A Week Shy of 9 Months (Sayonara Okinawa!)

OK, OK…so it’s been awhile since I wrote. Mommy has me pretty busy with this move. My last day at daycare (Niko Niko Center for Child Development) is Monday the 19th. I’m certainly going to miss my friends and caregivers. I’m told I have a way with the ladies in my room. When I first started crawling (and before I got teeth), Mommy got a report that I’d chased a girl, caught her foot and started sucking her toes! Heh, heh! What can I say?What else am I going to miss about Okinawa? I’ll miss the ocean. I listened to the sound of the surf everyday before we moved on base. I’ll miss the beautiful sunsets that Mommy describes to me. I’ll miss the garbage trucks painted with bunnies and hamsters playing ice-cream-truck music as they drive by our house (only in Japan ). I’ll miss going to such a variety of sushi restaurants and other small restaurants that only fit about 15 people,but have a very attentive staff (especially when I give them my smile) and delicious food for Mommy & Daddy. I won’t miss Mommy stressing when she’s driving and someone stops in the middle of the road to get out and buy a beverage from one of the roadside vending machines. I won’t miss the humidity in the summer.

Other significant events since my last update? Well, I broke my first fever right before Thanksgiving with the crud that was going around base. I was a little fussy for a few days. Mommy got it next. She could barely talk for two days. (That means she couldn’t tell me, “No!”) On Thanksgiving I shared turkey with everyone—except mine came from a jar and was mixed with sweet potatoes! I also got to take a field trip out to the flightline with Mommy to see her airplane before her last flight in the KC-135. Of course, she made me pose for pictures, too. Now that I’m mobile, I plan to stay busy keeping Mommy & Daddy on their toes. The other day, Mommy walked into the guest bathroom to see me standing next to the toilet, splashing in the bowl. The water was fascinating! That display should remind them to put the lid down. And this past weekend, I found the stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs. Result: my first bruise on my forehead.

I’m about to take my fifth airplane trip across the Pacific Ocean . I’m a seasoned 777 passenger by now. I think I have it down. Mommy says I’m a good traveler. I should be; she gives me enough practice! She always says this trip is a bear—almost 28 hours of travel from the time we leave the house, fly from Okinawa to Osaka, Osaka to Chicago, Chicago to wherever and then the drive to the final destination. This trip will be a little shorter because we’re going through San Francisco instead of Chicago enroute to San Antonio. If things go the same as they did the last trip, it will probably take me about a week to start to recover from the jet lag. Luckily, Daddy has 3 ½ weeks off from school, so this time he’ll be able to get up with me when I wake up to play at 2 until 5 in the morning.The end result of all this travel? I will be with Mommy AND Daddy in San Antonio for my First Christmas. We’ll go to Granna & Papa’s in New Braunfels with the rest of the Goodwin family on Christmas Day.On the 29th I get on another airplane bound for Bemidji, MN to see Grandma& Grandpa Breyen and my aunts, uncles & cousins in the North Country. I hope to see some of your soon now that I’m living in the ol' USA . I hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY 2006!