More Vacation Photos

Matthew just loved spending time with his PawPaw. PP figured out pretty fast that the way to Matthew's heart is through balloons. Second only to his obsession with airplanes/helicopters, his love of balloons keeps him talking. Most days, "ba-oo" is the first word out of his mouth when he wakes up and one of the last requests he makes before bed. PawPaw always had balloons in his pocket and acted as Matthew's balloon dealer for the whole trip! Here they are playing basketball.
On another morning, we headed over to Unka Dents and Aunt Patty's place. Matthew chased chickens, fed goats, and ate oranges right off the tree.

Back Home

We're finally back from the-longest-vacation-ever! It was wonderful to be back in Mobile for Mardi Gras, and to show Buster Brown all the fun of the Carnival. We picked up nasty beads all over downtown on our walks. These are shots from one such excursion.

Hang in There

We're on vacation for the next few weeks, so don't lose faith. I'll be back with more posts as soon as I can!

Beachin' It

Tuna Face

Buster Brown is very funny. He has a wonderful sense of humor. One of his favorite things to do it to point to my drink/food and say, "Mine." When I say, "No, that's Mommy's food/drink," he points to his own food and waits for me to say, "That's Matthew's food." Then he points to my food again and I say, "Mommy's food". This goes on like that for a while until sometimes he points to my food twice, in hopes that I'll say, "Matthew's food" and he'll be in business. Sneaky boy.

My favorite new thing of his is the Tuna Face. The way this started is a long story, but suffice it to say that I once asked Jeff to show me his tuna face while snapping a picture of him. Somehow, Jeff remember that moment from years ago (he didn't change his expression AT ALL, by the way) and recently taught Matthew to do a tuna face. It involves him pursing his lips, touching his chin to his chest and looking up with his eyes. It's the funniest thing. Every now and then I'll looking in the rear view while I'm driving and I'll catch him sitting like that!

Scratch Built

Jeff just finished building another plane from scratch so we took it out for the maiden flight. It wasn't completely from scratch, of course. He didn't have to cut down the balsa trees himself, but it takes so long to follow all the instructions in the kit of pre-cut sticks that you might be fooled. The finished product us always so beautiful and worth all the extra time and effort.

I have to admit that the only reason I accompany Jeff on these journeys to the flying field is in the hopes that he might crash. It's not really him crashing that I like, so much as seeing the crash. They are quite spectacular, usually, and worth watching for. I much prefer if someone else crashes so that I can oogle them guiltlessly, but Jeff crashing isn't bad either. He always takes it in stride.

For instance, the last plane he built from scratch crashed on the SECOND flight. He flew it a fence, where it cartwheeled and landed on the sidewalk on the other side. Excellent. I felt pretty bad about that one, though, because it was only the second flight and it wasn't like he was trying to do something crazy. He just wanted to test it out and the wind took it and BAM! Still, I did enjoy all the post-crash discussions about how he wasn't going to built another plane again ever, and he was done with the hobby, and here we are: at the flying field with the next plane. I love that man.

Matthew was a big help to his papa. He helps tighten screws, or at least holds the screwdrivers for Jeff. He carries the radio for him, until Jeff gets tired of telling him not to fool with the antenna and takes the whole thing away. He also managed this day to hide some tools so well by sticking them in hidey-holes in the tool box that we spent an hour looking for them in the grass in disbelief that they could have simply vanished. What a helpful little guy!

Bucket Fun

Here are some pics from our morning at the beach the other day. I'm posting these to insight some jealousy among the folks who are suffering from the worst winter in decades. We are also experiencing some bad weather here in Hawaii. It's really windy. It's so windy that school is closed tomorrow. (I'm not kidding.) It's a big deal because we don't have air conditioning and we depend on gentle breezes to cool our homes. So we're really worried about big wind. What if it blows back the curtains. It could be scary.Just so that you all don't think that life out here is always paradise, I'll have you know that I have taken apart our carseat TWICE this week because Matthew peed buckets all over it and my upholstery. Buckets of pee. I'm not going to go into all the reasons that Matthew was in his carseat without a diaper on, but suffice it to say that the reasons were valid and any of you would have done the same thing. (I hope that at least some of you who are parents have, at some point, found yourself without a diaper in the middle of a blowout. If not, count yourself lucky - and well-prepared - and feel free to laugh at me until it happens to you.)

