Jolon latest

We often start breakfast talking about our dreams, never quite being sure if Jolon understands the concept. But he likely does, because this morning he said something to this effect: "when you dream, you can see the picture with your eyes closed, but when you open your eyes, you can't see it anymore." That pretty much sums it up.

We have an apt. on the 6th floor with long, narrow balconies on both sides. Instead of a solid wall like the newer apartments, we have a thin railing...with about 5 or 6 inches between each bar. One of the major rules of the house is no toys on the balcony. We've told Jolon many times about the dangers of throwing things through the bars onto the street (or people) below. So we were very surprised last week when he threw 1/2 a box of tissues off (one by one!) and a laundry clip. I actually saw him throw the clip...it didn't look deliberate or pre-meditated. He wasn't angry or emotional at all. He just bent down, picked it up and threw it before he thought about it. Anyway, he is now temporarily banned from the balcony. His room has 2 sets of doors that each lead to one of balconies and even if we locked them, he could unfasten the locks, so it's a difficult rule to enforce, but so far so good. We've kind of been making a big deal about Kellan being allowed out on the balcony, but not Jolon. So this morning I noticed Kellan walking around with a big piece of paper in his hand, and I saw him go into Jolon's room. Jan went in a minute or two later to check on them and he saw Kellan on the balcony. Jolon hadn't gone out, but was inside, gesturing with his arm for Kellan to throw the paper off the balcony!! Of course Kellan wasn't paying attention and wouldn't have understood, but it was all Jan could do not to laugh. He managed to reprimand Jolon with a straight face, before finding me and having a good laugh about it.

Kellan latest

He's trying so hard to speak! This morning he repeated "ouchie," and tonight he may have said, "oishii," (delicious). He is starting to try and say more than one word so that the intonation sounds like he just said a sentence, but in fact all of it was jibberish.

He's also beginning a biting stage. I'm having to start getting on to him for it, saying NO in a loud voice/harsh tone for the first time.....one more reminder that he's not really a baby anymore.

He ate eel at school for the first time and apparently loved it. I made an eggplant dip tonight with turmeric, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and sesame paste which he also devoured. Still refuses all fruit....throws it on the floor usually.

Jolon's fall

When I arrived in the park to pick up Jolon yesterday, a teacher came over and said he'd just fallen and was with Ibuki Sensei back at school. Jolon was in the genkan with a big white bandage around his knee and Encho Sensei (the principal) hugging him. Ibuki was just heading back to the park but she warned me that it was pretty bad and might require stitches. Jolon looked like he'd been crying lots but was pretty calm. I had come on foot and they seemed in a hurry to get to the hospital so I rode on Encho Sensei's bicycle with Jolon on back and she borrowed another teacher's bike. Meanwhile, Kellan, who happened to be coming in from the garden, caught a glimpse of me and started WAILING, so someone whisked him away so I could see to Jolon. They had called Jan and he canceled his last class and was coming as quickly as he could. We actually met him on the way, swapped bikes and they continued on while I went back for Kel. Just before we met Jan, Jolon was starting to get upset and was talking about shots and how it was going to hurt. Later Jan told me Jolon had done fine on the rest of th bike ride, but just before they went into the hospital, he got scared and cried a lot. But when it was time for the doctor to clean the cut, Jolon apparently gritted his teeth and solemnly looked away. Jan asked him if it hurt, and Jolon, staring off into the distance, (a la Uncle Nicky) just nodded. Jan asked him if I'd told him to look away and he shook his head. Suddenly, he calmly announced, "There's a fish." Sure enough, there was a tropical fish in an aquarium behind the doctor. Luckily, no stitches were needed after all. We'll go back in a few days for the doctor to check and make sure it's ok, but he thinks it will be fine. According to Jolon what actually happened was they were leaving the garden to go to the park and he was holding hands with Miu, who suddenly took off, dragging Jolon, who fell and must have fallen down on a sharp stone. He's walking fine and it doesn't seem to bother him. He was pretty happy to get out of taking his bath. The teachers were very sweet and apologized lots, although clearly, it was just an accident. Today at school everyone had heard about it and teachers of other classes who I rarely talk to, knowing Jolon was fine, were still asking me about him.

