Meltdown City.

Population: One Makster



Boy, can this kid throw a tantrum. We've been following the Love and Logic parenting strategy. It's pretty tough sometimes while they go through phases, though. We seem to be stuck in a HUGE tantrum phase. It doesn't help that Mak is teething big time. Looks like he's getting four teeth at once and it's wreaking havoc on our normally calm routine.

The best thing we can do is stay consistent. But look at this face!



It can be *SO* hard to say no to this face! Alas, I'm building lots of willpower and standing my ground. And Mak understands a lot more than I give him credit for. We're doing a lot of positive reinforcement... High five'ing when he follows the rules and lots of cheering when he listens to our directions (i.e. "put the block away, please" or "sit down in the bathtub"). I have faith that we'll get through this testing phase and come out with a wonderful, well-behaved little boy.

Until the next phase, at least. :) I do so very much love this face:



Yes, he was Darth Vader for Halloween. And look at that happy smile!

Much love,
The Dolfos.

A year.

October 2009:


This gorgeous baby boy of mine was born at 5:06am and weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces.

One year later, he's up to a whopping 25 pounds, walking, running, signing and even a few words.



My eyes well up as I think about this past year, all of its ups and downs and in betweens. Learning to be "Mom" was not easy. It tested my patience. It tested my will. It tested my commitment. It tested my relationships. It certainly tested my sanity. They aren't kidding when they say sleep deprivation is the hardest part of being a new parent.



I wouldn't trade a second. Not even a millisecond. The joy this little boy has brought into our lives is indescribable and irreplaceable. A year later and I know:

*just how much patience I have
*what an amazing father Brad is
*how fun it is watching my parents be grandparents
*messes are NOT worth the stress, but ARE worth laughter
*that it's okay for me to nap when he naps
*the laundry will always be there for me to do tomorrow
*the best thing I can accomplish all day is making my baby laugh
*my marriage is a lot stronger than I gave it credit for
*that I can never take too many pictures
*and that being late is worth every hug and kiss.



As we move into our second year, I look forward to seeing more of Mak's rambunctious personality. Something tells me I have a sweet little mischievous boy on my hands. Here's hoping I can nurture more sweet than mischievous! :)

Much love,
The Dolfos.

Going places

I'm really starting to hit a groove with taking two kids out on activities. Sure, it infinitely helps when I have another adult, but I'm starting to gain some confidence in just getting up and going. The days go by faster, we all have more fun and it really helps our mood. It only took ten and a half months. =P

Last week we hit the Zoo, the Children's Museum and I even took the boys along with me to do a few errands! One is fairly easy and simple. Two is where I got flustered. But I've learned that it doesn't have to be hard at all! I'm pushing myself more, getting the diaper bag ready at night, getting snacks together, water, etc. This makes it so easy to just get out of the house in the mornings. And if I'm really set, we can stay out until naptime.

One thing I'm struggling with now, though, is Makani seems to be allergic (or at least not at ALL ready to digest) to dairy products. :( My poor baby! And he LOVES yogurt! I gave him a whole thing of yogurt everyday for a week, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why he was having such painful gas and awful diarrhea. Puffy eyes and bad sinuses, oh, this baby was miserable. And my normally wonderful sleeper was no more.

I'm hoping that this is something he'll grow out of. The amazing thing is that by eliminating all diary from his diet, and giving his body time to heal, my good sleeper has returned. ♥ And a happy baby is all I need.

Anyhow, we hit the zoo again tomorrow!

Much love,
The Dolfos

(PS. If anyone's confused, I nanny for an amazing two year old named Carter. So I have two kids during the weekdays. We only have one boy, Makani... for now) :)

Trapped!

And there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I will take any and every moment I have with this boy. Even the tantrums, the dirty diapers and the fevers. They are just as good as the giggles and dances and high fives. I love you, Mak. <3

Much love,
The Dolfos

More firsts

Makani has been great at feeding himself. He was hesitant at first, not really wanting to get dirty, but Brad and I just encouraged him and gave him plenty of opportunities to try it out. Finally he became comfortable with it... maybe a little too comfortable? :) While in Hawaii, we let him try steamed rice. Well, not only did he love it, we also saw just how messy he was willing to get:


Also, Ah-mom gave Mak his first blowpop:


Our Hawaiian trip was SO much fun, and we just really enjoyed some family time, uninterrupted. It really helped us realize what family vacations really do: they help you reconnect with each other, and reconnect together. They help you see different sides, sillier than day-to-day.


