That’s right Zooba fans everywhere, Keana turns 5 on Monday! We’re gearing up for the “friends” party on Sunday and it is no joke. We’re not foolin’ ourselves about being super-juvenile-birthday-party-planners, but there are some good things in store. Sarah is decorating fairies for yard decorations as I type, one of our various “fun stations”. Since the weather is gorgeous, we’re planning on doing everything outside. We’ll have a fairy station, a dinosaur station, the sandbox of course, maybe bust out the kiddie pool, and also have the enchanted forest. Like I said, we’re not going to go too overboard, but that’s the beauty of kids; you bring the concept, and they just run with it, their imaginations the driving force. There really doesn’t have to be much in place. All we have to do is get this place cleaned up, “freshen up” the sandbox, hit the grocery store, and decorate. It’s sort of our first venture into this realm, so we’ll see how it goes. I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about being “the dad” at the bbq, next to the cooler, hopefully not telling too many embarrassing jokes. I’ll let you know how it goes, the party that is, not the jokes.
Tag Archives: birthdays
Baby
Keana and Maia’s first, first cousin was born last Thursday, September 17 at 9:38 a.m. and we were in town for the big show. Her name is Olivia and she was 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches long. The girls were SO excited when they heard the good news. Sarah was already at the hospital and we were on our way, driving on the I-5 north towards Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Keana and Maia were in the backseat, holding hands as they did throughout our trip to Long Beach, and I got The Call. Just minutes before, Keana, Maia, and I had taken bets on whether we thought it would be a girl or a boy. We all decided it would be a girl, and I got to be the good messenger that told them, “It’s a girl, Girls!” Maia squealed and Keana yelled, “Yaaaay!” and they proceeded to jump and wiggle in their car seats the rest of the way to the hospital in anxious anticipation of meeting the new baby.
Earlier that week I had traveled to Berkeley for some meetings, but had rented a car just in case this very thing happened. Tuesday morning, at 7:24 a.m. Iana called me and said, “My water broke around 12:30 last night and I think I want you guys to come down.” I immediately got on the phone with Sarah and worked out the plan; I’d drive from Tiburon (where the meeting was at), and She, Keana, Maia, and Jennie would drive from Fresno so they’d get there faster. I arrived at Iana and Ryan’s house around 4 p.m. and I could already see Iana had been doing some work. The contractions were still relatively mellow, but she had that pre-baby look. For the next couple of days, Keana, Maia and I hung out around Long Beach and in the hotel, waiting for the good news. Sarah stayed with Iana and Ryan most of the time to support them, and visited us every now again to check in and remind the girls she was still close. It definitely wasn’t easy being in a different town taking care of Keana and Maia myself. Keana’s pretty easy, but Maia is still really attached to her mama. The good thing was that it gave Maia and I a chance to bond, so I think it really brought the two of us closer. We definitely had fun at the beach and had a couple late-night “Papa Movie Nights”, staying up later than usual before the three of us retired to the king-size.
The tough part for me was not knowing exactly what was going on. Sarah gave me good updates, but it was such a roller coaster. Iana and Ryan really wanted to have a home birth, but since Iana’s water broke, there was a bit of deadline to get that baby out, and the contractions- and ultimately the baby’s position- weren’t necessarily aligned with the original plan. As with every birth, there were a lot of things you just can’t predict so you have to roll with it, which is never easy, especially over several days.
In the end I was really thankful that we were all able to be down there for the exciting moment and we’re looking forward to getting to know little Olivia much better. It’s fun to see Iana and Ryan become parents and embark on their new, greatest adventure, and it reminds me of all the tough, but magical moments Sarah and I have been through up until now.
Going through it
We have really been going through it. In the beginning of March, we lost our little friend Loden who was only 14 months old. His parents were in our homebirth group, and their oldest son Sage is Keana’s best friend. It has been extremely sad and we’ve been doing our best to support them while dealing with our own grief. They also live on our street so while they have a ton of support, I hope having us “right there” has been some extra comfort in their during this tough time. The memorial celebration was Saturday, April 4, at Sage’s preschool where Loden loved to play as well. There were lots of tears, but having all the kids dance—with Keana right up front in the lead with Sage- was a great celebration for the short life Loden led.
