Spring is Coming!

Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay between posts. Hope you have your volume up and enjoy the new music we've added to our blog.

We've been busy little bees here in Misawa the past month.

..........

It's been in the 40's and low 50's the past couple weeks, and we may have to say goodbye to the skiing season. We had quite a bit of snow this year; Misawa had 50 inches in the month of February alone! I'll give you all a total snow tally for the winter when I can find it. All in all, the winter wasn't as bad as we were expecting. It never got bitter cold like we've endured in the Midwest for most of our lives. In addition, the snow volume was only crippling a couple times. We have explored about 4 or 5 of the mountains in the area and found plenty of great skiing.

...........

In February, we visited Okunakayama Kogen Resort with some friends, Jason went to Moya Hills with Kourt, and last weekend we went down to Shimakura Hachimantai Resort by ourselves. We had some beautiful views of Mt. Iwate, a semi active volcano, and relaxed in older, quaint sulfur based onsen in the Hachimantai mountains. We hope to do more skiing next year (and maybe get Jacob on a pair), but now we're ready for the Cherry Blossoms to start blooming!

Since the weather has cleared up, we have enjoyed the fresh air by taking walks outside again. Jacob still loves the Baby Bjorn, but has also tried out the 'Big Boy' stroller which he enjoys too. It's been so sunny that we've broken out the baby sunglasses. Doesn't he look like a little movie star?

.

We also took a drive up the shore of Lake Ogawara, which is the second largest inland lake on Honshu Island. It is only a stone's throw away and actually borders the north part of Misawa Air Base. This summer, while we will desperately miss the lazy weekends on our boat at Lake Norris, Tennessee, we are gearing up to get our boat licenses here in Misawa. We look forward to the hot July days where we can rent a boat, throw on some water skis, and enjoy Lake Ogawara.

Jacob is sweeter every day. He's almost 8 months now!! Or, to be technical, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days....according to our new ticker! Amazing! We still

can't believe he's ours. We enjoy his expanding vocabulary of babbles, his expressions while playing with other babies at play groups, his face as he discovers new things and foods, and the list goes on and on.

On a more serious note, Jacob was officially diagnosed with Congenital Infant Torticollis at his 6 month appointment. I don't want to get into the specifics as I plan to post another more in depth blog this week regarding this condition. Basically, torticollis is a tilting of the head due to muscles in the neck on one side

being shorter and tighter than the other side. Usually this tightening resolves on its own the first few months of life. Once Jacob hit the 6 months of age, we knew it wasn't going to get better on it's own. We worked with the Physical Therapy Department here on Base and we have been doing daily stretches at home for the past month. On a side note, Jacob detests these stretches!! Unfortunately the condition has not improved.

Currently our Pediatrician has put in a Consult Request to the Pediatric Physical Therapy and Neurologist Team at the hospital at Tripler Army Base, Hawaii to get more direction. There is a possibility that Jacob and I will be heading to Hawaii in the next few weeks for an evaluation. We should know more next week, and at that point I will post another blog. This condition is not permanent. Most cases are not severe and resolved with an intense regiment of PT. In more severe cases, surgery is required, but we are hoping that will not be the case for our Sweet Little Man.

That's about all for now. Jacob wishes you all a Happy St. Patty's Day and upcoming Easter! Take care.