So. ..

I don't really have a whole lot to say. This might get rambly.


Our PC died, so we got a new one, which is annoying but sort of exciting at the same time. I don't like it. I can't figure out how to get pictures straight from camera, etc etc etc. I'm not a tech geek in any way, shape or form.

Christmas was...funny. Thomas wasn't very excited to come out to all of his presents. He started lining them up and organizing. I have no idea why. He did eventually start ripping into them. It was all sort of anti climactic. Not that I had a bad holiday, it's just so different from what I grew up with that it's hard for me to find the festivus in it. My family skyped me during their gathering, which was fun, and also sort of sad. Maybe sad isn't the word, it's just different, and I need to find the blessings in that. It was pretty low stress..I'll go with that.

Happier news, I got a pedicure today. I haven't had one in months. Probably close to a year. I felt bad for the girl, there was some serious work to be done. It was one of the best pedicures I've ever had. I'm so used to the quickie, get in and out at the No.1 nail salons back home, that having someone actually take their time was amazing. I have an appointment at the very much loved Cocoks in a few weeks, they make little masterpieces of your toes, and there's a full bar, AND it's in walking distance. Sign me up baby!!


I've spent my day going between reading InStyle magazine, with visions of Chanel and long legs dancing in my head, and wishing I had the guts to try out the roller derby team here. I'm such a Gemini.

A warm heart Christmas

We went to the Botanical Gardens to see their Christmas lights display last night. We had been planning to go to the zoo instead but that was more expensive and we didn't know how long T would last at night. We're very glad we went for the cheapy light show.




First of all, the lights were awesome!! It felt very Disney-esque. I also was glad to be out in December at night time in short sleeve shirts. That will never get old.

It would have been really romantical if we hadn't had a crazed out past his bedtime toddler with us. It seems that once we get close to 7pm he loses all sanity and just starts running in circles.

He did seem to really like the lights though. He pointed out every "fower" or fish and he went nuts when he saw the choo choo train.

The Japanese idea of Christmas doesn't always make much sense to me, but it's sort of a borrowed holiday for them and I guess somethings get lost in translation. There weren't any jingle bells or candy canes or Santa Claus lights, but plenty of Nemo!!!

My favorite part was watching Thomas check out the train. He poked and prodded every wheel and passenger car like he was a little mechanic or something.


If I can make myself forget the headache that was finding a parking space and the screaming from the time we said we had to go until we finally managed to get him in his carseat it would be a great holiday memory. I'm thinking next year might go a little bit better.

Oh, and the warm heart Christmas title was because that was the slogan they had on all of their signs. I thought it was cute.

YuKids Island

We decided to celebrate Josh getting out of work early and went to Wago Family land. It's an entertainment center with different floors. We stayed on the Yu Kids section. It was so much fun!!! Half of it was for younger kids and the other half was all arcade games. You pay basically $5 an hour and everything is free to play.

Thomas raced to the balloon cage. He then proceeded to run around in it for at least 20 minutes. He was deliriously happy.



I went in too and it was definitely fun. Just disregard that balloons are supposed to be dangerous and nevermind the extension cord draped over the netting...it's all totally legit!


Thomas also enjoyed the ball pits, but got annoyed with constantly falling over.

There were three trampolines in the place and T tried them all out. He still sort of gallop jumps but that doesn't inhibit the amount of fun he has.

He has also really been into hanging from things lately. I'm quite impressed with his strength to be honest. I joke around with Josh that he's been working out with Thomas.

He's basically a monkey. If he had a tail we'd be so screwed.

We did eventually break away from the kid section and went to go play video games. I think this is why we loved this place because not only was it fun for T we had a lot of good times as well.


This game cracks me up. You type to kill the zombies. When they appear they have a name or just a letter and you have to type it before they get to you.


Air hockey with a toddler was pretty pointless.

This was my absolute favorite game. I have no idea why. Probably because I could actually figure it out. A lot of the games we just sort of played with no idea if we were winning or not. This one, you're a sushi chef and little flailing fish show up on the screen and you have to cut them up.

Thomas got bored with the video games and went back to the balloon land so I sat down and checked out the magazines they leave out to entertain parents. They were hilarious. It seems like almost every model had dyed her hair blonde and was wearing colored contacts. They also make really stupid facial expressions. When did it become cool to look like you're picking your teeth or scraping your tongue?

This one made Josh laugh pretty hard...GILFY JELLY? He has a dirty mind.

We were there for over 2 hours when we decided to call it quits. We grabbed some ice cream and paid the tab and before we were home Thomas was totally passed out.


We're so going back to this place. If only so I can maintain my high score on the sushi game. By the time we got home my first attempt at pot roast was smelling wonderful. It's so nice to walk in the door to a warm dinner waiting for you. It was a perfect end to the day.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

In the following pictures you will notice that Thomas is wearing clothing. Footed fleece pajamas no less. It's been in the 50's today and raining. It almost feels a little wintery. Most of this post will be me blathering on about how amazing Thomas is. I'm his mom. It's only natural.



