Category Archives: development

development

SLAW!!!

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I’ve been meaning to write about this hilarious thing Keana does. It’s called “slaw” and here’s how it works: when getting dressed in a long-sleeved shirt—usually pajamas at bedtime—and her hand is covered in the sleeve, she sticks her covered hand out and sings in a very high, loud opera-like voice, “SLAWWWWW!” I was an instant fan the first time I observed it, which was about seven or eight months ago I think (maybe earlier). It cracked me up and when I asked her about it at first she couldn’t really explain it. Then after a while it came out that “slaw” was like a trunk of an elephant spraying water, so if you got “slawed” you were all wet. One might also have “slaw foot” if your foot is mostly covered by the leg of your pants. It was really cute when Keana noticed newborn Maia’s hand covered by her sleeve, remarking, “Hey! Maia has slaw too!”

Of course now that I finally wrote this down, the great “slaw” is beginning to fade. Keana doesn’t say it hardly at all anymore and I almost feel like us, The Old People, catching onto it, killed it. Isn’t that the way it is? By the time adults catch onto the latest slang or music or style, the kids have already moved on to the next thing while rolling their eyes and shaking their heads in embarrassment.

development

Silly baby

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One thing I don’t get about babies is this: if they eat when they’re hungry, and they poo or pee whenever the hell they have to, then why don’t they sleep when they’re tired?! Maia has been a great little sleeper in general—and I remember thinking this with Keana—but when she gets “over tired”, she refuses to go to sleep peacefully. She’ll fuss and scream and cry, all the while barely being able to hold her head up or keep her eyes open. And of course she’s only content in Sarah’s arms when she gets to this point. And by this point, usually, Sarah’s been dealing with her all day and needs a break.

It’s tricky too because what worked one day sometimes won’t work the next. That’s where the frustration comes in. One night you’re able to gently rock her to sleep to a little background noise, and the next you’re practically jumping up and down singing some song over and over and over (the latter being okay if you like the song and you’re down with an aerobic workout at 9, 10, 11 o’clock at night).

Last night was one such night. After trying and trying, Sarah finally passed Maia off to me. I tried gently bouncing her on the ball with the TV as background noise and she wasn’t having it. So I took her in the bedroom, turned off the main light and turned on the bathroom light, and went to work. (Maia prefers a little bit of light when falling asleep.) I sang, “Go to Sleep Little Baby…” over and over and over while smoothly springing up and down, back and forth. I did this till my thighs burned, sweat poured, and I was almost too out of breath to sing anymore. From time to time I glanced down and saw her fighting to stay awake, but she finally gave way to the great sleeping machine called Papa. She was so beautiful and peaceful sleeping in my arms, which I enjoyed for a minute before sweat got in my eyes and I realized my back and arms were killing me. It may be hell getting the little ones to sleep at times, but when you see them with eyes closed and their little minds drifting out of this world, it really makes it all worth it (…but babies are still silly).

development

So what are dem kids up to?

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Maia is amazing. Everyone’s asking how big she is now and we don’t really know, but we think she’s about 13 lbs. She’s been holding her head up since the beginning, but she’s much stronger now at 9 weeks and swivels that head side-to-side to check out things around her. Her eyes are an amazing shade of blue and they dart around eagerly following movements and sounds, trying to see what’s going on. She smiles much more frequently and the early morning smiles, right when you wake up together are the best. Not only that, but she is one talkative little baby. I wish I had the skill to spell some of the squeals laughs, and screams out, but I guess that’s what video is for. Maia will have long periods where she talks and talks if you keep asking questions and agree with her. It’s so much fun and the most amazing thing to be there when a child finds their voice. We can’t wait to hear more, but she’s certainly telling us all about it now. We had been using Keana’s old swing and it broke down, so we bought the Cadillac of swings using some Target gift cards we had received (THANK YOU Target gift-card-givers out there). The swing goes side-to-side and back-and-forth which is really cool and comes with five or six “noise” settings. She prefers the nature noises and will stay napping in that swing on-and-off throughout the day. Maia likes it so much that I was actually worried it was bad that she was in it so much, but after talking to the pediatrician, I guess those fears are pretty unfounded. Not that I wanted it to be bad. Without that thing, Sarah would never have a moments rest during the day and Keana would be mad as hell fighting for attention.

