Quepos Fishing and Living

Walking on the Beach

2008-07-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sure, Neko walking is old news... but this is too cute to not post.
Hope all is well with everyone. Enjoy.

Neko's Cruising, So Are We

2008-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

I think we both have gotten our first real taste of the "you will want them to grow up until they do" part of parenting. It sure was nice when we could put Neko down and, save a rollover or two, she would still be in the same place when you came back. Now we have to search behind corners, TVs and sometimes even outside to find her.
She is walking now as her primary mode of transportation. She pulls herself up on the closest object and takes off. Surprisingly enough, we haven't had too many major incendents as of yet. She ate it pretty good trying to use a big water bottle as her pull up device. I guess you could say it was kind of like a rodeo clown going over a barrel. Except with crying.
But all in all she is handling walking like a champ and is at times as surefooted as a mountain goat.
We are preparing for our move to Nosara and we are all very excited. Daina is really looking forward to getting involved in Yoga and I am looking forward to starting my new job as a real estate agent with Surfing Nosara.
We will be in Gainesville the first week in September to celebrate Neko's first birthday and to see the Gators hand a beat down to the Canes. It should be a fun time.

2008-07-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

See, I can just suck on this thing right here and get to my finger.

2008-07-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Good morning to ya.

2008-07-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

And straight for the mouth they go.

2008-07-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Ah Ha! I got a crayon.

2008-07-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

You got to love this face! She puckers up and sucks in and out of her
nose.

2008-07-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

My two front teeth

2008-07-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Neko and Uncle Woody

Neko Visits Nosara

2008-07-07T04:45:00.001-07:00

A trip to Nosara to visit some friends was on the schedule for the 4th of July weekend. We drove up to Nosara, which is on the Nicoya peninsula about 5 hours north of Quepos, to visit Sarah, Erik and Kemper, some friends that we know from Gainesville.
We played on the beach and hung out at a 4th of July party with tons of other families.
The beaches are beautiful, the surf is really good and most of all the people there are great and there are a ton of young families for us to all hang out with.
Nosara is a very laid back beach community with very responsible development. I really liked that there are developments geared around children, family and education... you know, like neighborhoods that we would have back in the states.
Neko had a great time playing with new friends and Daina felt at home having other mothers with children to play with.
We really fell in love with the family and community feel of Nosara the more we stayed there and have decided that it would be a very enriching and safe place for Neko to grow up... so there may be a move on the horizon... Again!

Neko's New Accessories and Advancements

2008-06-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. It sure has been a busy months for the Nappy's in Costa Rica buzz. We have had some ups and downs here in the last few weeks but we are trying to put those past us and focus on the positive things.
Neko is getting really big and has some new accessories... two bottom teeth! I think she is ready to eat steak and potatoes right now, but we are still going to wait a little while. Right now she likes Cheerios and Bananas. She sure can eat a pretty big piece of a banana with those new chompers.
On top of being able to leave marks with her mouth, Neko has also made some other improvements in the way of transportation.
She has taken her first steps! There is a video to follow. This video was taken about a week ago so as you can imagine she is getting better and better at it now. She really likes to walk while holding your hand and can travel wherever she wants with this method. All by herself she can usually get between two and four steps before sitting down and starting over.
Luckily, Dad told us that we are going to really have to watch her when she gets mobile so we are baby proofing the house to get ready for the day when she just takes off and doesn't stop.

Neko wants to walk...

2008-05-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

Neko is almost an adult.

2008-05-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

Neko has really started to grow up in these last few weeks. She is crawling with a vengeance, saying DaDa and standing up all by herself. She is pretty much ready to walk but has perfected a mean faceplant instead for right now.

Neko eats cheerios every morning... she usually can get about 20-30 of them in her mouth in a sitting. She really loves to pincer them! And Star (Our Jack Russel that we recently got here from the states. loves to clean up the missed attempts. It's a very symbiotic relationship.

We will be in Gainesville at the beginning of June. I am coming back to CR on the 9th and Daina is staying until around the 20th.

You can now call us anytime at the U.S. # (352) 505-2421. I have forwarded that number to my CR cell phone.

Talk to you guys soon,
Nap

At home, sleeping well.

