Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

favorite new kaimana trait.

bedtime. sometimes happy, sometimes sad. kaimana has had his ups and downs when it comes to going to sleep for the night. since january, once he's asleep he usually stays asleep. it has been getting him to go to sleep that has been the issue. so, around 10 or 11 months, we started our serious bedtime routine. pick up our toys, take a bath, brush our teeth, get jammies on, read some books, rock for a bit and then hopefully lay down while still awake so that he'll fall asleep 'on his own'. this worked well until around his 1st birthday. it became a 50-50 chance that mommy or daddy would have to go back into his room a few times in order for him to calm down, lay down, and go to sleep. until.....

we scratched the routine.

last week, we had my brother darren over for turkey dinner, and knowing that it would be a struggle to get kaimana to go to sleep when he knows there someone new to play with, we let him stay up a bit later than usual. after darren left, we skipped bathtime and went straight into our jammies. i was picking him up from the changing table and getting ready to read books when i realized kaimana was pointing at his crib. huh, i thought, is he saying he wants to go to bed? so we turned off the lights and i set him in his crib. he sat there until i said "lay down and go to sleep", then he fell over and, well, went to sleep. so our new bedtime routine is much less grand, we simply put on jammies after picking up the toys and trot off to bed. kaimana actually follows me from the living room to his bedroom when i say "time for bed".

he also slept until 8:30 this morning. which i'm not about to expect everyday, but it sure was nice.

long long time.

wow. haven't posted anything in soooooooo long! sorry about that. what have we been up to you ask? well, kaimana had his first birthday, we visited to zoo, we went sailing with him for the first time, we visited friends in wenatchee, and have been doing our best to enjoy as much outside-time as possible as the weather is a-changin'. here are some slideshows to catch you up on our fun times!



Friday, July 24, 2009

playing with cousins.

only tiana can remind me how to correctly use the terms "second-cousins" and "cousins-once-removed".  in either case, kaimana had a great time today playing with the nelson girls up at their nana's house in mill creek.  there was playground time, lunch time, trampoline time, even pool time!  thanks for playing with us eva and maia!
eva (2.9 yrs) gets ready to slide.

kaimana (11 mo) and maia (1.5 yr) take a moment to chill.

my little boy.

i've been thinking about it for a couple days.  ever since i noticed a hair in kaimana's mouth while he was eating one meal or another and found that it was a hair still stuck to his head.  i'm forever brushing it out of his eyeballs, and today he starting pulling on it.  hair-cut time.  we did it this evening before bathtime and kaimana, while doing his best to grab the scissors and comb out of my hands, was a champ.  not one tear.  (not from mommy or daddy either.)  and now he really looks like our little boy.  11 months old.  wowza.


beach house fun!

this past weekend, we had a great time visiting with our hendrickson friends out in west seattle.  it's fun to see kaimana starting to interact with other kids!
daniel (1 yr) and kaimana (11 mo) show the daddies how to REALLY play in the sand!

daniel does some digging...

coolin' off inside and watching some baby einstein.

mamas and sons!


Sunday, July 12, 2009

fun on the fourth!

we spent a nice long weekend in spokane over the 4th of july weekend.  caught up with family, went sailing, went swimming, spent lots of time outdoors!  oh, and worked on a jigsaw puzzle, tie-dyed some shirts, and found the perfect playground for kaimana.  here's a slideshow of our trip (note:  though i managed to take many pictures, they only revolve around a few events.  somehow i didn't take any pictures of kaimana swimming : (  other family members did, however, and i'll try to post some copies soon!)

Friday, June 26, 2009

somersaults!

i haven't seen it myself, though i have seen him practicing his downward dog yoga pose, but zach reports that kaimana has been practicing somersaults on our bed.  it is my belief that this gymnastic endeavor is rooted in his new hobby of tossing himself about on our bed or on the couch (with supervision, of course.).  he likes to fall backward, roll and roll and roll around... basically act as though we have rented a bouncy-house.  this afternoon, he brought it to the next level.  hopefully he won't try it on the hard ground just yet.

a video or at least pictures will hopefully be coming soon.  of course, whenever we pull out the camera he stops whatever it is that he is doing in order to attack the camera.  but we'll do our best.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

super snuggle.

