Appeals to Parents - 甘える

It's so interesting to see how kids act differently when their own parents are gone and then return.

I went over to Jon and Colleen's house this week. I watched Abbie for a few hours and then Colleen watched them for the afternoon. Abbie, Gaku, and Hana were so excited at breakfast that none of them ate very much. They were too busy trying to make eachother laugh. Then we read lots of books and played. It's fun that they have cousins that are close in age.

As soon as Colleen got back, Abbie started really doing the mommy thing. She was using a kind of fake cry - half cry/half laugh - as soon as Colleen walked through the door. She wasn't very happy sharing her mommy with Hana and Gaku, and wanted all of Colleen's attention.

So, I left to go to work and they all played nicely during the afternoon. But as soon as I walked in the door in the evening, my two were doing the same type of "mommy appeal" that Abbie had done with Colleen earlier in the day. They were clamoring for every bit of my attention and wanting me to hold and snuggle them - even Gaku who isn't usually so snuggly anymore. And of course the minute I walked through the door, Gaku and Hana started fighting again.

But then Uncle Jon came home and all three kids wanted Uncle Jon/Daddy's attention. He was highest on the favorite person list at that moment.

Squirt Guns or Electric Collars for Kids?

You know, some days... Yesterday was one of those days.

They woke up fighting, fighting over toys, my water, my attention, snacks...

Some days I wonder... Would a squirt gun work? You know, how you train dogs to stop them from barking by squirting them when they don't stop? Or what about those electric dog collars? In this case, something on the wrist or ankle that is remote controlled. Just a little tiny ZAP to get their attention...

I dragged Gaku and Hana off to the chiropractor with me. Sometimes they're really, really good. Yesterday was NOT one of those days. While I was being treated with heat, they were playing with table. Gaku was sitting on it and encouraging Hana to step on the peddle. Up. Down. Up. Down. Nothing I said seemed to stop it. ZAP! Then when the doctor came in and was trying to treat me, Gaku was pushing on my legs. Then he started running around the room like crazy. The doctor stopped to tell him to stop running. ZAP! At least, they weren't interested in the water cooler yesterday, since they had their new sippy cups with them.

Then we went to Wendy's. They were good while I ordered, but Gaku was playing while eating, as always, and spilled milk everywhere. Then he was making me crazy while I was trying to clean it up. Hana almost spilled her milk. And Gaku realized he needed to pee, but thankfully decided he could wait a few minutes until we were done eating.

Then Meijers was a complete nightmare, right from the start! In the parking lot, Gaku was not listening and running ahead. BIG ZAP! I finally caught his hand, but he didn't want to hold my hand, so I had to almost drag him across the rest of the parking lot. ZAP! Then we got into the store and he wanted a TV cart. I will NEVER do one of those again after the last experience, a whole story in itself. So then he was grumpy because I wouldn't let him sit in the cart because I needed to buy some Sterilite drawers for the new baby's clothing. So in retribution, he started running around the store. ZAP! Then part way through our shopping trip, I realized that the cart I had grabbed did not have a proper buckle for the seat Hana was in. I hadn't strapped her in right at the beginning and now she was trying to climb out of the cart. ZAP! At one point, I had to stop and yell at both of them. Hana had kicked off one of her boots, and Gaku was playing with stuff from the shelves. ZAP! Then we were okay for a bit, until we got to the checkout. They were both climbing around like monkeys. ZAP! Then I realized that Hana's other boot was gone! Argh! And on top of that Hana had a poopy diaper. So we retraced our steps a bit to try and find the boot (since the toilets are on the other side of the store near the exit we were parked by). But no luck. We stopped and asked at customer service (right next to the bathroom), but it was too soon for it to have been turned in. We finally made it out of the store and to the car. Hana was asleep immediately.

