Organized

Shoes - ORGANIZED!

When I saw THIS, I was forever impressed with my friend's son, Jack. She posted about Jack's amazing organizing skills, and I distinctly remember thinking, "wow, I can't wait untill Reina can be that organized!"  I think Jack was 1.5 years old at that time.  Well, Reina has finally done it.  She has organized something, and I am so proud.  Today, while I was out running errands, Reina put all of our shoes neatly, in pairs, resting in the gen-kan. Course she is 6 months older than Jack was at the time of his orderly-ness, but I'll forgive her!

Sweet, sleeping, baby Skyla

We visited Kaori, Kazuki, and baby Skyla again today, and Reina totally mastered saying, "Skyla." I guess  "mastered" might be a bit much, but she sure did try.  Skyla was so sweet. It made me miss the little newborn days (except when I think of all the non-sleeping during that time).

Reina has become quite the little talker.  I would say she easily learns a new word each day, and she increasingly combines them, "boat water," "baby sleeping," etc.

Reina pushing "Dolly" in GG's present

Reina got an early birthday present from GG (Great Grandma Leighton).  She LOVED it.  She couldn't wait to push her new shopping cart around nor fill it with all of the strange things toddlers put in things.  I think she liked the baby doll it came with even more.  She liked it so much, that it not only had to come upstairs with us when we were getting ready for bed, but she insisted upon it accompanying her to the bath tub.  I explained to her that "dolly" could not get wet, but she could watch, which was satisfactory.  But as soon as we were out of the tub, Dolly needed to be back in Reina's hands.  We'll see if she is as attached tomorrow. Thank you GG.  Reina's real birthday isn't until Tuesday, but we're celebrating with friends this Sunday.  Reina has been practicing blowing out her candles and saying "two."

A New Friend

Reina has a new friend - Skyla, Kaori and Kazuki's baby girl. Skyla was born on my birthday (rather than her due date, which was Reina's birthday).  We already went and visited her and heard all about Kaori's birth story.  

Kaori and Reina at the hospital

On the railing looking at the horses

After dropping off Grandpa Jeff and seeing Kaori and baby Skyla, Chris, Reina and I went to the zoo.  We ended up buying an annual pass so that we could go a couple of times this year (and it was pretty cheap).  This time I think Reina's favorites were the raccoons and climbing on the rails to see the animals.  She also really liked the rides again.  She did not like the birds/bats area, but we think that's because it was a bit darker and confined in there.  

No set plans for the rest of break, just relaxing....

Another Farewell

Watching "Frosty"

The Coffee Table - Walnut

The bench - to put on shoes

Grandpa Jeff leaves tomorrow. We have been so lucky to have him.  He has been busy, busy.  He and Chris made a coffee table and bench from scratch, re-surfaced the end table I made, hung most of our pictures, put up curtain tie-backs, and hid most of our wires in the living room.  I think that's it.  Reina also thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Grandpa.  She loved watching a frosty e-card that Jeff received from a friend, and most nights, before Reina went to bed, they would sit together and talk about Frosty and the animation.  He leaves tomorrow and our next visitor will probably not be until Spring Break, when my mom will visit. I mainly just wanted to get some pictures up, and thank Grandpa Jeff for a good visit.

The Best Christmas Ever

I think the joy of giving is the best gift of all (at least for me). It was so much fun watching Reina open all of her presents.  She really did like all of them.  Her favorite was the kitchen and all its accessories.  She must have spent thirty minutes chopping up the vegetables (they are wooden, with velcro in between).  She also got some new clothes from Aunt Liz, and a cute golf set from Grandpa, an an-pan-man pillow, some puzzles, a backpack, and some puzzle cubes.  She really did make out very well, and two of Grandma's boxes are still in the mail!

An-pan-man panties - 3 at a time.

Her new kitchen

Her new frog wellies

Ecstatic after opening the first present.

Helping grandpa

Checking out the new coffee table

We also have all been helping Grandpa finish up the bench and coffee table. They are gorgeous, and we started putting the oil on them today, which has made them look even better.  Well, I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.  I hope everyone else is having a wonderful Christmas.

Its a wrap

Mid-bike trip beer

Chris and I took our mini vacation out to Hamahiga Monday night. We arrived around 2pm...parked the car and took off on a short bike trip around Miyagi and Ikei-jima.  Miyagi and Ikei are a part of a four island cluster that also includes Henza and Hamahiga, all of which are off the west coast of Okinawa.

After a good first half of our bike trip, out to the furthest place we could get to, my tire had some issues, which led us to split up so that Chris could go back to get the car. I ended up being able to make it back, we were just worried since we had to take so much air out of my tire, that at any point, I might have to start walking.  After our bike adventure (which also included some hiking through the boonies), we headed back to Hamahiga to check into our hotel.

Hamahiga Resort was gorgeous.  We had been to their beach several times and had fairly high expectations.  The hotel was very up-scale with gorgeous views and its own ofuro (Japanese bath) on the top floor.  After a good night of sleep, with no interruptions or chores, we headed home to do some last minute Xmas shopping.  It was an amazing trip.