i'll be the first to admit i get frustrated.  especially from 2:00-3:00 am when kaimana is having trouble sleeping and i pop out of bed every 10-15 minutes to replace his binky, rock him for a few moments and lay him back down.  this was my night last night.  

typically, if he wakes up at all, it is only once and all he needs is a few minutes in the rocking chair to settle back down.  not last night.  was it due to teething?  gas?  bad dreams?  bad dreams of teething and gas?  we'll never know.

what i can tell you is that after getting up about 3 times i was done.  on these rare occasions, kaimana gets to come and sleep in the big bed.  that is, he sleeps on my chest for a minute, and then i roll him off into the middle of the bed.  ahhhhhhh... then he slept.  

he started stirring around 6:00 am, and i thought to myself, "oh man. i really don't want to get up yet."  half-asleep, he sat up, flung himself onto his back (as he likes to do whenever he is on a soft surface.  sometimes even when he's on a hard surface.), and laid upside-down for a minute.  then, still half-asleep, he sat up, crawled up toward me, laid his head down on my shoulder and fell back asleep.  

until 7:15.

that's what i call a super snuggle.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

may slideshow...

some great kaimana pics from may:




10 months and counting...

kaimana hits 10 months this weekend... we can't believe it!  well, honestly, we don't really have time to believe it, he keeps us on the go, go, go : )  what's new in his world you ask?  let me tell you:
•two bottom teeth have been showing for a while, and are now being joined by 4 top teeth.
•our expert crawler has gone from pulling up, to pulling up and letting go, to (just a couple days ago) getting to his feet without assistance.  in other words, crouch and stand :)
•our crouch and stander has TODAY started to try to take a couple steps.  yikes!
•he eats pretty much everything.  in fact, i thought that his menu might be becoming mundane, so i wrote out a list of everything he can eat.  it was extensive, and absolutely not mundane.  tonights dinner: meatloaf, yams, green beans and noodles... all finger food.
•he's figured out how to flush the toilet.
•he enjoys unrolling the toilet paper.  we keep the bathrooms doors closed now.
i'm sure there's more.  but you get the gist.  

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

mommy's helper.

after i'm done helping empty this drawer, i will help you eat all that delicious cantaloupe.

book of faces.

that's right.  we've given in to forces bigger than ourselves.  we've joined facebook.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

home again, home again, jiggidy jig

we did go to the farmers' market, but we actually saw the pig at a farm.  

what an awesome time we had in california.  wednesday morning we flew to san francisco, took the BART to downtown and walked to hotel, checked in and proceeded to walk some more.  we checked out the marina district and ate some crepes, walked down to the waterfront and watched some sailboats, walked to swensen's on russian hill for ice cream, and called it a night.  

the next morning zach grabbed our rental car and after a quick breakfast, we headed across the golden gate bridge into the marin headlands.  we hiked down to the black sand beach and hung out for a bit so kaimana could play in the sand.  we drove through sausalito, then headed to stanford to visit our friends kyle, ann, and their son daniel.

friday we hop, skip, and jumped down to capitola for more beach time!  we drove north through santa cruz and then stopped off at a few more beaches to hang out, watch some kiteboarders do their thing, and eat some food. 

saturday and sunday we had a blast hanging out with the hendricksons... we visited a farm where kaimana got to see his first sheep, pigs, and chickens.  we think he liked it.  thanks to the hendoos for accommodating us and showing us such a great time!

here's a little slideshow of our san fran adventure:



Tuesday, April 21, 2009

ready, set...

almost time to go!  being the procrastinator that i am, i'm certain to be up all hours tonight finishing packing and whatnot.  but in the morning we're off to cali to visit our friends kyle, ann, and baby daniel at stanford.  this will be kaimana's second time flying, we're hoping it goes as smoothly as his first!  here he is getting ready for some sunshine...
check out them shades...

mom, i think i'd like to eat them...


