Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Chan sprouted his first tooth just 2 days ago in hopes that we might feed him some yummy food today.  Ha ha!  He's still chowing down on his cereal and veggies and I've got a batch of zucchini and peas to puree this weekend so he can try those next week.  We decided to lay low this weekend since both of the kids are a little under the weather.  They're both coughing, mostly at night, and Esme had a low grade fever the other day so we kept her out of school.  Otherwise no congestion or runny nose.  So hopefully the long weekend will give them some time to recuperate and they'll be ready for school next week.  

Time For A Haircut

All of a sudden I realized that it was time for Esme to get another haircut.  She got her first one just a week before Chan was born and this past weekend she got her second.  She was much more hesitant to sit in the chair this time as compared to last but after some coaxing she sat down and let the lady do her job.  I mostly just wanted her to even out the ends again so that it will be all one length soon.  Esme has two layers of hair - one from birth which is the longest and then the new growth.  Looking back she had a ton of hair at birth but by 5 months it was very sparse and then it started growing back from there.

At the rate Chan's going he won't need his first haircut till well after his second birthday too since he still has no hair ;)  At least we don't have to worry about him getting all his food in his hair now.  His most recent new foods have been broccoli, sweet potato, squash, avocado, and pear.  And as long as he's in the mood he's always willing to eat.  He's also sitting up unassisted for much longer periods of time when he's on the floor.  He still throws himself backwards though and so we always have to be right there.

Riding in the double sit-n-stand stroller without the carseat

She was so serious the whole time

Getting a little excited about the braid in her hair

Chan's sitting up!

Celebrating dad's birthday a little late

While we were out getting Esme's haircut we decided to celebrate Allen's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory.  On the way there we were walking through the middle of Macy's junior department where the music is a little louder than normal.  Esme was riding on Allen's shoulders and all of a sudden she says, "Stop!  I need to dance."  And so Allen put her down and she danced a little number in the middle of the aisle for a few minutes.  It was hilarious!  Apparently Faye said she's been dancing more at school lately too.  Not sure 

 

Six Months Old

Chan Chan got to celebrate his 6 month birthday while we were in Hawaii and today he had his checkup.  He met all his developmental milestones - tracking things with his eyes, laughing, smiling, talking (ba and da sounds), recognizing his name, rolling over, sitting up, reaching for objects in front of him and transfering things from one hand to the next.  He weighed in at 19# 0.5oz (exactly 12 pounds over his birth weight!), 26 inches, and his head circumference was 17 1/2" which placed him in the 80th percentile for everything.  He also got 4 shots and handled them like a champ.  He started to cry as the second one was going in but was done as soon as the fourth one was over with.  Esme, Chan and I all got our flu shots today so hopefully we're covered for this year.  Esme also took her flu shot like a champ.  She didn't even flinch but later talked about how it hurt.  I think this is the first time she'll remember what shots are since it's been so long since she's had one prior to this.  I think it was her flu shot last year which she obviously didn't remember so I'm glad this was a good experience for her.      

Brrrr...It's Cold In Washington

Chan and I made it to Hawaii and back.  It was a short trip, just 5 days, but it seemed like a long one so that was nice.  We saw lots of family and got lots of things done, including a job interview for me so we're keeping our fingers crossed!  Chan enjoyed the warmer weather and not having to bundle up everywhere we went.  He also got to try apple bananas and papaya while we were there.  He wasn't too keen on fresh poi as it's a little more sour tasting than the powdered stuff he has here in the mainland.  While we were there he started to get up on all fours and then this weekend he started rocking on all fours.  Yikes, that means crawling is around the corner sooner than we thought!  He's been army crawling and pivoting on his belly for awhile now but I guess that wasn't good enough.  He can roll over both ways but doesn't use that as his method of movement very often.  And he's still not sitting up without support so we have to help him there.  It's so different this time around because Esme sat up early and then army crawled almost until she walked.

Ready for takeoff!

