Hello Kitty

We made it to Nago this weekend to see the last of the Cherry Blossoms. It was pretty. We tried to get some cute pics, but Reina hasn't figured out that she is supposed to smile when we point a camera at her!

I also made an updated movie with Reina's latest accomplishments since 9 months.

A little resemblence

Edited to add:

A picture of little Chris! I think she looks more like me, although I still see Chris :)

All of this talk about Reina looking like Chris got my mom thinking. So, she found a picture of when I was Reina's age, and I have to admit, Reina does have some resemblance to me! The dark eyes, narrow face, and almond eyes....We haven't found a picture of Chris at Reina's age, because I still do see a lot of him in her, but the evidence is lacking at this point!

We're heading up to Nago today for the annual Okinawan Cherry Blossom festival. Hopefully the trees will be in bloom and we'll get some cute pictures.

All our eggs in one basket

I was working on my laptop while Reina was playing in "her" area after school one day. I turn around to check on her and to my surprise she was IN a basket. She has been quite obsessed lately with taking EVERYTHING out of everything lately. This includes baskets, jars, drawers, wallets....whatever holds something, it will be taken out! Although this is the first time I've caught her in something herself, without my help at least.

There really isn't much else new in our lives. Reina is slowly getting better and better at walking (which is now her number one mode of transportation - well, aside from Chris or I) and is eating more and more....CHEESE. This girl loves pretty much anything dairy (unless it means cow's milk instead of mama's milk). She will still chew on a tomato and a piece of broccoli, but that's only if there is no other dairy product. So, to name a few, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, string cheese, yogurt, melted cheese (ala quesadilla), cheese off of pizza...ya, those are here favorites.

Soccer season is gearing up. Chris has taken on the Varsity Boys at Kubasaki, which is a relief to me, as now Reina and I can play on the sidelines while he is in charge! The season officially starts with try-outs February 22nd, but conditioning starts February first. We're going to get busy quickly.

I took some cute pics with Reina and Chris on our way out today. My silly goose...(or geese in this case).

More?

I got my camera battery back, so I'm back to my usual ways of trying to catch Reina being cute! This lot

of pictures include two of Reina's new skills, pointing, and making a MESS. I think that came with all the walking she is doing, since now she can travel to new places quickly.

So, what have we been up to over this long camera break? Not much. We did get to go to Sophia's Birthday bash (she was the little girl who came to Reina's party). Apparently turning three is a much bigger deal - as this birthday bash was a huge success. There was a bouncy castle, about 30 people, and presents bigger than multiple children. We stayed until Reina couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and since we were sans camera battery, we didn't get any pics. It was a lot of fun though and the weather was gorgeous.

In line with my last post, Reina has finally started signing. I thought surely she'd sign "milk"

first, but honestly she's not that into milk! She's into more food! She also started clapping

recently, and I think it is no coincidence that "more" followed shortly after (for those of you who may not know, the sign for "more" is two pinched hands coming together, which is similar to clapping). I don't think Reina realizes that when I ask her if she wants more, and she produces the sign, she gets the result of more food. I think its more like, hey, Mom is clapping while we're eating, I can do that too (when she says "more"). We're going to work on

it though.

Reina's hair is finally getting long enough for me to play with it! We have slowly started putting barrettes in her hair. She needs them because we have to tame the curls the girl has. Chris says she must get this from Grandpa, b/c know one else in our family has curly hair! We'll see if the curls last.

Copy Cat

A lot has happened since my last post (which I guess was Reina's birthday). The most interesting would probably be our visit to the doc for Reina's 1 year check up (and a ridiculous amount of shots).

We saw the same pediatrician who took care of Reina in the hospital when she was born, so it was only fitting that we saw Dr. Krason again. Mind you, she probably didn't remember Reina, as the joke is, Lester specializes in delivering babies. Anyhow, Reina's newest "official" stats were: 28" and 19lbs 7oz. Before Dr. Krason even came into the room, she peaked in to verify that the scale did in fact say 19lbs. This was surprising b/c Reina hasn't gained an ounce since about 6 months. I didn't think this was such a big deal, but Dr. Krason informed us that we need to get Reina to eat and drink more calories, which might include placing butter on top of her food (this was her suggestion!) . I'm not too worr

ied about it, as I think just because she is under the weight of 50% of American babies doesn't seem too concerning, and really she is always walking or crawling. Other than that she thought Reina was doing great. Her head circumference was right on track, which we guessed was where all of the calories must have been going and all of her other

development milestones were on track.

What are these milestones? Gross and fine motor skills as well as communication. Reina is probably a little ahead on motor skills and according to the doc right on with communication. At home I have noticed that Reina is really starting to climb on everything. We have kept her little pink bumbo chair out and she often gets stuck in it, trying to climb in and out of it. Or if you leave out dia

pers or any kind of box, she likes to climb up and sit on them.

She has also started to copy us. I wished I had gotten it on camera, but the other night Chris and I could get her to put her hands above her head, and then down, and then clap. Of course we had to do it with her. She also has started to babble a lot. Just always see

ms to be talking to herself. If she ever addresses us, it is inevitably "dah dah dah," which she uses for most requests and objects.

Along with the copying, I think she might have started signing "more." We can get her to do it if Chris and I both do it SEVERAL times...we'll see if she starts to catch on that if she does the sign she receives more

.

I posted a pic or two of our Japanese friends who came over to see Reina for her bi

rthday. They brought diapers (you can never have enough of those), but more importantly Reina received her first "otoshidama." Not sure what this translates to, but essentially it is money in an envelope that children receive in celebration of the New Year. As a result of this (an

d some other money Reina received for her birthday) we will be opening up a bank account in her honor.

Birthday Girl

We arrived back home to warm Okinawa on the 30th and all settled back into our routine quickly. Reina is waking up once at night, which is a welcome change.

We spent the next couple of days preparing for Reina's birthday party, which was today (Saturday, January 2nd). Two other families came over to celebrate (and our neighbor came too) and we feasted, opened presents, and had cake. Reina received a mailbox and a doll set from our two friends, both of which she will enjoy.

Reina was in good spirits the whole time, smiling at everyone and enjoying watching the other two little kids (a 2.5 year old boy, Grayson and a 3 year old, Sophia). When she woke up from her first nap (while Chris, Kuniko and I were getting the house ready) she was very surprised to see the balloons. She seemed to like them.

Chris and I bought her a tunnel which she was coaxed through and of course we captured lots of pictures. I bought plates and such at the BX and coincidentally we went with a polka dot theme. I think Aunt Liz gave us the cute green dress which Reina is wearing. Reina also recieved a push toy she really likes from Liliana, Celeo, and Jack and I know there are still some presents somewhere in the mail! Thank you everyone.

I was telling Chris that Reina will very likely not remember this party nor the close of this life changing year. Really, its more of a celebration for us. I can't believe it was a year ago that Chris and I were driving to the delivery room, getting ready to give birth to a new baby (whose gender was unknown)! Incredible how fast it goes - which is of course what everyone told me. I am trying my best to appreciate each and every day, as I know I will miss the age that Reina is now.