were all the little characters have the same shaped holes on the bottoms so that they can all sit happily on the bus seats without falling out when they go over the couch, off the table, etc.

Tina says to me "This goes with that bus I gave you guys last time. I found it after you left."
I say something casually back like "Oh, that bus, OK."

Alex fell asleep on the way home from Tina's. He woke up an hour later and came out to play. He started to play with that little bus and then he walked to Dan and said "Doggy?" with his arms up in the pose that means "Where is it?"

He remembered that he was supposed to have a new dog to go with the bus. I was impressed but at the same time frightened. When your kid starts to have an understanding, not to mention a memory that is actually better than that of a goldfish, you are in trouble. It has been to our great advantage that we can sneakily hide things and then "disappear" them (hmm...that kinda makes me feel like the Godfather or something), with no real consequences. Alex has certainly remembered things and asked for them later, but these were usually more like "fixtures" in his world--playdough, paper, crackers, etc. Not something that he overheard once and didn't even get to play with or hold at them time. We are going to have to be more careful about what we say!

It's A Great Day To Be A Baby!

2007-10-14T19:31:00.000-10:00

This is the phrase Dan uses when Alex is having some kind of wonderful time. And today was just that!

We went to visit friends Karla and Marc who live up on K-Bay (Kaneohe Bay). Their house actually has a deck that sticks out into the Bay. The Blue Angels were doing an air show at the Marine Corps base right across the bay, so their deck was the perfect place to sit and watch the show.

We knew the airplanes were going to be a hit. We'd told Alex that we were going to see planes, and he happily stuck out his arms and ran around the house making "Vrooooommmmm!" noises. But little did we know that Karla and Marc actually had several surprises there for us! Not only did they have planes flying overhead doing tricks, but they also had kayaks in their boat house, a sail boat and a "dingy" as Karla described it attached to their dock, plus they had a super-friendly shaggy dog named Salty. PLUS, there were other boats either rowing or sailing by all the time. Oh my, oh my!! Alex couldn't contain his excitement. Every second it seemed that something else had him just jumping for joy.

"Mommy! BOAT!"

"Wow, Alex, another boat?"

"Mommy! PLANE!"

"Oh, the planes are still up there?"

"Mommy! DOGGY! BALL!"

"The doggy is chasing the ball?"

And this went on for hours! It is really fun to your kid so happy about the world, and that he is so happy he wants to share it all with you, too.

Sometimes I sigh and say absent-mindedly, "Oh, you see another truck?" as we drive along and I hear "MOMMY! TRUCK!" from the back seat yet again, but sometimes he really does make me slow down and appreciate something that I haven't noticed or appreciated in a long time...like....

"Mommy, look! Bug." And we stop to stare at a little lady bug on a leaf. If I'm not in too much of a hurry (OK, when does that happen?!?!) we'll sit and stare and enjoy the magic of that little bug.

Or, even better, "Mommy, look! Poop!" And we both stop to stare a pile of dog poop that someone has failed to clean up.

Thanks for helping me see the important stuff that I usually overlook, kiddo.

Little Artist

2007-09-27T13:28:00.001-10:00

Dan and I have long worried about Alex's future. What parent doesn't, right? Well, what we are worried about is that Alex seems to be left-handed. He always eats, brushes his teeth, draws, etc. with his left hand, even if we put the utensil in his right hand, he switches. This started very young, and every book I read said that it was too early. Well, he's two, and it's not going away. So, the problem came from this conversation we had where we talked about how lefties are supposed to be right-brained, more creative, artistic, etc. and we followed this to the conclusion that Alex was going to end up an unemployed "artist" living in our basement. No big deal, there are no basements in Texas or Hawaii. Then we found and bought a house with something pretty close to a basement. And now we are concerned that we have set ourselves up for it.

So, this brings me to the point...yesterday, Alex was playing with is playdough at home. He came to get me and indicated that he wanted me to come see something. He kept saying "Mommy, honu!" (Hawaiian for sea turtle--you see them everywhere, as they are a kind of symbol of Hawaii) So, I get over there, and the kid has made a little sea turtle out of playdough. So, it didn't really have legs or a tail, but it was a slightly oblong, oval shape with an attached roundish shape, which certainly could have been a turtle shell with his head poking out. Alex was very proud, clapped his hands, and cheered for himself. Then he got Dan and showed him, too.

I am afraid this was his first gallery exhibit. At least he has two fans already....and a basement for later.

School Boy

2007-09-26T13:32:00.000-10:00

We had a busy summer. Moving, unpacking, remodling, electrical upgrades, GRANDMA BETTE was in town.

Then Mommy went back to school. Then ALEX went to school. Alex is attending the Early Learning Center--ELC-- that is a part of the school where I work. It is great to only have one stop in the morning, instead of going to the sitter's and then to work. We walk to his classroom together, then I go up the sidewalk to my own classroom.

Part of the program at the ELC is potty training. So the kids all wear pull-ups and the teachers ask if they need to go potty every 30 minutes or so. We've been trying it at home, too. It's working so-so, although the other day, Alex actually asked to go potty while we were in Costco, and he actually had to go. Now I carry wipes in my purse for such occasions. I was so proud but equally icked out by the fact that no matter how I tried, he ended up with his little hands all over the seat!

So, life is going well. School, learning to use the toilet (YEAH!) and generally growing up.

Cool Dude

2007-06-14T11:58:00.001-10:00

I have been trying for about 21 months now to get Alex to wear sunglasses. I tried the ones with velcro, ones with no velcro, etc. Finally, he had to just want it. He asked for my sunglasses and put them on, then giggled like crazy. Now he'll wear his own. I just have to let him think it's his idea. If I put them on him, they come right off. But if I pick up his sunglasses and muse aloud, "Hmmm...who wants to wear these sunglasses today?" He's all over it!
Sneaky mommy :-)

These are my sunglasses. His actually fit.

Mango Madness!

2007-06-12T22:19:00.000-10:00

We are fortunate to have two lovely mango trees in our yard. This has been a blessing and a curse. Mangoes are a strange fruit. They are not usually ripe until after they fall from the tree. They usually fall when they are just starting to turn a little yellow, and are often still bright green.
Last year at mango time, we totally missed all the fun. We didn't understand why they were all falling so early. The trick is to pick them when they are big, but still green. Then they will ripen off the tree and be perfect in about a week.
Mango trees are also usually really tall and the fruit is really heavy. So, when they fall, they fall hard, split open, and are devoured by little creatures before we can get to them. Here is the "curse" part. Mangoes are sweet and delightful and loved by creatures human and non-human. Non-human fans include ROACHES and RATS. Yeah, we have SEEN rats running around our lanai and I've actually seen them munching on mangoes RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW!!!!

But, the bright side is that we have all the free mangoes we can eat. And, although they used to be a pain to peel and de-seed, I have it down to a science now :-)

So, we have been eating mangoes like crazy!

Yummy! I love mangoes and yogurt. And my mommy and daddy are smart enough to have me eat this treat naked!

The only one in the house that loves mangoes and yogurt as much as I do is Sydney! That crazy dog LOVES my food!

Ummmm...hello?!? Do you notice that the half of my face closest to the DOG is all clean, while the other half if COVERED in mango? Do you know how hard I work to get my face this messy???

Full-on Toddler!

2007-06-01T11:13:00.000-10:00

Alex has now added "mine" to his list of words. Between "no" and "mine" I think he has reached toddlerhood!

Should have knocked on wood!

2007-05-18T15:16:00.001-10:00

I was just telling Dan the other day how nice it was that Alex didn't say "no" yet. He shakes his head, and does other obvious signs that he doesn't like or want something, but he hadn't actually used the word yet. We don't say "no" that often, actually. Dan says uh-uh and I usually try distraction (instead of "No, get off the counter" I try, "Let's go play with the train!"...it kind of avoids the issue, but whatever....)

Then on Wednesday, I had to eat those words. I got Alex out of the car at the beach for a little afternoon swim, and I put his hat on. He pulled it off (which he does if I don't get his hands immediately occupied with something else, like "help me carry this"). No big deal. So I put his hat back on and tried the quick "hold the suscreen for Mommy." And that little boy looked right at me and said "NO" while pulling the hat off and throwing it on the ground in the parking lot. I laughed out loud. Then put the hat back on, said "YES!" and put sunscreen in one hand, grabbed the other one, and started walking quickly towards the sand.

I heard it again a couple of times, I as I tried to shower him off in the (too cold) little beach showers, but haven't heard it again. I know that I will get my fill of "no's" in my and Alex's relationship. This was just the first of many....

Mother's Day

2007-05-14T15:31:00.000-10:00

What a wonderful Mother's Day. There was no breakfast in bed, but Alex and I went to Music class, and he sang a little song to me...something like la,da,laa, da, and he played a little drum for me, too. That made up for having to make my own breakfast.

Then we went on the kite excursion that I mentioned last week. Alex loved the kite...for about 5 minutes. As expected. He was very interested in the motorcycles that kept driving by, the nearby dog, and the helicopters that flew overhead. We also had a picnic. That was actually much more fun that a nice brunch. Alex grazed, which is how he prefers to eat anyway, and all the food that fell landed in the grass....no clean-up....it was a great meal.

At one point, Alex accidently let go of the kite. It actually got stuck in the parachute of a guy who was doing "parachute ground exercises" down the field (who knew there were ground exercises for parachuting?). Well, after the initial crying, he realized that Dan could get the kite back, and we couldn't trust him anymore. He let it go again, and this time, he actually bent over laughing and slapped his knees...where did he get that? It was hilarious, but Dan and I are sure that we don't ever do that!

He was banned from holding the kite by himself, but continued to enjoy watching it.

Overall a fun day.

Here are some pictures of the fun. Alex and Daddy had a great time with the kite!

Weekend Plans...

2007-05-11T15:13:00.000-10:00

Dan and Alex and I have big plans for the weekend. We are going to try out the new kite I bought last week. We passed some people flying a kite in a big field by the beach last weekend, and I decided that we needed to go and get a kite! There is almost always a pretty decent breeze by the ocean, and Alex is pretty fascinated by things that are up the sky.

So, those are our big plans.

Alex and I have been attending a music class on Sunday mornings. The teacher is really great and as part of the class we get a CD of the songs for that "semester." Sometimes when we are in the car, I'll ask Alex if he wants to sing and he'll nod and as soon as I turn on the CD, he starts to bob his head and clap. He's also starting to "get" some of the movements that go to the songs and plays along. We're having a good time.

I'm winding down the school year. It's been an interesting year. I've learned a lot. It's the first time I taught first grade, taught at a private school, and taught while juggling my alter-personality as a parent. Overall, a big learning curve. But it's been fun. I'm not too nostalgic yet. It's only a Friday afternoon. I'll get all sniffly in about a month, when school actually ends. Oh, as a fun bonus, the last day of school is my birthday!

The Dentist and Thomas

2007-05-10T12:09:00.000-10:00

I'm just going to pick up as if I haven't been on a 3 month hiatus, although a lot has happened, I think that if I do a marathon post, I'll be worn out for another 3 months :-)

Alex had his first dentist appointment yesterday. He said "ah" when directed, although he snapped that mouth shut like one of those giant clams when the dentist actually put his fingers in there. When we came back into the waiting room, the desk gal said, "Oh, he was so good. I didn't even hear him cry." I took that as a good sign. And he got two Thomas the Tank Engine stickers, and a new toothbrush with a lion on it. Everytime he looked at the lion, he growled. And we got a good check-up report. He didn't get his teeth cleaned yet, because they don't do that until kids have their second set of molars, but the dentist said it looked good so far.

I've been reading about Ethan and Logan and their obsession with Thomas, so I have to chime in. The internet is out at our house (yes, this is related, read on). We went to the mall the other day because it has free wirelss so Dan could do some work he had to get done. I took Alex to the toy store where they have a Thomas display table all set up with tracks and train cars and such. Alex played for 30 minutes. He does often play quietly for a while, but not 30 minutes at a time. It was amazing. The stored closed, or we could have been there for days. Seriously, I think it could have been days.