Monday, April 13, 2009

spokane fun...

kaimana and mommy have taken their first road trip.... alone.  with success!  thursday the little man and i boarded a plane to spokane for a quick visit with grammy and papa.  i was prepared with snacks, books, toys, you name it.  all for nothing.  as soon as we reached cruising altitude, kaimana fell asleep on my shoulder, slept the entire flight, waking up only as the engines turned off in spokane.  friday was a beautiful spring day and we spent it out and about.  saturday we drove home in the truck zach's parents have generously given us (we're a 2 car family now!).  it was a long drive for both of us, but we were soooooo happy to see daddy when we pulled into our parking lot.
in the gondola looking out at the water... no kaimana, that's not you're bath!

first carousel ride!  the tiger was our choice as it doesn't go up and down ; )

a lovely day at the park... 

venturing off the blankie.  the binky ensures nothing unwanted goes into the mouth!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

seattle sun?

april fool's day we had snow.  the past few days we've had gorgeous weather with temps in the 60's.  no fooling ; )  sunday we had a great day hiking through discovery park with uncle darren and chelsea as well as auntie sara.  sara brought her camera and took some AWESOME pictures of our day.  check them out!

Monday, March 30, 2009

wanna be a gangsta

kaimana is getting around... he's starting to go in circles in fact.  from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen to the hall to the living room, etc.  and he does so with his signature crawl, which i have dubbed the "gangsta crawl".  on one side he crawls on his knee, on the other his foot... so very gangsta.  see for yourself : )

Sunday, March 29, 2009

time to play!

yesterday we enjoyed a quick visit with our cousins tiana and jon and their daughters eva and maia.  kaimana and the girls had a great time playing together while the grown-ups played catch-up ; )

eva (2.5 yrs) helps the babies find their binkies...

thanks eva!

maia (1 yr) snuggles down to rest.



Friday, March 27, 2009

blast from the past.

okay, i just posted 3 in a row with no pictures.  so before going to bed here's a little something.  only 7 months ago was he really that little? 
 (referring to kaimana.)  
thanks to ann for the picture!

and can i just say.

what a great feeling it is to have put kaimana to bed, to be sitting in the rocking chair that is a hand-me-down from my grandparents (the glider kind with a gliding ottoman in country blue) with the laptop on my lap, listening to the random car drive by and the hum of the refrigerator, waiting for zach to come home, and being happy.  it's just one of those moments where nothing special has happened, nothing special is expected to happen, and any second those discontented feelings could arise, but it doesn't matter.  i feel good.  i have great friends, a great family, and slowly but surely i WILL pay off the great balance on my credit card ; )  


what rock have we been hiding under?

baby rock.  it's crazy how a baby turns your world inside-out... as in, the inside of my brain hardly knows what is happening outside in the world.  yesterday, due to a posting by a friend, i just realized the next harry potter film is coming out in july.  anyone interested in babysitting?  not a big deal, but the rest of the world has probably known this for some time.  today, due to some long-overdue myspacing, i realized that some friends may have moved to the mainland from our much-missed island home.  anything else that i've missed?

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

gotta move part 3!

in this case it is the adults who are doing the moving.  next week, april 1st, zach and i are becoming the managers of our apartment building.  which also means we are going to be moving to yet another unit in our building.  luckily, my parents are going to come and give us a hand.  luckily, i'm not 8.5 months pregnant this time ; )  luckily, the apartment we're moving into should be in much better shape than the one we're in now.  or maybe that one's unlucky, since we'll be in charge of fixing this one up and renting it out!  hmmmmmm...  

Thursday, March 19, 2009

gotta move part 2!

he's determined to figure it out.  he's also determined to make his way to anything besides his toys.  tv cords, computer cords, coffee cups, etc.  



Wednesday, March 11, 2009

i like to eat eat eat...

eeples and baneeneez.  
we tried to find a cracker for kaimana that didn't include sugar in its ingredients.  we were unsuccessful.  these, though, only have 4 ingredients:  rice flour, sugar, salt, and milk powder.  and he loves them!  


say cheese!

gotta move!

kaimana REALLY wants to crawl.  he gets up on his hands and knees, but can't quite figure out what to do after that.  yet.  we don't think it will take him much longer though! 



what do i do now?














take a break!















Friday, March 6, 2009

mommy wow!


he is a big boy now ; )

kaimana had a visit with his doctor today... normal 6 month check-up and vaccinations.  3 shots this time!  he was quite a trooper.  he now weighs 17lb 5oz and is about 28inches long.  that's about the 40th percentile in weight and the 90th in height. 



