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9 months

Our sweet boy is now 9 months old. My whole world has turned up-side-down! So many new things, it's all happening so fast. I love how curious he is about the world. Everything around him is so new to him. He can pick up a piece of grass and examine it for 15 minutes. And those little fingers of his! I love watching him try and grab things as he struggles with his coordination. He's our little champ. He's now starting to dance! My favorite. His dad drops a beat and he bounces up and down and smiles. I love it. He has such a personality now. So happy.

I always wonder what's on that boys mind.

He is almost confident enough to stand on his own!

He gets into everything!!

My day consists of me following him around the house, as he finds new things to get into.

He's a climber! This is a new thing as of the past two weeks. He has figured out how to pull his knee up and push himself higher. He can do stairs now!

His cute little snaggle teeth on the bottom.

He has become quite comfortable sitting in the "cheer stance".

He LOVES being pushed around the house in the laundry basket.

Learning his puzzles. I love watching those little fingers pick up the pegs. He's getting better at it.

Surprisingly, he can sit through a whole book (depending on the night).

I wish he could stay this age forever. Happy 9 months T!

all too familiar

Last night we watched an episode of King of Queen's on DVD. In this episode, Carrie just found out she was pregnant, and is daydreaming while at work about what life will be like with a baby. I was laughing so hard when I watched this scene because it reminded me so much of Tristan in his walker. ha! It feels good to laugh out loud once in awhile.

learning the ropes

"Now son, once you have made it into the lineup, sit up and straddle your board."

"Make sure you pick the right wave. A wave that has not broken."

"Sunscreen is essential son. The Hawaiian sun can burn your skin."

"Make sure you leave your belongings in a safe place. Or your mom can watch them. She does that for me all the time."

"See those kooks over there? That's what you don't want to do."

"You ready to get out there for the season son?"

something to be happy about

Hallelujah! He's falling asleep on his own! I've been told that it takes 3 nights to train them to fall asleep on their own at night and I thought they were all crazy. I just knew that it would be different for Tristan because he's umm...a special boy. I knew I would be nursing the boy to sleep until he was 8 years old. We started the training process a few nights ago. Night 1 - he cried for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Night 2 - he cried for 30 minutes. Night 3 - he cried for 15 minutes. Night 4 - he cried for 1 minute. And last night, Night 5 - I laid him down and he rolled over to his side, and watched me walk away while I closed the door. (He did look a little sad while I was leaving). But there were NO tears. NO crying! It took awhile to decide to start training him because it's just too sad to hear him screaming in his room for so long. Then when we would go in and check on him, he would look so thrashed. He stands up the whole time and is sweaty and so exhausted, but wouldn't give up. I hope that this keeps up. I may be speaking too soon. I never thought this day would come! We now need to work on his naps.

recycle your wardrobe

About once a year I go through my closet and clean out clothes that I don't wear anymore, but sometimes it's hard to let go of a few pieces because they are still in good condish, I'm just over it, or it's outdated. How great would it be if we could reinvent our old clothes to look the way we want? If I were only good at sewing, I would have so much fun with that. I need to take more sewing classes! The fabric of our old clothes could definitely be reused. I stumbled across this book that gives you tips on how to recycle your clothes. She also has a website, where you can send her your old clothes and she can alter it for you. Pretty cool. This book may be a good Christmas present for all of you sewers out there.

influenza a

T must have caught something while we were in California. We were around a lot of people and he was held by many. I hate seeing him sick. You just don't know how bad he is feeling or what hurts. It started with a runny nose. We went in for his standard Doctors appointment and doc said that he had a little cold, and to monitor it. It then turned into a 102.6 fever and doc said we should come back in. This was a rough half day at the doctors for both of us. He wanted Tristan to run some tests, so he sent us all over the hospital.

First of all, Tristan hates being poked at, even with the stethoscope, which is pain free, he is screaming. Or when they take his temperature in his ear, it's all over. So I knew that these tests would not be so fun. We started with needles in his arm to take his blood. Two needles, 3 vials to fill. 2 people to hold him down, plus the nurse taking his blood. Of course, this is so hard to watch as he screams and squirms. Then off to get his urine tested. Which isn't that hard, they just had to put a bag on him, and we come back later when he's shee sheed. The hardest part of all was watching him get his lungs x-rayed. They had to put him in a cylinder clear tube, with his arms up in the air. He was stuck so he couldn't move, screaming of course. Heart wrenching.

So anyways, after all the testing was over, we found out that he has Influenza A, which is in the same family as Swine. I'm starting to become a big fan of his doctor, he called us 3 times that day to give us the results, or to check up on baby T. But what I didn't like was how a couple of his phone calls scared me. He was urgently telling me to go to the pharmacy right away and get him on the meds he's calling in. Then later that night he called and he was telling me about Swine Flu and how there are many babies who do not survive this flu, how it's associated with death, yada yada yada. Scary for me right?

