What A Fun Weekend!

It was a long, but productive week, with our old, termite-eaten master bedroom wall torn out and our new 4 panel sliding door put in. Mommy showed it to me when I woke up on Wednesday morning. I immediately told her, "Come on!" and dragged her by the finger to show me how we could walk outside to the new lanai extension. Now, they have a wonderful breeze that comes in the room, they can tear down the baby gates they've had up for 2 years, and they can stand on the lanai and enjoy the beautiful city view! We have another new sliding glass door in the living room, with two double hungs. Stewart, our handyman, is still going to double wall/drywall. Then, 6 more windows to go and then we'll have to reassess to see how much money is left to do other improvements! Here are pictures of our lanai extension, which started last year, along with the most recent windows additions.

It was also a crazy week with the announcement that all public school teachers will be furloughed. The furlough Fridays start on October 23rd. Mom was not in the least bit happy about this. So disappointing for the school district and the kids she says. 17 days will be taken away, making only 3 five day weeks the rest of this school year (the rest will be 4 day weeks when you factor in all the holidays and other built in vacation/professional development days) and the furloughs will continue next year as well. It amounts to a nearly 8% paycut but most of all, it's such a disservice to the kids here in Hawai'i.

Mommy's friends Marissa and Nate also arrived for a little visit this week, while enroute to the Big Island. I had my 2nd overnight stay at Nana's and Pop's on Wednesday night so that Mommy and Daddy could eat heavy pupus with them at Uncle Bo's restaurant and loan Dad's Miata (yeah, the one that's been sitting parked on the street for the past 2 years.). They celebrated Marissa's birthday and even went to get ice cream at the local favorite, Bubbie's, for dessert.

We hung out with them and friends Kai and Jason and baby Coby at brunch on Saturday. Then, we took Marissa and Nate to the airport so they start their weeklong stay on the Big Island. We took their hotel parking pass and pool wrist bracelets so we could enjoy the pools at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. When we first got there, I was sleeping. I laid my head down on Mom's shoulder and asked her where we were going. She said to see the penguins. I perked up real fast, and asked, "Penguins!? Where are the penguins?!" So, of course we had to see the penguins first.

Then we visited 2 different pools. Let's just say, we had an awesome time! For the first time, I was enthusiastic about swimming with my head in the water, blowing bubbles, and feet kicking. I kept saying, "I want to swim! I want to swim!" I would jump off the side into the pool. It was so much fun. Then we had even more fun when we discovered the awesome kids pool. There were big water slides (which I couldn't go on, but Mommy and Daddy sure did have their share of fun! They said the best one was the dark tunnel one.) and I had fun swimming underwater and jumping from level to level. I didn't want to leave! We were there for about 5 hours! It was a great impromptu "daycation". We went to Ala Moana to get dinner at the food court because we were so exhausted from our day of fun! Mom even ran into a friend and one of her student's family there. I guess locals like to have "staycations" at the Hilton Hawaiian Village too. We'll definitely think about doing it sometime in the near future. But, we enjoyed it for free today!

Oh, and did I tell you that there were penguins, and turtles, and ducks, and birds?! Mommy and Daddy also enjoyed their waffle cones of Lamont's ice cream, but I was not in the least bit interested. I enjoyed scooping tasting spoons of water into my mouth instead.

Mommy finished her last Sunday of yoga posture clinics today. Her thighs are burning and her body is sore (didn't help that she didn't go at all during the week) from demonstrating postures -- locust pose and bow pulling pose. During the 3 two hour sessions, she learned the minute details to help make her postures more correct, and yet more challenging. Perhaps the thigh muscles will be stronger (and then I'll keep making her carry me up our 95 stairs).

We went to dinner at Big City Diner with just Nana tonight (Pop stayed home because he wasn't feeling well...that's the first time in years he hasn't come to dinner with us! But Nana brought home a burger and fries for him.) I was very hyper and decided that throwing food or slyly dropping it under the table was a good idea. So Daddy let me run outside a lot. It was such a busy weekend that I seem to be coming down with a cold. I went to swimming lessons this morning, but I seem to have a runny nose. We'll see if our week is a bit calmer this week.

The home improvement continues with more window installation and double walling this week. Dad had to try and fix the Miata today (but ended up just taking it to the mechanic's garage) since it died on the way home yesterday. Nate and Marissa must have driven all over the whole island the past few days! It's a good thing it didn't die on them then! We also added a new armoire (it used to be cousin Geoff's...Thanks Auntie Stevie and Uncle Gary!) to my room and Mommy did a thorough cleaning and rearranging of my closet. So the crib is finally disassembled and all of my baby clothes are boxed up. I'm a big kid now!

Did I mention that I'm 27 months old today?!