Gaku was okay for a bit, until making dinner. He was helping me make risotto and garlic bread which is great! But he was a bit too tired, and we had a couple of meltdowns. He did a great job peeling the carrots. Then the problems started. He wanted to try and grate them for me as well. But the risotto was already on and time was of the essence. Meltdown. So instead I set him to work opening the big can of diced tomatoes, which made him happy. I got the carrots grated, but he only had the can of tomatoes half opened and I needed them. So I took over and he had another meltdown. Then he settled down a bit when I let him help put the garlic on the bread. Hana also woke up from her nap somewhere in the middle of all this. And it wasn't one of the days where she wakes up happy and agreeable. But luckily, I had hot cocoa waiting for her and this seemed to help quite a bit.

Luckily the rest of the night went smoothly. Bath and bed. So far, today is a much better day!

Cups That Don't Leak

Well, I'm always in search of the perfect sippy/straw cup, one that won't leak and that doesn't break too easily. I liked the Nuby straw cups best of all, until Gaku and Hana got a bit older. Now they bite through the straw part within a day. They still don't leak when closed, but are not really good for drinking out of anymore. Oh, and they are a bit of a pain to wash. So then I tried the Nuby sippy cups. Those were good for a few days, but then they bit them hard enough to break the part in the silicone top that prevents leaks. So now they're basically worthless because they leak. So a couple of days ago, I took the kids shopping with me at Walmart and Babies 'R Us and promised Gaku that I would get him a "small toy". Well, rather than a toy, he saw a couple of sippy cups that he liked - they were Toy Story. I figured they weren't very expensive, so okay, he could get them but that was his toy. He agreed and didn't ask for anything else at any of the stores. Hana got a pair that were Tinker Bell.

These sippy cups are by The First Years. The thing I noticed that is different is that all the way up to the very top is hard plastic. Then there's a small bit of silicone across the top of the harder plastic with a slit that they can suck the water through. So the part they're biting on is the hard plastic. So far so good... A couple of days with no leaks.

Now, I thought I could leave them alone with their water for a bit and not worry about leaks. So I was a bit surprised when Hana comes up to me with her head and shoulders completely soaked! I was trying to figure out what had happened. I tipped her cup upside down and shook it, mostly full and no leaks. So then I went and checked Gaku's. Hmmm... A bit suspect. No leaks but mostly empty. So I asked him why Hana's head was all wet. He kind of smiled but wouldn't say anything, of course. So I suggested that he had opened it and poured his water on, which he denied, but somehow this time his denial seemed believable. So what had happened? Well, about 30 minutes later, I figured it out! Hana took a drink of water, and what did she do? She spit it out all over the place in a very nice spray. Aha! Mystery solved.

Ahhhh... there may be leak-proof sippy cups, but there is no such thing as a kid-proof one!

Important Dates

Well, we've finally got the details worked out for our move to the States (well, most of them anyway).

On April 3, we're leaving Tokyo to go to Izumo. We'll spend about 2 and a half weeks in Izumo. Tak is arranging for internet service for while we're there. Yay! Otherwise, it's really hard to get any work done.

On April 22, we have a really long day! We catch a plane from Izumo to Tokyo (Haneda Airport) at about 7:30 in the morning, arriving in Tokyo at 9. Then we have to take a limousine bus (a little over an hour) from Haneda Airport to Narita Airport. Then at about 3:00 in the afternoon our plane leaves for Detroit. We'll have a few extra hours at Narita, but that's far better than being rushed all day. Hopefully, the weather will be nice and we can let the kids go run around outside at the plane viewing area. Once we clear security and customs, there is also a kids' playroom which we've never checked out before. I think we'll be checking it out this time!

We arrive in Detroit on April 23 at a little before 2 in the afternoon. It'll be crazier than usual this time. We have to do something in order to apply for Tak's green card. I've checked with people and heard that it doesn't take very long at all. Yay! Then we'll have tons of luggage with us. We usually only have 2-3 suitcases. This time we'll have 7 (the max that we are allowed for free)! We're not planning to ship anything, so those 7 suitcases are it. (All the rest of our stuff will stay in Izumo.)

