Brotherly Love

When having a second child, there's always a fear that the first child will be jealous. The worry that they won't like their new sibling or the fact that they no longer have all the attention. Before Kupa'a was born we had the same worries and so we did our best to prepare Ola for a new arrival. He loved to see and touch other people's babies, so we tried to get him excited about the idea that he too would soon have his own little baby around. Well, whether or not it was our preparation or just one fabulous little man, Ola has never shown an ounce of jealousy or resentment toward his little brother.

From the first time they met, it was obvious that he absolutely adored his brother. At home, he is very quick to let us know when Kupa'a is making any kind of noise so that we can tend to him. He loves to check on him, kiss him, and "rub ihu" (rub noses) with him.


And yes, sometimes he even loves him a little too much.

And our boy who isn't fond of sharing his treats has even tried to offer his brother his milk and snacks. Lately, he has been asking to "hold Kupaka" at least once a day, so I've been letting him sit on the couch with Kupa'a in his lap.

And they both LOVE it! Kupa'a's face always lights up when Waiola is around and talking to him. He's a very happy baby in general, but for Waiola, he seems to have a special smile. And Waiola...well, even though after a few minutes I can tell his brother is becoming heavy, when I ask him if he's done holding Kupa'a, he always says no. And when I do finally take him away, he always says, "no mommy, I hold Kupaka again."

I love my boys. But seeing the two of them together, and seeing how much they love each other...I don't know that anything is sweeter than that. And I hope it stays like that forever!

Books galore!

Since Ola was only a few months old, we've made a habit of reading to him. We've always had story time before going to bed, and for a while now, before his mid-day nap as well. He LOVES story time. If we let him, he'd have us read every book he owns, or, sometimes, just the same story over and over. Because he loves books so much, we try to get new ones every so often and he's been lucky enough to get books from friends and family on different occasions. With all of these fabulous books piling up in his book bin, it's become quite a chore to find and pull out different books every day. So, we decided that he needed his own bookshelf. Something small and simple, just so that he could see all of his books and easily grab the ones he wanted.

I found plans for a beautiful little bookshelf on my favorite building blog, but the extra wood we would need ended up being a little pricey. So, we decided to come up with our own plans using the wood we had left over from the play table. It took me a while to come up with the dimensions (after two kids, my brain cells have diminished greatly), but once I did my dad helped me cut all the pieces and put it together. We ended up with a very simple, two-shelf bookshelf. Although it wasn't as stylish as the one I had my eye on, it definitely serves it's purpose. But after putting all the books up, I realized something...pretty soon we're gonna need another one, cause this one is almost full!

Sleep-a-holic!

Maybe it's just me, but no matter how many times it happens, I'm still in awe of Kupa'a's ability to fall asleep. I didn't think it could get better than in the bumbo, but...I was wrong.


He fell asleep in the bathtub!! In the middle of his bath! There is no way it can get funnier than this! lol. So cute!

Just in case you thought I was kidding...

So...just in case you thought I was kidding when I said that Kupa'a was a fabulous sleeper, I thought I'd show you his latest sleeping trick. Yesterday, I had him in his bumbo chair. He was laughing and playing and talking story with me...all alert. I left him for about 30 seconds so I could grab something for Waiola, and when I got back...
Yep! Fast asleep.

And just to prove it wasn't a one time thing...here's a shot of him doing the same thing this afternoon, this time being about 2 minutes after his daddy stopped talking to him. Gotta love it!

Our little angel

Kupa'a is definitely our little angel. Maybe because it's because Ola was colicky and NEVER slept, but we are extremely grateful for our calm, quiet, happy, sleepy baby. Seriously though, this kid will smile at the drop of a hat. He is rarely EVER fussy. When days get long and rough, it's his little smile that gets me through.
And since I want to keep his as happy as possible, we decided to try out a bumbo chair. He loves to be sitting, so we thought it would be a good idea. Turns out we were right. He's a happy little camper when he's sitting up.
However, laying downs not so bad either. It amazes me how easily this kid can fall asleep. The other day, I layed him down on the couch next to me just so I could grab something and in about 30 seconds, he had passed out.
And no matter how many times I try to work on tummy time, he's got it in his head that it means nap time. If I weren't so afraid of him sleeping on his tummy I'd put him down like this all the time, but for now, I just sit there and watch him like a hawk.
I guess with him being our second, it seems like he's growing up so much faster than Ola did. I don't know how he managed to become 3 months old without me even realizing it. He's getting bigger, longer, more talkative, and alert. I just can't wait to see what the months ahead hold for our little happy baby.

What a character!

I still get a kick out of watching Waiola and his crazy little personality. Granted, I'm not laughing so much when the terrible two tantrums are being thrown, but for the most part, this kid keeps me giggling.

Just the other day, Daddy was trying to get him to make a haka face...and this is what we got. Seriously...how can you not laugh at this kid?

He is definitely all over boy, in that he loves to be moving and running and climbing and jumping and well, basically, being a little daredevil.
Recently, he's discovered the fun of not only hanging on to people's backs, but falling off too. He'll beg to "hold on"...but really, he's looking forward to the falling off.
And I've come to realize, that if we're not careful, he may end up growing gills or fins one day soon. This weekend while we were at the beach with some friends, he helped himself to another kids boogey board and had a blast. He let his Aunty Alisha pull him around for a while, but once any possible fear was gone, he was all over the place with that thing. Looks like his Papa will soon have a surfing buddy.
Ola is growing up in so many ways. He's a total parrot, and because of it, is learning to use lots of new words. It's so much easier to communicate with him now that he's gabbing away. We're also trying to make the transition out of diapers and into bvds. He's doing pretty good for just having turned two, but we've still got a ways to go. He's also been such a wonderful big brother. He's often checking on Kupa'a and talking to him or rocking his bouncer or car seat when he starts to get fussy (all of which outweigh the fact that he tried to sit on him the other day). Lol! He definitely keeps us entertained and on our toes. You just can't help but love him!

Tummy Time!....or not

When we had Ola, he was our first and only. No other child, no attention-seeking dog, all of which meant that he got all of my attention and I made sure we did everything recommended. With Kupa'a, I'm admittedly a slacker. We don't work on tummy time (amongst other things) nearly as much as we should. But, I've decided that that has to change. I need to be sure both of my boys get time and attention to work on developmental tasks. So today, once Ola went down for his nap, I sat down to have some tummy time with Kupa'a.

It started off relatively well. He's not too fond of being on his tummy, but today he didn't seemed to mind.
Then he found his hand to suck on and was totally content and cruising.



Then...


Oh well. We tried right? I guess there's always tomorrow. Gotta love it though...this little one is always putting himself to sleep. ;)