farm fair

It's that time of year again - the Hawaii state farm fair!!  So Gogo and I loaded up the car, picked up Nana, and made the trek to Kualoa.  

Gordy got to ride on lots of tractors and diggers.

We ate good food.

Gordy rode his first ride.

We went for a swim on the west side.

And then, Gordy hit the wall.

Such a fun day!!!

"daddy ready!"

Since Gordy first started sleeping in his own crib, we've had the same nightly routine - shower, dinner, brush teeth, kiss daddy, books in his room, lights out, honu light on, milk, and then into bed.  He's always been relatively good about the whole thing until about 4 or 5 months ago.  I'd put him in his bed and then he'd spend the next 45 minutes coming up with reasons that he needed to get out of his crib which ranged from needing to go pee, needing to go poop, needing his Elmo, needing more kisses from daddy, etc...

We finally got sick of the whole thing and decided to change it up.  Our new routine is shower, dinner, milk on the couch, brush teeth and go pee pee on the potty.  Then, he and I stand at his bedroom door where he gives me a hug and a kiss before yelling, "daddy ready!" to Todd.  The two of them go into Gordy's room for a few books, they turn on his starry-skied honu light, catch the moon on their hands a few times, and then hop into bed.  Gordy is super happy with his new evening agenda, I get 10-15 minutes of time to myself, and Todd gets to help by doing a no-nonsense into bed routine.

mini braddah IZ

Gordy's $5 Craigslist ukulele broke (we won't name names) and he's been begging to play with it every day since it bit the dust.  So, we sacked up and bought him a relatively nice one off Amazon.  It finally arrived about a week ago and after Todd finished tuning it, Gordy spent the next few days carrying it around with him and jamming to the "Wheels on the Bus".  He's slowed down his playing a little, but he's very reluctant to share it and will instead, offer up his his old broken one to anyone asking to play.

summer is here!

Summer is officially here - nectarines, ocean ponds (Gogo pools), late sunsets, warm pools... so much fun!

2 years old

Gordy Kaiea Sells made 2 years old today!!

Almost every day he learns a new word, and sometimes, I have no idea where he's learned them.  One of the funnier things he's been saying is "poor guy" when he sees someone hurting or sick.  He was watching the Warriers' game the other day with Todd and someone fell down on the court to which he sighed and said "poor guy".

His absolute favorite thing to do right now is jump - into the pool, off the furniture, off stairs, off of Todd... anything raised off of the ground is a jumping platform to him.

He still loves his chalk and is becoming quite the little artist.  Here's his most recent attempt at a school bus:

He's also been fairly into stickers, coloring with markers and crayons, painting, and glue. 

He's a huge fan of bubble baths and will try to convince us that he needs one multiple times a day.

His favorite toys are all of his cars and trucks.  Occasionally we'll realize that the house has been quite for too long and will find him in his room with lots of his vehicles all lined up perfectly along his bed.

His Auntie Sarah recently introduced us to a Popcorn song by the Barenaked Ladies and it's quickly become his favorite song.  He'll say "mommy music" and he wants me to turn the song on the JBL speaker so he can hold the speaker while running around the house dancing.  

My guitar is now being stored in the living room because Gordy so frequently asks us to play music with him while he plays his ukulele.  He also loves to play the guitar.

To celebrate his happy day, we made french toast for breakfast, spent the morning at the beach and the afternoon at the pool, took a mommy and baby nap, and then topped it all off with a homemade carrot and zucchini cake.

Happy birthday little monster!

music man

The other day, Gordy found my guitar covered in dust in the closet and now, he asks me (daily) to pull it out and play with him.  So, I'll strum the guitar while he plays his ukulele and sings, and then after a few minutes, he'll ask for us to switch.  His one man band has now grown to two... we just need to find Todd a trumpet.

mommy's day

I feel like by becoming a mom, I've joined some sort of secret club.  A club with supporters everywhere I turn and where all of the other members have a pretty good idea of how I'm feeling at any given moment.  I can see a kid doing something sweet and look up to see other women nearby smiling at the same kid just like I am.  We don't have to say anything to each other - we know we're part of the same secret club.  Only it's not so secret.  Everyone's always said how great it is to be a parent, but I think I've just never listened.  And, more importantly, there's nothing that anyone could ever have said that would accurately describe how insanely cool it is to be a mom.  It's the most challenging thing I've ever done and the most rewarding.  I'm so lucky to be a mommy to my little Gogo and I'm so lucky to have been born to my wonderful loving mom.

Happy mother's day to all the members of this not-so-secret club!