Another sweet photo shoot, this time from my friend Marianna Ah Quin. I am totally in love with this picture — even if Chip looks like he hates his life.
I’m gonna try to be better with updating this blog. Technology is wonderful, but only if it works for you. Sooooooooo….. wish me luck that all my stuff won’t break down on me again.
Girl #3. I totally expected that.
I was bummed, but only slightly. Chip is a very active boy with a strong personality… and he gives me a heart attack every 10 minutes.
So as much as I’m not looking forward to another future teenage drama queen, for now I can deal with another helpful little princess. :-)
Aaaaaaaand, she’s so big now that her due date has been changed from September 25 to SEPTEMBER 13th!!! That’s almost two whole weeks early! Woohooo!!!
I just hope it’s not a sign that I’m gonna have gestational diabetes AGAIN. I probably will. *sigh*
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHIP!!!
I don’t remember time flying as fast as it has with this boy. I can’t believe it was an entire year ago that we were in a little apartment on Maui with a little, squirmy newborn. Now he is all baby/toddler-fied!
Chip has picked things up a little faster than our girls. I’m guessing that is the result of having older siblings to emulate, NOT that he is a boy. Because let’s be real, girls are soooooo much smarter. ;-) Nonetheless, he started crawling at 6 months (Blondie crawled at 6-1/2 months; Almonds at 9-1/2 months) and walking at 11 months (Blondie at 12 months; Almonds at 13 months). The difference between their walking, though, is that Chip is still learning, while the girls — once they took their first few steps, they got it down. When Chip falls down, he can’t pick himself back up. He needs to crawl to a secure holding (or a person) to pull himself back to standing. My theory is that he has never squatted. If he could master the squat, then he could stand on his own from anywhere. Instead, he tries to stand from all fours, gets, frustrated, and gives up. Poor guy.
Chip is a momma’s boy on all accounts. For the first 8 months of his life, he was a grump; he never wanted me to leave him, and he especially didn’t want to be left with his dad. It was Infant Blondie all over again, and I absolutely hated it. Then, sometime around Christmas, something inside him switched. Everyone around us could see it: like a light turned on in him and the world was suddenly a wonderful place. Now, he will go to anyone who’ll feed him, he smiles and laughs at just about anything (even the vacuum — jeez), and he loves playing with his dad. But his two best friends are Aunty Hua and Uncle Uiti.
We had an Easter-themed birthday party for him, courtesy of my mom. (Meaning my mom made us throw one, not she threw one for him.) It was bigger than any party I’ve thrown in my married life, and kind of overwhelming for me. It was a small party in relation to the parties my family has thrown all my life: 100 people invited, sandwiches as the main lunch, homemade piñata and the like. Nobody does this little. Especially not Hawaiians for a first birthday. But I married Jobi, who doesn’t like parties. I threw a birthday party for him once and invited 9 people, and he hated me for the rest of the week. His family doesn’t do parties either. And for the past 6 years, this life of theirs has rubbed off on me… so now I don’t do parties anymore. So being back in my own family’s party element was hard. Theme. Color scheme. House setup. Yard setup. Cake. Decorations. Games. Food. Invites. Easter egg hunts. Yes, two of them! All of it flooding back into me, but not fast enough. My two sisters, one brother-in-law, and parents were the real machines and minds behind the party; I think I mostly just supplied the funds, the hostess, and the birthday boy. But despite my uneasiness with the whole thing, it was a wonderful party. People that we loved came from the other side of the island. My mom’s food and sister’s cake were the hit. And it was a successful effort on the part of this massive team of people I get to call family. Chip will never know how lucky he is to have so many people love him enough to throw him this party. Thank you, family, from the bottom of my heart.
He’s observant, assertive, responsive, and bright. He’s also sneaky, impatient, aggressive, and a flirt. He gives me constant headaches and nonstop smiles, and I can’t wait to see what this next year will have in store for him. I love you, son. Happy birthday.
We were fortunate enough to have a lady stay with us this weekend who came here to photograph her cousin and fiance for their wedding announcements. She was blown away by my Almonds’ hair (as most people are — including myself) and asked to take pictures of the three. Just for me. And just because. And for free. So I said yes.
The shoot itself was about five minutes tops, and she only came out with maybe 20 or 30 photos, but it was quick and easy and after her edits were done, I got these four fantastic shots!
Jobi loves them too. I can’t wait to hang them on our walls. I love our kids.
Bass player
Curious
Do you see it? Do you SEE IT?! I should’ve just waited a week, but it wouldn’t have mattered because I already know.
I know I should be happy, but are you kidding me!? Chip is only 10 months old!! And I just got certified to be a Hot Hula fitness instructor! And now it means this is the first baby we’re going to have where Jobi can’t be at the delivery room with me.
Jeez. I gotta calm down. And start nesting already.
You see those characters side-by-side? They’re both the letter L. My Almonds drew the one on the left first; when I told her the bottom line goes the other way, she switched hands to correctly write the one on the right. #ambidexterous #kids
Surprise of the Day: free photo session at Wal-Mart. #random
Ninja