Sleeping Kellan

Kellan has had a terrible cough for a couple of weeks and especially the last few nights, he's been sleeping very badly, which means I have been as well. Here is a picture to remind me how beautiful and peaceful he can look when he's sleeping well.

Jolon's class meeting

We had a big meeting last night (3 hours!) where Kachiku Sensei first played the piano and we all sang the Nakayoshi school song. Then she read the book that they're reading this week (Dame, David), which is about a boy doing things which makes his Mom shout,"Dame, David"-- "Stop that, David). David is pictured knocking things over and then cowering in the corner, picking his nose, running in the street naked with all his clothes on his head, etc. Then Ibuki Sensei gave us an overview of the year---what the major functions were each month (Rooftop pool in July and August, Sports Day in October, Making Mochi Festival in Dec., Rhythm performance next Feb., etc.) Then she went back over some of the rules (parents need to be sure and sign in/out, the kids should be carrying their own bags, how to sign out in the evenings when we pick up the kids in the park, etc.) She showed us samples of the kind of canteens we should be sending for field trips, what kind of aprons are the best, and the right kinds of swimsuits and swimming caps. She talked about some of the developmental changes. For example most of the kids are now able to do two things at once. Last year mealtime was very quiet....the kids were all busy eating; this year they can talk and eat at the same time and mealtime is noisy. Being able to run and jump at the same time, they can skip properly. And they can hold the paper in one hand and cut with the other. Most of the boys are kicking and punching and the girls are over in the corner talking about them and telling on them. The last part of the meeting was devoted to giving each Mom a chance to say something about her own child. Most mothers mentioned something they were worried about and also related a funny story or two. Several people said they and their husbands were disagreeing on how to discipline and this was causing problems. Most of the moms of boys, including me, talked about how much energy their boys had and how they seemed so active. I've been reading a book called Raising Boys, and I shared how I'd read that at around age 4, boys get a huge surge of testosterone. This means that they suddenly exhibit more of a tendency towards punching, kicking, and using their bodies to express their emotions. Interestingly, the testosterone level is cut in half by about age 5 1/2. It was nice to hear what's on the minds of other Moms with kids the same age. And at this point most of us have been together for 3 or 4 years and we're getting quite close. The time really flew and although it was a school meeting on a Monday night, I was very happy to be there. The teachers had written a little blurb about each child. From what Jan and I could understand they said that Jolon is very powerful! and can pick up all of the chairs in his small group of 4 at once. He loves to help and so his self-appointed job at meal and snack time is to get and return all 4 chairs (at the same time). They also wrote that he loves his friends.

Kellan-Deta

I dropped Kellan off this morning in the garden and had a few minutes to sit and watch him play in the sand and dirt. He had a little shovel which he was working hard to fill with dirt and would then meander off somewhere randomly and dump it. At some point he toddled over to the outdoor water faucet and I heard him say something but couldn't make it out. He looked up, found me, and came straight over and said "deta." Sure enough, he'd just peed his pants! So he not only realized what he'd done, which I think is pretty amazing in and of itself, he also came and told me.

Meet Allie

This is Jolon and Kellan's cousin, Allie. She's 11 weeks older than Jolon and one of his favorite people. We often ask ourselves, "What would Allie think about that?" She's very kind to share all of her toys and let us sleep in her room when we stay over. When we think of Allie we think of princesses, gymnastics, Dora, "It's no biggie," mac and cheese, hair bows, the letter A, pump it up, and PINK! We love you, Allie

Jolon

I asked Jolon if he wanted to help me measure out the flour and salt for the bread tonight. He asked me if I knew about the bread's ears. In Japanese the end pieces of a loaf of bread are called "pan no mimi," literally the bread's ears.

Kellan

Today Kellan's teacher said that when he peed his pants, he looked down and said, "Deta," which is the Japanese for, "I peed." Wow. She was really impressed. He has been out of diapers at school since April (except for naps) so he's heard this expression a lot, as everyone is still peeing themselves all day long.

He also pointed to the Milky-time chair today and said, "Mama Koko." Koko means, here, so that was a good sentence.