2008-05-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

We are in the house!!! Well, after a majorly prolonged stint at the apartment, we are finally living at our house in Quepos. Not that some things have changed... we still don't have hot water (or water in any of the showers for that matter) or internet, but we now wake up to birds chirping instead of hammer banging.
Neko is sleeping a lot better at night... and therefore so are we.
Neko is beginning to crawl... I say she is and Daina says not yet. You can decide for yourselves. We have been having a blast whenever we can find some free time to hang out. We have gone to some waterfalls and been able to spend some time with some really good people. I'm pretty sure Neko is fluent in Spanish by now but just can't fill us in yet.
Thanks to everyone for the emails and to the friends that have stopped to see us in Quepos when passing through. Your presence here is much appreciated as we get our lives started in a place with not so many familiar faces.

Sidenote: if you would like to contact us down here there are a few ways to call us and there will be a few more once we have a better internet situation.

1. You can always call Brandon's cell phone at 011 506 8347 6287 from any U.S. phone. Unfortunately this is fairly inexpensive from a regular phone.

2. You can use the same #, but use Skype, which can be downloaded at www.skype.com for free. Once you have the program, buy $10 worth of Skype credit (that is the smallest amount you can buy) and that will give you hours of time to talk to us. The only requirement is a microphone on your computer. (about $15 at any computer store.)

Ok Mom... now here are some photos/videos.

Neko 7 Month Birthday

2008-04-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

I had to wait to add this video... the file was too big the other day, so here it is. Neko is now 7 months old. She is now babbling nonsense all the time and really trying to crawl. However, her crawling efforts are right now reduced to swaying from front to back on all fours, eventually falling on her face and then rolling to wherever she needs to go. It's kind of like when you wake up in the morning and you don't have the energy to get out of bed but you still really want the remote control that is on the other side...
-Nap

Always a new adventure...

2008-04-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

We have been busy over the last week... introducing Neko to all of the wonders of the rainforest and Quepos Fishing. She has met some new friends and gotten to go on the Precedent. We have a little game with the rolling brownouts that Quepos constantly experiences. It's actually pretty cool, without using any switches, our fan has about 8 different speeds during the day! Also, we've got a new observation/question... The eggs here are stored at room temperature in the grocery stores. At first it was a little scary, but I'm not dead yet so they must be ok. Why is this? Anyone?
Talk to you soon,
Nap

Getting down to business, Neko goes to the beach!

2008-04-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well the vacation is over and it is time to get to work. For me that means waiting… and waiting… and waiting on everyone who is on Tico time here. They just don’t move fast, that’s it. And I love them for it! It took me 30 minutes today to get four copies made. And that was after having to return to the store because they closed the doors for an hour for lunch.

In a way it is kind of exciting, like when you are waiting for a package to be delivered and you just can't handle the suspense of waiting and waiting that when the package finally gets here you are elated. Well that is what every task is like here.
But enough about work… Daina, Neko and I have been having a blast getting to know more and more about our surrounding area and people. Neko’s Tica grandma cooks me pinto in the mornings and washes our clothes… and that’s nice.
Neko got to meet Jeremy, Nino’s nephew. It was a nice meeting of palming each others face and making unintelligible spanglish conversation. Neko took a dip in Jeremy’s pool… she has taken a real liking to the water in the hot weather here.
Neko also took her first trip to the beach yesterday!!! She was really adorable in her little one piece bathing suit and hat! And in true baby form, she ate her weight in sand. Pictures to follow.
We have learned that Neko likes to be entertained and likes a lot of action… the more bored she is, the more active she is, but I guess that is pretty much every 7 month old.

Some things that we have learned since we got here:
Bananas are really cheap
Bottled water is becoming our biggest expense… around $8/day
The one way streets here are only marked by people honking and screaming out the window

The internet is a hot commodity here and the fastest speed I can find is next to dial-up

I'm sure there will be many more to come and we will definitely keep this list coming. Talk to you soon.

-Nap

The Tilapia Farm is Fun!

2008-04-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

Day 6... it only gets better. We have been having a lot of family time here and Neko is getting more and more adjusted. Her naps are getting better and she is getting to see some amazing sights.

Last night we went to the Tilapia farm for dinner and Neko got to go fishing for the first time. She helped me catch a huge half-pound Tilapia. Ten minutes later it was cooked and ready to eat. But we had to take it to go because Neko decided she was tired. Oh well, at least we got to fish!

Since then we have taken an outing to the weekly farmer's market. Neko cruised around in the baby bjorn and we bought our produce for the week.

We're still waiting on a few more documents to be processed before the water gets turned on at our house, until then we will live at our apartment next to Tita and Tuchi. They cook me pinto de gallo in the mornings and wash Neko's clothes for us... they're like our Costa Rican grandparents.

Hopefully in the next week or two we will take Neko out on the Precedent for the first time... maybe for her 7 month birthday? Whattya think?

-Nap

Bienvenido a Costa Rica

2008-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our feet have finally touched Costa Rican soil for the first time as residents… and it’s a nice! Our first two days were super tiring. We woke up at 2:30am to get on the road by 3 to head to Ft. Lauderdale for our flight. Neko did pretty well in the car, she slept for most of our 5 hour drive. When we got to the airport and began going through the motions there, we were really thinking that teleporting would be a great idea if at all possible. Airports are the pits.
Checking in went pretty well until we got right to the beginning of security and Neko decided that she was tired and hungry… and in turn, angry. So the process of stripping down and taking everything out of our pockets and backpacks was even more fun as Neko screamed. But the guys at security had a good sense of humor about it and we had to laugh about it too.
The plane ride was pretty uneventful… Neko was happy the whole time and slept a little. When we got to Costa Rica, it was a definite felling of “ahhhhhh, we’re here.”
A guy at immigration quickly earned my award for 2008 as the coolest guy in the world, as he let us go through the citizens line because we had Neko with us. The citizens line was five people long, the other was about 300.
After lugging all of our 300lbs of luggage (no exaggeration) through customs and out of the airport, we were on our way to shop for Neko essentials.
We found a crib, a high chair and a little pool… the essentials. All of our other stuff was shipped and will be here at the beginning of next week.
We stayed at the Costa Verde Inn and Neko was introduced to the hammock. In Costa Rica, many families use hammocks similar to the way we use the Fisher Price swings to lull our babies to sleep in the U.S. It was pretty cool to swing Neko in the hammock and let her fall asleep to the sounds and smells of the rainforest.
That night was met with me eating a whole pizza and some much needed sleep after our long day.
On Tuesday we headed to Quepos via a three hour van ride. Neko did pretty well, but she was pretty ready to be out of the car seat by the end of it, and although many people here ride around with their babies in their arms, I just don’t think I’m ready for that Costa Rican custom.
Now that we are here, we are getting settled in to our little apartment in Boca Vieja, a small area of Quepos that means “old mouth,” signifying that it is the oldest part of our little town of Quepos. It is the area that most of my Tico friends live and right now we are surrounded by our friends and families of our friends. Everyone here is related in some way and everyone is so nice.
This is such a welcoming and accepting country… we love it and so does Neko!

4-3 Update

We are getting more and more settled in to our apartment and have been able to take a trip to the pool... Neko's first. She got to play with her new floatie that we bought her in San Jose and I got to play with my new underwater camera. We have seen a ton of our friends and Neko is adapting extremely well.

-Nap

It's Here!

2008-04-13T09:15:00.002-07:00

Well, as fast and as slow as it has been, the time is here. We have zipped every suitcase and stuffed the rental car full. We are both excited and nervous... it is sure going to be an adventure!!!

For those of you who haven't been able to receive this information as of yet, you will have a few different ways of getting in contact with us. We have our Costa Rica cell phone, the number is 8347-6287. And no, there is not an extra number, Costa Rica just changed their numbers to 8 digits as of March 20th. All cell phones had an 8 added to them and all land lines added a 2.

Also, we have set up a U.S. phone number through Skype that you can call just like you call any other number in the U.S. The number is (352) 505-2421. The catch with this is that we have to be connected to the Internet. Eventually this will be no problem... but that might be a while.

We will be posting blog posts as often as possible... probably depending on the Internet connection. And I will always keep the Quepos Fishing Report up-to-date no matter what.

So keep in touch, we love to hear from you,

Brandon, Daina and most importantly Neko

Tickets are booked!

2008-04-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

We were going to leave for Costa on the same day that Daina left Michigan to move to Florida... April 1st. But we found cheaper tickets in first class a day before. We figured it would be a little easier to fly with Neko that way.