Check out the buildings and trees up there....he did that all on his own. Amazing. He was supposed to get this set for Christmas but when he proved that he knew his colors Josh decided he deserved an early present. I tend to be a pushover about that kind of stuff so it didn't take long before he was ripping open that gift.



I switched out his toys yesterday, I put all of the ones he's been playing with in the closet and brought out ones he hasn't seen in awhile. He was totally pumped to drive his flyboat again.


Then he moved on to his favorite book. It's a photo hunt book that we figured would help him learn some new words. It's worked pretty well. He screams so loud everytime he finds something he likes.

I made the mistake of showing him he could climb in his mega bloks wagon. I didn't think that one through.

Luckily his "crash pad" was right next to him so when he fell out it was funny rather than painful.

Speaking of his crash pad, it was sitting right there because he's officially sleeping in his own bed now. While Josh was in the field I decided to give it a try one night and he did great. It's like he's slept on his own all along or something. The first few nights were hard (for me) but I'm doing better. Who knew this transition would be harder for me than him?

On that note, I'm going to go turn the heat on. This is ridiculous.


P.S. Totally unrelated but Josh gets some extra days off between now and the new year. The battalion is doing a port and starbird (starboard??) work schedule so he gets every other day off plus all of the holiday long weekends. I like the Navy sometimes.

I really miss Josh.

My man is in the field and his absence is really highlighting my loner tendencies. Essentially I'm going bananas. It didn't help that for the past three days I couldn't find my car keys. Last night I stayed up till about 2am totally anxiety ridden that someone else had my keys and was planning on breaking in. Yes I'm aware that's completely irrational but I've always been a worrier and it's only magnified since procreating. I probably have some sort of borderline disorder but the thought of taking drugs makes me anxious. It's a vicious cycle.

Of course finding my car keys (in the car!) didn't really do me any good. Driving here still makes me a little nervous. My biggest issue is lane usage. What part of stay in YOUR lane do these people not understand??? It's like those lines on the road are just decoration. Throw in the people who park on the side of the road to hit up the neverending vending machines (no matter how busy that road might be) and figure as long as they're within 3 feet of the curb it's all good. That makes veering into the next lane a requirement. I swear sometimes the Kanji plates TRY to get hit by a Y plate. Maybe they fell on hard times and want some good American gomen nasai? It's sort of an unwritten rule that we (y plates) are always at fault for everything because we don't belong here, therefore if there is an accident it's our fault. This makes me paranoid.

The fact that there is an entire blog dedicated to reporting Y plate driving mistakes is not lost on me. I won't be surprised if I end up on that blog....but it's all their fault! Isn't it sort of weird that you get certain plates based on where you're from? Maybe it's weird because I'm a white girl and have never been discriminated against?

Anyway I did leave the house, because I needed a rolling pin and an unwarped cookie sheet or two. I was also concerned that Thomas was going to threaten to pull a Menendez if he didn't get out soon. Unfortunately there weren't any rolling pins. Why I can buy a chainsaw, or any number of very well stocked swarovski figurines but rolling pins aren't available I'll never know. Thomas was being rather disagreeable while I paced up and down the cooking aisle, so I gave up. I ended up with the last cookie sheet that was less than $20 and the last roll of parchment paper. I really hope no one else wanted any.

On a more positive note we stopped at a playground where no less than three little Japanese girls chased T around and giggled at his shyness.

I'm pretty sure my only saving grace in this country is that small children are basically godlike and having Thomas around gives me a few brownie points....at least with the women folk.

Christmas crafts with Thomas

The end result. I'm too lazy of a blogger to fix this and put it at the end.
I read a crafty mom blog, and always think it looks like fun but they're usually too advanced for my little man. She recently posted a banner her kids made and I thought it was adorable. We decided to go for a Christmas tree motif.

It's turned into a Sunday tradition to get Dunkin Donuts. Thomas is fueling up for craft time!


And none too pleased with me being all momarrazi on him.

I had precut six trees and stars for him so all that was left was glue and beads.

He cracks me up. He was very focused and serious faced about it. He started with just one bead at a time.

But very quickly moved onto dumping.

Too much? No, it's perfect.

All done and drying! The coolest part is that the beads are glow in the dark. I can't wait for tonight so we can turn off the lights and check out T's christmas trees with "lights".

Traditions

We filled up the advent calendar today. It's the same one I grew up with and my mom let me have it last year. It used to have a little mouse that you moved (may he rest in peace) but we're filling it up with candy.



Thomas made sure to shove at least two pieces in each spot. So cute.


What's not so cute is that I said "What the fuck?"
He repeated it. Verbatim.

facepalm.