I looked to check out the Thomas stuff for sale, just curious...EACH car cost about $19.00. Um...yeah....glad the one at the mall is free.

2007-02-21T21:27:00.000-10:00

For those of you who are curious....yes, we survived the entire two weeks sans Dan. Then Dan came home for a day, and then he left again for a day (this time only to San Fransisco--those day trips to India are kinda crazy!) . But we are all back under one roof.

I have to say that the last little part was really hard. Last Thursday and Friday were parent-teacher conferences. I have not had any problems with parents since I've been teaching. I am good at explaining things, being empathetic and negotiating, offering different solutions, etc. So I don't fear them because of bad past experiences or whatever, but conferences just make me nervous. Maybe this won't be the case after another 10 years, but they're big business to me now!

Then, Dan came home on Sunday and flew out again at 1 on Monday. I had my formal observation on Tuesday. Of course, this was a tough bed-time night for Alex and so he and I were up until about 10, and I was not very happy when I had to get up. I dressed up a little nicer, actually blow-dried my hair all the way, instead of just enough to not look a total mess :-)
It went all right. The kids were great until I had them try to put something together involving tape and two steps. Then it was all over. They had all been sitting, participating, doing a great job, and suddenly the room was full of "Missss Waaaaateeeerssssss...I can't doooooo iiiiiiiit." If this had happened without an observation, I might have had them all stack their things up and I would have done it while they were away, just so we could move on, but I didn't want to forfeit the activity, so we chugged through. We got to the cool second "experiment" --we were studying the brain, so we learned how the skull protects the brain using playdough first in baggies and then in the playdough containers--it was good, they were adequately excited and interested and impressed, but not too rowdy. Of course we didn't get to the "wrap-up" part of the lesson because we had to go to lunch, but whatever.

The end of this story is that later in the day another teacher saw me and said asked if I had my observation that day, or if it was the other first grade teacher. I said actually, we both did, one right after another. She laughed and said that explained it. She had passed the principal earlier in the day and the principal had sighed, shaking her head and said, "Those first grade teachers should be canonized." Yeah, I teach at a Catholic school, so sainthood is the ultimate in compliments :-) Apparently she was not too turned off by all the helplessness.

Dan is trying to put Alex to bed right now. I heard a lot of giggling at first, but then it got serious. Some kicking the wall, and some crying. I guess Daddy disapproved of wall-kicking. My tactic was to move his body so he couldn't kick. This could go on and on, a hundred times. I would try rolling him over, laying him close to me, singing a song, talking about our day, blah, blah, blah. If he got tired first, YEAH. If I got tired first, we'd go the the big bed and try it out there. He didn't kick, although he would stand up and open the window (they open with a little crank thing) and look out at stuff. He would usually fall asleep fairly (FAIRLY is such a subjective word!) quickly in our bed, but I didn't like that precedent. Plus, it felt like "giving in." He USED to go to sleep alone every night. If I just hold on a little longer, I know he'll do it again...right?

It's gotta happen eventually. There are very few 10 year olds who are have to sleep in their parents' bed.

But overall, things are good. Glad to have Dan back. I made some little healthy-yummy lunches for the rest of the week (there is a teacher's menu of stuff to order, but it is all stuff that is less than healthy--sandwiches all on white bread, chicken katsu--this amazing fried-chickenish food that actually seems WORSE for you than KFC...you get the drift...it's just better to bring my own, but if I don't make an effort to do it ahead of time, there's just no way I do it in the morning.

It's bedtime now. I hope that Dan can fix the computer soon so that I can start adding pictures to the blog again!

Sanity Has Returned!

2007-02-11T20:33:00.000-10:00

Yes, it's only 8:30 and guess who's asleep? Ahhhhh....and it only took about 20 minutes. I guess it was only a matter of getting used to the newness and the routine.

So, since I'm in such a good mood, it's time to brag :-)

Alex loves to help. I think all kids at this age like to be useful and competent and to be involved in the goings-on of life and chores and activities. Plus, it's a fun way for me to test and add to his vocabulary. (Ex: he can "bring me the book" but yesterday I tried "bring me the bowl" and he looked in earnest for a good 10 seconds before he brought me a shoe. It was long enough that I knew he didn't actually think it was a "bowl" but he just wanted to help so much. Good try, kiddo.)

So, when you say "It's time for a new diaper, Alex runs to the hanging thing that holds the diapers and wipes. It's up pretty high right now, but I'll probably move it soon because he just likes to help and it's kind of sad to see him reaching for these things that are about 2 feet above his head.

Tonight, I asked him to "take the wipes back." He took them back then reached up. I picked him up to put them away. He did. I set him down, and he started to stomp and fuss. I began walking out of the room, and it got worse. I tried taking his hand, he sat down, still reaching up toward the wipes. I thought, "He just wants to pull out all the wipes (a good guess, as he does this every time I leave an unattended package around...hmmm...maybe I'll rethink lowering the hanging thing!)" But, I thought, what the heck and I picked him up. He took the wipes container in his two little hands and turned it a quarter turn. Then let go and looked at me. His eyes said "All done. We can go now." It's a rectangular-shaped baggie package thing. It was on its side. Now it is positioned "correctly."

If I could only get him to think that toys on the floor needed to be positioned correctly somewhere other than the floor, this could be really useful!

Good Morning

2007-02-11T08:05:00.000-10:00

Alex woke up at the usual 5:00, although he was puke free :-)

He snuggled in bed with me and slept until 7:30. This is becoming the routine now. And that's fine. As long as I can sleep past 5 on a Sunday, I think I'll keep him.

Do you hear that?

2007-02-11T08:01:00.000-10:00

No, you don't. You hear NOTHING. That's because Alex is asleep. Granted it's 9:30, so that's much later than he went to sleep a week ago, but we were only in the falling-asleep mode for about 20 minutes, not the hour or more that it has been all week.

Maybe that's because we started so late and he was just too tired to be playful and wild. Maybe it's because he's finally getting it and knows that he's going to have to go to sleep eventually, so why fight so long. I don't know and I don't care. I'm going to bed early, too :-)

Crazy Mom, Sick Baby

2007-02-10T16:58:00.000-10:00

Alex has continued to get up too early every day--before 5. Thursday he went back to sleep OK, but Friday he was UP. So, I put him in his room with the baby gate. This worked pretty well...but there was a catch I'll discuss later...

Thursday evening we went to Stroller Strides. That was nice exercise for Mom and some fun baby interaction for Alex.

Friday afternoon we met Dylan and his mom for some park time. The boys ran around chasing each other and birds, and making sure that everyone knew when an airplane flew by...those boys are so helpful!

Friday evening, Alex and I were playing in his room. I've been trying to make it a normal place to be, because so far he just gets giddy excited when we go in there, and starts jumping on the bed. He'll be rubbing his eyes and acting clearly fussy-tired, but as soon as we go in there for the "calming bedtime ritual" of a couple of books and to lay down, he has all the bed-jumping energy in the world!

Well, Alex decided that he needed to close the door. But it wouldn't close. It was off somehow. Apparently, when I put the gate in the door on Friday morning, I just put it right in the middle of the doorway. (As opposed to making sure the door would close, like I've been doing at night.) Alex tried to close the door when the gate was there, hard enough to pull the little door hinge plate thing out of the wall a little ways.

So, although the plate is on with screws, this did not seem like something I wanted to painstakingly use a screwdriver on, while simultaneously moving a nosy, grabby toddler away. I went for the hammer. Couldn't find it. I could find a pretty hefty wrench, though, so I banged and banged that door hinge plate thing back into place. The door now closes, thank you very much. I am a totally capable handywoman :-)

Saturday started with a bang. Not just a 5am wake up, but a 4am wake up accompanied by VOMIT. Yeah, Alex was screaming from his room and I went get him. His usual tactic is just to yell "Maaaaamaaaaa" so this was strange. He had gotten out of bed and was in the middle of the room, puking. So, I got him undressed and washed off, then redressed and in my bed. He fell back asleep until a respectable 7:30. Thank you, Alex. He's doing all right now. A little droopy, but OK overall.

Seriously, Dan, what did you promise Alex in return for pulling out all this baby "fun" while you were away?!?

It gets better!

2007-02-06T11:54:00.000-10:00

So, after yesterday's post, things have gotten more interesting....

I woke up and glanced at the alarm clock some time last night...there were no numbers on it. The face was glowing, but no numbers. It could be 3 am, it could be 6 am...as in IT'S 6 AM AND YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE LATE FOR WORK!!!! Fortunately, it turned out to be 1:50. I could not fix the clock, so I set my phone alarm and went back to sleep.

Alex was great. Slept the whole night. I found him on the floor, though, as he must have rolled off the mattress at some point. I put a comforter around the edge of the mattress for this occasion, though, so at least it was a pretty soft landing.

We ate breakfast and headed out. We were about 5 minutes from the sitter when Alex made some funny noises...turned out to be puking noises. Great. I have stuff that needs to get done at work...the conference schedule for parents, a project to set up for this week, blah, blah, blah...and Dan with the slightly more flexible schedule who might be able to take Alex while I went to work early, got some things done and prepared for a sub, then raced home and took Alex so he could go to work...well, he's in INDIA. So, I made it to the sitter, took Alex out of the car. He was fine. I guess breakfast didn't sit well with him, but you'd hardly know that. He was running all over the place, like his usual self...only difference is that he smelled a little like pukey breakfast.

So, off to work. It's 1:30 and haven't heard from the sitter yet. So far, so good. But I am setting up for tomorrow as if I might be out, just in case.

Did Dan and Alex plan this?

Dan: OK, while I'm away, you do the following: wake up early, try to climb out of the crib, puke on the way to daycare and break the alarm clock...we'll see how sane Laura is when I get back!!

Alex: Doggy! Doggy? Ma-ma! Da-da! Doggy!

And this is only day 2!

2007-02-05T22:30:00.000-10:00

Dan left yesterday morning for two weeks in India, so it's just me and the little guy for a while.

Of course, Alex chooses today to do two remarkable things that require my attention and freak me out.

1- Wake up at 5:00 am. This is bad because I almost always wake him up, about 6:15, just in time to change him, feed him breakfast and get us both out the door by about 6:40. So, for him to wake up at 5:00 when I haven't yet gotten up or gotten myself ready is bad. Really bad. This could mean that I have a wild baby running all over the place while I am trying to shower and get ready. And there's no Dan to hand him over to for safekeeping. So I got him out of his crib and tucked him into bed with me. THANK GOODNESS he went back to sleep and slept soundly until that 6:15 wake up call :-)

2-When I did go get him this morning (at that unreasonable 5 am), he had his arms and chest over the side of the crib, and his feet were working furiously at the horizontal bars so that both of them were off the mattress a couple of inches. This wouldn't have been so bad, except that just last week I saw this little girl with a pretty bad scab the size of a quarter right in the middle of her forehead. It had been even bigger, but it was all pinky with new skin healing around the edges. Guess what had happened? Yeah, she face planted onto the floor after climbing out of her crib. So, I was already freaked out about this happening, and Alex scared me even more.

So, this morning started out rough, and when I got home from work I decided that I was going to do something about this climbing out of the bed thing.

I decided to take the crib and turn it into its toddler bed form. But I didn't like that. At all. I hated the way it looked and also it looked even more dangerous. The mattress was now about a foot off the floor, but there is a big hole where Alex could roll out.

So, it was Operation Major Room Overhaul. I don't know how well this is going to work. Maybe I should save this post for when I know the outcome...I can pretend it never happened if it goes badly!

I took everything out of the room that I thought could be a hazard: the crib itself, the changing table, the rocking chair, all the suitcases and random junk piled in the corner, even his dirty clothes bin, which he has fallen upside down into! Now there is only a mattress on the floor and the shelves I couldn't move, but they are cleared off as far up as he can reach.

The living room looks awful, since everything is currently located there, but if Alex happens to wake up tonight, he will not get hurt. The gate is in his door and I will open the door before I go to bed so I can hear him milling around in there if he does wake up.

The living room will have to wait until tomorrow. I am worn out!

Island Hopping

2006-12-30T05:25:00.000-10:00

We will be boarding a plane in a few hours to go to Maui for the week! It is everyone's first trip, so we are all pretty excited. Dan and I plan to scuba dive while there, and we hear there are some wonderful beaches for relaxing. The really cool event we have planned is a bike ride down Hale'akala mountain. We will start at 4:00 am...that's right, in the MORNING and they drive us up to the top of the mountain, which is above the clouds. We then do less bike riding and more brake riding as we coast all the way down the mountain, including what we have heard is a lovely view of sunrise...I can't wait! There's also some hiking and sightseeing, and a whale-watching boat possibility. Apparently there are also lots of movie star sightings on Maui...we'll be on the lookout.

Sooo....if I don't get back to the blog before then, Happy New Year to all!

Holiday Fun

2006-12-28T15:01:00.000-10:00

We have a full house this holiday. Grandma Bette and Auntie Cate are here with us...they said something about it being warmer here than in Wisconsin :-)

So, a retroactive report on the goings-on here...

Dan and I were concerned about decorating in a way that would keep Alex and the decorations safe and sound. We happened to be at someone else's house the weekend before our visitors came and saw their little-kid proof solution. So, by the time G-ma and Auntie C arrived at our house, we had a 2-foot or so little tree perched on a shelf in the living room, topped with a Santa in a grass skirt and just out of reach of those wild little Alex fingers. Excellent...and actually much cheaper than a real tree :-)

Present opening was a bit of a trial for Alex. He would open one gift, get excited, sit down to inspect and enjoy, and we'd hand him something new. Even the joy of ripping the paper was not as alluring as I'd hoped. Another friend with a boy about A's age said that they had created a "12 days of Christmas" thing, and plan to do it for at least a couple of years. He gets to open 1-2 presents each day for 12 days. Alex had fun and it was fun for us, too, but I think he was overwhelmed a little.

Alex got everything on his Christmas list! Some of the highlights...wooden blocks, a couple of cute shirts (including the one featured in the pictures later on...) a cool gear set that will be much more fun when he knows not to just bang on it!, really cool light up frogs (I can't do them justice, just know they are cool), a musical giraffe, and a new pair of shoes. More fun than a baby can handle!!

Speaking of babies....Alex is really not one anymore. He has big boy shoes and after another recent hair cut, this little guy looks ready for kindergarten, not a play group! He's turned into a pretty good walker, he is a very capable trouble-maker, and he blows great kisses. Amazing how fast they grow!!!!

Look at that little boy go!! "Mom, I'm getting on the swing!"

Alex and I enjoyed the swing a little bit before dinner. Alex is wearing his new Austin City Limits t-shirt from Auntie Cate, along with little bitty Chaco-like sandals. He looks deceptively like he's still in Texas :-)

We had dinner at Dan's coworker's house. There were quite a few people there, and it was a *perfect* dinner. Just the right mixture of stuff (i.e. not everyone brought rolls or desert with no stuffing or veggies...it was perfect!) including a Hawaiian sweet potato dish with bananas and macadamia nuts mixed in...yum! It was the hosts' first Christmas since they were married, so the husband (also named Dan) kept commenting that "this was a tradition" as in "Every Christmas since we've been married, we've done it this way." It was really cute.

Mele Kalikimaka, folks!

It's A Sign!

2006-11-23T12:41:00.000-10:00

Alex did his first "real" sign today--a la Baby Signs book from Auntie Cate. He, like so many little ones, signed the word for "more." I think it's the first sign that most babies do, because there are not many things a baby needs to communicate except for "more."

So far, Alex has created a fairly useful set of impromptu signs--ones that we understand, and that make sense, but that he kind of made up/picked up himself. This is the first one we tried to "teach" him that might be understood by other baby-signers.

Just for kicks, let me tell you about the other "signs" he has done....

Up until now, his sign for "more" was to clap. And it was effective. He usually got what he wanted: clap=more cheese, clap=more grapes, etc. This also extended sometimes to other situations. We'd be unbuckling him to get him out of his carseat, and he would clap.

Instead of the conventional "finished" sign that we have shown him, Alex used bye-bye for things he did not want, or to say something was over. For example, he would throw the green beans off the tray and wave bye-bye. Or as I brought something towards him he didn't want--a shirt, more oatmeal, etc. he would express displeasure with bye-bye. Or he would fight me as I put diaper rash cream on a nasty diaper rash while crying and waving bye-bye.

There was the obvious arms-up-in-the-air "pick me up!" sign. And then if he wanted something that he could see he would do a "come here" sign--hand out, palm up, fingers flapping against his palm. This is a sign that I would give him a lot--come here and get your shoes on, come here and sit in my lap for a story, etc. So I guess he picked this up--"Milk Cup that is on the counter and out of reach...(hands both up, opening and closing) come here to me!" And, it usually worked :-)

Better late than never...

2006-11-14T23:18:00.000-10:00

Let's pretend that this party didn't happen 2 months ago, and just enjoy the pictures now :-)

Hmmmm....If only I could read, I would know who this birthday cake was for. (He just looks so serious!) That is A's little buddy Elijah, who is about 2 seconds away from sticking his finger in the frosting!

Whoo! I love to wash down my cake with a little margarita! Mmmmm.

I'm all out. Could someone pour me another? This is an emergency!

We're all out of Margarita. Since I'm the host ( I found that out after picture #1), I guess it's my job to go on a little run to store to get some more. No, really, the rest of you just stay there. I'll take my football and go by myself!!

An Update

2006-11-14T22:56:00.000-10:00

Time goes by so fast, and before you know it, a whole month has passed with no posts. Oops!

Here is an update: Alex is faster and cleverer than the last time I posted, he's also bigger and--hard to believe--even cuter :-) He is a master at moving objects around the room in order to reach things that were previously out of reach. He has pulled boxes, books, even his entire toy box over to the counter so that he can reach things. But his cleverness has limits--he's tried to use the wagon that Elliot and Denise gave him for his birthday. You don't have to be a genius (just older than about 2) to know that a wagon does not make a good step stool! If it weren't for some parents who are just as fast as he is, Alex would have a few good bumps to show for all his mischief!

Other news...Alex is in a Gymboree class. We go on Saturday mornings, and it's really great. The best part is that the membership comes with "free play" times. There is about an hour free play time every day. Most days it's while we are at work and day care, but we have gone-and managed to talk Daddy into joining us!-the last two Sundays. It is really fun to follow Alex's lead in this amazing little playground set up just for the little guys--up and down slides and ramps, through tunnels, over bridges, finding hidden toys, sitting in inner tubes, and checking himself out in the mirror. By the end of the hour, we all need a nap!

Pics from our Wisconsin trip

2006-10-16T21:16:00.000-10:00

In my laziness, I didn't post a darn thing while I was on my two weeks of vacation....so here are some pictures that I promised, from our trip to Wisconsin...only a few weeks ago. These are courtesy of Brian and Andi and their twins who took Alex to the Children's Museum for a day of fun while Mommy and Daddy were at the wedding.

Cute little drummer boys.

A very happy Alex with Uncle Brian (now that we're Hawaiian, you are Unlce Brian. Hope that's OK.)

Where did this big boy come from? Sitting in a chair? Reading a book? He's all grown up!

Alex found a nice spot to sit at the twins' house. Apparently the twins like to sit in these baskets as well. Such nice hosts..."mi basket es su basket"

The E's wanted to send Alex home not only with fun memories, but with a new trick. This is Ethan and Logan, trying to teach Alex to do "touchdown." He looks like he's catching on, doesn't he? :-) I can tell you though, 3 weeks later that he can do it now. The problem is that when I was teaching him, each time he'd do, it, I'd tickle him, so now when he puts his hands up, he'll wait a few seconds before doubling over in giggles of anticipation, even if I never actually tickle him.

Doin' Fine

2006-10-16T20:39:00.000-10:00

We experienced our first earthquake here in Hawaii yesterday! Everything is fine, we were nowhere near the actual center of the quake, but we definitely felt it and the many, many hours of electricity-less-ness that followed.

It was about 8ish a.m. here. We were kind of up, as families with small children often are, way too early on a Sunday. It was raining and yucky. Bummer. That was my last day of vacation. And then...the house began to shake. We heard the glass in the windows shaking, the pictures on the wall shaking. Dan and I looked at each other and were just dumbfounded. We were just starting to talk about what to do--i.e. which room in our house was safest?!?!-- when it stopped. And it was over. Only lasted 15-20 seconds. But it was enough to knock out electricity in the entire state. The entire state. That was 8ish. What were we going to do with no computer all day? We alread don't have a t.v. so there was no withdrawl there, but the computer?!?! Dan was actually starting to twitch by the end of the day...

We are pretty resourceful and thought we could enjoy sometime walking around outside or even at the beach, but it was raining on most of the island still, so with no electricity and no outdoor fun, it was a seriously lame day.

Then Sydney hurt her leg, and we had a mission: to find a vet clinic that was open. We found a vet clinic that was open and had power! Not just a generator, but we found out that power had been restored to one area of the island! We took care of the dog then dropped her back at home.But we had found the one possible source of amusement in this city with power. So we returned, looking for a place to do....well....anything. We found a place that was serving dinner, and divised a clever plan to get dinner and then request some cold milk just as we were leaving to take home for Alex's evening milk. See, most of the grocery stores on the island were either closed or were working on generators, and many of them were specifcially *not* selling milk or meat, and our milk was waaayyyyy nasty by now.

We ended up going to sleep before we had power again. Ours apparently came on around 10 (as determined by the time on the microwave when we got up). But one of my coworkers didn't have power until 6:20 this morning, and another didn't have power as of the time she went to work in the morning! She looked darn good for having gotten ready without any lights, blowdrying, haircurling, etc. Seriously, I had no excuse :-)

So, thanks to everyone who sent an e-mail or called to see how we were, especially to those of you who started your e-mails with "What's shakin'?" Yeah, you weren't the only clever one who thought of that. But we thought it was funny each and every time ;-)

Quick update

2006-09-29T20:36:00.000-10:00

Today begins the wonderful part of year-round school...the two week vacation. This marks the end of my first quarter as a first grade teacher...all I can say is that I have survived :-)
I have lots of fun plans stirring in my head...from cleaning the house to working on lesson plans for the next quarter.

Seriously, though, Alex and I have some real fun planned, too. We will go to playgroup, visit with pals that we haven't seen since Alex's birthday or before, and generally enjoy ourselves. I also want to get in some beach play and a story time or two.

Here are a couple of pictures of Alex and Co. here in Hawaii. Both were taken by G-ma Bette while she was in town.

Mommy and Alex at Teddy's Bigger Burgers. I love this baby!!

Alex and Sydney...bestest friends. Alex: I love this dog!

Home again, home again...

2006-09-25T20:45:00.000-10:00

We just returned from a fun-filled trip to Wisconsin. The main event of the trip was to attend the wedding of a friend of Dan's family, but we managed to cram in so much more :-)

Alex met many of his Grandma Bette and Daddy's friends. He met his Uncle Buddy (Grandma Bette's dog :-) ) as well as his little twin pals Ethan and Logan. This was fun for Mommy as well, as she is an avid reader of their blog and was really excited to see them in person, since our last real encounter with them was about 15 months ago....pre-Alex! In fact, Ethan and Logan's Mommy and Daddy babysat all day on Saturday and took all three of the little tykes out to the Betty Brin Children's! The report was that they all had a blast. They even sent home a CD of pictures as evidence of all the fun they had! As soon as I load those pictures on the computer, I'll share some of those with you. Cute, cute little boys!

