Joshua has made a big breakthrough with his talking in the last couple of weeks.  It’s like he’s finally realized that he can get more done by using his words rather than just pointing & grunting.  It’s very funny, actually—he’s constantly meowing, mooing, & quacking whenever he sees animals.  He’ll still wave frantically but now he’ll start talking to them as well.  Not that there are a lot of cows around to moo at, but he seems to find pictures of them in random places.  He will talk to the pictures of animals on his blocks, in books or photos, & pretty much anywhere he seems them.  Ironically, Joshua has yet to say “woof” even though dogs seem to be his absolute favorite animal (he’ll meow at them instead, which still generates a response so I guess that’s fine).  Out of the blue, Joshua has even started to say Hawaii (pronounced without the first syllable most of the time, so it’s just “‘waii”).  He’s got a couple of Spanish words in the mix, too.  My favorite words Josh says are turtle (pronounced “tur-TUL”) & toe (a very drawn out “TOOOEEE”).  In addition to his new words, Joshua has more signs, about a dozen now.  He’ll adamently ask for me to read him a book & this morning threw a tantrum when I stopped reading his book after about 5 times in a row.  He threw himself down on the floor, banging his head & stomping his hands & feet, only stopping to sign “book” repeatedly.  I’m just glad that he loves to read, so we read often.  If only he would stop destroying books, we could go to the library to check out more, but I don’t want to risk damaging library books.

The weather on Oahu hasn’t been all that great, unfortunately (I swear, I’m jinxed with the weather!).  I know there are often rainy patches in Hawaii, but even the locals say it’s uncharacteristically wet & windy for this time of year.  There have been several nice days but more wet ones.  We’ve still explored the island but hope things improve over the next couple of weeks so we can do more.  Joshua & I set out to go to the zoo one morning in hopes of the weather improving but then discovered that the rain wasn’t going to let up, so we ended up going to the Bishop Museum instead.  It was on our to-do list but we’d planned to go later, but it was an indoor activity so it worked out well to go in the rain.  Another spouse ended up going with her kids at the same time & we ran into each other in the parking lot.  Her outdoor plans got rained out as well, so it was a great chance to hang out together.  The museum was really neat & there was a fun science area & an exhibit called ‘Grossology’ where I learned more than I needed to about poop, slime, & other bodily fluids.  Joshua enjoyed it although he was a little scared of a machine/animated slime character (kind of like what you see in the rides at Disneyland, except scary-looking).  Erick, Joshua, & I went to see the king’s jubilee celebration & fireworks at the Hilton downtown last week.  Josh was bored by the dancing so we ended up walking around until the fireworks started.  He saw them while sitting on Erick’s shoulers & holding my hand.  By the end, Joshua was waving at them, but he was initially apprehensive since they were the first fireworks he’s really seen.

The next day, the 3 of us went to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was fun albeit a lot packed into one afternoon.  We saw the canoe show which Joshua seemed to enjoy.  Some random guy ended up going up to us, took Joshua’s picture with his phone, & then looked like he was e-mailing it to someone.  Weird.  After that, we went to the Imax movie, which Josh managed to sit through (sort of).  It was about how the coral reefs are being destroyed, in part due to global warming (sorry, parents of mine who don’t believe in this trend).  Josh liked watching all the fishies swimming around.  After wandering around the different Polynesian “villages,” we went to the luau & then to the night-time show.  The luau was nice, however we didn’t get to see the whole evening show because it was getting too late for the little guy.  He lasted about halfway into it before he decided he’d had enough.  That was fine with us, so we left early.

Last Tuesday, Joshua & I went to the children’s museum here in Honolulu.  My friend Dana & her 3-month-old little girl Madison joined us.  Josh ran all over the place playing until he was sweaty.  His favorite thing to play with there was a cool exhibit about the heart.  There was a model of the human heart that showed how blood flows (or is supposed to flow).  I tried taking a photo of Joshua with it but as usual, he wasn’t the most cooperative subject.  There was way too much to play with to stand still for even a moment for Mommy to take a picture!  As before, Joshua got mad when I paid attention to Madison, as if proclaiming that I was his mom & no one else’s.  He’s got a lot of adjusting to do before we end up having another little one eventually!  Last Thursday & Friday, there were flash flood warnings for the entire state, & we stayed inside most of the time because everything was just too wet to play outdoors.  It turns out there is one mall on the island that has an indoor play area, so we drove over there to check it out.  Josh ran around, climbed on the structures, & then got pooped out.  We walked around the mall, visited a pet store, grabbed some food, & then went back for another play session before heading home.  He slept so well for that nap!

This weekend, the 3 of us drove around the northern part of the island.  I got some yummy shave ice at a shop that people have said is the world’s best place for it (still no clue why it’s not called “shaved” ice when that’s grammatically correct—anyone know?).  We went to a beach that’s got a reputation for having lots of turtles but there were only a couple.  One was very large & swam right up to the shore so Joshua got to see it up close.  We ended our drive with a visit to the indoor play area mall since it was on the way home.  Josh had fun & got to release some of his pent-up energy he’d collected from sitting in his carseat all morning.  Last night, we went to visit a friend of mine & her family who live here.  Denby was a PT at UCLA with me.  Joshua loved playing with her 2 little ones & their toys while Erick & I visited with Denby & her husband Greg.  Little Malia (almost 3) & Joshua had a couple of kisses for the camera which I hope turn out nicely—good blackmail material for down the line…

It’s hard to believe that our trip is already halfway over!  There’s still so much to do.  We’d love to go explore the Big Island but I’m still working on the logistics of that.  One of Erick’s friends has a suite to herself & she graciously let us use her 2nd room so I don’t have to sit in the hallway whenever Joshua is napping.  Erick will study in here instead of staying late at the hospital or sitting in the breakroom off of the lobby like he’d done initially.  The reception for the baby monitor isn’t great, but it’s a lot nicer than sitting on the floor or the stairs!  That’s it for now.  We’re off to Tripler to visit Erick for a late lunch when Joshua wakes up.  Aloha!