Uncle Mike Came and Went (and Kaiya's 9 month check up)

Uncle Mike visited for about two weeks. We were so busy that I didn't have time to blog.  That, or during nap time, I wanted a nap instead.  We continued to visit lots of water venues: pools, water parks, beaches mainly because we had to stay out of the heat.  I've discovered that Kaiya loves the water.  She can be pretty cranky at times, but there has not been one time where she has cried while in the water (be it beach or pool).  She is very happy to twirl in her floaty or sit in shallow water for as long as we'll let her.  She even managed to get her first sunburn (I forgot to get her arms; I have since bought a long sleeve rash guard for her).

Eating at a Japanese restaurant 

A photo courtesy of Reina

Shopping with Oba-chan

Prior to zip-linning.

Chris - zipline

Trying her new pink swim-cap.

Zip line

A beautiful Okinawan beach (see Wes, it IS sunny here!)

With all the water time, Reina has gotten very comfortable in the water.  If the water is shallow enough she will dive underwater and "swim" a little distance. She will even go down the water slides.  She loves the water and I hope she will get better and better at swimming.  We even went paddle-boarding thanks to the Stevens', and she loved that.  We had her go with Jason, who just put her on his back and paddled on his stomach; when she was done she wanted to go again. I think paddle boards are in our near future; that is if we can figure out how to get them here!

The boys - Aka-jima.

Aside from all of the water playing, we mainly just went out to lots of different japanese restaurants with Mike.  The boys (Mike, Chris and another friend) ventured out to Aka-jima, one of the kerama islands for the day. I decided to forgo the experience, as Kaiya can't take too much sun (nor can Reina for that matter) and a whole day beach experience plus a ferry and drive just seemed a bit daunting. We stayed home and met some friends at the water park.  Chris and I also got some time away from the girls.  We all decided we should try "Adventure Park" while Mike was visiting, so we got a babysitter during nap time and went zip-lining.  It was pretty cool...(HA) and really HOT.  ;)  We also went out for dinner twice with the Steven's (and Mike) and then the Deakin's.
Its always nice to get away, even though I still find it hard to leave Kaiya.  Reina's a big girl now, and is usually pretty happy to be left with someone else to say "look at me," too.  Oh, or to play her new favorite game: "pretend."


As a sidenote, this new pretend game drives me nuts.  Chris or I (or Mike more recently) have to be the baby girl/boy and Reina is the Mommy, or sometimes the doctor.  Then she gets to boss us around (guess it goes both ways, eh?).  I like having more tangible things to play with her with. I guess I just need to work on my imagination.

Dinner out.

On Mike's last day her, Kaiya had her nine-month check up.  Fortunately, she didn't need any shots and she still does pretty well with strangers, so there was no crying.  She weighed 18lbs 2oz (about a pound lighter than Reina at the same age) and was 26.5" long (about 0.5 inches shorter than Reina).  Still cracks me up that she was so much bigger than Reina at birth...guess that doesn't indicate too much.  Kaiya seems to be fairly sensitive to dyes, perfumes, and foods.  I can't always figure out what (except she definitely doesn't do well with dairy), but things that I or she consume cause her to have eczema.  This seems to be a bit uncomfortable (itchy, red,  dry patches of skin on her back) and I have recently decided that it is the cause of her frequent wake-ups at night.  While Kaiya does very well at putting herself to sleep in her crib, she is horrible at staying asleep.  She probably averages three wake-ups (anywhere between 2 - 4 hours in between sleeps) in which I go in and nurse her (and then 95% of the time she goes back to sleep).  Needless to say, my patience is wearing thin and I am ready for some real sleep.  I remind myself that it will not last forever....

Reina attacking

Reina...attacking.

Reina and Kaiya still get along quite well. Although I often have to ask Reina to get off of Kaiya. Sometimes she smoothers her a bit (all in love of course). It surprised me, as I thought I would have to worry about the younger sister annoying the big one (maybe that is still to come).  There are many times during the day when Kaiya is whining because Reina has her arms wrapped around her neck or on top of Reina's belly rolling around.

Playing dress up and posing for Uncle Mike

We are off to work tomorrow.  It is sad to say goodbye to all of the quality time with the girls and the semi-relaxing state summer allows.  Both girls will be going to Reina's Japanese school now, so I'm excited to hear how Kaiya does.  Unfortunately, they will still have to spend an hour at Kaiya's old school, since the Japanese one doesn't open early enough. Originally the owner thought she would make an exception, but she is uncomfortable with the idea of not having insurance during the time frame they will be there.  The owner is going to pick up both girls at 7:30 at Kaiya's old school.  This is better because they will get to the Japanese school earlier (they'll be at Kaiya's school from about 6:40 - 7:30) and it is going to be cheaper.  Hopefully it all works out.

Oh.  We found out this weekend that Aunt Liz is engaged!  Congratulations Aunt Liz and Wes. We can't wait to attend your wedding - we'll be there where ever it may be.