The plane rides were interesting. The way to WI was an overnight flight. Alex understood the logic in this and complied by sleeping almost the entire time! The way back, however, was prime baby awake time, and Alex didn't seem to understand why we would plan this...we didn't either, and have made a note to never fly with Alex during the day again if possible. The last little bit of the ride was pretty bad, but Alex did manage to sleep for a couple of hours at the beginning, so we have to be thankful for that.

A couple of pictures, not of the trip, but from G-ma Bette's visit here since I haven't exhausted that collection yet. More from our time in WI later. It's bed time :-)

Look at me shopping for pineapples with my Grandma Bette. The photographer caught me looking serious...or maybe I was just busy filling a diaper...but my Grandma looks happy enough for both of us!!

Allright, here's a better smile...I love shopping!

Psst...don't tell anyone, I'm hiding behind the pineapple!

Skills

2006-09-11T22:55:00.000-10:00

As I write this, it is already Alex's birthday on the mainland. Here in Hawaii, however, he has an hour or so to go. So I thought I'd just have one more frivolous little post before the mushy one about his first year....

Alex has been perfecting a bunch of skills recently. He will show you his tounge if you ask, "Where's your tounge?" He claps on command. He looks around to locate certain people and a special dog. He has learned to predict many things, like people coming through the front door when he hears their voices outside, he closes his eyes and turns his head when he pulls things down off the counter to avoid getting a facefull of falling stuff, he walks to the front window to wave bye-bye when people leave, and so much more.

One of the fun tricks that his babysitter Tina taught him is to make noise by clapping his hand over his mouth as he says "ahhhhhhhh." It's a sound I'd associate with the Ten Little Indians Song of my preschool years, no matter how un-PC I know that may sound in this era. Anyway, here are some photos of Alex showing off this talent. There are millions, as it was one of his favorite things to do for a while. I decided to subject you to only a few :-)

Alex: Wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh......

Alex: Did you hear me? I said, " Wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh, wahh....."

Only the Best Toys for Our Baby

2006-09-10T10:05:00.000-10:00

You know how a baby can have hundreds of toys, and all they want to play with is the cord to the stereo? Or the diaper pail? Or your purse? Well, Alex likes all of those, but his favorite toys are Sydney's dishes. There is nothing more fun than picking up dog food, throwing it into the water bowl, and splashing the newly-made Dog Food Soup all over the floor. Sometimes he ends up actually eating the dog food, too, but I just assume that the protien is probably good for him anyway :-)

Thank you, Sydney for being the nicest dog in the world. Most dogs would probably bite my hand off for playing in their food dish, but you are too sweet. I guess it's because I always slip you some of my dinner, too. We are learning to share together.

Oh! Grandma Bette caught me playing in the dog dish again. Maybe if I close my eyes, she won't be able to see me!

Beach Bum

2006-09-07T18:10:00.000-10:00

Alex loves the beach. He likes to splash in the water, dig around in the sand, and run around in just his little swim diaper. He likes to watch the other kids splashing and playing, too. We don't get to the beach as often as you might think, since we live about 10 minutes from the ocean...jobs get in the way of really taking advantage of our location as much as we should. *sigh*

Here are a couple of pictures from a recent trip to Ala Moana, the baby-friendliest beach we've found.

I love the beach...the sand is so tasty!

If I suck in my tummy a little and puff out my chest some more, do you think that little hottie in the swim diaper will notice me?

2006-09-01T06:03:00.000-10:00

I apologize for hijacking that last post to talk all about me. So, some updates on Alex:

He is now walking/running everywhere. He can climb up on just about anything-babygates, the couch, the office chair, his toy box, etc, etc. Bette has been calling him a "billy goat" and that is pretty accurate. He is chattering about everything all the time. He likes Sydeny even more now that he can catch her. I'm not sure if the feeling is mutual :-) Sydney does seem to like Alex, but sometimes you can almost hear her sigh as he walks over to pull on her ear or try to take her toy. We do stop this behavior, of course, but even when he gets away from us, Sydney is the best dog ever and she just gets up, licks Alex's face several times and walks away. We really do have a great puppy.

Pictures to come....

Alex who?

2006-08-18T23:07:00.000-10:00

We are still alive. I know that it's been a long time. A very long time. Work has sucked every ounce of energy out of me, and then Alex puts me in the negative every evening.

I thought I could handle first grade. What's so tough about first grade? They're just a bunch of little kids...right? I come home every day so exhausted. It's amazing how much energy those 18 little rascals take. Just amazing. When I taught 4th grade there were these glorious streches of silence, where all the little minds were working, the only noise was the scratching of pencil on paper.

Now even "quiet reading time" is noisy. I had to bring in music to play because the kids were getting on each other's nerves as they read aloud. I found out that first graders cannot read silently to themselves. They are in the "sound it out" stage, and that means a literal need to "sound out" words. So, during "quiet reading time" all I heard were complaints of "he's reading too loud." Which really meant "he's reading so loudly that I can't hear myself reading out loud." Seriously. But the music helped.

Anyway, about those stretches of silence. It's not that I enjoy silence. What I enjoy is being able to get something done during the day. Instead, I can't walk away for a minute. If I try to go my desk or organize some papers, I immediately have at least 3 kids saying my name, usually within a foot of me, always asking something that I've already explained. *sigh* This was not meant to be a long tirade about work. It was meant as a meager explanation of why I haven't posted in a hundred years. I've found the reason that little kids seem to have so much energy--they actually suck it from the adults around them.

That, and my camera broke. I think it was banged on the floor one too many times. Or it might have sand in it. The hazards of living with a small child, in Hawaii. There are many possible sources for camera damage. There is no place to get it fixed on the island. We have to send it away. I'm working on that. In the meantime, G-ma Bette has taken some freakin' cute pictures that should be forthcoming. As soon as I figure out how to get them off the CD. Excuses, excuses....

Good Morning

2006-07-21T05:36:00.000-10:00

I'm up way too early! Teaching has its perks, but the early mornings are not one of them. Seriously, I should never be required to be anywhere by 7:30. In order to get myself and a baby ready, baby to day care, and my self to work, I have to get up looooong before the sun. *sigh*

The benefit to you is that I have found a speck of extra time, so I will share some pictures with you. These will probably be the last for about a week, as Alex and I are off to TX this afternoon! Grandma L, Grandpa, Auntie Sarah and Uncle Chris (plus Dominique and Sugar, of course)...here we come!

Look ma, no hands!! The lighting and flash make it hard to see, plus that hand out of the frame could be holding onto something for support. But look at that face! He's obviously doing something amazing. Yes, he's taking actual steps!

This one is a bit clearer, but with a goofy face. Look at that concentration! I'm walking!!

Oh, walking? Yeah... done that.

Have a great week, guys. I'll see you later :-)

New Tricks!

2006-07-18T21:15:00.000-10:00

The past few days Alex has been racking up the new skills. Three days ago, he added "da" to his vocabulary. He now has both of his parents at his beck and call: mama and dada. Dan stayed home with Alex on Monday morning, and when I returned, he told me that Alex had said "ma da da" over and over again, which, if you say this outloud to yourself right now, can sound a lot like "My Dada." Cute.

The other new and fantastic steps that Alex is perfecting are just that: STEPS!! We had a busy afternoon today, and Alex spent the day standing and turning around, letting go of his handhold and taking 1-2 steps toward me. Yeah little guy! And when we got home, I put Alex down and he stood up for a couple of seconds before stepping toward Dan. We will soon have a walker!!

For me, summer school ends on Friday, then it's off to Texas for a week, back for orientation at the new school and then I start with students the following week! It's all a blur, and I'm excited. I'm not exactly looking forward to flying with Alex, but I know that I have handled other crazy situations with him, and this is probably just blowing up in my mind because I have had so much time to think about it. Plus, he's a great kid. It can't be that bad, right?

This post is sadly lacking pictures of Alex's new talent because, try as we might, Dan and I could not get a picture of Alex standing or walking. Just as he'd let go and take a step, the stupid camera would autofocus for too long, and Alex would drop to the ground just in time for a picture of the top of his head. Soon.....

10 Months

2006-07-15T09:00:00.000-10:00

Alex is now 10 months old. Time flies...

As we talked about in the last post, there are just so many things he can do now that it seems like he couldn't do last week, a few days ago, or even this morning. He is a real champ at feeding himself now. He's been doing that for a while, but now he only drops things on purpose. (Or to entice Sydney to come closer.) And he definitely has his favorite foods. Last night I gave him some little meat chuncks while I was cooking the rest of dinner. While the pasta was cooking, I peeled and cut up some oranges. Alex saw me, and started reaching and yelling, even dropping the meat chunks over the side of his high chair as if to tell me that his plate was empty, it needed to be filled with oranges! He then proceeded to eat two oranges by himself. Not two pieces of orange. Two oranges. Granted, they are the little clementine ones, so they are small, but TWO? Come on, kid, the books say that your stomach is only as big as your fist right now. And your fist is smaller than one orange. And that was before dinner, with pasta, veggies, cheese, etc.

But he's a growing boy!

Stir fry veggies are one of Alex's favorite foods. He especially enjoys the snow peas, as you can see.

I love Daddy!

Daycare stole my baby....

2006-07-11T18:47:00.000-10:00

...and I got back a big boy!

Alex has been growing up at daycare. I went to pick him up one afternoon to find him drinking a bottle, holding it all by himself. This was a surprise because (apparently he has been pretending that) he can't really hold a sippy cup, and needs help.

Balogna! There was my little munchkin, sitting up and drinking from a bottle. Of course, this took a few weeks of practice because up to this point in his life, he's had less than a bottle a week. But now, he's a little champ at it. He still tries to pretend that he can't hold his cup, he opens his mouth as I bring it toward him, like I'm going to stick it in there and hold it for him. But if I put the cup in his lap, he'll reach right down and pick it up, hold it up and suck down whatever is in there. Little faker!

In other news, work is going well. I finish up next Friday, and then Alex and I fly to Texas for a week with my folks. Auntie Sarah is driving up, and Uncle Chris, G-ma Linda and G-pa will be there as well as some pets. Alex will get to meet the elusive feline Dominique, who will probably be hiding under the couch the whole time, and Sugar, who will love Alex's dog-feeding skills.

I start at my school year job at the end of July, so I've been working on my room at the new school in the afternoons. This going back to work thing has been more work than I thought it would be! I planned to be doing half-days, but between a continuing ed class for the new school, working half day, and then getting ready for the new job, it's actually been a full time job! I have taken Alex with me to the new school whenever I just have to drop things off or pick things up. He rides in the little backpack so I can still work. Of course, he's a hit :-)

Alex is also working very hard on becoming even more mobile. He has let go of whatever he is "cruising" on several times, and, forgetting that he's not holding anything, he sometimes even takes a step before dropping to the ground to really get around. I don't know that these are his "first steps" as they don't seem all that intentional. But maybe that's just how it is.

Here are a couple of pictures from the zoo music show last week. Alex was enjoying himself, although it's hard to tell. He usually has such a serious look on his face.

(In a Cartman voice:) Yeah, I want veggie poofs.

Mommy, are you taking pictures of me again?

At least let me turn around.

Oh, and you want a smile, too? Well, I'm not your trick pony. I don't smile on command. How's this?

The Return of a Happy Little Boy

2006-07-05T16:29:00.000-10:00

Alex is finally back to normal. This realization hit me this weekend. He has been in a funk for about a month now. From teething to a yucky cold to an ear infection, this little boy has managed to create a big disturbance. He has been clingy and whiny and just wanted to be held all the time. And we love to hold him, but sometimes, yes it is true, I have to make dinner or do dishes, or get dressed or pick up toys or work on my classwork for tomorrow, or, heaven forbid, I just want to not be holding a baby!

It has finally all come to an end (knocking on wood right now). The teeth are in for now, the cold is gone and Alex had the last of his medicine on Sunday. He is smiley again and laughs a lot and can finally play for minutes-yes, minutes!- alone while I get something else done.
Lovely, lovely, lovely.

We are going to the zoo tonight for a little concert series that has been going on al summer-Wednesday evening family music fun. Alex and I went last week while Dan had to work late. It was a nice way to spend an evening. Hopefully it will be as enjoyable this time.

This is an overdue Father's Day picture. We had lunch out, and Alex and Dan spent some time together to celebrate this special occasion. Here I think they are singing a little duet.

Alex the Party Animal

2006-06-28T15:15:00.000-10:00

OK, finally time to update this old blogitty blog. Here are some pictures from a birthday party we went to about two weeks ago. Alex had a great time! The grass in this park is lovely, soft golf-course-type grass, so he could just crawl and crawl. And there were birds to chase, other kids to watch, and some kalua pork to eat. It was a great day to be a baby.

Hey! Is there room in there for one more?

Don't worry, I have one of these at home. You just pull on this rope and the doggy will follow you wherever you go! (Actually, this was very cute. Alex just crawled right up and pet this dog--after Mommy asked if it was OK, of course--he has no fear of dogs after living with the gentle beast known as Syndey.)

This started out as a cute picture of two little boys both eating bottles of bubbles. By the time I found my camera, of course, Dylan decided he'd had enough and was not going to stick around. So, here is Alex and Dylan's booty.

Alex is still working on his cup skills. Good thing his real cups all have lids.

2006-06-04T20:34:00.000-10:00

Dan is off to Boston for a few days. So, Alex, Sydney and I have to hold down the fort here in Honolulu again.

We started off with a great time at the park today! We met for a BBQ with our play group. The best part was that it was a family gathering, so we got to meet the "other parent" in each family (mostly dads, of course, but we have one stay-at-hom dad in our group, so we got to meet that working mama as well today). What a nice way to start off these lonely days :-)

And I am on count down to going back to work! I start on June 13th, so a little over a week. I had to turn in my lesson plan overview last week, so I had to actually sit down and figure out what I planned to do with these munchkins for the 6 weeks I had them. It was strange at first, to try to think about teaching 8 year olds, when my mind has been on talking slowly and carefully, and pointing out single words to Alex for 9 months now! I am pretty sure that 8 year olds know what a "ball" or a "bird" is, so my thinking had to speed up a little to keep up with my new charges. But, once I got going, I was excited...so many fun activities and games and books to share. And I don't have to worry about anyone trying to eat the books...I hope.

Yes, I am a little sad to be going back to work, but it will only make me appreciate the time I have with Alex more.

Speaking of Alex, I have to post a few pictures of him for his long distance Daddy.

I love relaxing in my high chair, leaning back, putting my feet up....

Wow. Have you guys noticed the fan in this kitchen lately? I still love fans.

Like Music to My Ears

2006-06-02T12:53:00.000-10:00

Alex has been "talking" for quite a while now. But this talking is nothing like the baby books all say he's "supposed" to be talking. He has had only one sound, "Ah." And this sound is mighty versitile. He can express frustration, anger, impatience, joy, excitement, or make it almost conversational. He will look at a person and say, looking like he is explaining something very important, "Ahhhhh ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ahhhh. Ah?" This really almost sounds like talking, as his voice goes up and down and he even makes "questioning" ah's sometimes. But this is not the babbling that we have been lead to belive he should be doing right now.

Yesterday morning, as we were all in the waking up stage, Alex surprised us with his first babbling. He just started saying "mamamamamama." We were both totally shocked. Where did that come from? But I guess that's how it happens. "Ah, ahhh, ah-ah" one day, and "mamamma" the next.

Now he has a list of consonant+a combos he uses: "lalalalala" and "yayayayaya."

I was excited because it was "mama" first. But Dan has already shared his plans to use this to his advantage:

"Alex, who do you want to change your diaper? Oh? Mamamama? The baby has spoken"

Yeah. I think he's just jealous :-)

Alex: "Yayayayayaya...mamamamamama.....lalalalalalala"

Overdue Pictures

2006-05-31T20:00:00.000-10:00

Here are a couple of pictures, I am embarrassed to say they are from Mother's Day and it's just been a long string of excuses (sick/worn out/preoccupied) since then making it hard to get anything posted for you all to see.

The bow on this present looks good enough to eat!

Oh...is this present for you? Happy Mother's Day!

A Mouthful of Teeth

2006-05-31T19:00:00.000-10:00

Alex's teeth are pretty much in. He is now the proud owner of four little choppers! The top two are just little nubs, of course, but I'm glad that we should be experiencing a reprieve from all of the angst of the last couple of weeks. The problem now is that Alex is back in a wake-up-all-the-time routine, and even though I think the teething excuse has run its course, he still seems to want to get up and be fed and/or comforted at least twice a night. OH MY GOODNESS. This is not fun.

I have been busy preparing for the summer course I'll be teaching. I'll be with 3rd graders this summer, and I'm pretty excited about getting back into a classroom, although I am sure that I'll miss Alex like crazy. I think it might be fun for him, though. He really enjoys other kids at play group, and the gals at the YMCA say that he likes to chase the toddlers. (Actually, they told me a funny story about him last week. Apparently, he crawled over to the train table and pulled himself up. He then took apart a section of the track, which really annoyed the "older" kids--yeah, the 2-3 year olds. So, the kids decided that Alex needed to go some place else, and they got a bunch of toys and made a pile in a different area of the room, and encouraged Alex to play there instead of at the table. Roughly the same little group of kids is there whenever Alex is there, and they are always excited to see him, want to "read" to him or show him things. They also like to lead him up the little plastic stair/slide contraption in the playroom. So, they do like him, but apparently this day was play-with-the-train day, and the baby was getting in the way.) Anyway, my point is that I think Alex will enjoy playing with other kids, and I think that this will be a good transition into us being apart full time in the fall.

But I hope that this sleeping thing gets figured out in the next week and a half, so I don't have to go to work like a zombie every day!

This picture doesn't show the top teeth, but they are pretty hard to see anyway. You can, however, see his bottom two pearly whites.

New Teeth...A Painful Experience For the Whole Family!

2006-05-25T21:09:00.000-10:00

Sorry it's been so long...life is just busy. Alex is getting some more teeth. Two more, on the top. And he has not let any of us forget it. We went from a lovely, sleeping all night big boy right back to a one-month-old little baby. He's up at least 3 times a night. If I go in to comfort him, rock him, pat his back, etc he knows it's me and will be soothed by nothing but nursing. So, Dan tries to put him to sleep at least once a night so that I am not completely nuts in the morning, but sometimes that doesn't work, and the magic of Mommy is all that will help.

This is not good. I think that some how we are equiped with some extra adrenaline back in the beginning. Waking up every couple of hours somehow becomes OK with a newborn, and we are able to stumble through the day on very little shut-eye. At 8 months, though, I am quite a lunatic after these nights. And while I am now running on a sleep deficiency, Alex doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact that he is sleeping in ridiculous little 3 hour chunks. He is still up by 7, ready for his day to start.

Dan has been a real sweetie, taking care of Alex for an hour or two in the morning, until it's actually time for me to need to get up. Thank you, thank you Dan.

In happier news...Alex and I went to the beach today with our playgroup. We went to Ala Moana, which has a wonderful little inlet area, protected by a jetty, so the waves are very gentle. The decline is also very slow into the water, so you can sit down and hold a baby very nicely in your lap, never having to lift him up for waves. This is a nice combination. Usually to sit, you can't be in the water or you'll be overrun with waves all the time. Or, you have to go out a ways and have to stand, balance a baby, and generally be more anxious about dropping him. Plus, standing in the water is not very entertaining to a baby. Today, we sat with our legs in the water, hands in the sand, and just enjoyed the day. I discovered that if Alex has a toy to chew on, he is much less likely to try to eat handfuls of sand. A good discovery, indeed!

Update

2006-05-14T09:21:00.000-10:00

Alex is fine. In fact, I think that the rest of the family has suffered much more than he has. Just like you said, Sally!

Thursday night was the big vomit event. Then Friday morning he had diarrhea, which told me that it may not just be a reaction to food. Friday afternoon we went to the dr. She said, as I assumed she would, just to give him electrolytes, continue breastfeeding, and avoid fiber-y foods, like fruit. OK. Great. Another couple of nasty diapers that day.

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling bad. And it went downhill from there. I didn't leave the house at all, and I hardly left the bed. I didn't actually throw up, but I think that was just a careful mixture of Sierra Mist and not moving AT ALL.

Dan played with Alex all day. I am soooo glad this was a weekend. I don't know what I would have done otherwise! He brought him to me when Alex needed to eat, then took him away again. Wonderful, wonderful Dan. After Alex went to sleep, Dan started feeling sick. He said he wasn't sure if it was the Jack-In-The-Box he'd had for dinner or Alex's bug. Doesn't matter. Maybe it was the combination, but Dan retreated to the bathroom for a while, and then returned saying, "Well, that was a waste of $4.53." Dan is always so practical.

So, Dan and I got up this morning, both a little run-over feeling. Alex still has nasty diapers, but he's acting like the energetic little boy he always is. So, I'm just trying to keep giving him Pedialite. The dr. said that a change in activity or appearance is more indicative of a serious problem than other symptoms, so we'll just hope that Alex keeps up the good work of getting into everything! Then we'll know he's OK.

Dan left a few minutes ago to run to the store. I talked him into taking Alex with him. Call it a Mother's Day gift :-)

Baby's First Tummy Bug

2006-05-12T12:56:00.000-10:00

Alex has his first sick stomach issue. Last night, Sydney came over to me with her "I want something" look. I assumed she wanted to go outside, so I told her to be patient. Apparently, she didn't take that very well, so she went and woke up Dan. But instead of going to the front door, she went to Alex's door. Dan went to check on Alex and it turned out that he had thrown up all over his crib. In typical baby fashion, where dropping a pen can wake him up, but barking dogs and ambulance sirens don't, Alex had apparently slept through the entire thing. There he was, still snoozing soundly, but laying in a puddle of puke. We were amazed-yes, Dan and I actually talked about this-that Alex had his first big-boy puke. It no longer had that spit-up milk smell. It smelled like vomit. Sorry, but blogs about babies are not always clean :-)

So, we got him up, changed his clothes, gave him a bath and changed his sheets. Dan looked up what to do for a sick baby. I tried to feed him, but after a few minutes of breastfeeding, he spewed all that back out, too. Change both of our clothes this time. Dan read that we should give him Pedialite if he can't keep down breastmilk, so he went off to get some of that. Alex and I sat on the couch, and the next thing I knew, he had fallen asleep. I laid him in his crib. When Dan got home, we debated getting him up, but decided that he probably would get more from sleep than from Pedialite. Alex slept soundly the rest of the night.

I fed him just fine this morning, and he had a normal-looking poopy diaper. I figured it was a reaction to something he ate yesterday. The new things from yesterday were oranges and a different baby cereal, so I decided to try to avoid them both. We went to the YMCA. He ended up having diarrhea, so the Childcare gal was just calling me as I came back to get him.

We now have a Dr. appt in an hour. I called, because it's Friday and I'd rather take him in today than have to go to the hospital or something over the weekend because we have an after-hours complaint. I assume he just has a little bug, and they probably can't do anything about it, but I'd rather find that out now.

***************************************

Here are just a couple of pictures of Alex. Completely unrelated to the previous story. For Aunty Cate, who requested more pictures now that she's left the island.

Yummy! I love banana teething biscuits!

Hmmm...what exactly is in this biscuit? I want to know because I plan to smear it all over my face, and was hoping that it had some moisturizing properties as well. Smear!

Oh, hello Sydney. So nice of you to wander past. I just love Sydney!

Sydney. What are you doing? Hey. That's my buscuit!!

Mom. Sydney ate my buscuit. Can I have another one?

We Conquered Diamond Head

2006-05-12T12:37:00.000-10:00

Yesterday, Alex and I went on a hike. We had plans to meet up with a couple of other mom-and-baby pairs and hike up Diamond Head Crater.

There's the beast! (Not my picture, by the way, stolen from some website) It was an amazing, amazing view. You can see the entire southern coast of the island, all the way to Barber's Point, if you know Hawaiian geography. Just lovely. Totally worth the sweat and exhaustion!

It was prettier in person...or maybe I was just tired :-) Anyway, Alex was on my back, and since I got there late, I was hiking alone (that was incentive, though, I had to catch up!) I kept passing all these people (on their way down...I wasn't really passing anyone going the same direction as me!) who were saying nice, encouraging things to me: "There's a tough momma!" and "You go, girl!" Then, there was one woman who said, "You are just gonna die going up there!" She was on her way down. If I'd been thinking any faster, I would have said something equally rude like "If you could make it, I am sure I can, too!" But my mind was a bit fatigued so I just muttered something like "Hope not" and kept going. So, lady, if you are reading this, I MADE IT.

So, my calves are a bit sore today, but it was a really nice workout. I told Dan we'd have to go sometime soon so he can check it out, too.

You went to the zoo? Us too!

2006-05-07T21:15:00.000-10:00

Funny that our little Wisconsin friends went to the zoo this weekend. So did Alex and I. We went with a playgroup buddy, Dylan, and his mom and her friend. Our little boys are about the same age, Alex is about 3 weeks older. So, at play group each week, his mom and I compare notes and have very similar things to say...oh, now he's pulling up? Mine too!

Anyway, the tough thing about animals is that one of thier survival techniques is camoflauge. If our boys were predators, not many of the animals at this zoo would have been in danger :-) We pointed and rotated, and moved little heads, but it was rather worthless. Our poor little boys (to quote Andi) "thought they were on a long walk" with a couple of animals along the way. I am sure that they noticed the ostrich, who was bobbing his head like crazy, and the elephants were pretty active as we walked by. They also got to pet some goats in the kids' area. There were also some birds that we adults considered kind of ugly, but that were big and colorful enough that they boys actually looked at them, moving their heads to show that they were following them.

The zoo will be an event to repeat in a few months. Honestly, Alex gets much more out of the mall's pet shop, where he can get very close and definitely see the animals. So, it's back to the free animal entertainment. I'm not complaining :-)

Felicidades a todos!

2006-05-05T20:56:00.000-10:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. Alex and I ended up in the midst of this way-too-big Cinco de Mayo fiesta on accident this evening. Not knowing that everyone and sus madres would be out looking for cheap margaritas, we went down to Aloha tower, just to walk around and look at the big boats. Aloha tower, as you might guess, is a big tower with the word "ALOHA" on it. It is at the pier where all the big cruise ships dock. If you have been on a cruise ship, you know that the spot where they let off their passengers is always a nice place to sell, well, EVERYTHING. So there is a little mall, a bunch of restaurants and all the tourist trappings that Hawaii has to offer. Leis and aloha wear, beach attire, and the goofy "only in Hawaii" stuff, like HI license plates with names on them or magnets with hula girls, etc.

Anyway, we were really there just to see the big boats, but there was a FIESTA going on, so we also saw salsa dancing, people roaming around with sombreros and Mexican flags, and those aforementioned margaritas. And every restaurant had them on special. I was really tempted, but I tried to think what I would think if I saw myself, a woman out alone, drinking with her baby. Not cool. So, I moved on. We did see some big boats, though! A couple of cruise ships were there, and the evening dinner cruise ship The Star of Honolulu was docking just as we walked by, and then some neat looking large sail boats. Alex at least looked their way, but he's so much more interested in watching people walk by, that boats are not real attention-getters right now. The salsa dancers, however, had his full attention.

Here are some pictures from a few days ago. Alex is in the office, crawling around under the desk chair. He was kind of upset to find out that he couldn't sit up while under there. He didn't seem to hurt himself as he tried to sit up, he just looked really confused.

Shhhh....we're playing hide and seek...do you see Sydney?

"It's just another day under the furniture again..." (I'm sorry, that one is for Uncle Chris and my famiy. The story is too long and silly to relate here, but I hope that they are laughing :-) )

Creepin', Crawlin', and Cruisin'

2006-05-03T21:50:00.000-10:00

Alex is unstoppable. He is the master of the tummy-on-the-floor wriggle, and it remains the most effective form of movement right now. But, he is also starting to crawl, and he's starting the pre-walking fun of "cruising." (For anyone not immersed in baby book jargon right now, that's the "holding on to things while walking" stage.) He has made it the length of the couch with this new skill. Exciting. It's really not perfected yet, as he ends up on his (thankfully, diapered) little behind every 30 seconds or so, as he tries to do the really tough skills like pick up a toy off the floor while holding on to the side of the toy box. He certainly has a way to go. But it's amazing that about a month ago, he was still having trouble sitting up!

No pictures tonight. I'm sleepy and just don't feel like it. I'll make it up to the fans tomorrow :-)

****All about Mommy news flash****
I got a teaching position at a private school for the summer. It looks like it will be a good transition back to working for me, and into the day care world for Alex, as it will only be half days. This job is also going to be nice because it's downtown, very close to where we live and to where Dan works. So, it's convenient, and we can continue with only one car. I have started looking for a good place for Alex during this time, and I'm sure we will find some wonderful arrangements.Life always works out, doesn't it?

Alex Takes a Stand

2006-05-01T21:55:00.000-10:00

Alex is all about standing up. You'd think he'd been doing this for years! He will sit on the floor and play with a toy for a couple of minutes, and then it's like he suddenly thinks, "What am I doing? I could be standing!!!" Then he'll wiggle across the ground, find some stationary object that he is pretty sure will support him, and UP he goes! So far, this plan has worked really well. If he uses me, he also gets a little help and a hug when he gets to standing. The boxes, cube-wall, couch, and toy container offer less help, but are sturdy enough. His only rejection so far was Sydney. He grabbed some fur, started to pull himself up, and Sydney just about hit the ceiling. I have to give her credit, though. Alex fell and cried a little, and she came to lick his face, as if to apologize.

I know she didn't mean to hurt him, but he didn't mean to hurt her, either!

What's up? Oh, this standing thing...yeah, I guess I've been doin' it for a while....like 3, 4 days maybe.

Hey, Mom, have you seen my Pooh Bear?

For Dan, who's probably missing his babies

2006-04-30T17:31:00.000-10:00

Hey Sydney, I know I have a million brightly colored toys that make noise and light up and crinkle and jingle and are generally really cool, but I think I'd like to have your dog toy because...well....it's the one toy that's not mine!

Ummm....Sydney. I know you used to be the only child, but now I am the cute little brother and I demand this toy.

Sydney actually let him have it, for a little while. Then she came back and took it and snuck off into a corner to chew her toy in peace. Alex continues to enjoy both this toy and splashing around in Sydney's water bowl whenever he manages to get over to it before I catch him. He does play with his own toys, but his fascination with Sydney's stuff is really cute. As if he's trying to be like his big sister :-)

Fun Days and a Vertical Baby!

2006-04-28T21:19:00.000-10:00

Alex and I have been having fun despite Dan's absence. Yesterday was playgroup, then a couple of errands, then we walked to the library (again, we were there on Wednesday, but it was the day the library closes early, of course) and picked up a book.

Today we went to the Y and then came home. Alex napped and then got up and played. He had some new skills to perfect, so it was an afternoon of busy, busy work to be done. Alex has figured out how to pull himself up. Despite the limitation of not crawling on his knees, he can do this goofy-looking superman pose, belly on the ground, hands on some surface, and then inch his knees up until he's vertical and then pull his feet under, and stand. It's a long, arduous looking process, but when he gets up, he bounces and giggles, and it is obvious that he thinks it's worth all the effort.

Then we went to the neighboorhood pool and swam for a little while. Alex always starts out a little hesitant, but he gets comfortable in water pretty quickly, and then begins to splash and giggle. Today I put my mouth down in the water and blew bubbles. This was hysterical. Really, really hysterical.

And finally, to ward off any loneliness I might be feeling, Alex took me out to eat. We wandered the streets of Waikiki, looking for a place that wasn't too crowded and loud, but crowded enough that there was background noise to cover the occasional loud exclamation of enthusiasm/frustration/annoyance/where's-more-food which is what passes for dinner conversation at our table. Alex was really, really good. He happily munched on a hamburger bun, raisins, and pineapple, and let me eat my yummy chicken sandwhich. The family at the next table even commented on how good he was. I think it might have been that he had my full attention the whole time, which is not normally the case when Dan and I go out to eat with him. Of course, he has most of the attention, but not all of it. I'm not saying that from now on we won't talk to each other and will dote (even more!) on him when we're out, but it was interesting to note the difference.

So, tomorrow we are going on a church retreat. Every year the church folk go on this hard core retreat where they actually camp out for the weekend. We haven't been out to the sight yet, as camping was not on my list of things I want to tackle alone with a baby, but I've seen a few pictures and it's right by the water. It sounds like a nice time.

And that is all. Right now I'm enjoying the lovely sound of a sleeping baby. Ahhhh....

I can feed myself Cheerios! I am such a big boy!

And when I run out of Cheerios, I can usually find a spare one..or fifty...in here. (This morning, I noticed Alex chomping on a raisin. I hadn't given him rasins yet today. I have given him raisins many times before, though, so this raisin could have been one day old, or many days old. Good things raisins are already old.)

Hey Mom and Dad! Seriously, when are we going to get these boxes out of the living room? This is just embarrasing. We've been here for 3 months already!

How 'bout I just unpack this one and then take it out for you? I can help, too!

No More excuses--So Many New Tricks!

2006-04-25T19:19:00.000-10:00

I now have no, no, no excuse for not blogging. Dan is on a business trip to India for the next 2 weeks, so I have ample time after Alex goes to sleep, and there is no competition for the computer. So...here goes.

Alex is surprising me everyday with some little trick or another. Yesterday it was using two hands on the same task, and very cleverly, too I might add. He has a little bib with a pocket at the bottom for catching all that stuff that doesn't quite make it into his mouth. He's very excited about putting his own food in his mouth, and makes it about 25% of the time. So, the rest ends up in this bib trough thing. Yesterday, he had attempted to eat all the Cheerios on the tray, and was looking for more. He knew that there were more in his bib.He reached down with one hand, but couldn't get them. So, he used his other hand to push up one side so all the Cheerios fell to one corner. I couldn't believe that it was more than coincidence, but he did it again later, so I think he actually knew what he was doing!

On the locomotion front, still no actual crawling but he gets around so well with his little army crawl that he doesn't need that conventional stuff! He is starting to pull up, but it's harder when he is starting from his stomach rather than his knees (as most kids do when they start to pull up). And road blocks no longer stop him. The childcare gals at the YMCA told me yesterday that "he crawls over everything." Pillows, people's legs, etc. are not enough to contain him. Looks like we need to finish cleaning up/putting away everything and get some baby gates.

Last week when I was at the bank, he was playing on the floor because it was going to take a while. He was on his stomach, and the next thing I knew, he was sitting up. That was the first time I'd seen that trick! He usually gets into that almost-sitting-from-a-crawl position, and then pushes and falls over the other way. But this time he figured it out.

They grow up so fast...

Look at me, sitting up like a big boy!

I love my Goodnight Elmo book. I like to brush Elmo's teeth before he goes to bed. This is the one book that I actually look at rather than putting directly into my mouth.

Hey there. Did you catch me reading? My grandmas would be so proud!

What kind of parents...

2006-04-17T16:06:00.000-10:00

take their 6 month old baby to a place with belly dancers?

