Hawaiian Halloween

Today couldn't have been more beautiful. It was sunny, breezy, high in the low 80s. I wish everyone could experience Hawaiian Halloween just once. Matthew chose his costume this year by picking out his very own, Matthew-sized plunger at the drug store the other day. It was just days after the last debate when Joe the Plumber became such a phenomenon. I am so proud of him for wanting to participate in the national political dialogue at such a young age!Tonight we went to a friend's house for dinner and to celebrate the birthday of their little one. Getting in the spirit, I bought a dog collar today, had an American-flag dog tag etched with my name, and put on some lipstick. I was a dead ringer for a Hockey Mom, as you can see below. Jeff was going to go as Joe Six-pack, but he said that he hadn't done any sit-ups in a while.... We ate an amazing supper, including buttermilk gingerbread that I made from scratch the other day. Happy Halloween!

A Day in the Life

Since I haven't done a lot of posting or picture-taking lately, I decided to take pictures all day last Monday. I'd like to say that the day was typical, but it didn't involve Matthew starting his nap in the car following a busy morning out, or a horrifically messy house, or me scrambling to put dinner on the table before 7PM. I also didn't get pictures of some things that I've been meaning to - Matthew in his crib in the morning, eating a meal with a fork, and pajama time before bed. Still, I think I captured a lot. I hope you enjoy our day in the life.

Because it's so warm here, Matthew is almost always naked until we leave the house. He is also almost always carrying around a ball, sometimes two. If he already had two balls in his hands and sees another one, he will spend a few minutes trying to figure out how to pick up all three. The ladies at the program we go to on Fridays call him the Ball Monster.

A very favorite morning pastime of Matthew's is to stand on the lanai chairs and point to various things. He sees bees, airplanes, construction trucks, buses, birds, and lots of things I'm sure escape my eyes. He is very good about holding on and not climbing on the railing so that I don't have a heart attack.When we leave for the morning, Matthew helps get himself dressed by putting his arms in his shirt and stepping in to his shorts. He can almost put his shoes on, but they are so stinky now that I think he'd rather avoid them. He goes down the steps by himself and knows how to get into his carseat, sort of.

On this morning, we grabbed the stroller and walked down to the local library for storytime. Matthew loves to look at all the goings on in the neighborhood, especially when I let him get out of the stroller to do some inspection of his own. Here he's checking out the papayas at a local market.

We made it to the library on time but Matthew isn't really old enough to sit and listen to the stories. At one point, he simply climbed back into his stroller and looked like he was going to take a nap. Then he thought better of that and went back to pushing all of the library chairs around. Needless to say, he was the most exhausted of the attendees once the stories were over.

Because our house is at the top of pretty steep hill and Matthew was getting hungry after so much chair-moving, I decided to take him on his first ride on The Bus. I forgot how crowded the bus can be, however, and my visions of fun evaporated when the doors opened to a bus full of old Chinese women without even room to stand. Ahh, taking the bus in Honolulu.

By the time we got home, I had just enough time to get lunch on the table before Matthew fell asleep. I used to use his naps as time to catch up on chores and other housework. Now I think that makes too much noise - and is not very rejuvenating for me - so instead I take a nap, too, or blog, or read all about my favorite presidential election.

To be continued...

Day in the Life, Too

After his nap, it's time for playing in the kitchen while I clean up after the first half of the day and start some things for dinner. Sometimes, Matthew dances around the kitchen and tries to climb onto the table while I'm not looking. Click HERE to see video.

About that time, Papa gets home, which is easily the most exciting time of the day for both Matthew and me. We all hang out together and talk about our day. I like helping Matthew tell Jeff about his day, and I think Jeff likes to relax with us after a long drive home.
When it gets too hot in the house, we head over to the park across the street. Usually, Jeff takes Matthew for Papa-Baby Bonding Time, but I went over, too, because I had made most of our dinner ahead of time. Matthew loves it when both of us hold his hands.
Once we get to the playground, Matthew is all about the slide. He does a full circuit on the play structure: climb up the steps, stand up on the platform, walk to the slide, turn around to go down the slide, release, repeat. You can click HERE for video. After all that sliding, a boy needs a drink of water.

By this time, we head home for dinner, which inevitably involves a lot of fretting by Starvin' Marvin. If he could talk, he would tell you that he is scared every night that I am never going to feed him again. After eating though, it's back to playing, often bare-bottomed, for a few minutes before bed, bath, and beyond.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the pumpkin patch. The rules said that the kids had to be in long pants and closed toes shoes, so I put Matthew in his pajamas and too-big-for-him Crocs and headed out. Once we got there, Matthew was very serious about pumpkin picking. I don't know if it was the red dust in the air or the oppressively muggy heat, but he never really lightened up. During the hayride, he kicked one shoe overboard into a huge pumpkin field. Of course, I didn't know that and couldn't go back, so the outing was pretty much over at that point - except for the part that had me lugging a 30 pound sack of baby with only one shoe, my overstuffed purse and snack bag, and the largest pumpkin I could lean over and pick up without tipping over.
Later on, I made corn chowder from the yummy corn I also picked up at the farm. At least, I thought the chowder was going to be yummy, but I should have known that it wasn't my day when I encountered the "very hungry caterpillar" in my very own kitchen. Six such caterpillars, to be exact. There was one in each ear of corn, but they only ate a little off the top, so I wasn't bothered. They were such cool colors that I saved them all in a little jar for Matthew to check out, but they don't move fast enough to hold his attention.

