Aloooooha!

So I started writing this post in mid-February, but never got around to posting it, so it is now a combo update/Hawaii recap.

First, the updates....

Matteo has gotten even more mobile. He's progressed past the sloooooow, on-his-side, super dramatic, Saving Private Ryan army crawl and is now moving straight forward and, at times and with daddy's encouragement, rocking back and forth on all fours. He *almost* crawled in Hawaii - but probably just because the discomfort of dragging his naked legs on a laminate floor got to be too much.

While Matteo has worked on his mobility, Lily has leap-frogged forward and has surprised us daily with the funny and observant things she says. She constantly asks questions - why things are the way they are, what certain words mean, and then regurgitates back her own unique conclusions and expansions. A perfect example was when I was trying to explain the word "recluse" to her...to which she responded "it's like invisible, but in a grown-up way." I don't believe in dumbing-down my vocabulary, and as a result have had many such conversations. It's fantastic to hear her adopt new words and always interesting which she determines useful, and which she deems "grown-up" for X, Y or Z.

Matteo, not to be outdone, has become a babbling machine. His squeaks, squawks and coos never ceases to delight and make us wonder just what it is he's trying to communicate. Some things are clear - when eating a food he enjoys he literally bounces in his seat while making breathy mmm...mmm...mmm sounds - but he also does this odd thing with his fist - putting it in his mouth then yanking it out while making a mm-WAH...mm-WAH...mm-WAH noise. It doesn't seem to have a clear correlation to any particular emotion (boredom, distress, happiness, excitement, frustration, etc) but is definitely one of his favorite past times.

Size-wise it would seem that we are destined to have petite kiddos. Lily has asked me to measure her several times in the past month, but each time she measures up to the exact same line we drew in October. Like her intellectual development, her size seems to go through flat line-then-skyrocket cycles, so my suspicion is that a spike in imminent....but try telling that to a 5-year-old with a shaky concept of time and a burning desire to be really tall. Matteo, likewise, remains a wee Rhodesian with his 9-month measurements coming in at 4% for weight, 12% for height and almost 58% for head (yes, the likeness to Megamind hasn't escaped me). The weight part is quite worrisome as he went from not drinking but really eating well, to suddenly not wanting to be spoon-fed, shaking his head no-no-no with small lips pursed when we try to feed him. To make matters worse, his dexterity isn't exactly great, so while he WILL self-feed, only about half of the food actually makes it into his little mouth. This is swell for Paco, who has no qualms about nosing into the highchair with Matteo still in it, but is not so great for fattening him up. So far his doctor isn't too concerned, but being the worrier that I am I now obsess over every calorie.

But on a happier note....HAWAII! Oh, my beautiful island paradise, you already feel like a distant memory, especially on a cold, wet, is it really snowing again? Seattle day. But what a good memory you are!

The trip started in the best possible way: a seamless airport trip and easy boarding complete with an embarrassingly humorous moment when Lily, watching us taxi down the runway, loudly declared "look at that plane! It's blue like mommy's underwear!" Once we got there we were THRILLED to find our VRBO was even better than pictured - private, quiet (except for the early morning bird cacophony...it's dubbed "The House of Bird Song" for a reason!), and complete with a large deck and MANY geckos. By day two Lily had established a regular routine of bringing our tiny lizard friends a papaya breakfast on a small plate. By the time we left, there were geckos on the deck by 9am waiting for their fruity meal. Fingers crossed the next family to stay there were equally inclined.

It's amazing how quickly you fall into the vacation lifestyle...beach every day, trips to the market for nightly grilled dinners (avoid the butterfish...trust us on this), day trip to Lahaina to ride a submarine, boat ride to Molokini for snorkeling and whale watching, the requisite luau. The only one who didn't adapt quite as well was poor Matteo. It's became very clear that he is a baby who very much likes his routine - he was less than thrilled with the heat and being away from his crib, waking up most mornings at 4am and never really adjusting to the 2-hour time change. This was confirmed by his delight upon returning home, staring at and lovingly touching everything on/in his changing table and crib, followed by smiles and wiggles of delight upon seeing Alma and Carmen at La Escuelita. Message received, little man.

Despite Matteo's reluctance to go native, there were plenty of other highlights...seeing him sit on grass for the first time with a look of wonder, Lily's pure joy every time she set foot on the beach and the way she bravely took on boogie boarding, seeing a baby whale do a nose stand a mere 20 feet from our boat, seeing more whales breaching in the water almost every day we were there, experiencing the rain forest, spending time getting to know Quincy and giving Lily and Matteo the opportunity to bond with their new cousin, Chris bringing tiny bottles of rum into the luau, time together as a family, pulling together as a team to make our flight home despite huge security lines and being at the very last terminal.

And of course there are the kid quotes that make me melt....

Me: Lily, where were you?

Lily: I was bringing a toy to Matteo so he won't be bored running errands with Daddy (BEST BIG SIS EVER!)

Lily: There are ants in the papaya!

Me: That's ok, lizards eat ants

Lily: No they don't

Me: Ask Daddy, he knows all about lizards

Lily: Daddy, do lizards eat black ants?

Chris: Yep, they sure do

Lily: I heard you say no

And not a quote, not a milestone, but definitely worth a mention. We kiss Matteo a lot when we are holding him, and I just assumed because he is sweet he tolerates it. Well it turns out he really is a lover...while in Hawaii he returned the favor, planting a huge, wet, open-mouthed smooch on Chris. Melt? Oh yeah, big 'ol puddle.