This trip set a couple of changes in motion. Now that we're home she's having almost all finger foods along with her three bottles a day. Last night she had chicken, asparagus and rice with us. I cut up her food into pieces she can hold, so she feeds herself. Most of it landed on her bib or on the floor, but she's learning. This morning she had pear slices and cheerios. It's so fun watching her eat, she loves to feed herself, and my hands are free. Loving it!
Also, we got her on her normal 5am to 5pm schedule in Maui, which translates to 7am to 7pm here. After much thought, we're sticking to it. While I love having the entire evening free with her going to bed at 5, it is so nice to have her eat dinner with us and for me to actually have a chance at 8 hours of sleep. She slept until 7:30 this morning - 9 hours of sleep for me! I was going crazy with several weeks in a row of 5-6 hours, so I'm in heaven.
Some pics from the trip...
Day 1 - Friday
Here we are at LAX waiting to board the plane. Yes, my nails are quite bright. I was thinking tropical, but they came out...well...you see for yourself. First errand of the week - redo nails.
Madison on the plane - so well behaved!
At the Maui airport - very tired and ready to go!
Maddy and her GG at our favorite restaurant, the Hula Grill. This was a tough night. Maddy had been up waaay too long and was ready for bed before we left! we survived, but were happy that we would be staying in the next night.
Day 2
Maddy woke up at 3am Maui time (5am PST) ready to rock. I brought a few toys out and she had a blast.
Later in the morning, she played in the living room which opened up to the pool and an amazing view of the ocean.
Then we went to Parrot Dan's (we visit this place every time we go). They have crazy birds and baby piggies. Maddy was just as amused at the squealing piggies as we are.
Our first lunch in Maui is always Cheeseburger in Paradise. Maddy had a good time snacking on cucumbers and playing with her books and string. Then we walked along the main drag to sign up for a whale watching cruise. We stayed in that night and had an amazing tri tip. Maddy was thankfully able to get to bed for the night at 4:30and didn't make a peep till the next morning.
Day 3
Linda's friend at the Ritz Carlton down the street from the house hooked us up with a pretty amazing cabana at their pool for Superbowl. It had couches and a big TV. Maddy was very tired by the time we made it to the pool, so I spent the first hour walking her around in her stroller trying to get her to sleep. Michelle and GG finished off the walking and got her to sleep for an hour or so. Before and after her nap we went in the pool and she played with her toys in the cabana. That night Linda made chicken and Maddy got to bed at a respectable hour. :)
Day 4
The weather turned icky on Monday, so we hung around the house. The sun came out in the afternoon, so we went in pool for a bit. Johnny and his dad golfed in the morning and in the afternoon he went to the Maui DMV to get his local Maui driver's license (cheaper golf) so Maddy and I hung with GG all day. Also, Maddy decided that she'd rather handle the spoon when dealing with bananas. So I put one on her spoon, and she did the rest!
Day 5
We went to our favorite breakfast place, the Gazebo, for banana macademia nut pancakes. The wait is usually at least an hour, but since it was raining we walked right in. Maddy had her first taste of whipped cream and was shaking with delight. I should have taken pics. :( We went to the Maui Ocean Center in the afternoon. Maddy loved looking at the fish and was the loudest person in the place.
That night we went to Leilani's. This time Maddy had a good nap right before dinner, she was ready to go. She snacked on cheerios and cucumbers during dinner. She needed pretty constant entertainment and her pops did the duty so I could enjoy a meal and a mai tai.
Day 6
Whale Watching Day! Yaay! It didn't rain (WHEW!) and we saw so many whales. The first sighting was a newborn (less than a day old) and a mama. It was the cutest thing ever. We saw fighting pods and full breaches. Pretty darn cool. Maddy took a nap towards the end in her carseat, so we were able to head to lunch afterwards at Kimo's.
Day 7
The sun came out so we headed to the beach. Poor Johnny ended up having to work all day and had to stay home, but Maddy took a nap at the beach and played with her GG. We brought her hats and a little cabana, but she wasn't having any of either. So we slathered her with 2 coats of baby sunscreen.
When we got home, she took a nap, then played with some kitchen utensils and went in the jacuzzi (set at 88) with Johnny.
Day 8
We new the next day would be difficult on Maddy, so we played it easy on our last day. We went down to Kapalua beach, just 3 minutes from the houser, where there is a grassy section while the rest of the fam went to Ka'anapli. We had a good hour of fun before Maddy peed on Johnny (swim diapers don't work so well) and then hopping around he got a half inch splinter in his foot. So we got Maddy home for her nap but got in some cute pics first.
Another Maui tradition for us, on the last night we return to the Hula Grill. Maddy had gotten used to being woken up to go out to dinner, and she was on cloud nine. She watched the hula dancers, met other little girls, tasted ice cream...
Day 9
Going home day. Maddy had to try out the rocking pink poodle before we left. We were able to have an open seat for Maddy thankfully. She didn't sleep too much on the plane, maybe an hour, but was deliriously silly. We didn't get home until midnight and all managed to obtain nasty colds.
It was a wonderful trip. I was terrified of how it would be traveling with an 8 month old, but it was really awesome. She saw so many things that made her smile or shriek. She also loved having 6 people around to make her smile and entertain her - thank you Gunthers! We are so thankful to Johnny's parents for taking us on such an amazing trip - most likely our last one for quite a while. For now I'm enjoying getting back into our routine (er...new routine).
