Welcome Cousin!

Esme and Chan-Chan have a new cousin today!  Mahina Lamalama I Ke Ala Ke Kanaka Hahai Holoholana Lindsey was born this morning in Waimea, HI.  We can't wait to visit Uncle Judd, Aunty Ness, Hunter and little Mahina on our upcoming trip.  

Cousin Mahina

This weekend we're headed to Oahu for a week for a mini family reunion at Ko Olina.  Then we'll head to the Big Island for a few days before returning to Washington.  I've been busy packing our bags today and it's amazing how much stuff two little people can require!  I'm hoping Chan will do as well on the plane as Esme did when she was little.  All I had to do was put her in the Moby and she'd fall right asleep for most of the ride.  Chan's a little more squirmy in the Moby so we'll see. 

Lately Esme's been fascinated with the construction sites on our walk to school in the morning.  She especially loves to watch the backhoe in action.  She even found a book on trucks at the library and wanted to add it to our pile of borrowed books recently.  Allen reads it to her before bed every night now.

Esme's sitting in the stroller watching the action

The Greatest Gift

Chan and I had a 6 week appointment with my midwife today and she was surprised at how much he's filled out.  The office staff had a lot of fun loving all over him and he put on a great show of talking and some smiles.  In just a few more weeks he'll have his 2 month appointment with his pediatrician so we can see how big he's grown.  He's good at recognizing my voice now and he perks up when he hears it.  We're just assuming he's getting used to Esme's voice since she always right up in his face.  I'd once read that the greatest gift you can give your child is a sibling and that's so true for us.  Esme has matured soooooooo much since Chan came along and it's brought out all her little mothering instincts.  Yesterday while riding in the car Chan started to fuss.  Esme reached over and grabbed his hand and said, "Don't worry baby Chan.  Mimi's here, Mimi's here."  And when she hears him crying in another room she starts running to him saying, "Mimi's coming, Mimi's coming!"  Who knew!

Chan will sleep up to 4 hours at night now and I'm hoping it'll continue to stretch out in the next few weeks so that he's sleeping through by the time I go back to work.  His daytime naps are more sporadic depending on what we're doing for the day.  Overall though he's still a very relaxed and easy baby.  He really likes his tummy time and even taking naps on his stomach instead of his back.  He also enjoys his pacifier when he's fussy.  Otherwise he uses me as his human pacifier and that gets old pretty quick.  I've been able to pump a fair amount of milk so far just in case but nowhere near as much as when Esme was an infant.

We've been enjoying the summer weather here in Washington and even got a trip to the beach in with cousins Shyla, Luke & Tabby.  We went in the afternoon and Esme had a blast in the sand.  And luckily we were able to keep all the sand away from baby Chan.

Hanging out in the bouncer

Eating a carrot from Aunty LeAnne's garden

Cousins Tabby & Esme

Flying high with dad

Baby Chan's first trip to the beach

Esme holding baby Chan's hand in the car

Brown Eyed Boy

Chan and I were sitting by the window today and I noticed that his eye color changed.  His eyes were originally a bluish-gray color and now they're more brown.  I was shocked that it happened so soon since it seems like Esme's were that bluish-gray color for so long.  He's also thickening up by the day.  It's getting harder and harder to clean his neck when we give him a bath at night :)  The good part is that he still really likes being in the water, whether it's the baby tub or in the shower.

As I mentioned before Chan was named after my great-grandfather on my mother's side of the family.  Since then I've gotten a lot of questions regarding the meaning of the name and unfortunately no one knows it.  I've been doing some research and found a great book called The Koreans In Hawaii: A Pictorial History, 1903-2003.  There are many pictures and write-ups of the original Chan Jay Kim but I'm still working on finding out more about the name.

Esme continues to love on her little brother like always.  She always wants him to watch what she's doing and she gets so excited when she hears his voice or he smiles at her.  Truthfully he's just moving his mouth or probably farting and showing some relief on his face but none the less she thinks he's smiling at her.  So far I'm the only one that's gotten him to smile and it's not all that often.

These newborn clothes are still a little roomy

Esme modeling some of baby Chan's new gifts

Baby Chan discovered the mirror on his play mat

One Month Old

It's amazing how many things can change in just one month!  It's hard to believe it's been that long but it has.  Chan Chan is growing a ton lately and really filling out.  I can also attest to that due to all the cluster feeding that he's been doing.  He gets ravenous and just can't get enough milk sometimes so we're stuck on the couch nursing for what seems like hours.  Thank goodness for the Ipad and the Kindle to keep me busy!  He's consistently waking about twice at night and on occasion only once which is great.  He has a habit of spitting up on dad for some strange reason or maybe I just don't notice how often it happens to me.  Regardless Chan's enjoying his nightly baths with Esme.  We put the baby tub in the big tub and squeeze the kids in together.  Of course Esme likes to help wash him which makes it take a little longer but oh well.  Esme's gotten used to coming home in the afternoon and going right up to baby Chan and telling him all about her day at school and trips to the park.  Too cute! I even got him to smile for me last week but he's definitely stingy with his smiles.

Allen went back to work last week so we've been getting more into a routine in the mornings.  I try to nurse Chan before Esme wakes up and then once she gets up we spend some time reading and playing together before we load her up in the stroller and walk her to school.  It's a 3/4 mile walk which is just right.  Esme in the stroller and Chan in the Ergo.  Esme loves to show off baby Chan to all her friends at school.

Practicing being gentle with baby Chan

Sleepy time on the couch together

Busting out of his smallest newborn outfit

Hanging in his bouncer while mommy's in the kitchen

Our little prince

Chan daydreaming about riding Rody one day

Esme's always been a great talker but her speech is really improving lately.  She's starting to tell us how she's feeling and verbalizing her opinion on certain things.  She can even carry on a whole conversation with her girlfriend Addy.  Esme had her first playdate where she got picked up from our house and drove off in their car.  It was a little strange to let her go like that.  We packed her bag and she was off without a fuss.   

Esme in her chef outfit

Eating homemade sorbet with Addy

Settling In

Phew, time sure is flying with two little ones at home now!  Our last set of visitors were here last weekend - Allen's sister Ting and nephew Kai.  We spent a lot of family time together and just let the kids hang out.  We even got to celebrate Kai's 4th birthday a little early.  Esme made us sing the Happy Birthday song over and over, candles and all, since it's her favorite song.  Our candles were almost non-existent by the end of it all.

The Shih cousins

Family photo opp

Ting soaking up her baby time

Chan is becoming a lot more alert lately and holding his head up well.  We've even started hearing more of his voice when he's doing tummy time and he's getting better and better at tracking objects.  As always he continues to eat constantly and so he's almost growing out of his newborn diapers and clothes.  His skin is pretty much done peeling at this point too.  

Instead of saying "smile" we say "show your teeth" and this is what we get

Chan's playdate with Jordyn

Activity mat time

Esme's sporting her new summer glasses

Esme continues to talk up a storm and is picking up new phrases all the time.  And she still LOVES to sing all day long!  She's continued to be very interested in "Baby Chan" and always wants to help take care of him.  Most of the time she tries to get us to stop what we're doing with him and let her take over completely.  And when she's in another room and hears him crying she runs to where he is saying "oh baby Chan, oh baby Chan" like a concerned mother.  It's pretty cute!

Boys!

"Little Brother Chan" onesie