Our hotel room

Reina did great back at home with Grandpa Jeff and Obachan Kuniko.  Aparetnly Reina went to bed with no trouble and almost slept through the night (she woke up crying once, and after some more milk, went back to sleep till 730).  Since she did so well, Chris and I thought it was time to completely wean Reina from Mama's milk (since she's been hanging on to the before-bed-feeding for a while now).  I think this is actually going to be harder for me...just a special time for me and her that I will definitely miss.  Hopefully it goes without any hitch though.  This is night number two.....

Merry, Merry, Christmas

Hanging a candy cane

Finished Xmas tree

Did I mention how excited I am about Christmas.  We bought our first fake Christmas tree, since real ones don't last too long here.  The choices at the BX were limited, but I am REALLY really pleased with it.  Per my Mom's recommendation, we got one with lights built in, and it was much easier to put together and it still looks great. Reina really enjoyed putting up the ornaments (and she still does).   And after a talk about not taking the bows off of the presents, Reina has left most of the tree alone.  She loves talking about Christmas trees and santas, and even requested a christmas movie yesterday.  This makes me want all those Christmas movies I grew up with (and by all I mean, Rudolf in cartoon).   It is so fun to share the Christmas spirit with a little one.  I tried to get some cool, creative shots, but I think perhaps they just turned out bad!  Check the slideshow for more.

Creative? Or just a bad picture?

Jeff arrived safely last Sunday evening, and has been able to pick up Reina for half-days of daycare.  This has been great since Reina sleeps so much better at home, and of course she gets to spend some time with Grandpa.  We haven't had too much time to get out and get pictures yet, since we worked all week, but we will. We are planning another trip to Yomitan village today (per uncle Paul's request) and perhaps I'll get some more shots from there with Grandpa.

Since Romeni was here, I finally got started on one of my "life" projects (as in, I will do this once in my lifetime).  I am making a quilt for Reina from her old baby clothes.  Its cool because there is a story about each different fabric, that Chris and I can tell Reina about.  It has gone pretty well, and hopefully it will be done in time for Reina's tenth birthday!   Here is a shot of what I've finished thus far.  Thanks to Romeni for helping me get started.

La la la...

I've been having a hard time making these posts exciting, which I'm not sure why I'm compelled to even do.  I read other blogs, and am always so impressed with their writing skill, or there quick wit.  But, we still have things to report, so I will just do that.

Kiln smoking at Yomitan

In preparation for Christmas, we went to Yomitan Pottery "village" to look around.  I got some cute pictures of Reina running around with a kiln smoking in the background (don't worry, the building isn't on fire!).  We also had a bbq to try ribs on our own and they turned out fabulous.  We had some friends over (for Reina too) and I think everyone had a great time.

"Inai, inai....BAH"

Recently, Reina has been trying to do "peace" with her fingers, since many other people (especially Japanese) do it often in photos. So far, Reina essentially just holds up both hands with spread fingers! Silly girl.  I've also figured out how to get Reina to smile for pictures (rather than squint)....you just have to pretend like you are playing peekaboo, and then she laughs!

Grandpa Jeff comes in from England tonight.  We're all excited to see him and share this Christmas with him. I'm really excited to put up the tree tomorrow night.  I know Reina is going to love it.

Leg hug for Daddy

Sorry for the randomness.

Peace (Reina's best so far)

Christmas!

I"m so excited for Christmas this year. I think Reina is just going to love it. She already likes all the singing and Christmas trees...and I am pretty sure she's going to love all the new toys, etc.  We got her a play kitchen for Christmas (with accessories) and then legos and a big puzzle (man does she LOVE puzzles) for her Birthday (having these two holidays close together sucks by they way).  I used to not like since I would get one gift for both holidays (since my birthday is the 28th).  But now, with Reina, we get TONS of toys in Dec/Jan and then nothing the rest of the year (this is all relative of course - Reina is PLENTY spoiled; And lets be real here...I SHOULD NOT BE complaining about this).  A july birthday would have been much more convenient.

At the zoo

Feeding the fish

Merry Christmas (she is actually learning to kick the ball!)

ANyhow.  I dont' have much else to say (or complain about). Dad and Romeni left last Tuesday and I know Reina misses them during the day (since she got to spend all day with them). I think she mainly misses sleeping in (which she of course does not do on the weekend) since several mornings last week she said "ne ne" or "sleepy" after Chris went and got her (and then she pointed back to her bed).  The weekend before Dad left we went to the zoo. Reina loved it. She mostly loved feeding the fish, looking at the giraffes and going on some of the kiddie rides.

Next weekend we are looking forwards to spending about two weeks with Grandpa Jeff.  Reina is so lucky to have so many dotting relatives.

"Sit down" & "oide"

These are Reina's newest and most common phrases these days.  Usually they are accompanied with "mama" or "dada."  Its funny what she says, since she seems to combine the Japanese and English.  For example, "oide" means come here.  I think that the phrase "oide" is easier for her to say than it is in English.  So, my theory is that she learns the phrase that is easier to say first (Reina says "ohayo" for good morning for example).

