Aloha, Hawai'i!

Well, we've been in Honolulu for over two weeks now and so far, we love it! Of course, we miss being closer to our family and friends, but since that isn't possible at the moment, we are enjoying our new surroundings. The scenery is surreal, and I have a feeling that the more we are able to explore, the more true that will be. We were able to move into base housing at the end of our first week here, which was a huge relief. We now live less than two miles from James's new command (we'll be bicycle shopping for him soon!) and have already met almost all of our neighbors, thanks to a nice barbeque next door on our first night in the new house. We've been putting in a lot of time and effort getting this place the way we want it - and trying to get it right the first time, since we'll be here for three whole years - and I must say, we are really liking this new place of ours. Hoping to have it done (for now) soon so that I can take pictures to share! For now, here are a few shots from our time here so far:

Silly boy eating oatmeal in the bathtub:

Feeding himself; he always wants to do this now:

Watching the big kids on the playground that is right in front of our house:

Yesterday, we finally made it to the beach on Hickam Air Force Base (which is literally a stone's throw from Pearl Harbor). James's command was having a little farewell get together for one of the guys. I got to chat with a couple of the wives, one of whom I had already met when we first got here. It was nice to have some adult interaction! (Besides with my wonderful husband, of course!) AJ was a little grumpy, what with it being nap time, but as always loved the water and the sand. The water was just as beautifully clear as you could imagine... Absolutely incredible! Here are a couple of the shots we got:

Speaking of sand, not only did this goofball boy eat it off of his hand like this, he also bent over - twice - to eat it off of his toes. Yep, that's our boy!

Yesterday was definitely a better day for him than today was, because this morning he got into a fight with a table lamp in what will be the guest bedroom. Let's just say this: Lamp - 1, AJ - 0. Poor kid had to go to the E.R. at Tripler to get superglued back together. Here's his poor face before (the bruise on the top of his forehead is from an unrelated incident that occurred about ten minutes before this one):

And this is after we got home from Tripler:

My poor baby... But of course, he's been running around here like a wild man as usual, so this morning's trauma hasn't even fazed him. This is only the beginning!

13 Months Old

On Tuesday, our sweet little boy was thirteen months old. Wow! Wasn't it just your birthday, sir? In any case, time is flying by as usual, and you are becoming the most incredible little person faster than we can comprehend. Here's what you are up to these days:

- You've been walking for almost one whole week now, and you're getting better at it as the minutes pass!
- You wave goodbye and blow kisses when someone leaves, though occasionally you wait too long and the person can't see you anymore by the time you start waving/blowing kisses. You also wave and blow kisses to nearly every single person you see when we are out and about. You're our little greeter!
- You drink from a straw. Grandpa had the great idea to bend the straw in half; this way, you can reach it from the table and it slows you down so you don't drink as fast. Genius!
- You're eating many new things, like yogurt, ribs, roast beef, and cheese ravioli.
- You climb both up and down stairs - such a big boy!
- You point to what you want and flat out refuse any substitutes we may offer you, turning your head away and yelling. This is not my favorite development (because of the yelling), but it is wonderful that you are now better able to communicate your wants and needs.
- You're nursing all. night. long. We think you may have a few teeth coming in; I hope this is the case, because that means things can go back to normal once they're through. If not, I may loose my mind soon, little boy...
- You sit in the backseat of the car by yourself now, otherwise you fuss and fuss until I nurse you. This doesn't happen if I sit in front, so we're hoping that if I do you'll soon learn that being in the car ≠ time to nurse. So far, it's working!
- You love to put little things inside of bigger things and to put tops/lids on things. It is so much fun to watch you play like this; I can almost see your brain working away!


Here are the pictures that we took on Tuesday at Grandpa's house in Illinois:

Eating a blueberry muffin on the lawn.

Grandpa found a worm for AJ!

He kept doing this, putting the pots over his face. No idea why, but it was so funny.

Not crazy about the worm we put on his pot!

But he was brave and picked it up - only to try to throw it as far away from his pot as possible!

This boy loves playing with water!

We love you, our happy, silly boy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday was a family day, making it (for me) the best kind of day there is. After AJ's morning nap, we went to Potbelly for lunch - yum! - then headed to the store for some flowers. We talked to the florist to find out what would last the longest outside, and settled on some beautiful light purple mums and a few stems of freesia. From there, we went over to Warren Cemetery to leave the flowers for James's mom, Grandma, and Mama & Papa (his dad's parents). 

We spent the evening with James's aunt Kim and cousin Jenny, which was a blast as always. AJ even did a bit more walking - a little Mother's Day gift for Mama.

And, he's off!

Yep, as of Saturday, May 7th we officially have a walker! We spent the day over at James's aunt Jodi's house, hanging out with her family. Her youngest daughter, Mya, is only two weeks older than AJ, and she's been a pro at walking for quite awhile now. I guess AJ decided he needed to keep up! Here's a quick glimpse at him on Saturday - this is, unfortunately, the only video we got that day, but you get the idea:

By Sunday, he was walking around like crazy. Here's a video of him at James's aunt Kim's house:

He's just getting faster and faster, and is able to walk greater distances as the hours pass... His daddy and I are just stunned at how quickly he's improving! Don't leave us behind, dude!

*I'm not quite sure how to fix the spacing between the text and the videos, and I am much too tired to try to figure it out right now... Hopefully we'll have it looking somewhat neat and normal soon!

Rockin' Out with Grandpa

James's dad has several juke boxes; he refurbishes them as a hobby. Well, he brought AJ over to see a couple of them, and our sweet boy was just fascinated. This boy loves listening to music, and he loves dancing, so the day couldn't have gotten much better than this for him!

Our journey so far...

After watching our nieces and nephew play softball/t-ball on Tuesday night (the 26th), we drove up to NY from VA. The drive went pretty well (especially for AJ and I, as James drove 95% of the way) and we arrived just after 6am. We were able to see so many friends and family while we were up; it was awesome. And AJ just soaked up all of the love and attention, especially from Mimi and Papa. Here are some of our favorite shots from the NY portion of our journey:

Silly boy making faces while he was playing outside with Mimi.

He loves being outside, and Mimi was happy to indulge him!

Our new wrap came in all the way from London... We love it!

AJ got in a lot of quality cuddle time...

And a TON of playtime - of course! - especially in the kitchen.

He even learned how to blow kisses! So sweet!

He got to go to a swim class, thanks to our friend Toria!

We also went to visit my aunt's barn; AJ helped groom the horse, then watched Mama and Daddy ride:

Our big boy even got to sit up on Peaches! What a blast we had - thanks, Rach!

We had such a good time with everyone in New York, but all too soon it was time to go. On Thursday the 5th, we were off to the airport. Destination: Chicago!

AJ did so well on the plane. He fell asleep right after we took off, and woke up maybe twenty minutes before we landed. He was definitely ready to get off the plane once he woke up, but there wasn't any screaming or yelling, so all was okay.

Grandpa picked us up at the airport, and AJ was really excited to see him. It was so much fun to watch how thrilled he was!