Everyone born in Virginia raise your hand!

I finally got around to finishing these pants (all I had to do was sew the elastic together and for some reason it took me almost an entire year to do it).

They are my favorite pants! So soft and worn, just like a loved tshirt, which is exactly what they were. Sure, Ickey wasnt born anywhere near UVA but I was ...so there you go. Sadly, because I waited so long to finish them they are too small (actually, they fit perfectly and in baby clothes speak that means hes already too big for 'em!) But there will be more kids, if not my own, my sister who was also born in Charlottesville.

Beach Boy

The beach on Saturday was a blast and a half! Ikaika is finally old enough that he can play in the water and have fun. He was kicking his feet and splashing, laughing. So so cute! Ive discovered that the best way to get him in the water is to sit him on the sand right where the waves are coming in. He sits for a few minutes just figuring it all out and then, when hes ready, he starts crawling around towards the water. In fact, the first time we tried this I held his hands and he just walked himself right into chest-deep waves! What a little explorer!

Mr As hair style is the result of a clipper catastrophe! Although we thought it was ethinically cool that Mr A looked like an Apache, we had our doubts about Mauna Kea sharing this sentiment so the mohawk got shaved off Saturday night and now hes just a cue ball. He looks like Ramseys from the Ten Commandments.

Surfs Up!

Nude Sunbathing!

Protect those baby blues!
He ate that papaya in the background for lunch.

Why wont my lens cap open all the way?!



Bonus Material - video of him playing on a box from this morning.

Notice him taking a step and how he can now pull himself up from sitting to standing, balance with one hand, carry on a conversation, blow spit bubbles, etc.

Two Different Waimeas

Well, the move to Waimea didnt go exactly as expected. Or maybe it did...

If you reference back to my previous post regarding the move, I expressed some apprehension about stuff (cant remember what stuff right now). Long story short, the house did NOT work out. Its on the "green/wet side" of Waimea. Sad face.

Let me explain briefly that there is 1 town of Waimea but 2 completely different "sides". One part of Waimea is directly on the edge of a rainforest and up in the mountains so its cold, rainy and basically looks a lot of the weather of the northwest but with huge plants straight out of Jurrasic Park. The other side is arid, desert-like and windy (HPA's mascot isnt the kamakanis for nothing). Today, for example, the wet side was rainy, overcast and in the mid 60s. The dry side was clear skies, sunny and mid 70s. These two faces of Kamuela (another name for Waimea) are only 5-10 minutes apart. Its crazy.

Because Im not organized enough to stay on top of black mold issues and because we didnt move half way across the world to freeze our asses off ala Portland, we are moving again. We are moving to the dry side (we need to stay in Waimea because Mr A has now accepted a full time sub position at Waimea Middle School - health class no less! - we got a PO Box here, Mr A is a "middle of the island" kind of guy, etc).

The place is a studio that could best be described as a "midget house". Its like a teeny tiny mini house. Ill take some pictures when we finally get over there. I will also have internet and cell phone reception there, a bonus compared to where we live now. Therefore, I should be able to be more frequent with the blog updates...in theory.

Baby Ickey is well. We were at the beach this morning and he went into the water full blast for the first time. Im going to pick him up a little infant sit-in-the-innertube thing tomorrow when we go into Hilo (he borrowed one today and it worked out nicely). I felt like today was the first time that Ive really been able to "play" with Ikaika at the beach. Super fun and so cute.

Boys and their Toys

Im never going to spend money on toys. Despite owning a wide enough selection of baby oriented entertainment, these are his favorites...


electrical/power cords, esp. the car charger kind.


this cardboard box (he has master balancing with one hand after HOURS and HOURS of practice)


the volleyball, much to Mr As delight




and Mr As wedding band (he had already been playing with it for about a half hour so his frustration wasnt necessarily instantaneous)

He also likes garbage (anything crinkly or shiny is a winner - chip bags or the recycling bag filled with cans) and books or paper (anything to rip and/or chew on). Ive already lost two book jackets and a soft cover novel. Im going to have to move all the first additions up to the top shelf!

Food!

He loves all food. Brown rice, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes (the purple Okinawa kind), poi, millet, avocado, papaya, banana, apple sauce. Everything he has tasted he has devoured and enjoyed.
Of course, having it presented as an F-150 never hurts!

