Rice Cereal

So, today Na'u turned 5 months and was able to eat rice cereal. Of course, we had to record this special moment. Eating from a spoon seemed like no surprise to Na'u. She must have learned from watching her daddy eat, and never sharing. Finally she got a spoon of her own!

Here are a couple candids from the feeding. After the first few spoon fulls, Na'u started to enjoy it.

At the end...Kanak attack!!!

Multi-tasking

Preparing for the Future

Guess what Na'ulei is doing.

So...we were able to catch Na'ulei watching TV! Usually she glances at the screen, then quickly loses interest. Well, something special was broadcasted on TV for the past 3 nights. If you look closely at the screen, you'll see a beautiful hula dancer. The Merrie Monarch hula competition is something Lohi (and apparently Na'ulei) have been waiting for all year. Na'ulei seems to have the same interest as her mommy, dancing! The sound of the oli (chant) and the graceful moving of the hands and feet kept Na'ulei's attention for hours. Who knows, maybe one day Na'u will become Miss Aloha Hula.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Two weeks ago, Mama Dino, Uncle Ohu, and Aunty Ava visited us for a week. We live in the middle of town and it's kind of dangerous with the fast cars and random people. The kids are used to going out the front door and entertaining themselves (on Moloka'i that is) so it was kind of different for them not being able to. We had to find different ways to entertain them. We had a blast. Here is what we did.

We went to the zoo.

...saw some elephants....

...pelicans and antelopes...

...african safari animals...
...and this cute timon (from the Lion King).

We then continued on to the Keiki Zoo where you could actually touch the animals.

We took pictures with the pigs...

...the goats...

...and this cute lama. I think he thinks that we're interesting creatures.

Did you notice in this lama picture that Na'ulei only has one sock? If you were wondering, no, the lama didn't bite it off....it was the GOAT. Look closely in the goat picture and you'll notice that I am holding the sock in my hand. I was trying to get close enough to have a nice picture with the goat and then all of a sudden...BAM...it bit off Na'ulei's sock in one swift motion. It tried to eat it fast but I was faster. I snatched the sock out of his mouth. With one more bite, I think we could have kissed that sock goodbye.

On another day we went to the Hawai'i Chilren's Discovery Center. I'd recommend going there if you have kids. It's a neat place where kids can learn and play at the same time.

Here the kids are learning about the body.

The kids can learn about people in wheelchairs. There was a small obstacle course behind and it's actually harder than you'd think.

There was a small town with a grocery store...

...a fire station...

...a police station (just like daddy)...

...a news cast room...

...and a garage.

Another floor showcased homes from different countries. You could even play dress-up.

Here we are in Japan...

...and the Philippines (these two pictures are for you Kiki).

This is what they ride in the Philipines.

All in all, it was so much fun. If you go...hope you have a good time.

Happy Easter!

We hope that everyone had a great Easter cause we sure did. Na'ulei woke up to find that the Easter bunny left her a basket full of goodies. She got some rice cereal and crackers, spoons and bibs, sippy cup, toy, beach floaty, and a book of signs (ASL).

But, we think that she found the cellophane to be more interesting than anything found inside. It crackels when you touch it and it's strange that you can see through it. What baby wouldn't love cellophane :).

Then we went to church where Na'u got to wear her pretty Easter dress (FYI-this little dress is 12 month size.) Thank you Grandma Sandy.

We also got to take a family picture. Sunday's are the one time during the week where we are all guaranteed to be dressed up.

This was the first time that Lohi spent Easter with Cameron's family. Since Easter was during spring break, Lohi's family came over from Moloka'i. We all had such a fun time.

The Ing's and Tuitele's have a big Easter egg hunt. Most everyone, young and old, gets to participate. This is how it goes. Each person gets assigned an egg (plastic) color which includes solid colors, kalakoa (mismatched colored eggs like green top matched with pink bottom) ones, pastels, or patterned eggs. You're only allowed to find your color. Each person has 10 eggs to find one of which is big. Inside you're guaranteed a dollar. Once each of your eggs are found, you can look for the bonus eggs- four are big yellow eggs with red stripes, one metal, and of course, the wonderful golden egg. Each bonus egg includes money but are the hardest to find.

There we all were (21 people) running around the yard looking for these eggs, sweating, and having a fun time. We are glad to report that both Cameron and I found a big, yellow, striped egg. My little brother Ka'ohu found the golden egg. It felt like we were all kids again. I would have posted a picture of this wondrous event but it was so fun, no one had a camera handy. We were too busy. Can't wait til next year.

Happy Birthday Uncle Kiki

Just wanted to wish Uncle Kiki a happy birthday!

We love you!

day at the beach

While on Moloka'i, Na'ulei went to the beach for the first time. We went to our favorite beach, make (mah-keh) horse. Half of the beach is nice and sandy while the other half is rocky. When the waves wash up against the rocks, little pools are made. Since it was a really nice day, the sun hit those little pools and made the water warm. Na'u has always loved her baths so it was no surprise that she loved the beach. We had her in the cutest little bikini ever (compliments of Aunty Ava). We're looking forward to many more beach going days.

We stayed in the water and sun just long enough to take pictures. No babies were sun damaged during this footage.

Bouncing Balls

Mommy and baby are visiting family on Moloka'i and everyone just loves baby Na'u. They don't get to see her as much as they'd like so everyone takes their turn carrying her especially when she gets tired. Na'ulei never really falls asleep without a little fussing but Mama Dino found a new way to soothe her. Exercise balls aren't just for exercising any more.

She has fallen asleep, all stretched out, bouncing on this ball.

What's so funny?

Na'u is always smiling and cooing but laughing doesn't come as often (not yet anyways). Mommy was talking to her and while holding her arms and tickling her, she started cracking up. We're so happy that we captured the moment. Enjoy!

The many faces of Na'ulei

As Na'ulei grows, her character is starting to show. We love taking pictures of her as she expresses her different emotions and actions. Most pictures obviously show what she is doing. For example....

here, she is laughing.

here, she's about to cry

and here she is sleeping.

But we were able to capture a picture of her doing....well, you tell us. What do you think she was doing?

Growing into clothes...

Lohi watched a baby episode on the Martha Stewart show. They had this great idea to take a picture of your infant every month for a year in the same outfit. Of course, you would dress baby in a "big" outfit and watch as she filled it in as the months went on. They showed the end product of the 12 pictures nicely framed, and it was so cute. Lohi was determined to do it. Here it is...

Na'ulei at 1 WEEK

Na'ulei at 2 MONTHS

That idea went out the window. It obviously didn't work!! This is a 6-12 month old outfit and she already filled it in! She is growing so fast. We should've known better...look at her mommy and daddy. A 24 month outfit would have been better, huh?!

Na'ulei with Great-grandma

Na'ulei is getting so big. Her great-grandma Julia describes her as "a bag of rice" (the big 25 lbs bag that is). Last week, grandma Julia put her to sleep while watching her korean soap operas. She fussed a little bit as grandma said with a smile, "good girl. exercise your lungs. you going be one singer." We weren't sure if grandma was going to be around when we would have our kids. Grandma is now 87 and Na'ulei is her 21st great-grand child. It is so neat to watch them together.