One more week until my baby becomes a boy! Well, it seems like he's already such a big boy, but soon we start saying his age in years - 2! - instead of months. That seems like it must be a break point.
Luckily by baby/boy (baby boy) is still a Mama's boy, so I get lots of giggles, hugs, kisses, and most of all, opportunities to hold him.
On this last weekend of being 23 months old, we took a Saturday morning walk to Dunkin Donuts. He wore jammies; I wore yoga pants. We both ate munchkins. It was fun! On the way we saw a fire engine (insert Will sound effects: whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo) and lots of puppies, ducks, geese and birds - all his favorites.
On Sunday we went with Daddy to return some things at the mall. It got boring for both of us, so we rode the carousel for the first (and second) time ever! Big hit! First ride was on a panda bear and the second was a black horse. Bear is one of my favorite words to hear him say.
This past week he has started saying "I need" for everything. Some phrased like, "I need more," and "I need Mommy," make sense. "I need all done" needs some work.
He has also tried the potty at school several times. I think it's because of his new love for the word chair and it's just another place to sit. At school that have real toilets; they're just low to the ground. At home he likes me to hold him on the toilet but is petrified of his potty seat. I don't think we'll be potty training anytime soon though. He still doesn't seem to have a grasp for what the toilet is for. Or at least he doesn't seem aware of the fact that he's peeing (based on his obliviousness to it when he does it in the bathtub) or pooping (since he says he hasn't about half the time he's got a full diaper). I've always heard closer to 2 1/2 or 3 for boys, so no worries.
We love taking self-portraits! I wish Jason's eyes weren't closed, but it was awfully sunny!
About an hour in, we stopped to snorkel at sea near a rock formation that was supposed to look like a giant red eye of an eel. We saw several sea turtles, including one big guy pretty close up. 
Pretty waterfall as viewed from the sea. These pictures show all the elements: rocks, green, sand and sea.
We saw several sea caves, which I think were carved out by lava flows. Our catamaran actually went into one and turned around (carefully) and came back out.
There are beautiful "Cathedrals" in the valleys. We saw them on our helicopter tour, but couldn't get a good picture. This photo doesn't do them justice either.
We hit a few pockets of rain on the way in and out, but overall the day was pretty. The ride back was much smoother, since we were going with water instead of against it.
Waimea Canyon - this is one where it actually looked more magnificent at eye level. I've got a separate post devoted to our hike there.
And, of course, no trip to the Hawaiian islands is complete without a shave ice! Mine is vanilla ice cream with li hing mui (plum), lychee, and lilikoi (passion fruit). Yum
I discovered that the building where I work has a green roof!
. . .and you know it, clap your hands! (Clap, clap)
More?! Will would love if his entire meal consisted of fruit. He eats that first and asks for more while the rest of his plate is full. This evening it was grilled cheese and baked beans. Last night it was chicken nuggets and green beans, although he ate up all the blue cheese dressing dip no problem!