Thanks to everyone who followed along while we were on our Hawaiian adventure! We've been back for over a week, and school started up again today. It's a good thing I had a week off when we got back, because it took poor Sethie (and all of us) quite some time to get back on a normal sleeping schedule. You can't blame him - when it was midnight here, to him it felt like it was 6pm). But after several days and some advice from our pediatrician (Benadryl for a couple nights before bed to get him back on track), he seems to be back on schedule.

Seth was very excited to be back at his house, and quickly became reacquainted with his playroom and toys. The weather was great when we got back, so we had lots of fun outside. We've gotten to spend lots of time in person with Grams and Geema, and we've talked on the phone or video chatted with Papa and Grandpa Joe and Grandma Nancy.

While we wrote lots about our adventures in Hawaii, I wanted to bullet point out the new phrases Seth has acquired, the new games/activities he plays, and the fun things he talks about from our Hawaii trip - now we finally know what he is thinking!

New phrases:

• Try, try again (from Mommy, when shooting baskets)
• "What is it?"
• "Sounds like a plan!" (from Daddy)
• "That's hilarious!" (from Daddy)
• "That's correct" (from Daddy)
• "Daddy do wheels" (driving)
• "Hawaya" (how he says Hawaii)
• "We made it!" (off the plane)
• "I made that!" (his drawings)
• "I do that!"
• "Okay, we can do that" (from Mommy)
• "Maybe Mommy pick you up...I stay in car...(no, you come in with us)...sounds like a plan!"
• "Hi Bandit Doggie, you having fun?"
• "Bandit ate a piece of crayon...it was an accident!"
• Says "Yeah" and "Nope" - sometimes nope means yes!
• "I love malasadas (donuts from Hawaii), they're yummy!"
• "I feel the wind/ocean breeze"
• "I flop in waves...push Daddy in water...bury Mommy in sand"
• "Get in car, go see hula!"
• "I do Frere Jacques, Dorme Bu!"
• "I get shovel, go to beach, play in water"
• "Know that song?"
• "I kiss Bandit"
• "We walking both"
• "We walking each other"
• "I can want it"

New games:

• Loved to play with Bandit's leash, got to walk Bandit on his leash with Anne's help!
• Pretended a cork was a phone
• Loved Anne's harp/piano, rocking horse, rocking chair
• Silly games - says "Mommy is Tommy, Seth is Bandit" etc.
• Scoots around on his knees
• Loves guitars - hands out his puzzle pieces to all of us - especially guitar and violin - we play them, must "strum guitar on our tummy"
• Favorite song to sing is Baa Baa Black Sheep

Memories from Hawaii:

• "Man plays seashell at Waikiki, sounds like trumpet, puts to mouth goes doo doo doo"
• "Man plays guitar, see hula at Waikiki"
• "I see shark teeth at aquarium"
• Play with watering can, "heavy water"
• See animals at zoo
• "Where is Pika/Lulu?" (cats)
• "I go swimming in ocean water"
• Looked for cat (pretend) in cabinets, mailbox, like his favorite youtube video clip

These are some highlights of Seth at 22.5 months - I wanted to remember them! Recently, we named his two toy cats Pika and Lulu after the cats he met in Hawaii. Seth is also into pretend games right now, including store, house (made out of a diaper box), playing with the cats, and playing with Baby Doll and Baby Douglas ("Don't cry Baby Douglas, go to sleep, have a dream!").