Speaking of which…what’s up with Keana? Well, Keana is amazing. She continues to be super sweet with Maia, often getting excited whenever Maia wakes up from a nap. At the first sound of Maia’s cry she usually says, “Oh! I think Maia needs us! Let’s go help her!” Down the road, at times, Maia may not think this, but she is very lucky to have Keana for an older sister. Keana loves petting her head and both of them enjoy lying next to each other on the bed and Keana either tells her a story or sing her a song—very sweet. Her nickname for Maia has been “Mi-Mi-Mai-Mi” usually followed by a, “She’s so cutie-cutie-cuuuute,” and a head pet.

Keana is active as always. In the house she loves running around and jumping up and down (especially on the bed) and still finds time for some “downward dog” and somersaults. She loves dressing up and the latest has been dressing up like Cinderella or a princess, using some of Sarah’s old jewelry as a crown and one of Tia’s old dresses for her “fancy dress”. This girl’s imagination remains quite active and we love seeing where she takes it. All last week she was really into having a “lovely apple”. Taking the idea from Snow White, she’ll get an apple from the fruit bowl asking either Sarah or I to offer it to her. She says, “You can say ‘here, take one of my lovely apples!’”. That’s another thing, she like role playing. So she’ll tell us what to say or how she wants us to react to get it started, then we take it from there. An interesting part of this is that she likes to role play defiance. For instance she’ll say, “You can say ‘no, don’t do that!’” and of course she’ll do it anyway. Luckily this is only a game at this point and she’s very respectful of the rules we’ve set. She definitely pushes those boundaries, but she continues to be such a good kid.

There have been some issues around going to bed though. They started before Maia was born, then mellowed out, then picked back up when I went back to work. Basically she tries to avoid going to sleep by coming up with every possible excuse or problem known to man. First it’s usually “I’m thirsty” followed by “My feet hurt” or “My stomach hurts”. I’m terrible at this, often folding at every request (though I have gotten better). Sarah does an amazing job with it and has gotten it back on track for the most part. I take regular discipline classes at the School of Mama Sarah. So there were a couple nights of very angry yelling and screaming, but for the most part it’s fine.

Another interesting development has been Keana’s love of movies. We always swore the TV wouldn’t be a baby-sitter, but honestly, sometimes there’s really no other way. When we’re both home, it’s different cause one of us can play with Keana and the other can watch Maia, but when Sarah’s there alone with both of them, there has to be a compromise involving the TV. Her consumption is still quite low, especially compared to the national average I’m sure, and we’re keeping it in check. This last weekend Grandma Jennie brought all the old Disney video tapes so I think it’s great that we have variety, but we’re definitely going to have to watch this. It’s another one of those things that you have opinions and theories about before you become a parent, then form new opinions and theories when you’re actually faced with it.

development, family

Life in the fast lane

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Can I say we’re hitting a stride with this Quadripod thing? I don’t know. I’m halfway through my second week back to work after taking six weeks off for Maia’s birth, and although getting back into the work thing is tough, it does feel like we’re adjusting. Admittedly when I returned to work on the sixth I felt like I was leaving Sarah with the short end of the stick. Being with the girls is wonderful, amazing, and fun, but it is WORK. Of course the work I do with the NWP and with teaching my students is work too, but compared to soothing a newborn and keeping a two-year-old entertained, “normal” work seems more like a vacation.

