Kind of Blah, Ho-Hum Feeling

I'm feeling a bit tired and blah this week, a completely unproductive week all around. Oh well. Tomorrow is Saturday, so I have both Gaku and Hana for the day. I think we need to go do something fun, so I can reset. Maybe we'll go to that water museum from the guide on kids in Tokyo? Maybe we'll just go hang out at one of the jidokans (baby play centers)? It's supposed to rain in the afternoon, so we'll have to do something indoors.

Hana is getting more and more mobile and interactive. It's so much fun to watch her and Gaku together. She absolutely loves her big brother! When she hears his voice, she looks for him. All he has to do is make a funny face and start laughing, and she'll just laugh and laugh. It's contagious. It makes me laugh every time.

Hana is already pretty tough, and seems to have a pretty strong will of her own. She was on her stomach lifting her upper body up with her arms. Gaku (on purpose) knocked one of her arms out from under her. She kind of made a small noise of complaint. She lifted herself back up, and he did it again. Boy did she let out a scream. She was so pissed! It only lasted for a few seconds, but wow! She was very clearly telling him not to mess with her. He didn't do it again, but that could also be because at the same time both Tak and I yelled at him not to pick on his little sister.

Then a bit later the same day, she was playing with a toy. It's an empty plastic bottle with some beads in it that I made when Gaku was a baby. Lately, Hana really likes this bottle. She was sitting in her Baby Bumbo chair and holding it, when Tak took it from her. She kind of complained a bit. He gave it back, and she stopped instantly. Tak took it again, and she complained again. About the third or fourth time, she let out her big scream. But it cut off instantly once she had the toy back in her hands.

Hana is also a huge talker. She's always making noise and talking. Lately, I think she's starting to make certain sounds when she wants certain things. She says "ne ne ne ne..." when she wants to nurse and sleep. If she just wants to nurse or be held by me, she says "ma ma ma ma..." Sometimes, it seems like she gives a half-wave to say good bye to people down in the bath. The wave could still just be lucky timing since she doesn't do it all the time, but the two things she's saying have been pretty consistent over the past week.

Hana also puts EVERYTHING straight in her mouth. I left her on the floor in the living room for just a minute and when I came back, she was eating Tak's newspaper. A few days ago, she got a hold of my cell phone strap. It had some beads and some flowers made of fabric on it. The beads were properly strung on the thread, but I discovered that the flowers were just glued on, I think with double-sided tape. Hana had sucked them right off the string. A few minutes later, she was gagging and Tak realized she still had one of the flowers in her mouth, so I scooped it out. Gonna have to watch her like a hawk!

Sad News, Life Goes On...

I haven't written my blog for a while. I just didn't know quite what to write for the last few days.

On Monday, I had a message on my mobile phone to call Mary Ann. I noticed that she had sent the message at 5:30 am her time (6:30 pm here), but I didn't see it until a few hours later. I knew something was up because of the time she sent the message. I had expected something along the lines of Mary Ann had to go to the hospital because of her anemia, or something with her mom or dad. So I was quite shocked and very sad to hear the real news.

Michael Spaman passed away on Sunday night. (I'm not going to post any more details in my blog because not everyone knows, or should know, all of them.)

He has left behind family and friends who love him very much. I can't know what he was thinking, but can hope that whatever was were haunting him has not followed him to where he is now.

Mary Ann, James, Shane and Holly: I love you guys a lot!! I'm sending you lots of (telepathic) hugs and prayers. I can't wait to see you all when we get back to the States and hope that gives you something to look forward to!

Now, on a lighter note, here are some funny Gaku conversations/stories.

In front of the supermarket.

Gaku: Daddy, why is that dog tied up outside the store? Why can't he go into the store?

Tak: He might poop in the store.

Gaku: (thinking) Well, I won't poop in the store.

Hana was crying.

Tak: Gaku, why is Hana crying?

Gaku: Because I was picking on her all the time.

(I don't think he did anything that time.)

At daycare, they have a fairly good-sized pool. This is the first year he's been able to go in it. The past two years, he could just play in buckets and small inflatable pools on the veranda. They put one of those rings you can go through on the bottom of the pool. Gaku went underwater and swam through the ring!! Wow!

Summer Means...

• Clear, blue skies with fluffy, white clouds
• The hot sun beating down on you
• Soporific heat, and sweating, while lying next to the pool, half asleep in a kind of trance-like state
• Knowing that you can't resist too much longer before jumping in to the nice cool water
• Sounds of kids laughing and splashing in the pool
• Ice-cold water from the cooler box
• Cicadas singing in the trees
• The pleasure of a good book (being read by the pool, of course)

(You can substitute "the lake" for "the pool" above.)

