It's a Boy...

...no longer a baby because we finally got Wyatt's first haircut.

I would be lying to say I was calm and unconcerned - it would, in fact, be more accurate to say my heart was beating a little fast and I was nervous - but all went well. We took him to Tomiko-san at the club and he was fairly cooperative sitting in Daddy's lap; she was very kind and agreed that we should leave a little wave in the back so that made me relax a little. I never pegged myself for becoming attached to my child's hair, but I definitely am! There's just something about the funny things it does that contributes to Wyatt's character, if that makes sense. And I figure he has the rest of his life to have a military haircut! Of course, technically he also has the rest of his life to grow it out, but still!

We think it looks pretty cute (even though it's a little straight across the front, a la Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber) and we all survived. Of course I have all the shorn ringlets in an envelope so that someday Wyatt can laugh at me for keeping his hair, or maybe so that someday I can lovingly look at that and remember the day my baby started looking like a little boy.

The first cut.

Hey! Watch where you're putting those things!

Halfway through and all is well.

Curls curls everywhere...just not on Wyatt's head.

Say Hello To Our Little Friend

Please give a hearty welcome to Vincent; he'll be staying with us for approximately 44 days.

We're the proud keepers of the bat - of bat passing party fame - and let me tell you, there's nothing like having a big ol' bat in a pickle jar sitting in your living room. See? (and scroll down really fast if you're squeamish):

Officially, his name is Vincent D. Vampire, but you can call him Vince. He's cool like that.

Yay for us! It's only appropriate since we've never hosted Vincent before and we're getting ready to leave. Besides, Jeff had to go and call the couple having tonight's party and be Sgt. Stone from the Housing Office again, so that kind of sealed our fate. Apparently she really fell for the old 'your yard is out of regs' speech he does so well! So yes, we saw this coming. Nonetheless, if you have any great ideas for a theme party, be sure to let us know ASAP. Thanks.

One For the Record Books

In the past seven days, this house has celebrated two birthdays, one anniversary, received a new assignment and now?

NOW THE CHILD IS WALKING!

July is going to be so dull.

The Long-Awaited Birthday Post

What's that? You weren't waiting? Well, humor me.

In summary: there were monkeys, there was cake, there were a few of Wyatt's closest friends on hand to celebrate (and despite the fact that we limited the party to people Wyatt sees on a really regular basis, he was still overwhelmed and had to have some time in his room to "collect himself"). He liked his cake, he liked his friends, his friends liked the ball pit and the adults had fun, too. Now for the pictures.

The cake. Three layers of cakey goodness, filled with banana cream and topped with lots of frosting. Hey, as long as I'm making it, I might as well like it. And also? If you're making a cake like this, you should probably start frosting it a little sooner than an hour before the party because that can stress a person out!

Wyatt, Lauren & Nathan (well-hidden) having fun in the wading pool-turned ball pit.

Wyatt giving Katelyn some love. We might need to work on the approach since waltzing up behind a girl and pulling on her shirt isn't always appropriate.

Wyatt got his own baby monkey cake. I'm not gonna lie, it was partly because hey! that's cute but mostly because I couldn't stand the thought of having to get chocolate frosting out of his clothes.

This is Wyatt showing his appreciation for getting a cake all to himself. Oh, and the part where everyone was singing to him? He liked that, too.

So I can just put my hands right here? And it's okay?

Is this the chocolate you don't want on my clothes?
This frosting stuff is yummy!

Don't worry. I'll get it all off my fingers.

Woo hoo! Now I feel GOOD!

I'll Have the Bento Box.

Bento boxes are like the Japanese version of a pupu platter, lots of little tastes all at one time. That's kind of how life feels to me right now, but mine's the bento box of emotions.

I'm happy because we have our next assignment and it's great (as most of you know, it turns we'll be heading to Langley for Jeff to fly the F-22.) As a bonus, some good friends from here will be going to Langley also. For that, we're feeling really lucky. I'm also happy because one of my best friends had her baby on Thursday - welcome to the world Evan Lynn! - and I've been excited all week because Wyatt's birthday party was this weekend. All good things.

