Atama, Kata, Hiza, Pon!

Reina understands Japanese! I was so excited about this discovery tonight, that I had to tell the world right away! Chris and I came upon this when I was singing "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" in Japanese when we were in the tub. I had it in my head b/c I was singing it to her and showing her the body parts in English. Then in the tub, I just sang it for fun in Japanese, and Reina immediately touched her head. You might think that she remembered it from our previous English session, but she totally didn't get it then. So, of course, Chris and I were skeptical so I said "atama" two more times and she touched her head both times. Pretty cool.

Little to Report

Not much new on the Okinawa front. The V. Kubasaki boys got beat by Kadena, by alot! You can read about it here: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=123&article=68952. Dave Ornauer, the reporter, is the same sports writer as when we were in high school, and somehow he remembers more about Chris and my soccer career than we do!

We had a full weekend of soccer: the Kadena game on Friday night, another game Saturday

morning, and then Chris insisted on watching Kadena's game Saturday night. Reina was

amazing and I am so thankful for her patience. She sat on my lap through the entire Kadena

game, which might be due in part to the fact that it was REALLY cold and she slept on my back for the entire Saturday morning game. Chris' team has another game Monday night (late) and

then a game again on Wednesday (late), so we'll miss both of those, which I think both of us actually appreciate!

Reina continues to learn new signs and perhaps uses several signs to communicate the wrong things; its a work in progress. This weekend she picked up "clean up," but takes

it more to mean "put this in"... and then out again. She also got new shoes, which are by far one of her

favorite things to play with. She put on and took off her new pink crocs several times. That's about all I have

photos of this week, in addition to a nap she took on my back (since she refused to nap in her crib).

Nothing new on the house. We didn't drive by this weekend to see if construction had started...and haven't heard from them since the blessing.

"Uh Oh..."

We've all been waiting for it. Reina's first word. Well, I think I'm about ready to officially call it, and the word(s) is/are: "Uh oh..." Reina discovered this wonderful phrase Thursday

night in the tub. She threw a toy over the edge and I naturally responded with this two word phrase. Ever since, Reina has been throwing everything over the edge...food, toys, you name it, and saying "uh oh" or her version of it which sounds more like, "aaa aaa." We're hoping she gets to some more traditional words next.

She has also gotten quite fluent at signing. All of the sudden this past week, she's decided its time to communicate. She can now sign the following words: Up, all done, eat, please, bath, shoes, more, milk, baby....I think thats all for now. I'm working on "diaper," and need to learn some more signs myself.

I also got a new carrier. Yes, I know that I don't need another carrier, but

really,

I only get to carry her once...So, I got scooters! Its a mei tai, which is a bit different than anything I've had so far, and it also has a panal of fabric called solarveil, which is supposed to be very breathable. I really like it so far, although its still not as convenient on the go as the back pack style one I already have. It is, however, more comfortable, so I will use it on our longer walks.

On the soccer front (hence all the green in our pictures this week), Chris' boys had two games against Shuri High School (coincidently his cousin attends this school...but does not play soccer). Anyhow, they lost on Saturday and then won on Sunday. The big game is this friday, when they play their big rivals, Kadena! We're excited and hoping for a win....

Oh- I almost forgot two other small things. Reina's hair is finally long enough for me to put it up. Although, only long enough to do a goofy straight up in the air ponytail (I think its cute though). Also, check out Reina's "new" shoes - they're actually retro nike's that were mine when I was her age. They're almost too small now. She's growing so fast....yet she is still on 29"...hmm...