Lockdown

We have been on lockdown here on Rokko Island since Saturday afternoon when the first domestic case of the N1H1 flu (swine flu) was reported in the Kobe area.  They decided to cancel school for the upcoming week, advised people to stay away from from large public gatherings, limit train use, and to wear masks, wash hands regularly and gargle (not sure about the last one).  So needless to say we have been pretty bored.  

The one thing that has been keeping us busy has been the new bike we purchased.  Callie has been obsessed with bikes lately.  Every time we are at the playground and she sees a kid bike she wants to go over to it, stand by it, and sit on the seat.  And when we are walking in the stroller she loves to point out all the bikes, which are pretty much everywhere!  So we thought getting a bike with a seat for Callie would be a good idea, and we were right, she loves it!  We have been going on morning bike rides and Callie talks pretty much the entire time.  At times she gets so excited and starts kicking her legs that she ends up kicking me in the bootie :)  She has also started poking me and tickling me in the back when we have to stop to wait to cross the street.  I'm so glad we got the bike, it's a great way to exercise and Callie really enjoys it.  Once Scott comes back from this road trip we are going to get a bike for him too so we can have family rides :)

Callie and Daddy on their first bike ride!  

She was so excited!  I planned on waiting to let her on the bike until we purchased a helmet (she has a helmet now and wears it every time she is on the bike), but she saw the bike parked outside our front door when we were on the way inside and got so excited.  This picture was actually taken in our apartment building in the outdoor hallway.  It's a big square so it was a pretty good track.  Callie was yelling "Mama, Mama" the entire time, like she was saying Mama look at me, this is so cool!

Callie also had a big "first" today.  After dinner we were playing and I got out her little shopping cart push toy.  Callie was excited to see it and stood up behind it right away and started walking with it!  She went back and forth through the living room a couple of times and even navigated her way from the living room, turned down the hallway and then into the kitchen!  I was only inches behind her the entire time, and at first still hand my hands on her hips, but eventually was just hovering making sure I would be there to catch her if she stumbled!  I am so excited that she has started doing this.  The last week she has been getting stronger at walking with us holding onto her arms and now she is one step closer to walking independently!  Below is a short video of her pushing the basket, but you can see her take a couple of steps.  It's pretty short because it was hard to film and be close enough so she didn't fall :)  Also, please excuse my scratchy voice in the beginning of the clip.  I have been suffering from Spring allergies and am pretty congested, and no, I don't have the Swine Flu!  Enjoy!!

Cute videos

Here are a couple of cute videos from the last couple of days . . .

Callie playing in the tub with a new fishing toy:

Callie jamming out in the living room.  Sorry it is sideways . . .

Bad blogger . . .

I know I have been a very bad blogger lately and I am very sorry.  Callie really seems to be wearing me out these days and any free moment I have I like to just veg on the couch.  Plus, it takes a lot of brain power to try and write witty posts and comments :)

Since it has been a month since the last post I'll just give a general overview.  In the last month we have done lots of playing in the sand/dirt at the park, visited the Bird & Flower Park, gone on our first road trip, made a morning trip to Kobe, went to a magic show, enjoyed a couple Friday night "Happy Hours" at the River Mall, and Callie has started pulling up on every piece of furniture and started cruising like a pro.  

I have too many pictures to post from the last month, but if you want to check out some photos follow this link to my Facebook album: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18930&id=1133892863&l=0121cb1558

Happy Easter

Callie and I had a pretty mellow and relaxing Easter with just the two of us today.  The Easter Bunny visited and Callie had a good time with her little treats.  I "hid" a couple of eggs out in the open for Callie, but she only managed to find two, even with lots of help.  She was more interested in what was in her basket :)

Callie's Easter basket

Finding an egg

Showing off her Easter treats :)

After breakfast I dressed Callie up in the Easter dress I brought from home and we met Caden and his mom outside.  Caden had been up since 6am so he didn't last long and we didn't get any pictures of them together.  Although he was pretty excited when he saw us coming and ran over and both kids reached their hands out to each other.  It was pretty cute :)  So, since it was just the two of us and Callie was all dressed up we walked over to the tulip garden to try and get some pictures.  Callie wasn't really into the whole picture thing, but enjoyed sitting on the ground and playing with a little toy truck she had . . .  

