Taking it easy

A couple weekends ago, we decided to take it easy and hang around the house. Michael installed new curtain rods in the living room and kitchen so Harrison and I used the time to putter about the deck as well as visit the park.
Remember a few posts ago I mentioned potting some herbs? To keep them alive, I have been watering them often with a watering can and Harrison immediately took a shine to it. Now whenever he steps onto the deck, he immediately walks over to the table (which is out of sight behind a protruding wall) and and says "more, more" and points to the watering can. He walks over to our little maple tree and pretends to water it for several minutes and then asks me to lift him onto a chair so he can water the herbs on the table. And woe be unto she who tries to take it away in less than 10 minutes! Now he also insists we walk into the kitchen and actually fill the bottom with water, which is funny because he can't lift it high enough to pour the water out and I have to do it for him. I love this bit of  Mommy-Harry time together.

After the plants were sufficiently pretend-watered, Harrison and I ventured to a nearby park which boasts a super awesome water play ground. On this day, there were three birthday parties plus the normal park visitors so the place was packed. Harrison doesn't mind crowds but he likes to sit back and observe awhile before venturing into them, so he actually didn't play all that much. That said, he still got a light sun burn on the tip of his nose. This mom is just excited his little Hawaii swim wear gets another use while it still fits!

Father's Day Weekend

I am going to attempt to blog via my cell phone and see if I can manage to write more often during my commute, although I usually reserve this time for reading to make me smarter or sleeping to make me less cranky. So you may get more posts from a sleep deprived dummy, but hey, at least you get your Harrison fix.

Father's Day 2009 found us starting a new tradition - the NW Brewers Festival. Basically a park is used to host 50 local breweries and you can go around and taste different beers and they make it family friendly with music and a kids area with activities, games and root beer.  Michael was looking forward to his 2010 date with Brew Fest for weeks but when the big day arrived it was raining. Pouring in fact.

To stall for time, we took Harrison to an indoor facility with bouncy houses, thinking he could all have some good ole family fun. Michael carried him to the toddler area where they were greeted by a giant, inflatable lock ness monster at which point Harrison begins to whine and a pretty dramatic look of panic enveloped his face. Once inside he clung to dad for dear life. Unable to wrench him free or calm him down, we leave after 10 minutes.

Once lined up, our shoes seemed to represent the three bears

The weather let up just enough that we decided to go to the festival for an hour or so. The rain stayed away for about 90 minutes, just long enough for Michael to have a good time and rub elbows with his buddies while the wives corralled the kids under a small party tent to stay dry from the light sprinkles.

 The Saturday before Father's Day, we invited Grandpapa Hugh, Zaidy Steve and the rest of Michael's immediate family for breakfast at Casa de Fein. Although we often get together for holidays, birthdays, etc. we rarely take any photos so I turned into my mother (take this as a compliment mom!) and insisted everyone pose for family photos. I got some great shots in just a couple minutes; we only wish Aunt Rae Ann could have joined the festivities.

Harrison's "dads"

 The family

The Ladies (and his highness)

 

Harrison in all his cute glory! 

He recently took a shine to crayons; found some orange crayon residue in his teeth a few minutes later

To our dear old dad: dada, we love you so very much. You are the best dad in the world and we are so lucky you are ours! Happy Second Father's Day - and many more!

PS I managed to type half of this on my cell phone and then uploaded photos and finished the end off at home. Not too shabby!

Summer is Here!

Summer briefly flirted with us last weekend so Team Fein took advantage of the gorgeous weather with a trip to the dog park at Marymoore with a stop at the local outdoor mall. For years I had walked by the water fountains that bubble up on warm days, thinking it would be fun to be able to let my kid play in there some day. Here is the result: 

 

As a side note, we still have not found our lost camera and have concluded that it is unlikely to ever reappear. That said, these pictures were taken with our new smart phones and we are impressed by the picture quality.

I was so inspired by the nice weather that I even "gardened." I have a pretty black thumb when it comes to any type of flora, so rather than fail at gardening I just refuse to do it. When we bought the chiminea, I spotted this cool strawberry pot and instantly thought I could plant an herb garden in it so on Sunday I finally spent a couple hours potting the herbs and flowers - I have a farmers tan to prove it!

Aunt Rae Ann's graduation

Auntie Rae Ann graduated from Seattle Prep High School earlier this month and we couldn't be more proud of her accomplishment. In the fall, she will be off to Western Oregon to start college and play on the volleyball team. Since Michael and I each have a large age gap between us and our younger siblings, we can't help but feel like a parent and say "I remember when..." I will take just a moment to say, I remember the first time I met Rae Ann, a fiery little six year old, excited to stay the night in her oldest brother's college dorm room! Here are some of my favorite pictures from graduation night, provided from grandmama's friend Betty.

One last memory... here is a photo I took four years ago when she graduated from 8th grade!

Oops, I lost the camera...

I just bought a new, compact camera to take with us to Maui so the nice Nikon wouldn't get sandy and ruined. I managed to get the Maui photos uploaded but now the camera has disappeared, which seems like a difficult feat considering it a bright, bronzy-orange color which I specifically chose so I could find it easily at the bottom of a purse or in the back of a drawer. I have my suspicions as to which toddler might have found and kicked it under the bed or deposited into the trash can or dropped it into a laundry bin (although, to be fair I checked all those unusual places and still can't find it...). The search will continue this weekend. In the meantime, I had uploaded some photos in mid April that were kind of random and I never got around to posting them. Enjoy!

