Missing Daddy

Makaela has been very vocal about missing Matt lately. She has made some comments that make me want to laugh and cry at the same time:

-When I got the milk cap stuck in the sink and couldn't get it out, she said, "Guess we need to call Daddy to come home and fix it." (oh sure, he'll be here in 10)
-"Daddy is not allowed to go on a plane again forever"
-"I don't like Calee-forn-a" (she alternates thinking Matt is in California and Iraq)
-"Don't pick me up from school today. I want Daddy to pick me up. He would like that." (I would like that too)
-"My daddy can't wait for my birthday party." Then when I tell her that Daddy won't be home for her birthday she says, "Well, I guess I have to have a princess party because Daddy is not going to be there and princesses are only for girls" (ummm, gender roles anyone?)

sick, sick, sick

I thought I would have so much time on my hands once summer came, but that is not the case. We have all been battling colds and illnesses since the summer started. It started with a stomach bug that literally knocked me out for two days and then Mia came down with an upper respiratory infection that spread through the house, snowballing with new symptoms as each family member got sick. We are now back onto Mia, who, after having some of her cough clear up, now has an eye infection. With the cold she has started waking up again around 1:30-2am for another feeding. Good grief. I have had to quit Crossfit because I have had to keep the girls home from daycare and couldn't attend my gym classes (and as much as I hated Crossfit in the beginning, I was actually seeing major improvement in my muscle tone, so I was bummed about this). I have been doing laundry, cleaning vaporizers, sterilizing everything I can, with no luck. Mia is too young to go on meds, so that doesn't help and Makaela hasn't been sick long enough (or severe enough) to be seen by the doctors at the clinic, so Mama is playing nurse, house keeper, laundress, playmate, cook and trying to find time for the dissertation...wait...that was everything I was doing anyway just to the 9th degree.

Teeth!

Mia finally has teeth! She sprouted her first two bottom teeth on Friday. Makaela got hers very early, so I was wondering when Mia's were going to pop through and they finally have. I tried to get a picture of them, but they are still pretty small.

USO craziness

Since our last military event went so well, I thought we would try another one- USO Military Appreciation Day at the Waikiki Aquarium. Last time I went to the aquarium, I wasn't overly impressed, but since it was free and they would have kid friendly activities, I thought I would give it a shot. There was a free shuttle from the NEX and since Makaela has never been on a public bus, I thought it might be a fun experience for her. We got to the NEX and were told we had to wait for the next shuttle- they didn't anticipate so many people going. Once we did get on, Makaela had a great time watching the scenery pass by. Mia, of course, smiled and charmed everyone. Once we got there, we had to wait on line to get in. I let Makaela go play around the Banyan tree while I was in line, but she soon came running back crying saying the bad lady scared her. Turns out a homeless lady was camped out on the other side of the tree undoubtly irritated by the rush of little kids. Once we got in, Makaela lined up immediately for...yep, more tatoos. She got three. So at this point, she has two on each arm- all she needs is a Harley and a do-rag and she is all good (I shudder to think). She then said she was hungry so we attempted to get online and then I found that it wrapped around two walkways. Thankfully at one point we passed the tidepool exhibit. Needless to say, both she and I were irritated by the time she got her food and even more so when she realized that she didn't like the hot dog ("It tastes funny"). So we decided to finally go into the aquarium. We started towards the main hallway when I noticed yet another line, so I asked someone and was told it was the line into the viewing halls. Now, I'm no idiot and I'm not about to take a 3 year old into a packed hallway while I'm pushing a stroller. I had visions of Makaela being shuffled away in the crowds and I try to catch up with her with the stroller- no thank you- however, I didn't want to disappoint her. I was prepared to put sleeping Mia in the sling and Makaela in the stroller and brave the elements. Luckily, when I told Makaela that we had to wait on another line, she said, "Can we go wait on the line to go home!" She had had it and I couldn't have been happier to hear those words come from her mouth. So at 12:15 we got on the shuttle line...mind you that the shuttle wasn't coming until 12:50, but Makaela was great and played memory on my phone. When the shuttle arrived however, people rushed the back of the bus...grown men...grown military men with their families, cutting all of us who had waited patiently. At this point, Makaela started crying and I was close to tears as well. The driver, instead of making the ruthless people get off, he simply called another shuttle. This shuttle was much less crowded so I guess I am glad we waited. By the time all was said and done, we were very happy to be back in our car and I think Makaela won't be asking to go back on a bus anytime soon.

Circus Night

With Matt being an Individual Augmentee from the Navy (meaning he went by himself, not a whole command), I have been assigned an IA Liason, Diane. She and the other liasons organize family events to get people networking and to just give the parents a break. This month was a circus themed party. Makaela kept asking me if there were going to be lions and elephants and I had to explain that it was just a party- then she asked if there was going to be cake. Oh, that girl. She was beside herself when she realized there was an airbrush artist (otherwise known as the tatoo lady).

Makaela enjoyed all the games too. She was literally at the craft tables until they closed down the party. Mia charmed everyone and stole the show. She had more men in camo making goofy faces, blowing kisses and pinching her cheeks than any other lady there. Overall, it was a great night.

Family Bed Rationalizations

In a previous post, I mentioned that I loved waking up with the girls, but I think I may need to take that back. Makaela has started boycotting her own bed. She will let me put her to bed and then sneak out about 30 minutes later (just when I think she has fallen asleep too). She has come up with some pretty interesting rationalizations about why she needs to sleep in my bed and here they are:

• "I just like your bed better"


• (in reference to a night when I was really sick) "You are sick, so I need to stay here in bed to watch you. Don't worry, I'll sleep down here so you don't get your germs on me" (she slept at the foot of the bed the entire night)


• "I can't have Mia waking me up. I have school tomorrow and I don't want to be so so tired"


• "Mia's crying hurts my ears" (sharing a room may not have been the best idea)


• "The motorcycles are scary" (living on Kapolei parkway- not so quiet anymore)


• "I just don't feel well. I need you." (I think I'm raising a hypochondriac)

and the best one...

• "Daddy is not here so I don't want you to get so lonely" and then when I asked her what will happen when Daddy comes home she said, "Well, then I'll go back to my bed, but Daddy will be gone for a long long time so I'll stay here"

Crawling...maybe

Mia wants to crawl very badly and against my better judgement, I have been encouraging it (I'm sure I will wish I could take it back in 2 months but oh well). Check out her improvement. Not sure if it's her crawling ability that got better or if she just learned to stretch a bit further :-) Video 1 is from Saturday June 18th and Video 2 is from June 19th.