We didn't get much sleep for the next couple of nights as T was struggling to get comfortable. The amazing part was the good spirit Tristan was in through all of this, aside from all the testing at the hospital. He still remained active and happy (for most of the part, he did have some bad nights). A couple of days into the flu, he started vomiting, a lot. Then his fever came back. We were back at the doctors (by their request, I'm not just a crazy mom that brings him in whenever any little thing happens), and they didn't show too much concern, just that this is all part of the flu and to wait it out. He's almost 100% better, with just a little stuffy nose still. I'm not a fan of having a sick kid. I probably got 3-4 hours of sleep every night, and all of the doctors appointments are not fun. But we are so glad to see our little Tristan getting better.

Poor baby boy was put into the bath during one of his high fevers.

A cheerful Tristan gets into his pajamas. This was actually one of his bad nights.

Drinking lots of fluids.

Not throw up on his face, just a rice cracker. So serious though.

Playing with his cords as usual. No rest, all play.

No!

The word "No!" seems to be used quite often around here these days. We are at that stage where he wants to touch and break or eat everything. When he doesn't get want he wants, he throws a mini-tantrum and stomps his foot repeatedly on the floor and whines, until he moves on to the next breakable object to destroy. We knew that our house was not really baby-friendly, and we have held out this long without changing it. It's time. Oh, and by the way, the lovely walker that saved my life these last few months may soon be obsolete. I found Tristan the other day hanging up-side-down on the side of it, with his foot stuck in the foot-hole. He pulled himself out on his own. Danger. Tantrums and craziness aside, Tristan is a sweetheart. His sweet little voice is coming out and it melts us when he talks. He loves to wrap his hands around our faces when he gives us kisses. (super wet kisses). Greeting him in his crib in the mornings is my favorite. He is well rested and so happy to see us. So I don't mind his activeness and wanting to explore the world around him. He's a happy baby, and that's all that matters.

halloween festivities

I'm a little relieved that Halloween is over, so we can move on to my favorite holidays of the year, and we can legally start playing Christmas music! And the weather magically dropped 20 degrees the day after Halloween, which has been wonderful. It's been cold! Low 70's, it actually feels like Fall now. We did have a good time on Halloween though, and it seems to be more fun when you have a little one to celebrate the holiday with. Tristan was supposed to wear his monkey costume but it was too warm so we left him in his skeleton onesie. The morning of, we headed over to the pumpkin patch in Kapolei and picked up a couple of pumpkins with some friends. Then spent a little time on the North Shore. In the evening, we went to the Hallstroms for some food and trick or treating. Oh, and you can't have Halloween in the Hastings household without watching a scary movie. We watched "Drag Me to Hell" with some friends at our house. I wish I could tell you if it was good or not, I was sleeping through half of it cause I was pooped, but Christian said it was good. Not really scary, but good fun.

california bonfire

It's been soooo long since I've had a bonfire on the beach. I think I was in high school the last time we had one, and it used to be all the time. Even though I live in Hawaii with the best beaches in the world, there is something so great about a bonfire on the beaches of my hometown. Maybe it's the smell of the salt water mixed with the seaweed, I don't know, it brought back a lot of memories. One night while in CA my family went to Bolsa Chica Beach for a bonfire. We roasted hot dogs and smores and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice.

Chelcie Welcie.

Brookie Cookie. It was a lot warmer than it appears in these pictures. I think we were just excited to bundle up at the beach.

Chelcie and Bronson chasing after the birds.

Me and my Mom.

Mom and Dad.

Tristan enjoying the music. My dad on the guitar.

Von and Tristan wrestling.

8 months

I still don't believe that he is 8 months old already. Maybe because he's so small still. His new nickname here at the Clawson household is "monkey boy". He's all over the place and climbing everything. You can tell that his little mind is moving a mile a minute. "What's that?, what's this?, what's over there? I must go there". I have a feeling that he could be walking in a month. He can hold himself up with one arm, and sometimes let go and stand by himself for a couple of seconds. Freakishly strong. It makes me happy to see that he's so happy. He is really easily entertained and rarely cries (unless he's strapped down in his car seat). Such a good baby. We love him to pieces. Happy birthday monkey boy.

halloween par-tay!

My parents hosted a Halloween party at their house last Friday. I was fortunate enough to be in town for the blessed event. We had a great time! Yummy food, lovely decor, and cute costumes! I've decided that Halloween is so much fun. It's been a really long time since I have dressed up, but it's fun to pretend to be something/someone else for the night.

The food:

My mom the cute 50's girl with Heasook the witch, getting the food ready.

The decor:

The costumes:

Al as a Reaper with his grandbaby bear, Jack. And the Oz family!

Me (Pippy Longstocking) with Adrienne the bumble bee and Kelly the hot 70's reporter.

My dad the Reaper, Chelcie as Raggedy Ann and Baby T as Monkey Boy, Bronson as Ostrich Man and Armando as Reno 911 cop. Check out those legs!

