Leyna Lead Foot

I have less time to sit at a computer, sort photos, make videos, and post blogs thanks to our active baby girl. She's a bit too adventurous for her own good, so I have to keep close watch, chase her away from the kitchen, prevent her from eating all the electronics, picking up every speck on the floor, and from climbing the tv stand...meanwhile keep her entertained and not frustrated! Her transition from crawling, to standing, to cruising is tiresome! Her naps are less frequent and unpredictable durations, so I'm lucky to slip in any time for myself (prior to midnight when everyone's definitely asleep). By the end of the day, I think it's me that wants a nap more than she does. This is one of those "napping" moments where I can get away for a bit, so I'm going to blog this quick!

She hit 8 months old yesterday and it was a long day out and packed full of fun with her Baby Time friends. I will be back to post photos. Until then, here's some quick clips of her trying out a walker toy in the kids play section at a mini-mall nearby. Grandma just shipped one out to us, so we're anxious to get it so she can practice in a larger space (as you'll see, the space was small so she takes a few steps and hits a wall haha) Anyways, watching her take steps with the walker is as if she's pushing the car accelerator with a lead foot. Looks like she loves it!

Earthquake in Oki

We woke up to an all familiar shake we've experienced growing up in CA. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck out in the sea nearby, so it was pretty sizeable and seemed like it lasted quite a while. I'm amused that my cell immediately began ringing an alarm as the quake was happening. haha. Well we're safe n sound...managed to grab Leyna and hang out in the doorway together, and now just need to go straighten out the crooked artwork on the walls. If only we could translate what they are announcing on the city megaphone we hear outside...

Winter Vacation - Day 2 (Aquarium)

Yikes I'm so behind, we never finished posting about our winter vacation when Ila and Danny came to visit us! (some day I will finish!) So here's to rewind...Day 2 was spent at the Aquarium. If you can remember, the first time we went Leyna was tiny and only 3 weeks old, so it was great to see her actually start looking at things...what a difference!We decided to buy annual passes since it costs the same as visiting twice, and we're sure to come back again and again, especially with Leyna. Here's some new things we got to see this time around...

...the shark exhibit, which we completely overlooked the first time...

...We got a behind the scenes tour of the gigantic tank. With the vast open surface of the water, we felt even closer to all the animals with them swimming right beneath our feet. The guys made great tour guides for Leyna......the turtle & manatee exhibits...

...went down to admire the nearby shore...while Leyna napped peacefully, we got a moment to ourselves to skip some rocks and check out the water. =)...and just before the sunset, we got to see the dolphin show...

Overall it was another great visit, and especially fun to have friends enjoy it with us.

We finished the night trying a new all you can eat yakiniku at a place that has a reputation for good kalbi. Clearly it's intended for the locals being that the menu is only in Japanese, and you have to actually write out your order on a little notepad! Good thing we had Ila there to help us out with translating the menu and writing our orders! It was oishi! (delicious!)

Next up...last day in Oki until we're off to Tokyo (finally!)

Look Daddy, No Hands

Managed to get a pic of her standing all by herself...and trying to call daddy to tell him about it =)

OkiLiving: Sakura Season

Late January to early Feburary, Okinawans enjoy the blooming sakura (or cherry blossom) trees sooner than other regions in Japan where they typically bloom later in March and April. There's a short window of time that blossoms stay at full bloom, about a couple weeks, so people swarm to the cherry blossom festivals on the weekends at key viewing locations to celebrate the season. We didn't make it to any of the festivals up north in Nago, and dismal, rainy weather kept hindering us from taking the drive. Fortunately, Danno had a day off work for "Super Bowl Monday," so after the game when the weather seemed to improve a bit, we decided it was our only chance to venture north to Mt. Yaedake and try to get a view.

Luckily, the rain ceased and even gave us some moments when sun broke through the clouds. Going on a Monday meant we avoided the huge crowds and a bumper-to-bumper drive up the mountain, so it turned out to be a very relaxing time. The cherry blossom trees hug the windy path, and you simply pull over and take photos anywhere along the road.

Leyna enjoyed getting a closer look.A nice passerby took our photo.

After exploring the mountain road, we stopped off at the park where the festival was held. It made for a nice stroll and more photos since it was empty!Mission accomplished. Maybe we'll try to catch a festival next year. The sakuras are so beautiful we want to grow a tree back in the states!

Shhh..baby's eating

Leyna had some zzz's for dinner the other day. haha.

Can't Keep Up!

Where have we been...Leyna's 6th month is flying by and it's been full of so many exciting new milestones, we just can't keep up with her! Time for an update. By New Year's she was sitting up by herself, and she quickly learned to maneuver from tummy to sitting up. It was the weirdest thing to see it the first time because I put her down on her tummy, looked away, and next thing I know she's sitting up staring back a me! This week she's successfully started crawling across the room, realizing it's so much easier to get around without using her face to inch her way forward! To our surprise she's also starting to pull herself up to stand. Anything she sees nearby to use as leverage, even if it's your face, she might try to use it! haha. She's still fascinated by anything paper (now including the wallpaper), but has expanded to straps, wires, outlets, remote controls, and other electronics. So definitely time to baby proof and put our glass coffee table with super sharp edges elsewhere...
Aside from trying to keep her in one piece and out of danger when she's on the floor, another thing that's been keeping us busy is her eating habits (and increased diaper duty as well). She did lose some weight going into her 6th month appointment, makes sense considering all her activity combined with not being completely adjusted to solid foods yet. But these days, her two teeth are very much out, and she's doing better at keeping up with 3 meals of baby food a day. Her favorites are peas, green beans, and sweet potato puree....and especially eating bananas and "puffs" (almost like cereal) since she loves to pick them up and feed herself. Thankfully self-feeding keeps her busy and allows me to eat my food in between bites.We've been trying to capture everything on video clips, but most of the time Leyna's too curious and would rather reach for the camera. If we're successful, we'll be sure to post her in action. We sure wish you could be here to converse with her, hear her laughs and shrieks of joy, chase her across the floor, and see her lil mouth chomp away at food while she also smears it in her hair. haha. So many little things that are huge accomplishments in a baby's world...