Strawberry Kiss! - 19 Months

You are almost 20 months old. But still you don't speak any Japanese or English.
We went to some early intervention counseling to check about you.
They told us you can't do something that you should already be doing.

It made me sad..well not sad, but I don't know how to say...some negative feeling.

I felt that I'm not being good. I'm not a good mama, like other people are. I know I shouldn't feel like this and it is not 100% my fault. But when I see other kids who are younger than you do something you can't do yet, I feel sad.

On Saturday,  We went shopping downtown. After shopping, we tried some new spot to have a couple of beers.Your body is big. So you always get the kids menu. That day also they gave us a kids menu for you Usual you don't draw with the crayons, even if we try to teach. You just pick the crayons up and put them on the table one by one. Or try to eat them.

But that day you did it! You even drew on the table. But we were really happy.

I don't know about your papa. But I'm a painter (kind of) so that moment was a super big thing for me. I was really really happy.

You used red, blue, and yellow crayons and drew the line and knocked the crayons on the paper to make the dot.

The next afternoon, we went to Lucky Lab to meet Joe. You had your early dinner and started eating strawberries as usual. Suddenly I though to ask you to give me some.

You love strawberries. So usually you don't give us any. But that day you gave me! You were not full yet. But you kept giving me until I said enough and gave you back it.
Thank you Genki. I could eat 4 strawberries. (but you didn't give papa any strawberries!)

When I see like this, I feel like "Fuck off. I don't care whatever others says. My baby is growing well and healthy. He is always friendly. He is the sweetest kid in the world."

Mama Loves You, And You Know This - 1 Year, 6 Months

Even when mama tries to enjoy a night out, she's making sure you are happy.

We’ve slowed down a little lately with writing in this blog. Mostly because you have sped up a little. Also we have all been a little sick lately and our energy levels are down. Portland weather is unusually nice lately, so I think all the trees and flowers are fooled into thinking Spring is here. So lots of blooms (and pollen) have come out, making our allergies go crazy. 

You and mama have also been fighting bad dry skin lately. You are getting a lot better now, and mama is getting a little better. But still, it’s been a bad couple of months. But let’s not talk about that for now.

Let’s talk about how lucky you are. And of course how lucky we are. You like to do everything at your own pace. You play, eat, sleep, wake up all at your own pace. Now you are only 18 months old, but we think you decided to start the “Terrible 2s” a little early. Lately when you are getting ready to eat or when we put you to sleep you go completely, 100% crazy. It’s the same pattern we always follow, but lately you are not patient enough to wait to eat. It is like a switch. One second it is happy smiling boy, the next second it is crazy angry boy. Then mama gives you a pancake and it is happy hungry boy.

Bath time is difficult now too. You like to play in the water, but hate when we shampoo your hair. You cry like crazy! Of course, when we finish, you are happy and playing again. It's just 2 minutes!

Before shampoo, everything is great!

Same thing at bedtime. Usually we take you upstairs, read one or two books, then put you down to sleep. Sometimes you are fine, sometimes a little crying, but not too much. These days, you’re not ready to go to sleep at your regular bed time. Even if mama reads ALL your books, you’re not ready. You cry so strongly. But after a short time, you start to talk to yourself, then soon you are quiet…then finally, you sleep. I know you are just testing your singing voice.

These things are tough for us. More tough for your mama because she is with you all day and she really wants to make you happy and healthy. She never does anything for herself. Like most mamas, she thinks about the baby first..then the husband…then herself. Sometimes I forget this, and I don’t say “thank you” enough to your mama. We are lucky she is in our family

Genki being an alarm clock.

Walking with My Baby - 1.5 Years Old

Since I'm often sick, I feel sorry to you. Because you want to use your energy more than before.
When I'm ok, I try to go out with you and let you walk by yourself.

Now you walk pretty good!
Also, fortunately, the Portland weather is really nice so we can enjoy warm sunshine.

You listen carefully to the noise that you make when you step on the leaves or the sound of a twig breaking. Sometimes you try to touch them. And you can't talk yet but you are talking in your own words a lot to me at the same time.

At the end of our walks, there is the biggest difficulty. Our driveway's hill.
It's a big up-hill for you. You always puff up there so hard. When you're done, I always praise you.

After you get home, you start playing peekaboo from the back yard into the garage.
You go to the back yard and come back to the garage with a big smile while I put the stroller away.

I'm glad we have this back yard. We would never have this if we live in Japan.

The weather will be nicer and nicer. And you will be active more and more.
We can enjoy this spring outside more together!

