The first week back to work

Well, we survived the first week back to work!  It was soooo hard leaving Alex but at least Justin was able to be home with him last week because UH was on spring break.  Tomorrow starts Alex's first day with the sitter.  I am hoping he adjusts well to having to share attention with the other kids.  Luckily with Justin's class/work schedule he will only have to go to the sitter from 8 am to noon and then he will have a few hours of male bonding time with Daddy before Mommy comes home from school.

Here are a few pictures from this week.

 Supporting Daddy's team

 12 weeks old already!

 Love the smile :)

 Bad hair day!

 Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks!

Super Baby!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Alex and I spent this St. Patrick's Day at the beach with some friends while Justin was at school.  I think the ocean breeze really did him in because he was sound asleep before we even made it to the parking lot and took a really long nap when we got home.  Let's just hope my little "leprechaun" doesn't decide to make some St. Paddy's Day mischief by waking up too much during the night...mommy and daddy could use the sleep!

I gave him lots of kisses today!



Talking to Mommy while she was taking too many pictures of me ;)

I love the way he is sitting...so relaxed!



Two and a half months

Here are a few pictures from this past week.  Alex is 10 weeks old in these photos.

Alex has been smiling and laughing so much lately!

Getting ready to go out to dinner for Kim and Dan's birthdays

Love the look on his face ("Mom...get this stupid hat off of me!)

Justin found this onesie online. It says " Someone please tell the dog I'm not a squeaky toy"...very fitting since Maiyah LOVES squeaky toys!

He is really starting to rock his legs from side to side...no if only he could get his upper body moving he'd be rolling over in no time!

Alex with his soft blocks (Thanks Auntie Claudia!)

First time in the pool

One of the great things about living in Hawaii is that no matter what time of year it is, you can still enjoy a dip in the ocean or the pool.  That being said...I was still hesitant to expose Alex to the sun and surf too much as an infant.  He has made a few trips to KoOlina for a photo shoot, farewell party and walks around the lagoons but still hasn't experienced the saltwater and sand at the beach.
He did have his first pool experience this past weekend though.  Auntie Sara was puppy-sitting for Auntie Kim and Uncle Dan so that they could spend the weekend in Waikiki celebrating their mutual birthday.  Kim and Dan's development has a pool so Alex and I went to visit Auntie Sara and take a quick dip in the cold water....well his toes at least.

His rash guard says "Cutest Dude"

He wouldn't look at the camera.  He was fascinated by the light shining off the water.

Here is a short video that Auntie Sara took.  He was over it by this point and just wanted to be fed

Annual Tsunami Scare

There are many benefits to living in Hawaii:  beautiful weather year round, awesome beaches, tons of culture and great friends.  But with such wonderful perks there is always the threat of some unexpected disaster lurking in the form of a tsunami.  Since moving to Hawaii in 2006, I have experienced an earthquake and two tsunami watches/warnings.  Fortunately both times the tsunami waves that hit the islands were very small and only did minor damage (mostly to boats in the harbor).  This most recent tsunami scare was triggered by an 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan which sent them a devastating tsunami which claimed the lives of possibly thousands.  Hawaii was very lucky again to not have any fatalities but it is always nerve wracking waiting to see what will happen.
Here is a picture of Alex on his video monitor sleeping "like a baby" while Mommy anxiously watched CNN and waited for Daddy to get home from work at 3:00 am (right around the time the first wave was due to reach Hawaii).

Seperation Anxiety

Seperation Anxiety...no, I'm not talking about me with Alex or visa versa...I'm talking about our dog, Maiyah!  She has been great with the baby but is very attached to Justin and I and I am worried about how she will do when I go back to work.  Right now she has the run of the house all the time, but unfortunately when we are away we need to put her in her kennel still.  If we don't we usually come home to something being torn to shreds!!! Usually it is my slippers but she has eaten through a foam bath cushion for the baby and chewed up The Incredibles DVD!!!
As it is, I have a hard time getting any privacy when I go to use the bathroom!  Who would have thought that an 80 pound German Shepherd would have to follow you into the bathroom and wait outside the shower for you!  Thank god our master bathroom shower has a glass door and not a curtain like our hall bathroom...otherwise I think she would try to join me in there because she is obessed with water!!
But as "special" as she is she is a part of our family and we love her!!

