Aloha Parenting

I found this post languishing in my drafts.  We took X to the Waikiki Aquarium a few weeks ago.  We were victims of a little passive aggressive parent shaming.   X was climbing up and down these stone steps outside an another parent told her child that the steps were not a toy.  I guiltily pulled X off of the steps.  He proceeded to grab a nut and throw it around, chasing it, while Bobby called him, "a nut with a nut."  He was probably burning off the sugary danish we gave him in the morning.  The other mom was giving her toddler a biology lesson.  They probably had granola for breakfast.

We felt a little like lazy parents, but hey.  It was a beautiful day, and X was happy.  He wanted to be friends with the good kid, but I guess his parents had warned him.

The aquarium, by the way, was fantastic.  They had little toddler step stools at the base of all of the tanks, perfect for X to peer in.

Having a snack on the Judd Memorial Trail

A really cool sunset.  It looks like the mountain is on fire.

Fish!

A nut chasing a nut

"Will you be my friend?" "My mom thinks you're a bad influence."

The X Chronicles

Independence

My sweet little boy said "no" to his daddy for the first time the other day.  Every morning, he throws all of his stuffed animals out of his crib.  Bobby picks him up, sets him on the floor, and he puts his stuffed animals back in the crib.  It's one of his many rituals.

Until one morning, when X said, "no!" and ran out of the room.  Stunned, we listened to his feet patter to the kitchen.

"Momo?  Momo?"

"You can have your milk when you put your toys away."

X ran back into the room and hurled himself onto the pile of stuffed animals in anguish.  The terrible twos are here.


Reading

One of the most delightful aspects of X's burgeoning maturity is his ability to "read" his own stories.  He can tell me portions of several of his books.  My favorite, hands down, is Clifford's Bedtime.  He uses his own words instead of the "proper" ones, which is really sweet and shows me that he knows what is happening on the page.  We read this one almost every night.

"Clifford's not ready for bed.  He needs...?"
"Beaw!"
"He needs his bear! He needs...?"
"Beebee!"
"He needs his blankie! He needs...?"
"Momo." (Momo is usually spoken solemnly.  It is serious business.)
"He needs a drink of water."


Death by Singing

X loves songs, particularly ones that he has heard several times before.  I made the mistake of singing "Old Mac Donald" but giving the man an airplane.  X made me sing that verse over and over.  Now, the only animals that Mac Donald is allowed to have are an airplane, a helicopter, a bus, a truck, and a motorcycle.

His little mind has grown so much over the past few months.

We hiked to Makapu'u Lookout on Discoverer's Day.  You can see Molokai from there.

My hiking buddy

Beautiful blue-green water

The view from Kaneohe Friendship Garden.  You could actually see Molokai on the other side, but I covered the camera with my thumb.