Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Sinave - 1 Year Old!

Sinave, my son....I need to apologize...for not staying on top of updating about your progress in this life.

Your 9 months stats are as follows:
Head - 48 cm - 99%
Height - 29 1/4 inches - 84%
Weight - 24 pounds - 97%


Your 1 year old stats are as follows:
Head - 55 cm - 99+% (I thought they told me 45, but I can't imagine your head got smaller so I'll go with 55)
Height - 31 inches - 88%
Weight - 26.5 pounds - 97%

In the past six months, you have grown and matured by leaps and bounds.
You started walking right at your 11 months mark - same as your sister. 

You eat ANYTHING, as long as it's not baby food.  You love Polynesian food.  I have not found anything you refuse to eat, except baby items.  You are starting to want to feed yourself more.  You finally started holding a bottle about a month ago.  Before that, you were too lazy/spoiled to hold it yourself...it's not that you couldn't, you wouldn't.  You refuse to use a sippy cup, and prefer a bottle or a straw.  Uncle Wally would feed you while holding you on his lap.  That is how you prefer to eat.  You don't love to sit in your chair, or in a chair at the restaurant, you want to be held on a lap and fed like a big kid.

You wear size 12-18 month bottoms, and 24 month - 3 T tops depending on the style.  You are just a solid little stud. 

You still get countless comments about how handsome you are. 

You flirt.  You play peek a boo with just about anyone.  You have started smiling when you see the camera (aka camera phones) and your smile now includes a scrunched nose.

Sometimes you "shadow box" with your shadow on our living room wall.

You still wear size 4 diapers. 

You are amazingly strong.  You can go from sitting to standing using one leg and no hands with perfect balance...among other things.  You push around boxes of soda (in grandma's kitchen) for entertainment. 

Your 1 year shots (5 of them) came with about three screams, then as in the past, a giggle in the mirror.

You still love your sister, and you interact with her more. You play well together and I anticipate will be good friends throughout life - not to say there won't be problems. 

You love to play with ANY type of ball.  Right now, you prefer something small enough for you to grip, but any ball will make you happy.

You are quite pleasant most of the time.  You tend to just wander around the house and entertain yourself.

You are "all boy."  That meaning that you climb on anything you can get toes on, you take things off of tables (although you are pretty gentle with most things you do take down), you love to rough house, and you make banging sounds pretty much any chance you get.  Grandpa plays chase with Leila around the living room/kitchen at their house.  Grandpa will carry you in front of him so that you feel like you are playing too.  You have a big wide grin and giggle the entire time.  Just recently, you start to try and initiate the chase game.  When grandpa walks in the door, you position yourself in the middle of the floor and start to roll up on your toes and squeal in anticipation of being chased.

Your eczema is still an issue.  We have now started using "essential (DoTerra) oils" that seems to help, but you still have pretty bad flare ups.  I'm hoping you will "grow out" of this like Leila did. 

Auntie Leitu is now your babysitter.  Nani had to get a "real job" to help pay some bills.  But Uncle Wally still loves you (as do most people.)  He goes out of his way to go to Leitu's house to visit with you during the day.  I get text message pictures quite frequently through the day of you hanging out with Uncle Wally.

You still like a good snuggle.  While wandering the house, you will wander over to me or grandma, climb up, snuggle for a couple minutes, then get back on your way.  And you still snuggle to go to sleep.

You like to be read to (especially if Leila is being read to.)

Church is a chore with you.  I've started taking you to nursery so that you can play (and learn what it's all about so when you are old enough for me to actually leave you there, you are comfortable.)

You still wake up about 4-5 nights per week.  Usually only once each night, but sometimes more.  But you are also getting better about going to sleep when you are laid down (meaning you don't wake up and wiggle around...you just settle in.)

You have your bottom two teeth (and have had them for a month or longer.)  Your top four teeth are pushing through all at the same time.  For the most part, you are a trooper and it doesn't seem to bother you too often. 

Sinave...I could talk about you all day.  You warm my heart in ways I never thought possible.  I love you more and more each day, despite the frustration you give me by not sleeping at night!  You are such a blessing and we are so grateful to be your parents.

