Kellan

Kellan's teachers said that he and all of the boys in his class love trains. In fact at home, he can say "shinkansen," ("dindansen") and distinguish a picture of one from a regular train, "densha" ("dinsa"). They sing a song at school about a train and each child will grab onto the shoulders of the child in front of him until everyone is attached, forming a long train. It seems to be the favorite song at the moment in the little pigs class. Because trains are so popular at the moment, yesterday Mari Sensei made a little train out of a big cardboard box. 3 children can get in it, hold it up around their bodies and by walking together they can go around the room in the train. Fumiko Sensei wrote that when it was Boushi han's (Hat group, which is Kellan's small group) turn to do it in front of everyone, he became very shy and embarrassed and kept putting his face down on the ground.

Some of the words Kellan can say at the moment: Sensei, boushi, apple, banana, streetcar, car or "bu bu," which is the Japanese baby word for car, ball ("bebow"---that's not Japanese, just what Kellan is calling ball at the moment, pants, "ku ku," for shoes.

Some of his favorite things: balls, hats, shoes, trains, and streetcars

Favorite foods: fish, rice.....not much else, although he'll tolerate pumpkin, corn and broccoli. Unfortunately he likes little hotdogs which are quite popular in Japan. He also loves Japanese curry, which is something that all Japanese kids love.

Foods he doesn't like: fruit, potatoes, avocado

Nicknames: Kel Kel, Baby doll, Doll Bird, Doll Prince. (poor Kellan!)

Sleep: still not nightweaned. but most nights goes to sleep around 8:00, quite often with Jan who will sometimes give him a bottle of milk, but usually not and then he wakes up about 10 or 11 and cries the house down until I go in and nurse him. Then most nights he sleeps until 5ish and I'll nurse him again. Usually he'll then sleep until 6 or 7. I am intending to at least night wean him, but I must not be ready because I can't bring myself to do it. The other night he nursed for a long time on one side and I was nearly asleep again, assuming he was. Finally he popped himself off (rare) and said, "achi," which means "that one." In other words, he popped off to tell me he wanted the other nipple! I nearly laughed out loud.

Jolon-Ensoku (Field trip)

Jolon is going with his class to the famous island, Miyajima, today on a field trip. Luckily Hiromi and Toshi came over last night with tons of food so I was able to save some of the rice and tempura she made and put it into their bentos. (Kellan is also going on a field trip to a nearby park). I boiled some corn this morning, stewed a little pumpkin and included a baked chicken dish I made yesterday. Jolon had to be at school by 8:20 so I was up early getting the bento together and packing his bag. According to the newsletter yesterday he needed a water canteen, a bento, a plastic sheet to sit on, a plastic bag with a wet cloth, a plastic bag with a change of pants and underwear, a hat, and socks for his tennis shoes. These are all of the things that he's needed for field trips so far in Spring Wind class, and I usually make a big deal out of asking him to make sure everything is in the bag. We usually look at the newsletter the night before and pack the bag together. But last night with Toshi and Hiromi went late and this morning I did all of the packing myself without mentioning any of it to Jolon. So I was so surprised this morning when just as we were walking out the door, he stopped and asked me if I'd packed the plastic sheet he sits on while eating. I thought that was so mature of him to be thinking about what he needed for his trip before we left the house.

parks

Kellan can be a little possessive......

When Kellan gets really interested in something, Jolon is apt to try and take it off him, just to see how upset Kellan will get and what he'll do. Kellan is likely to do any (sometimes all) of the following: throw the item away (if I can't have it, he can't either), burst into tears and fall to the floor, try to bite or hit Jolon. And actually it can be pretty funny to see how quickly Kellan go from happy to furious. He can put on quite a show.

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.