For Uncle Dudley

Because we live so far away from our beloved family and friends (you guys), we spend a lot of time talking to Lance about his family while looking at photos, etc. It's the best I can do to help him understand how important all of you are without being able to see you regularly. I happened to borrow a book about the Caribbean last week and realized it was a chance for Lance to learn about where Uncle Dudley is from. Here's a quick video of Lance checking out the scenery in Jamaica...
PS- Lance and I were hit with a terrible cold/flu and Lance is in the thick of it in this shot... so, please excuse his hair-do and snotty nose.

A Short but very Sweet Visit

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting my oldest friend and her boyfriend and his kids for a wonderful visit. We made it to the beach for some wading in the low tide freezing cold water, went swimming in the falls with Moses and Koko, and had a feast of bbq ribs and corn. Adam and Josh even made it up to the volcano for some sightseeing!
Lance LOVED playing with the big kids, and they were so incredibly sweet and wonderful with him. Meanwhile, I got some cherished time with Court and was reminded, once again, why our friendship has been going strong for almost thirty one (yes, 31!) years.

Ice Cream and Chinese New Year

Hilo had a little festival last weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year. After a MAJOR breakdown about the waving cats they were selling and a break for swim lessons, Lance got in the spirit of things. He loved watching the martial arts demonstrations and being part of the crowd. He also loved sharing an ice cream cone with mommy and daddy. Naturally, that was the only thing I captured on film and I couldn't resist posting Lance's first ice cream face. You can see from the shots that his attention was pretty evenly divided between the cone and the show...

Mooooooon!

In recent weeks, Lance has begun a little love affair with the moon. He likes to look for it every night before bed to say "niiii night, moon!" (even though we actually don't read the famous book because it gives me the creeps) and on rare nights that it has risen before 7:00 he gazes adoringly at it and says "mooooooon, moooooooon!" with a sheepish smile on his face.
Here are a couple videos of Lance and the moon tonight:

Peek a Boo Moon from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

Corn on the Cob

Lance's favorite foods currently include: blueberries, granola with milk, tacos minus the shell, chili, beans of any kind, pickles, salami, peas, veggie booty, dehydrated bananas and apples, nori strips, almond butter and blueberry jelly sandwiches, and his old standby of corn on the cob. Lucky for us, we are able to get fresh, local, sweet corn about nine months of the year. At the store this week, Lance spotted it (in the husk) and pointed and exclaimed- it was back!!
Here he is, attacking his first ear of sweet corn in a couple of months:

Loved Ones

Here they are... all four of my loved ones in a group shot. Going for family walks is one of my favorite things to do together. Stef has taken over carrying Lance in the last few weeks, which was a little hard for me to give up... but I still get to walk Koko.

Little Helper

In the last month or so, Lance has decided that it's fun and cool to do what mommy and daddy (mostly daddy to be honest) do...
So, in his free time in the yard, he does yard work. Basically, he roams around picking up fallen ti leaves and heads straight for the green waste bin where he diligently places them. There is no getting this guy inside until all the leaves are up!
He also loves to sweep. He's been trying to manage with the adult sized broom but we finally found him a mini-version which he tried out this morning. Nice form, Lance!
What should we put him up to next? Maybe sorting laundry!