Big day today!

Grandma's on her way from snowy Buffalo! I just checked flightarrivals.com and she's departed the Buf on her way to Newark. Then poor Mary Ellen has a direct flight from Newark to Honolulu, a mere 11 hours in the air. At least she's on Continental, so she'll get lunch. United would charge her $8 for a soggy sandwich and Delta would just throw some Biscoff cookies at her! She's supposed to arrive around 7:30 tonight and we're very excited!

I'm looking forward to having an extra set of hands for Thanksgiving. Mary Ellen does not have to do one single thing in the kitchen, but if she can keep Daniel occupied, then I will be set. People are asking if I'm nervous to be cooking a holiday meal for my mother-in-law, but I don't think they realize that I could serve her reheated beanie weenies and she would be happy, as long as she gets to hold the baby as long as she wants. But there will be no beanie weenies on my table tomorrow! We're having:

Cream of Pumpkin Soup Topped with Curried Pecans
Roasted Turkey (it's going in the apple and spice brine today)
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing
Sweet Potato Fries
Corn
Celebration Roast (a yummy vegetarian option--mostly for me!)
Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts with Gingersnap Crust

I absolutely love Thanksgiving! This is the first time since 2001 that I've been able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, so I'm thankful that Grandma Mary Ellen and Aunt Jean will be with us. And of course, Zach and I are so thankful for Daniel--that's he's healthy and happy and growing and playing and doing everything else that almost-3-month-olds do. This is just the first of our many holidays together and our list of things to be thankful for will continue to grow.

Happy Thanksgiving! (Now I need to find my apron and learn how to use all the new stuff I bought so I can make this dinner!)

A couple of pictures of Daniel just laying around (I know nobody wants to read an entire post with no video or pictures, so here you go!):

He speaks (part 2)

He speaks!

Well, kind of. Daniel has been using his voice for more than just crying lately. It's so fun to have "conversations" with him. He keeps very intense eye contact and seems to enjoy chatting with Mommy and Daddy. He's a little more talkative with me, probably because Zach feels a little silly talking back to him in his language. I certainly don't mind it one bit!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today is Zach's mom's birthday, so we're sending birthday greetings to Buffalo! (I hope Zach called her like I told him to!) We're very excited for her to come and visit us next week for Thanksgiving. Here are pictures of her two favorite Hawaii boys:

Flying Daniel

On Friday, Zach was lifting Daniel over his head and he loved it! He would look up at the ceiling fan and just laugh. His very first giggles! They were so cute--high-pitched, little baby giggles. Unfortunately, we did not capture that moment on videotape. We tried to re-create it yesterday, but all we got were a few smiles. They're pretty cute, too, but the laughter was the best!

Marine Corps Birthday Ball 2008

Zach and I have been married for five years and have known each other for six and a half, but this was only the second Marine Corps Ball that I've been to with him. The chronology:

2002: I lived in San Diego and he was in Hawaii
2003: Zach was deployed to Japan
2004: First Ball together!
2005: I was deployed on the USS Chosin and Zach was deployed to Afghanistan
2006: I was on a mission in Laos
2007: I was a bridesmaid in Danielle's wedding in Florida
2008: Second Ball together!

So this year, even with an infant at home, I was determined to go to the Ball with my husband! Some wonderful friends from church were kind enough to watch Daniel. Thanks, Mary Alice and Larry! We left him in extremely capable hands and had fun with friends without having to worry about the baby. Okay, we worried a little, but mostly we just missed him!

As you can see, I cut off all my hair and donated it to Locks of Love this week. My head feels so light now! I really like having short hair again. I loved having it done yesterday and getting all dressed up for a night of fun with Zach. The Ball itself was just like I remembered it from 2004 (guest speakers, rubber chicken for dinner, overpriced drinks) but it was really fun to sit with friends and just laugh and talk story and pass judgment on dresses/hairstyles/shoes/etc. Only kidding! Everyone looked great and it looked like most people were having a good time. Zach and I left before the dancing went into high gear, but I'm sure all of that was fun as well.

Zach and me on the balcony of the CO's suite before the Ball started:

Red was the color to wear, apparently (Kim, Lesley, Alaina, Kristina):

Doesn't Zach look handsome? Too bad he can't breathe in this uniform:

Zach deciding to ruin dessert for everyone by drinking the pineapple glaze (at first he thought it was honey mustard) directly from the boat (love Drew's face in the background):

Hot mama! (:

Just like Daddy

Well, I might as well stop taking pictures of Daniel because now we know exactly how he's going to look as he gets older. Grandma Mary Ellen sent me pictures of Zach as a baby and there is quite the resemblance! I need to have my mom send pictures of me so I can compare and contrast because I think the only ways that Daniel resembles me is in his lighter hair and chubby thighs. But I'm okay with it because I think Zach is one handsome fellow!

You be the judge..