But at the same time, I'm kind of sad & freaked out. Jeff & I were wishing, hoping, that he'd be lucky enough to go back to Tyndall. Of course we're excited about the assignment he got, of course we see the blessing it is and we know there are a lot of people who would like to go there that might not get the opportunity. But honestly, I'm still getting my head around it. It's scary. There, I said it. It's scary to me that Jeff - who it seems has just gotten to the point he's comfortable in the F-15 - will have to go back through training on another system. It's also scary to me that this is an endeavor that will require immense amounts of his time for the next few years. Finding out our great friends (proud parents of baby Evan) will be heading there for their next assignment makes me a little envious and sad. I just imagined all of us being there together, Wyatt flirting with his new girlfriend, the daddies home on weekends and evenings, all of us hanging out together like we did in the good ol' days.

Every time I've driven off base since we found out, I'm just sad and a little panicky that I haven't soaked up enough of this experience. I'm not sure I will ever be able to adequately express how incredible it is here. The squadron, the place...it all has just come together in a way that I never dared imagine. I'm sad to think this might be the only overseas experience we get. For the non-military out there, it's hard to explain how much these friends become family. I know that we're lucky to get it once and I should just be thankful for it, but I also know this is not how it will be in Virginia, or anywhere else stateside for that matter. Of course the upside is that we'll be so much closer to our real families and old friends. We might actually get to see everyone more than once a year!

And while the idea of owning a house is unbelievably exciting when you're 32 and have never done it, it also sucks to realize we won't have great friends sharing a wall with us (unless, of course, we really do just set up a compound with the Rifes.) There's nothing quite as relieving as knowing that, most likely, someone next door is up for helping me entertain Wyatt or going for a walk or shopping or whatever. We've never had neighbors like we have here and that's going to be a tough adjustment. Plus PC and Lisa keep telling us they don't think the Marine Corps will ever assign them to an AF base so apparently it's unlikely we'll get to live in the same area again. Stupid Marines Corps! Don't they know they're ruining all our fun?

And let's face it, my baby is one! It's exciting and momentous and just plain crazy that we're already celebrating his birthday. And there's nothing like having a newborn at the birthday party to help put a year in perspective. Jack (born June 13) let us all pass him around, slept quietly in his carrier and was oblivious to the mayhem being created by all the other kids. As I took my turn getting to hold him, Wyatt was busy pulling on my legs and biting my knees. THAT is what a year does. It turns sweet little bundles into true anklebiters. Nice.

I promise I'll write about Wyatt's party because it was really fun, but I needed to get all of these thoughts out first. You know, so I don't taint the birthday post with my undercurrent of negative thoughts because the birthday bento box is all sunshine and monkeys. Really!

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

Well, I didn't actually beg but I certainly didn't protest, either.

Wyatt had his one-year well-check today and guess what? He's holding steady under the lowest blue line on the growth percentile chart. He's a perfectly proportional below-the-third-percentile kid, so the pediatrician is no longer concerned but does want Wyatt to get as many calorie-dense foods as possible. At first he said he thought Wyatt was a candidate to stay on formula for a few more months and my heart just sank. Oh, not because I have any issues about formula versus milk or anything, but because formula's expensive! We've practically been counting down the days until we can switch from our $22 a week formula to our $2 a half gallon whole milk (it's in keeping with our new and improved budget!).

I asked how many calories Wyatt should be getting every day so that we can make sure we're at least getting close and that prompted the doctor to recommend PediaSure instead of formula. Great! But you know what's better? We - apparently - can get it for FREE from WIC. Now, we don't financially qualify for WIC (although it might be close despite how the military tries to sell its whole "complete compensation package" by assigning a dollar amount to our "benefits" like commissary use, housing allowances and insurance. No really, they do. And they just sent us our annual copy of this information so that we feel like we should have a lot more money than we do. But I digress...) but it turns out if there's a medical need (like your kid is tiny), you can get WIC services on this here military installation.

Honestly, I would normally not accept this referral because (1) I'm too proud, (2) I would hate for us take the resources from someone who really needs it, and (3) I'm pretty proud. However, the lure of no expense instead of $22 a week is too much for a budgeting girl like myself. Woo hoo!

