Kauai Trip

Every once in a while we run home to Kauai for a short vacation. More often than not, we end up staying at home and just hanging out in the yard. But, with Ola getting older and being interested in so many things, we were a little more adventurous this trip.

My mom said that there was a train exhibit at the museum in town and a train on the front lawn. Since Ola has developed a love of trains, we decided we'd stop by and take a look. He was SO excited!
I, however, was a little confused. What's with the wheels on this train? That doesn't look right. Turns out, it wasn't a train, it was a steam plow. But...ask me if Ola knew the difference...or if he would have cared.
After we left the museum we stopped at the mall. That might normally be boring for a little boy, but not when you give him his own Jamba Juice. As you can tell, it's not hard to make this kid happy.
As usual, we had to go to the beach. Ola was totally content playing with his beach toys.
But then he got into the water and started getting a little too....un-afraid. A toddler running full steam into waves bigger than his tiny body = time to go home.
That night, we took the boys to their first Bon Dance. I knew Ola would love it because of the music and the dancing, but he literally would not take his eyes off the dancers. Even Guri-Guri wasn't enough to distract him. While we were there, Tutu found out what time the plantation train ride was and we just HAD to take him. He fell asleep on the way there, but he was wide eyed as soon as he saw the train.

The plantation has donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, and pigs, and halfway through the ride we were able to get off and feed the pigs. Once again, Ola had a blast!
All in all it was a very busy weekend. Ola was so happy to spend time with his Tutu and Papa and be able to do so many fun things. Oh, and just in case you're wondering where Kupa'a was the whole time...he was there. He was sleeping...

A little bit...about our little man...

With Kupa'a being baby #2, we often find ourselves searching for the similarities and differences (at least those we can remember) between him and Ola. Kupa'a has darker hair (and more of it), the same grey eyes (we'll see how long before they turn brown), and toes that are ridiculously long (not like his brother's fat feet).

Unlike his brother...

Kupa'a loves to be swaddled! Even during the day, even hot and sweaty, he LOVES to be swaddled. For Ola, this only lasted a few weeks. Now, big brother doesn't want a blanket touching him. We'll see if it sticks with this one.

He also loves just being in this position. He could be all fuss, but hold him under his arms and sit him up...he's all peachy.
And although I haven't caught a picture of it, the two have very different faces when they're...doing their business. I'll have to post one later, cause Kupa'a face is hilarious!


Just like his brother...

Kupa'a loves to cruise in his bouncer. Ok...so Ola didn't have a bouncer, but he loved cruising in his swing. But since daddy broke the swing, we're in the bouncer. ;)


He loves his baths! Ola's piko fell off a few days after we got home, so he was in the water right away. Kupa'a on the other hand, didn't drop his piko till he was over 2 weeks old. But, once he did, and we got him into his bathtub...he loved it.

It's fun to watch for the similarities and differences between our two boys. It's fun to see the differences in their personalities and the way they do things. And...it's only been 4 weeks. Hopefully, one thing they'll always share is a love for each other. Right now...we're doing pretty good in that department.

Our growing family

Life in our family is...crazy. But, who wants boring anyway? With one crazy little dare-devil toddler, one very rambunctious puppy, and one busy little new born, there is rarely a quite moment in our house. Luckily, I found just a few minutes, which means I get to throw up a few pictures to summarize the chaos. ;)

(And a picture of me taking a breather amongst my monsters)

Kupa'a is our little cruiser. It's not uncommon to see him passed out, head back...and almost always with a smile on his face. ;)
His piko finally fell off yesterday, just over two weeks, and he finally got a real bath. Just like his brother, he LOVED it! In fact, looking at the pictures, it might have been hard to tell them apart...except for all the dark hair.

Mostly though, our boys are very different. Ola can't stand have a blanket even touching him, and Kupa'a absolutely loves being swaddled.

Today at church Aho did Kupa'a's baby blessing, and it was absolutely beautiful! He's such a great daddy. Now, if only I could get him to smile in the pictures. ;)

Our other little man is crazy as can be. He is so funny and he definitely keeps me smiling!


A while ago he got a happy meal where the box became some kind of hat. Now, he thinks all boxes are meant to be hats. What a clown!

Ola has also found the fun in what he calls "BDD's". He's always asking to put them on, and recently picked out some "choo choo BDD's". He was more than happy to put them on and smile for the camera. I wish he was happy enough to use the potty too.
And...I didn't catch a picture, but I still had to include our latest drama with our oldest. Yesterday, while Ola was playing with my brother and his girlfriend, he started crying and saying he had a "boo boo". Now Ola is definitely my rough and tumble one and, normally, when he gets hurt, he wants you to kiss it and then he's done. In fact, I've never seen him cry for more than 20 seconds. But yesterday he was definitely crying. Even when he finally quieted down, he continued to hold his left hand and complain of a "boo boo". Knowing that my baby doesn't cry, I knew something was wrong and we had to get it checked out.

We ended up taking him to the ER where he continued to cry and complain. Because they weren't sure what was wrong, we had to get X-Rays done before they could do anything (Note to any X-Ray techs out there: I know it's your job, but it's really mean of you to ask a mother to hold down her screaming child's arm. I might be tough in most respects, but that is just more than one mom can handle). Luckily, Aho was with me and helped to hold our little man during the X-Rays. It's amazing how strong he is for such a little body. Aho said this morning that he looked like he was turning into the Hulk trying to get off the x-ray table.

Luckily, the X-rays ended up showing no broken bones, so the doctors went along with their first instinct of it being a nurse maid's elbow and proceeded to pop it back into place. Ola screamed while they did it, which was so hard to bear. Once it was back in, the doctors said it might take about an hour for him to start using it again, so they'd give us some time. Literally 15 seconds after they walked out, he stopped crying and started pointing around the room, with his left hand, asking me about all the things in the room. When the doctor came back with a popsicle, he reached right out and took it, like nothing at all had happened. The doc was a little surprised, but happy they had fixed the problem, and let us go home right away.

I was so happy it wasn't anything more serious, but I honestly hope we don't have any more accidents for a while. Ola might be tough, but Mommy is a total wimp when it comes to her babies being in pain. ;)

Our house is definitely crazy, but...who wants boring anyway?