Brookie the cute strawberry with Adrienne, Sara and Dave as bloody vampires, and Brooke Baker as Bat Girl.

Kelly with her side kick reporter Jason, Chris as a beautiful Geisha, Zombafied Jenn and Will as a dead bride and a skeleton.

Happy Halloween!

Maunawili Falls

While Rob and Anna were here (Christian's brother and wife), we decided to take them to Maunawili Falls in Kailua. The trail is about 1 1/2 miles each way and leads to a beautiful waterfall/swim area. The hike is fairly easy except for a few river crossings, which I'm not a fan of because I don't really trust my balance. Semi muddy, and apparently a lot of mosquitoes. I didn't realize that I was getting eaten alive until that next morning when I woke up with almost 25 bites on one leg. I even used repellant and I still got attacked. Unfortunately I think I am allergic to these pesky insects because each bite swells up and becomes really red around it. The sad part about this is that Christian didn't even put bug spray on and he didn't get one bite. Not one. Anyways, I'm glad that I didn't notice the bugs because I wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much as I did. It's a beautiful hike!

Digital Macro. Playing with our new camera.

Tristan was of course an angel. He loves being outside and looking at all the trees and water so he was very content. (Not one mosquito bite on him either. He must have his dad's blood. Lucky boy).

The boys jumped several times off the rock. Unfortunately I missed all of Christian's jumps, (his is the blurry one). It's too bad because he did some pretty cool tricks, double back flip into a swan dive. Pretty unreal. Rob had some pretty crazy jumps as well.

After the hike, we headed over to the North Shore for another dip in the water.

We heart this place.

food aversions

We are slowly learning which foods T-bone dislikes. So far he's not a big fan of peas and I'm sad to say, Avocado. Hopefully that will change. I thought these pictures were funny, capturing his dry heaves and yucky faces. The video below is kind of sad because we were laughing at him but he's still cute.

Branchaud Family

This is a family that I just love. I met Adrienne in Kindergarden but we didn't become BFFs until 4th grade. I remember Adrienne was one of the cool girls. She was really pretty and always had her hair in cool braids. I just knew that we needed to be friends! We started hanging out and then we became connected at the hip ever since. We lived at each other's houses. My family became her family and her family became mine. We made a million home videos, and loved to play office (so weird). We went on family vacations together, which included many summers at the Colorado River. I just adore them and was so excited to hear they were coming to Hawaii for their vacation!

Allison, Char, Tristan, and Adrienne. My favorite ladies. (Dennis was MIA)

Tristan loved all of his aunties.

Come back to Oahu soon!

cuteness

design your wall

We seem to be in the midst of a wallpaper revolution! I love what you can find out there now. It's fun to surf the web and look at all the fun patterns and prints. There is something for every taste and style. It did take us almost a week to apply the wallpaper in our front room, and that was just on one wall, not the whole room. To make your life a little easier, vinyl cut outs have taken over the wall decor world. Simply peel and stick. Perfect for renters because you can just peel it off when you move. I just wish that we had more rooms in our house to decorate, (and more moo-la, because it can get expensive!).

Health Care reform

I think that Congressman Mike Rogers says it best here.

3 kitchen appliances on my mind

Kitchen-aid Mixer:

I could probably live without this, but I just think that they are cute. I love all the colors it comes in and the vintage look it can add to your kitchen. One day.

Bread Maker:

I LOVE bread. Some of you may know that I can't make bread. I try and try and I don't know what goes wrong. My bread rolls always end up really heavy, Christian calls them baseballs. I tried my sister's bread maker this summer and nearly died when I saw how easy it was. And they were oh so tasty.

Food Processor:

I could use this one sooner than later. Baby food can get expensive!

7 months

Yes, more pictures of the little stinker. I'm getting a little sad because he's starting to look less and less like an infant, and more like a little boy. I want him to stay this size forever. I think his body doubled in size this past week, he's growing so fast. During his free time, you can find him unplugging cords and sucking on them, ripping up house plants, pulling over the trash can in the kitchen, opening cabinets in the bathroom, and pushing rocking chairs over. I think he is starting to understand the word "no!" now, but he still likes to test me. He is still a cuddle bug and he sure can kiss! He likes to plant little wet ones on me. He says "Da Da" a lot, and he may know what it means because he only says it when Christian is around. We also think that he secretly knows how to talk but he is just holding back, because we thought that we heard him whisper under his breath, "I no kea" the other day (pigeon for I don't care). He knows what's going on.

To celebrate his 7 month birthday, we took him on his first hike. Kevin Hallstrom (friend from our ward) took us on the Kalawahine Trail, up by Round Top Drive.

Can you see the similarity in this picture? (the one with the boys)

We have a little guide book of Oahu and we've decided that we are going to explore something new in that book once a month, just to change it up from our usual surf/beach days on the North Shore. There is so much more to this Island that we need to enjoy. Hopefully we can keep to it.