Two Firsts Today

Keanna's first day of school was today (Wednesday for us in Japan), and I turned 29 (for the first time!) today too. Since Bob isn't here, I bought Keanna a book about Elmo's first day of school. I told her he sent it from the ship, and I wrote a little note on the inside cover apologizing for not being there, but thanking her for understanding his job doesn't allow him to be home that often. I signed it his with name and put the date on it too. I emailed him and told him to ask about the book he got her...he obviously had no idea what I was talking about, but the next time he's able to call he knows to ask her if she liked her book.

Keanna did great and was so happy this morning. When we got to the school to drop her off she got shy, but by the time the parents left the room, she had warmed up and looked to be fitting right in. I peaked in the room and saw her and at that moment I realized we were entering a new stage of her life. This was the first time she's been gone. She hasn't been to day care or anything like it before, so this truly was her first day out of the house. Click here to view more pictures in my Shutterfly album.

While Keanna was at preschool I got together with some wives from Bob's command and we walked down one of the main streets outside the base. We went into a grocery store that was also a market with different vendors. We walked into a department store actually, then took the elevator down to the basement. My favorite was the little fish though. From a distance it looked like two large piles of noodles. As we got closer I realized what it was, and when offered a sample Sydney and I took a bite. They were good! One of the wives is from this area and translated for us and explained a lot of things. She said these fish (I forget the name) are high in calcium and are used in rice and omelets mostly. The guy behind the counter was so sweet, and when he gave me my change, he asked me to hand the bag back to him because he was going to give me another bag with extra in it. The Japanese wife translated and said, "He wants to give you extra since you're his type!" We all got a good laugh out of it, and I even blew him a kiss. We moved on to another isle, and I elbowed Brenda and said, "Hey, come with me to take a picture of us." I asked the fish guy if I could get in a picture with him, he agreed, and when Brenda was ready to snap I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He got a kick out of it, and the Japanese wife said, "Oh honey, you just made his day!!!"

When I picked her up she didn't look happy at all and I got nervous. The school didn't call, so I knew she was doing fine during the morning and early afternoon. Turns out she didn't want to leave, that's why she looked so upset! But we went on the swings and that cheered her right up. After about 20 minutes we headed home and baked my birthday cake. On the drive home she told Sydney and I about her day, and how nice her teacher is. I was hugely relieved, especially when she asked about going back tomorrow. Anyway, back to the cake....All I had for box mixes was red velvet, so that's what we made. I was too tired and drained to make a cake from scratch! The girls had fun stirring and eating...as you can see from their dirty faces.

Julie invited us over for dinner, but I told her I was trying to keep the focus on Keanna since this was her day. That, and I was so tired I just wanted to stay home! She was fine with it, and we'll figure something out for next week. After the cake cooled, and when we were done with dinner, We all frosted the cake and decorated it too. Keanna went through most of the blue tube, and she was making a dolphin she said. Sydney insisted she had written her name. I took a video of them singing to me...too cute! Obviously I'm biased, but hey, how could a four year-old and two year-old singing to their mom not be cute?!

To see the rest of the pictures from today, click here, and below is a video of the girls singing. After I set the camera down and keep an eye on their tongues. I didn't see Keanna doing it at the time, just Sydney...