Mason Shoma

We got to Japan okay, but it was a bit of rush once we got there. There were some new procedures in place for the pandemic which had us literally running around the airport trying to get processed properly. We actually were not able to make our flight on time. But that really didn’t matter because we would not have made the flight anyway because of some ticketing problems. In the end, we got home quite a bit later than planned, but I was still very well behaved. I pretty much slept for the whole last leg of our trip. The main thing was that we got home safely.

Excited to be on another airplane and ready for the long haul!

I’m all set for the long flight with my flying buddies (puppets) and toys.

One of the things that I have to look forward to on the long haul flights is the meal service. I hear that airplane food gets a bad rap, but I quite like it. It is all pretty tasty especially when you consider that I don’t normally eat grownup food and normally only have baby food.

There is a lot fun to be had on an airplane. So much fun that it is hard to go to sleep on the airplane.

Since the flight was a daytime flight, I had a hard time getting sleepy and did not want to go to sleep. Daddy tried to rock me asleep a couple of times but I was not having it. It was a bit strange for me. Usually I quite like when Daddy carries me. But I was in a weird mood on the airplane. I only let Mommy carry me and eventually I was able to sleep a little. That made the flight a little be difficult, but that was my only difficult thing on the airplane. Overall I was a good traveler and very well behaved. And the flight was uneventful and we made it to Japan without problem.

Hey, did you know that I use sign language? Mommy and Daddy have been teaching me baby sign language (based on ASL) for quite some time now. I have picked up quite a few things. The first few words were food related like being hungry or thirsty. I also learned how to say “more” or “again” early on. I just recently got good at saying “please” when asking for things. But just by coincidence Daddy realized that I was doing another sign for please as well and he recognized it as Japanese baby sign language. In ASL “please” is sign by making a circle on your chest with your hand, but when I do it it is more like a swipe across my chest. The Japanese please, which is “chodai” looks like clapping your hands together. They knew that they were raising me to be bilingual but did not know I was also bilingual in sign language too!

I really like flying! I took three flights on my way to Hawaii and loved it! Not only was I “okay” on the flights, but I actually was excited and had a great time! So getting on another airplane today made me very happy. I had fun looking outside the window at the ground crew and all the activity, and I also enjoyed all the little gadgets onboard. I discovered the control panel above me and I had fun making Daddy turn the air and reading light on and off. For some reason he wouldn’t press the call attendant button for me. Oh, well. I had enough fun without it.

Some babies may not like the noises and vibrations of the airplane taking off, but I’m fascinated by them.

I even enjoyed the inflight refreshment. I don’t know what POG is but I know that it is delicious!

Just minutes after saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and passing through the security checkpoint, I fell asleep. This morning was a busy morning and saying goodbye takes a lot out of you. Also, I have about half-a-day’s worth of traveling ahead of me, so I’m going to need all the rest I can get when I can get it.

Thank you so much, Grandma and Grandpa! I had a great time on Kauai! It was so nice finally meeting you in person! Even though we had great FaceTime chats since the day I was born, it is not the same as being here with you in person. Peekaboo is so much more fun in person than through the iPad. Just to prove me point we had to get one last live peekaboo session in before we boarded the plane.

I’ll call you when we get back to Japan and I’m already looking forward to seeing you again at Christmas! Thank you so much for everything! Love you!!!

Woe is me. We are leaving. I had such a great time! Thank you Kauai house, I’ll miss you!

I just had to get a few more pictures with my cousins before we left. I was so happy to finally meet them and spend time with them. It was short trip together but I had a great time! They are the sweetest, kindest, and loveliest cousins a baby boy could ask for! I’m going to miss them a lot. I am already looking forward to seeing them at Christmas!

We leave Hawaii today. The time really flew by. So this is our last breakfast in Hawaii. Oddly, this was the first time this trip that we all had breakfast together. Usually we all eat separately based on when we wake up. It was nice that we could all have breakfast together for our last meal this trip.

What a fun day! Now that I’m fed, bathed and ready for bed, I have some relaxing play to help me wind down.

I ate up the last of the poi for dinner tonight! It is sooo good that I can’t get enough of it! I ended up eating it the traditional style, with my fingers, because I wasn’t getting fed fast enough!

I was wandering around the house and I found Maile and Lauren in their room, so I decided to barge in on them and see if they wanted to play. They dropped everything to play with me! They are such sweet, loving, and accommodating cousins!

It is so nice to wake up from a nice long nap to find that it is snack time and hug time! Actually, it is always hug time in our family!

Whenever Daddy visits home on Kauai, he and his high school friends always try to get together. They have been doing this for more than a couple of decades and always have a great time catching up with each other. The last time Daddy was here was almost three years ago, the year he and Mommy got married. So there have been a lot of changes in their life, namely me! Daddy’s friends were very happy to see him again but were also thrilled to meet me for the first time!

This was my first time joining the get-together and even though it took me a while to warm up to meeting so many new people, I enjoyed the fun and atmosphere. I can’t say that I was particularly friendly, but I was well behaved. For the most part, I played nicely with the other kids, meaning I pretty much did my own thing and they did their own thing.

As families grow with kids and those kids grow, some things about their get-togethers change. But they always have a lot of fun and the kids always have a blast in the backyard!

This is not everyone in their circle of friends and not all the kids either, but it is a pretty good turn out! I think I’ll enjoy this get-together more and more each time. I hear that Christmas time is a lot of fun as well because the kids exchange gifts! That sounds like fun! So until next time, Daddy’s friends and families! (Sorry, I couldn’t remember everyone’s names. I’ll work on that.). It was great meeting you all, and please be safe and healthy until we meet again!

Grandma took out some little Matchbox cars to play with. I was so thrilled! There were a lot for me to choose from and I had so much fun playing with them. I was shocked to learn that these were Daddy’s toy cars from when he was little. They were all in pretty good condition and still a ton of fun to play with!

Maile and Lauren are such sweet cousins. They sat there and watched my kiddie programs with me! I’m sure there are other shows they would prefer to watch, but they let me choose my shows and kept me company!

We are heading back to Hawaii tomorrow, so I figured I’d get a head start on packing for the trip. I went through Mommy and Daddy’s carry-on bag and checked to make sure we had the essentials: food and food related items. Yep, looks like we are all set.