Watch, now that I've "come to terms" with accepting WIC (uh, yeah, that took about .08 seconds), they'll laugh me out of the building when I go to pick up our first batch or whatever. And if you're one of those people that thinks I shouldn't take advantage of this because there are others who need it more, please keep that opinion to yourself. In the meantime, I'll be figuring out how to turn our saved $88/month into our first million. You know, for Wyatt and all.

One?

I think we have a problem...or two. First, there seems to be an inverse relationship between Wyatt's words and his signs. As in, the more words he gets, the more confused his signs are.

Additionally, I could've sworn you all had told me it was the terrible twos, not the terrible ones. Liars! Wyatt is Mister Shortfuse these days and also Mister Hitsalot and also Mister Tantrumthrower. I think he must be turning two on Sunday, not one.

So please combine these two traits and tell me what you get. Go ahead, do the math. I can wait.

Right. That's just it! You get a non-walking almost-toddler who gets completely frustrated at the drop of a hat and then, in his utter I-am-so-mad-that-my-hands-are-shaking-and-I'm-silent-crying fit, starts throwing out random signs like "milk" and "more" while we patiently say, "would you like some help?"

Good times.

That's pretty much what ended tonight's fun with the dishwasher. It was all smiles and laughs up until he couldn't figure out how to open the soap dispenser door after he closed it. And no amount of us showing him or - GOD FORBID - putting his hand on the latch to push it was going to make it better. Instead, he would just yell, hit the soap dispenser door a couple times and then take a cheap shot at the diswasher door for good measure while instantaneously producing a crying frenzy. It was the first time (of many, I'm sure) that I had to remove myself from the situation because his absurdity was making me laugh. And laughing is not an effective means of communicating that "we don't hit."

And then, later, when I removed him from Millie's bowls for the umpteenth time tonight and told him that "those are not toys and you may not play in them", he literally threw himself down on the carpet to pitch a fit. Neat!

So if this is what one looks like, I'm not sure we're up for two.

Just For A Moment...

I have a much bigger thing to write about, but no energy to do it. For now, let's pause to pay respect to a cool guy. I hope his shows are on DVD somewhere so that someday Wyatt can make me a centerpiece of dancing spaghetti.

Please Note:

My new layers plus Okinawa's rainy season do not Big Sexy make.

Feeling A Little Lightheaded

No, really. Literally light-headed. I had a little rendezvous with my girl, Rumiko-san, today. You know, some reblonding and a cut. But what's wrong with the following timeline?

1. Foils & color in hair.
2. Rumiko says, "you want a little lighter than last time?" I say, "no, last time was good." She says, "ohhhhhhh, I think maybe little lighter for summer!"

Riiiiight. It's already done.

A few other choice Rumiko comments from today's session:

"You dry hair sometimes? Not always ponytail?"

"You dry straight here (motioning to front) and volume here (motioning to top), but no here (motioning to underlayers). You let here (underlayers) a little wavy - sexy!"

"You dry not so much. Then go like this (fluffs my hair all around) and then sexy!"

"Ahhhhhh, maybe not so much part, okay? Maybe like this (pushes hair around so part is obscured). You like? I think sexy maybe okay."

Uh, Rumiko, you trying to tell me something? Like maybe I'm not ooozing sexy when I roll in here with my two-tone, needs a highlight hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail? Oh, and maybe my puffy, runny eyes really sealed the deal for no sexy. Because I'm definitely feeling no sexy as I sit here willing myself not to sneeze all over you. And also? I'm wondering how I'm supposed to handle my nose that's running like a faucet since the Japanese don't like for me to blow my nose in public. Should I just dab it? Or can I blow it when you walk away? Or maybe I can just close my eyes a little tighter, wish really hard, let you do whatever you want to my hair and when I look again then POOF! sexy.

And lastly it should be noted that I dodged a Japanese mullet today....but BARELY! Rumiko wanted to cut layers. Whatever. Great. I never know what I want done to my hair and I enjoy it when a stylist has vision. So when Rumiko said, "you want like last time or maybe different?" I said, "I liked last time. It was good." She said, "hmmmmm, I think maybe little bit different. Maybe more layers?" I said, "Okay." Because really, I'm in no mood to argue and it's just hair.