But we sailed through the first week and it was hard, but doable. Then we had a very busy weekend. Sarah’s birthday was on Saturday and Iana was in town so they did the spa thing and I stayed home with the youngsters. Everything was going fine until Maia woke up and realized there was no mama and no milk. She was pissed. Earlier that day Keana had scraped both her knees (very lightly) on the way to the park and she waited till just this moment to demand to be held. I couldn’t set Maia down so I tried to reason with Keana. She was not having it and within a few seconds I had two screaming girls, bawling their eyes out. It was one of those moments that you realize those ridiculous scenes in those comedy movies, you know those ones where the man has at least two kids puking or crying or whatever; those actually have a factual base. Maia really likes constant movement and background noise, so eventually I got the situation mellowed out by making a human train where I bounced Maia and repeated “chucka-chucka-chucka-chucka” and Keana followed along throwing in a “TOOT! TOOT!” as the three of us paraded around the entire house. This only lasted five minutes but it was just enough to calm them down. Then I was able to sing them both to sleep in Keana’s room with a variety of songs ranging from Paul Simon’s Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes to Creedence’s Someday Never Comes. There was something about singing those songs and holding little sleeping Maia in my arms while watching Keana sleep on the bed that got me all choked up. Maybe it was a stress release, maybe it was my love for them, and maybe it was both. I had to push back the tears though because it was ruining the song, but at that moment I couldn’t have been more thankful for that time together. Of course 10 minutes later Maia woke up screaming again and cried for another hour until Sarah got home, but at least there was that wonderful, brief moment of peace.

That night my brother Peter came up to see Maia for the first time and we had a fun birthday dinner/slumber party with the siblings. The next morning Peter had to leave early to pick up a friend from the airport and shortly after that Iana had to run to the airport to fly back to San Diego. Then we quickly got ourselves together for a homebirth potluck at our midwife’s house. Sunday night arrived much too soon when we realized we were about to start another week.

Needless to say, Monday was very tough for Sarah and the girls, but the week has gotten progressively better. On Tuesday our friend and doula Joscelyn came over and did a ton of work around the house and helped out a lot with food prep and meal ideas for Sarah. I arrived home from teaching at 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday night to a house full of sleeping ladies. As I ate my late dinner, silently at the kitchen table, I turned our new life over and over in my head. Our life with just Keana wasn’t ever really easy (though it had gotten easier), and now with Maia our life is certainly much harder. But I know we’ll look back on these early days and nights as a Quadripod—probably in the not-so-distant future—and just laugh at how crazy we were, being thankful that the hard stuff is over and looking forward to all the good stuff that lies ahead.

birthdays, development

Quadripod

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So, we had a baby. It’s not news any more, but indeed on November 25, at 3:11 a.m., Maia Ilani Hokama was born. Actually, “Baby Girl” was born as we didn’t have a name chosen yet, but it was beautiful. I will be writing all about the details of the birth in her birth story, but here’s the two second version: at midnight we called Cindy the midwife, and shortly after she called her assist, I woke up Keana and Iana—who was in town to help out with Keana during The Event—and three hours later Maia was born. It all happened pretty quick and she came out, arms springing into the air, reaching out to her new world. I know, exciting huh? But I don’t have time to get into it now, so you’ll just have to wait for her “official” birth story. I will say that the love and support our family, friends, and co-workers have shown us is amazing and we are truly thankful for all the wonderful people in our lives.