This Weekend

This weekend we had some house guests and went to a birthday party in the park. All in all, a wonderful weekend. Matthew and I went shoe shopping the other day because apparently children outgrow shoes instantaneously and will no longer move in too-tight shoes. The sight of him in big-boy shoes AND socks is still bringing tears to my eyes, but that's probably hormones. Still, doesn't he look like a little man with his muscle shirt, tennis shoes, and football?

I love the pictures of everyone in the tree, though the exposure didn't quite work out right. Our family will soon be four, which feels right, but I still want to capture this all-too-fleeting moment of our family as a threesome. Matthew even knows to look at the camera and smile, sometimes. So sweet.

Baby Hui

Here's a shot of the ladies (and gents) in the baby hui (pronounced who-ee) I hosted from October through December. These ladies were so great, and their babies were, too! I was hoping for a few trouble infants that I could help sort out - using all of the wonderful knowledge I gained with Mr. Matthew - but all of these little ones are sweet and healthy! I couldn't join them this weekend at the zoo, but here they all are in front of the keiki (children's) zoo. It really makes me happy that they are still getting together, even though our program is over. I think the little ones like it, too!

Pre-Christmas Fun

I really had a great time this holiday season. I'm not sure why, but I bet it has something to do with Matthew not destroying the tree. He's such a good little dude all-around. He has a whiney side that can drive me crazy in a matter of seconds, but over all he's very easy-going and compliant. I'm glad of that because it seems that we will be adding to the family some time next summer and I'm going to need all the easy-going toddler I can get. I have a feeling that things might be a bit different by then, but we're all very excited about the coming attraction (i.e. an enormous belly, I mean BABY)!This pregnancy is quite different than the first, with lots of nausea, pain, and fatigue that I wasn't prepared for. Things have ebbed somewhat in that department for now, and I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging and taking pictures of Matthew, two things that seem to slip my mind when I was so sick. There were lots of funny things to write about in the days leading up to Christmas, like the time that Matthew beheaded a flock of light-up, Christmas penguins at the Coast Guard holiday party, but I guess I haven't had it in my to share. I appreciate your patience and hope that I'll have some more to post in the coming weeks. For the first time in 5 years, the end of the holidays doesn't mark the end of the chaos. You'd think that a new baby coming would be enough the get used to for one family, but in the true style of my family we are stepping it up a notch on the transitions. In the spring, we'll be moving to Florida (We hope!) to start a new chapter in Jeff's career. We're so looking forward to being back in the south (sort of) and closer to family and friends. We are not looking forward to 10 hour plane rides with a 30+ pound 18 month old and a 6 month pregnant mama. Nor are we looking forward to the first few months after the new baby's arrival when we struggle to survive without the nearby help of close friends or family. Still, I like to think that we'll manage better this time. Won't we? Maybe the reason that I'm so into the holidays this year is that I know this marks the last few months of calm before the storm of planning, packing, shipping, travelling, searching, and settling begins. I knew that something was different when I thought to myself sometime early in December, "I should download some Christmas carols to listen to." Fifty-three carols, and countless hours of listening later, I still can't get enough. Poor Jeff and Matthew have had to endure this craziness, but they've also reaped the rewards in the form of homemade gingerbread, Christmas Eve melt-in-your-mouth pot roast, and brownies!

My favorite Christmas tradition is our tree. First of all, I love having a real Christmas tree, falling needles and all. I love the smell and the look and the ritual of picking it out. For ornaments, we only use handmade ornaments of things that can fly. Right now, we have 6 birds from our first Christmas together, a bi-plane and a flying fish from a couple of years ago, and a butterfly from this year. I can't remember when this tradition started, but I'm pretty sure that the theme comes from Jeff's love of flight. We have many ornament-designs in our heads that we haven't made yet (roaches, bees, kites, reindeer) and I can't wait until Matthew wants to make Superman for the tree. Above is a picture of the ornament he made this year. It involved markers, pipe cleaners and a cookie cutter. Isn't it cute?
So I guess that's about it for the few weeks before Christmas. Matthew is as cute as ever, though he has developed a very nasty habit of biting and hitting us when he doesn't like something we've asked him to do. Of course, he's also developed the very sweet habit of touching gently when he's saying he's sorry for letting his emotions get the best of him. And he likes to scream at the top of his lungs when his blood sugar spikes. That's a lot of fun when we're eating out. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Now I know what everyone is talking about when they say that Christmas is much more fun when seen through the eyes of your children. We had a great Christmas season, topped off by yesterday's toy-extravaganza. We got Matthew a small train set, which said it was appropriate for 3 year olds and older. Oh well. Matthew loves it; he's very into Thomas the Train, you know. And Jeff had more fun setting it up than I anticipated...

