Sarah: 3 Months

 Our baby is 3 months old! She has changed so much this month.  Our little newborn is gone.  Here are a few things about 3 month old Sarah:

• no doctor weigh-in this month, but she weighs around 15 pounds. She had a huge growth spurt!
• She is the happiest baby around. She loves to smile and giggle.  We are finally getting past the evening grumpies. 
• Sarah would love it if we would sing songs to her all day. She is a big fan of primary songs.  Song time is even more fun if we help her do the hand motions.
• She loves kisses, especially on the tummy.
• She went on her first vacation-a trip to Oregon to see Grandma & Grandpa Hindman
• Toys are finally becoming interesting, and she has started reaching for things and grabbing at them. Her favorite toys are still anything that dangles.  Mobiles are the best.
• Her hands are incredibly fascinating, and she is working very hard on getting her thumb into her mouth. Mostly she sucks on her whole fist.

Over the Ocean & Through the Woods...

For the first time since we moved to Hawaii, Kelson had to spend a little time out to sea, so Sarah & I took the chance to fly to Oregon and see the family.  It was my first time traveling with her, and I was pretty nervous, but she did great.

 Sarah was super happy, especially for a girl who got woken up early to go to the airport.  I was really nervous about the flight, but she spent the whole time either eating or sleeping.  All was going perfectly until we got about 45 minutes from Boise and had to divert to Las Vegas.  We got stuck there for the night, and it turned in to a very long evening that ended in Sarah's first hotel stay. It was the first time Sarah had been exposed to temperatures lower than 68 degrees, so she got to wrap up in snuggly jammies. Neither of us did much sleeping that night.

 We were very glad to get back to the airport and prepare to board a plane to Boise the next morning. The passengers on the plane almost committed mutiny when they made us sit on the runway for an hour waiting for the snack carts to be restocked. Let's just say I don't have the best things to say about Allegiant Airlines right now.

 Finally, the snacks were all aboard the plane, and we made it to Boise.  Hallelujah. Katy drove up from Provo for the long weekend, so she was there with Mom to meet us at the airport. Sarah was so excited to meet her aunt!  We also got to have Cafe Rio for lunch, something that is seriously lacking in Hawaii.

 I have never been able to snug Sarah up in warm clothes and blankets before.  That was fun. Sadly, she came down with her first cold shortly after we got there. She wasn't quite her happy self for a couple of days.  That also could have had something to do with the fact that she was up all night for the first three nights we were there. Ugh.

 My brother, Jeremy, and his family came over to visit one day, so Sarah got to meet her cousins, Anne & Will, as well as her aunt and uncle. I would say she was super excited about it, but she actually spent almost the whole day sleeping.  Sarah's general napping scheme is that she refuses to nap at all for several days in a row and then finally crashes.  That was a crash day.

 Cute cousins!

 Diane was very excited to meet Sarah.  She got to be Sarah's first babysitter while Mom and I went to the grocery store.  They had some great bonding time.

 My long hair was driving me crazy in Hawaii, so I cut off 11" and donated it to locks of love.  I am loving it!

 I had to take a picture in the antique doll crib.  Isn't she precious?

 Sarah's zombie pose.  She often falls asleep with her hands in the air. I love it.

 My aunt Kerri made Sarah the most amazing quilt! She is going to treasure this forever.

 Sarah's favorite times were diaper changes with Grandma.  There was lots of smiling, giggling, and squealing involved.  Grandma is the best.

 This was a major victory.  We have been trying to get this girl to take a bottle for months. Grandma convinced her to suck, and she drank down the whole thing. Then she went to sleep without any help from nursing. Maybe I can actually go on a date one of these days!

 Yet another example of Sarah resisting a nap all day and then finally conking out in my arms.  I love her little squishy cheeks!

 She got to meet her Great Grandpa. Somehow I forgot to take a picture with my dad, but she loved her grandpa too.

 For my flight back, we decided to go with Hawaiian airlines instead of chancing another nightmare with Allegiant, which meant that we had to drive 5 hours to Portland. I was worried because Sarah isn't a big fan of cars, but she slept the whole way.  Good baby.

 In Portland, Sarah got to take her first trip to a craft store.  She better learn to love this.

Our flight back to Hawaii was much more relaxed.  We had an extra seat next to us, so Sarah got to stretch out and sleep.  It was lovely.  We had a wonderful trip, and we were glad to get home again. Sarah changed so much over the 2 1/2 weeks we were there. I think she grew at least two inches.  All of the clothes we brought were too small by the end of the trip.  My baby is growing up!

A couple of adorable baby videos for your viewing pleasure :)

Makapu'u Lighthouse

After 2 1/2 long months of recovery, I finally felt up to doing some hiking, so we decided to spend a Saturday climbing up to the Makapu'u lighthouse, which is supposed to be a great place to see migrating whales. 

 The views were amazing! 

 Since there was a paved trail all the way up, Sarah rode in the stroller.  I'm afraid her adorable face won't appear in this post because she was an angel and slept the whole time.  

 View of the eastern side of the island toward Kailua.

 You thought that was a tiny lizard, didn't you? So did I, until I got really close and discovered that it was actually a seed pod. How disappointing.

 No, Kelson isn't pondering throwing the baby over the edge.  He was just carrying her up some stairs.  We weren't actually very close to the cliff. 

 No whales that day, but it was still beautiful.  I believe that is the island of Molokai you can just barely see in the distance, but don't quote me on that.

After our hike, we went for a drive looking for a new beach to try.  We stumbled into He'eia state park, and we were welcomed by this very strange sight.  There were dozens of cats lounging all over the parking lot.  They weren't scraggly strays either; they looked happy and well-fed, and they weren't at all  skittish.  Scattered among them were lots of chickens, which didn't seem at all perturbed.  It was like a scene from the twilight zone.  We learned later that an old lady started feeding the cats there decades ago, and people just started abandoning unwanted cats there.  Now she is feeding dozens of animals.  Amazing.

Beach Baby

From the time we moved here until Sarah was born, we were at the beach snorkeling pretty much every weekend. When she was born, taking care of a newborn and recovering from childbirth slowed our recreating down a lot. After 2 months, we couldn't stay away any longer. It was time to take Sarah for her first beach day.  We decided to go to Ko'Olina, a series of 4 manmade lagoons built for resorts on the West shore of the island.  The water is super calm, there are great fish, and there is a great area to relax on the grass right next to the beach-perfect for a family outing.

We took turns relaxing on the grass with Sarah while the other snorkeled.  It was amazing how much easier snorkeling was without a giant pregnant belly.  Go figure.  We tried to convince Sarah to wear her stylish sunglasses.  It wasn't very successful. 

Sarah loves being outside.  It will be a great shock to her when she discovers that this is not normal January weather for most of the world. Our first family beach day was a great success. The next step is to actually get her in the water!