Madison Dreams

Maddy woke me up this morning and told me that he had just been swimming with Papa and his inflatable whale, Free Willy. I asked him if he dreamt it and he said, "IOE!" as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Maddy's two new favourite phrases are:

Aua e ke pepelo e?

and

E po oe?

RIP Aunty Eunike

We received news last night from NZ that Aunty Eunike passed away in the U.S. yesterday. She had been having serious health problems for the past few years and finally lost her battle with her condition. May she rest in peace and may her loved ones in the States find comfort. We'll be thinking of you all!

Madison-isms

My son has a unique Samoan dialect of his own devising. I'm reluctant to correct him when he uses his slang version of Samoan because it's just too cute. I hear it so often that I am guilty of using it too, which just makes him think that his version of the language is more correct than mine. He has "corrected" me on more than one occasion!

Madison-ism #1: Ligi
Meaning: Ring
Usage: Daddy, kago e ligi Papa i le kelefogi ua ou fia kalagoa ia Papa.

Madison-ism #2: Fukitown
Meaning: Lucky Foodtown
Usage: Daddy, kakou o i le Fukitown e faakau sa'u drink lanu red.

Madison-ism #3: Kigipo'o
Meaning: Head
Usage: Auoi, ua kiga laka kigipo'o.

Madison-ism #4: Niu Sheeland
Meaning: New Zealand
Usage: Daddy, ua ou fia alu a i Niu Sheeland i luga o le vaalele.

Madison-ism #5: Faapelea
Meaning: Faapea
Usage: Se leai Daddy! Fai faapelea!

Easter Already?

I can't believe it's almost Easter already. We received a package from the NZ Easter Bunny (thanks Mom!) and it had all sorts of goodies for Maddy to eat and play with. That reminds me, I have to swing by Lynn's store in Motootua to pick up some Jungle Juice for HRH so he can make his ice pops. Thank goodness for the weekend!

Visit to the NAC

Maddy and daddy at the National Aquatic Center

They had a nice kiddies pool

Maddy had the whole pool to himself for over an hour

All ready for the SPG in 2007

4 hours in the pool and Maddy still cried when we had to go!

Climbing Trees, Throwing Stones and Coconut Heads

This is Maddy climbing a coconut tree the other day during our lunch break.

Yes, Free Willy is still alive and well!

Maddy and his on again, off again friend Amataga.

If Maddy sees a tree, he must conquer it.

Boys will be boys. Yesterday Maddy and Amataga were throwing rocks into the river by our house when Amataga accidentally struck Maddy in the head with a large stone, opening up a cut on his forehead. By the time Maddy came back to the house his head and face were covered in blood and a walnut sized lump was protruding from his forehead. Rach and I were freaking out! After a quick trip to the doctors we were relieved to find out that it was just a little cut and that there were no fractures to his skull - proof that Samoan boys have coconut heads.

Don't Throw Stones

Maddy was outside playing yesterday when he got hit in the forehead with a rock thrown by his best friend from next door, Amataga. Amataga's mother swears it was an unintentional accident that happened while the 2 of them were throwing stones into the river.

Still, it was quite a scary sight to see Maddy holding his head while blood was all over his head and face. We cleaned the blood and applied ice to where the rock had hit but he had a nasty cut above his eye and a walnut sized lump to show for it. The doctor said he was okay and that there was no fracture of his skull and he suffered no brain damage.

It was lucky, it could have been a lot worse.

Getting Better

Maddy loved the chicken noodle soup we made for him last night. He ate the whole bowl and even asked for more, which we gladly gave him. His energy levels are picking up, enough that we don't have to take any more time off work.

We came yesterday to find him eating a raw pod of koko with the other kids. No matter how many apples and oranges we buy him, he still prefers to gather his own food from the back yard and neighbouring homes, such as vi, mangoes, bananas and koko. I think it's great, reminds me of when we were kids growing up in Samoa too.

The Cough That Won't Go Away

Maddy has had a persistent cough for the past 2 weeks and according to his doctor, he has a "90 day flu". Now I don't know about you but I don't want my child to have a flu for 3 months. The medicine that he has prescribed doesn't seem to work and in the cough and flu have robbed Madison of his appetitie. He's lost a lot of weight. I've been reading through information on the Internet and most data suggests that cough medicine doesn't work on children, perhaps even making the cough worse. Who do I trust?

More Pics of My Trip to NZ

Me and My Cousin Maia playing Play Station

Me and Papa lying down on the couch watching cartoons in Waikanae

Me

Me and Jared

Grace, Me, Jared and Jessykah

My Visit to NZ

... was "O" for Awesome. I had the best time of my life. I met lots of cousins, aunties and uncles from near and afar and I didn't want to leave when it was time to come back to Samoa.

I miss my Nana and Papa especially and really enjoyed the time we spent at the beach house in Waikanae. My Nana and Papa bought me lots and lots of toys to play with including my favorite toy, a blue whale now named "Free Willy" and a batman outfit with cape and mask. I looked the pomu in it.

After my Aunty Sachi and Uncle Marks wedding, I spent the second week of my holiday with my mommy's family out in Porirua and Wanganui. I had a lot of fun there too especially with my four cousins Jonathan, Grace, Jared and Jessykah Rachel.

