Teeth Talk

There's lots of talk about teeth these days in our house.  Esme woke up with a sore mouth during Labor Day weekend and turns out she had two loose teeth - the bottom central incisors.  And then this past weekend she lost her first one!  She just came off the floor at gymnastics and had her tooth in her hand.  I was shocked!  I was expecting a lot of tears and a tooth dangling by a thread for a week but she braved it.  She said it was extra loose that day and so she just reached in and yanked it out.  It's amazing how much she's matured since the twins were born and since starting kindergarten.  She's a whole new kid sometimes.

Anyways, that night she had a sleepover with her cousins so I told her the tooth fairy only visits when she sleeps in her own bed so we waited till the next night.  She dutifully put her tooth in a little heart shaped pillow and placed that under her pillow.  Then in the morning Chan woke right up and came bawling out of his room.  I asked him what was wrong and he said "the tooth fairy didn't come to my room."  Ha ha!  I guess we didn't explain that part to him.  He wanted to go in Mimi's room and wake her up to see what she got.  Too cute!  Esme had a whole story about how she woke up when the tooth fairy came and they hung out.  Pretty funny stuff!  We recently read this book called April and Esme Tooth Fairies that's adorable and you should check it out if you get the chance.  I'm thinking this was her inspiration.

The babes are also teething it seems.  Everything goes to their mouth, there's lots of drool, they love it when you rub your finger along their gums, and they've been batting at their ears for awhile too.  Still no signs of any teeth though.  Eve is now rolling over both ways and pretty comfortable with that.  Poppy can do it but she's content on just one side where Eve just wants to keep on moving.  Poppy has found her toes though and loves grabbing those.  She has yet to get them to her mouth though and Eve still hasn't touched her toes.

The girls are definitely plumping up too as we just switched them to size 2 diapers.  And I recently packed up all the 3 month clothes and they're fitting in 6 month gear.  They're catching up!  They'll be 6 months next week and we just started them on solid foods too.  Eve of course loved it and Poppy is still figuring it out.  So far they've had rice cereal, carrots, and peas.  No more breastfed poops :(  It's completely stinky now.

Our toothless gymnast

Feeding time!  Rice cereal mixed with mama's milk.

Pops wasn't so sure about it. 

Eve couldn't get enough!  This girl is ready to eat!

Napping poolside in Kona.

Eve is too cool, hanging with her Aunty B.

Chan and the "baby sisters" as he calls them.

Teething rings are the best

They both love these things. 

Pool time on the lanai at home.

Shih Cousin Reunion 2016 - Boulder, Colorado

Sorry for the long gap between posts, but we've been a bit busy.  However, Chan and I did take a little vacation from the family and went to Boulder, CO to see some cousins.  This was Chan's first trip without his whole family and he was pretty excited.  He likes to make a fashion statement with his headband and hat!

We took a red eye from Honolulu  to Denver and luckily, Chan was in a good mood and always silly.

When we arrived, he couldn't contain his excitement, but he was really excited to meet his cousin Whitney for the first time.

We got to the rental house and enjoyed to amenities, including the large bathtub.  

On the first night, we went to eat at Empenadas

The next night, we had a potsticker making contest.  Here are my entries.

Chan finding his name in the window

The next day we spent fishing at the kid's fishing pond off of Boulder Stream

Uncle Jonathan shows Chan how to fish

Chan shows Auntie Cynthia and Uncle Jonathan his skills

Fishing with Cousin Kai

Walking across the rock bridge

Chan and I climbed as far as we could at Pioneer Park.  We turned back because of thunder and rain

Of course, we went back to fishing after that

Kai caught himself his first trout

We also visited Baby T-Rex

Chan took home baby T-Rex

Here's one of Googers, Whitney and Kai

We had lots of fun with cousins

We went to the park on the last day

And finally one of us in front of a "buffalo"

And here's what I had to do for most of the trip

Family Life

A few months ago we wouldn't have dared go our in public by ourselves - Allen, myself and the 4 kids, but recently we've been getting more and more brave.  The babes are also getting a little older, sturdier, and "easier" to handle.  A few weekends ago we attempted the Yacht Club so the big kids could swim.  I parked myself in the shade and put up the pack n play for the girls and thankfully they took turns sleeping, nursing, and then playing together.  Then last weekend we actually braved a trip to Macy's and Old Navy and then dinner at Kuhio Grill afterwards.  Luckily we were there early with all the old timers and so it wasn't busy, the customers and staff were all doting on the kids, and we were in and out super fast before the little girls could get fussy.  We also went to the summer bon dance at Life Care Center right below our house.  The babes slept in the Ergo's most of the time so that helped.  It felt good to do some "normal" things again :)

As for other adventures, this weekend Allen and Chan are in Colorado for a Shih cousin reunion.  This is Chan's first big trip that he'll actually remember and he was so nervously excited before leaving.  It was cute.  He could hardly sleep the night before.  At the same time it's an adventure for the rest of us because we're home alone for 5 whole days together.  Yikes!  Just me, Esme, Poppy and Eve.  And Nana's on vacation too so we can't rely on her extra hands.  I'll keep you posted on how we do.

And of course the other big news includes the double hurricanes we're facing this week.  We just got through Madeline which just brought a lot of rain and wind yesterday.  And now we're waiting on Lester which should brush by us this weekend.  I'm hoping for the best since it's just me and the girls here this weekend.  We're all storm prepped already though so that helps.  But I just don't know how many more challenges I can handle in my life at one time.  Ha ha!

Look how chunky Eve is getting!  She used to be our little string bean. 

Bath time while the boys are gone.  Usually the girls take showers but we had to switch it up since I don't have an extra adult to help me with that.  Esme loved helping to bathe the girls.  

And as you can see the babes loved having their sister wash them up.  They just kept staring at her.  

Last meal together before the boys left for Colorado.

Rainy day activities during Hurricane Madeline.  School and work were cancelled for 2 days.  

Kiddie pool time to be closer to mommy and the little girls.  

They fight a lot but they also love each other a ton!

Bumbo time!

Apparently the jumpers make them tired together.  

Bon dance multi-tasking.  One baby in the Ergo and one monkey on the back.  

Pre bon dance faces :)