david – Page 34 – d@vidb dot net

Substance…

Once again the people have spoke… and I have listened.
"We want to know more about Noa."
"What is he doing?" "What is he like?"

"We want more substance in your posts."

Ok. I get it. Here is a general idea of how Noa works.

Noa Kenichiro Bennett

Lots of arm flapping. He really likes the flapping.
He is attentive and loves to be held.
He likes musical instruments.
He flaps his legs when he is bored of flapping his arms.
He has learned to smile!

First things first, he is a very advanced baby. I am not joking. He has been able to hold his own neck up since he was born. He is very good at sucking things. He can sort of pick things up. He has developed a sense of security when you hold his hand. He can smile when he is happy.

Now I don’t know much about babies, but from what I have been told, these are all characteristics of a 2 to 3 month old baby. Way to go Noa!

Now, a little bit more about our time in Tanegashima.

Here is Noa has been able to meet his 3 cousins. Hina, Kana, and Shuichiro. They love him a lot and even 10 month old Shuichiro is very gentle around Noa.

The following are some pictures of Noa’s first plane ride, his time in Tanegashima, and spending time with his cousins.

This last picture is of Noa and Shu chillin’. (after Kiko made them lie down together.)

Omiyamairi – お宮参り

I was scouring the internet trying to find a few sites that I could link to for information, but no such luck. It looks like I’m in charge of explaining what we put Noa through.

Here goes.

In Japan, 32/33 days after the baby is born (depending on whether it is a boy or a girl), the child is taken to a shrine where an “ujigami” lives. An ujigami is a god that lives in a shrine and has the role of protecticing babies. (I made that last part up… but I think it’s true.)

So anyways, you dress the baby up in a a little white dress, slap on a baby kimono, and you are set. The child is taken to the shrine where a Priest waves a magic tree branch over him and he is blessed. It’s kind of like a christening without the water and with lots of magic. The shinto priest recites a prayer for the health of your baby and then -poof- it’s done.

Noa slept through most of it. The ceremony was only about 10 minutes long, and followed by family pictures. They were professionaly shot so when they are done I will send them up.

In the meantime, have a look at Noa in his hot baby dress.

Merry Christmas … from the future

Merry Christmas!

I have finally figured out how to upload some pictures from here on Tanegashima, so expect some new pictures of us and what we have been up to over here.

Our Christmas is pretty much done over here. We are 14 hours ahead of Toronto remember? Not only that, but we had our Christmas on the Christmas eve as opposed to Christmas day, which made it that much more futurey.

Here are some pictures of our first Christmas on Tanegashima, and Noa’s first Christmas ever.

We have tried to send out Christmas cards this year, but with the baby and the traveling and the baby, it didn’t work as well as we would have liked. Everyone who is visiting the site, family, friends, and the occasional people we don’t know, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We miss you tons and will do our best to keep in better touch in the New Year (except for the people who we don’t know. um…. hi?) Please keep visiting the site to find out what we are up to and to keep in touch. Expect some changes in the New Year.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The baby Noa will keep crying until he gets more presents. The baby Noa also wants me to let you know he accepts paypal.

love, David, Kiko, and Noa.

Where does Noa sleep?

Everyone asks where Noa sleeps.

He sleeps on the floor. On a futon. Like a good Japanese boy.

But it is a cute, Miffy futon. Look? See for yourselves where we sleep.

Look at how cute his bed is!! That and it also costs almost 4 times as much as our bed cost. Crazy Japanese baby futons.

And this is how he sleeps:

He is very talented. And heres some cute pictures for good measure.

Look how sweet they look. emoticon I said that because I am sweet.

What you really want.

That was an exciting Noa post. Now more about me.

I recently had a conference in Tokyo (right after Noa got out of the hospital) where we did CIR stuff. Here is a picture of other CIR’s from Shikoku.

cir midyear conference.jpg

Damn, that picture is huge.

Here is a letter I got from one of my students in my English class. She is a very sweet older lady who just started studying English a few years ago. She is amazing! She wrote me a very kind note about the birth of my baby. (Thank you!)

yoshiko hirao's baby letter.JPG

And finally… the sweater incident.

Let’s just say it involved my favourite sweater, a christmas party, and a candle. and sadness. deep sadness. emoticon

The business that is my life

So everyone says you get really busy when you have a baby… they weren’t joking. Funny thing is, its not just the baby. It seems like a billion things are all happening at once.

A baby. Lots of crying. Lots of staying awake. Lots of throwing up. (its gross.)
JET Program PR Video

This is a little bit more interesting. I have been selected as one of 6 people to be in the JET program introduction video. This video will be sent around Japan and around the world to show people what the JET program is about and to encourage new recruits.

Basically this means that I have a video crew of about 7 people following me wherever I go. Here in Chunan 7 people is more than I get for most of my classes/activities/events. It makes for some exciting times…. When the video is done I will try and get some clips up.

It also doesn’t help that my house is like 5 degrees. emoticon My computer room doesn’t have a heater so that plays a big role in me not updating the website. I have a ton of pictures/videos (mostly Noa related) to put up… hopefuly I will get it up soon. davidandkiko 4.0 is also being redone after a few problems appeared in the picture album… but it should be good.

Ok, here are some new pictures. I will get off my ass and get some more albums/photos and some videos up soon! We will be ordering our new camera soon, so expect even better pictures in the next few weeks.

Here are some pictures of Noa and I, and Noa and Kiko’s Mom.

emoticon

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.

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?