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...

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!