Rain

We spent all morning on the beach today; Brandt cannot get enough of the ocean. I've decided I'll just make my own shell frame so we did a bit of shell collecting, too, Sanibel stoop and everything. I saved the first shell Brandt collected on Sunday so that will be smack dab in the middle of the frame.

Brandt and I started at beach a couple hours before Dan got up so needless to say, we got tired before he did. Actually, Brandt could have kept going so he hit the pool with Dan for a bit while I came inside to cool off. B and I took a nap while Dan stayed down at the beach until a sudden downpour hit and he came sprinting inside. It only rained for five minutes, but that was enough to scare everyone off the beach for the rest of the day.

Wary of more rain, we ditched the bikes and drove to Jerry's to say hi to the parrots (only one of them says hi back) and possibly shop. We saw some great photographs by a N.A. Adams in Sanybel's Finest, but Dan and I couldn't agree on how great the photo of the Lazy Flamingo was. I've just hinted to him that he may want to call them up to order it and surprise me (fingers crossed).

After dinner at McT's we hit the community park since the rain had cooled things down enough to play. The sky started looking a little ominous and we got to the car just before another downpour hit. It cleared within five minutes again. We finally drove the loop of Daniel Drive (it's less than a block away, but we hadn't taken the time to check it out yet). The houses were all amazing, but more amazing: we saw another bobcat! This one was chilling in a front yard and loped across the street right in front of us.

Camera's still on the blink so here's a picture of Brandt and the turtle from the other day. You can see how cute the cottages at Shalimar are. No complaints about Shalimar, but Dan likes the looks and location of the Castaways Beach and Bay Cottages, too, so maybe if we come back we'll give those ones a try.

Kayaks in Tarpon Bay

We finally got up and out early enough to rent kayaks at Tarpon Bay at eight. I'd been hoping to do this all week, but getting papa bear and baby bear (moreso papa bear) unhibernated early in the morning is quite an undertaking. The kayaking was awesome! Tarpon Bay Explorers had a nice trail marked out, but it was quite hard. Dan did most of the paddling while I tried to keep Brandt in the boat. He was mostly content to point at birds and skim the water with his hands or feet, but I could tell he really wanted to jump on in. He was surprisingly OK in the life jacket (they've passed them out in swim class a couple times and he'll have nothing to do with them). We tried to take the awesomest picture of him in the kayak, but the camera stopped working :( So here's a picture of him frolicking in Lynn Hall Park yesterday.

I had really hoped to see a manatee, but we have the energy to paddle out to the mouth of the bay. But on our cycle up to Tarpon Bay we saw an armadillo and a bunny. None of us had seen an armadillo before. I noticed its ears first and thought it was a rabbit while Dan noticed its shell first and thought it was a turtle. Brandt, of course, called it a bird.

This afternoon Dan hung out on the beach while Brandt and I went shopping. Neptune's Treasures closed its doors for the last time today at four so we went to see what was left. Not much. We also checked out She Sells Sea Shells and Sanibel Shells, hoping to find a seashell-encrusted picture frame, but only saw ones made in China. I was hoping for one made of real Sanibel shells. Our best stop was Jerry's where there are several parrots in big cages around the shopping center. Of course Brandt was more interested in the little brown birds flitting around. Sanybel's Finest had some cute stuff so we might drag Dan (who still owes me a birthday present) back over tomorrow.

Estero Island

Walking back from playing in the gulf this morning, Brandt and I saw a four-inch-long crab and a teeny snake, less than a foot long. Thems and the ubiquitous lizards are my kind of wildlife.

Heading home from breakfast at the Sanibel Cafe (where Brandt loved the fossil shells display cases for tables) we saw a black panther--or at least we think we did. It was five times bigger than a housecat, but I think the island is only supposed to have blonde Florida panthers so I dunno.

We spent the afternoon next island east at Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island to see World's Safest Beach (because of no undertow and shallow water). Brandt had so much fun playing in Lynn Hall Memorial Park and in the ocean. He showed no fear and kept crawling farther and farther out to sea. It was very shallow so I let him go until Dan make me wrangle him in. He must have a little baby sea turtle in him.

The island itself was OK. I'd much rather stay on Sanibel than here. This one is definitely the OB to Sanibel's Coronado and Captiva's La Jolla. The Times Square area was nice enough, but I wouldn't want to be there during the peak season (I guess that's why they call it Times Square).

We got to dinner at Doc Ford's just in time for Dan to watch a little football. The mouse I loved the Campeche Fish Tacos (with papaya pico de gallo!), but Dan didn't really like whatever it was he ordered or that he couldn't hear the football game or the beer selection. Yeah, even though it's a rum bar, I would have expected them to have a decent beer selection. And at least to have Steinlager since it's imbibed so often in the books. I was pleased to read that Randy Wayne White is somehow affiliated with the restaurant (not sure if he's an owner or what). I had assumed they were just using the name to trap tourists like me.

Captiva

We all made it down to the beach early this morning (go Danny!) and Brandt ventured into the ocean for the first time this week. He had a great time as you can tell from the picture. The tide was pretty high so there was a big shallow area for him to play in.

Since we were up and ready to go early enough to get breakfast before eleven, we went to Sanibel Bean. So maybe the bagels were nothing fancy, but the coffee was great. And the photos on the walls of people holding I heart The Bean bumper stickers all over the world were so cute that I wanted to send one in, too (but the feeling passed). Riding back home from Sanibel Bean, some old dude took a look at Dan and said, "Bad idea, dude." I think he didn't notice the bike seat and assumed Brandt was sitting on the top tube. Dan thinks he was commenting on Brandt's outfit of red hawaiian shorts (Dan doesn't like 'em) with blue t-shirt and yellow bike helmet.

Then we drove over to Captiva to do some exploring. It was too hot to hang out until dinnertime so we headed back home and discovered a turtle in front of our cottage. The little guy was moving surprisingly fast, eating a swath through our neighbor's yard. We set Brandt down close, but not too close, so he could get a good look. I was a little afraid the turtle would lunge at Brandt's tasty toes, but he just munched and glared and crept away.

We headed back over to Captiva for dinner at The Green Flash and I finally got to try grouper. I've never heard of it before, but I gather it's a local fish. Brandt wasn't a fan of the grouper, but he did gobble up the shrimp bisque. We timed things just right and went to Turner Beach (on the Captiva side of Blind Pass Bridge) to watch the sunset. There were some clouds right at the horizon so we didn't see the green flash. Maybe next time.

Wild life

Brandt and I took a morning beach walk while Dan snoozed. We saw a friggin' snake! Brandt didn't notice because he was too busy looking at me trying to figure out what all the shrieking was about. Once we were safely away from the snake I let him down to play with shells by the water and look at the birds.

Dan needed to stay in and work for a bit today so Brandt and I took a massive bike ride. We headed all the way east to the lighthouse, but made a bunch of stops on the way: Sanibel Historical Village to see if it was worth going back when it's open (nah), Sanibel Community Park to ride a chipmunk, the park at Periwinkle Place to ride on a centipede, and Pinocchio's Ice Cream in Old Town Sanibel for a mango smoothie.

The lighthouse itself was heavily mosquitoed so we didn't stay there too long. Dan says the beach up there is supposed to be really nice so we might head back at some point.

On the way back we stopped at Mango Bay where I hoped Brandt would nap in the Ergo while I wandered around, but no such luck--there was just way too much stuff to look at. I got myself a hat and Brandt selected some sunglasses for himself. Dan didn't believe that Brandt had really chosen them, but he grabbed said pair and tried them on. Of course after that he grabbed other pairs to try on, but I liked the first pair the best so we bought those ones and are sticking with our Brandt-selecting-them story. Then B finally fell asleep in the bike seat just a few minutes from home which turned into a nice two-hour nap while Dan finished up working. The cycling one-handed while holding the baby upright really isn't that hard, I was happy to learn.

