Leyna’s First Christmas

This Christmas we were sad to be away from our CA friends and family, but we made do with video chats and shipping each other gifts. I’m the typically the last minute shopper and being across the globe surprisingly didn’t change that, so thanks for your patience as the presents continue to arrive there late! We were glad to at least get some Christmas cards out on time. I printed til my ink ran out, so unfortunately couldn't give one to everyone, but thank goodness for being able to post it on the internet. =)

Being stuck on this island means many people put on events to provide everyone, especially the single Marines, a place to celebrate the holidays…and being involved meant our Christmas turned out to be quite a busy one attending a couple Christmas parties, grubbing potluck dinners three days in a row, and making sure to fit in our own family traditions. So on to some highlights…

Santa’s not so much a big deal to us, but thought we’d give Leyna her first encounter with him since he showed up at a Christmas luncheon that we were attending on base. No tears or fussing, she just seemed more fascinated with his fake beard and how tasty the wrapping paper looked!We all dressed up and went to Christmas Eve service where they retold story of Jesus' birth accompanied by the children in costumes on stage (someday it'll be Leyna up there!), and Leyna wore herself out dancing to all the Christmas songs.Then we headed to Christmas Eve dinner at Jeff and Gingers’ place. I managed to cook a massive amount of roast beef on our small Japanese stovetop (phew!). We decided to make that meal our Christmas Eve tradition. Leyna got her energy back just in time.Growing up I always enjoyed opening just one gift on Christmas Eve, and this year Leyna got to do just that, opening her very first Christmas gift from Jeff and Ginger. As you can see she makes sure all her gifts pass a taste test (not to mention the dress she had been eating all night too).Christmas day was nice with gifts under the tree ready to be opened...unlike last year when Dan and I spent it in an empty place since the movers came to take all our things 2 days before! haha. So it was a treat to be in a furnished home and of course to have a little reindeer baby with us!We loved our gifts, most of which we already knew what we were getting, but we did throw in a few surprise ones…like an air soft gun for dad (since he can’t have his real guns here) and a dremel for mom (yes, for some reason I always wanted one). Leyna of course was the spotlight and we loved to watch her taste and tear through gifts. She got tons of new cool toys and books from all the Grandparents, a dress from Great Grandma, and a cool jumper, playmat...just to name a few. Let the tasting begin...Once again, Leyna got all tired out from the excitement, meanwhile I went back to cooking for Christmas dinner #2 at Precious and Mike’s place. We enjoyed yet another food coma, watching the movie UP for the first time, getting a good dose of playing Rockband, and Leyna got 2 more tasty gifts! There was a lot more single Marines joining that night and so much food that Precious and Mike were able to make a bunch of to-go plates for Marines on duty. Glad all the food didn't go to waste!Day after Christmas, we had Christmas dinner #3 with people from Dan’s office. We watched the movie Elf, ate lots again, and Leyna got to meet another baby friend. Btw, lately Leyna is always trying to shake hands with other babies, it's so cute!Phew! The end result of all the holiday hustle bustle…we had tons of fun, we’re still eating leftovers and catching up on sleep…Leyna made out like a bandit with all her gifts, her 2nd tooth came in, and she’s getting so close to crawling! Although she also stayed up waay too late each night so we’re all trying to get back on schedule! Hope you had a wonderful holiday as well and didn't take for granted the family you could spend it with. We miss you all and wish you a happy new year!

This Just In...Leyna's First Tooth

So this explains her recent bouts of fussiness, determination to gnaw on everything, and being a drool monster! As she gummed my hand, I felt something sharp, and sure enough, Leyna's first tooth is making its appearance. One down, many more to go!

Winter Vacation - Day 1 (Shuri Castle)

We spent the first day of exploring Shuri Castle here in Okinawa. It was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, (Ryukyu refers to the chain of islands now known as Okinawa), and served as the focal point for foreign trade, as well as the political economical, and cultural heart of the Ryukyus for 450 years since the beginning of the 15th century. Unlike the many other historical sites here which are mainly ruins, Shuri has been reconstructed several times. So it was nice to walk the grounds and pass through all the huge gates.
Scattered throughout are info stations where you can stamp a map of the castle. Yea, it was probably made to be a children's activity but we sure enjoyed completing it!
Lots of steps to get to the main court...guess who got a good work out that day carrying Leyna. Looks like Leyna wanted to take some pics herself.

We all took turns "ringing" the Bridge of Nations Bell (well a replica of it), even Leyna joined the fun. Originally the bell hung at the Seiden, which is the main hall of the castle.The Seiden appears to be undergoing some renovations at the moment. We were able to go inside parts of the adjacent buildings, which feature museum displays and a view of the actual ruins below. There's some awesome views of Naha city from the castle.Leyna was knocked out by the end. We all enjoyed a nice lunch back in town and stroll on Araha Beach to end the day!Coming up next, Day 2 at the Aquarium...

