Jolon park

This afternoon at home I sang the boys a silly song and did a crazy dance. They loved it and Jolon insisted I do it several times before his nap. Kellan clapped his little hands with delight throughout the whole thing. So this evening in the park, I decided to show Jan how funny it was and how much the boys had enjoyed it. As I started jumping and dancing around, Jolon said, "hurry up Mommy before my friends come over here." Only 3 and already I'm embarrassing him!!

Jolon-shoes

Jan and Jolon were reading a book yesterday.

Jolon: Look, Daddy! Are those shoes?
Jan: yes.
Jolon: He's wearing shoes in the house!
Jan: Sure, in England people wear shoes in the house. In America too. Grandpa wore shoes in the house, remember?
Jolon: (looking horrified) NO he didn't!

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.