Most of the stuff for moving is already organized for easy packing, and some stuff is already packed to send back to Izumo. We cleared out a lot of stuff and organized it when we moved to the apartment next door in December. That move was actually a really big help! It would have been really tough to go from the apartment we were in straight to the States.

Craziness

The last couple of months have been pretty busy. Just in a nutshell:

• At the beginning of January, Hana got sick and had a high fever. With the fever, she had a febrile seizure. When it happened, Tak had her on his back in a carrier and felt something was wrong. I looked at her and her face was funny; all I could think about was the hard cracker I had given her about 10 minutes before. We thought she was choking. Tak was pretty panicked. I was doing what I remembered from first aid/CPR. Tak called an ambulance. Before they arrived, she started crying weakly. She hadn't coughed anything up so we figured she had swallowed it. So, we went to the hospital by ambulance. When we got there, the doctor asked if she had been coughing afterwards. We said no. If she had been choking, she would have coughed even after her airway cleared. So he figured it was a seizure. They gave her a suppository to prevent her having another one. She was fine, but it was scary.


• Hana does another scary thing. Sometimes, usually at night when she's a bit tired, when she gets really upset, she will do the air-sucking cry thing. She will stop breathing for something like 30 seconds until she passes out. She's been doing this at least once or twice a week now. None this week yet. I finally stopped by and asked the doctor about it. He said it's nothing to worry about and that she'll probably outgrow it within a year.


• Gaku is FINALLY completely potty trained! Finally. Up until about 2 weeks ago, he was mostly potty trained, except he absolutely refused to poop on the toilet. He would hold it for days. We were setting a timer and having him sit on the toilet for 5 minutes, during which time he didn't go. But as soon as he was off the toilet with a diaper on he would poop. After the first time, he finally realized that he COULD poop on the toilet. No problems since. We gave away his remaining 10+ diapers to his daycare.


• We finally got Tak's visa!! Yay! So now we're planning our move to the States for April. We're planning to leave Japan on April 22 and arrive in Michigan on April 23. I'm just trying to finalize everything with a travel agent. We'll probably head back to Izumo for 2 weeks before that.

Today I printed up some photos and dropped them in envelopes for great-grandparents who don't have computer access. I'm really bad about doing this type of thing, but it didn't take me that long. I realize I need to do it more often. Just like I need to keep up with my blog better... If I don't have time to write, I suppose just throwing a picture out there for family is better than nothing...

Emergency - Contact

If you ever need to contact me in an emergency, the best place to send a message is to my cell phone. My cell phone mail address is:

samantha51875@ezweb.ne.jp

I think Cathy scared a few people by trying to reach me through facebook. Thank you so much for the messages, Cathy! Unfortunately, I was at Tokyo Disneyland so my first inkling that something was going on was when I picked up my cell phone to check the time and realized that Mom had called my cell phone twice. Mom never calls me (unless something is wrong), so...

Grandma and Grandpa Smith were in a pretty serious car accident. Grandpa pulled out in front of a car (on a street where the speed limit is 55 mph) which pushed them in front of another car. Grandma (probably not wearing her seat belt) was on the floor of the car after the accident. Both of her collar bones are broken and she has broken ribs, but more worrying is that she may have a broken neck. The other possibility is that due to her age, the bone disintegrated(?). If that's the case, she will probably be out of the ICU much sooner. Also, she could have a closed head injury. She lost consciousness for around 10 minutes. The good thing is that she was conscious at the hospital and able to talk and joke. But the doctors are still running tests. Grandpa has some broken ribs and some swelling on his liver. He's in the hospital, but not the ICU. At their age all of these injuries are serious. I'm hoping for (good) news soon.

I hear the weather and roads in Michigan are particularly bad today, so am praying that no one gets into any accidents on their way to visit the hospital. I hope there are no more accidents over the holiday season! Please take care.

Update: Just talked to the ICU nurse directly. Grandma's neck is okay. The collarbones may or may not be broken, but are not really serious. She has broken ribs. Her right arm is broken and they will have to do surgery on it. She will have to be in the ICU after the surgery for at least a short time. Her head is also fine. Haven't talked to grandpa yet.

