Making furniture

We got a new side table and chest which Jolon took great pleasure in helping Jan put together. Of course Jolon thought of Grandpa and so we decided to take some pictures just for him.

Jolon's new trick

Happy Birthday

My friend, Jackie, made these delicious cookies for my birthday and gave them to me in the cute wooden box.

Kaki Gori (Snow cones)

We went to a flea market yesterday and got an old-fashioned snow cone maker for about $3.00. Jolon LOVES kaki gori, but it's usually made with colored, artificially flavored hfcs (high fructose corn syrup). I squeezed some grapefruit juice, added some sugar and the boys seemed to like it just as much as the real thing.

Through the magnifying glass

Kellan must have seen Jolon closing one eye while he looked through the magnifying glass.

Uh Oh

Most have been fun...........but Kellan didn't appreciate the lecture that followed.

Jolon latest

Jolon's foot went to sleep: "My foot is twinkling."

We've been going to the "family pool" a lot these past few weeks and Jolon has gone from barely being able to put his face in the water to learning to turning flips underwater. The first day we went into the 80 cm pool (water up to his chest) I was scared to take my eyes off of him, afraid that if he got knocked under, he might panic and not be able to get back up by himself. They've done a lot at school in a shallow pool, which has made the learning process really enjoyable...in fact they really haven't tried to teach him anything. They've encouraged putting his face under water and breathing out, but mainly focused on dolphin jumps and seal tricks (pushing balls around with their noses). With both of us wearing goggles we can play silly game after silly game. Not sure who's having more fun.

new boots

Kellan saw these in a shop and had to have a pair (as soon as he saw them, he started pointing and yelling, "ku ku," the Japanese word for shoes). Luckily they were on sale and had his size. He's very picky about his shoes these days and honestly throws a massive tantrum if he doesn't get to wear his black aqua shoes that are a size too big, so that's all he's been wearing for a week. We have to pick our battles and despite having several pair of adorable plaid shoes (in his size), ugly pool shoes it is.

Keeping a secret

Grammy put money in our home account not only for a nice anniversary dinner out (thank you...it was fantastic) but also for a birthday cake. She suggested that Jan get it at the Alice (as in Alice in Wonderland) cake shop which we used to go past on our way to hoikuen. Jolon has always been fascinated by it and in fact the only other time he's had anything from there was when we bought Jan (one piece of) cake on his birthday. 2 days before my birthday I noticed Jan and Jolon were whispering about something and when I asked what, Jan said "baseball." Jolon looked very confused....more whispers and then Jolon laughed and concurred that they were talking about baseball. Apparently Jolon really enjoyed keeping the secret, although at times nearly let it slip. Once in fact, as they were on their way to run some errands, Jolon loudly said, "Daddy, don't forget about the cake!" Jan pointed at me with a "shhhhhh," and Jolon clapped his hands over his mouth and looked horrified. He actually looked really upset, like he wished he could just do anything to take the words back. Jan had to keep reassuring him that it was ok, I probably hadn't heard. He picked out the cake, white cream frosting with strawberries, and he chose the message all by himself. Well, actually his first choice was just, "Mommy," until Jan suggested he think of something a little longer. He was so proud to show it to me. Later when Jan was talking about how well he did keeping the secret, he agreed he'd done a good job but he remembered and mentioned how one time he'd said the word, "cake," too loudly. Hitomi was over that night for a lesson and she stayed for a little while after we'd gone to dinner, but Suzie was the real babysitter. We went out from 8 until 10 and poor Kellan never went to sleep. Regardless, we had a great meal and a lovely time just the two of us.

Power team, Ibuki and Kachiku!!

Sometime I will go into detail and write more about Jolon's wonderful teachers. Ibuki Sensei has been with Jolon since he was 4 months old and Kachiku Sensei was his teacher for some of the year during his Little Pig class, 2 years ago. When Jolon does something wrong or is thinking about doing something wrong, sometimes a simple, "What would Ibuki or Kachiku say?" can make Jolon stop and reconsider. They are the most amazing, kind, dedicated, and natural teachers. Thank you, Ibuki and Kachiku!

Big brother

Quite often Jolon is a big help and really watches out for Kellan. Several times recently he's been the first one to see that Kellan is standing up on the chair, reaching for the knife, playing with the pedals on the bike, reaching for the elevator as it closes, walking down the stairs by himself, pushing the broom handle through the balcony railing, etc. etc. He can also be extremely tolerant of Kellan, like in the pictures above where he is allowing him to stand up on the stool with him and see what good things are to be found on the kitchen counter. When Kellan yells at full volume, we're all likely to give him whatever he wants and sometimes this means that Jolon is forced to give up a toy or some food even when it's really his turn or his food. And generally, Jolon is ok with it. Certainly better than we anticipated based on things we'd read and heard.

If you have a fight with your friends

you will still see them tomorrow.

Enoki (hackberry tree)

Last week Jolon went with his class to see a hackberry tree which had been burned in the A-bomb. Before going they studied about how after the bomb people thought the trees might not grow back for a long time, if ever. At the site of one of the military hospitals there was a big Mommy hackberry tree, and to people's surprise, it survived or at least what his class is calling the "baby tree" is flourishing. We knew his class was going but didn't know where the tree was. One evening we were cycling down the river and Jolon suddenly said, "back there is where the enoki is." It was hot, we were riding fast, all of the river banks look basically the same and Jan and I were both sure that he didn't know what he was talking about. Plus we'd ridden by that part of the river for years and thought it we knew it pretty well. But we discussed it and decided to give Jolon the benefit of the doubt. We cycled back a little ways and sure enough Jolon pointed to a little sign, we took a short path to a monument and to the enoki tree that survived and learned about the history of the military hospital. Even though the building itself was obliterated in the bomb, people came to that area for help afterwards, temporary shelters were put up, and hundreds of people were cared for there.

3 year old logic

This morning Jolon wanted to take a long way to school so that we could ride by a special tree that they visited last week at his school. When he asked Jan if we could go that way, Jan said we were running late and wouldn't have time.

Jolon: But it's not late. It's early.

Jan: How do you know it's early?

Jolon: Because a little while ago I thought it wasn't so early, and then it was, and I remembered.

???

"Itai" (Ouch, that hurts)

Kellan's new favorite word: "ITAI," which translates, "ouch." I guess with all the biting and scratching at school, he often hears other kids saying it, so it's his new reaction to anything he feels is displeasing in any way....which is a lot of things! For example: if we offer him food which he doesn't want, "itai." if we pick him up to move him away from something he shouldn't be touching, "itai." sometimes even a disapproving look from one of us earns an "itai." We were in a restaurant the other day and waiting for the food to come and Jan picked Kellan up to get him away from the water glasses the waitress had just set down. Immediately Kellan screamed, "itai," as if he'd been burned. The 3 tables around us suddenly froze. First of all they were surprised that this little blond baby was speaking Japanese. Plus they must have been trying to figure out what hurt him. (Did that guy just smack him?) A little embarrassing, but very funny.