traveling trio

Gordy has been to the Big Island a few times and he did really well on each 40-minute flight.  So, we though we'd try our luck with a longer trip to visit family on the mainland.

Our travels started with a non-stop flight to Oakland of which we armed ourselves with lots of yummy snacks and videos of Gogo's favorite subject (himself).  We lucked out with 4 seats all to ourselves, so Gogo and I ended up napping together for most of the ride.

The next three days were filled with pool time at "the Club", yummy home-cooked dinners (thank you Gayle and Jim!), playtime with cousin Adeline, a quick trip into the city on BART, some beach time in Sausalito with Drew L. and Gordy's new friend John, fun at Fairyland and the baby theater, and some much needed time with Tutu and Pop Pop.

In the spirit of "alternative facts", we've included that last photo.  (Really, we were just having too much fun in Piedmont and we completely spaced on getting a photo of Gordy with his Tutu and Pop Pop - doh!)

After an awesome three days with the Sells, we hopped on a plane up to Portland.  We had lots of stuff planned for our time in the Pacific Northwest, but many of those plans were set aside because Gordy came down with some sort of stomach bug / food poisoning.  We still managed to fit in a few days of fun though, in and around the throwing up: a ride on the MAX, my cousin (Erica's) wedding, a trip to the zoo, possibly the best donuts Todd or I have ever eaten from a shop called Voodoo Donuts, MANY trips to Trader Joes and Grocery Outlet, a trip to see my 99-year old great grandma Goodwitch (Gordy's great-great grandma), and some short, but great time with my Tutu.

We had to get up at 4am to catch our 7am departure, but Gordy and I managed to make our solo trip home with lots of distractions, pedialyte and, thankfully, no puking.  We stayed up until 2:30pm HST and then crashed for the night, but not before Gordy had an eggplant and a little dance to celebrate our arrival home.

The excitement of being home has definitely worn off for him, but it sure was funny to watch him walk in the door to the house and run around as though he was surprised that everything was just as he'd left it.  And, while the excitement may have worn off, he couldn't be happier to be naked again.

15 months old

Gordy is now 15 months old!

More teeth are popping through, which is really great for all of our sleep.  He has figured out how to do his puzzles and will usually do each one at least once a day.  He can now say, "more/again", "milk", and "please" in sign language and just yesterday he learned how to show how old he is!

He had his first (and second and third) baby kiss from his neighbor friend.  His favorite thing to eat is raw eggplant from our bush.

Anytime we walk past a plumeria tree, he is certain that it's his job to pick one of the flowers, smell it, and then give it as a gift to someone (good teaching daddy).  And, we're pretty sure that he understands German (at least as well as he understands English).

He will paint (with water) on paper and then will proudly display his masterpiece on the fridge.

Pretty much the answer to every question is "no" nowadays.  He absolutely hates clothes and will cry and try to rip them off unless there's something fun to distract him from the horrible garments.  He has discovered that he can "make pee pee" and is super proud of it.  He really likes music and will dance by spinning in circles or clapping and swinging his arms side to side.  

He has discovered that he can drink water out of hoses and spickets and does so anytime he can.

And, when he's tired and ready for a nap/bed, he will run into his room and stand by the bed waiting for us to join him.

His second favorite word is "dada" and whenever he wants his dad's attention, he'll let us all know.

Happy 15 months old Gogo!

yummy coconut

Gordy loves every bit of a coconut.  We've blogged about it before, but I have to write it again... this kid loves it!  He loves to drink the water, he loves the fresh meat, he loves to play with the shell and husk (particularly to throw it in the green bin just like daddy), and he loves to drink the milk after we've made it.  This kid is awesome.

waimea

Every Friday for the last 5 years, Todd and I have gone to whatever beach was available and we've done our sprints.  If there's surf, we go to Ehukai or Rock Piles so Todd can hop in the water afterwards.  But, when there's no surf, and especially now that we have a Gogo, we've been spending our Friday evening at Waimea Bay.

We park the car, kiss goodbye, and I head down to my start line to get my sprints out of the way while the boys say hi to all the chickens and roosters in the parking lot.  Usually when I'm on number 7 or 8 they stroll down the beach just in time to cheer me on when I need it most.  Then, I take Gordy and we play in the sand near Todd's start line while he trashes himself for 16 minutes.  

Once all the sprinting is over, we celebrate by going for a swim in the bay.  

And, even though sprints are horrible and I dread them all day long, I can't imagine a better way to spend a Friday... life is as good as it gets.