Oh how I love to go camping...

Inside our tent

Matthew, Anna and I tried having an indoor camp out today. First Matthew and I loaded up his backpack with important camping things like snacks, a sippy cup, a blanket, flashlight and book. Then we hiked all over the house til we got to our campsite (Anna was saving it for us). We made a tent with a sheet (a real tent would have been fun, but we had to leave ours in the states) and read stories around the campfire. That candle was our (non-lit) campfire...and yes, I know the campfire shouldn't really be in the tent. :)

Matthew loved playing with the flashlight and we spent a lot of time shining it around on the inside of our tent.

He even tried to light our "campfire" with the flashlight, but no luck.

Anna sort of liked hanging out in the tent. At least she didn't cry. Someday we'll go real camping, but maybe not until we leave Okinawa.

Weekend adventures...

Our lunch
Onigiri (above) and Sushi rolls (below) from the local grocery store

Over the weekend I finally got brave and tried onigiri for lunch. They are like the Japanese equivalent of a sandwich. People take them in their lunches and I've seen them sold on the street. They are just rice with some kind of filling (salmon, tuna, miso paste...stuff like that) and then sometimes wrapped in seaweed. Most of the ones I've seen are triangular like this and I've been afraid to try them 'cause I wasn't sure how to tell what the filling was. Finally I looked up the characters for all the different fillings and wrote them down on a cheat sheet. Scott went to the store (with the cheat sheet) so he could pick me out one of the kinds that I wasn't too afraid of...like salmon. Of course, he got to the store and found them, and those onigiri had English writing on them, so we didn't even need a cheat sheet. Oh well. He got me one with salmon and one with miso paste and they were really good and very filling. Scott, who is much braver than me and often buys his lunch from the local grocery store, got some sushi rolls...and also shared some of my sandwich...I mean onigiri.

And for dessert we got the biggest sno-cone I've ever seen. Yes, it IS bigger than Matthew's head!!

I think Anna and Matthew both had sore throats this weekend and were extra fussy/whiny. I was trying to calm Anna by gently bouncing with her on our exercise ball. One of our childbirth instructors in Monterey recommended this for calming crying or colicky babies, so we did it with Matthew all the time and it really worked. Matthew wanted to get in on the action here so he pulled up a ball of his own and bounced on it. Here you can see the hole that has been poked in our rice paper door by a certain toddler. I want to get it fixed but since I know it will probably just get poked again, I think I'll wait a while...maybe til we move. :(

And our weekend ended (as all weekends should) with Anna waking up every hour of the night to SCREAM like a banshee. She also required several wardrobe changes (here she is in the middle of one) and soiled our new clean sheets, which I was sad about. :( She was also very offended when I tried to feed her in the night and screamed even louder. Luckily Matthew didn't wake up and by the morning she seemed to be feeling much happier and ate a lot (and tried to look super cute by smiling at me a lot) to make up for her night time antics.

At the Park

We ventured out to the park today...a new park that we've never been to before. Anna slept the whole time and Matthew got to run around and wear himself out. He loved this panda drinking fountain.

A lot of the parks here have these crazy and huge play structures and concrete slides...the kind of things they've long since gotten rid of in the states because of all the lawsuits. It looks like something out of Survivor!

Matthew went down this super slippery slide all by himself...I think it was waxed or something. And he could do it with a sippy cup in one hand! Impressive.

On an unrelated note, Matthew has been raiding the pantry lately. He found our extra stash of snacks...and decided to bring them ALL out into the living room. He opened up a box of granola bars and left a few for Anna. He tried to give her a drink from his sippy cup too. He was trying to share. :)

Our Neighborhood

Some mornings we take a walk around the neighborhood. There is a park near our house and a seawall that faces out towards the East China Sea. Matthew just likes going to meet the dogs (and their owners) who are also out for a walk in the park. These are some pictures from our daily excursion. WARNING: There is music with the pics, so turn off the sound if you're not into that.

Happy Girl

Anna is getting so big so fast. Matthew grew big really quickly too. He shot up really quick to wearing 9 month old clothes and then started to slow down. Anna is 6 weeks old and she is about to move into her 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. Apparently she is getting enough to eat. She is such a mellow little girl most of the time. But when she does get mad, she can really scream. Matthew is warming up to Anna a lot more. He gives her hugs and kisses and calls her either "baby" or "Ambee." I think Ambee is Matthew's version of "Anna bean"...which I sometimes call her because she looked like a little bean baby when she was born. Matthew still won't say his own name, however. And he calls me "Bomb" instead of Mom. I love it.

I was trying to get a picture of them together when they were both happy and not moving too much. But of course, they were both moving a lot so things got blurry. Note to self: must learn to use the new camera better.

And here is Matthew giving Anna a kiss. He'll snuggle and kiss her before he goes to bed at night. Very sweet. Sorry about the blur...it was the only picture I got before the moment was gone.

Wago Land

Here we are at a fun indoor play place in Okinawa called Wago Land. They have a bunch of stuff for adults like billiards, karaoke, batting cages and arcade games...and then a big play area for kids under 5. Anna slept the whole time and Matthew ran around the play area LOVING IT. Scott got to play the taiko drum arcade game, kind of like guitar hero, but with these big Japanese drums. We even took the kids to a restaurant afterwards and then for ice cream. I felt so brave! It was a fun day out.

