The Zoo

For those of you who don't already know, I recently led a Baby Hui group of 6 moms and babies. I participated in a group when Drew was a baby and had such a great experience and met so many new friends, that I decided I wanted to do it again with Cameron. Here are some pictures of my Hui group at the Honolulu Zoo this past Friday.

one green dollar!

Hi all, this is Grant writing for the first time. This morning we started Drew on chores and an allowance! He has been helping us with little things for awhile and always wants to help out when we are cleaning or groceries and stuff. I was thinking he was ready for chores to start learning to be responsible and after we read up on some literature from the Baby Hui, Julie and I agreed that he was ready to start! We are starting by giving him small tasks (like picking up leaves this morning) and making it fun and giving him a quick correlation from work to reward by paying him after he completes the tasks. As time goes by we will work him back to a daily then weekly allowance. He knows the concept of money already since we have him give the money when we get him something at the store. Now he can learn the concept of saving up to get something he wants! We will start the chores with little things daily that Julie needs assistance with and eventually get him some set things he can be responsible for. Main thing for us is to make it positive and fun for him so he thinks positively about being responsible and helpful. I talked with him about it this morning and he was excited about the idea! The pictures are him with his very FIRST earned dollar after he finished picking up the leaves outside! The second picture is his money box. I helped him some, but he did most and we made sure he did a good, complete job then he got his mula! Good job to little Drew-Drew!

Boob Guy

Today has been a very tough day on Cameron. I have decided to wean him. Actually, I've been trying to wean him for the last couple of weeks, but he is quite the boob guy and also quite the manupulator knowing how to break down mommy everytime. Because my plan of gradually reducing the amount of feedings isn't working, I'm going to try to go cold turkey during the day and see if I can get him to forget about the boob. So it is now 12:30pm and I haven't nursed him since 5am. He was fine up until it was time for his nap at 10 and then he started yanking at my shirt like a crazed child. I didn't give in and was able to divert his attention with a pasta picnic outside. At 11 though he had a complete melt down. I pumped and tried to give him a bottle (fyi...he hasn't taken the bottle whether it be my milk or formula since he was maybe 3 weeks old). He was fooled at first and sucked about an ounce of milk before he realized what I was doing. He then started crying even harder and pushing the bottle away. I just kept cuddling him and tell him that it was night-night time, trying the bottle here and there with no luck, until he finally gave up and fell asleep in my arms. Oh ya, I left out the fact that I had myself wrapped up like a sardeen and then a robe on top of that so he couldn't feel my skin or smell the milk. Please say some prayers for us that this transition goes smoothly and that I have the strength to stay with it. And if anyone has any helpfull hints, I would love to hear them.

Mom, Dad, and Deanna..... I sure wish you were here to help me!

The pictures are from this last Sunday. Daddy didn't want to leave the house because there was an important game on TV so we emprovised to give mommy the sun and relaxation that she needed and activities outside to get the boys active. For the kids, we blew up the bouncy house and turned on the sprinkler. For Mommy, Daddy made her a margarita and we moved the lounge furniture from the enclosed lanai outside so she could get some sun while watching the kids. And for Daddy, he watched the game from the lounge chair outside at the same time he chased the kids around. Something for everyone.

Mommy and Daddy get a break!

Yesterday was a long, but fantastically fun-filled day! It all started at 10:30am with Grant and I dropping Drew and little Cam off at cousins' Pat and Wendy Odo's house. They have been offering to watch the boys for quite some time and we finally got over the guilt of accepting help and took them up on the offer....and boy am I glad we did! I have been wanting to go to the job site of one of Grant's big projects for probably about a year now and haven't been able to go with the kids since it is a dangerous construction site. Can I just say, my husband is so incredibly gifted! The house is like nothing I've ever seen including in design magazines! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera, but I will be sure to post some pictures of it at a later date so you all can see. We then went for a quiet, peaceful, long (1 hour) lunch at Kona Brewery and then it was back to the Odo's house to pick up the boys with crossed fingers that they behaved themselves. They both had a fantastic time and really took to Wendy, Pat and Drew said after he wants to grow up big and strong like Sean!


The boys (Grant included) then passed out in the car for two hours while mommy shopped at the new Nordstroms at Ala Moana. When they woke up we went to Sean's last baseball game (he plays 2nd base for Iolani's jv team) where they won against Pac Five 3-2....congrats Sean! We ended the night at the Iolani school fair where Drew had fun playing games, going on carnival rides, and jumping in the bouncy houses. Cameron had fun people watching just like mommy likes to do.


We finally started back home at about 7:30pm with Drew begging from the back seat to go back to Aunty and Uncle's house. Thanks so much for giving us a much needed break Odo's!!!!

What was I thinking????

This morning I needed to get out of the house and also had to go to the supermarket for milk so I thought I would get in the bath with the boys, get ready, and take us all on a little outing to the supermarket, bank, and toy store. This would not have been any big deal on a normal day, but I'm leaving out the fact that both the boys have been sick since last Tuesday. (Hence no blogs for the last week). They have been whiny, snotty, and needy. So.....off we go! WHAT WAS I THINKING? On our way to the toy store, Drew burst into tears saying that he is hungry and has to go pee pee. So we made a detour to McDonald's to fuel up and play on the jungle gym then off to the supermarket. Of course I only went for milk and ended up with a cart full of food. The boys were great the whole time I was loading the cart and then they decided to throw fits when it came time to check-out. Cameron had had it with sitting in the cart and Drew insisted on unloading everything saying "no helping mommy, i do it all by myself!" So, we finally get out of the store and Cameron is, by this time, crying his eyes out and refusing to go into his car seat. And Drew, of course, insists he needs to go pee pee and poo poo........oh my goodness!!!! I repeat, WHAT WAS I THINKING? Well, although it was not pretty, we survived. We got home, had a quick snack, story time and both boys are now asleep. Yeah for mommy!