This morning Jan asked him if something was ok "Ii desu ka?" and Kellan instantly responded with, "ii desu yo." It's ok.

Sayaka and Kellan

I teach Sayaka, who is in her last year at university, once a week at our apartment. We kept Kellan home yesterday as he'd had a slight fever and seemed to be feeling pretty bad, but when Sayaka showed up, suddenly he was all smiles and ready to perform.

Jolon's week at school

Jolon has had a busy week. On Wednesday, they made gyoza at school so I sent him with his little apron and a bandana. Gyoza are like little savory pastries with minced pork and garlic filling. The round pastries are about as big as coasters and the kids had to put a teaspoonful of filling inside and carefully fold the dough over and then press it softly around the edges. The report on Jolon was that he was SUPER excited to be doing it, but he couldn't contain himself and just squeezed them way too hard. His hancho (Group leader), Yui, told him not to do it several times and kept reminding him to be careful, but I got the impression Jolon's never turned out very well. He still had a great time trying, I'm sure.

On Thursday they made mud balls in the garden. Making mud balls is an art form in Japan, or at least at Nakayoshi (their school). Ibuki Sensei told me that Jolon had improved lots from the last time they made them. The ball he ended up with was big, round and quite hard, which is the ultimate goal. The kids had made paper boxes to transport them home in and Jan picked up Jolon a little early so he got to see them all. He said the teachers' were like works of art.....very smooth and so hard he felt like they wouldn't have broken if he'd squeezed them as hard as he could. They probably worked on them for a couple of hours.

Today they went for another long walk and a picnic. I sent him with an avocado burger, one bite of fried potato leftover from last night, half of a boiled corn on the cob, a mini-tomato, some fried zucchini, and rice balls. On top of his bento box I put a little packet of ketchup for the burger. That packet of ketchup probably caused quite a stir....perhaps the envy of all his mates? By chance on my way home from university I saw them walking back to the school. Jolon never saw me but I caught a glimpse of him near the front of the pack, holding hands with his good friend, Yura, wearing his big white hat. So cute.

Kellan is understanding more and more

Kellan keeps catching us off guard. Yesterday I noticed he had a dirty diaper so I said to Jan, "Kellan has a poo poo." I carried on doing something and when I turned around, Kellan was standing nearby holding a diaper!

This morning at breakfast I was talkign to Jolon about his dream from the night before. He was explaining that there was a helicopter in the sky which was holding a big fire truck. Jan noticed what Kellan was doing and told me to look. He was pointing his finger straight up at the sky and looking out the window. He'd recognized the word, helicopter! We do see a lot of helicopters around and he's been on several long walks with Jan this week and he's talked about them a lot with Kellan.

We kept him home yesterday and he spent most of the day outside with Jan. He'd thrown up the night before and was running a low temperature so he mainly stayed in the stroller. Back to school today so hope he's feeling better.

kellan and mei

May 16 and 17

Had lots of fun talking weddings with Erin and Kyoko

Met up with Marc and Alex in the park on Saturday

Another pachinko story

A few days after we came back from the States Jolon and Jan were walking by the pachinko parlor.
Jolon: Can we go inside?
Jan: No.
Jolon: What are they doing?
Jan: Playing a game. (he quickly realized he needed to downplay the word, "game.") It's a game, but it's really boring.
Jolon: Then why are all those people inside?
Jan: Well...(not meaning to be snobby; just trying to get out of the conversation) a lot of those people are kind of lonely and sad.
Jolon: Did you go in there while we were in America?

Sorazaya Park

Playing at our local park.

Auntie

Tonight after dinner Jolon and I went for a walk through the neighborhood. At one point we passed a pachinko parlor, which is basically a Japanese version of a casino with only slot machines. Jolon asked to go in and noticing the sign that said no one under 18 allowed in, I told him that only really old people could go inside.

Jolon: "Like Auntie?"
M: Auntie who?
J: Auntie.
M: Auntie Erin? or Auntie Suzie?
J: No, Auntie.
M: Who's Auntie?
J: Grammy's friend.
M: Oh..........AUNT T! We like Aunt T, don't we?
J: Yeah, we do..........Iit's been a long time since we've seen Aunt T, huh?

