Jolon decorating Easter cookies

We made a few Easter egg cookies for the boys' teachers.

Kellan loves

food. He loves to eat and often packs away more than Jolon. In the evenings we can't set the table until just before we serve the food, because as soon as he hears the dishes clanging, he runs to the table and starts demanding something. When he does see or hear us putting the dishes out, he drops everything and yells, "Let's Eat!" or in Kellan-speak, "Yets eeeeat!!"

He also loves pockets and proudly shows them off when his pants have them. He is a huge fan of shorts since that's all they wear at hoikuen, and this winter it was hard to get long pants on him.....until we realized that the pockets were the key to getting him interested. Jan started calling him, Pocket Monkey, and it has kinda stuck. We love our chubby, little Pocket Monkey!

funny things the boys say

We had a picnic in the park last night under the cherry blossoms. Grilled hotdogs, beef, and lots of vegetables on a little old-style Japanese bbq. Stayed until long after it got dark, and as we were walking home, Kellan pointed up to the moon, and said, "Dere's da moon." He was still looking up as we walked by a big building, which obscured the view of the moon. As we got past it, he pointed again, and said, "Dere's anuder moon."

This reminded Jan of one time when Jolon woke up and said to him, "I had a dream about you last night." Jan asked, "What was I doing?" and Jolon looked at him with a serious expression and said, "Don't you remember?"

1st day of the new school year

This year Kellan leaves the Small Pigs class and goes to the Lion class. There are many changes for him, and lots more responsibilities. We won't be going into the school to help him put away his towel and clothes anymore, instead we put everything he needs into his new backpack and he'll put them away himself as part of his morning duties. According to his teachers, he keeps wanting to go into the Small Pigs classroom and they've had some trouble convincing him to trudge upstairs to his new class. About the only way they can avoid a meltdown is to remind him that his new backpack is up there. He LOVES it. He wears it around at home, is constantly pointing to it and then pointing to Jolon's. He even walked home most of the way yesterday wearing it, long after Jolon had thrown his onto the stroller. Oh and now he can't wear his diaper to school. So we are being forced to be a bit stricter with toilet training at home too. I wasn't too happy about having to begin doing that at home, since every time we try, it seems to backfire. But yesterday at the park, he heard Jolon ask to go to the toilet and sure enough 15 minutes he told me he needed to go and then did. 20 minutes after that, he told me again and went again. Even after we got home, he told us he had to go during dinner and did. So, perhaps this is a good chance for me to train him before the baby comes.


Jolon graduated from the Spring Wind class to the Blue Sky class. His week has gone well and with his new responsibilities come lots of fun activities. Already this week, they've gone for a long walk to a new park (Pirate Park!) and last night we cut his nails, packed his apron and bandana, all ready for baking cookies today. He's told his teachers that his "ganbaru koto" personal goal is to listen better during the morning meeting and not play around so much while the teachers are explaining things. His teacher wrote that although things (especially langugage) will become more difficult this year, it will only serve to make his mind and spirit stronger. Good luck Jolon!!

watching a movie together

Kellan usually doesn't last too long in front of the computer, but more and more, whatever Jolon is doing, he wants to do it too.

Adjusting well to life back in Japan

The jet lag didn't seem quite as bad coming back this way and we had nothing to do the first few days after we arrived, so the transition was pretty smooth. The boys are very happy at school. They both got a very warm welcome from their friends. Actually they both got tackled by the first kids in their class who saw them....Jolon loved that; Kellan hated it. As usual, the teachers had made a big deal about the arrivals so the kids all knew they were coming on Friday. Jolon got to give each kid the Curious George gummies that Grandpa sent back, and apparently he enjoyed doing that. We gave Kellan's class little Oreo stick cookies with tiny pots of the white creme, which you dunk the cookies into. The parents had never seen that kind of thing so that was a big hit too. Kellan cried while we were there the first few days but stopped as soon as we were out the door. Every morning this week, until today, he would get in the classroom and close his eyes, as if doing that made him invisible. It was a really funny way of reacting to a somewhat stressful situation. Meanwhile his friends kept coming up to him and saying his name, giving him leggos, etc. while he just stood there listening to them with a half smile on his face but his eyes shut tight. Anyway, today he barely looked up at me when I said goodbye and the teachers have assured me that he's been fine after we leave. Although, he's not eating quite as much as he did in America (thank goodness), he and Jolon are both enjoying their brown rice and eggs in the mornings and not begging for waffles as I feared. In fact, they are back to eating rice two or three times a day again and loving it. Kellan, who I think is going to be an even better eater than Jolon actually loved my wild mushroom soup the other night which I couldn't believe....big, slimy shitake mushrooms in a butter, chicken stock and sherry broth. Not typical kid's food, but he ate all of his and as much of mine as I would give him. We're trying to keep the sticker thing going here to encourage Jolon to get dressed in under an hour. Kinda works most days, but it's still the most frustrating part of every morning. The Spider Man toothbrush for Jolon and the Thomas toothbrush which plays a tune for Kellan are making toothbrushing a lot easier. It's hilarious to see Kellan dancing to the music...he's started kicking one leg out like a chorus line girl and bopping around with that goofy smile.

Questions from Jolon

Jolon and I woke up early together this morning (about 5:45), he rolled over and asked, "Mommy, why do you love me so much?"

Malaina: Because I'm your Mommy. I love you so much all the time.

Jolon: But do you love me when I do bad things?

M: Everybody does mean or bad things sometimes, and I love you no matter what.

J: Cause everybody does mean things sometimes, even you....right?

M: That's right.

J: And everybody makes mistakes sometimes.

M: That's right.