Completing the Polynesian Triangle

First off, it bears mentioning that I loved reading Sarah's previous entry. Because, while I haven't been the most regular contributor here these days; generally speaking, I'm present at all the occasions that Sarah has chronicled here since Stella's birth. But, getting to experience those photos of Stella (as well as watch the video of her swinging) for the first time on this blog gives me an idea what it must be like for those Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Friends who check in here regularly, and it makes me glad that Sarah's done a such a good job keeping Strange and Benevolent up to date.

But, that's not the only reason I am posting here today. In addition, I figured it was time to dust off my typing skills and do a quick entry to talk about our upcoming vacation: On Friday, Sarah, Stella and I depart for a weeklong trip to O'ahu, Hawai'i. And, in doing such, Sarah and I will have been to all three corners of the Polynesian Triangle.

"What's the Polynesian Triangle?" you ask. Good question! Let's consult Deep Thought shall we!

The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean anchored by three island groups: Hawai‘i, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and New Zealand, often used as a simple way to define what constitutes Polynesia.

Now, admittedly, when we chose to go to Hawai'i for our summer vacation this year, the "completion of the three points of the Polynesian Triangle" wasn't the deciding factor. I mean, that doesn't have quite the same ring as, say, "Travel Around the World." Instead it was a combination of factors ranging from Alaska Airlines having a timely ticket sale and ease of travel with an infant, to our desire to sit on a beach and relax after what has been a busy, tiring and occasionally challenging last half year (between juggling her career, Stella and a husband who is intent on filling the house with comic books; Sarah especially deserves a drink served in a coconut husk overlooking a nice sunset). But, still (and to bring this cumbersome paragraph to a suitably cumbersome close), when we step off the plane on Friday we will undoubtably be thinking about our adventures on Easter Island and New Zealand.

"So, what's the plan?"

Well, truthfully, there isn't much of one. We've got a car rented, a 1 Bedroom Villa reserved in Haleiwa and a little over a week to explore the island. And, with any luck, relax. Aloha!

Seven Months

Stella's seven-months-old now. On the 25th of every month, especially around 5PM, I get kind of emotional, remembering seeing Stella for the first time, holding her, thinking of everything that's happened since then. I'm sure that will fade to more of an annual event over time, but it still gets me every month.


Seven months and feeling fine!

On this latest 25th, I took Stella to Seward Park for a walk. As usual, she slept through most of the three mile loop, but she woke up near the end, and I decided it would be fun to see if she liked to swing. Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of the very first swing ride when she was cautiously joyful. This second ride was all fun and games:


Stella's second swing ride

She's also getting old enough to ride in her stroller facing forward--whenever she's managed to stay awake through the car ride.


Big girl stroller!

Of course, the added stimulation seems more taxing. On today's walk, we didn't do the full loop, just caught a glimpse of the lake, some ducks, some dogs and a heron.


A little tuckered out, but not too tired to smile for the camera

Stella's still scooting around commando-style, with her one arm pull action. She's started getting on her hands and knees more often, even rocking a little bit from time to time, but no knee action yet.

The other thing that's been a little cute-sad as Stella gets older is putting her to sleep. Generally, it goes pretty smoothly: she gets tired, we feed her, maybe change her diaper and lay her down. But if she doesn't think she's ready, she'll fling herself around like a pinball. She's even gotten to where she'll pull down the bumper to look out at us longingly.


Let me out!

When she's not using the bumper as an excellent dramatic prop, she puts it to good use to kick back and relax:


Life of luxury

It's funny when your pregnant what advice you hear and really take to and what you decide to use your own judgement on. For example, the guy who checked our carseat installation advised against having a mirror since it could fall off and hit them in the head. No mirror in the car. The advice on bumpers is more mixed, but we decided to go for it. They're cute, Stella hardly was in her crib when she was young enough for them to be any kind of hazard, and now they actually do stop her from bonking her head. Of course, the time when the bumper will move from being a prop to a stepladder probably isn't too far off, so we'll just have to enjoy them while we can.....

Tyler's 1st Father's Day

Tyler had a multi-part Father's Day Celebration. It started on Thursday, when he got his gift from me and Stella. We could have waited, but I was too excited and we opened it as soon as I brought it home.


Tyler and his new messenger bag. The people at Earnest Alexander were great, wrapping it and included a hand-written note, even.

On Saturday, we held our second annual barbecue. Last year, it was a housewarming; this year it was Burgers, Beer and Babies. And lots of burgers:


We bought Stella's weight in ground beef!


And fed a lot of people. Thanks to all who made it a great day!

And today we celebrated with Tyler's dad (his first as a grandfather), had calls with my dad and stepdad, and I made Tyler a special Turkish dinner--manti, a lamb ravioli/dumpling served with yogurt sauce and hot chili oil.


Tyler's dinner. The downside of a celebratory dinner versus breakfast? The girl slept through the whole thing.


Homemade manti

I'm not sure why Turkey keeps popping up in our Mother's Day/Father's Day celebration, but it seems fitting. We were about a month away from coming home from our travels and were really serious about starting a family upon our return.

And here we are, nearly seven months into it. Tyler is an amazing dad. He's fun, loving, creative, light-hearted and involved. He's really an integral part of Stella's life. I can't imagine a better partner in this parenting adventure.


Like father, like daughter!

Scoot, scoot!

Stella's not officially crawling yet, but with the right motivation, she can certainly get some forward momentum!



The other latest is that she loves sitting in her high chair (thanks, Grandma Geri and all the aunts and uncles who helped us get this!). The idea is that the chair grows with Stella and means she eats at the table with us. I was worried she was still a little small for it, but she's doing fine!


Stella in the Stokke

While she likes her new chair, she's less sure about the whole solid food thing. So far, we've tried avocado, sweet potato and peas. She's getting more entertained by the process, but I still don't think she's gotten much down yet. Applesauce and carrots are next. We'll see....


Stella is smiling for the camera, not for the peas!

In a few weeks, we'll be able to return to our blog's start as a travel blog. We just booked tickets for a week in Hawaii. Beaches, hiking, relaxation, here we come!

Baby's First Photobooth

Tonight Tyler decided to take Stella downtown for some errands before picking me up from work. We both had long days and were hungry, so we decided to treat ourselves with a stop at Stellar's pizza--baby-friendly, delicious pies and good beer.

And they have a photobooth. Half the time we're there, it's out of order. Not tonight!



I think Stella's expression in the last shot is my personal favorite. Enjoy!

Peekaboo!

My new favorite game with Stella:

Babbling Beauty

Stella's taken to doing a lot more babbling, with a lot more sounds and intonations lately, including "da da da" noises. Fortunately, I know not to take this too personally. We had a speech therapist speak to our PEPS group, and she mentioned that it was common for breastfed babies to make "d", "t" and other "tongue" noises first.



There's plenty more going on--trying out solid foods (Stella gives that a thumbs down), commando crawling, good sitting and some impressive fine motor control. I'll try and do more of an update soon.

In the meantime, here's a recent photo: