KCC Picnic Weekend

We had a great weekend. On Saturday, we spent some quality time just hanging out at the house, and had a great trip down to Point Panic to watch truly epic surf. It was insanely huge. I am grateful that Matt has the sense not to go in when the sets are like mountains ripping up Kakaako.

Chubbs has gotten pretty good at holding up his head. He loves holding it up and looking all around in every direction. He usually smiles for a little while at his accomplishment, but I haven't got a picture of it yet because by the time I get my camera he's done smiling.

Thinking about going all the way up... Yippee! I did it!
Daddy and Emma provide moral support.

We decided to break out the Johnny jump-up from Karen and Andy to see how it worked. He's almost ready for it!

Chubby sleepy baby at bath time!

Giving Grandpa some sweet smiles.

We hung out with the Lims at the Kailua Community Church picnic on Sunday. The dads held the babies so that Keri and I could go and get lunch first. They should win something.

Nate and his future wife, Zoe. He looks pretty excited about marrying her someday.

Nate and Daddy with matching puppy hats at the picnic!

Lastly, this is a picture of the family chilling out on our bed. Yes, we admit that we might have the weirdest looking chihuahua of all time. The "kiddos" enjoyed hanging out together.

Nate is Two Months Old!

Our boy has reached the ripe old age of two months! I never would have imagined the tiny wobbly baby that was born just two months ago would have almost doubled his birthweight by now! Nate has earned himself the nickname "Chubbs" and continues to live up to it. He is getting pretty good at holding his head steady when held in a sitting position, and can hold his head off the ground for up to about 15 seconds while lying on his stomach. Wow!

We've been having a lot of fun with him in the last week and a half. We've taken him swimming a lot, hung out with lots of various friends, and Matt and I have enjoyed several dates while Matt's parents babysat Nate. I think the whole key to being well-adjusted and rested new parents is to have the grandparents nearby! Matt's parents have been wonderful about taking care of him, even coming to babysit at our place in town. Anytime we are in Kailua we are invited to stay for a delicious meal. I think the best part is that when we leave Nate, we are so confident that he is being taken care of so well and loved. It is so obvious that Nate's grandparents absolutely adore him. If you are reading this, Mom and Dad Stevens, THANKS!

I'd like to thank my dad for this first picture. He won this safari lithograph on our family cruise a couple of years ago, and gave it to me. It's hung right above Nate's changing table, and he lies there and smiles at it all the time. Thanks Dad!New goggles - aren't we stylin'!

(and a new haircut for me - I got tired of Nate grabbing at my long hair so I chopped it off!)
The whole family at Menchies Frozen Yogurt - our favorite treat!

Matt and I came home from a bodyboarding date to this tranquil scene. Isn't this sweet?

The boys reading together.

Nate is starting to watch Emma. Emma still mostly just ignores Nate.

The boys in the comfy purple chairs at Starbucks - one of our favorite places to hang out.

Nate showing off his rolls. I have to clean out all the junk that somehow accumulates in all those nooks and crannies.

Supervised Naptime/Guy Bonding Time

We attended Ella's fifth birthday party on Saturday and they had pony rides. We tried to wake Nate up from a nap to let him sit on a pony, but he put up a lot of resistance.

Our church had a father/son look-alike contest yesterday in honor of Father's Day. These three generations of guys are bad to the bone UH fans.

They beat out about 20 father/son combinations to win first place! Here are the three finalist familes on stage as Gordon presents the prize.

Lastly, here is a little video clip of Nate holding his head up for just a second or two in between attempts to eat his tummy time quilt. I love this little guy!

Afternoons Out at Walls

Lesley and I caught some fun waves at Waikiki two days in a row while Grandma and Grandpa came over to the apartment to take care of Nate. We are very grateful for the babysitting, as it allowed us to take advantage of one of the best and long-lasting south swells in recent memory!

Check out Lesley throwing a big spray into some kids' faces on the first clip!

7 Weeks Old

Nate is now 7 weeks old and approximately 12 pounds! Big boy! We feel so blessed that our little boy is so healthy. He gets heavier every time I lift him. Ug. Pretty soon I'm going to need him to carry me up our three flights of stairs.

This week was pretty normal -we hung around the house, went to Starbucks to grade final exams for Matt, and went down to Point Panic a few times for Matt to bodysurf. We also went to a graduation party and a baby shower that were fun. (The baby was born this morning, just four days later!)

We're currently enjoying one week off before Matt starts teaching summer school. He'll be teaching Study Skills to HBA junior highers from 8 to noon for the next three weeks. Good news we found out this morning is that his classes are tiny - one class has 7 kids and the other has 10!

Here is a picture of the whole family (minus Emma the chihuahua) chilling on the tummy time quilt.Nate shoves his first two knuckles in his mouth when he is hungry. Daddy wanted to try it, too.

I love the look on Nate's drooly face in this one!

Proud Papa

Point Panic sunset after a Menchies Frozen Yogurt stop to celebrate Nate's 7 week birthday. I'll take any excuse for Menchies!

I love this picture that Matt took of Nate peering over the side of the Baby Bjorn.

Nate loves his Baby Einstein mobile we got as a hand-me-down from the Lyaus. He lies there and grins at it when we turn it on!

Tim came over for breakfast after a pre-dawn bodysurfing session with Matt and we loaded him up with our little ones. Check out Emma's tongue!

Nate chillin' in the swing.

Hodgepodge of Pictures

Nate is six weeks old today. I had a really tough afternoon today as I packed up Nate's newborn clothes that he no longer fits. He is growing so fast! It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny helpless newborn and now he is a big 11 pound boy who is getting chubby and starting to hold up his head on his own. I feel I can actually see him physically getting bigger as I watch. I know this might all sound silly, but packing up his clothes that he has outgrown made me feel so nostalgic. This really is such a precious time in his life and I am treasuring every minute.

Nate fell asleep during tummy time a couple of days ago and Emma came over to keep an eye on him. (Don't worry, I was watching them both the whole time!) Side view - too cute!We enjoyed dinner with Joanna and Tim last week. Tim prepared a fish that he had speared. It was unbelievable. Better than Sam Choy's. Seriously.

Gorgeous Point Panic sunset.

Nate enjoyed a nice visit with our Kenyan friends Vivian and Gideon.

PJ and Jon came by to meet the little guy.

On Sunday afternoon, we took Nate for his first swim in the Wilkinson's brand new pool!

Mommy tried to teach Nate to backfloat, but he was such a natural that he really did it on his own.

Daddy and Jim Wilkinson gave Nate his first surfing lesson.

They even pushed Nate all the way across the pool on this board! Mommy was a little stressed...but Nate seemed to enjoy it.

This was just this afternoon at Point Panic. We ran into Jimmy Wilkinson out surfing, so we seized the opportunity for him to take a family picture.

Mommy chilled out with Nate while Daddy went bodysurfing.

Nate is starting to smile occasional social smiles! They melt my heart! Here was a lucky one caught on film.

And lastly, just for fun, here is a clip of Nate and I trying to get the above picture two days prior. Please excuse the my high pitched silly voice. He is heartbreakingly adorable even when crying!