The Cline head

Us Cline's have BIG heads. Yes, I wear at least a Large if not an XL helmet. We have always known that Stanley has a Cline sized head. Here in Hawaii, it was proved true when he tried to put on Steve’s hat from when Steve was around 6 months old. Our dear 4 month old has way too big a cranium for it! Proof below. 

Hello Maui

On Saturday, Steve and I arrived with our cute Stanley in Maui. We are having a week vacation together where we stayed a year and a half ago. Don’t worry readers, we were reminded that our blog does not take vacation; however, we don’t have much internet access, so the updates will not be frequent.

This has been an amazing vacation so far and Stanley has been so much fun. He smiles all of the time! He hardly cries, he enjoys looking around at all of the new things (though at times this takes precedence to eating), and he has started to be able to play with Sophie the giraffe by himself while Steve and I do something for a few minutes.

Stanley has also been quite the charmer and captures many people’s attention with his big smile.

Here is a set of pictures from our adventures so far…

The first day, we took Stanley to the kiddie pool and he was infatuated by the gravel on his feet. There was no chance of having him look up at the camera. He wanted to see what was surrounding his feet. Sorry the sound is the trade-winds, so turn down the volume and just watch.   

Stanley enjoyed hanging out with us near the pool.

We then went and had a picnic by the ocean. Stanley got to spend some of his time naked after blowing out of his diaper during the lunch. That was only the first of 4 blow-outs that day. He is going to run out of onesies if he keeps this up.

Normally I don’t photograph Stanley’s naps, but for posterity, here Stanley is wearing Steve’s old jacket from when Steve was a few months old and a onesie that Steve ‘sewed’ for his sister Liz when Steve was about 5 years old. (Notice the wonderful heart he put on it.)

Today, after Stanley’s first dip up to his chest in a pool, we went up the volcano Haleakala.


We were a bit worried about Stanley and the 10,000ft altitude, so we did not stay long. (We were especially worried after we saw a guy pass out on the road while taking a photo at 8k ft)


But, we did stay long enough to enjoy the view and take a few photos. These moments were the only time that Stanley also got to enjoy the views. For the rest of the time, he was covered with a blanket for sun protection. And, in general, he hates the sun in his eyes, but with his sunglasses, he was his smiley self.

So long for now. We will update when we get back to a Starbuck's for internet. 

Assisted Sit/Roll

Just took this video of Stanley.  He started trying to sit up from his lounging position on the couch, and this is the usual outcome.  I guess he really wants to grab that cup!

Dad's Stuff = Stanley's Stuff

First it was my napkin rings (now a rattle and toy for Stanley), and now this!

This is a nice cup.

It's mine now!

Apparently, my red cup that I use for water is just too exciting to be left alone.  Stanley is playing with it now, grabbing it and pretending to drink from it.  I wonder what I'll be giving up next?  I have a feeling there is a trend developing...

Running on fumes

Steve and I are running on fumes. Thank goodness for Stanley's dear nanny Halima. She came in this morning and easily saw that Steve and I had barely slept. In this case, 'barely' seems like an overstatement. Stanley was agitated all night. We should have given him Tylenol, but wouldn't you know it, every time I thought to give him some, he fell asleep for a few minutes.

Halima took it on herself to help me with the laundry while the boys were sleeping. I don't know what we would do without her.

Anyways, both of Steve and I are really looking forward to our vacation next week.

Stanley 4month stats

Stanley and I went to the doctor for his 4 month checkup on Friday. Stanley was doing his normal standing that he loves. Since I did not have any toys, he was enjoying playing/chewing on the straps of my purse. When the doctor entered, he laughed a bit. He asked me how Stanley was doing and I suggested we have been having fun, but he is probably doing what most four months enjoy doing. The doctor suggested that most 4 month old babies would be sitting in their mother's arms and not riffeling through her purse. Then he went on to say, that if we read a particular book, only read the parts about 'active' babies. I guess Stanley takes after his parents who are pretty active and if I add, he seems to have the ADD type behavior of his Papa Doug and Mom Julia. I still felt somewhat proud of our little explorer.

His stats were:
Weight: 15 lbs, 12 oz
Height: 25 1/2"
HC: 44 1/4cm

He is now 75% for both weight and height. For those of you who remember when he was about 90% for weight, Stanley cannot keep that up. He really dislikes the bottle lately and just eats enough to get by during the day until I get home in the evening. The doctor had a few suggestions, but agreed that this is probably why we still have a boy who eats 4-5 times a night. For the entire day today, Stanley ate a whopping 6 oz. I guess it is better than me--when I was little I never took a bottle.

Weekend Fun

We all had a busy weekend this week.  On Saturday morning we woke up, made a nice breakfast and then took Lolo to the airport to head back to Rochester.  She had a great time visiting and was sad to leave Stanley, but it had been a while since she was home.  She and Stanley had a nice time together while she was out.

Bye Lolo!

That afternoon we went down to Los Altos where Julia got her nails done and then we had dinner with our friends Jules and Debbie before heading home that night.  On the way down there, Julia was riding in the back of the car with Stanley and all of a sudden he had had enough.  Julia thought maybe he was hungry, or at least feeding him would calm him down.  So, she decided to feed him while they were both strapped into their seatbelts.  I looked in the rearview mirror and this is what I saw:

Good thing she's flexible.

She got the job done.  Nice work, Julia.

Today, our friends Eric, April, Brian and Andrew came up to visit.  We all went over to visit the fire station down the street where Brian got to see the fire trucks up close and personal.  We were all having a nice relaxing time chatting with the firefighters, when one of them accidentally blew  the horn with us all standing there in the garage.  Everyone jumped back about six feet and all the children immediately began crying.  Quite a wake-up call!  Let me tell you, those things are really loud.  Anyways, April overheard two of the firefighters talking after everyone calmed down and one of them said to the guy who blew the horn, "nice one, Frank!"  To make up for it, they let Brian climb into the driver's seat of one of the engines.  He seemed to forgive them.

Captain Brian.