Here are a few pictures of Maiyah.  I was taking a million pictures of Alex and she was looking up at me like "You used to take my picture all the time!"

On a side note...last weekend while I was on the phone with my brother the baby got the hiccups.  He gets them more than any baby I have ever known (and I have worked in daycares, babysat, have 5 nieces and nephews and countless friends' babies).  I would say he gets them about 2-3 times a day!  We don't know what causes them because they don't always follow a feeding (they might just start as we are in the middle of a drive somewhere or during tummy time).
Well, I guess Alex's hiccups were pretty loud because my brother asked if Maiyah was barking in the other room...I had to say "NO...that's the baby hiccuping!!"

Rainy Days

The past few days have been pretty rainy and windy here in Hawaii.  We were fortunate that all we got was the bad weather.  Some of our friends were without power and a few schools needed to be closed on Friday due to the weather/power outage.  As much as we need this rain...it is really putting a damper on my plans to get Alex to the beach.  He has technically been to the beach twice already. Once for his newborn portraits (10 days old) and the other time was last weekend (8 1/2 weeks old) for the Ducotes send off.  However, both times were close to sunset and Alex never actually touched the sand or water so I kind of don't really count those as his first "real" beach experience.  I have a super cute bathing suit and rash guard that I am dying to put on him and see how he likes dipping his toes in the water.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week and I can take him during one of my remaining days of maternity leave.

Here are a few photos we took on our rainy, lazy Saturday at home :)

 Alex was a sleepy boy today!

 Getting in a little tummy time

 I love this picture...the closest I was going to get of him smiling while doing his tummy time!

Happy Boy :)

All clean!!! Bathtime is Alex's favorite time of day!

9 weeks old!

Alex turned 9 weeks old this Wednesday.  It has been a busy week for him.  He went to the doctor's on Tuesday for his 2 month well baby visit and his first round of shots.  He was really good while the doctor examined him.  He was smiling and cooing for the doctor and nurse.  He measured in the 75 percentile for both height and weight.  He weighed 13 pounds 0.2 ounces and measure 23.75 inches long.  According to the doctor he is "thriving, thriving, thriving..."!!!
I felt so bad for him when it came time for him to get his shots!! I think it was harder on me than him!!
The nurse had Justin hold his legs down tight and me hold his chest down and talk to him.  When the first of the three needles went into his leg, he didn't know what to think and immediately turned bright red in the face.  It took a couple seconds for the scream to come out!  Boy, when it did come out was it ever loud!!!
I picked him up and comforted him and he settled down really quickly.
He was very tired when we got home.  After I fed him he fell asleep on my chest for a few hours and I didn't have the heart to move him!
By the next morning he was his happy, smiling self again :)

We are working on getting Alex to drink from a bottle more since he will be needing to take a couple bottles a day when I go back to work in 2 1/2 weeks.  He fought us with the Avent and Dr. Brown's bottles but seems to be doing much better with the Playtex drop-ins with the brown (latex) nipples.  So far I have gotten him to take 2 bottles a day (during the hours he will be in daycare)...I think he will need to drink about 3 bottles while I am away so we are making progress.

Here are some more recent pictures of Alex from weeks 8 and 9.

  A is for Alex the Awesome!

(Thanks Auntie Claudia for the fun onesie!)

 He is starting to interact with his toys more.

 Looking very serious in his St. Paddy's Day pajamas

 Checking out Raina at the pub (she is one month older than him)

Giving stink eye

Aloha...

This past Saturday we said "aloha" to our good friends the Ducotes.  Lisa, Rich and baby Joseph are off on a new adventure.  They are moving to Texas where Rich got an awesome new job.  We will miss them all very much!  Lisa and I were pregnant with the boys at the same time and I was looking forward to Joseph and Alex growing up alongside each other (they are 3 weeks apart)...but we will still enjoy seeing little Joseph grow up through the blog posts and pictures.
I had a nice time hanging out with all the girls from the group at KoOlina on Saturday afternoon.  It was a much needed girls only (no kids or husbands) afternoon.  Then at dinnertime all the husbands, significant others and kids showed up for a sunset picnic on the beach.  We didn't stay long because Justin works on Saturday night but we were able to say "aloha" to the Ducotes and enjoy our first sunset as a family.