Alex and Jarina’s home is full of love and music, art and color, good food, and the warmest smiles you will ever see. They fully embrace who they are and all of the incredible gifts they have been given. There is reverence and delight in the many cultures that make up their family to the multi-generations that come together to support Alex and Jarina in raising baby Achilles. Their home buzzes with life and celebration and while they work incredibly long hours producing and performing their music, there is always time to pause for cuddles with baby or a home cooked family meal or extra doggy scratches.
Tell us about your family.
We are a multicultural and musical family living in sunny Los Angeles. We are Dominican, Brazilian, Venezuelan, and American! We love spending any extra time we have travelling to new places outside of the states, and really look forward to sharing the spectrum of ways to see the world with our son Achilles.
Describe your parenting style.
We both seem to be extremely aligned in being very involved in raising him, and our style is quite relaxed. Early on, we chose to integrate Achilles into our life instead of changing to fit his ‘babydom,’ so he spends a lot of his time in the studio with us.
How has parenthood changed you?
Our priorities have never been more clear. We have become hyper focused on the task at hand, whatever that may be. Our world and life’s purpose has expanded exponentially. We are responsible for a little human that learns so much every day. Everything is different. It’s the coolest.
What does a typical day in your family look like?
Breakfast is a huge part of our lives. It’s when we connect, plan for the day, and observe how our little guy is growing in his habits and mood. We then split off, one parent with the baby, ensuring he gets the care he needs for the day, and the other one working. We like to take walks by the LA river to break up the day and reconnect, as well as achieve a little space from the studio.
We always have dinner together, bath time with the baby, and put him to bed. We then have two or three hours before bedtime to connect as a couple, something that is super important for the health of our family.
How has that changed since the Covid-19 crisis?
Achilles was born right before the hospitals in LA became jam packed with Covid patients during the second wave, so the reality is that our family life has only ever existed during Covid – 19. It’s kept us home, of course, something that we’ve not wrestled with, as we both work from home and have loved getting to spend the first year of Achilles’ life with him, together, deepening our understanding of parenthood and our relationship with each other.
How does your family stay connected?
We have family days on Saturdays, where no work is allowed, so that’s our intentional way of staying connected. We also happen to be in the position of working together day in and day out, so we spend a lot of time together. For our extended family like our parents and other relatives that are spread out all over the world, we spend a lot of time on FaceTime and zoom calls. Everyone always wants to see the babe!
Tell us what brings you joy?
For us it’s very simple – we feel so happy to be able to live as a family and experience growth as we make art and music with some of the people we love the most. Those people, our friends and collaborators, are already shaping our son’s life, which is a great blessing.
What does home mean for your family?
It is where we are – where there is a kitchen we can make a meal with love and a place we can rest.
How does babywearing help you?
Wearing the baby was one of the major breakthroughs in parenting and lifestyle when Achilles was younger. It provides independence for the parent, a quenching of curiosity for the baby, sometimes a perfect place for a nap, and always a light way to get your exercise in!!
If you or your partner work, how does work inspire your family?
We both make music for work. There is always a song being created, always a humming human in the kitchen working something out. Music and creativity are interwoven into the fabric of our existence in an undeniable way. Our work and our family is everything.
Christina is a mama, conservationist, DIY’er, vintage fanatic, dog lover and the Ergobaby director of community.
She is passionate about babies, babywearing, birth, yoga, natural living, and healthy eats. When not online reading and writing about all of the above, she can be found spending time with her daughter, creating their family story in Los Angeles.
