Developmentally speaking, this has been a huge month for Theo! On June 23rd, 2012 our little baby crawled for the first time! Well, at least that’s the first time we captured it on camera. He was really shaky at first and could only go short distances – but there was no mistaking that he was mobile! The best part was watching Theo try to get back to a sitting position. He would use his head pressed against the floor to help steady himself – which looked painful, awkward and cute all at the same time. A few weeks have gone by since that first crawl and it’s a world of difference! Now he is super fast and is definitely getting stronger. We find him attempting to stand up at every opportunity – it certainly makes us nervous when he uses completely unstable objects to aid in his efforts (e.g. the moving rocking chair). We also noticed that Theo has an odd fascination with drawers and doors. I guess this is standard, since there are tons of “babyproofing” items that deal with this issue in particular. I foresee a few jammed fingers in our future…I’m hoping we won’t have to deal with anything too serious. Theo also seems to enjoy destroying things. Based on everything I’ve read about about babies (boys in particular), this is also pretty common. Some of his favorite activities include ripping up newspaper and knocking down block towers. If this is the extent of his destructiveness, we’ll be in great shape. Something tells me we won’t be that lucky.

In other big news this month, Theo landed another job! This was for an Eddie Bauer shopping cart cover (to be sold at Target in January 2014). The only bummer was that the location of the shoot was close to San Diego – so getting down there was a bit of a shlep. Jeff and I drove together, which worked out great because we were able to take advantage of the carpool lane. Once we got down there, we had some time to kill, so we spent some time visiting the nearby botanical gardens. Theo was able to sneak in a great nap next to a real waterfall – who needs a sound machine when you have the real thing! The shoot itself was great and Theo did an excellent job. They dressed him in a cute outfit and had him sit in a staged shopping cart. It sounded like the director was happy and got the shots he needed – but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if he actually makes it onto the package! After the shoot, we decided to take our time getting back to LA, and stopped in Hermosa for a bite to eat and to hang at the beach. It felt like being on vacation, even if it was just one day.

Our REAL vacation would come a few weeks later, an absolutely PHENOMENAL trip to Hawaii. We stayed at the Westin Resort in Kaanapali and are counting down the days until we can go back. Theo was an absolute delight on the plane – in all seriousness. He didn’t cry at all during takeoff or landing, and was genuinely happy throughout the flight. He did get a little restless at times (to be expected) and we took turns walking up and down the aisles. Theo was his usual flirty self and by the end of the flight, he had every single flight attendant totally in love with him! They all knew his name and took turns holding him and playing with him. This was basically a sign of what was to come – everyone – from hotel staff to moms and kids by the pool – wanted to play with Theo. He was the star of our trip!

Once we got to Hawaii, we rented a car (which turned out to be a great decision) and made our way to the hotel. This was Jeff’s first time in Hawaii, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The Westin is a beautiful hotel and we certainly made the most of our Starwood points! In addition to being directly on the beach, the resort featured an awesome pool. That night, we noticed that Theo’s eyes were a little goopy – we attributed it to him being tired and the flight…we spent the next day in the pool and noticed that Theo’s eyes looked worse. We made an appointment with the hotel’s on-call doctor (conveniently located in the hotel just a few minutes away!) The doctor took one look at Theo and told us that our poor baby had a double eye infection and double ear infection! It probably didn’t help that I dunked Theo underwater for the first time in between us landing and going to the doctor’s office! The doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics, which helped his eyes almost immediately. Since Theo never complained about his ears (or anything), it’s hard to know when the medicine really kicked in. We saw the doctor once more before we flew home, and everything looked good. The pharmacy was just a few minute drive away, so this little episode turned out to be a minor inconvenience in the scheme of our trip. We were so grateful to be have been in the US!

When we booked our trip, we really didn’t know what to expect in terms of traveling with a baby. It was WAY better than either of us imagined. We didn’t get to do as many “adventurous” things (like hiking or water sports) – but we did plenty of eating delicious fish and hanging out at the beach and pool, which was fine by us. We brought two sets of snorkels/fins, but should have known better – as we could only go one at a time. That said, seeing Theo’s enjoyment as he splashed in the ocean made it totally worth it. Any concerns we had leading up to the trip completely disappeared once we arrived. Theo slept perfectly in his crib and while it meant we ended our nights on the early side – it also meant that we wasted no time in the mornings at took full advantage of our days. We were directed to a small beach about 5 minutes away from the hotel that was perfect for Theo – since it had a row of rocks that took the brunt of the waves and made for a shallow area that we were able to relax in with Theo (without having to worry about fighting the current). The ocean water was great (and was definitely warmer than the pool. We also had a great time exploring Front Street and “Whalers Village” which was right next to our hotel.

As expected, the fish in Hawaii is unparallelled. One of the locals told us about a hole in the wall take-out place that made the BEST fish sandwiches Jeff and I had ever tasted. It was here that we discovered that Theo LOVES mahi mahi! We also spent time visiting the local restaurants near the hotel – and of course, Theo was a fan favorite. One afternoon we randomly ran into one of the hostesses from the hotel restaurant at a nearby park, she immediately called out his name and ran over to see him. One of our best/worst food experiences took place at a Sushi restaurant called “Sansei”. This restaurant had been recommended to us by multiple people so we called to make a reservation. They were booked the entire week we were on vacation – however, they told us that they don’t take reservations between 5:15 and 6pm. We were told to arrive early – which worked just fine for us. Since Theo goes to sleep around 7:30, we are fond of these early bird specials. We arrived at 4:45 (30 minutes before the restaurant opened) and were shocked to see a huge line of people – some of whom were sitting in lawn chairs! Turns out, if you get sat at that “early” seating, you get 25% off your bill – 50% if you have a Hawaii license! At 5:15, the hostess started letting people into the restaurant – Jeff, Theo and I were the last ones let in! Great for us, not so great for the very nice people standing in line behind us. Despite having a menu filled with many things that were off limits to us, Jeff and I dined on their prize winning dish – Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll – Theo dined on Mac N Cheese…real classy. The dessert was OUT OF THIS WORLD – Tempura Fried Ice Cream wrapped with buttery pound cake, rolled in roasted macadamia nuts, flash-fried and served with chocolate sauce. Unbelievably good. This was the first time that we really tried to eat with Theo at a restaurant, and it was a little bit of a disaster. He just didn’t want to sit still, resulting in Jeff and I eating dinner in shifts and getting sympathetic looks from other parents in the restaurant.

Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. We basically fell in love with Hawaii and can’t wait to go back. We ended up agreeing to go on a timeshare presentation (they gave us Starwood points for our time…I mean, we couldn’t say no to that!) Obviously, we fell in love with the concept of coming back year after year and decided that if we ever do decide to go the timeshare route one day, Hawaii is where we want to be.