Pictures and videos (I've been jammin' to the Beastie Boys at dinner lately) to come!

I'm 27 Months Old Today!

I'm talking a lot more these days....

...and noticing things and commenting on them.

The other night in the bath, I bent over and asked, "What's that?!" as I looked between my legs. I already now my "eenis" as I say "eenis...no eenis...eenis...no eenis..." while opening and closing my legs.

But I noticed something else there! Daddy told me it was my "scrotum". Didn't know there were so many parts down there.

Besides my body parts, I like to look at the clouds and name the shape or the animal I see.

This month, I've also been learning to "use my words" more. When I need help with a toy or a book, Mommy taught me to say, "I need help!". I use that a lot now.

Today I locked myself in my bedroom while I was playing. I freaked out a little until Daddy told me to wiggle the handle. "I did it!" (another one of my favorite sayings) and was able to get out safely.

Mommy and Daddy say I've been really hyper lately. Jumping, running, jumping on the bed, running, jumping on Mommy, running, screaming, yelling...I like having Mommy and Daddy copy me too. So I'll yell and say, "You try it." I'll stick out my tongue and say, "You try it." When I was a baby, they used to have me do all these tricks. Now, it's payback time. They're such suckers.

I'm almost done with my second session of swimming lessons. My favorite part of swimming (besides jumping in the pool for the toy) is playing on the playground with my friends. The other parents have commented on how coordinated I am, as I run circles around the play structure, swing from the bars, jump over tree stumps, and climb up the side bars on my own.

I still don't mind being in my wet or poopy diapers, so potty training has been a slow process. Besides, Mommy and Daddy are working on me pulling up my pants on my own (as I much prefer to continue playing with them hanging around my ankles).

Starches, veggies, and fruits are still my preferred food choices. But, I'm back onto poi too. And of course I drink about a gallon of whole milk in a week. Although, the preschool records what I eat each day, and Mom and Dad were surprised that I ate pork! They're hoping peer pressure works.

Mom and Dad always have the video camera ready because they say I do and say a lot of funny things these days.

Look What I Did Today!

Mommy was hanging clothes outside today, and when she came back in the house, I told her, "Look, Mommy! Animals all upside down!" It took me a long time to turn all those animal magnets upside down.

Mommy just started laughing.

Vi's Adventure Trek

This morning Mom skipped yoga and we left soon after I woke up to drive out towards Kualoa Ranch. We participated in Vi's Adventure Trek through Ka'a'awa Valley. This is the 2nd annual fundraiser fun run to raise money for ALS (put together by MDA and HURT, since Vi used to be an ultrarunner.) Although Daddy didn't want to wear any Dharma Initiative paraphernalia, and we were the last ones to arrive, we had a lot of fun hiking up (many hills), picking and eating strawberry guava, and passing through the cows. We managed to pass a lot of people along the way, visiting with friends, walking carefully over the cow guards, and passing the guides dressed in costume. Of course, I refused to walk most of the way, so Mommy's back is sore. Check out the video that someone put together. (Somewhere along the 7 minutes of the video, you can see a quick flash of us with the cows.)

It was VERY hot and humid, even at 8 o'clock in the morning. In case you were wondering, this is the same valley where "Jurassic Park", "Godzilla", Mighty Joe Young"and "LOST" was filmed. We tried to reenact some scenes, but we were too darn hot to be energetic and enthusiastic (especially while carrying an extra 30 pounds). We're definitely up for it next year!

This is what you do when Daddy's friend Jason sends him funky plastic that you fold into bowls. Makes for a really cool hat!

Another Love Note

Today I got another "Love Note" from preschool. That's when the teachers notice something cute that I said or did. Today's note had to do with the sensory bean table that I had fun playing with when Mommy dropped me off this morning. I was the first kid there, so I had it all too myself (and Miss Lisa made it a point to tell Mom that I didn't want to leave on Monday because I was so busy playing with the beans).

Well, today, I found a broken bean and said, "Uh oh! Broken!" Then, I proceeded to sift through and carefully pick out all the broken, discolored, and wrinkled beans out of the hundreds of beans in the huge sand table. I kept adding to my collection in a cup, saying "Nutha one." Guess that was cute enough for a Love Note. Mommy says perhaps I'll be a quality control inspector when I grow up.

Tonight, at home, while Mommy was cooking dinner, I was getting frustrated trying to open my toys. Mommy told me to use my words. So I went up to her with the toy and said, "I need help please." But Mommy couldn't help me as she said that Grandpa's old fishing weight couldn't be opened. A few minutes later, I was frustrated playing with another toy, and after being reminded to use my words, I said, "Daddy, I need help." Mommy and Daddy were both happy that I'm using my words.

