A tribute to Stinky

I decided to put together a collage of pictures that remind me of Stinky, our original cat in the box. She loved boxes. Of course, now that I look back at all my pictures, I can't find a single one of her IN a box. Trust me, she liked them. Apparently, so do Dumas and Mary. Stinky passed a few weeks before Mary was born. I think they really would have liked eachother. Enjoy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Lesson #1

I think we're approaching potty training time, but I'm not going to lie...it's daunting. I dread having to take Mary to the potty every few minutes (or so it seems) when she's just learning. I also dread the public bathroom. At least we're in Japan and the bathrooms seems so much cleaner and nicer than in America. We've had the potty in the bathroom for a few months now, so Mary can get used to seeing it and practice sitting on it. She's still a tad bit too short to sit on it properly. She likes to scoot forward so her feet touch the floor (who can blame her?) and consequently, she's not directly over the hole. One of the play group mommies said I should have bought a local Japanese one. Duh, they'd be shorter. Oh well, hopefully, her legs will grow soon. Anyway, today I was on the computer and Mary started grabbing at her diaper (Can I say that this was the first time she really let me know her diaper was dirty? Cool). I know she just had a BM, but I thought it would be a good opportunity for her to sit on the potty and pee or at least associate the dirty diaper with potty time. Bad idea. Literally, she had just gone poo, so she ended up putting poo smears all over the potty while she was trying to get comfortable. Then, I realized she was too far forward and if she did pee, it would come spraying straight out most likely in my direction. I pulled her off and she wanted to help wipe. Yikes! What an adventure. I think I went through more wet wipes in that one moment than I do in a single day. You're lucky I didn't take any pictures. So what's the lesson? If you're going to put the baby on the potty after she's gone poo, wipe her first, better yet, make sure she can sit on the potty comfortably before even starting.

I guess I should take advantage of nap time and post Mary's hearing story otherwise it might be days later.

So it seems that we've been plagued with hearing problems since the get go. Mary failed her hearing test at the hospital right after she was born. We were notified that we had to take her for another test by the state of Kansas. We did that when she was about 8 months old, only to find out she had a double ear infection at the time. We were told to come back when that was all cleared up, but then we moved to Okinawa. Luckily, we were able to get her tested soon after arriving here and she passed with flying colors. Yea! However, at her 17 month well baby appointment, the docotor wasn't happy with her limited vocab. He saw (and dug out a LOT of ear wax) and prescribed drops a couple times a week and wanted to see her in 2 months for a follow-up. Enter today: Still tons of wax (prescription of drops has been increased to TWICE a DAY) and still limited vocab. A 19 month old that doesn't say "mama or dada" is a bit worrisome. She says some things "uh-oh" a lot, "dis?" a lot, "dat" a lot. But most others seem to be hit or miss. Sometimes she'll say things, but not on a consistent basis. She does animal sounds great, follows directions, points, plays with other kids...just doesn't talk much. So today, we got a referral for a speech eval (they should call in the next few days) and an appointment to see the doc again in a month. I have to say I am pleased with Mary's pediatrician. He's so nice, never seems rushed and listens to all I have to say. He also wants to see her fequently to monitor her progress. I'm very thankful for free healthcare. So hopefully, Mary is just waiting to say the words that she wants and she'll bloom into a big talker soon.

The doc tested her for autism today and she didn't meet any of the criteria. She's pretty social, so that would have surprised me, but I know there are a lot of different levels of autism.

Can you hear me now?

Maybe that should be the title for my post about Mary's hearing. More about that later.

Doug and I really don't talk on the phone much. Heck, I don't even have a cell phone and he only has one because his work gives him one. Just recently, our home phone service has changed. We pay a monthly flat rate fee for phone service and the "privilege" to call long distance to the base telecommunications office. However, our new service with Verizon creates another bill that charges for any call (local or long distance). We can make calls locally from base to base for free, but if we want to call a local cell number, it costs $0.17/min! Needless to say, I don't ever call Doug's cell. Heck, I have to look in my wallet for the number, since I rarely use it. The long distance international rate is really good and probably a main reason for the base to switch to Verizon. So since we finally ran out of calling cards and if our computer phone system hoses up, we have a back-up method for calling. The funny/absurd thing is that last month we actually received a bill for $0.17! How do you pay that when they don't accept cash and the stamp costs more than the bill? Doug refused to pay it. This month our bill increased to $0.86 cents. I think he's still waiting for a more substantial amount before he pays. So for those of you that haven't heard from us in a long time, don't be surprised to pick up the phone and hear "can you hear me now?"

On a side note, why is there no "cent" key on the keyboard? I could only find the $.

A trip to the park

We went to Comprehensive Park on Tuesday. A surprisingly warm January day. It was slightly hazy, so it kept away the crowds (it could have helped that we were there on a weekday, too) and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. What a neat place! The park is absolutely huge and we only went to part of it. The playground was fantastic, but unfortunately most of it was too big for her. She's going to have a great time there in a couple of years. Even with limited playground fun for her, there was lots of space to run around and explore. I hear there is a great water park that's open in the summer. We might have to check that out this year.

She wasn't quite sure what to do on the rocking koala bear. She was busy watching the big kids across from her.
We walked to the water to see the fish. They were huge! ...and hungry. They came swarming up once they heard us talking. Sorry, no food and luckily, the fence was big enough that we didn't have to worry about them having a Mary snack. On another note...there were pigeons (ugh, sky rats) everywhere but the railings were spotless. They either have a miracle poo repellent paint or those little Japanese maintenance people really work hard. Amazing.

This little guy swam up first. I swear it looked like he was smiling at us. He was probably just trying to coax us closer so he could get a nibble. Ok, he's not so little.

