Walking!

Finally, this is the first time she took more than just a few steps...motivated by keys and a purse!

A Quick Hi and Bye

Easter & Astroturf

We had a long but fun Easter day...It began with an early arrival at church since Danno was serving as an usher and greeter/umbrella-holder to help escort people from the parking lot through pouring rain. After a nice lunch out and a brief moment resting at home, we were heading out again to our church's Easter Picnic at Comprehensive Park. It's a huge facility that has everything from various sport stadiums and tracks and fields, to paddle boats, a water park, and even camp grounds. Since April was bringing us plenty of showers that day, the event was held at the indoor recreation dome. It turned out to be a great space to set up all the games and Easter egg hunts for the kids. Leyna loved watching all the excitement, exploring new things, and especially crawling everywhere without any boundaries. Here's some pics of us and Leyna enjoying her first Easter on the astroturf!

First encounter with a hula hoop and her "not sure what to do with it" face.

First encounter with a plastic jump rope...after sifting through it, she finally found the end.

Egg time!

Back to the hula hoop...for some hoop aerobics Leyna style. haha.Good times...Happy First Easter Leyna

Leyna and Suiei (Swimming!)

Today Leyna and I got to enjoy our first Japanese Baby Swimming Class! For the next 3 months, we are taking a weekly swimming class designed for babies, and it's held at a Japanese recreation center. Since I'm the only "English-only speaker" in the class, I've arranged a schedule that makes sure my Japanese friends are there to translate for me! The major differences I notice so far is that 1) almost all women wear very modest bathing suits...as in rash guards and swim shorts -- but not the loose board shorts, more like spandex shorts to the knee...and 2) in their public pools, everyone must wear a swimming cap, baby included! So here's Leyna geared up and ready to go this morning in her first bathing suit and cap. (She wasn't sure about that cap at first, but luckily she didn't bother to take it off during class)The first class was well organized and went very smoothly despite a large class of 25 moms + 25 babies. We warm up by first sitting on the edge of the pool with our feet in the water, singing various Japanese songs (at some point I'll learn them!), doing playful gestures, splashing, and getting the babies accustomed to the fascinating water. Then the rest of the fun is teaching them to leap into the water from the pool edge (fully assisted by us of course)...jumping and "dancing" with them in the water...and letting them chase after a massive amount of toy balls. Leyna just LOVED it and didn't fuss at any of the activities. There were moments I noticed she started paddling with her arms to get the balls (or maybe she was clapping under water? haha). Well I hope she's a natural and turns out to be a great swimmer just like her daddy!

The only cry time for Leyna (as I completely expected) was in the end of class...we rinse off the babies, get them dressed, then hand them off to others who watch them while the moms go and get changed. From the locker room I could hear the moment Leyna realized mommy was gone! Well, she'll learn...eventually! (Maybe this will help her transition towards staying in the church nursery as well!) Anyways, so far it seems like it will be lots of fun...it's like Babytime in a pool. We're happy to have this new, beneficial activity to keep her entertained during the week. I hope to get photos of the class in action sometime!