I appologize to my dear readers that I haven’t been keeping up with my blog these last few days. With the party going on and Michael and his parents arriving it has just been crazy! So, here’s one big update. We had a really nice Thanksgiving, Michael was finally reunited with us and it was good to see him. I didn’t bring the boys with me to the airport, so when we went home, he finally got to see them. Rowan immediately gave him a big smile and welcome, but Elijah was suspicious! He stared and stared and was like “I know you I think, but I don’t know from where”. It was really cute and then he finally gave in and said “OK, I guess you’re a good person”. There were lots of people at Thanksgiving at Aunty Elaine’s house. Unfortunately, Michael’s mom got sick with something and couldn’t attend. It was really sad because she had 1 day here to get over jet lag and then the next day she was sick. Tom was fine though and he joined us. It was a very different Thanksgiving for him, he’s used to people sitting around the table and having “regular” food. We had lots of different foods and my dad steamed some crab for him so that he could at least eat something. The boys were very well behaved and they really like when there are lots of people around to play with. It’s almost like they like to entertain everyone. It’s great to have so much family because they immediately take over watching the babies for you so that I can visit with other people without worrying about them. Michael got tired pretty quick since he’s been travelling so much so he went back with Tom and the boys (the boys were tired too) while the rest of us stayed. Let’s see…what else happened…Michael was really amazed at how much the boys can move around and how expressive they are now. Now on to the party - it was great! Of course I couldn’t enjoy it because I was running around here and there, but we had lots of guests and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. Stacy and Tanya did an excellent job with the food, and all my cousins pitched in to pick up stuff or bring things to the party. We have such great family and friends. The one thing that I do feel bad about is that I couldn’t visit with people more, I wanted to talk to my friends more, but was pulled away to deal with one fire or another. The weather held out for us, I was a little worried that it would rain since it rained pretty hard the day before. But we were lucky and it was just cloudy with a couple of showers. All in all, everything went smoothly! What a relief! Now we can get back to concentrating on the big move…

It’s so hot today, I fell asleep doing the laundry

Today we didn’t do much, mainly lazed about. It’s been hard recovering from our trip. All of us take turns napping as we’re watching the boys. Rowan is sort of starting to say “bye”. Sometimes my mom will say it to him and he will wave his arm and say “buh buh”. It’s pretty surprising when they copy you. But then other times he turns away and ignores us. The stuff we can get to repeat almost all the time is “tongue clicking” and putting your hand to your mouth and saying “woo woo woo woo”. Elijah is starting to nod his head “no”, but he just does it for fun, he doesn’t actually mean no. For example, you can be feeding him and hold the spoon in front of his mouth and he’ll nod “no” but then open his mouth. I’m still trying to drill them on their face parts, but they lose interest pretty quickly. They do get mouth most of the time, but that’s just because I put my hand to my mouth and they copy (see “woo woo woo” comment above). They are both starting to pull themselves up too. Elijah will actually stand now, before he would have jelly legs and refuse to stand. Elijah is also starting to bite Rowan. Before he would open his mouth and “attack” but he wouldn’t ever bite (as far as we know), he would just rest his mouth on him. But today he actually bit him and you can see red marks the size of Elijah’s teeth on Rowan’s arm. There’s also a little bruise, so he must’ve bit hard, poor fella. The big news today was that I called the phone company and added caller ID to my parents’ phone. Woo hoo! They are finally in the 21st century. My sister and I have to shove new technologies down their throats. My sister told me the story about how she would tell my dad to get DSL, but he would make every excuse in the book to have dialup, including learning how to play the ukulele when stuff is downloading. Finally when the boys were born, he figured there will be lots of pictures and video, so he finally got DSL and now he is so happy with it.

Anyways, for today’s outing, we visited my Grandpa again, but he was sleeping so we didn’t disturb him. Instead we went to Uncle Aki and Aunty Karin’s house, which is nearby. We got to see their new microwave and fancy new fridge! They also re-did their bathroom, and it looks really nice. The boys had fun too, they got fussy towards the end but we fed them poi and banana and that held them over. They got to sit in an exersaucer for the first time in a long time and really liked playing with it. They have a jabon tree which produces a lot of fruit so they gave the boys 2 to play with. Elijah wanted them both so he would constantly steal Rowan’s, it was funny.

My dad used skype to call my sister (his first SkypeOut call) and it worked really well, but unfortunately, because it shows a weird number on caller id, she didn’t pick up. I wish they had a way to tell people who have caller id who it is. Oh well, maybe that will be a future feature.

Costco wagons are so big, it can fit the both of us!

Today we went to Costco, and it was a perfect opportunity for me to get a new printer for my dad. I can’t stand the one he has. It is awful and the ink smears!!! He doesn’t have the part that separates the printed paper from the blank paper, so you have to make sure you sit there so you can grab the print out - and then of course you put smudges on it.

So we all went to Costco and we could put both the boys in the wagon together because it is big enough to fit the both of them and they actually had two sets of belts. I bought the printer and some photo paper. I was sad that they didn’t have the ink cartridges that we needed. The printer did come with inks, but I wanted to get some replacements. We also got more drinks and plates and stuff for the party.

Installing the printer was a pain. My dad’s CD drive is on the brink (I think), AND the installation CD for the printer was also buggy. It kept stalling in the middle of installation and I kept having to restart the process. Finally I did a search and there was something wrong with the CD’s and if you copy the files over to the hard drive it will work. So, that’s what I did and it indeed worked. It took over an hour though. My dad was ready to return the new printer and put back the old and chalk it up to “the printer is too new”. I was very persistent because I do NOT want to use that printer again EVER. It is working great now and I demonstrated how to print pictures and my dad was very happy with the quality. I printed out 4 pictures and as each one was printing, he ran it over to my mom who was watching TV, then came back for the next one and took it to her. It is actually quite good.

I’m counting the days until I see Michael again, it’s next week already! YAY!

Today we spent mainly recouperating from yesterday. We all took frequent naps as we passed the boys around. My mom especially felt really tired. My dad, on the other hand, was outside painting the house! Geez! I did get some stuff done though. I FINISHED making all the party favor boxes. Stayed up pretty late doing it too!

Visiting with the Big Island Gang

Today we had to get up super early (3 AM) to go to the Big Island. The boys were not happy, while I was feeding Rowan, he bit me really hard! He hasn’t done that in awhile. It was not a very good way to start the day. We got to the airport kind of late, but in time to make it. My mom took Elijah and my dad and I waited to check our bags in (carseats + 1 bag). It took forever because there was only 1 woman helping everyone and everyone had some problem. The people in front of us had 1 person in their party who booked the wrong flight (PM instead of AM) so they had to change their ticket. Then we forgot to check in 1 bag, so she had to add the bag to our ticket. We also asked for plastic bags for the car seats and she had to run and get those. I felt bad for adding to the problems. Then there was someone else with a problem and I forgot what it was. Then, in the security line, it was taking forever so we went over to the Aloha side (big mistake) and they asked me for my infant pass. I was like “Oh, I need an infant pass?” So, I had to go back to the counter, wait in line again (thank goodness it was short). I was standing at an open counter and I thought the people would help me after they are finished with the other people. Apparently not. So, I had to move and stand in back of the other person (who got in line after me). I heard the lady say “It’s no guarantee that you’ll get on the 5:30am flight, they are boarding now”. My flight was at 5:25, so I was in a panic now! I asked for the infant pass, they gave it to me and then I asked if they could get me through security. They took me to the First Class line (thank god) but the TSA person was super S-L-O-W and did lots of things that the normal security people don’t. She just seemed to take forever, or maybe it was just my perception of time was bad. After I got through, I ran down to the gate and made it. Apparently, my mom didn’t have an infant pass either, but they didn’t ask for it. Geez! The flight was ok, we had them as lap children since the flight is only 40 minutes. Elijah fell asleep almost right away, but Rowan stayed up until the very end when we were landing and then closed his eyes. We got our stuff off the belt then had to go pick up our rental car. I realized on the way over that I don’t have insurance anymore so I should either buy the extra insurance (which I was going to do) or let my dad be the primary driver. After going through all the motions of signing me up as the driver, the guy said that it would be $10 more to add my dad as another driver. Since he was going to be driving, he should be the primary driver. It wasn’t simple to change, he had to basically start over and use my dad’s license and credit card. That took forever. In the meantime, I was watching my mom who was looking after the boys and noticed that she was SMOKING right next to them. Ooooh, I was so mad! She knows that she’s not supposed to smoke around them and I have been pretty liberal with their smoking so far (don’t make them change their clothes or go across the street). After we got the car, we picked her up and I scolded her about smoking and she gave some excuse about being down wind from them. I was super upset. Anyways, it wasn’t too bad putting the car seats in because the car had the LATCH system. We drove the usual route - first to the Hilo Farmer’s Market to pick up flowers, then to my dad’s father’s grave, then to my Uncle Antoku and Aunty Kay’s house in Hakalau. We had a really nice visit there, they had a nice breakfast all ready for us, it was fun talking to them. After that, we went to Aunty Fumi’s house, at first we stopped by, but the boys were still sleeping, so we drove around a bit then came back. This was the first good sleep they had, we didn’t want to wake them. We had lunch at Fumi’s and had a nice visit with all of them, Christian, Aunty Pat and Tricia also joined us. It was good to see everyone and they can’t make it to the boys’s party, so we thought it would be good to bring the boys to them. The boys were pretty good throughout the day, they did get fussy here and there, mainly because they haven’t had hardly any good sleep. After we left, I wanted to stop by their house in Hilo since I don’t remember it, but we didn’t have time. We headed straight for the airport. Not as much irritations going back home, and it was pretty painless. I carried Elijah with me and my parents had Rowan a few rows behind. I sat next to a couple from Maryland and they adored Elijah. Whenever he got a little fussy, I lifted him up and down and he really liked that. I’m sure everyone enjoyed seeing a smiley baby go up and down. There were some German speaking women behind me so I talked to them as we were getting off the plane and one woman said “Can you wait until June to move?” The weather is cold and wet! We got home and I was tired but then got a 2nd wave of energy and decided to finish the boxes for the party favors. I finished stamping up all the boxes!

Looking at the Sea Lions

This morning the boys slept in, which was a bad day to do it! I told Debbie and Harry to come at 8am since I would be done with the boys and can hand them over to my dad. I got up around 7:45 and bolted out of bed. I was able to do everything before they came, thank goodness they were about 10 minutes late. Today was Veteran’s Day so they had the day off and could come over. I thought Kailua Beach would be good because it’s less crowded than other beaches. We first went to the main area, but there were tons of cars, so we went to the Kalama Beach area and sure enough, there were only about 2 other cars. I was a little worried because the sun was out, but I also saw that there were some coulds that could shed some shade on us. It was also very windy, which I didn’t think about. I don’t remember if Kailua beach is always this windy or what. I took about 80 pictures total. I uploaded the good ones to costco so that she could pick up hard copies.

We went to Sea Life park with the boys. My dad tried to pass me off as a kamaaina, but somehow the lady knew I wasn’t. So I had to pay full price. Dang it! It was disappointing because the main dolphin area was closed for renovation. Places should give you a discount if the main attraction is closed! I really liked the reef tank a lot, and I was jealous of the tourists that got to go in. I am seriously thinking about going back and doing the reef “dive”. The fishes and rays come right up to you to eat and visit, it is the coolest thing. I think I much prefer doing that rather than doing a dolphin swim. I also someone getting certified, or at least being Sea Life Park scuba certified. Man, that would be awesome to get certified in a tank like that! My certification was horrible. There was only about 3 feet visibility and the currents were so strong, I was scared almost the whole dive. My instructor had to hold on to me so that I didn’t get lost! Couldn’t hardly see anything but kelp, it was horrible. But I did get certified. Anyways, we attended the cheesy shows and the boys liked watching the dolphins jump up and down. The show that we saw wasn’t very long, but the boys were getting irritated and fussy because they were tired, so we went back home after only a couple hours.

I called Debbie when I got home to see how she liked the pictures, and she said “I don’t like my bangs, can we do it again?” I was kind of surprised because I thought she looked really good in the pictures! So, of course we can do it again, but we still have to figure out a place/time. She wants to get a place that is less windy!

Elijah has been only going from sitting to stomach laying for the past week or so. Today he surprised us by taking a few crawling steps! So exciting! I’m sure by the time Michael sees him again, he will be zooming across the room. Rowan is still doing his commando crawl, but hopefully he will learn from Elijah how to do it properly.

Today we didn’t do much. I wanted to stay in because the boys are still getting over their colds and didn’t want to stress them out much. I got them up but then fell back asleep since Rowan kept me up most of the night by kicking the wall. It is so loud when he does that! I also could hear him crawling around the room and smiling (he makes a particular noise when he’s excited). Luckily my mom got up early to help my dad out.

I’m getting pretty tired of this Elmo toy that my cousins brought over. My mom and dad both like it and play it over and over and over and over. It’s pretty cute when you first see it - it’s Elmo doing the Hokie Pokie. But after the 1000th time, it gets tiresome.