But then, THEN when she had sculpted her masterpiece and turned me around to view it, there it was. The Japanese mullet, staring right back at me. And it was on my head, in my hair. Not as okay anymore. So I very calmly suggested she could maybe cut some length off the bottom layer. She complied. I was happy. She, in a disappointed voice, said, "oh. I think like last time. Same cut." Apparently I dashed her creative genius. Too bad, so sad. She'll have to find someone else to mulletize.

And although I've been doing doubletakes in reflective surfaces all day because BLOND! and SHORTER!, my husband didn't actually notice. Until, that is, after 20 minutes of face-to-face conversation I said, "notice anything?" (while shaking my hair...and it should be noted that we'd already kind of discussed it on the phone; as in, he asked how the cut was and I said okay but shorter and blonder). He said, "oh yeah. It's lighter. But I like it!"

Turns out it's just perfect for summer. Rumiko-san is always right.

Rearing Its Ugly Head

A couple months back, Jeff caught a really bad cold that was going around the squadron and was mis.er.a.ble. He felt miserable and he was miserable to be around, what with all the whining. Annnnnd I might have mentioned that he was acting miserable.

Oops.

The Great Cold of 2007 has struck again, only this time I am its target. I might actually have The Great Cold's runty little brother, Just A Cold (and am arguably much less miserable to be around), but I feel crummy. I don't actually recall ever having had a cold quite like this before because only one side of my face is affected (the left). ONE runny nostril, ONE watery eye, ONE half of a sore throat, ONE set of swollen glands. Let me tell you, as I sit here typing this I look HOT. H-O-T, hot! Because if you've never seen me with half a puffy, drippy face, you're really missing out.

This is the kind of day that makes me wish I had a lovely childcare facility to which I could deliver my child before returning home, slipping into some loungewear and hunkering down under the covers. Not so much. So we made do with what we have - and did I mention that its the freaking rainy season and today it decided to prove it? Monsoons, people, monsoons - which included a little more Elmo-watching for Wyatt with a little less caring from me. Nathan came over and played for a little while this morning (I promised Lisa I wouldn't get any snot on him), so that helped make our morning a little more interesting (if only I had a picture of storytime with Brown Bear, Brown Bear and both boys in my lap).

And this evening we made up a new game while Wyatt "helped" unload the dishwasher (the sound of the dishwasher opening is like a siren song for my son - he will drop whatever he's doing and crawl as fast as he can into the kitchen, just hoping to make it there before I close it again). Our flatware basket is on the inside of the door and he likes to pull out his spoons to play with them (and only his spoons; isn't that interesting?), so I let him have two while I took the basket and its contents out to put away. There was a little water in the shallow well of the door and, well, it was just really fun for him. I decided I could make it a little more fun if I added just a touch more water. And I was right. Fortunately it was almost bedtime, so the fact that he ended up soaking wet was a-okay. Unfortunately, I think I inadvertantly made the dishwasher even more alluring, if that was possible. Whatever! Happy kid, happy mom.

Well, as happy a mom as I can be considering my left-side faucet is running. And we just ran out of Kleenex. Looks like tomorrow will be another stellar day but at least my cold entertains the kid - I sneeze, he laughs; I blow my nose, he smiles; I cough, he imitates. Now if only I could train him to bring me a nice cup of hot tea, my zicam and some tissues.....looks like we have a project for tomorrow.

Tick Tock

---This entry is a week old, which should tell you a little something about how good I think it is (not very) and how my week has been (not productive). Oh well. You don't have to read if you don't want to but I'm including it so that when I look back in a year I'll remember---

Our Okinawa clock is counting down, so we used our long weekend to check off a few things on our perpetual to-do list. First up: the "used American" stores that line 58 south of Futenma. Suffice it to say they look infinitely more appealing when you're looking at the stuff from behind dirty windows at 60 kph. No great finds there, although the store with the giant spiderman hanging out front was really cool. I might actually have to go back and pick up some dishes.

