ZumwaltOhana.com

Another Marathon Post

Well, we have just returned from a very successful evening of geocaching!  There were three caches right here in Mililani that we had never found before.  Zak and I had tried to find one back when I was very pregnant, but we were ill prepared.  Then we tried to go back to find that one and another one only to get rained out before we even got started.  So, today we started out with clear skies and only got a little damp and cold, but we found three!  We have included some pictures of the adventures in Koa's 13 month photo album.

I have been pretty negligent in recording the news of all the events going on around here lately.  I guess that is because we have been too busy!  We missed talking about Easter, but if you watched Update Fifty Four you pretty much got the scoop.  There wasn't a whole lot more to tell about our Easter. 

However, that same weekend we did get to go out for a very nice dinner on the North Shore with some of our good friends.  You might recall me telling about a similar dinner the weekend of Koa's birthday, and I mentioned that the service was quite bad.  It was bad enough that I just kept thinking about how unpleasant it was and how disappointed I was because I was the one who had recommended the restaurant for our friend, Jessica's, birthday.  After contemplating it for a while I sat down and wrote a letter to the manager telling him just how disappointed we were.  He responded almost immediately with sincere apologies and invited all 18 of us to come back and have dinner on them.  So, most of us made the trek back up there for a very nice meal with much improved service.  Twenty-one Degrees North has redeemed itself and has been added back to the list of lovely places to eat on Oahu.

On other food subjects, I now am the proud owner of a torch for my kitchen (I just went to Home Depot and got one of the smallest ones they had instead of paying some inflated price for a "kitchen torch" that looks and acts basically the same) and we tried making Creme Brulee.  I am proud to say the second time was more of a success!  Apparently the recipe I used the first time didn't have enough fat in it (go figure) because the second recipe I used had more egg yolks and called for heavy cream instead of half 'n half.  At any rate it was much creamier and more delicious and the torch made all the difference for the caramelized sugar on top.  It was lovely! 

My garden is also coming along very nicely.  You might want to take a peak in on Kathy's Spring Foliage to see how well my tomatoes and pineapple are doing.  I'm so amazed at how much everything changes every day!  I already need to get out there and take some more pictures, but I'm not sure anyone is really that interested in the daily events of my plants.  It doesn't matter, though, I make everyone look.  Anytime we have guests over I have them set their stuff down and then head back outside to see whatever random thing seems most exciting to me at the moment.  Fortunately I have good friends and they humor me--including my husband!

Zak has also been busy with his latest projects.  In addition to working on school and his "full time" job, he is working on getting small groups started for our church family.  He is still in the planning stages, and is putting a lot of time and energy into it.  He was able to talk with the congregation one Sunday night and give them a little background on the subject.  He will be giving a couple of lessons on up-coming Sunday mornings in place of the sermon.  You are able to listen to his first lesson here if you are interested and if you want to read it, you can go here.  He will be posting the others as they come available.  We are really excited to see what God has planned for this congregation.  Please pray for Zak as he listens and tries to follow the Spirit.

Well, I think we can say that Koa is officially out of diapers.  We still put water proof pants on over his training pants when we are out of the house and he also wears that at night.  He doesn't consistently wake up dry, yet.  He's been having about one accident a day and that is usually because I just don't get him to the bathroom in time because we get busy or something.  I was still using his timer when we were distracted and might forget, but it got dropped on the floor one too many times and it can now be found in timer heaven. 

We have taught Koa the sign for potty and he is kind of starting to use that.  In fact, yesterday he was trying desperately to tell me he needed to go to the bathroom (not using the sign, though) and I was just not getting it because prior to that time he really had never tried to tell me and he had just gone, so I didn't even consider that he might need to go again.  Since I couldn't figure it out he went and sat down to play with his plastic eggs and made a mess in his pants.  I felt SO terrible when I figured out what had just happened!!  However, today I made the sign for potty while we were at my client's house and he immediately took off for the bathroom.  He has even tried it out on his own, but never really needed to go when he said he did.  Maybe he is just testing to see if I am paying attention this time!

I guess the fact that I am re-dressing him so many times a day now has really started to effect his actions.  Now when I call him to come to me he walks to within two feet of me, then turns around and walks backwards 'til he's right against me.  When I lean down to put his pants on, I just hold them down there and he will step into them without me even saying anything.  Sometimes he will try to say, "Step, step" because that's what I always say.  I get such a kick out of it.  Today we were at the park and he was wandering off so I called him to come over to me and he walked over, stopped, turned around and backed up.  I hope I haven't ruined him for life!

Finally, we have some very exciting news to report.  Our friends, the Lewis ohana, were blessed on April 18 to welcome Emma Claire into their family at 2:08 PM Washington time.  Welcome, Emma, we are very excited to meet you! 

Big News!

