all gi'ed up

Todd and Gordy were out running some errands on Tuesday and while in Haleiwa they stumbled upon a jui jitsu studio which has classes for kids.  They happened to have a 5-6 year old class that afternoon, so Todd took Gordy so that he could watch / join if he wanted to.  Without hesitation, Gordy jumped right in.  The coach was awesome and after 45 minutes of "wrestling", Gordy walked out of there saying, "That was Amazing!".  He absolutely loved his class and was ready to go back on Thursday.  After two sessions, he's hooked, so Todd ordered him a gi (jui jitsu uniform) online and we'll be going back to the studio next week for some fun, and hopefully safe wresting.

5 years old

Gordy made 5!! And again, we celebrated slightly COVID style - without a big party.  We started our day off with a croissant and chai tea latte for breakfast.  Then Gordy went to Nana's pool to swim with his friend Owen.  After lunch, we played on a slip-n-slide from our Kailua friends, went to the playground, and then had homemade pizza and firetruck cake dessert.

Gordy has grown so much in the last year.  His vocabulary has expanded quite a bit (both good and bad) and he uses such funny/big words to describe things sometimes.  He does "tricks" while riding his scooter and bike.  He swims like a fish - going down under water to grab things off the bottom of the ocean.  He loves to garden with me and will frequently ask, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Let's do some gardening!".  He's getting better about staying dry at night - only 2-3 accidents each month.  Mostly, he is just such a loving, caring, thoughtful, sweet little kid.  We love you more with each day Gogo!

strong protan

Gordy has always struggled with colors.  He mixes up green, orange, and brown very frequently.  Purple is always blue.  Pastels are a no-go for him.  But yellow (mele mele) has always been his favorite color.  So, we finally decided to get him tested.  The pediatric ophthalmologist only flipped through three of her thirty color cards before calling it quits and agreeing that he is color blind.  His blindness is called "strong protan" and here's what he sees vs. what a person with normal vision sees:

Once we were sure of his diagnosis, I did quite a bit of reading about it and here's what I learned:

- He sees mainly blues, yellows and greys.

- Since he doesn't see other colors the way we do, he has learned to know that shades of blues, yellows and greys are what those colors look like.

- There are glasses available that can help him to see reds and greens.  However, if we introduce him to the glasses too early, he may become reliant on them and may have trouble distinguishing colors on his own.  So, we are going to hold off on getting him glasses.

- I read a blog from another mom with a color bind kid, who recommended talking to the color bind kid and explaining to him that he sees colors in a different way than other people.  That the way he sees it is not wrong, it's just different.  And, if he's ever unsure about what color something is, he should ask someone what color they see (like how daddy has to ask mommy if his shirt smells because his nose works differently than most... the answer is almost always yes).

- That same mom recommended going into school on the first day (or two) and having a look around the classroom for anything that may be challenging for the kid due to color.  She recommended not only letting the teacher know about the blindness, but offering to help out with making things more about shapes and pictures in lieu of colors.

After the color blindness had been established, Gordy's eye exam was not quite over... with an occurrence of Retinitis Pigmentosa on the paternal side of my family, his eyes needed to be dilated to check for the RP freckles.  Thankfully, I had prepared for such an event and we had practiced eye drops the day before because he had five rounds of drops in his eyes.  He took the drops like a little champ (let's be clear, he was not happy about it though) and tolerated the entire exam with no complaints.

After a thorough check, the doctor said that he showed now signs of RP (yay!), and that other than his color blindness, his vision was great.  And, as far as Gordy was concerned, the best part of the whole thing was that he got to take home some pretty sweet glasses.

we need a better trap

St. Patrick's Day has never been a holiday on either of our radars... however, now that we have Gogo - every holiday is a celebration!  So, to get into the spirit, we diy'ed ourselves a festive leprechaun trap.  (Apparently, if you catch a leprechaun, he has to take you to his gold.)  

Sadly, our trap was not successful.  The leprechaun did come to visit in the night, but he escaped.  The good news is that before he fled our house, he left a small note with a riddle to find a secret yummy snack hidden in Gordy's rubbish truck.  

Gordy is already planning "a better trap" for next year.  

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Townies for a day

Todd happened into a job doing some "COVID theater" for a photo/video shoot in Waikiki, so Gordy and I tagged along.  We brought our bikes which turned out to be an incredibly good decision because Todd took the car and went off to work leaving the two of us on our own in the heart of the tourist strip. So, we slept in, went walking in search of breakfast and coffee, went back to the hotel for some pool/hot tub time, and then hopped on our bikes to go check out the town.  

We enjoyed a nearly empty zoo for the last hour before it closed.

We went to the Health Bar for an acai bowl and veggie wrap both of which Gogo loved!

We found some cool trees to climb around in at Kapiolani Park.

And, we found a cool playground with swings (which is rare in Hawaii).

After a long day, we met Todd back at the hotel and we all headed home... with a sleeping kiddo in the back :)  I don't know that we need to be townies very often, but it's fun occasionally!

our monarch

This month is bug month at Gordy's online school.  He's been learning the difference between insects and arachnids, he's been told to investigate around our house to see what kinds of bugs we have at our home (we have lots), and he learned more about the process that caterpillars go through to change into a butterfly.  His teacher even offered for the kids to pick up a monarch caterpillar from her garden to keep and watch the transition.  And, while we've cared for a few other types of caterpillars, we've never done a monarch - so we picked up a little guy and brought it home.  After two weeks of feeding, watching, and waiting, our butterfly finally arrived!  And, the best part was that it hung around with us for about 8 hours before finally deciding to fly away.

At one point, the butterfly was hanging out on Gordy's belly watching cartoons with him, and it decided to climb up towards his neck - Gordy was less than thrilled because the feet actually do grab your skin quite a bit.

All in all, it was a great experience.  So great, in fact, that we got a small milkweed plant from his teacher that we will plant in our yard to attract/feed future monarchs.  Yay for bug month!

aloha Oscar

I’m so sad to write these words, but… Oscar has died.  On Thursday, he was hit by a car on Waialua Beach Road and was left by the side of the road right outside our house.  Todd and I found him in the early afternoon, we told my mom, and the three of us spent the rest of the day/night grieving.  Gordy didn’t ask about him until the next morning, so we waited until then to give him the news.  We decided to go with the honest approach and to tell him the truth about what happened.  And, while we still think that was the best way to go, Gordy has definitely taken it hard.  At times he puts on this weird smiling face to try to be brave and act like he isn’t sad, and then the next moment his emotions overcome him and tears fill his sad eyes.  

To help us all to cope with our loss, we buried Oscar under our Christmas tree that we’ve had since Gordy was born.  

We planted him/the tree near the dog park at my moms’ house where the tree will have plenty room to grow.  And, while I’m certain that the burial gave us all a little closure, it does not change the fact that we are sad.  Oscar didn’t deserve to have such a short life.  He was a great, happy, fun kitty.  He would chase Gordy around in the yard while Gordy giggled uncontrollably.  He would come into the house at night and cuddle each of us until it was time to go to bed.  He would follow me around in the house no matter where I went.  He loved to sleep under Gordy’s bed.  He loved boxes – jumping in them, hiding in them, laying in/on them.  

Oscar was a great cat and he will very much be missed and remembered.  We loved you my friend.  

Aloha.