Feeding the fish with Nana but Chan was interested in the dog instead

Chan LOVED his new foods in Hawaii!

It looks like he's singing here.  Ha ha!  Hanging out with cousin Mahina.

Getting up on all fours at Liliuokalani Park

One last day of no clothes

On the plane back to Seattle

It was hard to be away from Esme while we were in Hawaii, as I've only ever been away from her for a night before, when Chan was born.  Her and Allen had lots of fun though.  They celebrated Allen's birthday, went to the library, went shopping at Costco and Trader Joes and just stayed home and played. 

Since I've been back Esme has been on a satsuma/tangerine kick.  She eats about 8 of them a day.  And today she ate almost an entire avocado with her lunch.  She's always been a good eater but it's not always like her to go to such extremes! 

The candles were more for Esme than anything else

Esme requested watermelon on her shopping trips

Esme got to dress herself completely while mommy was gone ;)

More Food Please

Chan's really been enjoying his baby food this past week.  We were only feeding him at night but then we also started sending food to school for him to try there too.  He dives for the food as soon as he sees it and usually ends up with either poi or rice cereal up his nose.  Esme still enjoys eating his leftovers and is always very eager to help feed him.  Chan and I are flying to Hawaii tomorrow so he might get to try either mashed avocado, papaya, or apple bananas while we're there.  He'll also get to celebrate his 6 month birthday there this Sunday!

Esme's latest food craze has been grapefruits.  I think she just likes how different they are and how we have to cut them for her.  She'll eat a whole one plus her entire meal at breakfast or dinner.  While Chan and I are in Hawaii, her and Allen will be having lots of fun together.  They plan to go to the Children's Museum, the library, and probably out to eat a time or two.  I can't wait to hear the stories!

Food For Chan

Chan's been thriving on momma's milk since he was born as you can tell by all his rolls!  However in the past few weeks he's really been watching us as we eat.  He's even started licking his lips when he sits down to dinner with us.  Since he's gonna be 6 months next week we decided to go ahead and start giving him solids this weekend.  He had some powdered poi mixed with my milk and he didn't even make a funny face.  He was just trying to figure out what to do with his tongue and the spoon in his mouth.  Esme was insistent that she feed him and then she ended up polishing off all the poi that Chan didn't eat.  Ha ha!

What A Week!

Thanks to all the Halloween celebrations this week Esme will never forget this holiday!  Ha ha!  We trick-or-treated at the local outdoor mall last weekend and then they dressed up at school most of the week.  And then tonight she got to officially trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.  Esme liked seeing all the kids walking around in costumes and by the end of the night she finally started saying "trick-or-treat" when she knocked on doors.  Then once she was done walking around she enjoyed handing out candy to the kids.  Chan isn't much of a night owl and was asleep by 6:30pm so he missed out on everything

Both of the kids wore their bones outfits to school.

Chan Chan's been rolling over for awhile now but all of a sudden he's started doing successive rolls and really moving across the floor.  We've had to put away his bouncer and swing, since he can buck out of them, which frees up a lot of space in our house now.  Thank goodness!  We still have his jumper which he continues to love and helps us to keep him upright after feeding since he's such a spitty baby.

Esme's also continuing to grow up right before our eyes.  Her language keeps getting exponentially more advanced and she tells us things we have no idea she's learned all the time.  She's enjoying pretend play and make believe a lot more and likes to tell us all kinds of stories.  Her memory continues to amaze us too.  She's really good with names and remembering people and events.  When I come home from work everyday she always asks "How was your patients today mom?"  And when we give her medicine she always asks "And what does this one do?"  Only the daughter of a pharmacist and nurse practitioner would ask such a thing!  She gets Zyrtec for her runny nose, Zarbees for her cough, and Motrin for any owies when she's sick.

Esme made this owl out of a toilet paper tube at school.  I asked her to tell me about the body parts and she said it had eyes and a mouth (I asked if it was a beak and she said "NO, it's a mouth!").  Then when I asked her what was on the side she said 'it's hips."  Ha ha!

