Story time

Ryanne told her first recognizable story in the car this weekend. We went to Marine World in Fukuoka on Sunday. She loved it, especially the dolphins. She saw them in a tank and in a show. She was mesmerized and just belly-laughed at the stunts and antics.

She fell asleep as we were leaving so I was able to pick up a little stuffed dolphin in the store without her knowledge. I gave it to her in the car on the way home. Then we talked about seeing the dolphins.

Well...she had a LOT to say about those dolphins and she wanted to act it out with her new toy to boot. This little dolphin was jumping all over the back seat and touching his nose to the "ba(ll)" and flipping and waving his tail and everything. It was absolutely adorable seeing her talk so excitedly about what the dolphins had done. She'll still do it at home, but she's not near as excited about it anymore.

Other than that, she did pretty well on the trip. Bedtime and naptime were both nightmares since she was sleeping in her own big bed in the same room as us. Makes me really want to consider a suite and requesting a crib, but I have a feeling that would blow up on us, too. It also told us that she is in no way ready for her own big girl bed. We tried leaving her in it and she would climb down and run around the hotel, even with it dark and quiet. Given all of that, she took about 2 hours to calm down for anything, but slept ok after that. The last night was the worst - she woke around midnight and probably every hour after. The good news is that there don't seem to be any long term effects from the changes. She's right back into her routine here. Let's hear it for a good traveller.