One day old:

Two months old (July 1978):

Not sure how old, but I'm thinking 6-7 months (?):


Eight months old (I'm assuming this was around Christmas 1978 because of the bib, but maybe Mary Ellen dressed him in holiday attire year-round, so who knows? Only kidding!):

Couch potato

Just a few random shots of Daniel as we try him out in different poses! He didn't seem to mind sitting on the couch so maybe we'll give his vibrating chair a rest every now and then.

We don't have very big weekend plans--just laundry and cleaning since the houseguests are gone and Zach gets back on Monday. (Not that he'll notice if the sheets are clean, but I will!) Daniel and I might venture to the pool again on Sunday if we feel brave and the weather is nice. Other than that, we're just ready for Daddy to be home!




Daniel trying to make milk come out of his duck's beak:

Dinner at town

Last night, Lauren, Jesse, Daniel, and I had a delicious dinner at town (a restaurant in Kaimuki--no, it's not supposed to be capitalized). It's fast becoming my favorite restaurant. Their motto is "Local first, organic whenever possible, with aloha always." The menu changes daily depending on what's available, but everything I've ever had there has been unbelievable. Last night, we shared mussels in a fennel and butter sauce, then Jesse had opah, Lauren had mahi-mahi, and I had hand-cut pasta with eggplant and peppers. Of course, we had dessert--Jesse ordered the lemon tart and Lauren and I shared the banana and dark chocolate panini. Yum, yum, yum. And we had the perfect table: outdoors at the very edge of the restaurant, so Daniel's crying spells didn't bother anyone. He was actually very good, but he did stay up a little past his bedtime so he had to remind us he was still there every once in a while.

I managed to capture him dream-eating on video. So cute! I told you that he does get to leave his vibrating chair every now and then.

And please note that I am wearing clothes that are not maternity! I still have work to do, but I'm taking baby steps to slowly get back to my fighting weight. Ha!





Lesley and Lauren:

A sneeze and some smiles

Finally! I managed to capture a couple of real smiles on video! And they're pretty much the cutest smiles of all time. As you can see, Daniel's playing in his chair again (I swear, he doesn't sit in there 24 hour a day!). It was so funny when he sneezed as soon as I started filming. Then he has a few smiles and just flails about like normal.

More pictures and video to come today as I find a few minutes every now and then to post!

2-month checkup

Today was Daniel's 2-month well-baby checkup. The doctor said he's perfect, of course, but I could have told her that! His head circumference is in the 90th percentile and his height and weight put him in the 95th percentile (he's now 25 inches long and weighs 13 pounds 9 1/2 ounces). Basically, he's Chubzilla.



He also had to get two immunizations today--DTap and rotavirus. Daniel was a very brave little boy and only cried a little. From the sounds coming from the immunization stations, you would have thought that we were in the waiting room for Torture Chamber #1 at Guantanamo Bay, but it really wasn't that bad.

In honor of Election Day, Daniel wore his shirt that says "I vote for a change (my diaper's wet)." Everyone at the doctor's office loved it! Here's Daniel with Aunt Lauren:

First pair of shoes

Living in Hawaii definitely has its advantages when it comes to dressing a baby. I rarely have to worry about making sure Daniel is warm enough (except when we go places that are air-conditioned!). So yesterday at the pool is the first time that he has ever worn shoes. Appropriately, he wore a pair of flip-flops, or slippahs as they're known out here. He didn't seem to mind them too much, but they were a little big, so we'll keep them around and try them again in a few weeks.

Doesn't it look like he's getting ready to jump in the first picture? Adorable.




I'm getting ready to dress him up in a blue outfit today in honor of Election Day. Zach and I were talking the other day about how cool it is that Daniel is born in such an exciting time, politically. We're nerds, I know!

Playing Poolside

Once Daniel was back on dry land (after our two minutes in the pool), he had a little snack and was much happier. I think his brand-new swim trunks are already too small, so I changed him back into his street clothes (which are 3-6 month size and fit just fine). Any guesses on what he'll weigh at his 2-month check-up tomorrow?

He's starting to pay more attention to everything around him and he even plays a little now. I'm trying to get him smiling and laughing on video, but he's not cooperating with that. I need to just ambush him one day before he realizes what I'm doing.

For all of Lauren's friends that read the blog, you'll be happy to see her in a cameo appearance in this post. She's decided to transfer to the Deloitte offices out here, so say your goodbyes. Ha!

First Swim

Lauren and Jesse took a catamaran ride from Waikiki to snorkel with the turtles today. I didn't think Daniel was quite up to that challenge, so we remained landlocked and ran some errands while they sailed. Then we all met up again and ate lunch by the beach and hung out by the Hale Koa pool. (The Hale Koa is a hotel in Waikiki for military personnel.) The pool water was fairly warm so I thought that Daniel would enjoy a dip. I wouldn't say that he enjoyed it, but he seemed to not totally hate it. When Zach's back, maybe we'll try the ocean!