Ukulele

Russell's mom has been watching Dorian a few hours a week while I teach so that Russell can have more regular work hours. These pictures were taken last week during the fun at grandma's house. That cute boy holding Dorian is one of (Uncle) Dallin's best friends, and also the son of my obstetrician. I know the pictures are a bit blurry, but I still wanted to share the cuteness.

Sushi

Russell turned 27 on Monday, and we went out for sushi to celebrate. Dorian thought it looked pretty good. I always sort of try to ignore the way our ages look on paper between April 8 and May 18 every year. It's nice to only be 3 years apart again. Happy baby! (no, he did not really eat any sushi.)

My little guy is growing up

Okay, this is my last Hawaii post. Then I'll have to think of something new to blog about!

All things considered, I think we made the right choice in taking Dorian with us on the trip. There were times when it was inconvenient (mostly at 2 a.m. when he wasn't sleeping), but I think he needed to be with us this time. Next time....we'll see.

He did seem to grow up a lot on the trip. Here are some things Dorian learned while in Hawaii:

• he can sleep without being swaddled! yay! i am hoping that he will continue to get better at this. the time change, a different crib, an inconsistent nap schedule, and having to sleep in the same room with mom and dad all contributed to him getting about 10-12 total hours of daily sleep (including naps), rather than the 14-16 he was used to at home. so hopefully he'll be able to fall back into his old schedule, but without being swaddled.
• he has also learned to sleep better in random places, if i am holding him--we'll see if that translates into sleeping at church....
• he eats now! all the time. i feel like all i do is feed him. and he really prefers to eat whatever i'm eating. sometimes i can trick him into eating baby food if i feed it to him on real silverware. plastic baby spoons are for babies.
• he is learning to use his teeth. he can take bites of bananas, bread, french fries, sandwiches, crackers...
• he learned to like the sand, and got comfortable crawling around and digging in it. but the ocean still freaks him out a little (okay, this video is a little bit long...if you are pressed for time, skip to the halfway point because that's where it gets really good).
• he likes to play peekaboo with strangers, and thinks that every new person he sees is his new playmate...as long as he has a good hold on his mom.
• he learned to go up and down the one step in our condo. i haven't tested him out on a longer flight of stairs yet.
• he got to know (great) grandma and grandpa well enough that he was okay hanging out with them sometimes while mom and dad went to play.
• he learned to drink from a straw.
• he is especially interested in doors and other things that open and close. he is figuring out how everything works.
• he has become way more opinionated and impatient than he used to be. he knows what he wants, and he makes it known when he doesn't get it.
• he likes to dance whenever he hears music or a beat.
• he knows when i put my fingers on the corners of his mouth and squeeze a little, he is supposed to stick out his tongue to show me what he is (or isn't) chewing on.

Here are some things that haven't changed:

• he still loves Coldplay.
• he is still curious about everything and constantly getting into stuff.
• he still eats everything he finds on the floor, and bites mom when he is tired.
• he still likes to eat paper more than anything else.
• he still wants to play with dad's computer more than any other toy.
• he is still ticklish and thinks his dad is hilarious.
• he is still the sweetest little guy, a happy, adaptable baby who is sooo good all the time.

Since we got home, he has been exploring and rediscovering the house. Hey, I like to pull all the tupperware out of this drawer! And pull the pots out of this cupboard! Look, mom's jewelry! And the garbage can! Dad's shelf of CDs! It's really fun to watch, although I am having to update my babyproofing because some of my old tricks aren't fooling him anymore.

Way too many pictures all in one post

The Big Island of Hawaii is a very different experience from Kauai! The terrain is dominated by black lava rocks because of how much newer the island is. The last volcanic eruption on Kauai was something like 5 million years ago (okay, I'm making that number up), but there is an eruption occurring on the Big Island right now. It is actually kind of crazy; the vog is so thick in the air that as the sun is setting, you can look directly at it. The last time I remember being able to do that was in Riyadh on the dustiest days.

I took this picture from the restaurant at our hotel, where we ate dinner outside and watched the sun set. The patio was built over the water, so that we could watch turtles and eels in the water as we ate, and we even saw a whale in the distance for just a few moments. The sand on this beach was completely black; it was beautiful.
We couldn't get too close to the live craters or lava flows, partly because much of the state park was closed due to bad air quality, and partly because we didn't do the long hikes that take you into those areas. We did take a short walk through some cool lava tubes. Russell made this scary face because it was kind of spooky in there, and then the double exposure made the picture even freakier. This looks out over a big crater, and you can see a smoking crater in the distance.. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa's participation in a very long timeshare sales presentation, we got tickets to a great luau. Dorian got to sit at the head of the table. Russell was looking tan. Grandpa doesn't look that excited, but he really was enjoying himself. They cooked this pig underground and then we ate it. Dorian was enthralled by the performers. The firedancer was especially good. This is the last picture I took in Hawaii. The airport in Kona is completely open to the air. So there you go. We had a great trip. We are grateful to Russell's grandparents for making it possible and for showing us around. We will definitely go back again.

Haena Beach in Kauai (and Lumahai)

We are back home now, and I am finally getting around to posting the rest of our pictures. I know you're probably sick of hearing about Hawaii, but I have this compulsion to be complete in my record-keeping. Someday when I get around to scrapbooking these pictures, I will have to look up these posts to remember what is going on.

So anyway, I actually have a few more pictures from Kauai before I move on to the big island. This is at Lumahai Beach where the water was really too rough for swimming. You can see Russell standing down by the water in this picture, daring the waves to come and get him. After Lumahai we went down the road to Haena Beach, also known as Tunnels Beach. The waves were still pretty rough and not super friendly for swimming, but not dangerous like the ones at Lumahai. I tried for a few minutes, but gave up after I cleared out my sinuses with a nice dose of salt water. Russell was more persistent. These two pictures are of Russell getting almost smashed, and then totally swallowed up in the waves (he's in there, look closely). He loved it.

Grandma and Dorian. Dorian, finally getting comfortable in the sand. Here he is after he went swimming (I'll post a video in a day or two...it's good stuff).

Goodbye, Kauai

We went on a helicopter ride to see the island of Kauai. It was pretty awesome. Dorian wasn't sure how he felt about all the noise and wind (and his life jacket) while we were waiting to go up, but he fell asleep pretty quickly once we got up there. The pictures don't do it justice, but you can get an idea of how majestic the island is. Most of the island can only be seen by air, by boat, or on foot. Next time we come, Russell wants to do the 11-mile hike that takes you through the mountains to a secluded beach. Sounds fun, right? That will be the trip that we don't bring the baby on. Here we are, after a great ride! Dorian woke up and didn't even know what he had missed. We did drive up for a different view of the Waimea "Grand Canyon" Another lookout point allowed us to see the ocean through a canyon in the Na Pali coast. The clouds were very cool. The next couple of pictures are random, but I didn't want to do a whole new post for them. This is Russell swimming at Poipu Beach, which ended up being my favorite beach. The water was beautiful and clear, and the waves were perfect for playing. And here is just one of the millions of chickens that run wild on Kauai. They love to pose for pictures. We really loved Kauai. We found some great beaches, ate some great food, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We hope to come back someday soon.

We are now on the big island of Hawaii for a few days before we come home. It is very voggy, and the black lava rocks everywhere are an interesting contrast to the jungle landscape of Kauai. I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post soon.