Tonight at dinner, I was cautiously feeding Kai. He's had a cold and a lot of crud. Every time he eats he coughs a lot and usually ends up throwing up most of what he ate. This has been going on for days so Mommy's appetite has not been what it normally is. I can take blood, I can take gore, I can take pain and tears, but I can NOT take vomit. Not the sounds, or the smell, and especially not the sight of it. But when you are a Mommy there isn't much you can do. So at dinner tonight Kai's had more of an appetite than he's had in days, and I was so happy he was eating, I kept giving him whatever he wanted. Of course after a while the coughing started and then he threw up and I was right there for the whole thing. Luckily most of it landed in his bib pocket and Daddy ran to the rescue to wipe it up. I was enjoying a wonderful little dinner up until then and was so disappointed to have my appetite ruined again. So I said, "Oh man, I really wanted to enjoy my meal. ugh!" Our precious darling Hana, always with a positive encouraging comment when one of us is discouraged... "Mommy, that's okay. You can join my milk!"
IF you get that, and it makes you laugh, I hope it was worth the read!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
When I was 3...
Something this little darling is doing that I don't want to forget. She still can't express past, present and future very well. Anything more in the past than yesterday (which she can use correctly) is "When I was 3 years old _______." or if it was a really really long time ago it is "When I was 3 months old ______." SO cute!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Starting to read...
This week in home school, the curriculum started teaching her to blend consonants and vowels together. I literally saw the moment she made the connection with the sounds these letters make and then putting it all together in a word. It is like she is off to the races and I can't stop her. The curriculum wanted her to only read two letter syllables the first day but she was making up words and begging me to spell them out for her. If we were learning the blend "sa" she would start saying, "sa, sa, sad! Mommy spell sad, let's read it!" Or if we were reading "la" she goes, "la, la, laugh! Mommy make laugh!" (of course she would pick a hard word like that one!) It was crazy to watch. For months I have been pointing to words as I read them, trying to get her to sound out short simple words, but she just didn't seem to really get it. This week, I think she got it!
Tonight as we were reading a story she kept stopping me and asking me to let her read. Or I would read a sentence until I got to a word I knew she could sound out and let her read THAT word, she was LOVING it! by the end of the book, she was reading the word kitchen, sat, cake, go, and more that I can't remember. After reading a page she would go back and search for the words she could recognize. Then a few pages over she would ask to go back to the previous page and find the word again! She's got great learning skills, she WANTS to do these things herself. It is so fun to watch her doing this. I don't think it is going to be long before she just takes off reading all by herself.
Teaching your child is soooooooooo addictive! I can't get enough of how fun it is to watch her learning and growing. This is Sunday and she BEGGED to do home school this afternoon, so we did home school on a Sunday! AWESOME!
Tonight as we were reading a story she kept stopping me and asking me to let her read. Or I would read a sentence until I got to a word I knew she could sound out and let her read THAT word, she was LOVING it! by the end of the book, she was reading the word kitchen, sat, cake, go, and more that I can't remember. After reading a page she would go back and search for the words she could recognize. Then a few pages over she would ask to go back to the previous page and find the word again! She's got great learning skills, she WANTS to do these things herself. It is so fun to watch her doing this. I don't think it is going to be long before she just takes off reading all by herself.
Teaching your child is soooooooooo addictive! I can't get enough of how fun it is to watch her learning and growing. This is Sunday and she BEGGED to do home school this afternoon, so we did home school on a Sunday! AWESOME!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Growing and Learning!
Our baby girl is getting soooooooooooooooo big! I am just amazed everyday at the thing she can do. What fun to watch her growing and learning at this stage in life.
Tonight she washed her own hair in the bath! She needed direction from me and I'm sure it'll be a while before I can just let her do it without watching and at least telling her where to scrub but I was amazed. At this rate she'll be able to take a bath all by herself by the time she's six. (OH man, did I just say SIX, I can not believe she is going to be six on her next birthday.)
I wish I could always remember all the hilarious things that she says. She makes us laugh everyday and then I sit down to write about it and I can't remember anything she said. But she is sooooooooo fun.
Home schooling is going so well. She really loves it and she is learning so much! She has THREE memory verses that she can easily recite now and we start a new one tomorrow. She has the days of the week and the months of the year totally memorized. This has REALLY helped her with understanding time like today, tomorrow, next week, next month. She is very excited about January coming because it is Kai's birthday AND she can start chewing gum again (she got gum in her hair once and then spit it directly at me once all within a couple days, and is now grounded from gum until January). So she often talks about how this is November and next month is December and then comes January!
