Unusually Proportional

According to the growth chart, Leone is 59% for weight

54% for head circumference

51% for length.

Yeaaaaah, not as big as other poly babies, but that's ok :)

Can't wait for him to start eating solids but kinda nervous 'cause I know they can get constipated the first few days. We've dealt with him having constipation before & it makes me sooooo sad :( He's being a champ right now after having his shots, but I fear he'll be sore and crying the next few days. Other than that, our baby's growing well! We love our chubby boy!

Conversations with my mom.

This is my mom, Mikaela. I love her to death, but she's an interesting woman.

Growing up, my mom always corrected my grammar, and I always thought her English was impeccable...until now. She also told me not to let anyone call me Pasi, it had to be Pasimata. All of you who know her now, know what I'm talking about. Her voice echoes through everyone's heads PASIMATA, PASIMATA, PASIMATA.

On our wedding day while I was getting ready, she came to my hotel room and looked at my dress and said, "You're wearing that? It's not white, you're a weird girl. Pasimata, you're a weird girl." When I got out the temple she kept making comments that my dress was too form fitting and not white.

When Leone was born, he came 2 1/2 weeks early on a Monday and my baby shower put on by my cousins was scheduled to be that Saturday. I walked in with my newborn and my mom kept telling me I needed to lose weight. Yes, FIVE days after giving birth she said I needed to lose weight. Never mind that I just gave birth and all my swelling hadn't gone down yet, but that's Mela for you :)

Today with my mom didn't bring on any criticism, instead it brought on Fob-ism. She came over after work and was looking through all our pictures. She came across a picture of Aaron's great grandmother, Fono Salave'a. She kept saying, wooooow, she died at 39, I wonder what happened. She showed me the picture and said, "She doesn't look 39." I told her that I was pretty sure she wasn't 39 when she died. I read the back of the picture and I said, "Mom, she was born in 1900 and died in 1961, so she was 61." Looking confused, she said, "No, she's 39." For 5 minutes I kept trying to explain to her that she's not doing her math correctly. Then she finally caught on. I was pretty amazed!

While we were taking her home she saw the sign for the Lindon exit and proceeded to tell us that she went to Lindon to get a couple horses...for those of you who know Tongans or are Tongan, know where I'm going with this. She said that while they were getting the horse, the family asked if they'd take good care of the horse and my mom said, yes, of course. She turned to her husband and said in Tongan, take care of them in my stomach. OH DEAR!

Best of friends.

Ever since we were little, Ma'afu & I have always been the best of friends. Even though he was 5 years older than me and even though in the Tongan culture brothers aren't allowed to hang out with their sisters, we were still close. I remember everytime we'd visit my grandparents in Laie, as a child, I'd always want to be around Ma'afu 'cause I thought he was the most hilarious person ever. Those of you who know him, know what I'm talking about.

Moving to California was an easy decision at first. I wanted to be someplace new, away from private schools that my mom was forcing me to attend. I didn't realize though how much I'd miss my cousins. When we moved to Fallbrook, I threw the biggest tantrum (I was 12, don't judge). I was overly dramatic and thought I wouldn't survive. Then, I received the most exciting news! My cousins/brothers from Laie would be moving in with us! Hallelujah! The funny thing is, even though it was against the culture to be around my brothers, my dad would always let me tag along with Ma'afu wherever.

Now that we're older, we still are close. We've had our ups & downs, but I still love my brother. We've started a tradition a few years ago to celebrate our bdays by doing lunch/dinner since we're only 2 days apart. Let me rephrase that: We're 5 years & two days apart for those of you who think we're the same age 'cause I know we've been mistaken for being the same age, eh! haha! jk ma'afu, you just look really young. I pray that we'll have many more bday lunches/dinners together! CHEERS!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Our little man is 3 1/2 months old. It's so much fun watching him grow & develop. I actually saw a video on FB of some friends (Sharlene & Tonga Tukumoeatu) playing with their cute son. Tonga would make a sound and his son would mimic what he was doing. I thought it was so adorable that I tried to do the same with Leone. For weeks I kept trying to get him to copy me and for weeks I could see his little mind going to work trying to figure out how to do it. Finally, two days ago, he did it! Now that's all he ever does when he talks and plays with us.