2014/2015 Trip to Japan - Part 3, Two Weeks With Mama

Leaving Japan was very hard for me. Even when you and mama went to Toronto for a few days I kind of went crazy. When you are not there the house is so quiet, feels so big. It’s very lonely. I thought it would be nice to have two weeks of time to do things, sleep in and do things on my own. But it wasn’t like that. Jetlag lasted a week and after that I was just missing you guys so much. Meanwhile, in Japan…

Mama was feeling a little bit better, but I know she still needed some help taking care of you. Grandma helped a lot making sure you had all your favorite foods. Every morning you had pancakes, yogurt and strawberries. You’re a lucky boy in Japan. Everyone wants to take care of you.

 Mama made some plans to see her friend and take you to Børnelund again. This time you remembered the place and had even more fun. It was great to see you have fun.

The best feeling though was seeing you with Grandma and Grandpa and the whole family. You became used to seeing a lot of people and you also became used to Grandma’s house. You never relaxed in the living room (well, a little bit when you were walking a cartoon). You walked around so much, playing with toys, looking for new places and babbling the whole time. It was great.

It was also difficult sometimes too. Mama was feeling sick most of the time in Japan, so her energy was low. You also were not sleeping in a normal pattern after I left. You went to sleep a bit later than normal and woke up around 1am almost every night. It was difficult for mama to rest and everyone could hear your crying. We don’t know why your sleeping pattern changed so much. Maybe a growth spurt?

There is one more part of this story, the trip home. But that is for the next blog post.

2014/2015 Trip to Japan - Part 2, Two Weeks With Mama and Papa

This trip to Japan was wonderful for so many reasons. First, of course yo had a chance to meet so many relatives. Grand parents, Great-Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and lots of cousins. I was so happy to see you meet them. I think Grandpa was especially happy to see you. He played with you a lot.

The boss sitting with the boss.

Grandpa chair for two cousins.

Grat Grandma's house.

Koharu checking out your hair.

Another reason this trip was wonderful was because it was the first time I could spend so much time with you. Usually, at home, I see you for a short time in the morning and then a couple hours at night after I come home from work. At that time I am a little tired and you are playing so we just have a little bit of time together. This trip though we were together all day! We had a couple daddy/son walks. We went to Mr. Donuts. We went for a walk in the park. It was great to spend more time with you. 

One of the best times we had was at the hot sling in Arima. The whole family went and it was such a fun time. We had a big room with tatami on the floor and you ran around so much. We also slept on futons on the floor, so it was a new experience for you. You rolled around so much sleeping in so many different positions. I was a little surprised, but you really seemed to enjoy the hot spring. You didn’t cry at all.

Dinner at the Arima hot spring resort.

One of six sleeping positions for you at the onsen.

Onsen time!

Another really fun time was going to Børnelund in Umeda. This is a giant indoor play space for kids. There are so many areas for all ages. You seemed to really have fun playing with all the toys in the toddler area and also the ball pit. It was great to see you smile.

Play time at Børnelund!

Lots of balls!

We went to a lot of places and did a lot of things. Of course, you also got the flu, so the last days I was there were tough for you. Mama got sick too, but you are both strong, so you could get better quickly.

I have been home for 3 days and I miss you both so much. Still 2 more weeks without you.

2014/2015 Trip to Japan - Part 1, Getting to Japan

Part 1 - Getting to Japan

This was your second trip to Japan, but we were under no illusion that this would somehow be easier. In fact, since you had gained weight and mobility, we thought this journey would be quite a bit more difficult. 

We were correct.

To be fair to you, the trip started with us waking you up way earlier than your normal wake up time. We got you out of bed before 4am, as the first leg of the trip had us leaving Portland for Hawaii at 7am. We had finished most of the packing the night before and just had to put a few last things in our bags before we hopped in the car and drove (with Ben’s help) to the airport. We had quite a few bags.

Bags on the famous PDX carpet.

You were still tired and in and out of sleep, but of course with so much going on, you couldn’t really rest. You tried to sleep on the plane, and you actually managed to take a couple of very short naps!

One of the few, short naps you took on the planes.

We had to change planes in Hawaii, getting off the Alaska Airlines flight in favor of the larger, more comfortable Japan Airlines flight. The change in weather was great and the warm, pleasant air felt good, if only for an hour or so. The plane was full but we had great seats with a very nice baby bassinet attached to the bulkhead. The flight attendant meticulously attached the bed to the wall and made up the bed with linens. Of course, you did not even sit in this, let alone use it to sleep. 

Our ride to Japan!

Complete with this great baby bed...that you didn't use.

The flight to Osaka was tough as you were very uncomfortable and cried quite a bit. Mama tried so hard to make you comfortable and stood and held you for a long part of the flight.

In between crying, you napped.

Finally, papa gave you his seat.

When we finally arrived at Kansai airport, you were exhausted and I think you were very happy to get into the car seat and finally sleep on the drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were happy as well. 

2015 - Happy New Year - 72 Weeks

Well, here's the first post of 2015. We've been in Japan for about 2 weeks now. We'll have a full post about that later. We have had a lot of ups and downs this trip. But everyone is happy to see you and you are having fun.