Meet ... One Tooth!

I have meet babies before, and maybe one of them is yours, who start teething at 4 months. Kai is now ten months and has just one tooth, but I swear he has been teething FOREVER! Just one tooth to show for all of that work but I am now getting a sweet reward; laughter and lots of it. Maybe it is the wild animal in me, I don't know, but ever since he was brand new I would tell Kai how much I love him and then gently "roar" in his ear to reassure him of how strong my love is. Knowing this you wouldn't think it odd that Kai now does it too, the funny thing is that Kai didn't start "roaring" until he got his one tooth. My sweet little baby who used to coo and cuddle with me is now a BIG, scary, one toothed monster who "ROARS" really loud while chasing me around the house, making sure I know that I am loved!!! Needless to say Kai's new nick name is one tooth and every one he meets he proudly shows them his one tooth with a "ROAR". Mommy LOVES you Kai!!!

Just a quick note...

...on why I love this man. Lately I have been a little home sick. I think it is because of the fact that it is fall time and I don't get to enjoy all the fun things I love about fall. Yesterday after reading a few of your blogs I expressed my sorrow aloud. Elmer, who HATES to see me sad, quickly tried to reassure me "It is fall here too!" he said. "Oh yeah?" I replied in disbelief. "Yeah babe..." he said looking around kind of hopeless due to the lack of any presence of fall, "... FALLing temperatures!!!" I love you Elmer!

Don't worry be happy now!

Does anyone else feel this way lately? Right now I am totally kicking myself for not finishing nursing school! I knew the time would come after having Kai that I would need to get job and with the pure uncertainty of our economy, the time is here. With gas being $6/gal and milk $11/gal you can imagine the coast of living on this beautiful island, EXPENSIVE. So I open the newspaper to look for a job and in the help wanted section it was full of personal ads offering THEIR service. "Are you kidding me?" I thought. A big industry for Hawaii residents was the airlines and they all went under so now the unemployment rate in Hawaii is SUPER high, along with all this chaos on wall street and even more jobs are being threatened. So the job hunt is on and this time it really is going to be a hunt. Have you ever heard "write it sown make it happen" will since this is really the only place I write, I am writing it down. I have a fun, well-paying job TODAY! This is me being positive or at least trying too! In an effort to stay positive I put this song on our blog, Don't Worry - Be Happy and let the words get stuck in my head, I figure it is better to keep singing 'don't worry be happy now' then to think of all the bad things that are happening. I really should only watch the news maybe once a week, too much bad news makes me cranky. Wish me luck!!!

My Brillant Baby ... My Absentmind

I recently came across this study that says women with wider hips tend to have babies with higher I.Q.'s (more room to grow?? they didn't specify). Then the other day at the pharmacy these Chinese women kept looking at Kai. When I came to the counter they commented on how round Kai's head was. This wasn't the first time I heard this, when he was born all the nurses told me I had a perfectly shaped baby doll for a baby, and he was! From the way the Chinese women were looking at it, closely examining the shape and size, I didn't know if it was a bad thing and nervously asked 'why?'. They quickly reassured me that it was a good thing and that they believe that babies with really round heads are smart. Silly me! I know my baby is smart why would I even worry!?!

Of course he is smart, now at 10 months he is full of clever surprises. Elmer is bilingual and only talks to Kai in Spanish, I think it has advanced his language skills because Kai will put two words together now. When he wants his bottle he tells me "baba mama, BABA!" and when Kai and Elmer are dancing and jammin to music Kai happily babbles "Ya dada, ya!". He points his finger, waves goodbye, says "Hi" or what sounds like hi, claps his hands, plays peek-a-boo, and crawls and climbs on anything and everything. He is a boy alright, and a boy who knows how to FLIRT! Watch out all you girls!

My baby is brilliant and I.. I am absentminded, all the time! STILL!!! So I have a theory, because I used to be smart, at least I think I did. My baby stole my brain. Since I first got pregnant til, well... now, I have spent the better part of my day walking in circles because I forgot what I was doing. As far a specifics episodes go, I can't really remember but a few days ago my absentmindedness really got the better of me. I went to the ATM put int the card, checked my balance and... walked away, with the card in the ATM, pin entered and the screen asking if I wanted another transaction, and I walked away!! Luckily an honest women came up behind me and got my attention before I got to far. Does it ever go away? I wasn't always this stupid was I??? I don't think I have any brains left for other kids. Please I need a little reassurance!

P.S. I think that every mother should brag about their children to let them know they are loved! I know you all have brilliant kids too, despite the size of your hips! So if you haven't bragged about your little bugs, DO IT!