This is kind of how I felt this afternoon. Tak was off in one of the pools with Gaku, and Hana was sleeping on a towel next to me.

Summer is definitely my favorite season!!

:)

Keeping in Touch

I guess my favorite thing about computers,the internet all this technology is the social aspect. It allows me to keep in touch with family and friends who are far away, and facilitates making new friends.

I have to say that I'm completely hooked on facebook now. Last year, people in my office were talking a bit about mixi (a Japanese networking site), but I never went and checked it out. Then I heard talk about myspace and facebook, but I thought they were probably just a waste of time, something trendy that younger people are doing (like IMing, which I never really got into as it often annoyed me when trying to do something else on my computer). So in January I started this blog, thinking it was a great way to keep people informed of what we are doing. But I did find a limitation the first time I tried to post video: the video file had to be a few mb smaller than the one I wanted to upload and the playback was crappy. So in March I was talking with my friend Mary Ann and she was telling me about myspace, so I created a profile, but the interface was really busy and I couldn't navigate it easily. So I figured, what the heck, now I'll check out facebook as well. I have to say that facebook has turned out to be my favorite. I can import this blog right into the notes section without doing anything more than just posting the blog. And I can supplement the blog with unlimited videos and photo albums.

I suppose having a lot of my family on facebook from the beginning helped as well... I love how easy it is to share our daily lives, and read other people's news.

I have to confess to one problem, though. I spend a lot of time on my electronic albums and still haven't made physical albums to send to my grandparents. I was originally going to add a lot of stories and stuff to the photos and albums (like I do on facebook), but I think I'll just send the photos. Maybe I can even get it done tomorrow... (But I also need to clean out the closet tomorrow if I can...) I suppose, for me, the only thing that would make these sites even more fun for me would be having my grandparents on them, but they aren't part of the technology. I do have to say that I enjoy my regular phone calls with them. I try to call at least once or twice a week. It's nice for me to talk to them and I know they really appreciate the contact.

Now, for anyone on the Loree side of my family... I'm really getting more and more worried about Grandma. Every time I talk to her on the phone, she seems to be mentally slipping a bit more. I was talking to family today about Colleen's shower on Saturday. And even my other grandma commented on how much weight she has lost and how frail she is looking. I know that it's difficult to visit regularly since the closest people are more than an hour away. But it doesn't cost much time at all to pick up the phone and call. If you don't talk to her very often, please do call her! Her number is 810-982-1135. I know she loves picking up the phone and hearing a friendly voice at the other end. Not to be doom and gloom or anything, but I don't expect her to be around for too much longer, and am now worrying if she'll even make it until we get back...

Now, I'm just starting to depress myself, so I need to end this on a happier note with a couple of pictures of Hana and Gaku that I took today!




Oh, and an update on the Toy Story lingo. This evening Gaku was playing with his Buzz, and the latest phrase he has added to his play is "mayday". He has completed the phrase to match the movie.

"Mayday, mayday. Come in Star Command."

Gaku's Mimicking / The Embassy

Yesterday, Tak took Gaku out looking for cicadas again. On the way back they stopped and rented a movie - Toy Story (again). So Gaku was watching it yesterday afternoon. And while he was watching it, he was repeating phrases from the movie, things like, "you're a toy", "that's not flying", and "stupid dog". I'm sure these phrases, and others, will be popping up in Gaku's play. It's interesting because he speaks mostly Japanese to most people. But when he's playing by himself with his characters, he uses more English. And he tends to speak English to Hana (Tak noticed this).

Today, Tak and I went to the embassy for our first visit for getting Tak's visa. I really wish they would update their site. The information on how long things take couldn't possibly be any more vague.

First:

Due to security concerns and space constraints, only those with appointments will be admitted. The petitioner is required at the petitioning. Both the petitioner and beneficiary should be present to submit the I-130 petition. Given the space limitations, no family members other than beneficiaries will be admitted. In view of the amount of time it takes to complete the process, parents are kindly requested not to bring small children.

Second:

Interview Day Considerations

Check the date and time of your interview. Arriving too late may result in cancellation of your appointment.

If you fail to bring all the required documents or have incomplete forms, your appointment may be cancelled.

Only applicants with scheduled appointments will be admitted to the Embassy/Consulate, with the exception of children under 18 years of age accompanied by a parent and assistants for the disabled.

