Hawaiian Thanksgiving!

Hazel mastered her first travels (kind of) abroad and spent the holidays in Maui with her grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins Saya and Rubi. We were a little nervous about the flights there and back, but she was a perfect angel (even on the return redeye). Spending the holiday with the family was so much fun--we had lots of time on the beach, walking around Lahaina and just relaxing with the people we love. It was a fabulous vacation!

With cousins Saya and Rubi.

Family photo.

Curly-haired girls.

Hazel's first swim!

A baby Pope!

All smiles!

Wow! It's been a while since we've posted some new pictures of Hazel (aka "Pumpkin"), so our apologies to all the Hazelnuts out there. The main reason for the lapse in posting is that Mom put together a Shutterfly share site for the multitude of photos we take of Hazel every week. If any of you are interested in getting access to WAY too many photos of Hazel and have hours to sift through them, let me know and I'll send you the link and password.

Hazel just turned 10 weeks last week and is actually like a tiny human now. She can follow you around the room with her eyes, focus on objects more than 12 inches away from her face, and can grasp her hands together, which sounds uneventful but really is a significant milestone in development. Other than that, the only exciting news on our front is a giant blowout to rival all blowouts last week. After not pooing for 5 days, she decided to let loose when Mom and Dad were at lunch. Luckily, Mom was smart enough to have packed back up clothes and lots and lots of wipies!

But this post is dedicated to the many smiling faces of Hazel...now that she's a little older, her smiles are much more frequent and very endearing. It's a good thing she doesn't know that she could ask for anything right now and get it with these faces! And not only does she look adorable, she even makes cute cooing sounds to mimic talking.

This is what happens when my Mom brushes my hair...clearly she's unamused with her Mom's styling.

At the zoo with my Mom and her mommy group. She is loving naps in the Moby lately! Good for baby, but not so good for Mom's back...

And finally, resting with my daddy...

Hazel's first Halloween

Happy Halloween! For my first foray into this unusual American tradition, my parents dressed me up as a Tootsie Roll, but from the head up, I look a little like a flying nun. Either way, I think I'm pretty cute. It's too bad my parents are going to score all of the candy until I grow some teeth, though. Maybe next year I can try out this Tootsie Roll thing.

My mom and me at the PEP Halloween party where I hung out with my other small peeps from the mommy group.

This is Hazel and her boyfriend Dean--they share the same birthday and the parents have decided that they are destined to get married because they both have old people names.

Yet one more photo shoot by my obsessed mom...this time in my froggy pajamas.

And finally last but most definitely not least: earlier this week I had lunch with my peeps, Emilia, for a delicious bowl of pho (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup). We had a great time together, laughing about old times when I was only 4 weeks old...good times, good times.

A big weekend with Yiayia and Papou

This weekend Hazel got to meet her Papou for the first time and it was love at first sight for both of them. Since this is Papou's third granddaughter, he is very good at charming little girls already. And Yiayia works her magic with Hazel every time, getting her to sleep and soothing her. Hazel turned 8 weeks old this week, and we can definitely see the difference: she's more alert, can make better eye contact, and has longer periods of non-fussiness. We're hoping this means she's on the way to becoming a chill baby!

Paul's girls.

Yiayia contributing to the piggy bank college fund.

Smiley face!

Super silly smiley face!

Mommy and Hazel in her new jammies.

Papou feeding Hazel his first bottle.

Hazel with her Papou and Yiayia.

Hazel with mom at the Farmer's Market.

Mom enjoying lunch at Los Arroyos (Hazel enjoyed the lunch a little later on).

Sleeping on daddy's chest.

Hazel the good luck charm

Hazel wore her Irish onesie this weekend and guess what? Notre Dame won, so we are officially considering it her lucky onesie. We would refrain from washing it, per lucky charm tradition, but that seems a little risky with a poopy baby. Let's hope that she doesn't outgrow it before the season is over! If so, it will become a onesie-turned-crop top. This is also a look in training for her college education, as she will be attending Notre Dame with her girlfriends Charlotte and Paula.

Go Irish!

Daddy time--Hazel's favorite time...

She surprisingly does not mind tummy time at all...and is very cute doing it!

Finally! Our serious little girl is starting to smile...

Pumpkin!

A Busy Week!

Hazel had a busy week this week! She tried her first mommy and me yoga class (and loved it!), had lunch with multiple new friends her age, and even got her first set of immunization shots (which she didn't love so much). And to top it all off, she gained a bunch of weight and now weighs in a whopping 11 lbs, 2 oz (75th percentile) and has the chubby thighs to prove it (making it even more tempting to eat them!).

Dozing off on dad's shoulder.

My 7 week portraiture series, courtesy of mom (thank goodness the baby acne has cleared up!).

Hazel at her lunch date with her friend Alia Ladybug.

Sad face after shots--she was only cranky for a few hours, though. Thank goodness for baby Tylenol. What a little trooper!

Nana and Grandpa Jeno visit Part 3

Whoa! Hazel's time with Nana and Grandpa has gone by fast and we'll be sad to see them go (especially mom, who is really enjoying the help around the house!). But while they were here, we did a lot of fun activities around Santa Barbara, in rain and shine.

We also had a great visit with our new friend Elliott from Seattle--she's only 7 weeks older than Hazel and seems so grown up in comparison! We love her adorable smile and styling sunglasses. Below is a picture with Jason and his special "Elliott hold"--a patented technique to lull Elliott to sleep. He swears it's more comfortable than it looks...

Hazel all snuggled up in her favorite carrier--the moby.

The Farmer's market and Sol Food Festival where we ran into a bunch of Hazelnuts.

Chillin' with mom on the couch--one of her favorite places to sleep is on someone or in their arms...

Captivated by dad, as always.

Nana loving is the best kind.

Grumpy McGrumpy face.

Kicking back on the changing table, a place where I am oddly at peace even in times of fussiness.