Learning to write has been our biggest challenge. She is ready for it and wants to do it but sometimes gets very frustrated with it. I am trying to figure out if she is a perfectionist or just lazy. When she can't write one correctly, she quickly gets very upset. Sometimes she gets upset before even TRYING to write it. Before we left for Hokkaido she knew how to write 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10. She LOVED writing these numbers. As we fill in her calendar each day she would proudly write these without wanting any help from me. After we got back from Hokkaido, the first day back in home school she had to write a 3 and she just dug her heels in the ground and refused to even try. For at least 20 minutes she would NOT try it. She wanted me to write it first and let her trace it. So I would do that and then tell her she had to write on herself and she would get livid. It was a major stand off. I knew she could do it and was determined to make her. She insisted she could not. Then she began to cry and wail about how she had forgotten it. I am still trying to figure out if she was embarrassed because she HAD forgotten or if that was an excuse or what. But after an hour of letting her trace it after I wrote it. Guiding her hand while she wrote it. Making her draw one in the air for me (which she could do with no problem). Making her trace it with her finger. She still insisted she could not do it without help and WOULD not write a three all by herself. I think the entire stand off lasted almost 2 hours. For the last hour she would draw the top of the three and then just let her pencil drag down the paper in a line or make the lower part of the three the opposite way (making a backwards s). It was crazy because I knew she knew HOW to do it, she just WOULDN'T. We had to quit because it was dinner time by then, but I told her the very first thing she would have to do the next day is write a 3. The next day it was about a 30 minute stand off but she finally wrote one. Then after that for about 3 days every time writing a number came up, she would fall apart again. But I kept talking to her about how we don't just give up because something is hard and we don't quit. She was doing this happily and without any problems just a few weeks before. It was really throwing me for a loop, WHY was she doing this all of the sudden.
And now, just a week later, she is happily bringing me papers all day long proudly showing me how she can write the number 3. The first day that she did this so proudly all on her own during play time, she came to me so excited and showed me and then said, "Mommy, I'm sorry." I asked her why she was sorry and she said she was sorry that she cried about writing the number 3.
I don't know if I will ever understand what that was all about. And I am still wondering if I handled it the right way or not since I don't know exactly where those actions were coming from. I am sure every teacher out there reading this is shaking their head at me. I bet that most instruction on teaching would totally tear my actions to shreds and have all kinds of research to show me that it was wrong to MAKE her do something. But I feel like she was testing me, to see if I would let her off the hook and not make her do something she just didn't WANT to do. Up until this point in home schooling I have babied her a little. I learned early on that to push her too much resulted in a fit that would promptly end our day of school. SHE learned that too. The only thing is I knew she COULD do what I was asking her to do this time. And I also knew that if I set up a standard for backing down when she doesn't want to do something, she will use that to her advantage in the future. She'll use that little tactic when something is a little challenging, when she just doesn't FEEL like doing something, or when she just wants to see who is in control. I think she was already using that little tactic some of the time. I am still learning what she does and doesn't know and what she can and can not do, so I was letting her get away with it so far. But I decided it was time to draw the line on being lazy and not trying! So far, we are doing MUCH better in the writing department. I think that the fact she is doing well now means I did the right thing.
What is awesome though is that through all that, she still WANTED to do home school everyday and she still loves it. Writing all that out like that makes it seems like it was a big HUGE deal, but it was only one day that the huge stand off occurred. and all other areas of home school were greeted with lots of enthusiasm and fun. It really is amazing.
So here you can see Hana's writing! (Kai's name I wrote first and she traced it, and same with "Rocky" and "Marla" too) but the rest she wrote all by herself! And the drawing is of Kai!
You know, I don't know how school teachers do it. I am working with her one on one. I can take two hours to make her write a 3 if I need to. What do school teachers do when they have 20 or 30 other students to attend to? I REALLY don't know how they do it. I have so much respect for teachers now!
and now here are some pictures for you to enjoy INCLUDING a paper she was writing yesterday (just for fun) while I was cleaning up after dinner! I am so happy she chooses to practice her letters for fun at non-school times! So neat to see her love learning!
Kissing baby's hand (I love this picture because I did this exact same thing with her and Kai when they were tiny babies!)
Some picture from playing at the park!
A picture of the future...
Before boarding a train in Hokkaido (she loves these things where you stick your head through the hole)
A horse back ride at a Thoroughbred farm in Hokkaido (much more expensive then riding at Bam's house) for $10!!!
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
I want to see my bones!
