Our First Week with Jacob

Hello everyone!!

First of all, what a whirlwind our last 3 weeks have been. Wow are we tired!!!! We still can't believe that we are in Japan nor that we are parents. It is truly sureal. We can't stop staring at him. He amazes us with something new every day. We have loved spending so much time with all of our friends' babies in Dayton, however, it is so much more fun when we don't have to give the kid back at the end of the night.

Although both of our household shipments have not arrived yet, we are learning the ropes of parenthood. We have met many wonderful people that have been incredibly helpful and generous by lending us bouncers, bjorns, pack-n-plays, strollers, car seats that fit, etc until all of our baby supplies get here.

There was a scheduled Welcome Picnic in our cul-de-sac for all the new neighbors this summer. It just so happen to fall on Jacob's first full day home. We took our 4 day old infant (all wrapped up) to make a brief appearance. You can imagine what a popular guy he was. Jason was holding Jacob and was offerred "a beer" at the picnic. We thought it was funny how big the Sapparo bottle was compared to Jacob.

We also had our first well-baby visit on Monday. Jacob had lost a little more weight than the pediatricians wanted to see. So, he has been on a VERY strict feeding regiment (set up by his parents with obsessive charts we made to record all feedings and diapers). A second visit a few days later showed our dividends as he gained half a pound back towards his birth weight. Way to Go Baby Jacob! Afterwards, we were feeling much better about our abilities as parents...at least for now! =)

We are planning on bringing Jacob home to visit family and friends this fall during Jason's conference in Louisville. This requires him to get his passport. That requires a passport picture.

Sounds easy, right? Not so much. The regulations require Jacob to have both eyes open, both ears showing, no hands (his or ours), and he can't be crying. This has been quite a challenge. We were in the passport office on Monday for 45 minutes attempting to get this picture before we threw in the towel and came home. We went back the next day after Jacob had been WIDE awake at home, but he of course decided to go to sleep and refuse to open his eyes. We decided to run a few more errands and OF COURSE he had eyes open big and bright. Now, I think he's doing it on purpose. Two more trips to the passport media office had us just rolling with laughter and frustration. Finally, they allowed us to just take our own pictures at home since they were unavailable at 3 AM when he is actually awake and picturesque.

(This is his passport picture...quite appropriate with his tongue sticking out at the process)

This week Jacob spent more time running errands than in our house. We ran to the Japanese baby store ("The White Bunny" as it is know on base) and found some very interesting baby food choices. We also had a very funny experience finding the right size blinds for our windows. Everything is so much easier when it is written in English as opposed to Kanji (one type of Japanese symbols).

We are going to end our week by painting some rooms in the house. This, of course, is not as easy as it sounds either. The Japanese do not take interior design as serious as Americans. There are no stores in the area that actually mix paint colors. Thus, the process goes....go to self help to get free gallons of white paint and painting supplies. Buy craft paint. Mix your own colors and go to town. Too bad we didn't work at Sherwinn Williams in our past lives.

We leave you with our Black and White family photos. Jacob is quite photogenic. We have decided we will keep him.

Talk to you soon.

Jason, Suzy and Jacob "the movie star of the family"