Labor Camp

My parents and Raph and I have been working out butts off outside. We made a new flower bed, which involved a rock wall and digging up a LOT of grass. We planted raspberry bushes, cleared trees, cleared a large area of tall grass and weeds. Lots of work. Today my brother and Amanda showed up in preparation for Amanda's big run in the Boston marathon tomorrow! We took some time off from labor camp to visit the ocean and go out to lunch. The weather has been absolutely phenomenal! Unbelievable. It will be such a disappointment when the bugs hatch. We're not thinkng about that yet. Still enjoying every bit of bug-free 60-degree sunshine. Ah!

So Big

Now thar he's got clapping down, we're working on "so big."

Raph says that his head is so big it will more like this when he does it...

Welcoome dinner for my parents at Tim and Tamara's house. Tomato pie. Yum.

30 Days of Photos: Day 30

And the winner of the comment contest is: Laurie. There were a total of 52 entries, and Raph was my witness and name picker. He watched me write all 52 names (well really only like 22 names) on pieces of paper, fold them. Laurie, I'll need an address...

For the record Anna left by far more comments than anybody, so she will recieve a consolation prize as well.

I loved reading all of your comments. When I went back to count, I found a few new comments, some from friends I hadn't heard from in a while. What a treat. I love knowing who reads my blog and what your thoughts are. I've gotten really into this blogging thing. I'll probably do another contest, so stay tuned. (I've got to make a package first!)

This was also the last day of my 30 Days of Photos project and to be honest I'm ready to set the camera down for a few days. Some days it was a bit exhausting to worry about what picture I would post from that day, especially on days when I just didn't feel in that "there's a shot" kinda way. Whew. I'll probably repeat this project again, but not too soon.

A Big Day

Aside from helping me build a little stone wall around my flower bed, weeding and learning about various dirt consistencies, Makili learn two other things today. First he learned to clap and will do it on command! Second, he learned that when he points at things I go in that direction. He spent most of today pointing, especially at things that were way out of reach like mobiles, wall art, high branches. Sometimes I'd lift him up for a better view, but he also pointed at other things like the pitcher of sun tea brewing that he wanted to touch over and over. That's a lot for one day! Who could ever predict what might fascinate a baby. I don't think the toy makers have it figured out because my kid would rather play with sticks, rocks, bowls, and dirt than any of the plastic toys we've collected. Go figure.

He also had his nine-month appointment today (even though he's a little more than nine months). He's a squirt with a big head apparently. 27" 19lb 5oz. 18.5" head. Little in length and weight, but again, quite big in the head. He for real didn't cry for his shots today. Who doesn't cry for shots? Not that I'm complaining, but seriously, how tough can you be?

30 Days of Photos: Day 29

Building the wall together.

The Christmas Card

30 Days of Photos: Day 28

Wilderness Soup for the squirrels, hand-collected.

17 Years

Happy Anniversary Laurie and Doug. I can't believe my sister has been married for 17 years. That number sounds so huge. Like enormous. Almost as big as the concept of four children. We love you and miss you.

30 Days of Photos: Day 27

Gabrielle.

Uh.

I know I've been going kind of crazy with the photographs lately, but I really can't help it. So much I like, that I just have lost the editing ability. I can't. I look at my blog as a photo journal and I just don't want to forget any of these images.

We had a fabulous trip. Short and sweet. Thank you Matty for buying us tickets! Thank you Emily for saving the day with the car!!!! (I won't go into the long story of multiple shuttle rides to shady, hole-in-the-wall car rental dealerships, inadequate insurance policies, lack of car seats, etc except to tell you that my cousin Emily saved the day with her Enterprise connections. It pays to know people in high places sometimes!) Thanks you Jason and Deanna for cooking and entertaining and sharing your pool. Thank you Gabe, Laura, and Gabrielle for moving back to the mainland (and cooking, etc. too). We can't wait to see more of you. One of these days Gabrielle won't be able to outrun Makili any more and she'll just have to put up with his kisses like the rest of us.

Larry started calling Makili "slimer" because he has a tendency to slime you. Like cover you in drool and boogers. Yum. Gabrielle on the other hand is all dainty lady-like cuteness. I can't wait to see them grow up together.

Here are the four generations of Mattys. Great-grammpy (Rudy), Paka (Larry), Dad (Raph), and Makili. So lucky.

And our trip to the beach today. God Makili was completely in heaven. Crawled like a mile. Stood in the water. Chased the sandpipers. Ran sand through his fingers. I was near tears watching how much fun he had. Uh.




Can you see my new teef?




This picture is so damn cute I had to go over-board and blur the edges to romanticize it even more! But I mean come on. Have you ever see anything so damn cute?

I'm ready for these!

We went to the Sarasota Farmer's Market today. We met up with Dick Cardoza, an old friend of the Matty's. It was so nice to be outside and see all the fruits and veggies that won't grace our lives for months. Gabe then created the largest quantity of salsa ever made I think. We ate by the pool, still sweating, mopping up the salsa with our polenta and pomegranate juice. Heavenly.

30 Days of Photos: Day 26

Alligator tears and splash

We went to Myakka state park today and went on a bike ride. Makili and Gabrielle went in the bike trailer. Gabrielle was happy as a clam until we stuck Makili in there too. She did not want to share that space and wailed for a little while until she fell asleep and sweat out the crying against the plastic window. We saw alligators and nice Florida vistas. And we did it before we died of heat. Remember when I lived in Hawaii and 85 degrees was the norm?







We also spent some time in the pool today. He really liked it once he got used to the temperature. We couldn't get him to stay in long enough for that yesterday. But he was psyched to splash, splash, splash. We all really enjoyed watching it.

30 Days of Photos: Day 25

Instead of napping.

A few more from yesterday.

Seriously the worst night of sleep ever. Last night was a testament to respecting the routines of your child. Put him/her to bed on time (or at least close). Follow other established routines, such as not nursing him every hour, not picking him up every time he cries. Worst night of sleep ever. I can’t even call it that because there wasn’t actually any sleep. Raph took him away outside this morning, since there is really no other retreat in the house, and just as I had fallen asleep the goddamn alarm went off on the phone.