Playing with water on the balcony

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What's for dinner?

How about freshwater eel? This is a traditional, midsummer Japanese dish. They call it stamina food. The eel has lots of fat to give energy to keep moving in the heat. Jan had a late class and I had to get dinner on the table and sometimes it's easier to enlist the boys' help rather than fight to keep them out of the kitchen. In fact it was a lot of fun cooking with them. Jolon did an excellent job cutting the eel with the BIG knife and I had another little helper who did his part equally as well.

Asami

We went to the Family Pool on Saturday and since Jan was working, Asami came over to help me out. She was a big help and the boys really enjoyed her. After lunch we watched a bit of a movie before naps.

Our neighbors probably think we're crazy,

but a pool on the balcony is actually a lot of fun. Jan has even started bathing them out there (notice the shampoo cap on Jolon). Why not?

Every once in a while....

things get a little too quiet around the house. These days the toilet is the first place I look.

Jolon's favorite t-shirt

Hiroshima Carp, the local baseball team. He'd wear it every day if we let him.

Chadokuga (Poison tea tree moth)

Jolon got bitten by a poisonous moth. He came home yesterday with a rash on his abdomen and a slight fever, but he'd been for a long walk at school and a trip to the family pool with his class. We were pretty sure it was just a heat rash. But when we got to school this morning and showed his teachers, they knew right away that it was the moth. Jan took him straight to the doctor and she gave him some oral medication and cream to help stop the itching. As it turns out, it was most likely poison that was on the body of the moth that got on Jolon, and not actually a moth bite. These moths are out in the trees and parks this time of year. Poor thing, the rash is actually pretty nasty looking (click on the pictures to see up close just how bad it is). The good news is that it should clear up soon with the medicine. His teachers and the principal of the school all apologized to us profusely, although of course it's not their fault. I guess they must feel somewhat responsible when anything like this happens during school hours, but it wasn't anything that could be helped. I think a couple of kids from the older classes have the rash as well. When Jolon came home Wednesday afternoon, Jan said that the teachers had checked Jolon's temperature and mentioned that he had a low-grade fever but seemed otherwise ok (this was before the rash appeared). I'm actually amazed that with 20 kids, his two teachers even noticed that he was hot enough to check if he had a fever. It's nice to know that they take such good care of him and are that tuned in to how the kids look and feel.

Nastu Matsuri (Summer Festival)

Last weekend at Nakayoshi was the Summer Festival, which is a fund raiser for the school as well as a cultural event with a professional kagura performance in the evening. It's also a chance for the older children to show off their baking skills. Starting at 4:00 all of the children emerge from the school and the 3 older grades, wearing their bandanas and aprons, sell the cookies they've made. Then they take off their aprons and get to spend 300 yen (which the parents have paid in advance). Instead of actual coins, they have play paper money on a string around their necks and they go around in groups, play games and eat some things, buying each item themselves and paying with the paper money each time. They also carry paper bags with their names and marks on them which are to hold the things they buy or the prizes they win from the games they play. Meanwhile the parents are managing the games and selling sweets they've made in advance, as well as cooking things on the spot like stir-fried soba noodles, hot udon soup, and grilled chicken. I was in the cafe with parents from Kellan's class where we sold snow cones (kaki gori), coffee/tea, and homemade baked goods. Kellan's class only came out for about 30 minutes and the kids were wheeled around in carts...although for the opening ceremony they all walked out holding hands, which was SO ADORABLE. Then they went back inside and the teachers fed them an early dinner, having bought things from the festival. Jolon's group stayed together until 6:00 which was when the parents met up with the teachers and picked up their kids. We fed Jolon some dinner and Jan took the boys to watch the kagura (traditional Japanese performance)....an old story is told by a few characters on a small stage.  Three people sit to the side of the stage and play a drum and two flutes.  At the end of this particular famous story there is a big fight between a warrior and 4 giant dragon-snakes. Once I upload the video, I'll have to include it. Most of the kids in Jolon's class were scared and many cried when the dragon-like snakes came out. After it was all over we helped clean up and then went back into the school for a late snack with some of the parents and teachers.

Jolon latest

Jolon is doing great sleeping by himself these days. He goes to bed about 9:00 after books and a story (always about Jolon, Yura, and Mayu), usually without too much fussing. It's been pretty hot and he's actually been sleeping directly on the tatami some nights...by his own choice. It seems the tatami is cooler than the futon, but it does look very uncomfortable. The last few nights he's woken up and come into our bedroom and gone right back to sleep either on the floor at the foot of the bed, or in the bed at the bottom near our feet. He doesn't seem to mind, and since he's not waking us up, we're not about to try and change anything. He always pees in his little omaru toilet which Jan puts out every night in the bedroom when he wakes up and has to go.

