Jacob's First Christmas

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Poem Disclaimer:

Names and events may have been changed to protect those involved. No actual babies were tested on, hurt, put to bed with dirty bibs or allowed to sleep with stuffed animals in their beds. All events are fictional and any similarities to the truth are purely coincidental and were only used to help with rhyming.

T'was the night after Christmas, and somewhere on Base

Was Little Jacob with drool on his face.

The Stockings were still hung from our bookshelf with care
In the hopes that more Rice Cereal soon would be there.

Jacob was nestled all snug in his crib,

While remnants of spit-up dried on his bib.

Mom fixed dessert and Dad brewed some tea,
They had just settled down to watch a Christmas movie.

When out from the monitor arose such a clatter,

We sprung from the couch to see what was the matter.

Away up the stairs to the nursery we ran,

To see what was wrong with our 'Little Man'.

The door we did open and gazed in the room,

To peek on the Baby in the light of the moon.

When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,

But a five-month old rolling over to play with Rudolph the Reindeer!

With a hoot and a holler and a toot from his butt,

We knew in a moment it was wind that he had cut.

.

More rapid than F-16's, the babbles they came,

He oooh's and aaah's and responds to his name.

He's five months old now and growing every day,

He just had his first Christmas and got new toys with which to play.

Forgive us for our lame poem, we tried to delight,

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Love and Holiday Wishes,

Suzy and the Boys

Rice Cereal Rocks!

Well, it was finally time......Jacob had his first bites with a spoon! The oh-so savory rice cereal was calling his name and Jacob was ready for new meal time adventures. We are happy to say that overall, the first experience was a good one. Jacob's only complaint, was that mom and dad weren't shoveling it in fast enough. He cried in between bites but was happy when the spoon was back in his mouth for more. Since the first bowl a few days ago, Jacob has been enjoying his rice cereal and eating with a spoon. He's not as slick with the chopsticks yet, so rice bowls and sushi will have to wait. Enjoy the video.

Four Months Old!!!

Hard to believe that our little guy is 4 months old! Feels like we just brought him home. His regular doctor's appointment this past Monday went great. We are happy to report that Jacob is as healthy as can be and right on target with all of his milestones. Some of his favorite things to do now are play with his hands, gaze at himself in a mirror, smile at just about anything, and have long conversations full of babble. He has perfected the art AND timing of spit-up. Jacob loves to spit-up, especially right after I have put him in a new outfit. He also has started to laugh more and more which in turn, always puts Jason and I in hysterics too. We have found a new "Jacob Ticklish Spot"...right under his little arm pits. A little tickle there puts Jacob into a laughter tailspin!

He's a whopping 16lbs 12oz and 24 inches. His legs are literal tree trunks. He looks like a little linebacker.... but a happy little linebacker. Here are his 4 month pictures with Mr. Bear and also a picture with Koala. The picture of Jacob and Koala was taken at the Cook's house while we were in the States. Koala was the bear that my Grandfather Cook sent to his wife, my Grandmother, to take pictures of with my Dad when he was a baby. (See blog posted on Sept 20 for full story) It was a special moment to introduce Jacob to Koala.

Jacob is such a joy. As we've said before, we wish he'd stay this little forever, and at the same time we can't wait to watch him grow and experience new things. Guess we better just enjoy the present and keep loving him every second of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wow! Can you believe Thanksgiving is already over? Jacob and I got back to Japan with just a few days to prepare for Thanksgiving. Forget jet lag......we had to unpack, grocery shop, decorate, and prepare for our Thanksgiving Dinner with friends. A friend of ours caught a salmon for us (Jason was supposed to catch it but had to deliver a baby) during a salmon festival a couple weeks ago and we were going to eat that along with a turkey for Thanksgiving. But Jason bought THE biggest turkey in the commissary (weighing in at 28lbs) so we decided to save the salmon for Christmas! The past 4 years in Dayton we had enjoyed having about 25 of our family and friends over at our home for a Thanksgiving feast so we were a bit lonely this year with only 5 of us at the dinner table. But the day was full of fun and food and SNOW!!!!!

On Wednesday we got 7 inches of snow and on Thursday we got 11!!!! Jason couldn't keep up with the shoveling.....it was snowing so fast. Look at those icicles!! Jacob seemed unfazed by his First Thanksgiving, although we had enough fun for him.

This is the first weekend after Thanksgiving that neither Jason nor I have worked.....scratch that.....the first weekend after Thanksgiving that I have never had to work (darn retail)!! We have enjoyed the weekend just the three of us with lots of sleeping in, pjs, movies, eating leftovers, watching sports, online shopping, and playing with Jacob. We may venture out this afternoon to pick out a xmas tree, but the odds of that happening are unlikely as it is 3:30pm and we are still in our pjs!! What a lazy weekend, but well deserved and relaxing.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends too!

14,502 Miles, 3 Passport Stamps, and 1 Big Adventure

The three of us had an opportunity to take a trip back to the states this October and November. Jason had a conference in Louisville, Kentucky so we left Misawa on October 25. Jason was only able to be away from work for a short time, so he went back to Japan on November 1, while Suz and Jacob went on a whirlwind tour of the Midwest to visit and meet friends and family until November 16. There are so many stories and details of our trip to mention so this will actually just be an abbreviated version.