Mostly, a lot of laughter and down time.




A lot of cuddles and hugs and smiles.






Oh, and MANY naps!


Much love!
The Dolfos

PS. Couldn't forget Makani's first Lei! ;)

And Finally...

... With Brad back in school, I have more time to keep up with this! Exciting, I know.

My favorite week this summer was the one spent in Hawaii. It was hot, humid, windy and just wonderful! Great timing, too, since our weather was still gloomy and rainy, so it was definitely a vacation - a getaway from all.

A short recap:
-Makani did GREAT on the flights! The flight there had 20+ babies that were age 2 and under... including a three week old! I thought that was a little insane, but the baby actually did well, too. Mak was intrigued by the sounds, and the turbulence (gratefully, there wasn't much). He enjoyed looking out the window and he did really well, taking his naps at the right times and eating baby food and nursing. All in all, we were hesitant, but he proved to be a fantastic traveller. This is awesome for us, should we decide to travel more in the future.


-This trip boasted a lot of firsts! We visited Brad's mom's hometown of Haleiwa. They have world famous shaved ice from Matsumoto. And YES, we gave some to Makani. He totally loved it, I'm sure the cold ice felt great with the heat and the sore teething gums. Don't be fooled by his flared nostrils, he always does that when he first tastes something new. :)




Another first: Coconut water! Like I said, it was hot and humid. We visited the swap meet at the pro bowl stadium and totally left our water in the car. Finally gave in and bought some coconut water, which I drank almost daily the last month of my pregnancy, since it's just about the healthiest thing you can drink (better than IV fluid hospitals give you). I *HATE* coconut water. I drank it for the health of me and my baby and that's it... It did end up growing on me, but not much. Imagine our surprise when Brad held Makani in one arm and the coconut in the other. Mak, on his own, reached for the straw, pulled it into his mouth and DRANK. He didn't even flinch, he just gulped that coconut water right down! Familiar taste? Probably. But I think it was hot, humid and he just plain liked it. :)


It's late, and I'm tired. So this will have to be continued...

Much love.. and Aloha!
The Dolfos.

An adventure indeed!

As we passed months seven and eight, we also transitioned from kind of crawling, to quickly crawling to pulling up standing to standing on his own do a few seconds.

Deep breath... Whew! Never before have I been forced to be so alert, constantly aware of where someone is and what they're into. It's exhausting. And amazing to see this adorable, tiny person learn so many new things in a short amount of time.

And I get to watch him, guide him, cheer for him, hug and kiss his owies away... Truly, we're the blessed ones as parents. :)

Much love,
The Dolfos.

Brad turns 23!

All Brad has ever wanted was a brand new surfboard of his own. And this year, he got it! He found the 9ft Ed Wright surfboard at a new, little surf shop up in Encinitas called Surfy Surfy. This board is bound to become an heirloom for sure... We even had Mak pose on it for some pictures. :)



A surfer in the making, maybe? :)



He already knows how to check out the waves... and express disappointment.



Much love (and good waves),
The Dolfos

Little fish.

Just as I knew I was pregnant before the test turned positive, and just as I knew it was a boy before the 5-month ultrasound, I knew (I KNEW) that this kid was a water baby. I don't know what it is about being pregnant, but if you really listen to the baby inside, you get such wonderful insights into their developing personality, their preferences and such.

I knew Makani had Brad's active side but he also had a very quiet, observant curiosity, just like his mom. His personality is a mellow, go-with-the-flow type, but he doesn't like to be surprised or rushed. Strange combination? It's exactly what Brad and I are like together, so it makes perfect sense to us.

While in my belly, I would feel Mak coast serenely back and forth, back and forth from side to side in my belly, sometimes doing flips, sometimes kicking off on one side and bumping into another. Then he'd have a little fit as if to say, Why isn't there more room in here?! I'd often tell people, Ah, Mak's doing his laps now.

