Jonathan's First Father's Day Celebration

Jonathan loves to grill, especially during baseball season. He also loves to swim, and is thoroughly enjoying taking Joshua swimming, as he seems to share our affinity for the water.
Two of our good friends also had baby boys this past year, within a few months of Joshua's birth. Plus, Joshua has made friends with another little boy (a few months older than him) at church in the parent/baby room at church (we have no nursery.) So, we had a natural group with whom to celebrate our first Father's Day.
We celebrated a day early (on Saturday), and took the whole afternoon into the evening to have fun together!
The school of "fish" gathering. Joshua, Casey, Casey's big sister, Alisha, [not pictured, Shun, the friend a little older than JKK], Shun's big brother, Hiroto & front row (youngest little guy): Yuuhi

Spring Break in Honolulu

Sunday we visited Dole Plantation and Joshua tasted his first pineapple juice - Yummy!
Joshua loved our hotel room - he could check on "his wheels" ANYTIME he wanted!
...even BEFORE breakfast!
We all enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool
Joshua did really well at Cheesecake Factory for lunch & especially enjoyed sipping Daddy's water


How's that for a good splash, Daddy?!
The lagoon was also perfect to swim in. It was shallow & calm, salt water with a nice beach. Joshua took to it right away!




We had to end on a high note - Cheesecake Factory again, take-out. Still very nice and a MUCH shorter wait than dining in during the peak of the Japanese tourist season, Golden Week
Joshua is following his Daddy's lead and trying to help with the luggage. A perfect gentleman in training
Not pictured: We all had our first ride in an AMBULANCE in the middle of the trip. I (Kendra) got food poisoning (or something), dehydrated quickly (due to my bad habit of not drinking enough on a daily basis) and then passed out for a few seconds. Fortunately, Jonathan kept me from getting hurt and had wisely put Joshua in his Pak-n-play, where he was happily playing while this all happened. My blood pressure was too low, so they took us all to the hospital by ambulance.
Thankfully, I recovered quickly with IV fluids and was able to resume normal eating the next day. An additional blessing was that Jonathan was able to move our return flight back two days (a happy Airline story for a change) and we could make up for the time lost and make sure I was truly up for the long flight home.
In all, it was a surprisingly fun & relaxing trip!

Firsts...Spring in Kobe, Easter Egg Hunt, Haircut

The Cherry Blossoms are just starting to bloom. We're headed to Akashi Park to see them!



We stumbled on a beautiful Tulip Garden on Rokko Island!
Opa's Birthday was actually just before mine, but we celebrated together a little later in Kobe.
Happy Birthday, Dear Opa! (I love singing that!)

My First time at Oji Zoo was for the night viewing of the Cherry Blossoms!

Easter Dinner: Lamb, Spaetzle, Sweet Potato Casserole

My First Spaetzle (made by Grandma, Opa & Daddy) was delicious!
I had my first REVERSE Easter Egg Hunt: I received a basket full of eggs, dumped them on the floor and Mommy & Daddy picked them up! We all had so much FUN!


Cherry Blossoms still beautiful outside our apartment
A little picnic to enjoy the warm day
Everyone was surprised at how I quickly built up my confidence walking in my big boy shoes outdoors! I was tempted to ask the nice skateboarder if I could give his skateboard a try, but...
After all that walking, I was worn out!
My first haircut (at a special place for kids)

It was scary, but Grandma & Mommy & Daddy said I was VERY brave!
I was sure glad Daddy could be there too, to cheer me on


Ta Da! All done!
There, now THIS is nice...my own yogurt drink

A New Look for Joshua's Room

This post could also be labeled, "Blessings Galore!" As, everywhere you look in Joshua's room, you see reminders of family and friends' outpouring of love for this little one!
We finally moved the Glider Chair into Joshua's room (formerly in the Master bedroom). It was a gift from the Caputo's and we don't know who enjoys it more - Kendra or Joshua!?! Joshua's Crib, made by Opa, has been moved to the opposite wall and Joshua is still enjoying the texture and comfort of Grandma's handmade afghan.

Above Joshua's bed is a hand-stitched "JOSHUA," lovingly made by Eiko, the wonderful pianist in our wedding.
This is the daybed that will likely become Joshua's "big boy bed" someday.
On the far left is a special green & yellow (his colors, picked by Mommy) JKK monogrammed pillowcase from Papa & Gigi. Also a fun, blue dots JKK monogrammed "silkie," which is a really soft, cuddly mini blankie from our friends Jess & Todd. Interestingly, Joshua seems to take after his cousin Isaac in that he is really "into" his calendar, a gift from Teruko, and likes to check it out as often as we'll let him climb around the bed.
Here are two of Joshua's crib "friends" - his doggie, from Gigi & Papa and his sunshine, made by Grandma
More friends to make his crib a place he likes to "hang-out" in after he wakes up. A polar bear from Opa and Grandma, a animal trio from our friends Makiko & Naoki, and a nighttime bear from a friend in Carmel, IN
On this last wall, we have two special gifts. One is a gift from friends at church, Masumi & Miko, a growth chart, with windows for us to put pictures of Joshua as he grows. It starts at 70 cm, which Joshua just passed at his One Year Check-up.
To the right is a name plaque that says "Joshua Kento Kohl," his birthday, the meaning of his first name, and his verse from the book of Joshua (as detailed in our July 22, 2009 entry.) This is a special gift given to us by our friends at Asian Access, and Joshua's two buddies in Asian Access also have their own.
Daddy's not always IN Joshua's room, however, we wanted to explain "the rest of the story" of the sunshine. Grandma made Joshua a Sunshine replica of the one that was Jonathan's favorite as a baby. It has Jonathan's original music box in it too that plays "You are My Sunshine" and Joshua listens to it when we put him in bed to go to sleep.

Last, but not least...our neighbor in Newburyport is an artist and gave Joshua one of her paintings. Please, use the link to her website and click "Super Hero" to see the painting. (We have it up in Newburyport, as it totally matches Joshua's room.) Lisa didn't even know that Joshua was Superman for his first Halloween ;-) You might also take a longer look at her website, as she's very talented!
http://joppacreative.com/dreamingii.html