Posing by the tulips

Tired out after our morning photo shoot and walk

She felt much better after I took the dress off :)

Playing in the dirt after nap time.  She is saying cheese in this picture.  I started trying to teach it to her the other day since she never looks at the camera when I am taking pictures, and when she does she usually doesn't smile.  I'm not quite sure who she is saying cheese too, but she obviously doesn't quite understand the concept yet :)

Finally, she looked at the camera!

We hope everyone has a Happy Easter and we wish we could have spent it with all our loved ones.  We miss everyone and can't wait to see you all at the end of the season!

Baseball games

The baseball season has started and we are getting back into baseball mode.  Scott usually leaves for the field around 1:30pm so we have the whole morning to spend together as a family.  Right now he is on his first road trip, it only been a three day one so it hasn't been too bad.  Next week they are on the road for twelve days!  I will definitley have to find some new and exciting things to do with Callie while he is gone:)

This season Callie and I have already made it to three baseball games!  This may not seem like a whole lot, Scott has had six home games already, but we only made it to four games all last season.  Last season Callie was a little scared of how loud the cheering and the music is at the games, but this season she seems to love it!  She claps and says "yeah" when everyone is cheering and kicks her legs and dances to a couple of the players songs that come on when they come up to hit.  The only unfortunate thing is that she wants to walk up and down the stairs by the seats pretty much the whole game!  And since she isn't too good at walking on her own yet, I have to hold her hands and walk up and down the stairs with her.  We get a lot of interesting looks from all the fans, but if it keeps Callie happy during a three hour baseball game I'm not going to complain too much.  

At the first baseball game of the season!  Callie doesn't look too happy because the game just ended and she was very ready to go home :)  Scott didn't pitch, but the Tigers won!!

It looks like she is cheering in the picture but I'm pretty sure she is either trying to take the bow out of her hair, or the static on the chair is tickling her neck :)

Callie enjoying some french fries during the last game we went to.  She was perfectly content to sit on the steps and did more playing than eating with the french fries.  At first I was a little worried that it was weird, but she was quiet, happy, and wanted to stay in one place, so it was fine my me :)  Scott pitched in this game, but Callie didn't really seem to notice too much . . .

Getting ready for bed after the game.  It was about 10pm and Callie was pretty hyper after being at the game and playing with some of the other players kids afterward.  We were trying to put her in her pajamas and all she wanted to do was chill on the couch with Daddy :)

Perfect weather

The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days so we have been keeping busy outside.  There are a couple of small parks around the island with little sand/dirt pits and some playground equipment.  Scott and I took Callie to one the other day that had some pretty Cherry Blossom trees and we had a lot of fun playing on the playground.  Callie really enjoyed the slide and kept asking to slide over and over again!  She also wanted to walk up the stairs to the slide, which were pretty big so her steps looked pretty awkward :)

In front of a Cherry Blossom tree 

"Walking" up the stairs to the slide with Daddy

Sliding with Mommy

There is also a little playground right outside our apartment building.  We have spent the last couple afternoons letting the kids play in the sand (or as I like to call it, dirt) and they love it.  There is usually some drama over who has what toy, but they are slowly learning to share.  I have a feeling that we will be spending a lot of our days here once the weather stays nice :)

Playing with Caden in the dirt :)

True love???

There is a really pretty tulip garden on Rokko Island that is a short walk from the apartments.  This Saturday is a little tulip festival, but we have stopped by the last couple of days just to check out the pretty flowers.  The other day Callie, Scott and I went.  Callie wasn't too excited to check out the flowers, but we got some pretty pictures.

Today we went with Caden and his mom since the kids were going a little stir crazy in the apartment and it had stopped raining :)  The kids had a good time and as we started to walk away Caden walked up to Callie's stroller and his mom asked him to give Callie a hug and a kiss.  Oh boy, did he go right in for the kill :)

Caden looking all shy walking up to Callie :)

This one looks like Callie is about to tell Caden a secret :)

The money shot!!

By the way, Callie is probably going to kill me later for this post.  How embarrassing!!!!!  My theory is that you aren't doing your job as a parent if you don't embarrass your kids.  I guess I'm off to a good start :)  Love you Callie!!