Koo Koo and the Milky time chair

Kutsu is the Japanese word for shoes and the baby word is "koo koo." Whenever we say it's time to go and ask him to go put on his "koo koo," Kellan will make his way to the genkan (entrance way) as fast as he can and pick up his shoes. When he sees them he starts pointing and saying "koo koo," over and over until one of us puts them on him.

I often nurse Kellan in our big black leather chair in front of the computer. Just this last week Kellan has started to pat the black chair and say "dozo," ("here you are") when he wants to nurse.

Latest on Kellan

May 10, (1 year and 4 months)
Last weekend I was putting Jolon down for his nap, and then trying to get Kellan to sleep, meanwhile Jolon was calling for me. So, even though Kellan was really upset, I just had to put him in his cot to attend to Jolon. As I was lying with Jolon telling him a story, Kellan suddenly stopped crying and fell promptly asleep. This gave me the idea to try this at night. For the past week Jan has been putting him in his cot about 7:30, kissing him and walking out. And Kellan will usually cry for about 5 minutes and then go right to sleep. It’s amazing. He’ll often wake up a couple of hours later and I’ll then nurse him and put him in bed by himself. I’m still nursing him in the night, but that’s usually just once or twice. I’m thinking about stopping but can’t decide.

Eating: not a great eater really. Loves rice balls and fish and broccoli and miso soup, but not much else. He really doesn’t like any fruit, not even strawberries or bananas.

Still runs a low grade fever (99.8 or so) when he’s teething.

He LOVES his toothbrush and any time any of us are brushing our teeth, he must go get his. This is in contrast to Jolon who always hated it. He also doesn’t mind sitting on the little toilets at school which Jolon never wanted to do. Kellan did an interesting thing at school this week. I sat him on the omaru (toilet) at school and he looked up at me and I made the “shiiiiii, shiiiiiiii” noise which is supposed to encourage them to go, he looked up at me, I looked down at the toilet as if to say, now it’s time to go, and he went. It really seemed like he was listening to me and understood what he was supposed to be trying to do. I don’t think Jolon could ever sit still at school long enough to really give himself a chance to pee at this age. Not that I expect to start peeing when I put him on the toilet, but I just got the sense that Kellan was more in touch with what was supposed to be happening.

Speaking: he still says ball anytime he sees anything round: a cherry tomato, a rice ball, a baseball, an orange, etc.

He says “wan wan” for dogs (which is the Japanese baby word for dog) as well as birds and cats. Although sometimes he’ll meow when he sees a cat.

Yesterday I said it was time to change his diaper and when I turned around he’d brought me his diaper!

He LOVES the streetcar and when we’re out walking he waves and says “bye bye” to it as it passes. If you listen closely and if the windows are open here at home you can hear it go by and sometimes when Kellan says “bye bye” it’s usually because he’s just heard a streetcar. He will also say “bye bye” now if one of us just says the word “streetcar.” It’s so cute.

He knows how to point to his nose and his ear when we ask him where they are. I really haven’t tried to teach him any other body parts yet, but I plan to this weekend as he’s obviously picking things up so quickly and is ready to speak.

He said flower last week when he saw one.

I cried last week when I bought Kellan his last pack of diapers…...probably his last pack, unless I break down and go for one more. He’s walking so well now that it’s time to move up to “diaper pants.”

Biggest incident in Kellan’s life recently: the fall from the bicycle. He’s fine now but he had a scraped face and a black eye for a week.

Latest on Jolon

May 10, (3 years and 6 months old)

Since America Jolon has done very well at falling asleep by himself in his room. He’ll often come out a few times after book and bath and try to talk to us or insist he needs more water, but usually he goes to sleep pretty quickly around 9:00. I can’t remember the last time he wet the bed. He will sometimes get up and use the plastic toilet in his room but most nights he can make it all night and then runs to the toilet first thing in the morning. Way to go, Jolon. You made life a whole lot easier for us.

