Maile girl is about a month away from her first birthday. Since we won’t be able to celebrate with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal on Maile’s actual birthday, they decided to throw Maile a mini-party here on Hawaii. Consider it a kick off to the festivities complete with presents and Maile’s first taste of ice cream!
All of these? For me?
Maile girl all decked out in her first first birthday outfit...
Mommy teaching Maile that you always read the card first...
Thank you Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal for all my fun gifts!
After the presents it was time for the ice cream. Very early on (before Maile was even born I believe), Grandpa Cal requested that he be the one to first introduce Maile to ice cream. We thought that was a great idea and all agreed that her first birthday would be the right time to start developing her sweet tooth.
Here’s take #1 of Maile trying ice cream for the first time (yes, it took multiple takes…):
Clearly didn’t go as smooth as we were hoping – after a utensil correction, we nailed it on take #2:
Still not wildly in love with the ice cream – although I will say she warmed up to it a bit after we put the camera down. I guess for now we’ll leave it as a TBD whether she develops her Grandpa’s love of ice cream!
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
Don't worry, Maile and Daddy have plenty of sunscreen on!
You can’t have a trip to Hawaii without a little beach action, so on Saturday we headed over to Lydgate Beach Park. (Great spot on Kauai if you have kids btw. For one the ocean has built-in kiddie pools with rocks protecting from the surf and across the street is a great playground.)
We were looking forward to having Maile show off everything she’s learned in her swim classes for Grandma and Grandpa – and sure enough, she clinged to Mommy and Daddy like a pro 😉
Mommy, this pool is so much nicer then the one at the JCC, but if its alright with you, I'll stay close to you all the same...
Maile and Daddy hitting the waves...
Ahh, this is the life! (Dad note: Yes, that's Maile girl in the shade being hand fed grapes - quite a life our little girl leads...)
Last time, daddy got the parting artistic shot – this time, its mommy’s turn…
Thank you Mommy for a fun day at the beach. You're welcome, Maile Girl.
My first piano lesson with mommy - she said I did a wonderful job!
Do I have to practice?
During my explorations of Grandma and Grandpa’s house I noticed this big box sitting in the corner of the living room. I asked mommy what it was and she told me it was a “piano” and that she used to play it. I asked her to show me how it worked and she obliged.
She showed me how pressing the keys made noises and that if you pressed them in the right order the noises sounded like music. (She then had daddy press the keys and told me that sometimes noise was just noise.)
After a bit of practice this is what I came up with – what do you think?
That’s right – I’m back on Kauai visiting Grandma and Grandpa! We arrived on Thursday and we are here for a whole week. Mommy said we are here for a little “r and r” – whatever that is – and we are also here to celebrate my first birthday a little bit early with Grandma and Grandpa.
Daddy told me that the truth is you never really need a good excuse to come visit Grandma and Grandpa (or did he say to come to Hawaii??) Either way I agree with him!
Every weekend we video chat with both sets of grandparents. Now that Maile is standing, we typically set up the chair in front of the computer (as shown in the picture above) and Maile entertains for 10-20 minutes. We noticed this weekend, that as soon we moved the chair Maile started looking at the computer screen waiting … seemingly because she knew she was about to have fun with one set of grandparents. That’s what she is doing in the picture above, patiently waiting for Grandma Jill and Grandpa Mike to “arrive”…
Lucky for Maile we are off tomorrow morning for Hawaii and she’ll get to see Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal in the flesh!