Summer Days... all year long!!!

Elmer and Kai at sunset

One of the reasons it is so great to live in Hawaii is no doubt the weather. All year long the sun pours its blissful rays of sunshine down on this beautiful island allowing the great outdoors to be discovered any day of the year. While most of you are baking in 90 degrees or hotter our hot summer days barely reach the 90's, and then while most of you are knee deep in snow the only thing that I may be knee deep in is sand! But whether it is winter or summer the beautiful seaside parks continues to be the "great outdoors" that Kai has been discovering lately. Looking back on my expectations of what the whole motherhood experience would be like I never thought it could be this much fun doing the most mundane things. Like just last night I was making the bed and Kai saw this as an opportunity to play peek-a-boo. His head barely reached above the mattress but was high enough for me to see his delightful smile and twinkling eyes. What should have only taken 2 minutes keep both Kai and mommy fully entertained for a good hour. I am constantly amazed by just how much I love this little boy. Every day my love grows deeper and deeper for this little man that has only been in my life a little over a year and a half ( 10months plus pregnancy ) and everyday I wonder how I ever lived life without Kai.

On this particular day we were going to a church BBQ in the park on Labor Day. Kai loves the swings and while this wasn't his first experience of the swings it was his first of grass. He had another first this day, he ate fish and... loved it!!!

My adventurous baby boy loves the swing and he loves it even more when he swings HIGH.

I can't even stand how STINKING CUTE he is!!!

From the look on his face I would say he enjoys sand between his toes better.

Happy Birthday Christian!!!

This post is mostly for my brother Chris but I wanted to share with all of you just how special he is to me. While most of my memories of my brothers growing up are of being teased or picked on there are a few where I got to see just how cool they really are. Chris was always a really good example to me and was willing to take me along for the fun. Being his kid sister and 6 years younger than him this was super cool to me. Going to girls camp each year and having the older girls find out I was Chris Petersen's little sister was my claim to fame. You might not have known it Chris, but you had secrete admirers, cute ones too. When Chris was in high school he was my mom's FAVORITE. I remember getting kicked off the couch ( while I was sleeping ) so that Chris could take a nap there. I can't say that I blame her you are very lovable Chris. I love you and am so thankful that you are my older brother. You are an amazing father and wonderful friend. Happy Birthday Chrissy Poo!

Beach Baby

One of my favorite things about living here on Maui is that we can go to the beach any time we want and there are so many beautiful beaches. When Elmer and I were picking out names for our baby the name Kai was a quick pick. Not only was it cute but in the Hawaiian language Kai means ocean, but with a deeper meaning. The ocean to the Hawaiians was a giver of life. My little Kai really has given me the gift of living. Each day he takes me with him and shares his joy in discovering this beautiful world. When we first got here Elmer took Kai out to the ocean and jumped in. He was only 4 months then and the BIG, cold, noisy waves that came crashing down only scared him for a minute, over the next couple of months he learned to LOVE the ocean. We go to the beach often, almost daily and while we might not always get in the water nothing feels better to me than to be snugly in my Elmer Sandwich watching the waves come and go.

My brave little boy faces waves that were as big as he is when the first hit.

I love to watch him learn. And am constantly wondering "just what is he thinking about"

Kai was perfectly happy doing nothing but putting his toes in the cool wet sand

I think that if you could take a picture of my heart you would find the same image, Kai's precious little foot prints all over my heart. I LOVE YOU KAI!!!
Work it Baby, work it! He is already posing for pictures on the beach half naked!!!

My 'tinky poo...Elmer Kai

My 'tinky poo LOVES his pillow. It is too hot here to ever want a blanket so Kai uses his pillow for comfort. Lucky for me he doesn't need much pillow comforting outside of the house. My 'tinky poo loves his showers with daddy ( mommy loves this too!) Splashing and playing, squealing and laughing with daddy in the shower helps to burn up the last of his seemingly endless amount of energy at the end of the day, and gives mom a minute to find some! I LOVE that my 'tinky poo still loves to cuddle. I still remember the way it felt when he was first in my arms and I have to remind myself to let it be that way every time we cuddle. My 'tinky poo loves to say mama. When he was still really little he would cry "waaamamama" and now he is constantly babbling ''mama" when he is happy, mad and tired. The mad and tired "mama" is loud and very demanding, the happy "mama" is so sweet and touches my heart, I know he is telling me he loves me when he says it so sweet. I love you Elmer Kai you will always be mommy's 'tinky poo!!!