Mask

After almost a week cooped up in the house with sniffles and snot galore, Wilson woke up this morning bouncing off the walls and ready to go back to school and see his friends. He's definitely well enough to go back, but still has an occasional cough. In America, I'd probably send him off with strict 'cough into your elbow' instructions and call it good, but the Japanese are different. In the winter and while traveling, about half the Japanese we see wear masks to either protect against germs or protect others from their germs. It's not considered very polite to go out in public if you've got sniffles or a cough. So this morning, like any good little Japanese student, Wilson suited up in his kids mask with the cool bullet train printed on it and bounced off to school. Hello Kitty is another popular pattern and I even saw one with a Burberry print on it!

Have a great day, Wilson!

Art show

Wilson's school had their annual art show this weekend. Since the school year begins in April, this year is wrapping up and the art show is to showcase what the students (and teachers?) have done throughout the year.

The art was very colorful and big. There was lots of paper mache. Like most stuff in Japan, it was all very cutesy and fun for kids. We were impressed at all the work that went into making everything!

There were cute activities set up for the kids to do. The boys hunted for acorns.

They went fishing.

They rode to school in style.

They helped complete an art project.

And, they posed as funny characters.

Each classroom had their students' art displayed. This is some art from one of the older classrooms.

I didn't get a picture of Wilson's portrait. It was of me and I could make out two eyeballs. I think. I also had black hair - guess they didn't set out the yellow paint for the one blond mom in the class! I'll update the blog when he brings it home.

Wilson had a great time showing us around. We really love his school!

I can dress myself!

Wilson has hit an independent streak and is now into fully dressing himself.  We've had some fun watching what he picks out. I've been really proud of myself for not interfering at all with his choices - you know I love a matching outfit! He's gone to school in orange pants coupled with red and blue shirts and different colored socks. Today, he chose overalls because he wanted to be a conductor.  You name it, he's tried it.

 

My favorite day was when I went to pick him up from school and two teachers came out saying 'gomenasai.' Apparently, Wilson came out of the bathroom with no underwear on and they looked for 10 minutes without finding them. They were really baffled and said they'd continue their search and hopefully come up with them by tomorrow. I explained that he was into dressing himself now and he probably just forgot them and we all had a good laugh. Now, before leaving the house we all do an undies check to make sure we've remembered everything!

 

Good job growing up, Wilson! We're proud of you.

Gluten-free

Our family is in the process of going gluten-free after finding out our little guy has celiac disease. It was pretty daunting at first, but the more we learn about it, the less scary it seems. We thought about just giving Leo a few gluten-free alternatives and keeping our diet the same, but the risks are too great. If Leo digests just a really small amount of gluten, his body attacks his intestines and he suffers the consequences for a few weeks. The scariest consequence right now is that if he has gluten, he isn't able to absorb the nutrients and fats of whatever else he eats until his intestines heal. That's why he was losing so much weight before his diagnosis. So, since a crumb can set him off, we decided we'll just rid our house of any gluten. The cupboards were easy - I just looked everything up online that wasn't clearly labeled or I wasn't sure about. Other things that we've had to replace have surprised us. Our toaster, little oven, plastic cooking utensils and strainers, etc. Anything that gluten could hide in had to go. So, buying some new stuff has been kind of fun. I also got a new bread maker for gluten free loaves that I'm really excited about! We cleared out some play-doh and finger paints, so we're on our way to a totally gluten-free house. Now that we've conquered it in our home, we've just got to worry about the big, scary, gluten-filled world outside. Leo got offered some Nilla Wafers by a very nice mom in playgroup the other day - sorry bud! 

Leo's change with the new diet has been sudden and really positive. He's been gluten-free for about 2 weeks now and we've noticed a big change in him. He's got tons of energy and doesn't ask to be carried as much as before. His appetite is huge. He's gained two pounds already! He now regularly eats more than Wilson, which for those of you who have seen Wilson know that is quite a feat! I once was on a diet that had the tagline, 'Enjoy foods for the first time!' I thought was pretty funny at the time, but I often think that must be how Leo has felt these past few weeks. He's also just been the happiest kid in the world. He wakes up happy, giggles when we put him down to sleep and runs around with a smile all day.  I think the poor kid didn't know how good life could be!

Here's Leo showing off his gluten-free pizza in our hotel the first night he was diagnosed. It was just so-so and I was a little worried about our gluten-free prospects. We've had two other duds in rice pasta and cheese crackers. Most of the gluten-free foods we've tried are pretty good, though.

It was nice to see a lot of restaurants in Hawaii that had gluten-free options. Our favorite was Wolfgang Pucks that had a half page menu devoted to gluten-free items! Below Leo searches for a gluten-free beer at Chili's.

We made a few trips to Whole Foods to have some gluten-free items for the trip home and some new stuff to try. Please note Leo was as unimpressed with their high prices as I was. I've since found some great alternatives on amazon that I can buy in bulk. We've also heard our commissary will also special order for us here in Japan.

Our biggest surprise in our whole plunge into gluten-free has been how many things are already gluten-free. Most of our pantry items are good, and we're only replacing a lot of condiments because of possible leftover crumbs. Nathan is happy because although many of his beloved sugar loaded cereals didn't make the cut, some actually did!

Thanks to all of you who have sent tips and messages about gluten-free stuff. We're still learning and really appreciate the help and support!

Hawaii highlights

 Beach time! 

We went to the beach about a dozen times during our almost three week stay on Oahu. At first, I found the beaches with the calmest waters for Leo and I to swim in. Leo much preferred digging in the sand to touching any water, so we started going to the beaches with the biggest waves to watch them crash and watched a lot of surfing. Apparently, winter on the north shore of Oahu has some of the best surfing waves in the world. 

 Leo got resourceful and found a coconut to use as a shovel.

Leo's favorite beach was right by Honolulu's airport. The reef runway heads out on top of the water.

This is Sandy Beach where President Obama likes to body board. We didn't see him the day we went although he was on the island. The waves were pretty wild - go Mr. President!

Lion made it to the beach, too. This is Lanikai Beach, often voted one of the most beautiful in the world.

We met up with my high school friend, Diana. Her husband is in the Army and her family is stationed on the island. She was our tour guide and introduced us to the best shrimp bus on the north shore. Thanks Diana!

Her youngest daughter and Leo hit it off.

We stayed at Pearl Harbor base which is connected to Hickham Air Station. That is where the president and family fly into and we drove past their ride just about every day. This was the best picture I could manage!

We did some touristy things like go to the Dole Plantation to ride the Pineapple Express. Leo had fun on the train and we both felt a little ridiculous in the giant pineapple.

We walked and shopped in Waikiki. 

Leo liked the Ferrari store.

Leo was a great dinner date on the trip. This was our favorite restaurant. It was right on the water and had some of the freshest and best fish I've ever had.

We had some fun in Hawaii and certainly enjoyed the great weather and beaches. We are pretty happy, though, to be together with Nathan and Wilson and back to our regular life here in Japan.