At bedtime, I wanted to read my favorite book, Goodnight Moon. I showed Mommy and Daddy that I've got the book pretty much memorized as I read the words in unison with them. I always laugh when I see the cow jumping over the moon, and I name the bears sitting in the chairs ("The Mommy, The Daddy, and The Baby"), and I always put my finger up to my lips and say "Hush!" with the old lady.

Goodnight, Friends! Goodnight noises everywhere!

The Weekends Are Getting Even Busier These Days

This weekend was another productive one. Mommy and Daddy found out that the windows and sliding glass doors are here, so now they have to prepare for the big job. So, that meant moving around some furniture and doing some projects. Daddy primed and painted the lanai railing. Mommy primed the shed. All the while, I supervised. Mommy thought about who she can get to muscle down the sliding glass doors (remember we have 95 stairs down to our house). Daddy took me to swimming lessons today. Again, I had more fun running circles and playing on the playground afterwards. Mommy managed to get 3 yoga classes in this weekend. Today, she went to a posture clinic in the afternoon where she was asked to model a couple of poses, eagle and bow pulling pose. She's been working on perfecting those poses for the past 6 years now!

The parents tell me that I've been super hyper all weekend. Running circles around the house as early as 6 am and as late as 7 pm, screaming at high decibels, jumping in place a hundred times in a minute, having Mommy do leg lifts while I sit on her legs. Plus, I had fun licking people. Yup, that's right. I thought it was hilarious. And I even licked the parking meter. I love singing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" really fast. Mommy said that when I was in her tummy, all the doctors and nurses kept telling her how active I was. They weren't kidding.

My First Love Note

My First Love Note...

from preschool that is:

"During outdoor time, Chase saw Aunty Linda's rabbit "Cookie" run into the sandbox. He began to follow her. She hopped under the shed. Chase got excited and ran to Aunty Lisa, yelling "The rabbit run away!" Lisa asked "Why?" He was pointing to the shed and kept repeating, "The rabbit run away!" He gave up looking for the rabbit and went to play."

For lunch, I tried the chicken, and ate the brown rice and the cantaloupe and oranges. But, I did not eat the tossed salad.

What do you do with two blinking flashlights, Daddy's boonie hat, and Muppets music?

Mommy and Daddy call it my "Future Raver" dance. I just call it fun.

(sorry it's sideways)

Labor Day Weekend

It was a busy, relaxing, fun, productive weekend. Mommy got to do her regular Bikram yoga workouts, Daddy got to take me hiking up Diamond Head, and I had my usual Sunday swimming lessons. We checked out the Okinawan Festival, Mommy went to a funeral, both Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding, and Mommy volunteered her time answering phones at the MDA Telethon. And somewhere in between we fit in Costco grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning the house and rearranging furniture. I also had my first successful sleepover at Nana's and Pop's (which means this was the first time EVER Mommy went 24 hours without seeing me).

There is still more cleaning and rearranging to be done (but that is a never-ending process Mommy says). Now that Mommy and Daddy discovered that I have no problem sleeping 11 hours over at Nana's and Pop's, they're thinking about when the next sleepover may be.

And, thank goodness for a short work week! Why can't all weekends be 3 day weekends?

Here I am discovering the joys of olives..."Oh no! What happened?"
And here Mommy is enjoying the joys of geckos in the house (NOT!)...
At least it's a pretty one....

We went to the Okinawan Festival at Kapiolani Park today. Since I didn't want to take my nap at home, we left a little earlier than planned (for the festival), so then of course I slept through most of our time at the festival. Mommy and Daddy tell me that there was cultural dancing with a lion and drumming (which I would have liked). They also told me there were noodles and andagi (fried donuts) I would have liked (and they didn't even save any for me!). Mommy said she ate pig's feet soup (thank goodness I wasn't awake for that!) When I woke up, they were checking out the art and bonsai trees in the cultural tent. Daddy used rubber stamps to make a headband for me. They showed me the big kids' rides, but of course they didn't take me on any of them. We left shortly after that so that we could go to Costco while Mom went to a memorial for Patrick, who passed away from ALS.

We went to Fall Ohana Night at Mommy's elementary school today (well actually you could say it's Daddy's too since they both went there as kids, but it's the one Mommy teaches at too.) There was spaghetti dinner (taste like the same cafeteria spaghetti like the old days), games inside and out, and Daddy got to relive his youth by hanging out on the monkey bars.

One of the fun parts of Mommy's preschool job is getting to play with the kids outside on the playground. The kids always want Mommy to push them higher and higher and go "up and down and around" on the tire swing. She's currently trying to teach them how to pump their legs.

My recent attempt to balance while walking across a pipe at Manoa Falls reminds Mommy of when her own daddy used to take them to the park to practice walking across the railings. I'm gonna show Grandpa I can do it!