Anyway, I just got an urge to sit down and write here because it’s been WAY too long. Keana has practically grown up. She forms her thoughts well in wonderful sentences and gains new ways to express herself in words and other actions every day. Growling has been a great one lately, often growling to show frustration but to also tease. This isn’t exactly new, but she’ll growl a word or a name as a type of joke which is hilarious. I’ll be sitting upstairs after her bedtime and will hear a growling, “pApAaaaa!” through the monitor. We’ve been decorating for Christmas and her new word is “breakaful”. Don’t be fooled though, this is one articulate two-year-and-nine-month-old! Her physical activity has grown too. She now goes down all the slides at the park by herself, even the tall twisty one. She also likes to climb things and has even ventured to the top of the arched monkey bars (with my assistance though). In stores Keana refuses to hold hands but follows closely behind, often galloping or dancing down the isles. Everywhere we go, especially at the local natural foods store, she is truly the star. Some of her latest phrases also include persuasion, like “C’mon, just do it!” or “Maybe we can buy one?” Yes, she has discovered how we attain all the wonderful material objects around us. You can’t get through a store with stuffed animals without at least one very sweet, tame plea for a cuddly, furry friend. My latest way around this is enlisting a “finding friend”, just while we’re at the store, to help us get what we actually need. Two days ago it was a panda that helped us find the Christmas tree skirt. I find that a short relationship, with a hug at the end, often makes for a satisfying way around buying her everything she wants (or a very sad departure). Yes folks, Keana is growing up fast and we love her more and more every day, if that’s even possible.

Now what about Maia? Well, she’s two weeks old (two weeks and nine months I guess). She actually sleeps in three, four, and five hour stretches allowing us to catch up on sleep or other daily tasks relatively easily. What I’ve been loving are those mid-sleep and waking sputters and honks that babies make. Not to mention those adorable little baby stretches. Her eyes are getting lighter and I think we may have another blue-eyed beauty in the house. She’s got that serious new baby expression with that not-quite-focusing-but-looking-at-something-intently gaze, with unbelievable smirks and smiles while sleeping. At first her eyes crossed pretty easily, but with gentle reminders from Sarah that her nose wasn’t going anywhere, those cross-eyed moments are fewer and fewer. Maia also has the longest eyelashes anyone’s ever seen on a baby (but then maybe people didn’t see her sister’s). She’s gaining weight like a champ and is starting to get some chubby cheeks, so I hope their prepared for all the kisses and squeezes that they’re in for.

Sarah is feeling better every day and has been healing at a record pace. Two weeks after the birth she’s starting to feel normal again and says if feels great. She did a phenomenal job giving birth and amazed all those around her. Those at the birth not only marveled at the alertness and vitality of Maia, but also the strength and grace of Sarah throughout the occasion. She continues to be a great mother and nothing makes me happier than to see her caught up in one one of those loving, motherly stares at Maia or Keana. We are so lucky to have her holding down the role of Mama in our house.

Last but not least, me. I’ve been amazed, happy, tired, excited, frustrated, totally stressed out, and popping with love. It’s been hard adjusting to our new life, but I think we’re doing really well. I already feel like our fridge and our garbage can reflect our new number of four.

Which brings me to the title “Quadripod”. It’s a term I started using just before Maia was born, inspired by the word “tripod”. As we all know, a tripod is a three-legged device that usual supports a camera, but all the legs come to one point and in so doing also support each other. This is kind of how I saw Sarah, Keana, and I before Maia was born. Not knowing what a four-legged device would be called I just started saying “quadripod” and funnily enough, no one even batted an eye when I used it in sentences. Example, “Yup, this new little one will make us a quadripod.” See? Sounds almost scientifically correct. Anyway, that’s what we are now and for you conventionalist, we can also stick with “family of four”, though that’s certainly less glamorous.

What else can I say? It’s been a wild ride so far, already complete with ups and downs, and I assume it will continue on in this fashion more or less, but I can already see we’re up for it and ready to roll.

development

Prep

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“Oooohhhhhh! Agh! Egh! Egh! It takes a looong time being born!” Keana says as she pretends to struggle going from the kitchen to the living room, and that pretty much sums up our current family state.

Five weeks. Saying it out loud scares us a little and then we smile and laugh nervously. Sure we’ve done this before. Keana’s birth wasn’t easy but we got through it and look at her—she’s perfect. Things have been hard but some things have been easier than we thought they’d be too. We’re still learning and figuring things out but that’s just part of the gig—that’s what parenting is. You probably learn more than you teach. So we’re ready for the inevitable end of these five weeks, right?

