Sarah: 1 Year Old!

Sarah is a year old! It is amazing how much our life has changed since we brought our beautiful little baby home. She is such a blessing. Just for fun, here is a look at how Sarah has changed over her first year: 

The day we brought her home

 1 month

 2 months

 3 months-this is about the time she started getting chubby :)

 4 months

 5 months

 6 months-I love my little marshmallow!

 7 months

 8 months

 9 months-goodbye chubby baby!

 10 months

 11 months

1 year! 

 Sarah & I went down by the water near our house for a sunset photo shoot. She wasn't exactly cooperative, but she sure is cute. 

and look at those little curls! I love it!

Here is what's up with Sarah at 1 year:

• Height: 30" (50th percentile), Weight 21 lb 15 oz (75th percentile), Head 18.1 inches (42%). She is getting skinnier and taller all the time, and she definitely didn't end up with a huge Hindman head like her mommy.
• Took her first step in the bathtub just before her first birthday.
• Says "mama", but not usually in reference to anyone. I think it means "I need something!"
• Favorite toys: stuffed dogs, green bear, shopping cart, the furniture, the garbage can, the diaper bag, basically anything that isn't actually a toy...
• Loves taking things in and out of containers.
• Throws things when she gets frustrated, especially in her carseat or her high chair.
• Screeches very loudly all the time to get our attention.
• Loves dancing and reading books.
• Loves being held and going outside.
• Charms everyone with her 2-tooth smile. 

Walking & Woofing

Sarah has had some exciting firsts lately! Her grandparents were pretty excited to be here to witness her first word and her first steps. We thought Sarah was going to be an early walker, but once she figured out how to crawl she lost all motivation. Crawling seemed quite efficient. She actually took her first step in the bathtub a few days before her 1st birthday, but it wasn't until about 3 weeks later that she took more than one. Apparently she just needed more of an audience to perform for.

She also said her first official word. (She says Mama, but we really aren't convinced she knows what she is talking about). Sarah loves dogs-living ones, cartoon ones, and toy ones. Therefore, it was appropriate that her first word was Woof! She says it all the time now, especially in reference to her favorite stuffed dog. She was my favorite stuffed dog growing up, and now Sarah has adopted her.

Not the best video, but if you listen closely, you can hear her little "woof woof woof"

Now, pretty much all animals are "woof". We will have to work on some more animal sounds.  It is so fun watching Sarah discover such fun skills!

A Luau for Sarah

Here in Hawaii, first birthdays are a huge deal. The parties they throw can be huge. We wanted to do something fun for Sarah, but putting on a massive party for someone who won't remember it seemed a little silly, so we invited a few friends over and had a little luau at our house. After all, this will be her only birthday in Hawaii, so she needed a tropical party.

 She wasn't too excited about the lei.

 Flip flop cookies (or "slippers" as we call them in Hawaii)

We had pulled pork sandwiches, fresh pineapple, starfruit pineapple punch, 

and pineapple coconut cupcakes. Yum!

 Sarah had lots of fun playing with her friends.

 Practicing her standing skills in her birthday outfit. 

It is the same outfit I wore for my first birthday party. 

 Sarah got to have her first cupcake. She was a little timid at first...

 ...but once the wrapper was off she dove right in.

 Delicious! 

Sarah got Clifford for her birthday! She loves him. 

She played with her new Clifford for the rest of the day.

 We had such a fun birthday party!

Halloween 2014: Sockhoppers

Sarah just missed Halloween last year, so this was her first Halloween. She had fun helping us carve our pumpkin. We made a Tinkerbell pumpkin.

There is just something wonderful about swing dancing and twirly skirts. My poodle skirt is one of my favorite Halloween costumes, so this year I made Sarah one to match and we went as a family of sock-hoppers.

 All of us at the ward trunk-or-treat. Sarah helped pass out candy. She also really enjoyed the chili cook-off. She loves beans.

 Poodle skirt girls. Sarah is very stylish.

Dance party with daddy!

Don't you just love those little saddle shoes! I love how her costume turned out.

On Halloween, we had our traditional mummy dogs for dinner. I tried to add eyes with mustard. Fail. Sorry they look like they are throwing up.

Our neighborhood has tons of trick-or-treaters, which was fun. We sat out on our porch passing out candy and watching the Happy Days Halloween episode.

 Sarah enjoyed digging through the bowl of candy. We took her to one of our neighbor's houses so that she could say she went trick-or-treating on her first Halloween.

A Visit from the Grandparents

We had the awesome chance last month to have Kelson's grandparents come from San Diego to spend 2 weeks playing with us and getting to know Sarah. We had a great time showing them around Hawaii. Here are a few of the things we did together:

 USS Arizona Memorial. It is amazing that we drive by this bit of history every day. Being there, you can feel the reverence of the place. There is still oil leaking out of the ship under the water. It is still in the same place it sank on December 7, 1941.

 We picked up a couple of Hawaiian treats at the swap meet to taste test. The first was pickled mango, which they sell everywhere here. When Kelson and I tasted it, both of us reacted by saying, "Why would someone eat this on purpose?". It was not good. Really though, why would you expect pickled mango to taste good? Why would you ruin a perfectly good mango?

 Next, we tried pineapple with li hing seasoning, which is kind of a sweet & sour flavor. Kelson described it as tasting like Mexican candy. It wasn't bad, but regular pineapple is definitely better. We hooked Kelson's grandparents on fresh Hawaiian pineapple while they were here. I think they had pineapple with almost every meal.

 Since Kelson had to work during the week, Sarah and I did some exploring with her great grandparents. This was on our drive around the southeast shore of the island. Excuse the random ribbon dangling in Sarah's face.

 Another day, we went to the Dole plantation. We learned about all of the different kinds of pineapple and introduced Kelson's grandparents to the deliciousness of Dole Whip. Yum! Sarah had some too.

 Sarah loved having extra people here to love her and give her attention. She especially loved the green teddy bear that Great Grandma carried on the plane to bring to her.

 One Saturday morning, we all did a zombie 5K race together. It was fun. Everyone started the race with 2 flags, and the goal was to finish the race without your flags being captured by the zombies hiding along the course. Kelson finished 2nd, but he didn't get a prize because both of his flags were captured. Kelson's grandma managed to keep one of hers simply by refusing to give it to the zombie. Apparently zombies negotiate. 

 That afternoon, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a great time watching all of the shows and learning about the different Polynesian cultures. The Tonga show and the Samoa show were our favorites.

 For dinner, we went to our first real Hawaiian luau. The food was delicious...except for poi. We weren't big fans of the poi, although Sarah thought it was pretty tasty. Kelson got a little bit full. 

After dinner, we went to their awesome evening show. Sarah was pretty worn out from our fun day and slept through the whole thing even with all of the singing, yelling, pounding, and loud drumming. Then she slept all the way home. It was a great way to end the day.

We had so much fun having Ed and Elaine here for 2 weeks. We miss living near them in San Diego and stealing yummy fruit from their garden. Thanks for coming to visit! Mahalo nui loa!