Rolling Stones

Is this the saddest, sweetest face you've ever seen, or what? It honestly makes me want to cry!
Corey felt a familiar pain coming on yesterday afternoon while watching Zachary. It wasn't long before he was writhing on the floor with another kidney stone. It's his third one in about four years. He had some pain medication, which didn't help much until he had a priesthood blessing. He is thankfully feeling much better now, and we're hoping if he will start drinking at least as much water as he drinks Mt. Dew, maybe he won't have to encounter this malady again. We don't actually know what has caused them, but I like to think that quitting the Dew habit can't hurt!

On a lighter note, Corey was greatly cheered today when Zach suddenly rolled from his stomach to his back for the first time. He has repeated the action for my viewing pleasure, since I was at work for this milestone. I hope I don't have to miss too many of his "firsts," it's heartbreaking. At least Corey was able to be there for this one. Hopefully Zachary can learn to crawl, walk, and talk on our days off!! Zach rolled both from his stomach to his back and then back onto his stomach. He is starting to fuss when we lean him against us to sit or lie him down much. He likes to sit up with his back straight so he can see what's going on. For now, we still have to lightly support him, but I think he'll be sitting on his own shortly. He also loves his Jumparoo- thanks to Melanie for giving it to him (I think!). We'll post a video of him Jumparooing before long!

Zach Man Reaches Three Months

We can hardly believe that Zach is 3 months old today! He has grown so much, it is astounding. He has gone from 8 lbs to 13ish. He is so much longer and thicker, too!

My favorite part of his growth has been his personality. He was precious from Day One, but he started out like all babies: very few facial expressions, lots of crying, not much eye contact. It was a little disconcerting to spend so much effort caring for him with no acknowledgement that he even knew who we were.

By one month, he was finally sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches through the night, which was a huge relief to us, allowing sanity to creep back in. By two months, his personality became more apparent, with sweet smiles appearing now and then, a more predictable sleep/wake/feeding pattern, and heartwarming eye contact. We spent a few weeks in Hawaii, loving Paradise together. It was there that he uttered his first laugh, and I was in heaven!! It is by far the sweetest sound my mortal ears have heard!

We spent nearly every moment of his first 12 weeks together. I enjoyed a few short outings, but we were home together for most of the time. That made going back to work especially difficult. The first day back wasn't bad. I had missed doing dentistry and working on my patients. But after a few days, the newness wore off and I became terribly babysick for Zach. Leaving him each morning is dreadful, even though he is in the loving hands of either Corey or Missy. If he wakes to feed after about 6am, I have started bringing him back to bed with me and snuggling him until the alarm rings. It honestly breaks my heart to leave him each day. Corey and I both desperately wish we were independently wealthy and could stay home with Zach all day. I look so forward to the day my contract is up and I can go to part time or something in September-ish.

Cute things Zach does (we're trying to get pictures of all of them):

He recently discovered his thumb- it must be genetic. (I sucked my thumb until I was 5!)

He waves his hands around a lot. Sometimes, he knocks his pacifier out of his mouth while waving them. Sometimes he grabs it out, and, by luck, puts it back in.

He does half sit-ups all the time. He is freakishly strong for 3 months. He is always pulling himself up to see what is going on.

After waking up, he stretches his tiny arms as far as he can and sighs.

He burps as loud as an adult- it's shocking!

He "talks" all the time. Our favorite sound is a little howl he makes, like a tiny hound dog.

Magical Maui Part II

Our trip to Maui was wonderful. Here are a few of the pictures we took.

These are the immaculate grounds of the Manele Bay Resort where we stayed for one night. It was breathtaking. I could definitely get used to resort living, if only it didn't cost $20 for a cheeseburger and fries!

Corey on the pristine greens at The Challenge at Manele in Lanai. He claims it is by far the nicest course he has ever golfed. It is normally $225 per round, but Nat & Ryan got us the kama'aina discount-almost 65% off!

Zach loved being waited on by his Aunt Natalie and Uncle Ryan.

Natalie treated me to a trip to the aquarium at Ma'alea Harbor on a rainy day. It was awesome! We especially loved the seahorses and jellyfish. Natalie kept calling them horsefish. :o)

Zack just looks cute here.

This is Corey snorkeling in Lanai. It was amazing- the water was so clear!

Natalie and I kayaked about a mile out to follow a mama and baby humpback whale. (It's just past the kayak in the photo.) We jumped in so we could hear them singing. It was the coolest thing I've experienced! Natalie is so adventurous, she didn't want to turn back to shore. The night before, she and I tried to swim out to some whales at Big Beach, but they were way too far out for us. Corey and I saw a turtle and an eel snorkeling there. So fun!

We were about 100 yards away from the whales!

Zach in his Aloha shirt on our balcony of our condo in Ka'anapali.

Corey and Zach on our whale watching boat.

One whale just had her tailfin hanging out like this for awhile, which is really unusual behavior.