Shaka Brah

Its been way too long since our last post - I guess parenting got the best of me, maybe it was Shea learning to crawl, then walk, then run, now scream and even say "Shu-up"

The good news is #2 is on the way, yes its another boy, and yes it will be our last.  We have 2 more months until he arrives, so time to gear up again.   The other good news is Logan moves in to come to college!  So - the Kahaluu Seeds are multiplying and the house will sprout from 2 boys to 4 boys in a matter of a summer.  I guess for my estrogen fix I will have to hang out in the chicken coop with my egg laying girls.

Here is our Bugger-Doo busting out the Shaka Brah!

Milestones - We did it, cold turkey.

OK, August 17th, 2010 when Shea woke up was just another day for him. Little did he know...

Steve and I had had enough. The binkie, the plug, the pacifier was great in the beginning. But it became the crutch, the devil plastic bouncing thing that Shea learned to chuck out his crib nightly about every 2-3 hours. Although initially he slept better with it, lately, he began waking up more and crying when he couldn't find the darn thing to put back into his lip smacking face in the middle of the night.

Poor Steve, usually on night duty since 1) he sleeps light as a feather and can hear Shea and 2) I may have to get up early for work, so understandably he was getting up for Shea. The binkie became the nightly game. We even had the "emergency back-up" on the dresser so you could avoid the frantic hands-and-knees searching in the dark for the green Soothie. So, that's it. Enough. We're gonna Ferberize Shea. We're going for the cry-it-out method. After reading the horror stories on-line, I prepared us for up to 60 minutes of crying, checking in with him every 5-10 minutes.

The day came and miraculously on the first nap, he barely cried! OK, he was super tired, and he had monkey-boo (the savior crib soft cuddley Shea must have). Afternoon nap - a bit worse - but he still only cried about 15 minutes, amazingly. Now, its been just over a week and you won't believe it but Shea is sleeping through the night completely! We even successfully weaned out the last early AM feeding at 4 - so he sleeps from 7:30 PM until 6 AM like clockwork, hooray. There is still some struggling during the afternoon nap, but overall, trashing the binkie was the BEST DECISION. It really was for us more than him in hindsight, and it didn't even really help that much. If Shea was going to cry, a pacifier barely pacified.

For the next milestone - Shea is almost crawling. He's mastering the caterpillar break dance move first though, so any day now, and Safety power outlet covers here we come! He's also perfecting the yoga downward dog pose first also.

Shea is now officially Hawaiian!

Shea today is trying to gain weight. He went for his 6 month checkup yesterday at the DR. and he is skinny! He is only 3% for his weight - coming in at only 13 pounds, 6 oz. SO, now Shea is getting fed, bottled, and boobed every minute he shows even an inkling of hunger....

Today, Shea had Poi. Its another groovy purple Hawaiian food made from taro root. His first reaction was a gag, then confusion, then surprise, then dad mixed in papaya and it became true love! We can't say we also like poi yet, but we are also trying to broaden our taste bud horizons.

The second truly Hawaiian experience for Shea today is riding his new Aqua Baby boogie board complete with steering wheel! He went to Kailua today and enjoyed a refreshing dip riding his board. Watch out Pipeline - in a few years Shea's there!

While I'm chatting about our love for the beach and ocean, I must put a plug in for the Green Screen - organic baby sunscreen certified for infants under 6 months. Its on Environmentalist Working Group top 10 safest sunscreens in 2010. It rubs on though quite white - makes Shea look even more Haole / ghostly than he already is, so next time we may try the "tinted" formula. Just a thought.

Sittin' at the Table

Hooray! Steve put his carpentry skills to work and actually made me that dining room table he's talked about for I don't know how many years! The incentive? Shea needs a real table to belly up to in his new Tripp Trapp Stokke highchair. Plus, I think good food turns better and good conversation more engaging when shared around the family table. This will try to be our nightly ritual as we grow.

The coolest part about the table is right after it was finished we got to fill the table with Logan, Taylor, Brian, and Shea all around it sharing meals together for 2 weeks!

Disclaimer about the picture: the chairs are still in process of being refurbished...

Another Mom in the Family

Bonnie, our crazy bantam Seabright chicken, has been broody for over 3 months. Maybe it was my pregnancy that got her in the mood, but she has been hoarding and sitting on eggs daily for a while! Steve and I read all about "breaking a broody" on sites - we kicked her out the nesting boxes daily for at least a month, and it didn't work. We dunked her in a little water from the waterer, and it didn't work. She was such a brat she would leave the nest once a day to go destroy all the food out the feeders by stomping and kicking it all out in a tantrum. Then she would go out of the coop and lay the biggest, smelliest, broody chicken poop right on our path. She would squawk and yell and protest daily that she couldn't sit on eggs. And also of course, she's not laying her dainty little bantam eggs.