Sarah made a list and so mine got made too. I mean, I got my list too, but it’s different. Sarah’s list had things like rent birth tub, get baby clothes in order, sign up for “second timers” birth class. My list included get stronger to support Sarah during birth (mentally, yes, but also physically) and do whatever’s on Sarah’s list. There were a few other things on my list, but that’s the gist of it.

We’ve been gradually talking to Keana about what’s going to happen using the book Welcome With Love to help us out. Sarah and I both still can’t get through that book without crying. Iana’s agreed to be Keana’s main support person through the birth since I’ll be focusing mostly on Sarah, and our close friend, who’s also a newly certified midwife, will be our back-up until Iana can get here since Iana will be flying from San Diego. It sounds like a solid plan but you can only plan so much with this birth stuff, so in the end, you just gotta go with the flow and hope your little contingency plans are enough.

Monday night we took the second of two homebirth classes which is tailored for second-time parents. It was really good having dedicated time, just the two of us, to be reminded of some things, learn about new things, and begin to think about everything else. For instance different strategies on how to tell Keana about what to expect during birth and how to process it after. Also really good reminders like “you can do this”, “nothing is permanent so if something doesn’t work with the new family dynamic, change it”, and “remember to take care of the relationship with your partner”. It’s really interesting how some things are the same as the first time around but there are new unknowns- things we’re hearing about and that make sense- but things we know we can’t possibly understand until we’re face-to-face with them.

development

Sick and better

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Keana was really sick the last week in September. On Tuesday (9/25/07) she hardly ate anything and Sarah took her to the doctor’s. Two hours later, as usual, the doctor really didn’t have anything to offer except slight peace of mind—so maybe that’s something. “Probably some kind of virus, but nothing to worry about,” she said and sent Sarah and Keana on their way. I couldn’t be there because I was teaching, but luckily Iana was in town so Sarah had some support.

On Wednesday things were worse. I could hear Keana was awake by the rustling heard through the baby monitor, but she wasn’t her usual, super-chatty self. I went downstairs to check on her and the first thing out of her mouth was a very sad sounding, “You can stay home with me.” It was heartbreaking! I then noticed something dried around her mouth and neck and realized it was dried vomit. I checked her bed to confirm—yup, vomit indeed. I felt so bad for her and if you could see the look in her eyes you would have absolutely melted. They seemed bigger than usual—almost hollow around the socket—and a little sad or confused as if saying, “What’s going on with me?”.

She spent most of the day in my arms with Sarah and I taking turns with the bucket. Each time she was about to get sick she would turn one way then the other as if trying to somehow escape what was about to happen. She almost said nothing all day and when she finally did talk, it was a weak whisper. It was a challenge getting any fluids in her but she finally responded to spoonfuls of water, gradually working up to sips in the evening.

We never do this normally, but I went to the video store and rented some movies to occupy her mind. Usually she’s running all over the place with her imagination, but since she wasn’t up to it this day, a movie seemed just the thing. She had been really into Disney’s The Little Mermaid in book form so we thought that would be good. When I got home from the video store she had perked up considerably, whispering in excitement about actually getting to see the little mermaid in action. So we watched a little of the movie—stopping before any of the really scary stuff—and put our tired, but healing baby to bed. It was a really tough day, one Sarah and I were glad we didn’t have to do alone.

The next day Keana was feeling much better, gradually eating more and more as the day went on. It took almost a week for her voice to return to normal and we were really glad to have our little chirper back in the game.

development

H-o-kama

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Keana’s been doing funny things with names lately- she’s figured out our first names. The other day she said, “You’re Luke!” and her “Ls” aren’t quite right yet, so it was more like “Yuke”—it was hilarious. And yesterday she was pretending to talk on the phone with “Luke”—having a full conversation inserting my name frequently throughout. She still calls me Papa, but there’s something strange about hearing your first name come out of your kid’s mouth. It always makes me think of those “coming of age” movies where the rebellious teen calls their parents by their first names just to annoy them, and it’s always said with a sarcastic tone and some eye-rolling. Keana’s also been calling Sarah by her first name too—I think slightly before she got my name she realized her mama’s name was Sarah.