So it was really no question to us whether we wanted to put him in baby swim (plus, my mom has a pool, two aunts have a pool AND we live near the beach... it's just good sense wherever you are). It was no surprise, though it still brought a bit smile to my face, when Mak took so easily to swimming!



It's been a month now and he happily dives underwater, knows to hold his breath, comes up making funny faces and smiling. His teacher, Erin, says he's a natural, and most babies don't take to it so quickly. Proud parents, we are!



During bathtime, he practices his kicking and has recently learned to make BIG splashes by slamming his hands down on the water. I'm pretty sure most of the bath water ends up on one (or both) of us, but water dries and we never pass up a moment to laugh along with Makani.



How can you NOT smile upon seeing THAT smile??

Much love,
The Dolfos

Six Months!

*SO* much has happened this past month that I haven't even had time to sit down and write it all! I'm going to try, this week, to dedicate an entire post to all these new and exciting milestones and events that have been added to our lives. Starting with, of course:

Makani has turned six months old!



All day, I kept looking at this boy, watching him sit up, watching him balance on all fours, watching him play, laugh, smile, learn, cry, grab and I couldn't believe he was here. I couldn't believe that just a year ago he was barely a few inches long and now he's 15 pounds and 27 inches long and he's HERE. And he's mine. Well, ours, of course. Everyday I look at him and sometimes I see Brad, sometimes I see myself, always, I see Makani. A perfect blend of the two of us. He has a personality now, he's developing preferences (LOVES his monkey, not crazy about peas), he exudes charm and has a quiet playfulness about him that I just love LOVE love.



He loves to smile, which is wonderful because everyone he meets loves to make him smile. He's developed a sense of independence, which I thought would be hard for me, as his mom, to encourage, but I see his eyes light up and his smile get so wide that I can't help but cheer him on. I have years (that I plan to cherish and cherish) until he really starts to let go, so I take these little moments as practice and I hold onto those brilliant facial expressions when he achieves his goal.



Makani, I can't tell you what a joy it is to be your mom and I know Dad feels the exact same way. We love you so much!

Love,
The Dolfos

1, 2, 3, GO!

It's amazing to me how quickly we develop. As I watch Makani grow, I share with my parents that "it goes by so fast!" And they always respond with a knowing, sometimes bittersweet look and reply, "Oh, I know." And I realize they *still* think the same thing when they look at me, their daughter, then a wife, now a mom.

Makani has been doing such a great job hitting all those milestones. He's now sitting up for minutes at a time (he gets bored, or sees something more interesting a few feet away, then just falls to his tummy), he's learning that he can get on his knees and balance there, he's definitely mastered backwards motion, sideways motion, and even turning in circles and now he's using all his might to get forward motion going.

The house *HAS* been baby-proofed.

Now all that's left is to watch Makani's face light up as he realizes he's MOVING FORWARD! Good thing we started running again, gotta keep those muscles in top shape as we gear up for chasing after this little one.

Much love,
The Dolfos :)

Ariel turns 25!

We always go wine tasting for my birthday. It's an unspoken tradition by now. So the Saturday before, a few good friends and the two of us piled into the big silver van and drove up to Temecula. It was such good fun! We stopped at three wineries, including Leonesse (where we are members) and we had a picnic, tasted wine, enjoyed good company and beautiful weather. It was a wonderful celebration and I felt blessed the whole time for everything I have. :)

Of course, going wine tasting takes a good part of the day (the whole day, really), which means it was our first test being away from Makani for a WHOLE DAY. We did much better than we thought we would! Of course, I would text my mom just about every hour asking how Mak was doing down there and she was wonderfully patient with us and would always text us back (even a few pictures of him being content). That did help a lot. The original plan was to let him stay all day at my mom's (Abue's) house and also spend the night there, but when we got home, Brad and I looked at each other and decided being away from our baby all day was enough for us for now, so we drove the five minutes to Abue's and picked him up. Makani was SO HAPPY to see us! Oh, the smiles! That made us feel so much better about our decision. We don't want to be wimpy parents who can't enjoy time as a couple without the kid, and it's nice to know we're not. It's also nice to know that we're bonded as a family and that Makani misses us as much as we miss him.

I must say that birthdays are so much sweeter when you have a little one of your own. Sure, they don't know there's something significant about that day, but when they smile at you all day, it's just heartwarming.