 

On a trike at day care; can't pedal but still loved it!

Playing/climbing/falling into a random box

Grilling outside with dad while waving at mom in the kitchen

A walkabout/safari type hat and a penguin fleece sweat suit. Why not?

Thirsty in the bath tub

Rudolph Boo Boo

The week before we left for Maui, we had stolled down to the market at the Town Center, grabbed some croissants and sat outside at a Starbucks to enjoy the fine weather. As we were getting ready to leave, I put Harrison down on the ground but did not realize he was just steps from Winston's leash. Winston stood up to leave, the leash drew taught and Harrison promptly took a step and face planted into the cement. He actually did a good job of catching himself but his nose certainly took the brunt of the impact with a big abrasion, scraping just enough skin to cause quite a bit of bleeding. Poor baby. I had to run back into the market to buy neosporin and band aids.

The pictures were taken later that afternoon so the boo boo was a distant memory by then, not nearly as red. I remembered that we would return from Maui on Mother's Day and I therefore needed to work on Mom's Day gifts for the grandmas now. While Harrison was napping, I ran down the street to the Town Center and started painting some mugs to place his hand print on. When he woke, Michael walked him down to meet me. Turns out it is not very easy to convince a 14 month old to let you paint and place his hand perfectly onto a ceramic mug. We made 4 and only 1 turned out near perfect... alas, I should have made one for myself. For my Mother's Day gift, Michael joked "I am flying you to Seattle!" (from Maui)

15 Month Stats

Harrison had his 15 month check up today! Here are the results:

• Length: 31 5/8" (70th percentile)
• Weight: 24 lbs, 1 oz (40th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 18 3/8" (35th percentile)

Team Fein Goes to Maui!

Ah, Maui. Who has a bad time in Maui? Certainly not Team Fein. Let's be clear that we were way past due for some rest and relaxation (let's also be clear that vacationing with a toddler isn't exactly restful or totally relaxing); Michael and I haven't vacationed (not visited family) since Harrison was about the size of a prawn in his mamma's tummy and referred to as "Barry," almost two years ago. We owe this amazing opportunity to our friends Aaron and Irene for inviting us to crash their vacation and sharing their family's house and car - you guys were totally cool and lots of fun to hang out with!

Maui with a toddler means two things to a Seattle-ite parent... a 6 hour flight and a 3 hour time zone change. I was confident Harrison would do well in both categories and I am happy to report he did not disappoint (although we were very nervous beforehand!). There was a lot of walking up and down the airplane aisles and many a new toy pulled out of the carry on bag as a surprise to keep him entertained, but all in all he was a good little traveler. Even though he woke up at 4:30am the first two mornings, he quickly adjusted, especially with long days at the beach to tucker him out. 

Of the 8-9 days in Maui, 5 of those days were primarily spent at one of three beaches. when he was 4-12 months old, Harrison never liked taking naps at day care and I think it was because he does not like to miss out on the action. The beach had a similar effect on him. We stayed as long as 5 hours at a time, once arriving when he should have started a nap and that kid stayed awake, happy and engaged the entire time (promptly falling asleep the minute we put him back into the car!). The sand was a constant source of entertainment (and a constant presence in his diaper) and he enjoyed playing in the waves with daddy. He nearly fell asleep in the baby floaty as the gentle waves lulled him to sleep until mom pulled him out of the water for fear of sunburn. Harrison now sports a cute, light tan line at his elbows, despite the SPF 50 slathered on every 2 hours!

Makena Beach  earned three visits!

Aaron and Michael built a sand castle and eagerly awaited Harrison's destruction of it!

Irene, Aaron and Michael dug a huge whole Harrison would slide into and climb out of. Eventually it got too deep to climb out of and he had to beg to be rescued! This is his sign for "pick me up."

"Hi dada!" A few weeks ago Michael heartily applauded and encouraged him to say this... now he thinks "hi dada" means hello and he says it to everyone he meets.

We enjoyed a variety of activities on the days we did not go to the beach. This included a "plantation" (which is more for visitors than actually growing crops), including a tram ride, demonstration on how to open a coconut and a pond with ducks and frogs. Harrison wondered over to a local family and they shared some duck food with us. Harrison jumped and pulled his hands back when the duck pecked at his hands for the food.

Lahaina has shops and a nice beach front walk that we strolled at sunset before touring Front Street, visiting the very old and large banyan tree and eating at Kimo's out on the deck.

Iao State Park was beautiful, full of greenery, plants and a nice walking path that was stroller accessible.  

The aquarium turned out to be an awesome stop with Harrison. It was the first time we exposed him to a lot of fish up close and he loved watching them, especially the big, colorful ones. Michael used his phone to look up the sign language sign for fish and Harrison readily learned it in his excitement!

There is a glass tube that cuts through a giant tank - this sting ray happened to glide right over them when I snapped the photo. I love how Harrison looks awed, although in reality he didn't see the ray since it swam behind him.

Kihei also offered some great food and beach walks...

Nakalele Blowhole is a cove with lava formations which, when hit by rough surf, will shoot water through an opening like a geyser many feet into the air. Unfortunately it did not perform the day we arrived despite crazy high winds that nearly blew me over, literally. Check out Michael's hair:

We call him "Adventurer Harry" when he wears his cool hat and scouts out new terrain!

Our trip concluded with a lovely meal at a restaurant built on an old sugar cane plantation. This was one of our best vacations ever, I'm just sorry Harrison will not remember. Clearly, I took enough pictures to implant into his memory when he is older.