Christmas 2011

Christmas came and went in a blur this year.  It's been a hectic few weeks for us, as we have had many holiday celebrations, but we've also suffered a tragic loss in our family.  The weekend began with the annual X-mas party at Aunty Alice's house on friday, followed by Aunty Pat's house on saturday, and lastly Aunty Diane's house on sunday.  As always, Sadie the party animal, had a blast at every one of the parties and stayed up waaaay past her bedtime each night.

This year....we went to watch Paisley and Chase open their presents on X-mas morning, then in the afternoon, everyone came to watch Sadie open her presents.  Good thing cousin Paisley offered to open the majority of Sadie's presents for her (otherwise...it would have taken the whole day!).   We are very grateful to everyone for their generosity and thoughtfulness....with all her new toys and books, we can probably open a day-care & a boutique here at our house!   

I'm still working on more pictures....mommy got a new SONY camcorder from daddy for Christmas, but as it turns out, it's not compatible with my computer (mac), so I cannot download the footage!  Who would have thought?!?!  I think there's a way, but need to research it more.  Hopefully more pics & video to come.   

Sadie w/ Santa @ Kahala Mall (12/15/11)

Caught her red-handed (12/22!)

Guilty elf-face (Thanks for the festive shirt, Aunty Jenn)

"This one's mine...and this one's mine......and this one too"

Mini-Minn with Minnie Mouse.  We have Christmas lights on our house this year!

Everyone looks better when standing in front of a Nieman Marcus tree!

Aunty Diane's house (12/25/11)

BEDHEAD!

Sadie's hair looks like this every morning!  It takes about half an hour for it to settle down :)

Thanksgiving 2011

Just a few pics from Thanksgiving dinner at Grammie's house, including one of a very few family pics of the three of us.  It was a rough week for Sadie, as she got a big bruise on her face after falling in the bathtub and had two episodes of minor hives (Jamba juice and Yoplait yogurt).

My Gym: Week #2

Poor Sadie, had not one.....not two.......not even three......, but FOUR vaccinations this morning at 9am, but she was still ecstatic to go to my gym today at 9:20am!!  She seems to have gotten the hang of the stretches and singing during "circle time," and had fun with lots of new activities today, which included: cones & rings, a relay race, head-stands, and her favorite activity of all: the ZIP-LINE!

Week #3 (11/19/11) pics:

Hanging rings

"Waterbed" group swing

See-saw

Week 4: Sadie went on a weekday w/ daddy...no pics :(

Week 5 (12/3/11): Sadie has vastly improved her skills, and now pays almost full attention to the warm ups and circle time introductions.  

GO Bows!

Sadie attended her first UH sporting event, an exhibition game featuring UH versus HPU.  The game started a little after 7pm, which is normally her bedtime, so we were a little worried if she would "last", but she accomplished the goal, which was to make it through the first half of the game.  She seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere: the crowd, the band, the lights, the music, etc.  We had cousin Paisley there to show her the ropes on how to cheer ("De-Fense....De-Fense" and "Go, Bows, Go!") and dance (row the canoe) when the band played.  Soon, she'll be competing with her big cousin to get the Jack in the Box coupons that drop from the blimp at half time!  (As Paisley would say: "the blimp knows me, Paisley!".....she hit the jackpot this week and got FOUR coupons!)

We left at half time and headed straight home, where Sadie drank her bottle and was out faster than a light at about 9pm.

Say MOM! & Say DAD!

I'm a WADDLER!

Today was Sadie's very first "class"....the waddler class for 14-22 month old children @ My Gym.  It started off a bit rocky with Sadie being a little fussy since she actually could have went down for a nap had we been at home.  It didn't take long though, for her to adjust to the settings and start having fun.  We started off with warm-ups with all the children and parents along the red circle.  We did some up and down stretches, some twists, some bending, and also arm circles.  For the most part, she stayed with either mommy or daddy and did about 70% of the stretches....for the other 30% of the time she wandered in the circle checking out the other kids and parents.  (Pretty good, since she was probably the youngest, or one of the youngest in the class at just over 13 months).

We next did some "adventures," which included setting up different types of planks which all landed at the "airport."  This activity was a little too advanced for her, but she did take a few steps on the balance beam, with Grammie's help.

 

The next adventure was the group swing and also individual swings, which Sadie enjoyed thoroughly.

 

The third adventure was "individual play," in which they encouraged the parents to stay as far away as they were comfortable with, and let their children play with the toys and other children.  This is one activity that Sadie excelled at.....she did not even look up once to see where we were!  At one point, we thought the little turtle pool she is sitting in had a motor in to toss and turn the toys, but it turned out that she was kicking her legs under all the toys and making them rumble herself!....everyone had a good laugh at that.

Next, they had a short puppet show, which she also enjoyed.  She was right front and center watching the action.  And finally, we sang the "bye bye song," to which she clapped her hands and danced joyfully.  Not the perfect student, but off to a very strong start!

2nd Halloween!