Apparently, we do :-)

We ate at a wonderful restaurant called Pyramids the night before Cate left last week. It was a celebration of Cate's last night, and we were taking her friend Carl out to thank him for helping us move some furniture. Very nice atmosphere, yummy, yummy food. Alex was awed and amazed by the dancer's sparkly dress and jewlery. And she was charmed by him as well, of course. She clapped her little finger cymbals over his head in circles, and he turned every which way to see where all the music was coming from! It was really entertaining.

And, she took tips. I went to the bathroom as we were leaving, but when I came back out, Dan informed me that Alex had tipped the gal. I have to say that I was glad I wasn't present the first time my son tipped a scantily clad dancer.

The food was good, as I mentioned before. I had this okra dish in chunky tomato sauce. Alex ate both okra and tomato chunks. What a good eater! Of course, he has yet to reject anything. I think that the experience of eating is so exciting that he is not really thinking about taste yet.

Big Sister Sydney

2006-04-11T13:54:00.000-10:00

I have a confession. I don't really like our dog. I know that sounds harsh, but she is a pain. She's destructive and needy. Before I met Dan, she already had a list of things that she had destroyed, including a remote, a cell phone, carpet, and other stuff I'm sure. The first time Dan and I hung out, I wore light khaki pants and a white shirt. You know where this is going. I spent the entire evening with little dirty paw prints on my pants and shirt, and was so self-concious about it the whole night. (I admit this is silly, considering it was Dan's dog that had put them there--not like I showed up a mess!) We moved and Sydney dug under the fence, we moved again and she tore up a window screen, dug under a different fence, scratched up the back door, tore up more carpet...you get the idea.

We moved to Hawaii and she had messed up every screen she can reach, broke panes of window, and has gone through the back door which leads out onto our patio. (No, this would not be significant if the door had not been closed when she went through it!!!!)

So...the dog. Dan and I have talked about giving her away to someone with tons of land, where there are other dogs to play with and hopefully no screens, or doors, or windows to break. But then Dan reminds me that he had Sydney since she was a puppy, and that if given a choice between Sydney and me...well....it'd be close. So, the dog stays.

I am telling you all of this because Sydney is also the sweetest, best, most loving dog I've ever met. She tears things up whenever she's alone because she is just so anxious and misses us so much. She scratches up doors because she believes we are inside, needing her attention as much she needs ours. I know this. And I put up with her because Dan loves her, but more than that, for moments like this:

Here's a happy boy, playing with a pile of books.

Oh, he's looking up. Does he see his mother, his favorite person in the world, is he happy to see her coming towards him, wanting to play with him or read him a story?

Nope. His favorite person happens to be this crazy mutt I've been ranting about.

Alex loves Sydney. Alex has this little humming noise he makes whenever he smiles. It's the sound of a smile. A low, happy hum. Sydney makes him smile and hum whenever she walks by. Alex will scoot across the floor toward Sydney much faster than he will to get to me!

And the affection is mutual. Of course, we were concerned about bringing Alex into the house with such a big, energetic dog around, but Sydney has been the best dog we could have hoped for. When Alex cries, she licks his head, as she probably would to comfort puppies. She comes to get me when she hears him cry in his room, and looks at me as if to say, "Do you hear that? Can we go help him now?" She is gentle and careful and (almost) never steps on him (only when she's excited about something else does she forget where her feet are, but we can usually gauge that and move him out of the danger zone). She sometimes brings him her toys, and drops them right in front of him. She lays down outside of his room when he goes to sleep. And it goes on.

They are best friends, even though Alex likes to stick his hands in her fur and yank, and even though sometimes Sydney gets carried away and licks Alex's face until he actually has slober streaks on his little cheeks.

And so, the dog has to stay. We will continue to fix screens and replace doors, we will continue to take Sydney out to poop in the rain, and we'll probably lose another few expensive items to the anxiety of the most annoying, sweetest, most destructive, gentlest, craziest and bestest dog in the world.

Rain, rain, go away...

2006-04-04T11:18:00.000-10:00

I haven't written much about this, but it has been raining since we got to Hawaii. Not like off and on, a little here or there, but serious rain. Everyone says, "We've never seen it like this" and "Worst I've seen, and I've been here 30 years!" It rained everyday for the last 41 days. And most of those days, it wasn't a lovely tropical mist, it was pretty hard to torrential. Last Sunday Dan and I tried to go out for a hike (it was sunny, we were so excited!) but by the time we got to the trail head, it was raining again. As we drove home, we actually had to drive around a small mudslide that had slid its way onto the road!

But, I'm writing all this to tell you that yesterday and today we feel like we actually moved to Hawaii. It has been sunny, breezy, and lovely. Ahhhh.... We hear there is more rain in the forecast, but for now, it is time to frolick in the sunshine and enjoy the islands!

So, on to the baby that you want to hear about...Alex has finally figured out how to move himself forward. This is still not the fluid motion known as "crawling" but he gets up on all fours, then flops forward and lands on his tummy, gets up again, and flops forward again. This goofy little process leads him forward, to whatever it is that he's after at the moment. Unfortunately, it is hard to gauge exactly where a flop will lead, so he ends up bumping his forehead every now and then, but man, he is really going!

And, he's eating so many things now. I just kind of decided that he can eat whatever is on our menu, so last night he had veggie lasagna and corn, and this morning, cream of wheat with bananas. Yumm! Although, Grandma Bette reports that this morning he was passing gas like a little motorboat. I guess his stomach was having to work a little harder than it's used to. But he is really enjoying all his new culinary delights!

Here is Alex playing with a toy that Denice and Elliot gave him. As he puts each star on, it lights up and makes a little chiming "Brrrrriiiiiing!" sound. When the last star is on the top, it plays music! So. Much. Fun.

All right...almost done...

Mommy, where does this last star go? In my mouth?

Oh, yeah, it goes on top!

(I have to admit, he's not actually doing all this on his own. He's having a little help from Mom, in between pictures, but he's getting the idea. )

For Aunt Sarah....

2006-03-28T10:16:00.000-10:00

As requested, serious but expressionless.

This is one of my favorites. This was Alex getting ready for his first dip in the ocean. I love that belly!

No More Screechy Baby!

2006-03-24T21:17:00.000-10:00

Sweet baby Alex has returned, for the most part. He's not as screechy as he was for a while. But while the grumpy teething-ness has subsided, he has become more opinionated lately. He is very insistent that he never, ever be left alone. Not even in his play pen across the room while I try to do something else. Oh, no. It's pretty much Alex and Mommy, together, all the time. I can sometimes trick him. I will lay him on the floor outside the bathroom. I will go into the bathroom and do "peek-a-boo" several times from behind the bathroom door. I will let longer time lapse between "peek-a-boo"s. Then, I make my move. I go ahead and pee, and hope that he just thinks it's an extended "hide." Usually, this tactic works. I then quickly jump back out and say "peek-a-boo" as if nothing happened. Yeah. I have to play peek-a-boo to go to the bathroom without the accompanying sound of a crying baby. And Dan wonders why I sometimes pick him up from work and ask him to drive while I walk home.

I was going on the theory that you can't spoil a baby with too much attention, cuddling, etc. before they were 6 months old. All the experts say that no baby is going to "learn to manipulate" things, and if they are crying, they just want to be close and feel loved. OK, that's great. I want Alex to feel loved, and safe, and secure. But I think that at some point he needs to learn to play on his own. Not for hours, but for 10 minutes. He cries almost immediately, as if I had abandoned him. Dan suggests that this is left over from days past, when if a kid realized he was not being carried, that meant he was going to be left behind by his nomadic tribe, and so crying whenever he's not in contact with a human being is a survival technique. I promise, Alex, I'm not going to leave you in the play pen, pack up our teepee and move on after the buffalo herd. I just want to do some dishes. Or laundry. Or go to the bathroom.

In more cheerful news, Alex is becoming a serious connoisseur. His over-enthusiastic mother is having so much fun watching him try new things that she's not heeding the dr.'s warning to try things one at a time to watch for allergies. I don't have any food allergies and neither does Dan, maybe that's why I'm not as apt to take that very seriously. Oops. For example, if he has a reaction to a recent new food, it's either avacados, papayas, cucumbers, or peas. Yeah...all of those were new foods within the last two days. But, he's just enjoying it so much, it's hard to resist one more new experience!

And finally, Alex is really trying to get around. He likes to get up on hands and toes, and he gets into a crawiling stance and then rocks back and forth like he's winding up for something grand. Still no actual productive movement forward, but it's so close he can taste it!

I'm so close! But now what do I do with my hands?

In my Yoga Class, we call this one "Downward Dog."

Just pausing for a goofy smile after all that hard work.

New Friends

2006-03-21T21:54:00.000-10:00

Last Saturday, Alex and Dan and I went to a little potluck playgroup at the apartment complex of a family we met here in Hawaii. Their condo is really neat, in that it has a beautiful park area 4 floors up, right in the middle of downtown Honolulu. So this is where the party was. And Alex had a great time. The kids there ranged from just a few months old to about 3. There were quite a few little kids toddling around, which Alex found really amusing and fun to watch. I set him up on a blanket on the edge of the action, and he just stared, vocalizing his enjoyment of all the chaos, probably just talking about how he wished he could play, too.

These new friends of ours are a couple and their little boy: Dahni, Dominic, and little Elijah. Elijah just turned two, and we went to his birthday party a few weeks ago. Dominic has taken Dan spear fishing, and they plan to go again next weekend. (Dan's mother's comment last time was, "They're not going with Dick Cheney, are they?") Here in Hawaii, any adult that comes into contact with a kid on any regular basis is an "Auntie" or an "Uncle," I guess this keeps kids from having to remember too many names :-) But it's also endearing, and makes us all part of this big island family. A friend of Cate's told me that it really comes in handy at Christmas and birthdays! So, we are now Auntie Laura and Uncle Dan to Elijah.

Other news...Grandma Bette is visiting us next week! This is great incentive for us to finish unpacking. Also, we finally made a dent on the furniture search and got two bookcases, a dresser and a bed! That means we actually have places to unpack stuff into, and a place to sleep that doesn't have to be pumped up before we sleep on it!

Also, Alex and I have joined a little play group. We met last week at a park and just hung out. A couple of the kids were big enough to toddle around and enjoy the grass and slides, but most of the kiddos weren't mobile yet. We are going to the beach as a group this week. I bought a beach ball today for Alex to play with there. He's finally getting interested in stuff around him enough that I think he might enjoy sticking his hands and feet in the sand, playing with a ball, etc.

Here is Alex at Elijah's birthday party a few weeks ago. Elijah is a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, as you can see from the little party hats.

Here is Alex with Elijah. Poor Elijah. Alex decided that he didn't feel like sitting up, and he flopped back into Elijah's lap. Elijah responded by trying to give him his pacifier.

Screechy Baby and Catch-Up Pictures

2006-03-14T20:56:00.000-10:00

Alex has a new habit of screeching. This screeching means a lot of things: pay attention to me, I'm lonely, I'm sleepy, etc. It has almost replaced crying, which is not good because crying is sad, annoying, something you want to stop, but this screeching is really awful. Like a noise that makes you want to leave the baby in the house and go somewhere else.

I'm hoping it's just his teeth hurting that is making this new sound such a prevelent part of Alex's vocabulary lately. Really, really hoping. If it's just his teeth, that means that the screeching is sure to go away in...oh...about two years.

One of the interesting things about Hawaii is that, because the weather is so lovely, all the windows are open all the time. And, even if they are not actually open, the windows aren't like anything I've seen before. They are like Venetian blinds with wide slats and a little handle that you turn to make them open or shut. So, unlike all windows I've ever seen, where they open up or down, and half the window space is still covered by glass (in fact, now two pieces of glass), the entire window is now open. Dan says it's called something French that starts with a "J." Jeloise, maybe? Anyway, I am digressing...the point is that the entire neighborhood can hear when your baby is crying, whining, or screeching. We don't close the windows, but even if we did, they don't really keep noise in. We know this because a baby across the street cries a lot. When we first moved in (a.k.a. before Alex magically transformed in to a screech owl), we used to look at each other and think how sad that that baby was always crying, can't her parents do whatever it is that will make her happy, keep her from wailing all the time. And now, it has come back to bite us: Oh, you think those neighbors just aren't working hard enough? What about your own screechy baby? The one who used to wake up after 8-9 hours, with a giggle and a coo, looking for someone to play with who now wakes up crying a few times a night (or, on a super-awful night last week, every hour!!!)?

