Bye Bye Paci

This was Mark 1 month ago. A pacifier in the mouth, one backup hanging from his jammies. This is how he liked it. This is how I liked it too. The paci was my friend. It kept Mark quiet, kept him from putting everything into his mouth, and soothed him to sleep. And then one day, he quit it. Cold turkey. It was like he woke up one morning and said, "Wait a second, I don't want to be quiet. I WANT to put everything in my mouth, and I don't want to sleep, so why do I need this silly thing?" Now, when I offer it to him, he immediately grabs it and throws it on the ground. Then, he looks at me and smiles. "Nice try, Mom."

I know, I know. One day I'll be glad that he gave it up on his own. But, couldn't he wait until after I have to travel 13 hours with him on the airplane by myself? Seriously.

Here's to hoping that he gives up nursing that easily!

"Yeah. Right, Mom."

Cars 2

We got tickets for 10:15 am showing on Saturday for the much anticipated sequel to Keaton's favorite movie. Keaton was super excited to see the movie with his buddy, Lucas, another Cars enthusiast. Both boys thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I was just happy that both of them made it through the entire movie (over 2 hours with previews). Popcorn and nachos helped. 

Cars 2 was almost exactly what I expected. Not as good as the first, but still very entertaining. It was action-packed from start to finish. The spy/espionage plot was a little difficult to follow (especially for 3 year olds). But, all of the new characters were very likable, and there were enough grown-up jokes and funny Mater antics to keep the adults interested. The movie kept the same "friendship" theme that the original had, which I love. 

Keaton's favorite part: "when Mater races Lightning"

The little man even had his first babysitter on Saturday, so that Scott and I could both be there to experience Cars 2 with Keaton! He did great, which was a huge surprise and relief to me. (He does not have the best track record with Mama leaving). 

What we are reading this week

Our trip to the library is something we look forward to every week. We have a really fantastic library that is walking distance from our house. On Thursdays, there is a children's storytime led by our children's librarian who happened to be named Hawaii's librarian of the year for 2010. Needless to say, he puts on a great show! We're talkin - puppet show, silhouette show, singing, crafts - the whole works. Talk about some awesome cheap, free entertainment! 

"Uncle Kurt"
As you can see, its a popular place to be on Thursday mornings in Kaneohe.

The library also has a fun summer reading program. We record the books that we read each week on our book log, and when we go to the library, Keaton and Mark get to pick out a sticker for their "reading passport" and fun prize like cookies, tattoos, and McDonald's coupons. Of course, Keaton gets to choose the sticker and prize for Mark which makes it all the more fun for him.

Keaton loves books, and it is fun to have a rotation of new books to read every week. He usually chooses 5-7 books every time we go. This stack almost always includes at least one Curious George book (hard to go wrong with George), one book about either Thomas or Lightning McQueen, and then we try to fill up the rest with books we've never read before. Over time, we've found some real gems and also some duds. This week, we found a new favorite: 

This book is hilarious and so fun to read (and equally fun to listen to your husband read)! It has a very jazz poetry vibe to it, and its really hard to read it without attempting your best Louis Armstrong impression. 

My favorite line: 

Get down, play that thing!

If it's got that swing it means EVERYthing.

Jazz-Bo knows it. 

Says, "Hope I don't blow it!"

He SQUEEZES them blues

right out of his SHOES!

I'm going to try to get in the habit of sharing our favorite book each week. I would love to hear your favorite books, as well! Maybe we'll discover some new gems together.

Happy Father's Day!

I'm thankful and honored to share the responsibility of raising men with this man.

We had a super fun day celebrating with a picnic and beach time with church friends. I'm normally on top of getting pictures for these types of events, but ever since The Terminator decided to quit his paci cold turkey this week, I spent most of the afternoon trying to keep sand out of his mouth.

Happy Father's Day Scott Anderson! I could not ask for a more loving and caring father for my boys. Thank you for all you do.

9 months

He's 9 months old now, so why is it so still so hard to call him just "Mark?"

Just a few of his many nicknames:

 Baby Mark

Marky

Marx

Markus

Marky-Mark

Marky-Markus

Mowk

Mowky

Stinker

Stinky

Stinkus

Stinkerpot

Brother

Bwudda

Poopus

He's changing, changing changing...every day is something new. 

Since last month:

He stands on his own for up to 20 seconds (last I timed him)

"Look! No hands!"

He is dancing to music now. It much resembles the "sitting jump" from last month. Just smaller, more frequent jumps. Its adorable. I really need to get that on video...

He is eating mostly table food.   

He no longer has the patience for spoon feeding. He has 6 teeth now after all!  Just look at him munching away on this cracker like, "Seriously mom. I'm ready for a steak here." 

He chews on plenty of other stuff too:

Not only is he great with the vacuum, he's a huge help in the kitchen. Can't you tell?

I mentioned he is into EVERYTHING? He can be quite destructive. He rips up books and magazines, pulls everything off of the shelves, empties cabinets, and splashes water all over the bathroom. Scott likens him to the Terminator. He's on a mission to destroy and will not stop until his mission is complete. He's cuter than Arnold though and much more cuddly, which makes him all the more dangerous. I tell him to clean up after himself and he just looks at me like this:

How can I resist?

Workman Visit

Rob, Lisa, Laura, and Douglas are back in South Carolina by now sleeping off that long flight. We are left here with great memories, over 200 pictures, and a houseful of sand! No more beach time, snorkeling, boating in the bay, eating out in Waikiki, watching the sun set over the ocean... oh, wait. We live here. I forgot.

It still kinda feels like our vacation is ending too. We had such a great time with Scott's sister and her family  this past week. The weather was a little bit of a bummer, and I still regret that they didn't get to see the Windward side of Oahu in all its glory. But, we've never been ones to let a little rain getting in the way of our fun.

We took them to the beach on their first night here. We kept them up until 8:30 (2:30 EST), no easy task!

Snack in the tent after playing hard at Lanikai on Thursday

It was cloudy and the current was a little strong,  but the kids had a blast playing in the surf at Waimea Bay

My sandy beach baby 

 Cholo's on the North Shore after a
fun day of beach and swim.
Cheers to locksmiths. Nuf said.

Shave Ice with cousins! Doesn't get much better. 

Kona!! 

Mark was baptized on Sunday. It was so great to have family here for that special day!

They spent the last four nights of their trip at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

We spent the day with them on Monday at HHV. So fun!

Keaton would have gone down this slide 100 times

I love sunkissed faces

I like how Keaton is looking at Douglas. That boy LOVED having his cousins around! 

Watching the sunset from the pier

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was a big hit

Other great memories: 

• Thunderstorm of the century followed by power outage and "family bonding" by the light of our iphones
• Driving all over the island to find sunshine
• Enjoying a picnic and watching the surfers at Yokohama Bay
• Our little "run-in" with security guard/parking attendant at Hanauma Bay

We miss you already!