Animal Sounds

Here we are practicing some animal sounds.

Our 4th of July Weekend

It was supposed to be a long weekend for Scott, but he still ended up working 3 of the 4 days off to get ready for America Fest. So we tried to make the most of the time we did have together as a family, which between his responsibilities and Matthew's schedule wasn't as much as we hoped. We finally found and purchased a detailed road map of the island that was in English and were able to go exploring a little bit. We went to one of the beaches we've been hearing about (Zanpa Beach) and also found a little strip of beach not too far from our house with a park and some pavilions. It was tricky to find and not on any maps. A well kept secret. When we were there the tide was low and lots of people were walking out in the exposed coral collecting things. We didn't go collecting this time...maybe another day. Scott and I also were able to relax on the balcony while Matthew had a swim in his pool. Usually Scott's at work while Matthew swims so it was nice to have us all together. The weekends (even the "long ones") just aren't long enough.

Happy 4th of July!

It's our first Fourth of July in Japan. We went to "America Fest" on base, saw lots of aircraft on display and got to watch fireworks and eat snow cones. Matthew loved seeing the airplanes and was interested in the fireworks too. We waited until the evening to go out 'cause it was so hot and humid.

Matthew shows off his 4th of July shirt...which was only slightly drooly

Dad and Matthew checking out the airplanes

New Towel

Matthew loves dogs, so we got him a new doggie towel.
Here he is trying it on.

The towel didn't look as cute on me...but Matthew thought it was funny

One of these things is not like the others...

Matthew has this toy called the "busy ball popper". It shoots little balls up and out of it and plays music. Today he was playing with it and started crying loudly. I looked and saw that he had put his arm all the way down inside the popper. At first I thought he was stuck, but then I saw the real problem.

I saw that he had dropped his cracker inside with the balls and was trying, unsuccessfully, to retrieve it.

We got the cracker out (after taking a few pictures) and Matthew happily went back to playing with the toy and eating his cracker. I did see him try to drop it in again, so I have a feeling it's not the only busy ball popper rescue we will have to perform.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider is one of Matthew's favorite songs. The other morning when we were singing some songs together he started "singing" and doing little "itsy bitsy spider" hand gestures, which he's never done before. We haven't sung that song in a while so I was surprised he remembered it. He wouldn't make his little singing sounds for the camera, but he did do a few of the hand gestures.

Pudding Painting

We tried finger painting again today. I used pudding this time and added a little food coloring to it. Matthew was very hesitant at first. It was as if he didn't want to get dirty, which seems odd, because he rubbed both yogurt and peanut butter in his hair earlier today and it didn't bother him at all. Eventually he warmed up to the idea and, of course, tasted the pudding paint. I don't think it was his favorite activity of all time, but he seemed to enjoy it for a little while.

Happy Father's Day

Scott was assembling some shelves for us today and Matthew REALLY wanted to help him. He kept taking the screwdriver and trying to poke it onto the screws like Dad was doing or pick up the screws and carry them around. We tried to let him "help" by using his little toy screw driver, but he quickly decided that one wasn't as good and threw it on the ground in disgust. He also took his little toy hammer and tapped it on Scott's head a few times while Scott was trying to work. Despite the best efforts of Daddy's little helper, the shelves got assembled and they look great. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, (especially our dads - Grandpa Keeler and Grandpa Guptill) who let us "help" when it really isn't very helpful at all and help us to learn and grow by the example they set. We want to be like you too!

Ah, simple pleasures.

Matthew was really fascinated by this 3D-ish card he got from Aunt Alycia and Uncle Cody. He was amazed by the dog (or "wa wa" as he likes to call it) with googly eyes and kept trying to rip off the cupcakes and eat them. It entertained him for quite a while.

Hits and Misses

Scott was gone last week and Matthew and I tried hard to entertain ourselves while he was away, with mixed results...

Playing with friends and the big ball at playgroup: HIT!

Trying to convince Matthew how fun these nesting containers are...miss.

Having a lazy mommy day and trying out the "nibble tray." Hit for Matthew, miss for mom. He liked being able to "graze" but I think he may be too young for this. I had to vacuum a lot of snacks off the carpet. I was careful not to include any stain-able snacks however. :)

Playing in the pool...HIT! It's so hot and Matthew always wants to go outside on our back balcony and walk around. He likes playing in his pool and is especially interested in the hose. He must have been feeling hot too...he loved letting the water fall on his belly. I think we'll be out there a lot this summer.

Ears?

Matthew is learning and understanding so much.
Here he is learning some body part words.

Go Cougars!

Matthew is wearing the shirt that Uncle Will got him.
Here is a picture of Will wearing the shirt.

Saving them for later?

Today Matthew was eating some Cheerios as a snack and he brought me the empty bowl they were in. This is how he tells me he would like more. Then he walks back into the kitchen and waits for me to come get him more snack. Today as he walked away I could see a bunch of the cheerios he was "eating" stuck to his pants. It made me smile.