Typhoon Update

Typhoon Sinlaku has significantly changed its track. It has weakened and is now supposed to head northeast-ish between us and China, so as of right now, it looks like we aren't going to get much of it. We have been getting rain from the storm, but not too much wind, so that's good. You can see Okinawa on this map...we are the long skinny island about due east of where it says 3 AM Mon.

Oh so pretty...

My sister made Anna this cute dress...she MADE it!! I am amazed by other people's talent. Anna looks so cute in it. Thanks Ruth!! You are amazing!

She made these cute designs on these onesies too...so creative and so cute!!

Typhoon Sinlaku

When we lived in Florida we had to evacuate for a couple hurricanes (Ivan and Dennis) and we just hunkered down for Katrina since the eye was still 200 miles away from us...but we haven't had to deal with that for a while...until now. It looks like we have some extreme weather headed our way...in these parts they call them typhoons. And it looks like Typhoon Sinlaku (if it has a name, that's not a good sign) is headed right for us...and this time we can't drive away. So, we will be hunkering down for the storm, which is supposed to reach us Friday night. You can't see Okinawa on this graphic because the storm track goes right over us...but we are about where it says Friday 9pm, right below the purple cyclone symbol. Yikes. I guess we'll find out what these typhoons are all about. That's mainland Japan in the upper right corner in case you are disoriented by this graphic... :)

Big Brother Practice

Matthew loves helping with Anna. He especially likes to wipe her face when she spits up, but sometimes he's a bit too enthusiastic about it. We are working on being "gentle" with her. While the real Anna slept, Matthew helped me "gently" put a diaper on his monkey and set him in the bouncy seat. Matthew even turned on the vibrate button for the monkey. So nice.

He practiced carrying the monkey around in the baby sling, which he should never do for Anna (too scary) but he liked it.

He also held the monkey with his mini boppy pillow and fed him with his sippy cup...

...and took a few sips for himself

By the end of the morning the monkey had been forgotten...I found him face down on the floor with his diaper part way off. Poor monkey. For an 18 month old I think Matthew did ok at big brother practice.

Lifesavers!

Scott helps me out so much with the little ones. He is a huge lifesaver. Even after a hard day at work he is still happy to feed, bathe, change or cuddle anyone who needs it...which is good 'cause I usually feel like huddling in a corner and crying by the end of the day. Thanks Scott!

We just got the double stroller that we ordered from the states. This makes outings a lot easier. The front seat can hold the baby car seat (that bar in front of Matthew is what the seat rests on). It can also be exchanged for a cup holder. So versatile, this stroller! And so huge! I tried to shop around for a double that wasn't too big, long, heavy, expensive or bulky. It's not bad, but with the car seat in, it does seem super long. Oh well. I still like it.

Anna likes sleeping in her swing. Matthew wasn't crazy about it, but Anna will sleep in it...sometimes. What a lifesaver! I think she gets that unruly hair from me...sorry Anna!

Small changes

Matthew hugs Anna while she sleeps in her chair

He likes to run over and look at her while she sleeps.

Nothing much new is happening here. We are still just getting used to the big changes and noticing little ones as Anna gets bigger and Matthew grows more independent. I put Matthew down for a nap in the middle of the day and that is one of the biggest challenges I am dealing with now. Anna often fusses or cries while I am trying to read Matthew a story or get him to fall asleep. Sometimes I try to nurse her while reading to him. Matthew tries to take advantage of the situation by getting up and running around. He thinks I won't put Anna down to get him...but I DO! This, of course, disturbs Anna, who then cries and fusses more, which disturbs Matthew and keeps him from falling asleep. But usually they both end up falling asleep and I enjoy some solid relaxing time...until they wake up and the fun starts up again.

Sometimes he tries to pick her up. Scary!
Luckily she is a little too heavy for him to do any real harm.

Anna is awake and alert more during the day and is starting to interact with us more. She likes being held and snuggled, especially by Scott. She is losing some of her hair, but what she still has likes to stick straight up. She sometimes laughs in her sleep...she gets a big smile, makes a little giggling sound and her whole body shakes with laughter. Maybe she is laughing at our ridiculous attempts at parenting. :)

Here she is looking awake and wearing her Winnie the Pooh dress from grandma and grandpa Guptill. She is still a pretty mellow girl. She does want to be held a lot, but she is not nearly as fussy as Matthew was. She sleeps really good at night and doesn't really even cry when she wakes up. She makes this quiet squealing sound that sounds like a loose fan belt on a car. It's odd, but a lot easier on the ears than loud crying (which she also does...just not usually at night). It's those little things that we appreciate.

On my own now

Well, my mom is back in the states, Scott is back at work after the long weekend and I am really on my own with Matthew and Anna. It's been two and a half days and I haven't lost it...yet!! Anna is more alert during the day now and wants to be held all the time...and Matthew is pretty good except when I'm feeding or holding Anna. He's also doing that "I'm very independent" thing where he won't hold my hand when we're out walking or he sits down in the middle of the street if I try to make him hold my hand. He also has ideas about when Anna should be in her bouncy seat. But he has his sweet moments too, like when he tries to hug her or he brings me a diaper or burp rag for her. He's trying. We're all trying.

I love this picture of Anna.
She worked so hard to break out of her swaddle...and then fell asleep...
...and her hair looks very Liza Minnelli here.

More of Matthew helping...he likes to push Anna in the swing and point out the toys and birds to her. Someday she'll appreciate it.