Category:

Hawaii, babies, and FUN.

12/6/2012

Ooooookay, so... it's been a while. So sit back, relax, this is going to be a long one!!

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to go to Hawaii with my parents and my sister and her husband. It was definitely a much needed vacation, although I'm not sure vacation ever really has the same meaning once you have kids!!!

A 5 hour flight should seem like nothing after multiple 14 hour plane adventures, but man was it challenging! Now, I say that, but really both kids were pretty darn good, just Riley was a LOT of work to entertain!! She's so go-go-go that 5 hours on a plane in the middle of the day is torture to her! But we survived and landed in Hawaii, ready for fun!

So we stayed in a condo, which was nice because both kids could have their own room... only downside was, Riley's room had 2 single beds, which were set up in a way that you couldn't just put them together, but there was only like 2 feet between them.... so I basically stuffed that space with pillows and blankets and turned it into a HUGE bed. Bigger than any bed she's slept in. And wouldn't it figure, that she would fall out of that bed not once but TWICE in the middle of the night. Talk about giving your mama a heart attack, nothing worse than hearing a huge THUD followed by screams at 2am! But she recovered quickly and we were ready to start our days in Hawaii!

Now, one thing I totally did not expect? Riley was terrified of the ocean. Not really the ocean per se, but more the waves. She's been around then ocean and water plenty of times in New Zealand, but the beach was smaller where we were in Hawaii, and the waves were pretty loud, and for some reason she was terrified! I was totally perplexed! She loved the pool, loved swimming, was alright sitting in the sand FAR away from the water, but was NOT happy to sit near the water, and wanted to be carried at all times!

Jackson, on the other hand, was totally not bothered by the sand or ocean... He was pretty much happy most of the time. The tricky thing with vacation with the little ones is balancing doing fun things and playing outside with everyone getting enough rest and sleep. One day we planned a trip out to the aquarium (more on that in a minute), and there was a miniature golf place right next to it, so we decided to give it a try.

Riley loved it for the first 10 minutes, then got pretty bored and just wanted to go on the bumper boats. So I spent the next 30 minutes trying to convince her it was a good idea to wait until everyone else was ready before going on the boats. 30 minutes is a LONG time in toddler world, let me tell you.

Jack was well past due for a nap, and FINALLY fell asleep thanks to Grandpa who walked and walked and walked him around until he was out. And Riley continued to make it impossible for anyone else to play golf...

Riley is so funny, we told her we were going mini golfing, and she says. "Mini golf? Oh! Not MICKEY golf, just MINNIE golf!" Such a little goofball, that one. :) Can you tell she has Minnie Mouse on the brain?

These pictures of Jackson below are before his skin started to freak out. The kid has very sensitive skin, and does not do well in the Hawaii climate. His eczema was pretty bad, and at one point his forehead was all rashy and red. He also does not do well in the heat, and our condo had no air conditioning, so sleep was a bit of an issue for him during this trip, but you never would have known it during the day, he was a pretty happy little dude!

The boy LOVES to jump. And jump. And jump some more.

Only minimal amounts of sand were consumed while he was sitting there, surprisingly!

This is Riley's GET ME AWAY FROM THE WAVES face.... just before full blown meltdown.

All I wanted was one photo of the two kids together on the beach. Riley was too scared, so we cheated. It think Jennie is holding Jack, and my mom is holding Riley. And we got buildings in the background instead of beach. But they are sort of on the sand, so whatevs.

Jacky boy was not yet crawling, but he was so so so close (don't you worry, he is full blown crawling now, there's no stopping him!) It's probably a good thing he wasn't crawling, since now he doesn't stay still for more than 2 seconds! These two bottom pictures show just how awesome my kids' hair is... Jackson's little fluffy mohawk and Riley's ringlets.

We made it to the aquarium and of course, Riley LOVED it. She loves all the fish and the ocean animals, so she was in heaven. We could have stayed there for a very long time!

It has taken me so long to go through all these photos, and the ones in here a just small selection from the first few days of our trip! I have so many more cute ones to go through and sort, PLUS today this little cutie patootie turns TEN months old, so I have an update coming for him too!