He seems to do very well with Kellan getting more attention than him when we’re out. It’s not uncommon for people to stop the stroller and coo at Kellan. It’s not that he gets completely overlooked, but people are generally much more interested in Kellan. In this situation if he reacts at all, rather than doing something wild or aggressive for attention, he’s much more likely to rub Kellan’s head or do something sweet to Kellan to prove he’s a good big brother.

Having said that, around the house Jolon can get himself into a state where he is seriously hyperactive. He can be so rough with Kellan; running through the house, throwing things, jumping on pillows. We have to work very hard to find activities to keep him occupied so he doesn’t tear the apt. to pieces. He won’t let me keep Kellan in another room and play by himself but if Kellan is with him then any quiet game such as blocks or cards or puzzles is nearly impossible with Kellan around. There are definitely days and evenings when I wish we had a big tv! Occasionally he watches things on the computer but not often.

His Japanese is getting better and better and he’s very sociable. It’s been lovely recently at the park to see him go up to kids his age and initiate activities. For example, he met a boy last weekend by picking up the boy’s ball and bat and asking if he could use them. Of course the boy (stunned that this little blond kid was speaking Japanese) said yes and then followed Jolon to see what he was going to do. The next thing I knew, the boy’s Mom was pitching to Jolon while the boy fielded. It’s a neat situation because moms are usually quite happy to have their child interacting with a foreign child so they are happy to supervise, and it gives me a good chance to spend time with Kellan who is now trying to climb all over the playground equipment, just like his brother.

Mullet

Jan cut Jolon's hair about a month ago and since Jolon's previous cut had been a really good one and since Jan just barely clipped it to keep it out of Jolon's eyes, it looked fine. It looked good. It wasn't offensive. Yesterday, just as we were on our way out the door for a bbq at Simon's house, I looked up to see Jolon naked in the bath tub with a towel around him and Jan with a pair of blunt scissors in hand. Viola, the mullet. Ok, maybe it was a pre-mullet or a baby mullet, but a mullet it was and these two pictures prove it. Jan spent the evening assuring me it looked fine and that it wasn't a mullet. This morning at breakfast he finally admitted it was. After watching someone cutting hair on Youtube and finding a better pair of scissors, he had another go at it this evening, and I think the mullet is gone.

Boys' Day

We got another cake this year to celebrate Boys' Day on May 5th. Jolon was really, really excited about it; Kellan was nearly asleep and couldn't have cared less. Kellan barely ate any of his, much to Jolon's delight, as he got the leftovers.

Kellan said "flower" today

Music and dancing at the festival

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Jan was working lots and luckily Auntie Erin came out to give me a hand with the boys. She waited with Jolon in line to get into the bouncy castle, sat with him through a mini-concert, held him up during a magic show, and danced with him in the streets. She let Kellan throw her phone 250 times onto the ground until we finally decided to zip the purse up, let him pull her earrings out over and over again, and walked behind him for ages to catch him in case he fell over. She and I never finished a conversation, but we had lots of fun. And she's engaged!! Congratulations Peter and Erin!!!!!

Eating ice cream and listening to music at the Flower Festival

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With Jolon smiling at everyone on the back of the stroller and Kellan waving at people with his black eye, we caused quite a stir at the Flower Festival. Here they are enjoying the music and eating some red bean ice cream.

Kellan walking and playing with his favorite ball

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Fujimotos

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The Fujimoto's took the boys and myself out to lunch last week to say thank you for taking such good care of Nana. Mrs. Fujimoto held Kellan while I ate and Jolon managed to do pretty well once the food came. As you can see in the video, things were a little crazy before the food arrived.

Poor Baby Kellan

Jan's bike accidentally fell over after he'd gotten Jolon off of it, but while Kellan while still in the front basket. Unfortunately he'd already taken Kellan's helmet off. It was quite a scare, but all turned out fine. With his scraped cheek and puffy, black eye, Kellan (and I) have gotten even more attention than usual strolling around town.

Bento boxes

I made these lunches last week for the boys' field trips.
spinach quiche, boiled pumpkin with soy sauce based sauce, piece of salmon..which I bought already cooked (shhhh, don't tell on me), mini-tomato, steamed asparagus, ratatouille gratin, rice balls.

Playing in their room