This is one line that Hana keeps throwing at us. She wants to see what her bones look like. I wonder how much they would charge us if we just walked in and asked for an x-ray cause Hana-baby wants to her bones... lol
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Making rivers on a train...
So we were at church all day Friday. Finally got home, packed to leave on Saturday and crashed because Hana's preschool had sports day the next morning. Sports day was scheduled to end around 12:00 and we had to catch a train at 12:55. Our travel would take about 6 hours to get to Kouchi for a Friday evening concert and Sunday morning concert, after which we would turn around and come back home (yes, we sign up for this kind of craziness). Sports day went very smoothly and finished early. We actually got to sit down in a restaurant to have lunch. I was beginning to think this crazy trip might not be so bad.
We boarded a train to the main station in town, and then hopped on a bullet train. Kai slept a good part of the way, all was going well. UNTIL we were pulling in to our stop to get off the bullet train. Hana just casually says, "I think I'll go to the bathroom after we get off the train." and I say, "Okay, sure we can do that." I'm holding Kai (still asleep) and Rocky disappears to throw some trash away when I notice a panicked look on Hana's face. And she says, "Mooooommmmy, I am peeing in my pants." I'm like, "Oh my gosh Hana, STOP, wait!" But I look down and her shoes are filling with pee, beginning to overflow and a huge puddle is forming on the floor beneath her. Have I mentioned that this child has been totally potty trained for more than 3 years and never had an accident after about the first month or two after potty training was done?
You must keep in mind, a bullet train stops at a station for like a minute, and we were slowing down for our stop. If we miss this stop we will have to ride another long ways to the next stop get off and come back (we are on the Nozomi super express which doesn't stop very often) and that will make us late for our concert engagement. I'm holding sleeping Kai and can do nothing like pull a diaper or something out of my bag to start soaking up teetee and there is no train staff person in sight.
At this point I'm standing still in a panic having no idea what to do. I must have looked like a flamingo, motionless and doing nothing, only I had both legs on the ground. Rocky appears again and I tell him to do something but he can't find anything to clean it up and we are like seconds from stopping. I look back and a long line of pee is slowly making it's way down the aisle of the train and people are starting to look back to see what is this liquid running down the aisle beside them.
Finally I see a train staff person coming towards me and tell her what happened. She grabs some paper towels and starts to clean it up and all I can do is apologize and bow profusely, stating that we must get off the train at this stop. All the while row by row, train passengers are looking back and I can see the realization come across their face as to what is this mysterious river running down the aisle. The foreigner stands there apologizing and bobbing her head like a duck fishing in the pond as a little girl stands beside her with her legs spread apart in an uncomfortable stance and little wet footprints are following her.
At this point the train staffer begins to ignore my constant apology as I can see this look of total resentment begins to spread across her face. I know she's thinking, "Why did I have to be the one who came walking through this car at this moment? This is not a part of my job description, cleaning up pee!"
By this time the train is stopping and my last glimpse of the car we were riding in, was the passengers in aisle 2,3,4,5 and 6 staring back at us with disdain, several passengers scrambling to get their bags up off the floor, a line of papers towels following the river of pee and the crumpled nose of the train staffer as she is frantically dropping paper towels and whipping up pee.
We boarded a train to the main station in town, and then hopped on a bullet train. Kai slept a good part of the way, all was going well. UNTIL we were pulling in to our stop to get off the bullet train. Hana just casually says, "I think I'll go to the bathroom after we get off the train." and I say, "Okay, sure we can do that." I'm holding Kai (still asleep) and Rocky disappears to throw some trash away when I notice a panicked look on Hana's face. And she says, "Mooooommmmy, I am peeing in my pants." I'm like, "Oh my gosh Hana, STOP, wait!" But I look down and her shoes are filling with pee, beginning to overflow and a huge puddle is forming on the floor beneath her. Have I mentioned that this child has been totally potty trained for more than 3 years and never had an accident after about the first month or two after potty training was done?
You must keep in mind, a bullet train stops at a station for like a minute, and we were slowing down for our stop. If we miss this stop we will have to ride another long ways to the next stop get off and come back (we are on the Nozomi super express which doesn't stop very often) and that will make us late for our concert engagement. I'm holding sleeping Kai and can do nothing like pull a diaper or something out of my bag to start soaking up teetee and there is no train staff person in sight.
At this point I'm standing still in a panic having no idea what to do. I must have looked like a flamingo, motionless and doing nothing, only I had both legs on the ground. Rocky appears again and I tell him to do something but he can't find anything to clean it up and we are like seconds from stopping. I look back and a long line of pee is slowly making it's way down the aisle of the train and people are starting to look back to see what is this liquid running down the aisle beside them.