Back to the Okinawa Grind

We're back from our vacation safe n sound. What an awesome time we had with Ila and Danny around Oki and Tokyo! Leyna was a great first-time traveler, and Danno and I enjoyed all the sights, food, and the chance to learn some useful Japanese. We're eager to share the photos with you (we've got tons to sort through)...in the meantime here's us at the end of our trip on the last train ride and getting ready to board the airport bus (which they call "limousine").Thanks again Ila and Danny for a wonderful time. More visitors to Okinawa are welcome! (or visit a neighboring country and we'll meet you there) hehe. Stay tuned for our travel pics...

CA Sunshine Coming Our Way...

We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of our friends Ila and Danny. They are on the plane and heading to Okinawa right now! We're scrambling to clean up the kitchen (the mess from Thanksgiving preparations of course), and do some organizing and winter cleaning around the house. I'm just taking a break =)

Ila and I have known each other since 2003, when I came to work at TYC doing toy development alongside her. We quickly came to realize we have so many similarities, we constantly think alike and can practically finish each others' sentences - it's as if she's a Japanese version of me! To no surprise we became great friends, and it certainly made the 5 years that we worked together fly by so fast. In that amount of time she saw my relationship with Danno bloom up to our wedding and I was fortunate to be apart of her and Danny's wedding, all just before our military travels began.

I think this is one of our first photos together when we went to E3.This is our first TYC Halloween, and each year we coordinated as a pair. Some day I'll have to post the following years!
The first time I've visited Japan was for a business trip...Here's us having a good time trying out a Japanese photo booth (they get decked out with blue screens and wind machines)! There's too many other funny ones to post right now.
So we'll be out for a while since Ila and Danny will stay with us here in Oki for a 3 days, then we're all off to explore Tokyo together for a week. It will be Danno's first time there, and Leyna's first time traveling on a plane! An adventure awaits. With Ila fluent in Japanese, we're lucky to have her be our tour guide, plus unlock some mysteries here in Oki (like how to use our dishwasher) haha. So we'll be sure to come back with a recap and photos of our fun. Until then, take care and Happy Thanksgiving!

Smile!

Amongst all the random photos we take day to day, we've been trying to take a photo of Leyna marking each month birthday. She's quickly becoming more and more expressive, silly, curious, and skilled, which basically makes taking a photo of her with a dated sign all the more challenging! We went from simply trying to get her to look at the camera, stay upright, smile, and now to just hold still...though we do love that it's become so easy to make her smile.
We try to narrow it down to a few best, but with this past 4th month, truly the fun part was seeing the sequence of photos. She's such a ball of energy now and is eager to grab anything nearby...followed by putting it in her mouth. Her current favorite is paper (even book, tags, tissues...) so the end result is not surprising!

Hyakunichimairi - Celebrating 100 Days of Life

On October 12th, Leyna turned 100 days old. In Japan, like many other Asian cultures, a baby's 100th day since birth is celebrated. Traditions include the baby, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother dressing in their finest clothes and visiting the family temple, followed by a feast at home with family and friends. A ceremony called Okuizome symbolizes the first formal meal of the baby. They prepare special dishes (consisting of foods like Miso soup, a whole fish often eaten on days of good fortune, red bean rice, and a smooth white rock symbolizing healthy teeth) and present them to the baby. Of course a baby cannot actually eat the meal yet, but family members participate in the pretend eating ritual in hopes that their child will never suffer from lack of food throughout their life. These days parents also take their baby to a studio to take photos, so they have 100th day packages to cater to this milestone.

Of course we didn't do the shrine visit nor do the eating tradition, but we did at least take her to a photo studio to capture a bit of the Japanese spirit! They dressed up Leyna in mini kimonos and other costumes of our choice, and we received prints and a nice framed photo with her footprints. It was a fun experience! We weren't sure how long she would last...5 costume changes, trying to keep her sitting still, and getting her to look at the camera with toys and funny noises. Well she made it through wonderfully and we're happy to have this assortment of adorable photos of her...

Outfit 1: Okinawan Kimono. Started off great. It was challenge to keep her hands from disappearing...
Outfit 2: Japanese Kimono. She got a bit upset in this one...maybe just too much commotion trying to make her smile. But we got a shot!
Outfit 3: She absolutely loved the Hawaiian outfit, it was hard to narrow down the pics. Looks like she's about to hula...
Outfit 4 & 5: Since we wouldn't dress her like this on any normal day, we had to get her in something super girly with ruffles and everything! As you can see, she worked it with a softer, sweet face. haha

Halloween Week

It was Leyna's first Halloween, and our first time to celebrate it on a military base. With a kid so young, there's really not a whole lot to do other than take photos of how cute they are when all dressed up. The more reasons to put them in their costume the better!

An early debut...on the last day of Itsy Bitsy Yoga, we dressed up the kiddos.