All visitors to the Embassy/Consulate are subject to an airport-type screening. When planning your visit, bring only what is needed for your business with us. If you have items with you that cannot be taken into the Embassy/Consulate, your entry (and the entry of those in line behind you) will be delayed. Due to security measures, you may have to wait a considerable amount of time outside the Embassy/Consulate. Please dress for the weather.

"Given the amount of time" is so vague. Does it take 1 hour? 2 hours? 3 hours? We were done in a little less than an hour, but we were the first ones in the door.

"May have to wait a considerable amount of time outside the Embassy" is also very vague. In the past, I've seen lines that would take well over an hour to get through. Before they streamlined the screening so you could go to the front of the line for citizens services, I had to wait over an hour to get in one time.

So we had an appointment at 2:00 this afternoon. So with the concern that "arriving too late may result in cancellation of your appointment", what time should we get there? From the vague descriptions on the website, no idea. So we decided to go early and got there at around 11:30. There was no one waiting so we asked the guy at the security checkpoint how long it takes to get in. He said if there were "a lot of Brazilians" (some days there were "50 Brazilians"), it might take 30 minutes! That's all? So we decided to go kill some time and have lunch and get back at 1:00 so we could get in and out as quickly as possible. A little before 1:00, we were sitting in a nearby Starbucks and I told Tak we should go back to the embassy. So we get there only to be told that the gates don't open until 1:50! It was a pretty hot afternoon. If I had known that, we would have sat in Starbucks a bit longer, and aimed to get back to the embassy at 1:30. Some other people started showing up around 1:15 to 1:30, but they didn't know about not being able to enter until 1:50 either. I guess the one good thing is that we were first in line! Tak observed that you probably still end up waiting the same amount of time, but something about doing your waiting earlier (rather than inside, after other people) makes it seem faster.

From the website, I had no idea what time we should expect to get out of there and whether or not we would be able to get Gaku. No problem. I guess, logically, I should know that there wouldn't be a problem since the hours are only until 5:00. But I wasn't thinking about that earlier.

Also, for today's visit, we were basically just filing paperwork. There wasn't really an interview and it didn't take so long. We could have taken Hana with us. Some other people had their kids. But it was nice to be a bit lighter!

Now, we have to get some more paperwork together and wait for more "instructions" in the mail. Then we'll have to fill out more paperwork and Tak will have to get a health check. From what I understood today, the next visit is an "interview" and only Tak has to go. But I think I should also go, in case there are any questions/issues. Now, I'm wondering how long this next visit will take and if it's really not okay to take Hana with us. She's pretty easy and hardly ever cries. I'll have to think about it, but we'll probably leave her with Obachan again like we did today.

But I do think the embassy could make their website and some of the waiting/processing times a bit clearer. Instead of vague adjectives, a time range would be nice.

Summertime and the Living is Easy

We were planning to go to the pool again today, but decided we'd better skip it today. Gaku had a low-grade fever yesterday. At daycare, he DIDN'T WANT TO GO IN THE POOL! That has to be a first time. Depending on how things go today, we'll probably go to the pool tomorrow.

Gaku is really, really into cicadas this year. Last year he was interested, but a bit afraid. He didn't want to touch them. This year he has no problem picking up the live ones. He's also got quite a collection of their shed shells. Last night after dark, Tak and Gaku went to look for the baby cicadas crawling out of the ground. There were so many that the ground was white with them, instead of green. Tak said he'd never seen anything like it. Gaku was scared, so they didn't stay too long.

This morning, Gaku came in and woke me up at 6:30. He said he wanted to go look for cicadas. I told him he'd have to ask his dad. Sorry, mommy is not up to cicada hunting. Eeww... I'm okay with the shells. And I'm okay with the live ones as long as they're outside or in the box, and I don't have to touch them. Gaku and Tak caught a lot of cicadas, but let them all go - good for the cicadas and for me!



On the way back from cicada hunting, they stopped at Mogu Mogu bakery and bought some bread. Gaku managed to get chocolate everywhere!



After breakfast, we decided it was time to "buzz" his head again. So I sat him on the deck with a plastic bag as an apron and got out the shaver. I set it shorter than usual this time (2 mm). I put Toy Story on the iPod and fed him lots of candy while we did it. Actually, this time I only gave him 3 pieces. He was much better about letting me "cut" his hair this time. I guess he's growing up and knows that it won't last very long. After that I threw him in the bath. He needed to get the hair off, and he was super stinky anyway. He didn't get a bath last night since he fell asleep in the bike seat on the way back from cicada hunting.



