Mele Kalikimaka

a moment I'll never forget

Gordy has been waking up way too much during the night lately.  Each time he wakes up, all he wants to do is nurse.  So, Todd and I have been trying to ween him.  Todd gets up with him the first wake up and turns on his mobile, gets him to calm and lay down and then rubs his back for a little while.  Then, I get up with him the second time (around 1am) and let him nurse.  More often than not, I fall asleep with him in his bed, so when he wakes up again, I'm right there.  He asks for milk, I say no and tell him he has to wait until morning, he gets mad and throws a mini tanti and then I threaten to put him in his crib, so he calms down pretty quickly.  That's when it happened - the moment.  We were laying side by side facing each other (noses a few inches apart) when he pushed his face forward towards mine.  I reached my face towards him and he rubbed his nose on my cheek.  Then I rubbed my nose all over his cheek and face and he closed his eyes and smiled.  We maybe did this for 5 minutes before he was over it, and those 5 minutes were some of the best of my life.  Being Gordy's mom is incredible.

go-dini

Usually when we put Gordy down for his nap or for bed, we get him into his crib, and then close the bedroom door so we don't disturb him.  However, two days ago, he fell asleep nursing on the bed and was so konked-out that I left him there and then closed door.  A few hours later, Todd and I were downstairs fixing a door when I heard Gordy yelling "mama!".  I heard him so clearly and from the opposite side of the house from his room that I was a little alarmed.  So, I ran upstairs to find him walking around the house looking for me - he had escaped his closed door!  Nothing is safe anymore.

18 months old

Gordy is officially 1.5 and is quite the little personality.  

He absolutely LOVES to color on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and will dig in his little dirt corner for as long as we'll let him.

He has gotten quite brave at the playgrounds and will hang from ropes and climb up ladders without any assist.

His list of animal noises has grown to include: cats, dogs, owls, elephants, goats, and wolves.  He has become quite the climber and will jump off the couch, steps, etc. into Todd's arms on command.  He helps take out the trash and will hang laundry on his own little clothes line.

His most recent new word is "wow!".  I decorated our Christmas tree last weekend with lights and a few ornaments and when I plugged in the lights, I said, "wow" to Gordy.  He said it back to me and now, every time we plug in the Christmas lights, he exclaims "wow!".  

He loves Christmas lights so much, that I took him to the Haleiwa Christmas parade just so he could see all the decorations.  He went berserk yelling and humming (which is his way of making a fire truck noise).   I was glad I had him restrained in the bike seat cuz I'm pretty sure I would have lost him to the floats.

cuppa

Every weekday morning, Gordy hops onto his stool in order to help us to make coffee.  His favorite part of the process is when we grind the coffee beans, but his second favorite part is getting to lick milk foam off our fingers.  So, he now has his own cup and he gets to have a cappuccino (milk foam) right along with us.

quite the artist

Gordy loves to color in his coloring box so much that I thought it might be a good idea to get him some sidewalk chalk.  And, ever since the chalk bucket arrived, our driveway (and fence, stone walkway, patio, garage floor, etc.) has been turned into a work of art.  

At least once per day, Gordy goes over to the chalk bucket (which is kept by the door), picks it up and comes to get us to take him outside so he can draw.  

He absolutely loves the chalk!  His favorite chalk colors are purple and blue and his favorite place to draw is the fence.  The neighbor kids even come over occasionally to add their handiwork to the canvas.

#3

Our 3rd aupair has come and gone - Melanie (or Meme as Gordy calls her).  She was an 18 year old German girl on her post high-school trip.  

And, while we don't have another nanny lined up, we are relatively happy to have a break from house guests.  "Tschuss" Meme!

"no more" daddy

Up until recently, Gordy has only been able to say single words - Mama, Dada, Nana, bee, yes, no, etc.  About a week ago, Gordy said his first two-word sentence:  "no more".  Todd was getting him with his homeless-man beard and Gordy had had enough, so I told him to say, "no more daddy" thinking that at best we'd get a "no" out of him.  To my surprise, he said, "no more".  Ever since, he pretty much says no more anytime Todd gets near him.