I kept on taking Jared's spiderman outfits and wouldn't give them back (hehe), so Aunty Jojo went out and bought me a Superman outfit with cape, Spiderman T-shirt and Skivvy, Spiderman underwears and boxer shorts. Boy was I a happy chappy or shall I say SPOILT.

My Daddy also took me to visit his friend Damon and he has a 3 year old son named Evander. He had some cool toys and when we were about to leave on the last day, he gave me his Spiderman toy.

That was very nice of him I thought. I hope to visit him again soon so I can get some more (hehe).

Here is a picture of my mommy, friends and aunties all dressed up as Wonder Woman for the Rugby Sevens... Don't they look cool!!!

Mind you my Batman outfit is way better than theirs because I have a cape and a mask and it's made out of proper superhero material too!!!

Anyways, I had the best holiday ever and I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all my family who spent time with me, bought me presents and took me out sightseeing and shopping. I can't wait to see you all again very soon.

Pictures of Aunty Sachi and Uncle Marks Wedding

The Happy Couple

Nana, Aunty Sachi and Aunty Lagi

That's me and my cousin Matthew

Aunty Lagi, Daddy, Uncle Sonny, Uncle Nigel and Aunty Sachi

5 More Sleeps

Have you ever tried to convey the concept of time to a 3 year old? Well our 3 year old sees the world in terms of ananafi (yesterday), nei (now), leisi taimi (the other time) and taeao (tomorrow). So trying to tell him that we'll be going to NZ in 5 days time has been quite the challenge. He keeps thinking we're going tomorrow and since tomorrow keeps coming and going, I'm starting to think he must believe his parents are just pulling his leg about the whole thing.

Nonetheless, his eyes light up when we mention the plane ride and meeting up with his grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins (especially Jonathan, Grace, Jared & Jessykah).

On another note, our swimming pool has died. I won't mention any names (haha) but someone was leaning on the edge too hard and the bottom of the pool ripped away from the side. I thought it was funny how the kids brought the pool out yesterday and sat inside it and pretended to swim around in it. I love the imagination kids have!

So Much Happening

You'd think that since we've been so busy lately that we'd have more entries here, you know, with so much to write about, but no, we've been on the go go go since Christmas and haven't had the time to keep Maddy's blog up to date.

We've had visitors (Uncle Ativale and family, Uncle Steve & family), we've had near misses with a couple of cyclones (Tam & Urmil) and we've been preparing for Sachi's wedding. On top of all that, we're contemplating making the move to Washington DC sometime in the next few months. It's been an exciting time and we're looking forward to seeing everyone soon at Sachi's wedding!

Tofa Soifua 2005

Woohooo time to hit the beach!

Me and my pretty mommy

This is my sneaky grin :)

Christmas 2005 Update

I love Christmas time, so many pressies for Mommy and Daddy to buy and for me to open.

My Daddy tells me that I may not always get what I want but I'll always have what I need.

This is me giving Amataga a punch in the tummy for not listening.

Ahhh there's nothing like splashing around in the pool on a hot day.

This is one of my cool toys I got for Christmas, thanks SantaGran!

This is the life!

Two Days Of Leave

It's nearing the end of the year and I am exhausted. I decided to take two days off work to spend some quality time with my son. Yesterday was all play, fun and games. We even got the pool out and splashed about with his friends. I had lots of fun and was definitely tired by the end of the day.

Today we went downtown and had a yummy breakfast at Mari's Bakehouse and spent 2 hours at the movies watching Zoro - Madison loved it. He is now outside playing with his posse. My carpenter from work is coming in this afternoon to fix the ceiling upstairs and tommorrow he will be putting mosquito netting all around the top floor - hopefully it would stop that nasty black cat from next door coming into the house at night! I am loosing too many loaves of bread (haha).

Have a nice day everyone!

Shopping Day

When I awoke this morning, Madison said "mommy, alu work?" and I said "I don't feel too well son, I might stay home." He walked over to me and touched my forehead and said "auoi Mommy your hot, you sick, stay home ok?" .. I giggled and said "ok Doctor Mano'o, mommy will stay home."

......So much for staying home, HRH (His Royal Highness) dragged me out of bed to go shopping downtown. Daddy promised to buy him a superman and spiderman ofu today and Madison kindly reminded us of that promise. So, Daddy dropped us off at the Market and we spent 1/2 hour searching for his clothes. We found two sets of tops and shorts (spiderman and some other cartoon character), 2 pairs of spiderman jandals and a nice light blue manu samoa t-shirt. HRH even asked if we could buy a t-shirt and shorts for his friend Amataga... so we bought one for him too. As soon as we got home, he went to show off his shopping to his friends next door, and gave Amataga his new clothes.

House Cleaning Day

Today Rachel and her cleaning crew from next door spent all day cleaning out Mama's kitchen and bathroom area downstairs as well as the entire back yard.

Maddy and his best mate Paula from next door enjoying burritos for lunch.

Rachel touching up the kitchen walls with some white undercoat

Ana and Ema lend a helping hand in the kitchen

Maddy's Cool New Shades

These are the cool new shades Maddy got from Papa & Nanna

People smile at him whereever we go, they think he looks cute!