Hana is quite funny lately. When I push the shutter on the camera halfway to focus, a red light comes on. She now realizes that this means a flash is coming soon. So she starts to squint as soon as she sees the red light, in anticipation of the coming flash.



If I hold the button just a bit longer, she'll stop squinting and I can get her! It's fun how much she anticipates what we're going to do. As soon as I get out one of the slings and start putting it on, she gets really excited because she knows this means I'm going to carry her and we're going to go out somewhere. She also gets excited when she sees me starting to put things in the bag to go down to the bath. And when we're down in the changing room, she gets even more excited when Obachan starts to undress her, meaning entering the bath is imminent.

She's starting to roll over onto her stomach a lot more and lift herself up. She's also tucking her knees up under herself sometimes. So it probably won't be too much longer before she's crawling. Yikes!

Another Fun Day at the Pool

I took both little ones to the Edogawa Pool Garden by myself today. It's much nicer, less crowded on a week day. I think there were only about 2/3 the number of people today compared to Sunday. When we got there, it was about lunch time, so we had some onigiri and I nursed Hana before we got in the pool. We played for about an hour, when they blew the whistle for everyone to get out of the pools. They do this once an hour to check that everything is okay.

Gaku is so much fun to take out anywhere, but especially fun to take to the pool. He's so social and such a flirt. Today we "made friends" with another family, who had a daughter around 11-12 years old, going around the lazy river. He was splashing the dad and having a great time. Then later in the day he found a couple of girls who were about 13 to flirt with. They were splashing him and he was splashing them. He has absolutely no fear of the water and loves to be dunked in it and stick his head under the water. He was a bit stand-offish in the kiddie pool, though. Some boys a few years older than Gaku were splashing and attacking the life guard. Gaku was watching them and I think he really wanted to join in, but he was a bit... scared? worried? In the end, he got close, but didn't quite join in.

Gaku started making funny faces for me while we were taking our break.



At about 2:30, Hana was getting really sleepy. We were in the "lazy river" pool, but Gaku didn't want to get out yet. She actually fell asleep in her little tube in the pool. We went around about 2 more times before Gaku agreed to get out. Then I laid Hana on the sheet and he said he needed to pee. So I had to pick her up again, but she didn't even stir. When we got back from the bathroom, I laid her down again and she didn't move at all for about 30 minutes.



Today I took her Baby Bumbo chair. It was a huge help! It would have been very tricky to go to the bathroom without it. With the chair, I could carry it into the bathroom and set her in it there. Otherwise, I would have had to hold her. Also, she really likes to sit in the chair, so it was really uselful when trying to set up and put away everything. It also meant I could eat my lunch. She doesn't like to be laying down so much anymore, especially if we're out and about and there's interesting stuff for her to see.



As we were getting ready to leave the pool, Gaku started worrying about how he was going to get his promised ice cream. I told him he had to wait until we got to the station. Right in front of/under the station is a Baskin Robbins. So we ate our ice cream on a bench in front of it. Gaku got in his stroller and he was asleep before we even got off the elevator into the station.

After dinner, Tak took Hana down to the bath (I got Gaku tonight - not nearly as easy as Hana considering he was really tired). When I got back from the bath with Gaku, she was already asleep. She hasn't changed position at all and that was a couple of hours ago. I looked at her once really carefully to make sure she's still breathing!

Well, the washing machine just stopped so it's time to hang up the final load of laundry for the night and go to bed. It's amazing how much laundry a day at the pool can generate.

Fun Weekend - Fireworks and Pool

What a great weekend we just had. I think it'll take me a fair amount of the day to get everything cleaned up and put away.

On Saturday, we went to the Itabashi Fireworks. Now this doesn't just mean going in the evening. I always go in the early afternoon to lay out a huge sheet and get a spot for everyone. Otherwise, you end up watching from some cramped spot on a steep slope. We always go down to this big field and set up there around noon or so. I borrowed a small pop-up tent from Mizuho so we had some shade during the afternoon. Before going I made edamame, corn on the cob and Coca Cola chicken to take. Tak made a whole bunch of onigiri. Then we stopped at a convenience store on the way to load up on drinks and ice. We got there around 1:00. The day before I had bought a really small kite at Tokyu Hands. Before we had even completely finished setting up, Tak had it out and was trying it out. For the first hour, there wasn't quite enough wind, but then it picked up just a bit. Gaku had a great time with the kite. Then Tak and Gaku went off in search of cicadas, something they do almost every morning, early before Gaku goes to daycare. I was quite surprised when they came back with over 30 shells. Tak couldn't carry any more. Gaku had his hands and pockets full of them. (I wasn't very happy about the pockets when I had to pick the broken off legs out before washing the shorts. Yuck!) Then they went off for a walk in the buggy and Gaku fell asleep, which was the main point of the walk. Then while they hung out on the sheet, Hana and I went off for a walk using one of the slings. She was sleepy too, but couldn't sleep, so the walk sent her off to sleep. It was a pretty hot afternoon.

