Maui, Day 2

Penny was a clingy tooth monster today so we stayed on at the homefront mostly. Went swimming in the morning and even though it was only 10:30 I've gotten myself a crispy little sunburn. Penny said (not just signed) "silly" - "horse" - and "Wow!" today, and stood up on the living room carpet for 40-mississippi seconds! hmmm.... I may need to rename this blog Planet Penny.

Just got back from a stroll along torch-lit paths on the beach and bite to eat at the Kealani Hotel. Enchanting. Goodnight Mike xoxoxox! Hope your flight to Germany was swift and painless. Love and miss.

Maui, Day 1

Penny was ready to greet the day at 7, so we got up and made breakfast and took our first bath in the jacuzzi tub. I acccidently hit the jets button with my elbow which prompted an angry surface sputtering sound (since the water was so shallow) spewing no small amount of processed insect parts into the water and scaring the bajeezes out of Penny. Then I spotted a cane spider the size of my hand moving agressively (I'm told they're harmelss but I swear it was) on the ceiling right above our heads and that scared the bujezzes out of me, conditioner still in my hair, bath time was officially over. Shortly thereafter I stubbed my toe but I think I'm still a few days shy of losing the toe nail. The rest of the morning spent in quiet repose nursing headache and foot and shamelessly using sign language DVD as babysitter.

Latter part of the day much improved, caffeinated, foot salved and iced, napped, etc... Mom and Penny read books while Dharma played his new harmonium, a goregeous little harpsichord-meets-achordion sort of instrument - he found it at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA. It's gorgous with keys that look like mother or pearl and decorative inlaid wood. Here's what the school says about them (http://www.aacm.org/shop/harmonium.html):

"Brought to India in the mid-19th century by European missionaries, the harmonium has been adapted for use in Indian music. It in now the instrument of choice to accompany a wide variety of singing styles. From the small, portable harmoniums popular for kirtan and chanting to the Calcutta-made scale change harmoniums popular with ghazal and classical singers, and everything else in between"



Later on in an effort to beat the heat Penny and I tried out the kiddie pool in the shade of the back porch as the sun was too high to attempt the grown-up pool. Explored the house some more - Penny's certified baby-proofing inspector skills in full force: dug the mirrors. found a mouse trap. Went into Kihei for Thai dinner, yummm, Penny made friends with other customers and taught herself how to sit down and get up from sitting in booster on the floor... stood up no hands for about 12 seconds!

Getting to Maui

Getting to the airport was a bit of an adventure with only a few minor setbacks - the dead car battery at the gas station before leaving town and the two times traffic was at a complete stop on the 205 - just enough to keep me stressed out until we were safely seated on the plane. Luckily however, once we got to the airport it seemed like nothing but green lights and no waiting.

Penny was a dream on the plane despite her only taking an itty-bitty 30 min. nap. We were lucky to be seated next to two doting grandparents (an elderly couple, very Christian canary farmers, that yes, were both wearing canary yellow, and acted all kissy like they were on their honey moon - ok, so that level of PDA was a little gross but I secretly hoped Mike and I will be that full of passion when we're that wrinkly). Both of them were in need of a baby fix so they didn't mind her playful kicking while she nursed and dropping things in her "uh-oh" game play. The lady behind us was drawn into a game of peekaboo and asked later if she was "always so good natured" to which I had to smirk and say "she has her moments" in a resigned kind of way. When I knew she couldn't stand being on my lap for one more second, I put on her sign language DVD and half way through they were already saying that we were about to begin our descent. Not as bad as I had feared!

Mom's house in Maui Meadows is breathtaking. Spacious and breezy, full of votive statues, fountains and flowers, and a view of the ocean from the upper deck. Mom really went out of her way to make us feel welcome and Penny was extatic to see baskets of toys and books and musical instruments waiting for her and wasted no time looking at ALL of it in the first half hour of being here doing her little crab scoot from room to room at speeds I didn't know she was cabable of. I was extatic to see that mom had already gotten diapers, wipes, lap pads, beach toys, and even a pack and play crib with a changing table, mobile and a little attachment that makes nature sounds and plays music. We spent the evening getting settled mostly. Penny was exhausted as well and slept a good half the night in the pack and play.

Here's a slideshow of our new digs: