david – Page 102 – d@vidb dot net

On my way to Tokyo

Well… unfortunately I have to go to Tokyo for a 3 day conference. It actually sucks a lot, because I won’t be here when Noa gets home from the hospital (which looks like it will be tomorrow! emoticon )

I will however have a funny story about a Camera that I am being forced to buy … apparently my logic wasn’t good enough, but after Noa was born he was cute enough to warrant a camera. After being told by the people (being you!) that we don’t need one, I had given up. Now I have to start all of my camera purchasing planning again… arg…. woeth me.

At any rate, after Noa is home I should be able to sort out a photo album where you guys can go get your Noa fix (and for those of you who don’t need Noa pictures, I will continue to supply you with my meaningless photos/entries.)

IN THE MEANTIME… here are some very very up-to-date Noa pictures. 10/11 days old and counting.

That is all.

Noa’s First Week – Part #2

Happy 1 week!!! (Don’t worry, this won’t be a regular thing!) emoticon

As promised… here are some pictures of Noa from his 1st week in Japan (or anywhere!) from Kiko’s cellphone. I will begin with one of our favourite pictures so far…

Look… he’s sleeping. Because he is cute. And that’s what cute babies do…

That is all.

Maple Goodness

Japanese Maple are quite beautiful. They are smaller than what we have in Ontario and look great in fall.

Those were taken by me. I know you want more… so look here.

So anyways, we are in Japan. When something is beautiful you:

Write a poem about it.
Fry it up in some tempura and eat it.

Oh you crazy Japanese… is there anything you won’t do?

It tastes like chicken by the way.

No it doesn’t. It tastes like you are eating a frigging leaf.

Noa’s First Week – Part #1

Still haven’t had a chance to go home for more than 2 seconds. Work is on hold, house is on hold.. everything is on hold until Noa and Kiko get sorted out! 🙂 So since I have been lax in updating the website, here are some pictures of Noa’s first 4 days that were taken at various times with my cell phone. (Part #2 will be from Kiko’s cell phone… she has some really good ones! emoticon )

By the way… don’t worry about the tube. He had a little stomach trouble. He actually really likes it… he thinks it’s a soother… crazy babies.

Still at the hospital

So here’s what I am going to do. Some of you want more Noa pictures. (Ok, I’m lying… anyone that has bothered to contact me wants more Noa pictures…) (Thanks!! emoticon )

So, I am going to setup a gallery/page for Noa only pictures. It will be updated regularily (because that’s what new parents do… take pictures of their babies!) so you can see how he is doing. If you don’t want the clutter, the main page will still be about us (including Noa stuff) but not only Noa.

This way you get lots of Noa pictures (if you want) and you can still come to read about Kiko, Noa, and I. (which is why you are here… right?)

Until Noa and Kiko I will be posting new pictures of Noa and Kiko here!

Shh… don’t tell anyone… but expect video soon.

Why is his face so red? He enjoys pinching and scratching his eyes and cheeks. He also enjoys sleeping with his hands in his ears. He is a special boy.

More Noa

I cave to what the people want. (Or what I want to give the people.)

Kiko and I will be putting up more photos when I get some sleep. But worry not! This will not turn into a Noa-only website. Expect to see lots of stuff from all of us over the next few weeks. (That being said, this is also a good place to get lots of Noa pictures as well.)

"waaahhh.. give me books!"

… and send presents. I spoke with Noa and for his birthday he wants presents: English books, CD’s, anything that will enable him to communicate with you!

Here are some pictures… enjoy!

Kiko is fine and anxious to get some so we can spend time together as a family.

And yes, I recognize how studly I look in that picture above. It was either that picture (which favours Noa), or the one below, which favours me. I chose the one above (the mark of a good father.)

She currently has Noa captive with her in the hospital.

That is all.

Love, David, Kiko, & Noa.

Baby Awesome…

It was a close call, but between Baby Awesome and Tempura, we decided on: Noa. (Don’t worry, we took all of your votes and suggestions into consideration. For about 1 second…)

Here is what we have decided on:

Want a little background on the name? I know you do.

My Mom came up with the name when we were trying to come up with an English name that was easy to pronounce in Japanese. William just didn’t cut it.

The kanji is an interesting reading of the character for "hope/dreams/desire" (Kiko really wanted to use this character) and "sky".

Finally, the middle name, "Kenichiro" is named after my Dad. For good measure we through in the last part of Kiko’s Dad’s names as well. Good? good.

Introducing Noa

Still at the hospital. Cant make phone calls or email until I go home tomorrow. only saw him for 2secs through glass! Kiko is fine. So spread the word…
Noa Kenichiro Bennett
3.634kg
51.5cm

My Birthday Excitement & Soccer Death

The Kiko Report:

T minus -2 and counting. No baby. A very big and heavy Kiko (who seems to want the baby on the outside.) Stay tuned. emoticon

The Good News

My birthday!! emoticon Remember? November 9th… 26 years old… right!? (most people thought I was 25 this year for some reason. Anyways, Kiko and I celebrated together. We found a nice Itallian place in Utazu (a nearby city!) and went out. We also had cake. Kiko gave me a super wallet, and I also got some clothes and a Shogi set from my friends. Here, look at the pictures.

Look!! See?? That is a card I got from Goggy and pictures of my birthday cake. It has soccer balls on it… get it? … note how it also ties in to my next subject:

The Bad News aka. Soccer Death

Now this may be a little bit hard to grasp…. but… I injured my hand playing soccer. It isn’t broken but it’s really swollen and quite painful. I also got a ball to the face which left swelling and a bruise…exciting? Here’s the background:

See that guy to my right, your left? Mark. He’s from England. Really nice guy and top-notch footballer. He also has a super hard shot. That hit me. From 2 feet away. When a volley would have sufficed. I thought I was going to die. Fortunately I did not.

This is a team picture we took last weekend. We played the Tadotsu Town Office team (again!). Instead of a 2-2 tie, we beat them 4-0 (or that was the score when I went to the hospital.) Nice.

Here is some photos of my pain. Empathize.

See that swelling??? I know you do. emoticon

More soccer pictures here.

That is all.

A BIG Update

Not that big of an update. (baby wise anyways…) But it did take me a hell of a long time to get everything ready. So you best be reading this.

First of all, quite a few people have noted that this website has turned into a baby-watch. It’s true. Our visitors are up by about 8 times what they usually are. This will definitely be the first place pictures are posted (don’t get too excited!). I will be e-mailing in photos from the hospital and they should automatically get displayed online so you will know right around the same time I do.

Secondly, some of you may be seeing some weird crazy pages when you visit. Sorry! I’m trying to get 4.0 online so that when the baby comes it’s all ready to show you tons of pictures… ‘cuz that’s what you want to see… maybe. That’s what I want to see anyways. Besides, I figure that if you are actually visiting this site you have a vested interest in what Kiko and I are doing.. right? I suspect the baby will be a big part of what we are doing so you get to look at the billion pictures that I take (with our crappy camera. thanks everyone! emoticon )

At any rate, the reason this is a big update is because I am going to be sending up pictures that have been sitting here for ages. I have also updated some of the photo galleries. Expect all of this to be re-done in time for the baby … (lots of pictures, easy to read entries and other fun stuff!)

By the way, thanks for all of those who called/wrote to wish me a happy birthday. emoticon It meant a lot to me. (That’s the closest happy face I could find to a birthday hat…) to those who didn’t…. I’m not naming the baby after you.

So here goes…

Recenetly, in Takamatsu, at the Kagawa International Festa (weird, no homepage… but look here.) my Tug of War team took first place in all of Kagawa. Yes, I have a tug of war team. Yes, I was clearly the deciding factor in the win (laugh now, but I was the anchor and had some good skill. I beat other anchors who were three times my size.) We also destroyed the girl-scout team in the semi-finals. It was exciting…

Can’t get enough of all that Tug of War action? Getting excited by that Tug of War pose I have? Look here for more pictures.

Last (maybe) but not least, remember the Halloween Party? (Of course you do.) Well I also had a Halloween event in my town on November 6th (the greatest day to have a Halloween party.) With the help of my good friends Nikki and Jim (thanks Jim!) we took 25 elementary kids (only 10 signed up) and got them to cut tiny ass little green Japanese pumpkins into something resembling a jack’o’lantern. It also marked the first time in my life where I have ever made my own pumpkin (all by myself.) … Here are a few choice scenes. Go here for the entire album (my pumpkin is the one on the chair with the candles in it!)

Damn it! I knew I was forgetting something…. in one of my kindergarten classes I recently received a love note. It was really really cute. A little 4 year old girl (named Madoka) came up to me after class and handed it to me. I was going to read it but then she said I should put it in my pocket and read it when I was alone… emoticon crazy…

I will translate:

David-sensei (teacher): I love you. Let’s keep studying English together.

Please make note that she went to the extra special effort to write from left to right instead of right to left (so that my white brain could understand…)

That is all… maybe the next update will be baby news?