Sunday we had a lofty goal: make it all the way to Cape Hedo. It's the northernmost point of Okinawa and we've always intended to make a trip up there, because it seems like something a person should do while they live here. But for an island that's only sixty-some miles long, it takes a seriously long time to get anywhere. We planned, we consulted maps, we loaded the car and we invited Lisa & Nathan to go, too. Once we got everyone buckled in and fueled up with coffee from the USO, we hit the road at 9 am.

After we got to Nago, we cut across the island on a little highway only because we decided it'd be interesting to go up one side and down the other. It was really cool! That little highway turned out to take us up through the jungle with no towns to speak of before dumping us out on the Pacific. And then the drive north was just beautiful. Lots of scenic views of cliffs, water, jungle, pineapple farms; you know, standard stuff. It's interesting to me, though, how that part of the island looks different than other parts. I'm sure it's technically all the same but it feels different up there. Little to no traffic, small towns that are few and far between and an absence of other Y plates. In fact, we stopped at a convenience store (locally owned, not a chain) to use the island's grossest squatty potty and an Okinawan man started asking me all kinds of questions: where do we live, do we like it here and why (when I told him we really like it and it's because the people are so nice, he beamed from ear to ear and said, "really?", as though that was surprising to him).

We stopped at the Hiro Coffee Farm (yes, Okinawa has a coffee farm!) for more caffeine and a bag of beans. PC had mentioned it to Lisa, who in turn mentioned it to me, because he'd stopped there on one of his trips north for work. We were all excited about it and thought maybe we'd just drive up there sometime but after actually making the trip and stopping, we understand why it's not really a destination in and of itself. Don't get me wrong, it was super-cute and the lady was really nice - even when Jeff asked if there was a bathroom and she just let him use the one in her house - but it's decidedly off the beaten path and surrounded by nothing else. And then it was time to get back in the car and keep driving to Hedo. At some point on all the twisty, hilly, bumpy, jungly road I started feeling mildly carsick (always fun, and it had a little something to do with digging around in a cooler to get snacks for the boys), so I started feeling like Hedo couldn't be close enough. After another eight kilometers of sheer curvy road torture, we arrived.



Unfortunately it was kind of socked in with fog and clouds. We could see the water (Wyatt started grunting when he saw it and Nathan declared it "wa-wa!") and it's a lovely view from the cliffs but not unlike other cliff/water combinations we've seen much closer to home. The water is really beautiful and it was a very calm day, but I can see how it would be really amazing if the surf were churned up a bit and the sun was shining. But since someone cranked the humidifier to about 97%, I was okay with the cloud-cover.

We visited every scenic lookout to make sure we got the most from our Hedo experience and then scanned the food options since it was lunchtime. Although I totally would've eaten the Japanese corndog, Lisa and Jeff opted for lunch down the road somewhere. So we loaded everyone back in the Surf and kept driving. It turned out we weren't too far from Okuma - had we known it was so close, we would've made the effort to get up to Hedo sooner. We drove just a bit further before Jeff spied a cute cafe. We pulled in (well, technically, we cruised right past it, discussed it and then made a U-turn through a gravel lot) and planted ourselves on the deck. We were the only people there at that point and the owners moved the outdoor fan to point on our table. Please reference the previous humidity comment and realize that a fan moving wet air is fairly not-helpful. But it was a lovely gesture. Besides, this cafe had decent food*, ice cream and "waffies" and an awesome view of the East China Sea.

We decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up so after lunch we all changed clothes and traipsed across 58 to the beach. Good decision! The water was beautiful and it was actually a good beach - not too much coral and some interesting super-flat black rocks. Wyatt again showed his appreciation for the ocean through a series of grunts and lots of frog kicks. Nathan divvied his time between land and sea and the rest of us just enjoyed the scenery*. I don't really know how long we lasted out there before the boys showed signs of being finished, but Jeff loaded the car, we all changed back into dry clothes and headed home. The boys conked out after Lisa read them a couple of books (such a good mom, always prepared) and we were finally free to talk about how miraculous it was that neither one of them freaked out about being in their carseat for the entire day (you know, without worrying about it jinxing us).