But the real kicker is she’s learned her last name! She and Sarah were playing downstairs last week and Keana was writing in one of Sarah’s old checkbooks and as she was writing she was saying, “H-o-kama” over and over. I have no idea how she learned that we write our last names out. Actually, I think it was at the campout because she and Grandma Jennie were writing “papa” and “mama” and “grandma” in different colors. Of course they were all scribbled circles, but I think the connection was made.

(A funny side note on the checkbook thing—as I was picking up some of Keana’s toys in her room, in her little cash register I found some checks Sarah had written. One was made out to Keana Hokama for $2000.00 and the other to Big Bird for $200.00. It made my day.)

development, family

Present, past, future

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So much is happening, has happened, will-be-happening that I hardly know where to begin. Maybe I’ll just start at the present, move back a little, then jump ahead to a not-so-distant point in the future…and probably all over that timeline in-between.

I’m hungry—be right back…

I just had some of Sarah’s amazing mac-n-cheese. Damn that’s good. (I told you I’d start with the present, right? Okay, let’s move on.)

Side thought: Our camera is still broken! I finally mailed it in to get fixed, but who knows when it’ll be back. I feel like we’re really missing out on things here.

Let’s really begin:

Keana’s downstairs sleeping and Sarah is with her sister Iana for a night out and a slumber party. For those of you who don’t know, Iana is moving to San Diego in August with her boyfriend Ryan. Ryan’s already down there in law school—just finished his first year—and Iana’s going to join him in Ocean Beach. She’ll still be working at the National Writing Project and coming up to Berkeley about once a month once she moves, so we’ll still get to see her a little. It’ll be interesting to see how Keana deals with the move since Iana comes over to the house once a week to play with Keana and visit with Sarah. I’m sure she’ll miss her lots.

Before Iana leaves she’s been trying to get time in with all her friends and family here in the east bay (hence the “sister night” tonight). Also, as part of the ongoing going-away flurry of activities, Sarah, Keana, Iana, and (Grandma) Jennie went to Big Sur for the weekend of June 30–July 2. They hope to make it an annual trip just for The Ladies and it sounds like they had a really good time. Since I wasn’t there I can’t really fill you in, but maybe I can get Sarah to write a blog entry soon to cover all the ins-and-outs of that trip. For now though, I’ve put together a video from footage that Sarah took one evening of the trip.

I can, however, tell you what I did that weekend. Oh man. As a little background info, I haven’t had time alone at our house since Keana was born. I have had some time to myself while traveling for work and other short one-nighters here and there visiting my brother Peter in Santa Cruz, but this was the first time at home alone. Seeing how this blog isn’t just about me, here’s the synopsis:

June 30, afternoon:

  • Ran errands
  • Got car washed
  • Slept on floor with cat

June 30, evening/late night:

  • Went to Giants game (vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) with friend Kacie
  • Ate donuts
  • Watched movie

July 1, early early morning:

  • Watched movie
  • Slept

July 1, morning:

  • Still sleeping

July 1, afternoon:

  • Ate breakfast
  • Went hiking at Tilden

July 1, evening:

  • Went to movie theater and saw Live Free or Die Hard (third time to theater since Keana was born)
  • Ate
  • Practiced trumpet
  • Backed up music
  • Cleaned toilet
  • Slept

Exciting, huh? I had a blast but realized that I am truly a changed man. Staying up till 4 a.m. just isn’t the same and I truly missed my Girls. The house was too quiet and although it was really good to just do things for myself, it didn’t have the same magic as doing things for the little person with pretty blue eyes. Of course I missed my best friend Sarah too.

