We hope this update finds you well. Let’s recap the happenings since last blog, shall we?
1) Anela is growing so fast! People warn you that kids grow up quick almost incessantly but nothing really preps you for what it actually feels like. Take a look at these pictures…
Anela then…
Anela now…
It’s not even the same little girl!
Wearing sunglasses indoors. Having hair...and an attitude. Maybe I should say personality instead of attitude because she is so sweet. Sheesh...
Sometimes when I can’t sleep at night I will look at old pictures (a.k.a. pictures that are only a few months old…) of her and am constantly blown away by how much she’s grown. Ali should be emailing or posting Facebook a link to some recent pictures of our little Anela soon.
2) We celebrated Alison’s birthday. It was a fun and pretty low key celebration. Ali’s two requests were: a) potato skins for dinner and b) an ice cream cake from DQ. Done and done! The next day, I took the day off from work and we went to lunch at Feng Asian Bistro. The food was great and the service was even better. I felt like there were at least 5 different servers checking in on us and making sure the food was good.
Here is what Ali had.
One especially awesome thing about this lunch was that it was just Ali and I. Anela spent some time with her little friend Jude and his mommy Jill (thanks again, Jill!) and gave Ali and I a couple hours to hang out and be together. It was really refreshing, and great to have some quality time with the love of my life. After lunch, we scooped Anela up and all went down to Claytime, a place where you can paint unfinished ceramics (a la Color Me Mine, etc.). I thought it would be cool for us to make something that Anela could help us with. After searching through their inventory, we found a little bowl. Here is the work in progress.
Anela loved getting her foot painted. She did not, however, love me and one of the workers trying to evenly squash her foot onto the bowl. Screaming and then immediate foot washing occurred.
All in all, it was a fun two days celebrating my wife. I continue to question where the heck I would be without her and continue to appreciate the blessing that it is to have her as my partner, best friend, support, and the mother of my child. I love you, Alison. PS- You make a killer chai tea that always gets me through the day. Thank you.
3) Ali and Anela are keeping busy. Besides the day to day business of being a stay at home mom and baby combo, these two are always on the go! Ali is babysitting Ethan on Mondays (with the help of Anela, of course). They also go to 2 different baby/mom groups and that has been great for both of them. One is a little more focused on baby mobility and improving in that department and the other seems to be more mama focused providing support, connection, and a time out for moms. Anela continues to grow into a social butterfly at these groups and Ali gets to make new friends and meet others who might also be new to the area. Anela also has swim classes on Saturday mornings. It is really cool that the pool is just across the parking lot from our apartment. I don’t expect Anela to be a Dara Torres after these sessions but they are really helping her get comfy in the water. This seems really important given where her grandparents are (Hawaii…ocean, Minnesota…lakes). Here she is in action…sort of…
Ali, as usual, is always finding more projects to fill her plate. Whether it’s researching the best way to care for Anela (i.e. reading up on new foods for her, looking up at home remedies for the care of her cloth diapers, comparing the best baby gates for our stairs, etc.) or some design work, she stays active. I don’t know how she does it, but she does. I am always impressed but seldom surprised.
4) The weather out here has been nuts. If you have been watching the news you have seen that snow has been crushing the east coast. We haven’t had a big storm in a while but the ones we were having were causing school closures at least one day a week, for a while. Kind of awesome for school closures, kind of unawesome for how much snow there was out there. There are still HUGE mounds of snow in a lot of shopping center lots, the athletic fields here, and on the side of the roads. Some people from around here have said that this is the worst winter they have seen since ’95. Bummer for us but here’s to hoping for a real nice spring and summer (after the melt and potential flooding, of course…).
5) Dale came out to visit again. It was a quick trip but the Pau household was still so happy to have him here. Dale even watched Anela so Ali and I could have a night out. It came at a time we really needed it so that was such a blessing. We went out for some steak (always good, right?) and talked for forever. It was real nice.
Thanks again, Dale!
6) We are going on a cruise in the beginning of March with Ali’s folks and brothers. It is going to be amazing and we will have one of the most travelled babies by the time she can walk. Here are some things I will be looking forward to (in no particular order):
-Time with family
-Time with Ali while family watches Anela
-Getting some sun (this one is long overdue)
-Going to places I have never been (Florida and Cozumel)
-Visiting the casino and the vengeance I intend on taking for all the other times that casinos have robbed me (of both a good time and finances)
-Having people bring me drinks whilst I lay in the sun half asleep
-Reading something that’s not “academic” or for work (I bought a new book for $1 about James Brown and how he saved the soul of America)
-Attempting to take a family portrait with wife and Anela Boo
-Bringing back a unique liquor to add to my collection here (probably something from Cozumel?)
I want to pack already. I am so anxious!
7) In other travel news...we are headed to Hawaii the end of May. We are so pumped to introduce our Anela to Hawaii and have her meet her family there. My mom reminds me that Anela is the only grandbaby she has yet to hold. We are coming, Grandma! It will be a fun time and we are even planning a little birthday party for Anela. More on that in the near future…
8) I am just putting a deposit down for a new tattoo this summer in Hawaii. It will be done in the traditional Polynesian method. Here’s some info on it…
The guy in the video is actually the same guy who will be doing my tattoo. Crazy, right? Well, to cut the crazy in half, my friend Buck who has done all but one of my tattoos is coming to Hawaii and getting something “tapped” as well. It will be so fun to see him again (last time was June) and get these tattoos done. Super excited about this adventure and to have a good friend there is a huge bonus.
I think that is about it for now, folks. Thanks for sticking around and checking in on us.
PEACE,
Tyler