All the fancy toys around and all Matthew wanted to do yesterday was play with this wind-up Santa in an airplane. He's certifiably obsessed with airplanes, which comes as a big surprise to everyone, I'm sure. Jeff, of course, is trying to keep him mind off of them a bit since he knows how all-encompassing an obsession like that can be. Hence the train set, which is another favorite hobby.

Jeff really wanted Matthew to have a football because he's seen him at the park across the street chasing after them and being wowed by their unpredictability. Did you know that a new, regulation-sized football costs almost $100? Needless to say, that's not the one he got, but I do have some insight now into why pro-football tickets are so expensive.

This is a totally candid shot I took of Matthew who had thoughtfully surrounded himself with presents and then decided to sit still long enough for me to snap the picture. I tried to get him to actually look at the camera, but that made him want to stand up and walk away, so this is the best I could do. As you can see, he's STILL playing with the wind-up flying santa. Good work, Nana.

After all the presents were opened and Matthew was totally overwhelmed with newness, it was time to hit the park in our pajamas to play some football. Matthew wanted to wear the rain jacket his Banana (great-grandmother) sent. Isn't he adorable? After playing in the park, it was back home for some shrimp frittata that I whipped up. (After careful consideration of quite a few recipes.) So yummy and I made enough to feed an army, so we'll be eating frittata for a while...

Mele Kalikimaka, Everyone!

Hungry Hippos

At least once a week, we go to the zoo. These are pictures from such a morning. My favorite part of the zoo is the Siamang Gibbon exhibit. Once or twice a day, the gibbons start "calling" and it sounds like twelve different animals making distinctly different sounds, simultaneously. One of the calls even sounds like a woman screaming. It's really cool.

Matthew's favorite part of the zoo is that he gets to run and run and run. He does this funny thing that we call the "wind up". Every now and then, he'll just stop, head down, and contemplate the ground for a few seconds. Then, ZOOM, he's off. It's like he has his own stoplight in his head. Very cute.
Since it's now the rainy season, one of Matthew's favorite past times, outside the zoo or in, is puddle running. He could run through puddles for hours. Last night, we took him outside for the first time that day because it had been raining so hard. Dressed in his poncho and hat, he still thoroughly drenched himself by splashing in puddles for half an hour.

Sometimes, things work out with Jeff's schedule and he's able to come with us on our morning fun. He was especially fun this day at the zoo because he held Matthew up a lot so that he could see the animals. (I normally just tell him the exhibit is closed. Kidding, I'm kidding.)
Here's Matthew looking at the hippos. Did you know that hippos are disgusting? Really, really disgusting. We saw one of them poop, which was not the gross part. The gross part was when the poop, which had been floating in the water between the two hippos, "disappeared". There's a reason they call them Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Yuck.

Story Time

I just love this picture of Matthew lying on the floor at the library. He's listening intently to the library reading a really interesting book. Or maybe I just snapped this photo during the split second that he was in this pose and he immediately proceeded to pull all of the storytime books off of the table.

November was quite a month. I can't remember exactly what happened, but it must have been fun because I don't have any pictures or blog entries to show for it. I'll try to do better in December, but this vague "fun" might just last through the new year. I have been reading a lot, which is such a luxury, so I should at least be able to update the Alabama Book Worm blog!

We read to Matthew all the time. He loves picture books, rhyming books, c, anything with pages, really. And he likes to turn pages. Quickly. Before you can finish reciting from memory, I mean, reading what it says. Most of the time it's cute, but every now and then I just stop reading and he looks at me with these eyes that say, "What does it say, Mama? You don't expect me to read by myself, do you? I'm just a baby!" When I start reading aloud again, he goes back to turning the pages. *Sigh*