Saturday, February 21, 2009

6 in one, half a dozen in the other

months, that is.

yesterday kaimana reached 6 months!  we can't believe how quickly those months have passed and how much our lives have changed.  we now have little one who:  
*rolls all over the place, including belly, back, and side spins.  he really wants to be a b-boy.  
*eats baby oatmeal with bananas every night with a side of avocado, yams, carrots, peas, or sweet potatoes.  gobbles up every bite.
*gobbles it up with his 2 little teeth!  and along with the teeth come niagra amounts of drool.
*sleeps through the night.  we still can't believe our luck with this fact.
*sits up on his own.  most of the time.  with a boppy around him just in case : )
*he really wants to move!  on his tummy he pushes up on his hands, way up, then lays down and pulls his knees under him and pushes his legs.  just can't quite do both at the same time.  after a few goes at this he gets pretty frustrated that it isn't working.

we go to the dr. on wednesday for his 6 month well-baby check-up and we'll find out then how much he has grown!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

let's go!

monday marked kaimana's first trip to the ocean, and we all had a blast!  we headed out to westport and found the weather to be gorgeous, the wind a bit chilly and the surf so-so.  we enjoyed every moment... kaimana and mommy even napped a bit in the sun while daddy surfed and practiced his kite.  we realized that we need to make this kind of day happen much more often!  here's a slideshow of our day at the beach : )


Tuesday, February 17, 2009

i heart valentine's.

our new little valentine got a special valentine from his grammy.  see how much he loved it!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

in case you're wondering.

just in case anyone out there is reading this and wondering...  
so far, zach has only posted once on this blog.  right after we started it.  since then it has been all me, cristen, possibly because i have nothing else i'm interested in doing on the computer but play spider and share pictures of our son.  or, possibly because when zach is on the computer he is usually investigating some boat or another.  if only there existed the perfect boat for a reasonable price.  well, let's face it, a better-than-reasonable price : )  we're doing our best to put together a plan of business for a family-run sailing charter to get an idea of whether or not it is something that we can make work here in seattle/puget sound area.  (this would help with the price aspect, but then you need coast guard passenger certifications, blah, blah, blah...)  what i'm trying to say is, until a lot of this gets going, i'm not sure when z will write here again, but i shall encourage him to do so!!

snuggles.

tonight, kaimana slept on my chest for a while before i put him to bed.  he hasn't done this very often in the past few months, and reminded me of how we would nap together after we came home from the hospital.  so snuggly!  not that i want to rush through the stage that he is in now, but i can't help but be excited for the time when he'll know what it means to snuggle.  but for now, i'll enjoy it for the both of us.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

hooray for books!

as part of his bedtime routine, kaimana loves to read books.  one of his new favorites:  Hooray for Fish!  here he is reading with daddy...

skillz!

kaimana is "this close" to getting his toes to the place where everything else he grabs goes...  into his mouth : ) 

Saturday, January 31, 2009

happy and sad.

we've been having fun with imovie again.  here he is in a couple different moods.



if this next one doesn't make you smile, then, well, i don't know what.



Friday, January 30, 2009

yum in the tum!

just so everyone can see we are NOT kidding about how vocally kaimana eats...  here's a "taste" of how dinner goes every night : )

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

let's play catch up!

in the last month:
*kaimana has been sleeping through the night!  we're talking going to bed between 9 and 10 and waking up between 7 and 8.  mommy loves 2009 : )  of course there's the off night here and there, last night for example, but overall sleep sleep sleep!
*rolling has commenced.  he's rolling both from tummy to back and back to tummy, as well as slow-motion breakdancing where he rolls to his side and spins in a circle (his head remaining in the middle of the circle).  is there a name for this?  yesterday morning, we found him upside down in his crib.  happy as a clam.
*food!  we've added to our repertoire carrots, peas, and now sweet potatoes.  he gobbles up every bite happily.  next up:  avocados! 
*kaimana had his first official visit to the beach.  last weekend we made the trek up to san juan island on a beautiful, but chilly, sunday.  kaimana was a trooper during the 1.5 hour car ride to anacortes and the 1.5 hour ferry ride to san juan.  he didn't get fussy all day until we were about 20 minutes from home.  UNfortunately, we made it out of the house with everything BUT the camera, so this event is visually documented only in our memories.  but, that's okay, there will definitely be a next time!