We've done it again!  Our latest book just hit the (virtual) stands and is now ready for you to choose, peruse, and give rave reviews (hopefully!).  This book is called Na Makahiki 'Ekahi (The First Year) and is strictly a photo album of Koa's first year here with us.  You can see our pictures of the book in the Our Published Books photo album.  Even cooler though, go to the Blurb Bookstore to read a description and even view the first 15 pages of Na Makahiki 'Ekahi in PDF format.  You can even order a copy of our book for yourself if you so desire.  Enjoy!

Closing the Communication Gap

I have mentioned many times before just how fascinated I am with Koa's development and how each part builds on the next.  The thing I found most fascinating when I was reading about how the brain develops was language.  So, it would be fitting that this is the last thing to develop for Koa.  He just doesn't say much, yet.  Well, let's clarify.  He doesn't say much intelligibly, yet.  His only real word so far seems to be "Dada".  I guess because of this he has had to find other ways to communicate which has been lots of fun to watch. 

The Point:

He now points at everything--if he wants it; if he wants to show it to you; if it caught his eye; if he thinks there might be something in the general area in the near future...  He likes to point.  The other day he decided he wanted some of the grape tomatoes that his dad was eating.  They were sitting on the table, so he couldn't reach them and apparently we weren't noticing "the point".  So, he went over and got the tray from his booster chair, carried it to the table and set it down on the floor and started making "urgent" noises.  When I asked him, "What do you want, son?"  He vehemently pointed at the tomatoes (which he immediately spit out when we gave it to him).

Koa also likes to point to a new favorite of his - his toothbrush!  Koa loves brushing his teeth while we're in the bathroom!  He would brush his teeth every time he goes to the bathroom if I would let him!  We would spend our entire day in the bathroom.  What fun that would be!  So, he is only allowed to brush them in the morning and at night and we are still working on not whining when mommy puts the toothbrush away.

He is still not telling us consistently when he needs to go to the potty.  I think that is a sign that he doesn't really know ahead of time when he needs to potty, or else he would find a way to communicate it to us.  So, for now we are just taking him at regular 1-2 hour intervals.  It is becoming enough of a habit for us that we don't really need the timer any more.  As long as I take him regularly he stays dry all day!  Even if he does have a little accident he usually catches himself mid-stream and still needs to go when I set him on the potty.  We've even mastered the big people potty when we are out and about by bringing along the cushie tushie travel seat.

He has a certain book that he likes to read on the potty (it's his only plastic book, so I also like for him to read this particular book on the potty).  It's called "Water Water Everywhere."  When we started reading it I would always point out the same things on the pages and ask him to point to them.  When he finally did, I told him what a good job he had done.  So, the next time I asked him to point at the different pictures he chose to point with his mouth.  He would actually touch the book with his lips--right on the picture, but not with his finger--as if to say, "I know what you want, but I'm not going to do it your way."  I laughed about it and didn't ask him to point with his fingers any more.  When he finally did start using his fingers again he would point out all of the pictures I normally ask him to identify before I could even ask him to - "Yes, yes, mom, I know--the drink, the ball, the bird and the flowers--you're really quite predictable!"  Then a couple of days later he started pointing with his toes!  Crazy kid!

The Whine:

Ohhhh, this is not my favorite form of communication.  He is certainly becoming proficient at it, though.   My sister tells me this is a normal developmental stage to look out for, but she always said it happens at age three.  (Unfortunately, our child seems to be a genius in all the wrong areas!)  One of the books I have been reading, To Train Up a Child, talks a lot about training for attitude, not just obedience.  Maybe Koa was just trying to give me some practice for the things I have been reading.  This book is written by and about a family with an Amish background and they give a lot of scripture to back up their ideas.  I'm sold on the concept, but not necessarily their methods (I didn't say all their scripture was in context).  Regardless, they have given me some ideas on how to handle Koa's whining and we have had a few battles over his attitude.  The first couple battles seemed to last forever even though it was probably just a couple of minutes total.  They have since gotten shorter with time.  The good news is that his attitude is drastically improving.  It is so very amazing to me just how much he can and does understand at this age.

He generally challenges me more than he does Zak.  I think it's because he knows that Zak is not as much of a stickler for "first time obedience" as I am.  Zak usually gives Koa a couple warnings before the hammer comes down (Zak's words)!  However, yesterday morning the two of them had about an eight minute stand-off on whether or not Koa was going to sit down to put his shoes on.  When it was over and Zak prevailed, the morning went on without a hitch.

The Words:

Although he doesn't have any words he uses regularly other than shs (shoes), ssss (keys), ssss (necklace), ssss (shee shee), ssss (flush)--you get the picture, every once in a while he will say something just as plain as day, such as "all pau" or "apple sauce" or "I love you" or something like that.  Then he won't ever say it again!  So, I'm not sure if he is actually saying things or if I am just going crazy.  Zak usually assures me it is the latter!