I had a wonderful birthday where I was able to see all my parents (that's rare)! Thank you to everyone who made the day so much special. Here's to a great start into my mid-twenties! :)

Much love,
The Dolfos

Pee happens.

So Saturday night, Brad, Mak and I went out to the Old Spaghetti Factory with my mom and John. Delicious dinner, wonderful company and even some yummy vanilla ice cream. We were all pretty tired when we got home, so I immediately fed Makani and put him to bed. This was around 9pm.

Because his schedule's so thrown off by the time change and the busy weekends, Mak ended up waking up around midnight to eat again. No problem. We just lay him down right next to me so he can nurse, then put him back in his bassinet when he falls asleep. Except he felt WET and needed a diaper change. So Brad got a diaper and decided to change it while Mak was nursing. Weeellllll....

Brad took the diaper off, realized it was dry, but before he could get it back on.... Makani peed. ALL over our bed. Okay, all over Brad's side of the bed. If only we'd waited just a few more minutes! Mak was still nursing, our bed was wet and we both were struggling to wake up enough to figure out what our next course of action was going to be. Luckily, Makani stayed asleep, I changed his wet diaper (and he STAYED asleep!) and put him back to his bed. Brad took the sheets off and we shared a very hearty laugh. Pee happens when you have kids. Whatcha gonna do.

Much love (and laughter!),
The Dolfos

You know they're tired when...

... they fall asleep in a busy restraunt:


Brad and I were always adamant that yes, our child should have a regular schedule. Napping, eating, bedtime, all that stuff. But there should be some flexibility, too. If we're out and about and it happens to be naptime, then sure, let's put the kid to nap. He can nap in the car, or the stroller, or even in our arms. Sure enough, after five months, we finally have a nap schedule. And it sure is flexible! This makes for two very happy parents.

Makani has become a rolling fiend! Any chance he gets, he rolls front to back, back to front, over and over. We'll lay him down in his bed and he'll just roll and roll until he gets too tired and finally falls asleep. He's also getting pretty good at balancing on all fours. Mak sticks his little booty up in the air as he gets up on his knees and he jiggles his way onto his elbows. Can't seem to stay on all four limbs for long, but give him a few weeks and I'm sure he'll have his "LOOK AT ME!" face on as he triumphantly balances on his knees and elbows.

Maybe it's time to childproof the first part of the house? We're heading to Target this weekend to get electrical socket covers and baskets for things we don't want him to get to. Don't worry, we know nothing replaces good parental supervision, so that's always our first priority. Gotta keep our little mover safe.

Much love,
The Dolfos.

21 weeks.

It's so hard to believe we've gone from this:



just three days old.

To this:



One day shy of turning 21 weeks old. That's 147 days old.

We each have accomplished so much. Makani can now roll over, coo, smile, laugh, grab (oh, does he grab!), eat solids and all the wonderful milestones you expect your almost five month old to do. He's eager to be held upright on his legs and we let his "walking instinct" take over. As in, he looks like he's walking, but it's just his legs' instinct, he's not really walking or attempting to, really. But the more we allow him to practice this, the faster his brain will realize that he CAN control those movements and use them with a purpose. Mak is now working on sitting upright on his own, helping his first two teeth cut through and sleeping through the night. He is taking solids like a champ! Loves carrots (as pictured above) and also avocado, banana and oatmeal. We're hoping to introduce applesauce next. The best thing about all these foods is Mom makes them all herself at home, so no preservatives for him! They even taste better! :) Here's to hoping we all can figure something out to help him through what seems to be a pretty tough teething phase.

It's quite something to love someone, then create a life out of that love and watch it grow. It certainly adds a new dimension to our personalities and relationship. Brad and I have worked hard to make a smooth transition from couple to family and I think we're doing well. :) Bathtimes, diapers, playtime and feeding solid foods have all become easier. We laugh a LOT at our attempts when we try something new (feeding carrots without a bib = BAD idea!). If anything, we feel blessed and even younger with our new addition, having so much fun rediscovering childhood and watching each other gracefully fall into the roles of "mom" and "dad". It's such a wonderful, natural feeling.

Much love.
The Dolfos.