I've got tons of pictures, but they are on my phone. I'm trying to get them to transfer over at some point so I can post them. 

Leila Update

Leila girl...you are 4 1/2 years old now.  You came with us to Sinave's one year update and wanted to "see how big you are."  You are 48 pounds, but we didn't get a height measurement.  You wear size 5 pants, and size 6 shirt in most cases.  You also wear size 10 shoes.  You have long, thick, shiny hair, and always say "I can't cut my hair...only Hadlee's mom can cut my hair."  I'm hoping you remember this lesson throughout your life and we won't have to deal with you wanting to cut your own.

You are taking dance class from my friend, Niki Moleni.  You are doing a dance to "You Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story and "Under the Sea" from Little Mermaid.  At first, you were a little hesitant, but now you look forward to class.  You recently started telling me that I don't need to walk you in, you can go in by yourself....and just wait for you until you come outside by yourself.

You are an amazing big sister 90% of the time.  You go out of your way to entertain Sinave, make him laugh, help me keep him safe (doors closed, gate on the stairs secured) and "leave me alone" while I try to get him to sleep.  But at other times you close him out of your room so you don't have to be bothered.

You had your first cavity, and filling.  The dentist was impressed with how well you handled the procedure. 

You are learning how to clean up...the way I would want it done.  Not just pushing things to the side, but actually putting everything away and making it "nice and neat."  The other night (after I yelled at you - which I do all to often because I have minimal patience) you went in your room, cleaned it well, then told me that we "still need to vacuum."  I love to see that your standard of clean is up to my standards.

You are SUPER stubborn (hence all of my yelling at times....I really am trying to work on that though.)  We are working on developing your reasoning skills.

You are hilarious.  Here are some of the recent funny stories.

You have an amazing memory.  After Sinave's birthday, you remembered that my birthday was next.  You asked about it, and when was yours coming?  So I used my fingers to start listing off the order of the upcoming family member's birth dates.  I got to "Grandma" (which was my middle finger) and continued listing a few other people.  I closed my hand and went to the 6th person which was you.  You said "wait, wait, wait" while waving your hands and told me to "go back."  So I put my hand back up to show all five fingers up.  You said "Can I sit next to grandma?" and put your pointer finger next to my middle finger so that you and grandma were "sitting next to each other." 

"Mom, I love you when you go to work."  This made me laugh because you always want to be at grandma's house, without me. 

"Mom, are those cars driving too fast?" 
"No.  Why?"
In a defeated tone..."I want the police to give them a ticket."

You frequently change your name to "Elsa" (the girl from the Disney movie Frozen.)  You tell me that your name is "Elsa Leila Aiono." 

You "play" different animals, or act like a lost kid.  Which is fine.  Except for you TELL ME what to say.  "Mom, pretend that I'm the last pet at the store and you say 'Dad, can we keep her?'"  Then I say that.  Then you tell me MORE words to say.  It's annoying.  I'm anxiously looking forward to when Sinave can reciprocate play time more and you can interact with him in dialogue rather than telling me what you want to be said.

You threw a "surprise" party for me...in the bathtub.  You told me that you and Sinave were ready to get out of the bathtub.  I went to the bathroom and you had shut the shower curtain, then opened it and yelled "Surprise!  It's a naked party for you!"  Thanks honey.

You are still a flirtatious girl.  But only with people you feel safe with.  Usually it's family members, or friends of family members. 

A few weeks ago at church, you looked at your friend Ethan Martinez (who is about 6 months younger than you) and said "Wow mom. Ethan is really growing up."  The funny thing about this is that you made a similar comment about 6 months ago.  It was such an adult thing to say.

You are still a picky eater, but your eating habits are improving. 

You are now being babysat by "Auntie Leitu." (daddy's cousin.) Malachi (Laki's and Lucy's son - 3 years old) lives at the home.  You call him "Makai" because you want to.  Auntie Lucy tells me how funny you are with Malachi.  You help Malachi listen to his mother.  You play well with him. 

You can throw a wicked tantrum (and it only happens when you are tired or hungry - or being woken up earlier than you want to be.)

Despite all of your stubborn behaviors, and the occasional tantrum, you are a sweet, loving, beautiful girl with so much potential...I can't wait to see what the future holds for you