Dan had wanted to ride along east on West Gulf/Middle Gulf/East Gulf to see that part of the island, so that's what we did. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't see the beach (all the houses blocked it), but I stand corrected in my assessment of the island as the Mission Beach of the gulf. It's totally Coronado, with plantation style houses up the wazoo. But even better than the pretty houses, we saw a bobcat. Yes, a bobcat! It just ran across the street right in front of us. Brandt doesn't sign cat yet, so he just called it a dog.

On the way home we had a dinner of appetizers at McT's. The seafood bake was *so* good. We didn't remember to save room for the "almost world famous mud pie," though. And we saw another snake (not the same one, this one was yellow and the first one was brown) in the bike path right by Biddles Bucket. Again Brandt missed it, too bewildered by my freaking out. Dan didn't know what I was going on about, either, but I finally got out "Snake, snake!" as it slithered out of his path. It had been doing a pretty good stick impression, but I'm wary after this morning's snake and wasn't fooled.

The picture is our modified hands-free biking. Yesterday Brandt decided he wanted to do the steering (you know, because he's a toddler now and has to do everything himself) so he repeatedlly pried at Dan's hands, trying to get him to let go. This morning I discovered if he can't be distracted by pretending there's a bird just up ahead, you just have to lift your fingers and declare "No hands!"

J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

This morning we rode our bikes to breakfast at the Over Easy Cafe and then over to the wildlife refuge. I was hoping for a nice shady jungley area to walk around and play with manatees, but it was a four-mile long wide exposed car/bike/ped road and it was hot! But it was very pretty and we saw lots of birds and jumping fish and even an alligator. One thing that struck me as odd about the refuge: people were allowed to catch fish and crabs. So I guess it's only a refuge for certain critters. On our way to the refuge we saw our first turtle along side the bike path. He was little, but cute. I'm not sure if he was a gopher tortoise so I'll have to do a bit of local fauna research.

All the excitement was a bit much for Brandt and he fell asleep on the ride home. It's bad for babies to sleep in a bike seat because the weight of the helmet is too much on their slumped over head (or something like that) so I convinced Dan he needed to hold Brandt's head up with one hand while rushing home. Thank goodness we put the bikeseat on his bike! (We rented bikes, but we brought the Bobike Mini and Brandt's helmet with us rather than rent a crappy bike seat and helmet here.) I tried to keep up, but gave up in the end and Dan and Brandt sped on home ahead of me. I had a flashback to Oma taking Alex and me for bike rides on Terschelling, shouting "You kids keep up!"

Brandt and I had taken an early morning walk on the beach, but we went back down with Dan in the afternoon. I think there's a bit of a red tide going on so we didn't go in the gulf, but hit the pool again to get our water fix. Brandt's favorite pool activities: being thrown in the air and caught above the water, kicking his legs on his back, and dropping pine nuts in the pool for us to retrieve and give back to him...only to drop them again and again and again.

We had dinner at The Timbers and Brandt discovered he likes calamari--probably because they look like Cheerios, only bigger (and squidier).

We missed the sunset, but it was still light out after dinner, so we drove to Captiva Island. I thought Captiva was Aitutaki to Sanibel's Rarotonga (sorry, honeymoon metaphor), but I was way wrong. CI is sa-weet! It looks like La Jolla to SI's Mission Beach. I'm going to have to hurry up and finish reading Sanibel Flats so I can move on to Captiva. We saw lightning in the distance as we were driving back home (I guess over Naples), but we're still rain-free...phew. It drizzled on us a couple times as we drove down from Tampa the other day, but weather here on the island has been perfect thus far.

Sanibel Island

Sanibel Island is soooooo pretty! We weren't too ambitious today, but arranged to get our bicycles tomorrow and that's when the real fun starts.

