Mavi's Speech

At 18 months I knew that Mavi's speech was behind where it should have been. I talked to the pediatrician about it and he said to wait until he turned 2 before we did anything about it.  We waited, and when he still only said "Mama" at two, and it meant both Sean and me, we knew we needed to intervene. The same week he turned 2 we moved to Washington for six weeks on our way to Hawaii. Once we got here, it took us awhile to establish insurance, a primary care provider, etc.  While trying to figure all this stuff out, we found out about a place called Easter Seals.  I called them up and instantly we had an appointment with them. We did intake paperwork, set up an evaluation, and got lots of questions answered. After Mavi's eval, they determined that he qualified for in-home speech therapy once a week. This was in November.

After Mavi's evaluation, but before his first appointment, something clicked in his mind. He must have known we were serious about his talking because it happened. He's a talker! He went from saying literally five words (Mama, moo, woof, meow, shoes) to adding new words daily. Asher was his next word which illustrates the special bond that they have. But here, barely three months later, Mavi is saying hundreds of words, spontaneously says 5-7 word sentences, is using possessive pronouns (Asher: That's mine. Mavi: It's yours?) and is adding new words to his vocabulary every day. He got a giraffe for Christmas and he used to call her Baff, but this last week figured out how to say "giraffe" all on his own. He has completely obliterated all of our goals we had for him by the time he reached three years old, and is even ahead of his age for some things (like stringing together more words than is expected of him).

We knew he was smart. We knew he understood everything we were saying. He just didn't really have an interest in speaking. But now that he has an interest, he is revealing all of the knowledge that he's been harboring in that brain of his. We are so proud of him and his progress, and by the time he graduates this program when he turns three in June, he will have no need for speech therapy at all anymore. It's been such an incredible experience to see his language explode like it has!

Stephen and William's Visit!

Eight hours after Brad and Lorraine flew out, Stephen and William landed. Yes. I know. We're spoiled.

We spent the day in Kona waiting for them. We checked out several new beaches but ended up at Kua Bay which has become our favorite beach in Kona. We then hung out on the temple grounds and snacked on our packed lunches waiting for the uncles to land!

Sean was making Brayden a sand honu when a white crab crawled out of the sand. It was so cool! 

The brothers got here safely and we had so much fun with them. They explored in our woods and named our avocado tree Xander. We went snorkeling at the Kapoho Tide Pools but the water was really low and it wasn't a super successful trip for guys. Fortunately they went back a couple more times with way better luck! We went to Punalu'u and South Point, then went Sean was still on break when they got here so we got to go camping with them. We went to this place down by South Point and it was incredible. The road to get there was a rugged dirt road that required some fun off-roading. We felt like we were in the African Savannah. It was beautiful and unique and amazing that there can be so many different landscapes all on this island.

There were 12 honu resting on the beach this day at Punalu'u!

A view from our campsite.

The sunset that graced us that night was hands down the most incredible sunset I have ever seen. The entire sky was painted in a tapestry of orange, blue, purple. The pictures don't give it any of the deserved justice but it was jaw dropping and breathtaking. I could have lived in that moment forever!

Stephen and Kyle slept in hammocks but we brought our large tent for our family to sleep in. There was a decent spot for the tent to set up, but we didn't realize before it was too late that the entire ground was covered in spikes from the trees. Think huge thorns on all the branches and debris all over the ground. We would have to stop every few steps to remove a thorn that had driven itself all the way through the bottom of our inadequate footwear. We finally got the tent set up but we had to be really careful not to poke holes through the tent floor into our pads and sleeping bags!

The boys all slept like angels and woke up super happy. I love that they are getting old enough that we can do things like this and truly enjoy the experience!

Four boys sleeping in the tent.

After leaving our camping spot, we headed to Honaunau (a.k.a. Two Step).  This is hands down our favorite place to snorkel on the island. We keep coming back because apparently this is where dolphins come to play! We hope to see that someday but unfortunately, this wasn't that day. We snorkeled for a few hours and saw some pretty cool stuff before heading north again.

We headed back up toward Kua but because it was a holiday weekend, we knew it would be super crowded. We decided to try yet another new beach. Makalawena Beach is really remote. It also requires 4WD to get there. It took us about an hour in the truck to go just under three miles. Stephen and Will were both out of the truck for a lot of it, helping Sean navigate some sketchy areas. It would have been faster to walk maybe but since we had the kids and all of our gear (boogie boards, food, towels, snorkels, etc.) we drove anyway.

Makalawena was a very pretty beach. I was really surprised at how many people were still there despite how isolated it was. The surf was low so the boogie boarding wasn't as great as it could have been but it was still a beautiful beach despite that! There was this really cool piece of driftwood that Sean set up his hammock under. And then the boys started lining up on it and playing chicken. Sean and Will played a couple times and Sean won both times. Then Stephen got up and dominated Sean twice. Ha. It was really funny. Sean is really really good at slacklining and has incredible balance so this surprised me, but it was fun to see Stephen's Alpha male come out and defeat him both times!

Honaunau Bay

Makalawena Beach

We went to Rainbow Falls, the Boiling Pots, and Akaka Falls. William and I got to do a session in the Kona temple. We ate delicious food, had way too many desserts, and played games every single night. Also, Sean and I got to go on a sushi date!

William jumping in at the Boiling Pots

We had so so much fun with the uncles here. They had plans to go on an epic backpacking trip but due to dengue and Stephen getting sick, they weren't able to pull it off. I think the boys were a little overwhelming for them at times, but I think (and hope!) that they had fun while they were here!

I was really grateful for the opportunity to get to know my brothers a little better. Stephen is only 4 years older than me, but we haven't really hung out very much since high school. Sure we see each other at family events but the 4 kids each kind of diffuses our time. Ha. William has been home from his mission for 10 months and I have hung out with him a few times since then but only in small increments. It was fun having him around so much too.

I truly am blessed with so much great family. I recognize this and absolutely cherish it. Thanks so much for coming guys!