Gotta Love 'Em

It's getting more and more fun to watch Gaku's personality and his thought processes develop.

A little over a week ago on Sunday, we went "hiking" at Mount Takao. I say "hiking" because it was absolutely crazy! And it wasn't hiking. We went on a Sunday during a 3-day weekend, beautiful weather with rain predicted for the next day, and during the leaf-changing season. What were we thinking! Oh, and apparently Mount Takao recently received 3 stars in a special guide book. Tak put it perfectly when he said it was "like Shibuya on a weekend". There were just masses of people. It's a wide concrete path, but I was getting bumped all the time. There were quite a few occassions when I really wanted to start telling off some people who were in a huge hurry trying to run around people coming down that path and in the process blocking the way for people going up the path. Anyway, it was still fun. The amazing thing is that Gaku walked the whole way, didn't ask to be carried at all, didn't have a nap, and didn't have any temper tantrums at all (at least not until we were in the restaurant near home).

Yesterday was Kei's birthday party. He turns 3 tomorrow. So we went to Toys 'R Us to get a present. I didn't go on Saturday because I knew Gaku was going to want something and I didn't feel like dealing with it. Sure enough, he had a huge fit because he wanted one of the "go-onja" toys too. He literally cried full-out for 20 minutes. Who would think he could sustain such real crying for so long? But as soon as we walked out of the store and started heading to McDonald's (where they have "GeGeGe no Kitaro" toys right now), he was all smiles and fun again. So tough to be three, wanting everything but having no control over anything!

Gaku has tendencies to be a bit of a bully with his friends sometimes. (But he can also be very sweet and attentive, so I'm not too worried.) On Thursday after daycare Tak asked him if he had been a good boy and played nicely with his friends at daycare. His answer was that he didn't punch Taiki. Hmmm... such a specific answer. Tak wrote about this in the daily journal that is kept between the parents and the teachers. The teacher wrote back that he had punched Taiki that day. Knew it!

Today, Gaku came home with an origami heart. He was so excited that he had a present for Mommy. Then tonight, he was pooping (still in his diaper *sigh*, but in the bathroom) when I rushed in the bathroom to pee. Gaku looked at me and very seriously asked, "Mommy, where does your pee come out of? Does it come out of your butt?" So funny! He's recognizing the differences between boys and girls. He realizes that his pee comes out of his penis, but if girls don't have penises...

Anyway, it's a lot of fun to talk to Gaku lately and see how he thinks.

最近、岳の話はどんどん楽しくなっています。

先週、高尾山を半分ぐらい登りました。すごい人数でした！三連休、いい天気、紅葉・・・何を考えましたか？たくが言う取で、「渋谷の週末みたい」。本当にびっくりしました。でも、楽しかった。岳は小さいかにを見つけた。ずっと歩きました。抱っこは全然言うわなかった。

日曜日、けい君の誕生日パーティでした。プレゼント買いに行った時に岳も「欲しい欲しい」と泣いた。２０分ずっと大泣きしました。でも、店にでってマックへ行くと分かってすぐ泣き止んだ。今、マックのおもちゃはゲゲゲの鬼太郎のだからすごい喜んでいました。

保育園で岳はちょと意地悪する。木曜日の夕方たくは岳に「今日は仲良く遊んだ？意地悪したないか？」。岳の返事「たいきにパンチしたないよ」。へ～返事は面白かった・・・過ぎの日連絡帳にたくはこの事を書いた。先生の返事は「岳はたいきにパンチした」。やっぱり！

昨日、すごくかわいい質問しました。岳はトイレでおむつのままでうんちをしました。私しっこしたかったから、トイレ入ったしっこしました。岳が言った「マミーのしっこはどこからでる？おしりからでる？」岳はよく考えたみたい。「マミーはちんちんがないから・・・」

最近、岳の話は本当に面白くなっています！