June flew by extremely fast and here are some magical Keana things we’ve really been enjoying the last month:

  • I may have mentioned this before, but before bed, while brushing teeth, it is so much fun singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Keana knows all the words and has added a hilarious “BWAAAAHHHH!” at the end while shaking her head back and forth vigorously. She’s crazy and we love it.
  • While walking without shoes on she’ll often say, “I’m just in my feet!”
  • In June we made it to the ocean twice and while standing in the ocean, Keana yells, “I love it! I love it!” and, “Here comes the ocean!” as the waves come to shore.
  • The other day, while sampling some of her imaginary soup, I said, “You are very skilled in the culinary arts Baby,” and she replied, “I don’t have any culinary arts Papa.”
  • Playing ball: Keana loves to be chased while carrying a ball and faking you out by throwing it off to the side instead of towards you. She’s also perfected the reverse over-the-head throw where she throws the ball backward over her head. The ball thing has really added a whole other dimension to “I’m gonna getchya!” one of our favorite games.
  • Keana continues to be the sweetest ever, often saying, “Oh, I love you so much,” and requesting hug after hug before I go to work. And what better way to come home from work than with her screaming, “Papa’s here!” as I walk up the stairs followed by a, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here Papa!” when I walk in the door. Of course she does this when Sarah comes and goes too, but Sarah doesn’t leave as often.
  • Clinging to Mama: maybe it’s because Sarah’s pregnant or some other developmental thing, but Keana has been all about Mama lately. When I’m here Keana often refuses to let me change her diaper, feed her, and brush her teeth. I know Sarah could use the break but I think she knows this will pass and happily pulls the weight even when I’m around. Aren’t moms great?
  • While in Big Sur, Sarah said that after she gave Keana a bite of food Keana ran down the hall a little bit, stopped, turned around, and in a stylized, deep “monster” voice said, “Thank you Mama.”
  • Keana loves to pretend. This morning we were playing downstairs, opening and shutting doors so the dinosaurs wouldn’t get us while eating imaginary pie out of tiny to-go containers that were used for pickles.

There’s so many amazing things we get to witness on a daily basis that I can’t possibly write them all down here. Today we were watching videos from Keana’s first year and Sarah noted that we’ll never be first-time parents again. In the videos the giddiness in our voices and apparent amazement at every little thing Keana did was so obvious that I couldn’t help but agree. What’s it going to be like when this next little one is born and changes all our lives in a new and different way? I also noticed that the amount of documentation by photo, video, and words has slowly decreased as Keana has gotten older and it made me a little sad. Have I gotten lazy? Have we started to take the day-to-day wonders of Keana for granted, and therefore haven’t dedicated the time and energy to capture the latest fleeting moments? I don’t know- I’d like to think not.

Only two things to do: get that damn camera fixed and keep writing.

development

With imagination, we’ll get there

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Keana’s imagination lately has been hilarious. Yesterday we were at the park across the street and the whole time she was in the swing she kept saying, “Scary monster in the house” looking towards the corner of the park at a shed in someone’s backyard. She kept saying it over and over not taking her eyes off the shed but not looking scared either—just very matter-of-fact.

“Oh, there’s a scary monster in there, huh?” I said.

“Yeah. And the cat’s knocking on the door,” she replies.

I started to get a little weirded out. Some grown-ass man I am.

“The cat’s knocking on the door but scary monster’s snoring,” she says.

“Oh, so the scary monster can’t hear the cat knocking because he’s snoring so loud?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

And she kept saying it over and over, eventually switching scary monster to scary lion, but the cat was still knocking on the door.

When I told Sarah this she told about a similar situation last week when Keana looked up and saw the smoke detector on the ceiling and said, “Elephants on the ceiling.” Sarah asked about it and she replied, “Yeah, elephants with water in their nose.” Keana went on to elaborate in great detail but Sarah wasn’t able to follow all the ins-and-outs of the whole story. Sarah also became a little weirded out at how detailed and elaborate Keana’s story was. Her stories are so detailed and strange that they almost seem real and you begin to wonder if you aren’t missing something completely.

I think we’re going to cut back on Dr. Seuss for a while.