Well, Steve and I finally succumbed to letting her try to become a mom. We moved her into her own broody pen and let her sit on 3 green Araucana eggs. Alii, our only rooster is an Araucana, so they should be full bred Araucana babies. So, at the end of May she started her Zen-like meditation of sitting and staring and barely moving a muscle, except her eyelid. I guess once a day she would get up to relieve herself and take a few bites. Steve and I sort of forgot about her. Well, I made sure about once a week she still had food and water and she was like a statue in there, still not moving. I briefly read about candling the eggs to make sure they were fertile, but 1) I didn't have time and 2) nature will just take its course, right?

Anyway, on the calender we had a ?eggs on June 20th, since their incubation is supposed to be 21 days. I thought she started sitting on May 30th. Today, I went out back to check on Bonnie, since it had been about a week since I laid eyes on her. To my surprise, just standing and wobbly, even slightly wet, were 2 baby golden yellow chicks! Bonnie, in her neurotic, dorky way, immediately panicked and stomped and tried to keep me away, but she did step on one of them. Luckily, resilience applies to all babies I imagine and the little guy just got right back up and scurried under her. Later in the day, she has figured out how to step around them and corral them next to her. They are so cute! More pictures to come when Bonnie gets more used to me being around her babies, but she has really turned out so far to be a stellar mom!

Sweet Okinawa Potatoes!

Shea, AKA corn dog, is now ready for food, we think? He got his first bites of one of our favorite foods here in Hawaii - the Okinawa Sweet Potato. Yes, the food is naturally purple, and oh so sweet and good. Corn Dog loved it! Although not quite sure what to do at first, eventually he took after his mom and dad and is gradually mastering the art of eating. With the extra sweet potatos I boiled, I was able to make my favorite Hawaiian dessert - the Haupia Bar. Hopefully I will post soon in the food portion of the blog coming your way soon?

Next up on Shea's plate: Papaya from the neighbor's tree and Apple Bananas from our tree due to be ripe any day now. Our friend Kim keeps saying "Didn't you cut that down yet?" We debate daily on if THIS is the day to harvest our banana stalk or not yet. Baby rice cereal is also on the meal plan this week.

Funny how many food items will work as the cutest nicknames for boo. Corn Dog, of course we all know is our classic. How about muffin or cupcake, the iron on picture on his first t-shirt. Now I want to call him: sweet potato or butter bean. Steve likes the melding of two nicknames and is calling him Cornie-Boo. (Don't ask how, it just works).

Keep Portland Weird?

Ah Portland, the city of bridges, roses, micro brews and coffee! We drank more Stumptown this week than we have all year! I sure did love all the cherry blossoms, tulips, wisteria, and the early buds of magnolia in beautiful bloom.

We also had to hit one of the new crazes: "kid friendly micro brew." We hit Lompoc's 5th Quadrant and Hopworks Urban Brew. These were both great places to catch up with old friends and family (I didn't say OLD family!) Although Aaron Chew's backyard was where it was really at. Check out his ultra-novel stainless steel washing drum fire pit.

OK, so the whole Portland trip was a whirlwind. We always have too many people to see and too little time. At least Shea had some quality time with the grandparents. He got to experience Mimi's groovy Dachshund rescue house and meet Grandpa Gary. Auntie Alissa announced that Shea will have a cousin soon - maybe even on Halloween! And Uncle Chris said "Ciao" on his way to settle in Italy - a true dream come true for him. Shea's already looking into a passport to visit him next year.

Grandma & Grandpa Coe showed him Duke, the curious dog that wanted Shea's eco-giraffe teether toy we got from the hip Eco-Baby Gear. (Now Roma covets the giraffe also). Shea also met cousins Ashley, Hunter and Parker. I'm not sure if they are true cousins but in Hawaii, EVERYONE is a cousin.

Shea experienced COLD for the first time in his life. He was freezing at Multnomah Falls when he awoke wide blue-eyed, red nosed and shivered. If Shea talked it was "Where's my Hawaii sun? This cold rain reminds me of when my dad accidently sprayed me with the cold nozzle in the bath once, brrrr."

The beach at Manzanita was also cold, but we were prepared by now. We walked on the sand for about 10 minutes when we both realized that we had WAY better beaches at home, and didn't really need to visit this one anymore. We can't take off our shoes, we can't even wear our bathing suits or slippers here, and we had to look for rain jackets. No thanks! I could appreciate the great new knitting store T-Spot in Manzanita - but not much knitting goin' on here in Kahaluu, unless I learn to knit a bikini. We loved seeing Joe a.k.a. Tower and Sheri and eating at Wanda's, the BEST eggs benedict ever?

Steve and I also came to reality about being parents with a kid. We made plans to meet our great old friends Janan & Levi at a bar - when the rude awakening hit - we have a kid and cannot go into a bar with a kid. But, we regrouped at The Farm Cafe, YUMMY razor clams and rhubarb crisp.

Overall, Portland is weirder than we remember. More blue hair, piercings, tattoos, and eco- friendly baby stores than ever before. Its where you get dirty looks from NOT having your own bag. Gotta Love it.

Here's the picture LINK - or click on My Gallery on the right.