Finally I see a train staff person coming towards me and tell her what happened. She grabs some paper towels and starts to clean it up and all I can do is apologize and bow profusely, stating that we must get off the train at this stop. All the while row by row, train passengers are looking back and I can see the realization come across their face as to what is this mysterious river running down the aisle. The foreigner stands there apologizing and bobbing her head like a duck fishing in the pond as a little girl stands beside her with her legs spread apart in an uncomfortable stance and little wet footprints are following her.
At this point the train staffer begins to ignore my constant apology as I can see this look of total resentment begins to spread across her face. I know she's thinking, "Why did I have to be the one who came walking through this car at this moment? This is not a part of my job description, cleaning up pee!"
By this time the train is stopping and my last glimpse of the car we were riding in, was the passengers in aisle 2,3,4,5 and 6 staring back at us with disdain, several passengers scrambling to get their bags up off the floor, a line of papers towels following the river of pee and the crumpled nose of the train staffer as she is frantically dropping paper towels and whipping up pee.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Bugs!
Hana has an odd fascination/fear of animals and bugs. She loves to see animals and ask questions about them and recently began to get brave about touching them. Still the only BUG she will touch is a rolly polly.
Today Daddy found a praying mantis and was carrying it around. She was talking about it in the car on the way home. She kept saying, "What that praying mountains eat?" LOL, praying "mountains"!!! Love it!
But it is interesting that she asks great questions about animals. She always asks immediately what an animal eats. She asks other great questions like where it lives, how old it is, if it is a boy or girl, etc. She compares it to other similar animals or bugs. I think she is going to be good at biology!
Today Daddy found a praying mantis and was carrying it around. She was talking about it in the car on the way home. She kept saying, "What that praying mountains eat?" LOL, praying "mountains"!!! Love it!
But it is interesting that she asks great questions about animals. She always asks immediately what an animal eats. She asks other great questions like where it lives, how old it is, if it is a boy or girl, etc. She compares it to other similar animals or bugs. I think she is going to be good at biology!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Little sweetheart...
I have got the SWEETEST little girl in the whole wide world. Lately she has just been sooooooooooooooooooo loving and caring and helpful. It is amazing to see.
Every time I think about what I saw her do today it just makes me smile. We are having new kitchen flooring installed. The men who are doing the work are a couple of gruff ol' blue collar workers. They speak DOWN HOME local dialect. They are so cute, but sooooo... gruff! For some reason, right from the start this morning Hana just connected with them. She sat in the doorway peeking under the plastic taped across the door to keep the dust out of the adjoining room, and chatted with them. They were so sweet to answer he questions and generally be talkative with her. Then this afternoon they were taking a little break and the oldest, gruffest guy was perched on the ledge leading out to our garage with his back to the inside of the house. Hana walked across the room, wrapped her arms around his neck and climbed onto his back! You could tell he was totally overwhelmed and unsure about what to with the whole deal, but at the same time he was sort of flattered. Can you just picture it!? She's not usually that instantly open and expressive with strangers. I think she probably just made that mans day, for Japanese people rarely receive such interaction and affection from each other. It was very cute and so sweet of her.
Lately she has been so expressive about her love for our family. She tells all of us constantly that she loves us. It's funny too because I always tell her and KaiKai that I'm always gonna keep them and never never let them go! And Hana will tell Kai sometimes, "KaiKai, I never never gonna keep you!" LOL. She's got the whole saying mixed up, but it is so cute.
She is really getting good with Kai. Being very thoughtful and gentle, and protective. This afternoon I took them to the park and where most kids would think the little baby who can't do anything is cramping their style and in the way, Hana loves to include Kai in her play. She wants him on the spring horse with her. She wants to take him down the slide. She wants him to have one of the toys out of her sandbox set. She wants him close by all the time. And when we needed to go back home because Kai was sleepy, she made no argument about leaving the park for his needs. Also, she wanted him with us for home school today and when he reached to get one of her recent birthday gifts that is very special to her, I expected her to react with a "no no Kai!" But instead she asked me if it was safe for Kai to have it and gave it to him, knowing he would chew on it and wrinkle it. I just think that is amazing!
She has become soooooooooo helpful too. She washed the dishes for me the other night and did a very good job of it. She washed and I rinsed, and I didn't have to go back over any of what she had washed!
Having conversations with her lately is so fun too. She just inquisitive and smart and so funny! I wish I could record many of the little talks we get to have.