We had a very tasty linner (I'm not sure if it was a late lunch or early dinner or both) at The Island Cow and then stocked up at Bailey's General Store...but there are so many yummy eateries here, I'm not sure how much dining in we'll do. We played around on the beach a little bit and were amazed at the number of shells. It's one thing to read about the shelling here, but it's another to see an endless strip of shells lining the beach. Brandt wasn't so keen on the waves (even though they were very small gulf waves) so we played in the pool until I got scared the mosquitos would sniff me out. Yesterday I got two bites just crossing the street from baggage claim to the rental cars, but today I am bite-free (so far).

TPA

Our month of travel isn't over yet! Tonight we flew to Tampa and tomorrow we'll drive down to Sanibel Island. Dan stayed there as a munchkin and thought it'd be fun to go back. The idea for the trip originated when he wanted a vacation, too, after I wouldn't let him come to Hawaii with us.

Yesterday I took a little video of Brandt spinning in circles on a Bounce & Spin Pony (and pushing with his lazy left leg, no less!), but then I left the Flip in the seat back pocket :( Apparently I'll never learn. Five years ago I did the same with my iPod and ten years ago with my fancy work pager. I might be a lost cause, but Dan is taking note and now knows not to buy me more fancy electronics.

Since we got to spend a little extra time at baggage claim trying to track down the Flip, Dan and Brandt devised a new game: ride the suitcase. As you probably guessed, the faster the better.

Other updates: the walking is coming right along and Brandt's been able to change directions while walking for a week now. He's still crawling more than walking, but walking is gaining a bit every day. In tooth news: the bottom left molar is starting to poke through and the other three molars are all there under the surface. So I think his island fever a couple weeks ago wasn't tooth related after all.

Minneapolis

Brandt and I were happy to get home to Dan last week. He missed us, too, and therefore let us tag along on a business trip to Minnesota. He had to drive 90 minutes north of the airport, but we hung out down in Minneapolis at Martin and Stacy's.

The boys had school all day so B and I went downtown with Stacy for lunch and wandering around and then played in the pool and backyard with Maisy, the dog. Dan is a little upset with me for letting him run around naked (apparently one of the Brandt and Maisy pictures "would have been suitable for framing if only he had pants on!"), but after getting two outfits wet splashing in the pool I gave up.

Later everyone came over for a barbeque and Brandt put his swim trunks on so Dan wouldn't be embarrassed. Hey, I didn't appreciate this until just now, but all those bike messengers produced sons. I wonder if there's some connection to all that time in the saddle.

The walking is going well. He can change direction while walking now, but he's still mostly down on his knee.

Back on the mainland

Redeye flights look like such a good idea on paper, but they always suck. Brandt napped most of the flight, but I had trouble getting comfortable (may have had something to do with being stuck in a center seat and having a baby sprawled across me). We arrived to LAX early in the morning and then napped four more hours at my dad's house.

So we really didn't do much today. Brandt had a lot of fun crawling on my dad's Rietveld chair. It's got a lot of pokey corners be he navigated it just fine. We also hit the little West Hollywood Park where Brandt wowed us with his climbing and sliding skills. He was last at this park in April when he was only just getting into sliding alone so it was fun to see the progress. We also learned that four-year-olds lie. We met a little dude who said he was from Dubai (lie) with two older siblings who live in France (lie) and he'd left his batman cape in Flagstaff (true). Creative little liar. Even his mom was impressed with his imagination when I asked her if they really lived in Dubai.

The plan was to go out to dinner with Alex and Emilie, but when we headed down to retrieve my car the tire was flat! AAA pumped it up and sent us to a gas station to get it plugged so it wasn't a big deal, but since the first tow truck got lost and drove to Glendale, it took forever and dinner was off. But at least I learned from the second tow truck guy that my tires "...are good tires. They have a lot of meat on them." That's always nice to hear. And fortunately I was still too groggy and/or jet lagged to get annoyed at the delay.