We pulled into our parking spot at a little past 5. That's right, this was an ALL DAY affair and let me tell you, I have never been so glad I thought to use my crockpot! Dinner was ready so by the time we got everything unloaded, bathed our kids and ourselves, made a salad and Lisa fired up the blender, we were ready to eat. Amazingly both boys continued to play and were in great moods right up until bedtime. I know ours didn't make a peep after we put him down for the night and I'm guessing Nathan was pretty shot, too.

So finally, we accomplished something kind of big and checked that trip off our list. I'm kind of glad we saved it for now because it's fun to discover new things this far into our assignment. You know, just when things were feeling very mundane we went and spiced it up! Now we just have to figure out where else to go and when we're going to do it because the time is still ticking away...


*there might be a little more to this story. And if you buy me a drink sometime (or four) I might tell you.

Little Wheels

I'm surprised Wyatt doesn't have smoke coming out his ears. All of a sudden it's as though his thought processes are exponentially faster and I LOVE it. It's really amazing to see his brain working differently, faster and funnier.

His language is changing - not that he says anything yet - but you can see him mulling over new words and then checking with his mouth to find out if together they can produce the same sound. And today, for the first time, he picked up Millie's rope and handed it to her but held on so they had their first round of tug-of-war (to Millie's credit she's amazing with him - today is also the first time she didn't immediately drop the rope as soon as Wyatt was in the vicinity and instead gave it a nice, gentle tug so he smiled.)

He's just crawling around downstairs while I am (oh-so-responsibly) on the computer and he crawled into the kitchen a few minutes ago and stopped on the other side of the refrigerator, then he leaned his head around to look at me, waiting for me to say, "peekaboo!" Of course as soon as I said it, he grinned from ear to ear and leaned back the other way so I couldn't see him. Repeat, repeat, repeat - just like I did to him the other day when I was putting stuff away in there and he was in here playing.

He's also taught himself a sign. In the last week, anytime we ask if he's tired when he actually is, he puts his hands over his eyes and tucks his head. If we don't get that response when we ask, we know he's not quite ready for a nap. It's awesome to actually get a response rather than guessing.

But don't worry, I'm not delusional. I don't think he's a prodigy in the making or anything and he has plenty of bad habits and inabilities to remind me that he's an average-joe 11-month-old. Nonetheless, he's mine and I think he's perfect. And this is what he thinks if you don't agree.

Peanut Gallery Moderation

I enjoy that my comments section has become a forum for a few of you to chat amongst yourselves. In case there are others of you out there that think I don't actually read my comments, rest assured I do. It could be said I live for them.

Mom: the spider was large. Maybe two or three inches in diameter and fast. Scary fast. Brown in color with large fangs and beady eyes that watched every move we made. Okay, maybe that last part is an exaggeration but the rest is not.

PaRon: I think you and I both know that Wyatt will never suffer from a shortage of creepy crawly living things and bug barns in which to house them. His collection just will not include a spider if I have anything to do with it. However, because I want only the best for my child, I am making a serious effort to not pass along my own insecurites regarding arachnids or anything else.

Lisa: yes, in theory, you could have smushed Marty's food with your shoe but I notice you didn't. Which tells me you weren't really interested in having to do that. I think you were as creeped out as I was, but maybe you would've rather let the giant attack spider spin a web big enough to catch Nathan? Because I swear it could've. And the snake idea is intriguing...but don't you think that if it wasn't a super-duper-nasty-mean spider all of our geckos would've snacked on it?

Susan: you have your irrational fear of snakes (yes, irrational. Besides my 10th birthday party and that one garter snake Bonnie whacked apart with a golf club, when have you encountered a snake?) and I have my irrational fear of spiders (who, incidentally, are seen in homes across the world every day thereby making me confront my fears all the time. I win.)

Kristen: yes, that is how you spell it. I have no idea if Webster agrees but: my blog = my rules. Spelling included. You should start one - it totally suits our personalities to have someplace where you're always in charge and when people make their little remarks, you can make them right back (unlike your recent coffee encounter. I'm just sayin'...)

I sincerely enjoy that I was finally able to write something of interest. The pressure's on...and I'm already confident I'm not up to the task. Therefore, the next time you find my blog boring, I respectfully request you revisit the Heebie Jeebies post. Thankyouverymuch.