It was a pity that Jacob didn't have a built in odometer to log all the miles he traveled on this trip. This little guy has traveled more in his first 4 months than his parents did in their first 20 years. The trip to the States was long, to put it mildly. From our door here in Misawa to the hotel room in Louisville, it was a mere 27 hours. We started our journey navigating the Japanese train system for the first time. We took a total of 3 trains between Misawa and Tokyo. One of them was the Bullet Train which whisked us through the beautiful landscape of Northern Japan at upwards of 200 mph.

Once we got to Narita Airport in Tokyo, we boarded a Boeing 777 airplane which took us to Chicago in about 13 hours. We then took a quick flight from the Windy City to Louisville. Jacob was SUCH a champ throughout the entire trip!!!! He rarely cried or fussed and he flirted with all the flight attendants. In fact, the only real excitement on our journey was when Jason's medical expertise was needed on the plane!! (Good story, ask him about it later.)


Our time spent in Louisville was not only getting ourselves and Jacob acclimated to the change of 13 time zones, but visiting with many of our friends from Dayton who came to the conference. Almost everyone brought their families along too, so Jacob had a chance to meet all of the adults and kids his parents socialized with during our time in Dayton. It was so great to see everyone! (Oh yeah, and Jason had fun learning at his conference too!) Jason's family had an opportunity to come down and see Jason too before he left the States, thus Jacob got to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Massengill for the first time. During the rest of the conference, Suzy kept herself busy by shopping.....

Suz and Jacob then traveled to Dayton, Ohio where we stayed with Scott and Casey. Jacob not only got to get dressed up for a belated Halloween party with the kids, but also went to his first poker night. He also hung out with his Mom and her old co-workers with a trip to Arhuas Furniture. Suzy did some more shopping. Note, Casey and Suzy should not be allowed to enter Gymboree unsupervised!








After Dayton, Suz and little Jacob traveled to Anderson, Indiana to meet his dad's side of the family. We spent several days in Anderson meeting and spending time with just about everyone in Anderson....Aunts, Uncles, Great Grandmas, and Great Aunts and Uncles, church friends, work friends, school friends, strangers, you name it!! Grandpa Steve did an excellent job dressing Jacob in the mornings and Grandma Becky loved to give Jacob baths. We watched a Colts game (without having to wake up at the crack of dawn). And let's not forget food. We ate Pizza King breadsticks and a Steak and Shake Platter while we were there. We had such a lovey time in Anderson with the Massengills. .....and Suzy may have done some more shopping.












From Anderson Jacob and Suz went to Reynoldsburg, Ohio to visit with the Cooks. The Cooks should definitely get a "Best Patience Award" as they had to endure knowing their new Grandson had been in the States for 2 weeks before they got to see him! The wait was well worth it!!! Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and (almost) Uncles, more friends, co-workers, and family got to love on the precious Jacob for a full week. Jacob got to watch his first two IU basketball games with his Grandpa Bob and Grandma Ginny taught Jacob to say "Ooooooooo". We had such a fabulous time with The Cooks. We all had a great breakfast at First Watch and Suz got to spend a day of pampering at Jenn's salon. .......and Suz may have done more shopping.









Although everyone was obviously disappointed that they couldn't see Jacob when he was first born, this was a perfect time to come meet everyone. Jacob was so interactive and smiles were easy to come by. It was amazing how much he changed and grew in just the 3 weeks we were in the States. It was so special to see all of the Grandmas and Grandpas interact with Jacob. We haven't mentioned poor Jason yet who had to go back to Misawa and missed his little boy like crazy! We were fortunately able to web cam with Jason often from Anderson and Reynoldsburg. The only downside of the trip was when Suz came down with an awful cold that she is just now getting over. One of Jason's gifts from the States was to be passed on this cold. Luckily though, Jacob never got sick!!!



As a result of all of Suz's shopping and gifts that Jacob received along his journey, we had to ship 4 boxes back to Japan of things that would not fit into suitcases. Aunt Bridget drove us back to Louisville to board an airplane that took us to Dallas and then on to Tokyo. Suz was a bit anxious to travel such a long distance by herself with Jacob, but she did great! It was very empowering to travel half way around the world with a baby and successfully get through airports, planes, Japanese train stations and trains!

Although we had such a lovely trip and enjoyed seeing all of our family and friends, we were VERY thankful to see Jason waiting for us at the train station in Misawa. Thanks to everyone who let us stay in your homes and treated us with all the hospitality in the world. Thanks as well to all of our wonderful Dayton friends who let us borrow baby supplies for our stay in the States. We loved seeing all of you! We'll be back this summer for Bridget's and Amy's weddings. See you all again then!

Love to everyone.

Jason, Suzy, and Jacob "The very tired world traveler"

Jacob's First Halloween

Hi Everyone! Long time without a post, so we're going to post a few adventures (blogs) here this weekend from the last month.

Jacob celebrated his first Halloween with several different outfits and costumes that were all adorable, as clearly shown in our pictures. We were in the United States this Halloween and missed the big deal here on Misawa Air Base for trick-or-treating. The Japanese do not celebrate Halloween but you wouldn't know that here in Misawa. Many of the local shops and vendors sell Halloween decorations and candy for the sake of the Americans. And on Halloween night, hundreds of Japanese children in their costumes are bussed on base to beg for treats at Base Housing. Apparently there are lines (because those Japanese are so darn organized!) 20-30 kids deep at each house waiting for candy. Our neighbors spent over $100 on candy and it was gone within 45 minutes. It sounds like a pretty entertaining spectacle and maybe we'll have an opportunity to participate next year. As for this year, we spent Halloween in Louisville and Dayton with friends like Pierce and Ella Glover. See the next adventure for details of the trip.