Last day of aloha

Sniff, it's our final day in Hawaii. I guess the timing is perfect because I left my camera battery charger at home so I can't take any more pictures. So you're stuck with a grainy capture from the Flip video thingy.

This morning we went to Xcel in Haleiwa (any excuse to go to Haleiwa!) and I got Brandt a super cheap surf shirt that we test drove at the pool later on. He had a great time in the pool, but of course it's impossible to manage a baby in the pool and take pictures at the same time. I tried to get one little video, but it's a video of Brandt starting to crawl/fall into the pool and Tammie grabbing him right before he goes under. So not a good example of the fun we had today.

Jake was amazing in the pool. I think he's only had a round or two of swim lessons, but the keiki is fearless! He did so many forward and backwards somersaults I got dizzy just watching. Hannah's fearless, too, but that goes without saying. Hannah is my hero.

Sea Life Park

We spent all day (and all night) at Sea Life Park. Naturally, the kids spent more time in the playgrounds than looking at marine life.

I was sure Brandt would love the penguins since they're sort of birds and fish (the best of both worlds), but he didn't give them the time of day. However, at the touch tanks he happily petted Gizmo the turtle and grabbed at an anemone and a sea cucumber, so at least something caught his fancy. Speaking of catching his fancy...as of two nights ago, Brandt has been sneaking up on Hannah and giving her bear hugs and refusing to let go. I'm assuming it means he really likes her, but he's not much of a hugger so it could be a sign of aggression for all I know. There's no kissing or biting to clue me in one way or the other. Hannah's being really cool about it, brave little girl. If Brandt were on the receiving end of that much affection, he'd probably cry and struggle to get away.

The luau was awesome! It included a penguin, dolphin, and sea lion show that was even cooler than the regular daytime show. And the luau was fairly small so we got to see the dancing up close. Dan and I went to a luau on Kauai six years ago and it was so big that we couldn't see anything. Tonight was more like the Island Nights in the Cooks. Tammie said not many people know about this luau and opt for the bigger beachier one at the Marriot (where we almost ended up ourselves). The food was really good, too. I took a little video of Brandt trying poi assuming it would be hilarious, but he didn't seem to mind the taste. And he loved squishing his hand around in it. He mostly stuck to mahi mahi and cantaloupe, though.

Super shopper

Baby Brandt is back to normal. The molar doesn't feel any different (nothing poking through yet, but it's there under the gum), but the fever is gone and his smile is back. So he kept up just fine during our big day of shopping.

We started out at The O Lounge for a benefit baby sale and entertainment thingy. Check out Brandt's new shorts--and they were only $1! Then we hit Ala Moana and the Ward Center and somewhere in there had lunch at Nico's at Pier 38.

On the way home we stopped at the Old Navy to get Brandt a certain rubber ball from the 25¢ dispenser (oh, and to shop), but the machine was gone! I've been saving up quarters for nothing. But there was a good sushi restaurant in the same shopping center so all was not lost and we had dinner while Jake slept and the babies ran wild--and I mean *wild*. Brandt is officially a toddler as of today. He's been watching Jake and Hannah climb and walk and squeak and decided that's the life for him. In the picture he's trying to climb into the clothing rack where Jake had previously been hiding. I think I'm going to need to start taking a daily nap to keep up with him!

Everyone conked out in the car on the way home so Tammie and I could watch the TiVoed Olympics opening ceremonies in peace. Actually, Baby Hannah woke up and is still going strong. But two out of three are out cold and that ain't bad.

Besides the $1 shorts, our other awesome purchase today was a CD of keiki music. Thanks to Leon and Malia I can finally remember the state fish (Humuhumunukunukuapua'a).

Ko Olina

Brandt is having his first bad tooth day :( I noticed he was warm when he went to bed last night and he woke up screaming at 5am. Other than opening his eyes at 4:30 the other morning, I don't think he's ever not slept through the night. He felt burning hot, but was only 100 when I checked. Even so, we took a cool bath to calm him down and he fell back asleep pretty quickly. I, however, was completely freaked out and almost woke Tammie up thinking he needed a hospital! He's always been such a trouper when sick so when he woke up terrified (maybe he had a nightmare, too?) and sweaty I of course assumed he had contracted some rare Hawaiian malady.