We began our day with some Baby Einstein Brainwashing...


Opening Day isnt until Friday but I figured we could get into the spirit early since Aunty Beth went to all the trouble to ship out some goodies for the occasion...




GO BREW CREW!!!!

Baby Ickey Photo Update!

I finally got my hands on some batteries (although no new charger to replace the one that melted)... Here is the Official Baby Ickey Photo Update!

This is actually from a couple weeks ago before the camera died. Mr A says that Ikaika looks exactly like him in this photo (except with ehu hair and blue eyes, of course)


This is from yesterday. He looks so old to me! Is he attending Beloit College or is that just a classy sweatshirt?! (notice also that he is sitting up independently. pretty good eh?)


Heres a nice shot of the new teeth. Front and center!


We got this little booster seat thing from my Uncle Bruce and Ikaika seems like appreciate being at eye level with us while hes eating now. Hes sucking on some teething toast- homemade by yours truly out of millet bread. Onolicious!
Thus far he has tasted poi, brown rice cereal, carrots, bananas and the aforementioned toast. He likes it all.

I was on the phone with my mom last night (as usual) and he was having a blast playing with this squash. It is intended to be pureed and frozen for his eating pleasure but he apparently couldnt wait that long. I think Im going to completely give up on toys since (unplugged) power cords, the tape measure, empty chip bags and large vegetables can keep him entertained for hours.



This video is also from before the camera ran out of batteries. It clearly shows the scooting and rocking on hands and knees that will eventually turn into bonefide crawling. Since this is still about where hes at now I figured I would post it anyway.
Thanks to Cousin Amber for the rad Twins gear!

Moving Day

Today we are moving to Kamuela/Waimea.

Its a 2 bedroom cedar cabin (built by hand with wood from Oregon, oddly enough) on a full acre of land. Theres a chicken coop and a little place for goats, avocado lemon and banana trees. It has all major appliances, a wood burning stove, and a bathtub- one of my big requests for this move since junior boy is getting too massive for bathing on top of the sink. Theres a covered carport and a deck.

Its 5 minutes from Waimea Middle School (where Mr A subs), 10 minutes from HPA (where he coaches) and 15-20 from Mauna Kea. We are moving predominantly for this reason - to save on time and gas. Kohala is beautiful and we love living here with our friends, but at the same time going up and over mountain road almost everyday is starting to take its toll on the brake pads!

Its on the wet side of Waimea, which means that mold can quickly become an issue but that also means its greener (the dry side of Waimea looks like a dessert with cactus and crab grass). Its really cold, like Seattle cold, and rainy. Although Im holding out hope that the summer will be very comfortable. This also means there isnt much in the way of insects or giants spiders, so thats a plus. When Mr A goes to visit his girls this summer I must demand that he return with all my previously forsaken "winter clothes".

People always assume that because we live in Hawaii its like balmy breezes and tropical beaches 24/7. The islands are much more complex than that. Id like to state, for the record, that Hawaii can get downright freezing in some places. Besides, we moved here for the culture more than the weather. Unlike Seattle, the fact that theres a warm, picture perfect beach only a short car ride away makes the dreary weather much more manageable!

I feel like every time before a move I have feelings of mounting reservation. Are we making the right decision? Is this the right place for us? Is this the best deal? Should we spend more time and keep looking? Even though I know we are getting a good deal and this seems like exactly what we wanted, I still have all kinds of building anxieties.

I also tend to feel this way before and just after all major purchases. For example, we just got a new carseat (forward facing and converts to a booster seat - so fancy!!) from my uncle and its like, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted until the day I actually went to the store to pick it up. Then I stood there in the carseat aisle debating for almost a half hour, finally picked a different one from the one I had originally thought I wanted, and ended up on the phone with the my mother not five hours later hemming and hawing about how I wasnt sure it was just right! Three days later here I am and I love it.

The upside to all of this is that most of the time you can return stuff if it turns out to be all wrong and, with this house at least, you can move if turns out youve made an error in judgement. We have 30 days to sort of decide if this is exactly what we want to do before we have to sign a lease so that is keeping me from having a total meltdown...at least for now.