I also miss having a dishwasher. I am doing dishes at least twice a day, sometimes 3 times. And I only do it when the sink is full! Well, the milk bottles take up one sink, but the other sink gets full so quick. I go to bed with it empty and wake up with it full. I think my dad “sleep cooks”. Haha! I’m not complaining, my dad had made almost all of my meals since I’ve been here and it’s really nice.

When the boys were playing, Rowan found an old balloon from Halloween, half deflated. I took it out for him and he loved it. Elijah wanted to play with it too, so I took out the other one. Elijah tried to grab it, but it bounced away from him. He got up on his knees and started crawling to get it!!! I was in shock! So far, he has only gone from sitting to stomach - he looks like he’s going to crawl, but he just moves his arms forward and then ends up on his belly. But when I saw him move his knees, I was so excited! I immediately got out the camera to record this mounumental occasion! He was really mad at me too because I kept taking away the balloon to throw it far away from him so he had to go and get it. But he’s getting the hang of it. I think by the time Michael comes, Elijah will be zooming across the room. Hopefully Rowan will learn to use his knees too and then we will be in trouble!

I also continued to drill them on their words from yesterday. “Mouth” is the easiest since they always put their hands to their mouths anyway. Every word I show, they put their hand in their mouth. They get easily distracted and frustrated, but I’m guessing because it’s new, they will need to get used to more structured learning.

We went shopping today again at the Farmer’s Market. It wasn’t as fun this time because it was the same vendors as last week, so there wasn’t much exploring to do. But we did pick up some stuff, and I got my usual radishes! I also bought some really good cookies.

This afternoon/evening, I posted 2 more movies, one of Elijah playing the piano and one of him crawling. Enjoy!

The boys are doing better, they are mainly just coughing now, no fevers. I can’t believe I’ve been here for almost 3 weeks. Time has just flown by, and there is so much to do for the party! We stayed home again today, just to give the boys some recovery time. My dad went out to exercise, something he hasn’t done since we got here. It was kind of weird because he left when I was taking a nap, so when I woke up, he was gone and the car was gone.

I printed out some words for the boys to drill, mostly body parts and food they eat. I’m starting with nose, mouth, eyes, ears, head, hands, feet and banana! They didn’t care for them much, mostly irritated that it doesn’t make noise or move around. I’m sure they’ll get used to it.

Rowan was super, super fussy today. I don’t know why. He had his hand in his mouth the whole time, so I’m guessing it’s teething and/or he’s hungry. I keep feeding him milk but he keeps pushing it out of his mouth. I don’t know if that means he wants something else or if he does that by accident. I just keep putting it back in his mouth and he will drink a little more than push it away.

Now that Michael doesn’t have a family to take care of, he has so much free time on his hands. He is actually keeping up with his blog, with some really interesting entries! I am a big fan of his non-climbing writing. I am also a fan of his climbing TR’s when they have lots of humor in it. I told him about the stories of the boys and he writes it in such a way that is way better than mine. I write with a kind of matter-of-fact-this-is-what-happend style. His is much more colorful:

I can just see Rowan crawling jerkily towards the open door with it’s sickle of light, half asleep, yet excited to be a part of the activity. He is just beaming but his eyes are puffy and closed against the light. He is so happy! And yet he falls asleep again, crumpling forward as if the batteries died.

This evening I got a call from a longtime friend from Maui, Colin. I haven’t talk to him in forever, so it was really nice to hear from him. I hoped to see him during this trip, but alas, it was not meant to be. He told me that his brother is a GRANDFATHER of 3 and that just freaked me out! Geez, I’m getting old! I only met his family once when I was in high school, and they were the nicest people, very welcoming and made you feel like part of the family even though you just met.

Today we stayed at home because my dad and I thought we were doing too much for the babies to recover from their sicknesses. I think the boys got really bored though. The toys have all been played with, they don’t make any new sounds. I saw the featured video on MSN about babies learning how to read early and felt really behind the times. So I’ll have to concentrate really hard on getting them to understand words and know what they mean. Lots of work ahead!

I spent the day calling various places to pay bills and close off accounts and what not. It’s so weird how you can spend and entire day doing this kind of stuff and not feel like you did anything. In the afternoon, I filed my mom’s bills away since they were EVERYWHERE and you can’t find things anymore. It feels really cleansing to do this kind of work. Even when it’s not your stuff. Ahhh, you can actually see the dining room table now.