Romeni and Granddad's visit is coming to a close.  We had a great thanks-giving meal.  Reina has been eating everything.  They leave on Tuesday and we will be sad to see them go. They've been spending lots of quality time with Reina and we've had lots of good meals thanks to Romeni.  Oh, she also hemmed our curtains (THANK YOU).

Pre-Turkey Day meal (onigiri)

Reina absolutely loves her bike.  She starts to cry when you get close to the turn for our house.  Right now its cute, but I think it will get old fast.  The neighborhood girls all have trikes too and they love to race down the street.  There are three little girls two houses down (6,4, &2) and then I've mentioned Rana and Ako (2 & 4) next door, and then there is a little boy and an older girl two houses down in the other direction.  They all like to get their bikes and go back and forth.  Reina of course wants to join in, but can't even pedal yet.  We usually watch, or go back and forth behind them all.

The roller slide near our house

Visitors

Emily and Reina

Granddad and Romeni arrived on Oki last Friday night and are here through Thanks-giving.  We had a great start to their trip, with some amazing weather and a little bit of sight-seeing.

On Saturday we kept it low key, so they could catch up on some much needed sleep after the long trek.  We also had Emily over (a little half Japanese girl who goes to Reina's daycare and whose Dad Chris worked with at KMS).  They had a great time together. They hung out at our house for a couple of hours truly enjoying each other's company (it was really sweet).  Then, after Emily left, Dad and Romeni unveiled Reina's early Xmas present: her very own trike. She was very excited, and spent about 30minutes getting on it and then getting off it, ringing the bell, and playing with the streamers.  She was very happy.

On Sunday, after Reina's nap, we went north to Manzamo (its a point that overlooks the East China Sea and has some cool rock formations).  Then on the way home we stopped at Torii beach to enjoy the weather and play at the park (I should say, swing, since the majority of the time Reina insisted on her swinging and US swinging).

"Shampoo, Shampoo..."

Ya, this is Reina's new favorite spot.

We have been busy, busy this weekend (well, the last couple of weekends) and are preparing for Granddad and Romeni's visit this weekend.  This past Saturday we went down to Kinser to see Chris' soccer "team" play in a tournament.  We only stayed for one game, but it was still fun to see the boys playing.  Then on Sunday I got up bright and early to bike in the mini Tour de Okinawa.  It was 50k with 3 other friends of mine.  We were the only American girls and we were the only people who did not have road bikes (of at least 500 - there were only 100 in our race, and there were MANY more than that out there).  It was fun, but hard.

Making pancakes on the weekend.

Reina working on zipping.

Reina has been working a lot on singing lately.  If you recall from last summer, Reina often asked for more and more songs to be sung to her.  I had high hopes of the first song she would start to sing on her own...you know, like "If you're happy and you know it," or "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes." But, Reina busted out with CHris' homemade, "shampoo, shampoo, everybody shampoo." This was created in the tub (as you probably imagined) and goes to a very monotone melody that I cannot liken to anything.  Fortunately, Reina also sang "rain, rain go away" on the same day (and it was totally appropriate, as it was pouring).

Reina is also getting much better with combining words.  Usually more than two word sentences sound like, "mama, sit down" with a patting motion to some location she wants me to sit.

Well. That's all.  Next time I post, Granddad and Romeni will be here shortly followed by Thanksgiving.

A House Warming

Last night we celebrated the completion of our house.  We invited practically everyone, including the Japanese neighbors and Joy Housing and Taba-san, and had an excellent turn-out (despite my mishap of sending the wrong map twice!).  Chris and I bought a brand new, big charcoal grill and had hot-dogs, hamburgers, and pulled-pork sandwiches to go with all the goodies everyone else brought.  We also were surprised to receive quite a few gifts - mainly awamori and plants as well as other goodies (like a had-made pot from Mr. and Mrs. Pope).  It is nice to have such amazing people in our lives, and for that I am thankful.  There were so many people that I didn't even get to speak to all of them (sorry) and I managed to only take two pictures I think! Fortunately, Kaori got a couple with her cell phone that I can share too.  In one you can see what Reina had for dinner last night: chips! :(  I would peak at her now and then and catch her picking up a chip of someone else's plate and at one point I found her taking veggies off the trey, taking a bite, and then putting it back.

Me taking "the" picture.

The picture

Chips for dinner!

Our first guest made me worry about the rest of the night with Reina, since she got a bit shy and clingy, but as more and more people showed up (and more kids arrived) I actually lost track of her for a bit as she played with everyone on the yard.  She even went down for bed around 7:30 with not one complaint (I think she was pretty pooped).

Today we are recovering.  Actually one of the nice things about having a party is the pre and post clean.  I know my house is cleaner now than it was last weekend when I had nothing going on!  I even mopped the floors this morning!

Playing with Grandpa Pope!

November is going to be a busy month.  We kicked it off with our little get together, and then next weekend is the Tour de Okinawa (a 50K bike race me and some friends are doing) and the weekend after that Granddad and Romeni will be here, followed by the next weekend with Thanks-giving.