Anyway, back to the chowder. Since Matthew woke up early from his nap and insists on standing on his stool next to me while I'm working in the kitchen, we were both involved in making the chowder. I cut the corn off the cob and pushed the corn into a pile. Matthew's job was to cram as many kernels of sweet corn into his mouth as possible using both hands. Unfortunately, Matthew fell off the stool and while I was tending to him the chowder burned a bit. I was able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but the chowder never recovered. Still, we ate happily tonight and I'm looking forward to carving that big pumpkin tomorrow!

Clean Beach

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to help the University of Virginia Alumni Club of Honolulu clean up a local beach. Since I'm was kind of the organizer of the event, I asked Jeff to come, too, and help with Matthew. We weren't a big group, but we made an impact, which is the whole point. Afterwards, we went to a local bar to watch the second half of the UVa-UNC game. At one point, Jeff was holding the baby chatting with someone and I was holding a beer and a chicken wing while I cheered the football game. I love my husband. Go 'Hoos!

Forkteen Months

Matthew was fourteen months old on Friday. We had a great time at our usual playdate, and even more fun at the mall later where we found this cool miniature British bus for Matthew to play in. From the looks of this picture, he might have found his calling. He really enjoyed the bus.

On Friday, Matthew also learned how to use a fork, which caught me totally off-guard. I was so intent on him using a spoon - the easier of the two implements, it seemed to me - that I forgot to even offer him a fork. He still can't scoop very well with either of them, but he can darn sure get the food to his mouth. And that's what counts.

Last night, Jeff and I went out and left Matthew with Miss Mel, the babysitter. When we returned, she said that he had had trouble with his corn on the cob, so she had cut some off for him to eat as individual kernels. Never one to accept defeat, Matthew proceeded to pick up the kernels, place them on the now-empty cob, and bend down to eat them. I wish I had been there to see it.

So, we're doing well at fourteen months, I think. Naps are easy, mealtimes are predictably messy, and we all usually sleep through the night. These days, I'm Matthew's favorite person, which means I get lots of hugs and attention. I know this time won't last forever, so I'm trying to enjoy it to the fullest. But I know that I'll miss it deeply once it's over.

Playing Pillows

Matthew loves to climb. These days, he's all about climbing into the lanai chairs, or onto the kitchen stool he uses to wash his hands, or onto the futon in his room. I have to keep him out of our room because he likes to climb onto the window seat and then use the bedside table as a path to the bed. He looks like a cat crawling on a window ledge. Problem is, he is not a cat, and therefore often falls from the bedside table before making it to the bed. Poor thing.

His very favorite thing, still, is to play pillows. It doesn't matter what's going on with him - hunger, fatigue, pain - he is immediately energized and happy if he even thinks that there might be a game of pillows in the near future. Pillows, for those who don't know, is a game that involves covering Matthew up with pillows and waiting for him to come bursting through like a G-rated stripper out of birthday cake. He also likes to play Strong Man Competition which is easily incorporated into Pillows. As a competitor for the strong man title, one must pick up something heavy and unwieldy (usually a pillow), hoist it above one's head, and then bodyslam it. Matthew is very strong. He may one day win a real Strong Man Competition. Until then, we'll keep on training.

Trisha's Wedding

My good friend Trisha got married yesterday to her best friend. We were honored to be a part of the service and the fun that followed. I hope they are blessed with many more years of happiness together.

The best part of the service was that two of her friends sang, "When I'm 64" by the Beatles with ukelele accompaniment during the recessional! It was nice to be part of a wedding for two people who know better than to take themselves too seriously!

Duck Duck

Matthew and I spend a lot of time at the park. It doesn't matter which park, really. We find them all over. One of the best things about Honolulu is that there's a play structure every few blocks or so. Our newest discovery is the play structure at the school around the corner. On this day, school was out so we had the place to ourselves.

The parks are usually full of kids, like the little girl and her brother who we saw at the park the other day. She was about 7 and insisted that her older brother play duck-duck-goose with her. He kindly obliged, but after a few rounds of what had to have been the most predictable and boring game of DDG that I have ever witnessed, she screamed, "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS PICK ME?!?!" Priceless.

Mobile Way

Click HERE for a lovely video from 1935 of the Mobile area and its state parks. My childhood was filled with visits to these parks, and I never realized that I had the Depression era to thank. Maybe we'll get out of our coming economic ruin with some more beautiful parks to show for ourselves.

Celebrity Baby

Lately, I haven't really felt like taking pictures or blogging. I've been super busy, but somehow I haven't felt the urge to record it. There's something about living in the moment - and trying to keep up with a toddler and a house - that makes it nicer just to enjoy. There are many moments that I wish I had captured, but the capturing always changes things, so maybe they were more fun because there wasn't a camera in sight.
Speaking of cameras, one moment I desperately wish I had recorded occurred on a recent trip up to the lookout near our house. The windy little spot is always crowded with tourists, many from Japan, who come to see the fantastic view. As Matthew was walking up the pathway, doing his thing, one of the Japanese tourists stopped to take his picture. Soon there were more people stopping to take his picture as he coyly played with a sign post and looked at them with his cute boy face just enough to keep them wanting more. In a matter of seconds, we could not believe the number of cameras being thrust in his face, all with accompanying Japanese phrases aimed at making Matthew smile again. It was nuts. I know that people respond positively to Matthew - ladies stopping on the street to comment on how cute he is, neighborhood kids calling his name from across the park - but I had no idea that we could be turning all of this into Japanese baby celebrity. With economic times being what they are, it's good to know that we have something to fall back on.

Sky Cap

How sweet is this picture? Jeff was gone for a couple of weeks, so Matthew and I went to pick him up at the airport. I had no idea that we were going to help him with his luggage!