Bryn hosted a yummy Halloween lunch with some of us gals. Her son Braddock was a stud with all his lil girlfriends. It's nice to already have a play group ready to go! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, Leyna loved sporting her glow in the dark skeleton outfit.The girls are 2 weeks apart, Leyna being the oldest. The day before Halloween we briefly visited our church's Harvest festival, and on the way home stopped by a festival they had on base that was open to the locals as well. Halloween day, we didn't have the joy of handing out candy in our neighborhood, so we decided to keep things convenient by hanging out at the base exchange. (They recently opened a new one, making it the 2nd largest in the world -- keeps us occupied). Leyna entered their costume contest in the 4 yr olds and under category. Even though a fairy with light up wings won (you can see her in the corner of the pic), Leyna sure was the cutest elephant we've ever seen!Then there was Trick-or-Treating hour and all the stores and vendors passed out candy. The lil elephant was eager to get some candy...for mom and dad who was dressed up as first-time parents =)

We met up with our buddies and their cute tootsie roll, and afterwards went out for a delicious meal. Good times!Thanks for the candy Leyna!

Baby Yoga

This past month Leyna and I have been going out for some organized bonding time by attending a "Baby Yoga" class each week called Itsy Bitsy Yoga. At first people think the parent does the yoga and somehow incorporates baby into the routine. But actually, it's the parent guiding the baby into purposeful movements and positions that help stimulate their development in various ways. Some motions can aid digestion, remedy constipation or reflux, help stretch out their lil muscles and increase mobility, calm them and prepare them to sleep, etc. It's also a great socializing tool for the babies and helps build their confidence. For each exercise we also sing rhymes with every move to make it even more enjoyable for the baby. This past week was our last meeting, so they shot some photos of the fun.
We were in the newborn to nearly crawlers class. Yup, even newborns can participate (if they can stay awake long enough!) Our friends Bryn and Braddock joined as well. Braddock is about ready to be moved to the next class since he's very close to crawling. Leyna has been responding great. She behaves so well, never fussy. She's thrilled to be around other people and always smiles and giggles at all the other babies.
Some things help the baby and give ourselves a good work out...like doing lunges or squats. They love the plunging motion. Leyna also loves swinging or flying motions.
It's been a nice reason to get her out and about, and it also helped provide me with more creative ways of interacting with her while at home. We met some new friends, so that's always a plus! Next month we're going to try out Baby Time at the library on base. It's a free program of more developmentally beneficial play time. We're both looking forward to it!

This land is your land. This land is my land....

...from California, to Okinawa! This goes out to our friends in Irvine, who maintain the Yogurtland diet (along with the rest of Irvine) and stood in long lines with us (even on cold rainy days), just to enjoy a heaping cup of numerous frozen yogurt flavors and toppings of our choice. We somehow managed to make trips there several times a week. So of course, upon leaving the states, I was sad to leave one of my favorite dessert joints.

Well, lucky for us Yogurtland's first venture into an Asian region happened to be in Okinawa! Wow, it just picked itself up and followed us here - it's meant to be! Their grand opening was on Leyna's birthday. Good thing I didn't know it at the time, or else I may have sent Danno to get me some and bring it back to the hospital! haha.
For those who are unfamiliar and haven't yet fallen victim to the Yogurtland addiction, it's a buffet of self-serve frozen yogurt flavors and toppings...so the combinations are endless. You choose any mix of everything, and at the end (when you look down and come to realize the damage has been done, you've piled your cup way too high) you pay by weight.
Here we'll get to explore some different toppings, like dragonfruit, starfruit... I do favor the yogurt selection back in the states since I don't think they switch it up as much out here. The price in the states is much better as well. Here it's a whopping 200 yen (just over $2.00) per 100 grams (about 3.5 oz). If I remember correctly, it was only about 20 to 30 cents per 1 ounce in the states! So although I won't be lining up as often here, I'm sure glad to have the option to! ...this (yogurt)land was made for you and me! =D

Leyna looks like she's ready to taste some herself.

Oki Living: Itali-yum

I've always loved the Italian food at the food court in Mitsua (a local Japanese grocery store back in the OC). Here I'm happy to find there's lots of places with the same deliciousness. Yes, there is no Olive Garden here, but we'll be just fine. Here's a unique place we tried back in early September and have yet to revisit... Marino's serves Italian food that is certainly for cheese lovers such as myself.

They feature yummy cheese fondue...

a variety of wood fired pizzas......and best of all, their parmigiana pasta is prepared in a huge wheel of cheese! Yes, they come table-side and toss the hot pasta in a half slab of a giant cheese wheel, coating it with some melted cheese goodness...then they mix in other ingredients like mushroom, bacon, whatever you choose...

Also it's common that restaurants have dinner sets that include an unlimited beverage bar and some kind of dessert bar. We got to choose 3 desserts each (there's even choices of ice cream). Good deal!Meanwhile Leyna enjoyed her nap, allowing us to enjoy our meal =D