Belle, DJ Lance, and Penguin

We have a 3rd generation penguin this year @ Kahala Mall!  Lucky for Sadie, this cute little penguin outfit was still in good condition after being worn by Paisley in 2009 and Chase in 2010!  Not much trick or treating was accomplished by Sadie, who wanted to "waddle" all over the mall aimlessly, but nevertheless, it was a fun time!  Aunty Jenn, Uncle Corey, P/C, Grammie, Grandpa, and Aunty Shanti were all there to join in the fun.  (Gramps was in Japan, and Daddy was out saving lives) :)

2nd Generation (Chase 2010)

3rd generation (Sadie 2011)

My Gym

Sadie got her very first gym membership!!  We totally lucked out, because a brand new My Gym opened up right in the Aina Haina shopping center!  Today we went to the first "open house" and Paisley, Chase, and Sadie had the time of their lives with all the activites, which include a ball pit, swings, musical toys, slides, and fun group activities.  Paisley, Chase, Sadie, and even mommy made brief cameo appearances on the KITV evening news, which featured the grand opening of the newly renovated shopping center.

Sadie will be in the group called "waddlers" which are 14-22 month old kids.  With the membership, we can attend one organized class per week, and as many free play periods as we want.  In order to get the most bang for our buck, we are hoping to go to as many free plays as possible so we can play with Paisley who is a "mighty-mite" and Chase, who is a "gymster."

High above the balls....

Sinking....

Uh oh....drowning in the sea of balls!

The secret ingredient...

We've determined that if we add NATTO to anything....Sadie will eat it!  :)  Whether it's peas & rice, pumpkin apple, or sweet potato cinnamon....just add about one-fourth of a tray of natto, and she'll gobble it right up!

Sadie now has her 7th tooth coming out (4 on the top, and now 3 on the bottom).  We are also now weaning off the soy formula and transitioning to regular soy milk (6-8 ounces three times per day).  I actually thought it would be easier once she was off formula, but so far it's been a little more challenging because she needs the milk to be warm, not room temperature and surely not straight from the ice box.  Once we get to 100% soy milk, our next step will be getting her off the bottle!

Forgot to write earlier that at her 1 year visit, she was still topping the charts at 90% for height, but her weight rounds out the bottom of the chart at 20%.  We're also now trying to start some early habits of brushing her teeth, but she WILL NOT let you hold the toothbrush for her.  She wants to do it HERSELF, so not sure how effective a job she's actually doing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SADIE!!!

For Sadie's first birthday party, we decided to have a small gathering at Grandpa Minn's house with our closest family and friends.  Although I can't say what the exact head count was, my guess is that about 60 adults and 11 children attended.  The night went so fast, which is always the case when you're having fun! The theme for the party was Hello Kitty, and the colors were green and pink.  We set up tents, tables, and chairs on the lawn in front of grandpa's house and the food was set up in the garage.  For our pupus we had assorted poke from Tamura's, chips and dip (homemade by Grammie), and soy beans.  For dinner, we had Pulehu chicken, rosemary pork, and furikake salmon....which both mom and dad didn't get to try since there was so much excitement all night long!  And lastly, for dessert we had a giant HK cookie from Cookie Corner, ice cream, and a HUGE neapolitan cake from Zippy's.

Grandpa bought Sadie a traditional Korean outfit, which she wore while she performing a traditional Korean ritual of placing a ball (signifying athletics), money (business), and a pen (academics) in front of the baby to tell it's fortune.  Sadie went straight for the $100 bill!  Daddy thought she just chose the money because it was in the middle, so we repeated it, and she again chose the $100 bill.  We have a businesswoman in the making!

We planned a couple of activities for the kids, which kept them busy.  First, we had Aunty Kara's cookie factory, where the children were able to draw on their cookies with edible food coloring pens.  This was a hit with not only the children, but with the adults as well!

Next, we had sidewalk chalk for the kids to express their artistic skills on an even bigger scale.

Then, we had a pull-string pinata....which malfunctioned because it was OVER-stuffed with toys, senbei, and goldfish.  The look on the kids' faces was priceless!...they were SO confused because nothing was coming out!  Uncle Alika ended up shaking the pinata to release all the goodies.  And even more priceless was none of the kids wanted the senbei!  It was so funny....but I wanted to avoid putting CANDY inside, so senbei seemed like a reasonable alternative, but I guess not!

The next activity was a modern-day version of "pin the tail on the donkey"....it was "put the bow on Hello Kitty."  All the kids under 2 years old were able to see while they put their sticker on, but the kids over 2 were blindfolded.  When it was Naila's turn (she is 6), she put the box exactly on the spot!  Aunty Jenn was so impressed with Naila's placement of the bow she said "oh my gosh, that was SO good!  could you see when you did that?!"  And being the honest girl that she is, she sort of put her head down and nodded her head and said "yeah."  SO CUTE!

For the final activity of the night, Aunty Jenn set up a mini-nightclub for the kiddies.  With the colorful disco lights and the music pumping, the kids (especially the girls) were having a blast!  Most of the girls were jumping up and down and just having fun, but cousin Paisley was showing off her moves in a very serious manner!....her new favorite song is the LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem.  Sadie seems to be following cousin Paisley's footsteps, as she was also grooving a bit to the music.

Mostly everyone left by about 10:30 or so, including the birthday girl.  She ended up having her first sleep over at Grammie's house, since mommy and daddy had to stay at Grandpa's house to clean up.  All in all, it was a great night: catching up with friends and family and watching the kids have a ball.  Thank you, everyone, for coming and celebrating with us!

Lastly, two very special people were missing from Sadie's party, Uncle Ryan and Aunty Jenn....but they weren't able to come for a very legitimate reason....they had their first baby (Benji Orion Hew), exactly 1 year after Sadie was born!  What a birthday present....a new cousin!!!