After dropping Jake at preschool we hit the Ko Olina lagoons on the west shore. Baby Hannah wanted to walk and Brandt wanted to snooze so we walked along all four lagoons. When Brandt finally woke up after an hour and a half, we sat and played a little. He was still pretty grumpy and drooly and only went in the water for a couple minutes.

This afternoon he napped another three hours and woke up slightly less grumpy, but still very drooly and the molar is still just swollen but not poking through. I hope it makes its appearance soon because he's miserable! I'm giving him teething tablets, but I can't tell that they're doing much. I tried the teething gel once, too, but that seems to make him even more drooly and pissed off. We've got a big day planned for tomorrow so it will either be a complete disaster or keep him good and distracted. I really feel for the babies who go through this with each and every tooth. And at least Dan isn't here to see he itty bitty baby feeling so bad. He may be even wimpier than I when the mouse is sick.

North Shore

I love the North Shore! We started out in Haleiwa for our usual: fish tacos and fish burritos at Cholo's, shave ice at Matsumoto's, and a visit to The Growing Keiki to look for cute baby outfits. Nothing grabbed our interested at The Growing Keiki, but Brandt and I got matching bracelets at Polynesian Treasures.

Jeff's favorite beach is the one where Baywatch Hawaii was filmed, but we dropped him off at the airport for work this morning so we went to my favorite, Waimea Bay. Baby Hannah doesn't like the cold ocean, but Brandt and Jake had fun frolicking in the surf. It was tiring work and little B took a looooong nap on my lap while Jake swam with Tammie and Baby Hannah entertained me by turning anything and everything into hats (my favorite: her bikini bottoms).

We finished our long day out with sushi at Banzai Sushi Bar, back in Haleiwa. The kiddos were all exhausted, but they rallied for a bit and ate edamame and some of the less fishy rolls.

Shopping, more shopping, and stars

After dropping Jake off at preschool (by car this time) we picked up a quick malasada from Leonard Jr.'s (yum!) and hit the Aloha Stadium swap meet. We found some pretty good stuff even though the jam ladies didn't have their free samples ready when we walked by.

Since we had another hour to kill before Jake was done with school, and didn't want to head home, we spent it at the outlet center. It's kind of fun doing regular old mainland stuff in Hawaii. We got some very tasty smoothies and bought some kid clothes. Jake now has a very cool baseball hat with either a tiger or a bear on it (Tammie thinks it's a tiger, I think it's a bear. Oh, and Brandt says it's a bird).

This evening we went to Ko Olani to see Na Hoku Maluna Hawai'i (Stars Above Hawaii) at the Marriott. It was amazing. This NASA dude has a huge telescope and the first thing he shows us is Saturn, ring and all! I think that was my favorite, but Jupiter was very clear and impressive as well. Jake and Baby Hannah looked through the telescope, but Brandt just crawled around on the grass pointing at stuff and giggling.

Walking Waikiki

Our morning almost started at 4:30. Brandt seemed fully awake, but he didn't insist on getting up (phew!), he just looked around for thirty minutes and finally fell back asleep. So our morning really started at 6:50--not bad considering it felt like 9:50 to us. We left the house with Tammie and the keikis at 7:30 to walk Jake to preschool. It's pretty warm and humid here, and there is a big hill so the other moms were very impressed with us.

With the 3-year-olds busy at school, the moms went to the park to get to know each other (the school year started yesterday). They had snacks so Brandt and I tagged along. There were a couple 20-month-old boys there and Brandt and Baby Hannah had a great time playing around with them. Of course now Tammie tells me that both those boys tend to bite other kids, but I checked Brandt for teeth marks and he's clean. Brandt went down a couple big slides by himself. Super cool because that is part of my master plan in which he plays by himself and I sit on my lazy butt and watch.