It seems he's been pretty rough at school lately. Ibuki Sensei told Jan on Friday that he'd bloodied Shintaro's nose. She didn't see what happened and didn't seem worried about it. She said that it happens, the boys rough house and fight and it's normal. She happened to mention that Jolon had also had some kind of disagreement with Souta the day before and his nose had been bloodied! Of course I understand that the kids fight with each other, and the fact that the teachers don't seem to be too concerned makes me feel better. However, I'm pretty horrified to learn that Jolon has punched two of his friends in the face. I may have to talk to his teachers myself to be reassured that Jolon isn't being overly aggressive.

Kellan latest

Around 7:30 or 8, I'll say to Kellan, "time for bed," or "let's go to your bed." Immediately he'll start looking around for Jan and Jolon to give them goodnight kisses and when they stop saying the word, "kiss," which makes Kellan turn around and toddle back over to them to kiss them again (he could do it for hours I think), I'll say to him again, "let's get in your bed." He'll lead me to the bedroom, close the door behind me himself and start trying to climb into the bed, which he can do, it just takes him a few tries. Cutest thing the other night was when he bent down and turned on the sleep machine, then shut the door, then climbed into bed. I'm still not sure if he was just having fun pushing the button or if he really understood that it's part of the routine.

One of my favorite things about him right now is how he calls Jolon, "Jo Jo."We went to the pool today and he kept pointing at Jolon and seemed to be proudly saying his name.

He loves to give out people's shoes to them....usually just before we head out somewhere, but it could be anytime.

He bows his head when we say "arigatou" (thank you).

When he wants something to drink, he says, "tea." I guess he refers to all drinks as tea. When he sees any kind of a bottle, he usually says, "tea."

He's been going to sleep really easily lately. I'll take him in and nurse him in bed for a few minutes. If he doesn't go right to sleep after I've nursed him for awhile, which he usually doesn't, he'll cry for a few minutes and then settle himself down while I lay there in bed with him. I stay until he goes to sleep which is usually 5 to 15 or 20 minutes. I can handle that and it seems to be a good, easy routine for both of us right now. Quite often he'll wake up again an hour or two later, I'll go back in and nurse him to sleep easily within a few minutes. Then we'll go to bed and he'll wake up a few more times to nurse, but I'm still not sure exactly how often.

False Alarm

Sirens from 6 fire trucks and several police cars on the street below our bedroom woke me and Jan up at 4:30 Saturday morning. Luckily it was a false alarm and LUCKILY the boys slept through all the commotion.

Oni (Japanese traditional goblin)

At Nakayoshi (school), the teachers play games and read stories about traditional Japanese characters rather than Mickey Mouse or Anpanman (the Mickey Mouse of Japan). Onis are goblins/devils with big teeth and long claws. A long time ago people believed in scaring away evil spirits (especially around rice planting season), and the embodiment of the evil spirit is the oni. Anyway, just like kids back home like to pretend to be ghosts or monsters, kids here (especially boys) like to pretend to be onis. Scaring us by putting a sheet over his head or making funny faces is one of Jolon's favorite games at the moment.

On Tuesday evening we went in to talk to Ibuki Sensei about Jolon. She'd mentioned the week before that he sometimes looked a little stressed or sad at school. I'd written in the notebook that he'd been acting up some at home and asked how he was at school. What she had to say was basically all good. There are certain times when he gets bored/frustrated like when long books are read and also when they sing songs, as he only knows the words to the short ones. Jolon loves school and never complains or says he doesn't want to go, so we know that whatever stress he has, it's not overwhelming. Our only real worry is that he'll start to think that he's not good academically and give up too easily. But she said that quite often they'll find him listening intently to their explanations, and sometimes he'll answer questions directed to the class. Recently they went on a field trip and the teachers reiterated the rules throughout the day. During the final assembly, Jolon, was the first to yell out what they were.

Ibuki offered to make a recording of the songs and give us a copy of the words, so we can listen at home with Jolon and learn them together. One day last week Kachiku Sensei was explaining something during assembly. Jan was there to pick up Jolon, he watched Jolon listening very carefully and straining to see the poster that Kachiku was writing on as she spoke. We asked Ibuki if Jolon could sit closer to the front, which might help him concentrate better and also see the board, book, etc. better because he probably depends on the pictures more than anyone else. She agreed that would be good, but said he always chooses to sit in the back...with some of good friends who are also prone to play rather than listen. She said the kids are free to sit where they want so maybe we could encourage him to choose to sit up front. We talked about it with him and the next day Jan saw him right up front! Not sure that will last but interesting that he remembered and did it. Ibuki went on to say lots of nice things about Jolon...he's kind and good at "rhythm," and his friends love him, even though he can be a bit rough with them sometimes. She met with us for more than 45 minutes, starting at 5:45, after what I'm sure was a very long day for her. We love both of his teachers so much.

Day out with Kellan

We kept Kellan home yesterday and spent the morning going for a walk and then out to, Royal Host, a family restaurant for lunch. We were both teaching in the afternoon but at different times, so we passed him back and forth between classes. He loved the pizza.

Kellan June

Jolon June