A white Christmas in beautiful snowy northern Japan. Forrest has been trying to open gifts all month since they’ve been under the tree. He can finally open them up! Thankfully, Leanne got the holiday off!
Thank you everyone for such wonderful gifts! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful loving family and that Forrest had an amazing first Christmas!
Can you believe 8 months has already gone by?
No longer a babe
Cuter every single day
Please, stop growing now.
Today was our first proper snow day for the hear. Forrest seemed somewhat indifferent, but that didn’t stop us from having fun playing with him and Miles in the snow.
The base has a tree lighting event where the huge Christmas tree on base was lit, and there was food, music, hot cocoa, mulled wine, and Santa! Forrest met Santa for the first time. I hope he asked for something good!
Literally 2 days ago, I could leave Forrest on the play mat with toys, make coffee, come back in a minute, and Forrest would be right where I left him. No longer! In the last two days, he figured out how to crawl! Sure, it’s not the most efficient way, but he sure moves quickly!
Of course he wants to crawl only to things he’s not supposed to! The Peloton wheel, the Christmas tree, and his favorite, the Christmas presents under the tree. He’s even tried to open them multiple times!
Forrest is 7 months old with a full head of hair. Our neighbor is a hairdresser who cut his hair for free! In fact, she cuts all the neighborhood kids’ hair for free! We had to distract him most of the time, but he did great!
The next night, we got a babysitter for the first time and had a date night. Painting with a twist!
Japan is known for its incredible festivals, filled with tradition and history. These festivals are also incredibly fun, with really good food and fascinating things to see. One of the largest festivals in Japan is in our prefecture, which is like a state in the United States.
This is called Nebuta festival, and we were fortunate to be able to come this year together. Last year only Leanne came since I got COVID but this year I could finally come!
From Wikipedia: “Nebuta” refers to the float of a brave warrior-figure which is carried through the center of the city, while dancers wearing a unique type of costume called haneto (ハネト) dance around in time with the chant Rasserā (ラッセラー) (shortened dialectal version of “irasshai”, calling visitors and customers to watch or join).
We got front row seats to see the float parade!
The floats are intricate and hand-made, each telling a story from old Japanese folktale. They are lit from the inside and hand carried through the streets of Aomori City.
Time to visit family in Florida. Forrest got to discover the magic of the gorrio, a rocking swing like thing shown below that calms babies down super fast and helps them go to sleep. This one came all the way from Africa and is the same one both Zahra and I used.
While in Florida, Forrest had a playdate with Cici. He was truly on his best behavior, and all he wanted to do was play with Cici. Unfortunately, Cici was only interested in playing with the puppy. Sorry, kid!
Now for the long flight back to Japan!
The flight to NY with a fresh baby was loooooong. Thankfully, we had a bassinet, which really helped!
Welcome to America, little buddy!
Adjusting to the 12 hour time difference was a bit of a struggle, but I think Forrest did better than us at it. His Yeye took good care of him when we got home!
We went for a hike at the beautiful state park nearby. Forrest loves being in nature, just like his parents.
Forrest is growing so fast! About an ounce a day, and he’s now over 9 lbs! We are starting to really get to know his personality. Some cool facts about Forrest:
These last two months have been a rollercoaster. Mom being here was immensly helpful; I actually got to sleep in every morning! Since she’s left, we are adjusting but we are making it work. We take shifts taking care of Forrest at night and in the morning so we can both get a little sleep! Also naps during the day and lots and lots of coffee help too. I will leave you with a haiku.
The sleepless long nights
And exhausted all day long
Worth it for one smile :)