Usually, the Mukai family comes to join us in the evening, but this year they didn't go because they were planning to leave at 5 am on Sunday to go to the ocean down on the Izu penninsula. Instead, I asked one of Gaku's friends from daycare if they were going and would like to join us. They were planning to arrive around 6. At about 5 Gaku started saying he wanted to go to Miku's house. We told him that we weren't going to Miku's house because she was meeting us there. He started getting a bit bored and fussy. Once Miku and her family arrived, Gaku was back in fine form, running around and entertaining everyone. The fireworks started at a little after 7. Who do you think watched them the most? Certainly not Gaku - Hana! She was so fascinated by them. She didn't like the noise at first when she was being held by Miku's sister. But once she was sitting in my lap, she just sat there watching them, so quiet and still, completely enraptured.





I don't mind going early in the afternoon and setting up for the fireworks, but I always dread getting home after them. It's such a hassle with the kids, buggies and other gear. The trains are more packed than rush hour and it's impossible to find a taxi. We always have debates about what's the best way to get home. We still haven't really found a good way; there probably isn't one. This year we walked about an hour to Nakasendo and started walking along it in the direction of our house. Every taxi that came by was either done for the night or had a passenger. So I was looking at taxis going the other way. I saw a guy catch one and saw three more empty ones go by. So I told Tak we should cross the street and catch one going the wrong way. We crossed the street and there were 3 empty taxis waiting at the light. Yay!

Gaku was already out. He slept the whole way home. When we got to the bottom of the steps at our place, Tak picked Gaku up out of the buggy. He started kicking and crying that he wanted to go home and he wanted to sleep. I was laughing because that's just what we wanted too! Tak laid him on the futon and he didn't move at all! I was so tired, but so hot and sweaty that I had a serious debate. But in the end, I decided to take Hana down for a bath. When I got undressed, I realized that I had the funkiest sunburn on my back. I got burned just in the time we were walking from the station to the field. The reason I know this is when I got burned is I had a big, wide X on my back from the Babybjorn carrier.

So, Tak took off on Saturday to go to the fireworks early with us. Instead he worked on Sunday. But on Sunday I had plans to go meet some women at Edogawa Pool Garden. We were pretty tired and I debated whether or not we should cancel. But I really wanted to go and figured if we stayed home all day, I'd probably have to kill Gaku since he was being a bit fussy and ornery. So I got everything ready and took both kids to the pool by myself. The train transfer is a bit of a pain in the butt (lots of steps, no elevator or escalators). On the way home, Gaku was sleeping in the buggy and Hana was in a sling. I figured I might be able to take an elevator up to ground-level, go outside and take another elevator back down to the other line. I asked the station guy and he made a couple of phone calls. Two station employees escorted me through Otemachi station from the Tozai line to the Mita line, carrying Gaku in the buggy up and down the steps. What service! Sometimes it pays to just ask nicely.

The pool itself is great. I was thinking we would just stay a couple of hours but Gaku didn't want to leave so we stayed until after 4:00. The great thing is the entrance fee is only 500 yen for me (the kids are young enough to be free) and Hana can go in. There are so many pools in Tokyo that I can't even take her poolside since she's not potty trained. At this place I can not only take her poolside, but she can actually go in all of the pools as long as she has a pool diaper and a proper bathing suit. The "lazy river" pool was lots and lots of fun. Gaku had his water wings on and he just loved it. He would stick his head under the water and come up just laughing and laughing. About three times throughout the day he complained about his stomach hurting. I think it's because he ended up swallowing too much pool water. We borrowed a small boat from one of the women and Hana just loved sitting in that. I so wished I could have gotten a picture of her! Everyone was commenting on what a little princess she looked like, just sitting back resting against the back. At one point it looked like she was resting her head on her hand. I was saying she was like a little Cleopatra on the Nile. I plan to go to this pool every week for the rest of the summer!