Picture 1- Cameron loves Drew's new scooter that he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Picture 2- Drew finally takes a nap after 2 sick and napless days. Lucky for you, you can't see the snotty nose in the picture. His mouth is open because he can't breath out of his nose, poor thing!

Picture 3- The boys in the bathtub this morning right after mommy got out. Yes, I fit in there with both of them. Can you believe that this is the most relaxing part of my day? :)

Cuddle Time

My normal weekly schedule usually consists of playdates, outings (ie. zoo, sea life park, beach, park), leading a Baby Hui Group, and errands......always going, going, going. For the last 3 weeks, however, I have been forced to stay at home to aid Drew in the potty training business, not wanting to leave the new puppy, and last week Cameron was sick. I think that being stuck at home has been a blessing in disguise. I think I got so caught up with keeping myself and the kids busy thinking that this is what we all needed (and also not being able to say "no") that I lost perception on what is really important. This really sank in yesterday after I lead my last Baby Hui group meeting and Cameron fell asleep during it. When everyone left, Cameron was still asleep and Drew and I just cuddled and watched 'Dumbo' for an hour. Cameron and I always get to cuddle as he is still nursing and sleeps with me, but Drew is now a full fledged 3 year old boy who is always busy and moving that I forget that he still needs cuddle time too. Oh he gets lots of cuddles in the form of long hugs and kisses and he also has the privilege of sleeping with Dad, but the times when we get a whole hour to lay together without having any interruptions from Cameron are few and far between. So today while Cameron took his morning nap, when I would normally play with Drew if home or be in the car on our way somewhere, I scooped him in my arms and told him that I wanted to cuddle with him. The smile on his face was enormous and his whole demeanor softened towards me and Cameron for the hours that followed. This is definitely something that I will be scheduling into my daily routine as I'm sure the day will come when he doesn't want to cuddle with mom anymore. But for now I will enjoy every minute of it.

Could the diapers be gone?????

Ok, so last night I came out of the room from putting Cameron to sleep and Grant asks me "what do you think of putting Drew in underwear tonight"? I told him that although he woke up the last couple mornings dry, he has only been potty trained for 3 1/2 weeks and we shouldn't risk messing it up. Plus, I heard it can take up until 4 years old before kids can go thru the night.

Because my husband always listens to me :) he put Drew in underwear and guess what???? He woke up dry!!!! So I tried again at nap and again he woke up dry. It's amazing what gets me excited now a days. :) Woo-hoo Drew!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Drew!

We celebrated Drew's birthday twice. On his actual birthday we went to Clay Cafe with all of his little pals. The kids had fun painting their clay object of choice and crawling under the tables.Yes, it was total chaos as the place was packed with people celebrating spring break.....mommy didn't give that much thought. Oops! Daddy was able to take a break and join us for a quick cupcake and then back to work for him.






The second party was for family and took place at our house over the weekend where Drew had two requests. He wanted the Madagascar Cake (second year in a row) and a pinata. And whatever our little king wants, he gets. Thanks to all the Sumile's, Krawsky's, and our terrific friends for the great gifts. Happy Birthday Drew!!!!!

Yeah for Drew-Drew

I'm so proud of Drew! He pretty much potty trained himself in one day. His little pal Aaron was over at our house with his mom Jessica and we decided to let them run around the backyard naked as they jumped in the bouncy house and ran through the sprinkler. Aaron was working on potty training so I had the potty chair out for him to use. Well, Drew soon ran into the house with that bare naked little bottom of his, went pee in the chair, and then came back outside without saying a word to me. I looked curious at my friend and ran inside to see if my suspicions were true and, yep, they were. And that was the end of diapers for him. Well, he still uses them at night-night time, but that is it. The saying is so true that when they are ready, they are ready. I had tried once every couple of months since he was 2 with no luck. Little Cameron thinks the potty chair is pretty cool too so he likes to sit on one right next to brother. Aren't they the cutest!

Cameron's 1st Birthday

Grant and I have decided to start a blog, after much persuasion from my friends and family, to keep everyone updated on the Sumile boys.



We have had an extremely busy month. Nana and Papa came for two weeks to help celebrate Cameron's 1st Birthday which took place March 1st. My cousins Kent and Pat and Tom and Sandi were also in town for the big event and it was so nice to have my side of the family represented.



Yes, Cameron is now one. He is such a happy-go-lucky little boy who always has a smile on his face. I was so excited to give Cameron his first cupcake at his party, but as you can see in the picture, he was less then pleased with this new found taste.







Drew also had a great time with the balloon guy and had fun shouting out that is was time to sing happy birthday (even though it wasn't) as he new what came after the singing.......cupcakes. We made an exception, sang happy birthday, and Drew felt pretty important.



Thank you to the Sumile's, Nakamoto's, Krawsky's and all of our friends for helping make his birthday celebration a big success. That's it for now. I will write more on our March events tomorrow.


Grandma and Cousin Trenty