So more Hawaii photos, some videos, and a 10 month update coming soon!

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9 months

11/7/2012

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This little guy is 9 months old! Which is crazy to me because I still think of him as my little tiny baby! There's something about the second kid that makes everything so different! With Riley I thought she was soo big and advanced at 9 months, and with him, there are still some days where I'm like, wait, didn't you just start solids like, yesterday?

We've seen a big increase in his mobility this month. Still not crawling, but he scoots and rolls and pushes up on his knees and moves all around, it's really just a matter of time! He's generally a very happy baby, but he gets really frustrated when he's on his tummy and can't get to the things he wants, so I think once he starts crawling, and realizes he can really get to whatever he wants, he will just be so thrilled with himself!

His sleep is still just okay... he's actually a great daytime sleeper, he takes 2 naps, usually 1.5-2 hours each, although sometimes only an hour. For his naps, we just sing him a song, put him in his bed, and he puts himself to sleep with no crying at all. He still sleeps with a pacifier, 2 blankets, and a little pillow in his bed, although the pillow is mostly just something else for him to grab onto. He LOVES having a blanket on his head/face for sleeping. In fact, if he falls asleep in the car seat, we can transfer him from car, walk outside in the daylight, all the way up the stairs and into his bed, and he will stay asleep as long as his blankie is on his face.

At night he still wakes at least 4 times usually, and normally the only way he goes back to sleep is by nursing, although sometimes replacing his paci will do the trick too. Which, speaking of nursing... the boy probably gets most of his milk during the night these days. During the day he's just too darn busy to be bothered with milk. The only way I can get him to take a full feed is if he's really tired, and I take him up in his room and lay on the bed with him, and even then it's not guaranteed. And it's not like I can always go in a dark quiet room during the day when I have a toddler tagging along!

As for solids, he's getting so much better at eating! He had his first taste of spaghetti and loved it, but I think it may have backfired because his eczema flared up, so I don't know what to think exactly. He loves little organic gluten free puffs, and gets so excited when he sees the container, he knows exactly what's inside! He loves avocado, sweet potatoes, carrots, banana, and pumpkin. He likes most fruits, and he loves the little tastes of cheese we've given him!

He definitely knows his own name, as he turns to you when you call him by name. He holds his arms up to be picked up when I come over to him, and he hasn't quite figured out clapping, but he's pretty darn close! We still use baby signs with him but I admit we haven't been very consistent with it. We're trying to teach him how to give high 5s, and he's sort of getting the hang of it. Maybe?

He makes some of the BEST faces ever! He gets really really excited about things and clenches his fists and makes the funniest faces!

The boy knows exactly what he wants, and is NOT happy if he can't have it. He loves things with zips and buckles, he loves anything with buttons, and pretty much anything he's not supposed to have (like paper and plastic). He loves when he is bounced around and when his daddy plays "froggy" with him, which basically just involves bouncing him all over the house.

He still adores Riley. He likes to grab onto her and watches every little thing she does. And she can make him laugh and I absolutely adore watching their interactions. He likes to listen to her talk and sing, and is constantly trying to grab her toys and pull her hair and pretty much get anything she has.

He seems to be losing some baby fat, which is making him look a lot older to me! He's in 12 month clothes, and I'm not sure how much he weighs! His eczema is still pretty bad, and I'm still hoping he will just grow out of it!

He gets so excited to see familiar flaces and he flaps around and flails and kicks and bounces in excitement. He had his first few incidences of stranger anxiety this month, but overall he's pretty happy around all people. He loves dogs, and this month he had his first trip to the swimming pool! I've been avoiding the pool with him since he has so many skin issues, but it didn't really seem to affect him in a negative way, which I am SO excited about! He absolutely loved it, and I can't wait to get him in the pool some more!

He adores being outside, and really enjoys being walked around in the stroller. He likes going on the swings at the playground, but is not quite as impressed with the slide. :) Mostly, he would just prefer to try and eat leaves and grass and things.

And I leave you with this little gem from Mark's iphone (sadly it cut off after about 20 seconds, but at least part of it was saved!)

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Hawaii, babies, and FUN.

9 months

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