In the midst of this, life goes on. Keana’s fourth birthday was sort of a last-minute small affair. Iana was in town for work, so Jennie drove out from Fresno and we had a small celebration. She was very excited about getting Mulan and Pocahontas dolls, and enjoyed a little treasure hunt, complete with map, for her tinker toys, sand toys, and magn-a-sketch tablet. Given the circumstances I think things came together really well.
And, of course, we’re packing and preparing to move to Fresno. Sarah has been amazing and we’ve started to convert the garage into a staging area for the big event. I’d say we have about 30 boxes/crates packed so far, 29 of them done by Sarah. Oh, and on top of this, my best friend Neel is getting married May 3 in Massachusetts, and his bachelor party is this weekend. I think a bulleted list will best describe the crazy timeline:
- April 8: Grandma Jennie comes from Fresno, on the train, to help Sarah pack
- April 9-12: I’m in the Valley of Fire and Vegas for Neel’s bachelor (camping) party
- April 10-13: Sarah, Keana, Maia, and Grandma Jennie drive to Fresno for Easter celebrations. (Sarah and the girls will drive back with Iana on that Monday).
- April 15: My last day in the Berkeley office
- April 16-17: We pack it all up (at least what’s left)
- April 18: Load up the truck and drive to The Fres and probably unload
- May 1-4: I head to the MA for Neel’s three-day wedding extravaganza. Yes, we were totally bummed that we couldn’t afford for all of us to, but Neel will be doing a West Coast wedding thing that all of Team Hokama will attend in full cuteness.
I’m not sure how much is sinking in for Keana and Maia at this point, but Keana did say today, “I don’t want to move to Fresno! I want to stay in my house forever!” So I think though everything has been really positive until this point, it’s just a reminder that this will be a big move, running the full gamut of emotions.
As we pull ourselves out of sadness and mourning the loss of Loden, we are looking forward to the exciting times ahead. Yes, it will be tough and I think it’s about to really sink in, but we still feel this move is the perfect choice for our family right now, and look forward to the new adventures and possibilities this move will bring us. Life is pretty wild right now, but I’ll do my best to bring the highlights.
Home-birth birthday numero quatro
Today we gathered for our monthly home-birth get-together, and we also celebrated the kids’ fourth birthdays. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been four years since we all had our first kids and that we’ve all stayed in touch. It was an amazing class, and I think it really was something special and unique for us all to go through together. There were seven kids there today, out of eight, and we all had a lot of fun. Now that the kids are so old, they pretty much just play together and run around in circles, literally, while the adults and other babies get to visit. Maia was especially social today and managed to not get plowed over at all. We’re definitely going to miss this group of people when we move, but we’re hoping that regular visits to the bay will help us keep in touch.
Little Miss Maia has been a real fire cracker lately too. She is so physical and just goes for things in a way very different from Keana. She’s very agile, turning in circles quite well for a little one, and runs and climbs like a little monkey. The other day at the park she climbed up the half-barrel for the first time, almost by herself, a feat that Keana didn’t try until she was almost a year older than Maia is now. If I hold her hands, she’ll walk right up my chest, over my face, and onto my shoulders, squealing with delight as she goes. Maia is so independent and often wants to try things for herself. She very much wants to do what everyone else is doing and refuses food that’s prepared just for her. She just pushes it aside and reaches for yours. Speaking of food, she’s our little carnivore and is usually happiest with her own sausage or hot dog to gnaw on, politely spitting the skin into her little bowl.
Keana continues to amaze us on all levels, but just last week she started to grasp the concept of adding. I asked her if she had nine monkeys and added one, how many would there be, and she quickly answered, “Ten!” She doesn’t always get it right, but the ideas are definitely sinking in. She can’t wait to start school and I’m pretty sure she’s going to be a little ring-leader. When we go to the park she’ll have all the other kids playing chase with her in a matter of minutes, whether they’re two years old or six. Quite the social butterfly. She still struggles with sharing with Maia, but at the same time is amazingly sweet to her little sister. It’s definitely been a struggle for us lately, but we’re all continuing to figure it out and maybe some day we’ll get it.