The rest of the day was spent walking and shopping in Waikiki. Don't worry, Jeff was busy with work stuff so he didn't have to come shopping with us. An old Hawaiian auntie (everyone is "auntie" here) tried to make Brandt and Baby Hannah smile for the camera in the picture above. It didn't work. And they got more and more suspicious of her by the second.

Brandt's been working on his walking quite a bit, but he's still mostly crawling. Just a short while ago he was crawling around the house (normal crawling--not lazy leg crawling) and Jake and Hannah were both crawling along behind him. It was too cute! It's so cool how they all play together. Now hopefully they'll all be walking together soon...that's much better than the alternative of them all lazy legging around the place. Hannah has already tried to mimic the funny crawl by scooting around on her butt. Still cute, but not quite the same.

LAX-HNL

Last night at 8pm we drove out to LA. It was a bit of a pain for me since I'm not a night person, but I correctly assumed Brandt would sleep most of the way. I had hoped he'd sleep the entire way, but he woke up after three hours so we stopped to pee and snack for ten minutes. So with the one stop and a lengthy 55 mph speed limit construction section it took 3:50. Not too shabby!

This morning we woke up early and took a walk down to Echo Park. There were so many birds around the lake I thought Brandt was going to get a hand cramp! Bird is still his main sign and he insisted on signing it at every duck, swan, and plain old bird (...and jogger...and dog) we saw.

I was a little worried about the flight--we haven't taken a long flight since Brandt's been mobile, but it went well. He was awake and playing for the first bit and then took a super long nap until shortly before landing. We sat next to the sweetest 4-year-old girl who helped keep him entertained.

Tammie and Jeff greeted us at the airport with leis for each of us. Baby's first lei! He had a great time tearing it to bits on the drive home to Mililani. We were pretty tired tonight so we didn't do much, but tomorrow we'll play lots with Jake (3 1/2) and Baby Hannah (1 1/2).

Puppets schmuppets

Here's a picture of Brandt paying no attention to the Traveling Tales Puppet Show at the Sahara West Library this morning. At least he had a lot of fun eating all of McKenna's snacks (he always likes snacks better if they come from someone else). We thought this shirt might be a little too Hawaiian to take on our Hawaii trip tomorrow, but would be perfect for day-before-Hawaii-trip to set the mood. And look, he's kind of making shaka with his right paw. Hang loose.

We also worse the loud shirt to a blessingway this afternoon (like a baby shower, but way cooler). The grandfather of the baby-to-be asked me if I had ever gotten Brandt's "lazy leg" checked out. I shrugged it off, but he brought it up three times, along with helpful ideas like an extra bone in his foot or a muscle problem. So of course now that it's had some time to sink in, I'm [needlessly] worried about it. I think I'll wait and have the doctor and chiropractor poke at his foot next time we're in. But the good news is that with a dominant right foot, he'll probably snowboard goofy foot like Dan and me.

Walking

Brandt's been taking more and more steps each day. I think today it's finally becoming walking and not just steps...but see for yourself and let me know if I'm wrong:

Brandt is wearing medium sized gDiapers for the first time today. They seem a little big still, but the smalls are getting too small. I think they make his butt look really big, but maybe now some of those 12 months pants that are still way too wide will fit before he's too long for them.

We were supposed to watch a movie (Nim's Island) outside by the Carousel tonight, but Brandt hit the sack at 6:30! I guess all this walking is tiring work.

Mini manager

We got to see Dan's new office for the first time today. It's big and pretty. Brandt was most impressed by the three keyboards to bang on.

Earlier in the day we went to Sarah's birthday party (the big 2) where a Wiggles DVD was playing in the background. This is the second time I've seen them and I have to admit I kinda like them. Brandt is still not interested by TV (phew), but when the time comes, I'll give The Wiggles a thumbs up.