Let The Holiday Weekends Begin!

This past weekend we opted for some R&R after our busy weekend in Oregon the weekend prior.  The kids enjoyed just hanging out at home, eating and sleeping on their normal routine, and going to the parks nearby.  We put Chan Chan in the swings for the first time and he LOVED it when we barely pushed him!  He also loved watching his sister go back and forth next to him.

Esme also got a trial run at Halloween since the outdoor mall near our house had a trick-or-treating event for kids.  She thought it was pretty awesome to dress up in costumes and go around while people just gave you candy for free!  I didn't know how she'd react to her garden gnome costume that I bought on clearance after last year's Halloween but she was super excited about it.  She even wore the hat the whole time we were walking around!  We also met up with some neighbors, friends and even cousin Tabby!  Chan Chan wasn't too into it and slept in the stroller most of the time.  Luckily his tiger suit kept him covered up.

More Stories

I found some more great pictures from this past weekend in Oregon.  I also forgot to share the lovely adventure we had on our way down there.  We left in the late afternoon on Friday and were in rush hour traffic on I-5.  We finally got moving and then Esme starts complaining of a stomach ache.  I figured she was just getting fussy from being stuck in the car but I was totally wrong.  Her stomach really did hurt cause not long after she started throwing up.  Luckily I caught most of it and was able to clean up her shirt and seat without having to stop so we kept driving since we had a 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of us.  Well Esme had different plans cause she continued to puke the entire drive to Oregon and by the time we got there she was throwing up only bile.  It was awful!  I don't even remember how many stops we had to make but I do remember how horrible the car smelled.  Thank goodness it was a rental!  Our drive ended up taking over 5 hours and we were all soooooooooo happy when we finally arrived.  Then that night she woke up in the middle of the night with a raging fever.  I gave her Motrin and she burned it off overnight and then when she woke up the next morning she was fine.  It was like it never happened.  So weird!  I'm just glad no one else got it!

Both Aunty B and Uncle Judd were missing their babies so Chan got a lot of their attention

Hi daddy!

Esme was feeling so much better the morning after we arrived

Hugs with Aunty Amy

Mmmmm...cake!

Aunty B giving birthday wishes to Grandma

Uncle Richard with Uncle Chan and baby Chan

Happy Birthday Grandma Berta

Well the weekend is over and so are all the family festivities :(   We went to Oregon for a long weekend to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  Family came from all over the place for this special occasion and it was the first time all my cousins and I were in the same place at the same time.  So grandma got to see all her grandchildren together but not all the great-grandchildren were in attendance.  Maybe for the next big birthday.  Unfortunately I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to since I was always busy with either of the kids but that's just the way it goes these days...

Now that everyone is gone our house seems empty.  However in some ways I think Esme and Chan are itching to get back into their daily routine tomorrow at school.  Tonight everyone will sleep in their own beds again too.  Woohoo!

Esme enjoyed playing at the park with Aunty B

Chan Chan also enjoyed his time with Aunty B

When Uncle Sterling and Tosh arrived we picked up Caribbean sandwiches at Paseo and had a picnic at Gasworks Park.  Uncle Sterling wants to come back to Seattle just for the sandwiches again!

Esme and Tosh enjoyed playing at the park and watching the boats and float planes

More cousin play time

We also enjoyed some yummy ice cream at Molly Moons

Of course we ran some last minute errands too

To make life easier we rented a van for the weekend so that we didn't have to split up into two cars.  We had much more fun this way :)

We were also packed floor to ceiling though!

Chan got a lot of love from EVERYONE this weekend!  They all loved his bald head.

Uncle Judd, Aunty B and Uncle Ster enjoying the fall weather

The sisters!

Of course, I spent a lot of the weekend nursing baby Chan too!  Unfortunately I had to leave the birthday party for a short time to nurse some more and for the kids nap times.

Last but not least, Grandma Berta with all 15 of her grandchildren!