A few days ago we had our 6 month checkup with Dr. Beebe. He said that everything is going great and that we have the green light on going over to Costa.

I went for the last trip before the move at the end of February and I would say that Costa Rica is officially ready for us. I met Doctora Castro, our Costa Rican Pediatrician. And she is great!!! Thanks to Erik and Sarah Antonson for the hookup on that. Dra. Castro is the Pediatrician for their daughter Kemper.

That was a huge load off my back knowing that we have a great doctor for Neko. What a lot of people don't realize is that in San Jose the private healthcare is very similar to the states. So don't worry, we won't be having organs removed under a tree in the backyard.

During the trip away I learned all about where we would be shopping and bought a membership to Price Mart... the Costa Rican Sam's club. So now we can buy a 5 gallon tub of Mayonesa. Sweet!

Daina and I are very excited about the move, and about teaching Neko to walk in the beach sand.

She is rolling over very good now, sometimes even doing it to get around. She is starting to scoot and can sit up all by herself. She is grabbing everything and knows what almost everything in our house tastes like.

The solid food thing is going pretty well, with some of her newest attempts including sweet potatoes and applesauce. I'm pretty sure she's ready for a T-bone, but Daina says that it could end in a fiasco... so we'll wait a few weeks for that.

All in all everything is going very well. A few more weeks of hard work and frustration and we will be down in Pura Vida land.

-Nap

Neko's First Feedin, Heisman Meeting

2008-04-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Everything is pretty much cruising along nicely over these last few weeks. Neko is growing like a weed and man is having a baby fun. Daina has been having her sit up all by herself and I got to feed her real food for the first time. That was flippin hilarious. You can see the pics for yourself.

She is really starting to get her own little personality. She is coming to love walks in her super off road monster truck Jeep stroller. And her routine is beginning to get pretty on point. She now wakes up shot out of a cannon and ready to play... and is a bit whiny around bedtime. (A lot like her dad)

We went on our routine Friday night Napolotano's trip and Neko had her first brush with a Heisman trophy winner. Tim was there with some friends and we made him take a picture with her. We tried to do a Tim holding Neko picture and she screamed her little head off. So I had to hold her, and she wasn't even really having that. But we got the picture and all was well.

Happy B Day Jesus and Hello 2008

2008-01-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Wow. A whole month has gone by. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Neko had a great Christmas and got to spend time with all of the family that cares about her. She got some really cool toys that she is now old enough to start enjoying. She really likes to kick things. I think she is going to be a great soccer player in Costa Rica. Who knows, maybe she will be th e first girl to play for Saprissa.

Our New Years was pretty new parentriffic. We slept un til 11:55 then went back to sleep at 12:05. It was fine though. We needed the sleep.

It was really nice to spend time with Daina's family who came down from Michigan. Woody got to meet Neko for the first time and Nana and Papa got to spend some much deserved time with her.

Neko's Three Month Birthday

2007-12-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

It has been three months now since the most amazing... and nauseating day of Brandon's life. Boy has it been fun, tiring, challenging, amazing, upsetting, blissful and tiring. Daina is by far the hero of the situation, tending to Neko at all hours of the night and still working! What does Brandon do you ask? Well, he writes this blog... duh.
Neko is getting so much bigger and more active now. She loves when I dance around like a monkey on Red Bull.I think that will be what brings on the first laugh... it's definitely right around the corner. We are thinking now that her eyes are going to stay blue like Daina's but have the shape of Brandon's. I guess just as long as she doesn't have Brandon's beard then we're ok. If you haven't yet, check out the www.queposfishingreport.com website. It's up and running and starting to look pretty good if I do say so myself.
Brandon

First trip away :-(

2007-11-30T04:13:00.000-08:00

This photo is at the Florida Gator Homecoming Parade in Gainesville.

Daddy just spent his first extended period of time away from the family, and it was hard.

I went to Costa Rica for a few days to do some business (and one day of pleasure) and it seemed as if Neko had gained 10lbs and was doing so many new things when I got back. It was such a good feeling to have her in my arms when I got back that I thought I might squeeze her little eyeballs out.

Neko is now cooing so cutely, is very content just sitting by herself and blowing bubbles... and I think we have our first laugh right around the corner.

Now that I am back I don't ever want to leave again. I know the time will come again, but I won't like it one bit.

Brandon