And then the friends arrived.

A free park just minutes from our house. Hmmm, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of Comprehensive Park.

It's a matter of national security

Hooray, Jack is back! Doug and I are huge 24 fans and have been since the very beginning. There are very few t.v. shows that we watch together and this is one of them. We have Armed Forces Network (AFN) here and so it's essentially 3 main channels that provide a wide assortment of popular shows from the US. Most shows are a week delayed or even old re-runs that I saw in Kansas. If the show is super popular, then it's aired a day later. We were holding our breath that it would come here. Yea! It's on every Tues night at 9pm after Mary's asleep so we can focus completely on the show. So unless it's an emergency, we won't answer the phone or plan to go out. We can't. We have to see what happens to Jack Bauer, what trouble he gets into, who's the leak in the FBI and how he saves the world this time. It's a matter of national security.

Help! I'm trapped!

Mary woke up crying after her nap. I held her and walked around with her, but the only thing that calmed her down was my laying down on the bed. She then draped herself over my chest and proceed to fall back asleep for another hour. Doug came to check on us and this is what he saw. Since I found myself trapped, the only thing I could do was take a nap. Oh well.

Yes, she's still in her pj's. It was one of those days.

BFF

Well, Dumas might not agree, but Mary really likes the cat. I think deep down, Dumas likes her too. Mary was practically sitting on her in the chair and Dumas hissed and nipped at her, so I picked her (Dumas) up and deposited her on our bed so Mary couldn't reach her. We're in the living room and in walks Dumas, plops back down in the chair and practically begs Mary to bother her again. Mary complied. She leaned up against her like she was a pillow. When I asked her if she was being nice to the kitty, she proceeded to smack her in the head. I think it was her way of petting.

Mary's new dancing skills. I took 3 videos and this was the best. Unfortunately, she went around the corner and Doug said some of her best dancing was over there. One video, I tried to follow her, but she ran back quickly and all I got was one very bouncy video. I found Mary a toy vacuum at the thrift store that plays music and makes a vacuum like noise. I'm hoping if she gets used to it, my grown up one won't scare her as much.

First (major) haircut

Mary had her first MAJOR haircut today. I think it's her 8th cut overall, but that was just bangs. Her hair has been getting out of control and seemed to getting a life of it's own. Time to tame it. She did really well. The lady next to us was getting her hair blow dried when we sat down and that scared Mary, so she refused to sit in the chair by herself. She sat calmly in my lap and near the end, sat on the booster seat. Of course I had to take pictures and a lock of hair to put in her scrapbook. Now, she really looks like a China doll.

The "before" picture. Waiting our turn (and messing up the nice magazine display).

We're done! How cute!

To all our freezing friends and family,

this is dedicated to you. An Okinawan snowman made out of Play-doh to show that we were thinking of you. It's been cold here the past few days (low 60's), but with the crazy strong winds blowing, it's felt much colder. I think we've acclimated to the weather since we now complain about the 60's being cold.

This past Saturday, Doug and I went on the Battle Sites tour from base. Amazing to hear about the Battle of Okinawa and actually walk where the soldiers, sailors and marines walked, fought and died not too many years ago. We ended the tour walking through a museum at a memorial peace park. We had ear phones that translated the displays into English for us. You know, I hear about anti-American protesters in the papers, read stories about how the Okinawans don't want us here, but I've never truly felt it until Saturday. That museum made me feel like one of the "bad guys". I've never felt anything but kindness from the locals, but that day, I felt like the odd man out.

One of the many caves that the Japanese soldiers and/or the local civilians hid in. Today it's a shrine to the dead.

A Japanese machine gun that was found on our base 3 years ago and not a mile away from our house! Amazing.

The Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters. It was very interesting to see how the caves were carved out and how all the spaces were divided.

That's Doug on the far right. He could stand upright most of the time. They are really big caves.

housebound

It was cold and rainy out yesterday and Mary and I had to stay indoors. I've also been playing phone tag with the dental clinic and needed to be near the phone. I think they were getting exasperated that I don't have a cell and needed to run errands. I was getting equally exasperated that they never answer their phone and only do call backs (it's actually on their answering machine). Anyway, the house was trashed after about an hour. Mary finally found some ribbon left over from Christmas and she and Dumas had some fun.

another for the grandparents

Just thought I'd attach another video. It really sounds like she says "down". We've been working on that, since she has "up" mastered. It was a cool, windy day, but Mary didn't mind.

Resolution: don't kill the flowers

OK, my New Year's resolution is to keep the flowers and plants alive...well, at least TRY really hard. I've invested in a watering can and I'm teaching my daughter the fine art of watering. She wanted/ needed one of her own, so how could I deny her? Besides, when I finally revert to my old ways, I'll need her to pick up the slack and water, water, water. That's what kids are for, right?

changing everyday

Sorry, the computer was down for a few days and now I'm back logged with tons of photos and videos. I'm probably driving everyone crazy with picture taking, but who cares, I'm enjoying my new camera. You'll be able to see the much improved video quality.

Mary's growing so fast. She's getting so good at making animal sounds. I took this the other day, but now she can also do a giraffe, snake and a lizard. I'll try to get them on video too.

The kitchen towel was to protect her clothes from her new markers. I know they say washable, but I'm still a bit nervous. You know, first child syndrome. By the time we have our 3rd, I won't even worry about bibs. Ha, ha.

We buy her toys...

and she's happy with a box. Hey, she's just like me! Mary had a good time playing in the box that held Doug's new grill. It was just a tad bit too tall for her to climb in and out by herself, so Doug made her a fort. Dumas appreciated it too. Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2009?