Oki Living: Engrish Clothing

It's already been 6 months since arriving on island and we've been doing a horrible job showing you more about living here in Okinawa. Understandably Leyna steals the show, but we'll start sharing some various highlights of island life here n there...the many differences, the pros, the cons, random funny things we come across...

Here's to start with We Shop...Jusco is our primary mall here, so you'll find a few are scattered across the small island. It's very minimal compared to the states. Typically there's just one department store (with a grocery store on first floor), electronics store, bookstore, a food court, arcade, and less than 10 other specialty shops. We always check out the kid sections and we are truly entertained by the "Engrish" phrases on the clothes. Of course we see these spelling and grammar errors wherever we go, but here's a few your child can fashion! haha.

Some not as bad...

...can be cute...

...but others definitely needed an English translator before mass production!

One plus about the stores out here, is they conveniently provide mini stroller shopping carts with adjustable and reclining seats for kids. We finally decided to test them out since Leyna (still) gets fussy being couped up in her car seat.
..and looks like we have a winner! She must love the ample space. Danno loved "drifting" her around every corner since the wheels maneuver so freely...and meanwhile Leyna kept sleeping peacefully.

13 Weeks

Boy, it’s hard not to post about Leyna all the time! She could have her own website by now. We'll try to mix it up a bit more, but she’s definitely everything that’s “eventful” in our life! Well, here’s another video of a recent accomplishment at 13 weeks (for real this time and not by accident hehe) Yay for Leyna!

Monthly Milestones

Birthday month#3 is approaching for Leyna and we've got more milestones to record. She's been impressing us in so many ways. In addition to maintaining a great pattern of sleeping through the night...She's quickly developing her leg strength. She has an activity infant seat that plays music and glides up and down when they kick, and shes kicking hard enough now to activate the music herself. She loves standing all the time and her legs can hold up her weight (she just needs assistance with the balancing of course). She's becoming more coordinated as she finally reached up and grabbed her playmat toys for the first time. Also, we wanted to see how close she is to rolling over on her own since we realized we haven't really tried to get her to do so before.
With her book as motivation, she easily managed to get on one side, but (with amazing flexibility) would end up just arching her head back more and more. Well, this morning she was laying on our bed, Dan and I were in conversation before he left for work, and next thing we know she had rolled over onto her belly while trying to get her left fist in her mouth! We reset her on her back, and once again she rolled over. Perhaps it helped that she could "sink" into the mattress a bit, so we still have yet to try again on the floor. Still, it was an exciting moment!

To top off the night, right before her bedtime we were "talking" and she just started laughing! I recorded a bit of the audio (had to hide the phone so she wouldn't get distracted as usual.) We're anxious to hear her laugh more! Here's some clips to enjoy...

The Best of Both

She's got the pattern of mommy's right palm on her right palm, the pattern of daddy's left palm on her left...Mommy's crooked little toes and smiling eyes...daddy's lips and nose...glad she's got more hair like daddy...and of course she's got an appetite we all share! We thought we'd compare baby photos and so far we like to think she got the best of the both of us.

Wanna Sing?

Seems like if you say anything to Leyna in a melodic tone, she likes it! When I went through "do...re...mi.." she tried to "follow" after each word. Of course when we try to tape it, she gets distracted halfway...more amused by the red record light or the dangling winnie the pooh hanging from my phone! haha. nice try mom and dad, maybe next time.

Reading is good thing

People who know me, know that I'm not so fond of reading. Rarely did I read for pleasure once I reached high school, and I always chose book report books that were also books-on-tape or made into movies. haha. Well, one of the shower gifts we received from friends here in Oki was The Read-Aloud Handbook. It's a nifty resource that emphasizes the importance of reading to your children since so many studies show the tremendous impact it has on their development and ability to learn in the future. We remember seeing a TV infomercial for a kit that teaches your child to read at a very early age and thinking, "hey, maybe we'll get that for our kids"...but we realize, there's no need to bombard them with flashcards and DVDs and hope they turn genius. Investing the time and energy to help them develop a love for reading will suffice! Ok, so now I'm learning to develop this "love for reading" too!

We began reading to Leyna a few weeks ago, and so far she seems to be enjoying herself. You may wonder, as we did, if it's too early to read to her now...but as the book points out, you don't wait to talk to your baby until they are 6 months old do you? After all, reading is exposing them to the same English language we use to talk to them. Ah, good point! So everyday we "Come and meet the animals on the farm..." via a Touch n Feel book with a furry chick, velvety horse, fluffy dog, woolly lamb, and piglet with a spongy nose. Not just once, several times a day if she's up to it.
I was quite impressed the first time I read her the book. First pass, it actually held her attention, and she swung her arm out to reach the lamb. Second pass, she kept waving around at each page...Third pass, amazed she was still attentive and that she still swatting at every page, I tried to take photos to show daddy when he got home. Yay, great start Leyna! You just can't underestimate how fast these kiddos can learn.

And just for fun...for those who haven't heard her cute lil voice, here's Leyna on her playmat having a conversation with me. She's beyond the "aah's" now and moved to the "eerh's", "goo's" and giggles...we just have yet to catch it on tape!

Like a Champ

"She's gaining weight like a champ" the Pediatrician said at Leyna's 2 month appointment - at 11lbs 2 oz, she is indeed! She's outgrown her newborn outfits (I admit I need to stop trying to fit her in my favorite newborn shirts since they just barely cover her belly!)..and she's just about skipping over the 0-3 month ones. Yes, I tried putting her into a 0-3 month sized onesie but nope, the snaps at the bottom barely meet since she's pretty tall. She's grown 2.5 inches since her 2 week appointment, making her 22.5 inches now. No kidding, babies do grow so fast!
Leyna also received her first series of shots as you can see by all the band aids. Not fun, I hate shots too. Of course our champ cried a whole minute or so, and once I held her, she was back to normal, resting her chubby cheek on my arm and ready to go back to sleep. We're lucky she's not much of a crier. The most fussing we hear is when we're driving in the car and I'm unable to feed her until we get home. Even then, she only cries for 5-10 minutes or so, graciously gives us a break of silence, and starts up again once realizing we're still not yet home and she's still hungry.

What's also great is she's beginning to sleep longer blocks at night (once she even reached a whole 8 hrs!)...as well as longer blocks of being awake during the day. It's nice to see her explore everything, and it's more time to enjoy her cooing conversations and smiles!