Crawling is going places now! (ha) The first couple of weeks, she knew how to crawl but still stayed in her toy corner of the living room crawling a few steps here and there. Last week she started moving towards the couch but stayed in the living room. A couple of days ago, she finally realized the large space she has to move around in since the downstairs is all one large room consisting of the living, dining, and kitchen. She is having a blast exploring. Of course this brings a range of babyproofing issues we need to work through. My entry way is a step down from the living room and she has fallen off that a few times already. She has found the kitchen and the animals water bowl which brings lots of fun. My child is definitely a water baby though I'm not sure what baby isn't. It means I can no longer sit on the couch while she plays quietly in her corner. (that really makes me sound like a horrible parent. I promise I don't banish her to the corner.) I'm glad classes end this week to give me more time to focus on her.
Also, she has found the wonderful world of the cat in her explorations. Kaba, our Yorkie, keeps her distance and snaps at her if she comes too close and runs away the minute Fiona's hand gets near. The cat however doesn't seem mad about it and so Fi seeks her out which usually means chasing her around the living room. I can't figure out if Cleo doesn't mind or is already so far down the submissive line in the house (since the dog terrorizes her all the time) that she just deals with it. Fiona will mess with her and all Cleo will do is stand up, walk two steps, and then lay back down. I figure she will jump up and go to higher ground if she gets sick of it but I haven't seen that yet. The pure joy on Fiona's face when she sees the cat makes me smile every time. I hope as she gets older and a little softer in her touches, they will become lifelong friends.
On a related side note, I really need to buy a furminator since Cleo sheds entire cats daily. Fiona will crawl away after "petting" the cat and have hands full of fur which immediately go to her mouth. I have a MAJOR issue against hair and gag when it comes anywhere near my mouth and yet I just have to deal with all the fur that I am sure my child is ingesting daily. Between the dog and the cat, and carpet that isn't vacuumed as much as it should be, she constantly has hair all over her. For the most part, it doesn't bother me knowing that there is no way around it and it's not going to hurt her any but its a daily struggle to tell myself that.
Oh the world of a moving baby. Each stage brings new challenges and new fun! I'm just sad each phase goes by way too quickly.

We survived the 40 hours of house arrest due to Typhoon Muifa. Having a typhoon in the area is nothing I ever worry about since Okinawa knows how to build typhoon/hurricane ready houses unlike other places I know. The worst thing to worry about is losing power and since this was a long one, a lot of people dealt with that for long periods of time. We were very fortunate to keep our power except for a 5 min period at the very end. The main thing you have to worry about is boredom which we all had our fair share. Thankfully our best friends, Steven and Nikara, stayed over for the duration and gave us some company throughout. It was a good thing since their house lost power for who knows how long.
Fi was definitely under the weather during this period. I'm not sure if it was teething related or a bug she picked up. You can tell she isn't feeling well when she wants to just sit in your lap and relax. I definitely got a good amount of cuddle time and enjoyed every minute. Now that she is feeling better, Dono is out of commission. I haven't been feeling that well since the beginning of the typhoon either but since I'm the best out of the bunch, all the responsibilities fall to me. I'm hoping mine is just a sinus issue with the pressure changes (that happen semi-regularly for me) though I'm wondering if I haven't caught whatever Dono is carrying around. We shall see. I still don't feel like doing anything but sucking on cough drops will sitting on the couch but mommyhood calls regularly. If I am getting what Dono has, it means still no help since he will probably be back to work and I'll be on my own with Fi. I never get sick (besides sinus issues. Oh, yeah, knock on wood) and I'm hoping this streak will continue. I can't imagine trying to take care of her with what Dono has had to deal with. (I really hate throwing up, though I don't know anyone who loves it either).
Other than all that jazz, life has been pretty easy going. Fi is crawling more and more every day and has now started to pull up on her knees to get higher. Pulling up on the furniture is not far behind. We also had our first spice infused meal and she really enjoyed it. (Though she will eat anything I put in front of her) I still pureed it quite a bit but it means I can now start giving her more foods that we cook for ourselves, which is a bit more convenient than spending an afternoon cooking her food. I feel like she gets a lot of the same foods over and over again since our selection is not that great living on an island in the middle of the ocean. I gave her some frozen blueberries in her feeder (makes her sound like a bird, but its the little mess bags with a handle which I TOTALLY recommend!) and she couldn't get enough. She was so cute with all the color all over her face and hands.
Along with family I also am dealing with trying to get through three classes. This is no easy task and I'm losing steam so fast. I only have two weeks left of this term and it can't get here fast enough. Since the rest of the house is taking an afternoon nap, I guess I should make myself do some homework even though joining them sounds much better. I hope you all had an amazing week and here's to another! I need to get out in the sun soon or I'm going to go crazy. (and lose my good color from girl's weekend)
New pictures and videos to come very soon on her fb page. I know its been a while.