All the websites and experienced parents we know claim that it will pass. It will come and go, and then finally be gone. Our sweet baby will return to us, and we will be able to sleep through the night again. We'll keep you updated.

Some catch-up pictures:

Alex on the airplane. He was a busy little boy for most of the flight, but oh, so good. We were sooo lucky!

Even busy little boys need a nap. Although, truth be told, I think Dan slept more on the flight than Alex did :-)

Auntie Cate met us at the airport with welcome leis. "Oh, these leis are for greeting? I thought you said they were for eating!" Leis...no one can eat just one!

Daddy and Alex sporting their leis outside of the rent-a-car place. These boys are happy to be here after that long flight!

Alexander Appleseed

2006-03-13T21:12:00.000-10:00

Six months old yesterday! Wow, the time flies!

Today was the 6 month check-up. Stats: 22.5 lbs and 27 inches! So he hasn't gained much weight (tell that to his parents as they trek around with him, especially up the stairs to our 2nd story duplex!), but it looks like he's grown! The dr. said he's healthy and lookin' good.

We also got the go-ahead for a super-major milestone today: eating solid food. The dr. said that she didn't think that "baby food" was actually necessary, and that a slightly modified version of adult food was all that we needed. In other words, no need to actually use a food processor, we could just mush or scrape or mix things to make them swallowable, and that would be good enough. So, our debut dinner was raisins and apples. Auntie Cate happened to stop by and say hello just as the great even began, so she and her friend Phil got to witness Alex's first taste of apples. Dan fed him, I took pictures, Cate fed him a couple of bites, Phil looked on, and Sydney sat in the corner, being the overlooked and underappreciated older sister.

Alex didn't seem to get the idea of opening his mouth, but he did understand helping Daddy to bring the spoon to his mouth. He would reach for the spoon and bring it to his mouth with so much enthusiasm, and then only open his mouth a few milimeters, not really enough to get the spoon and the apples inside. He can open his mouth wide enough to get most of the head of his stuffed dog in his mouth, but not some mushed apple? I don't know about this kid! The raisins were amusing, too. I put one in his mouth, he gummed and gummed, with a confused look on his face. Two minutes later, still gumming, still looking not quite happy. I guess he finally swallowed the raisin. Eventually he wasn't chewing anymore, and a close inspection of the inside of his mouth showed no concealed raisins, although I was watching for him to swallow and I didn't see that, either.

Here are some pictures from the evening. Check out the cow bib.

I'm a little psycho calf. Having my first meal. Mmmmm...apples.

Look, I actually have my mouth open...Mommy makes up stories about me all the time!

Let me help you, Daddy, it goes down here!

Perfect! Yummy apples!

Back By Popular Demand!!

2006-03-10T23:02:00.000-10:00

I have received several complaints about a lack of updates on lil Baby G and family. Well, the truth is that we still don't have internet access...but a wireless network capability, a neighbor with internet, and a crafty Dan have come together to provide you all with an update anyway. Shhhhhh! :-)

So...it'll be 6 months on Sunday since the little monkey was born. His latest achievements are almost sitting up, inching like a worm across the floor (but only succeeding in moving backwards, poor baby), rolling over both ways (this is a better and faster way to move across the floor, he has discovered!), and...drumroll, please.... starting his collection of teeth! Yesterday, I stuck my finger against his lips (to test if it's meal time), and he chomped down. I thought I felt something other than gums, and when I looked, there was the smallest little ridge of a tooth. It's his right bottom tooth. I got all excited and called Dan at work. When he got home, Dan agreed that there was indeed a little bitty tooth poking through.

************************************

Oh....I have so much to tell you all and so many pictures to share! It seems like Alex learns something new everyday, and I can't believe how much cooler he is, even than a month and a half ago when we left Texas!

For example, today I was in the kitchen andAlex was swinging in his swing. I heard this giggling, and then it became just about the hardest laughter I've ever heard from him. I've only heard him laugh like this when I tickle him, this was no ordinary response-to-peek-a-boo giggle. I look over, and there is Alex, laughing his heart out because Sydney is running in circles, chasing her tail. Come on, now, that's actually funny. So, I want to laugh, too and then clap and cheer because I've just seen evidence that my kid has a sense of humor, but I kept quiet, kind of afraid to ruin the moment. Alex laughed and laughed and Sydney kept chasing her tail, until the inevitable: Sydney caught her tail, realized it was her tail, and laid back down on the ground. Alex kept staring, hoping that she'd get back up and be funny again.

"Oh, Mom, are you posting pictures of me again?"

(This is the outfit that Aunt Sarah calls his "Lemur suit." With his big eyes and stripes, he does look a bit lemur-esque.)

Aloha, y'all

2006-01-27T23:49:00.000-10:00

So, we made it to Hawaii. All of us had a GREAT flight. Alex slept a bunch, but even when he was awake, he was THANKFULLY really good. He didn't even seem to be bothered much by the pressure changes or the strange plane noises, etc. He was, however the center of attention everywhere we went :-)

We were met at the airport by Aunt Cate, who wrapped us in leis. Cute picture of Alex in his leis to follow! Our hotel is nice, although their definition of "kitchenette" and mine differ a little bit. There is a dorm-room fridge, a microwave, and a coffee machine. No dishes or anything useful like that! But, we're doing fine. I brought -some plastic containers to be plates-bowls-storage things since we'll be in our new place at least 2 weeks before our stuff actually gets here. So, we're not completely out of luck, but I was a little surprised.

On the topic of surprises, the biggest sticker shock of our time here occured a few days ago, at the grocery store. Dan and I eat about a box of Special K a week. The big box. It costs $7.50 here. That's about twice as much as we used to pay. Seriously! It's not made of anything different here...no little gold Hawaiian chunks in it or anything. And the milk, all over $6.00 a gallon. Alex is going to have to get a job just so we can buy groceries! We will be looking into a Sam's or Costco membership ASAP.

The best news so far is that we found a place to live. We'll be in a neighborhood called Nuuanu (maybe there's an apostrophe in there...not sure). It's about 6 blocks from where Dan is going to work, very close to the intersection of two major highways, has a yard for Sydney and a nice porch, and it looks like a nice neighborhood for walking, with a big park area not too far away. The downstairs neighbors are a teacher and a lawyer with two little girls, so it's a family place, too.

All right, I have to get some food together for a picnic with some of Aunt Cate's friends, but we'll be in touch.

Aloha!

Radio Silence in 5...4...3...2....

2006-01-24T07:37:00.000-10:00

There is a moving van in front of our house. By this time tomorrow, we'll be on a plane, or we might even be to San Fransico or over the Pacific! Any minute now they are going to take this computer and put it in a box and there will be no more babyboyg updates for a while. Of course, there are the public computers at libraries or whatnot, but probably no pictures for about a month...EGADS! Alex will be a grown-up by then! ;-)

We will keep you posted briefly about the important stuff, of course.

Big toothless grins and slobbery kisses to all y'all! (For those of you not from the south: yes, we really do say "all y'all".)

Alex enjoys one last visit with Grandpa before we take off!

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2006-01-17T18:27:00.000-10:00

(Note: Actually written on Tuesday, just not posted until Wednesday...)

Alexander's awful day actually started yesterday. He's been a little congested for a couple of days now, but it was very noticable yesterday. Every time you got near his face, you could hear the wheezy sounds, and he was coughing . As the day wore on, the snot started, too. Oh, joy. I read up a little about babies and colds, and was surprised to find that several websites confirmed that most babies will get 6-8 colds in their first year. I started out feeling pretty bad when I saw that A had a cold...Did I take him out too much? Do I not wash my hands enough? Is it from the dog licking his face, or letting strangers touch his cheeks? WHAT DID I DO WRONG? OK, it turns out that 2 colds by 4 months is actually a bit below par (uh-oh, now he's BEHIND all the other kids!!), so we are doing pretty well :-)

Last night was the worst night we've had since about Week 2. At least by Week 3 or 4, Alex was sleeping for 2 or 3 hours at a time. Last night, it was less than an hour at a time. There was one decent chunk of sleep, from 7:30am or so until about 9:00 am-- and thank goodness Dan got him that time because I was a WRECK by then. The problem seemed to be that he was so congested that he kept waking himself up, or that he'd cough and wake himself up. Then he'd remember that he was congested and didn't feel good, and the only thing that made him feel better was eating, which was also kind of difficult because he couldn't breathe very well. So, he'd wake up screaming, eat a bit, wiggle and whimper, eat a bit, cough, cry, eventually fall asleep for 1/2 hour or so...and repeat. BTW, walking didn't help, rocking didn't help, bouncing didn't help, and he was having trouble even eating laying down in bed, so really it was up to me to cure all that ailed him. As much as Dan might have wanted to be sweet and pitch in, it was only the magic of Mommy Milk that could save the day...or the hour, as it were.

So, that leads to today. The front room is still a mess, and someone bought the TV cabinet this evening, so now the electronics are on the floor, along with all of the stuff (papers, a globe, keys, and all the other items) that called the top of that cabinet "home." I tried to pack today, I really tried, but some baby was pretty much inconsolable and I could hardly sit down, let alone put him down. So, I got 2 boxes packed. I don't get it at all. When I'm sick, I don't want to move. I want to sleep and be left alone. This little guy hardly slept at all last night and took two naps no longer than 30 minutes each today and is still (at 10:30) awake and needing love. Luckily, he's finding love from someone else right now so I can type into the blogosphere and let you all know all about it! This day made me want to move to Australia!**

Here is Alex, being a little trooper. Despite that runny nose and the fact that his house is an explosion of half-packed boxes, he's managing to enjoy a little play time. Thanks for the walker, Grandma W. I've been playing the music and amusing the whole house with it since Christmas!

** For those of you who are not teachers or other lovers of children's literature and therefore have not run across this book recently, moving to Australia is the solution that the title character of "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, etc...day" thinks will solve all of his problems. I don't know if Australia will help, maybe moving to Hawaii though... :-)

Four Months Old!

2006-01-12T06:53:00.000-10:00

Which beautiful baby that you all know and love turned 4 months old today?

That's right! Alex! :-)

We went to the Dr. today and my big boy weighs 21 lbs and is 26 inches tall! He's above 97% on weight and 90% for height. This is no puny baby! The minor inconveniences that come along with such a healthy young man are that he has outgrown his infant car seat and now is in a "convertible" seat that will eventually turn around and be his toddler seat. The downside to this is the loss of the baby bucket convenience. Honestly, the baby bucket had gotten less and less convenient as Alex got heavier and heavier, and Dan suggested that the seat doesn't become unsafe for the baby at 20 lbs, rather for the backs of the parents of the baby. Towards the end there, I was hardly able to carry that thing from the car to the house. It wasn't the actual weight, but the fact that you have to carry it about a foot from your body. The physics of that hold have to be damaging to your back and shoulders.

So, he's outgrown the bucket, and now he cannot be so easily "snapped" into the top of his stroller. So, he's now riding in his stroller like a big boy--facing the world! I was afraid that he would not be as happy, not being able to see me, but I'm a bit of a narcisist. He was fine. In fact, this is all coming as he is starting to be able to play with toys (OK, so he breifly picks up and drops toys again and again and again...) so he seems even happier in the new-and-improved stroller set-up than with the old version!

Here's Alex, ready for an afternoon walk around the neighborhood. He enjoys that little Lamaze toy, with all its handles. He can grab and drop for the whole ride. Plus, it jingles a bit and some of the sides and handles even crinkle. It's way better than TV or computer games!