I had my Mom send us a book that I was reminded of from my childhood the other day. Somewhere in my elementary days I read the book, The Boxcar Children and LOVED it. I have never forgotten the story. I just wanted to share that with Hana although I thought it would be way too soon for her to enjoy this book, I wanted to have them on hand. My Mom sent a boxed set of four books! I didn't know there were sequels! I can't wait to read them! but anyways, back to Hana. She immediately wanted me to read her these books. These are chapter books with only silhouette drawings every 3 or 4 pages. the online review says it for 7 year olds and up. I agreed to read to her thinking she would quickly lose interest in listening and we could put them away for later. I was WRONG! She LOVES it. Now it is what we read before bed time. One chapter a night. And she is comprehending and retaining the story line. It is so fun to have her love it as much as I did. Sometimes she even gets squirmy before I finish the chapter and I think she isn't listening but then she'll stop me and ask a question or make a comment that demonstrates she is listening to exactly what is going on. The cutest part is, each day at one point during the story she wants to stop and name the characters on the cover of the story (four siblings who have run away) and she wants to count them for me. The first night we read the story she was working so hard to memorize them that I could hardly read to her, for every 2 or three sentences she wanted to pause to look at the cover again and review the characters names. I'm not a trained school teacher but I think this demonstrates a lost for her age! It is so fun to share these special times with her.
And we both love the fact that sometimes, from his crib, KaiKai will lift up the bumper pad and peek out to smile at us while we are reading! What a cutie!
Her prayer request every night and at the beginning and ending of home school is to thank Jesus for KaiKai! I just love this baby girl, and I am so thankful for HER!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Five years old...
My dear sweet precious baby girl. Five years ago today, you were born into this world - one of the greatest gifts God would ever give me. He knew you from the moment you were conceived, and He made you with the plan for you to be our daughter in mind. I still am amazed that God chose us. I get the privilege of being your Mommy! YOU are so precious to me.
Every day as I watch you grow, I see a little more of the precious spirit God has gifted you with. You are so caring and sweet. Just tonight on the way home from your birthday party, you were telling KaiKai, "I'm your big sister and if you ever fall, I will be there to help you. When you drop something, I pick it up for you. Because your still little, and you need my help!" WOW! What a blessing that KaiKai gets you as his big sister.
You are so helpful. If you see Mommmy making dinner, you will drop everything you are doing or ignore the movie you were watching and come ask if you can help me! I love the way you always want to eat the carrots and cucumbers I am cutting up. I am so proud of how you can crack eggs and mix up all my ingredients for me. You can almost make French toast all by yourself, you can do everything but cooking it on the fire. You also help put away laundry. You LOVE to help feed and care for you baby brother. You have been given the gift of helping!
You love to learn! Your favorite birthday gift was a learning set of blocks that Mommy and Daddy gave you. You have been wanting them for weeks, since I gave them to Ma-kun as his birthday gift. I was so happy to give them to you and so proud that it was the first thing you wanted to pull out and play with when we got home! You are going to be such a wonderful student in our home school! I look forward to teaching you!
You are so happy and funny! I am so glad that Jesus put so much joy in your heart! I pray you will always be able to find that joy, no matter what happens. It is something that draws other people to you. I don't know if you will ever be able to comprehend just how MANY people adore you. I pray you'll learn to use this gift for God's glory and to share his LOVE and joy with others!
I could spend hours and hours talking about just how special you are. In only five short little years you have made me the happiest Mommy in the world. I really look forward to watching you grow and change.
Mommy loves you more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for being my precious baby girl! Happy Birthday!!!
Every day as I watch you grow, I see a little more of the precious spirit God has gifted you with. You are so caring and sweet. Just tonight on the way home from your birthday party, you were telling KaiKai, "I'm your big sister and if you ever fall, I will be there to help you. When you drop something, I pick it up for you. Because your still little, and you need my help!" WOW! What a blessing that KaiKai gets you as his big sister.
You are so helpful. If you see Mommmy making dinner, you will drop everything you are doing or ignore the movie you were watching and come ask if you can help me! I love the way you always want to eat the carrots and cucumbers I am cutting up. I am so proud of how you can crack eggs and mix up all my ingredients for me. You can almost make French toast all by yourself, you can do everything but cooking it on the fire. You also help put away laundry. You LOVE to help feed and care for you baby brother. You have been given the gift of helping!
You love to learn! Your favorite birthday gift was a learning set of blocks that Mommy and Daddy gave you. You have been wanting them for weeks, since I gave them to Ma-kun as his birthday gift. I was so happy to give them to you and so proud that it was the first thing you wanted to pull out and play with when we got home! You are going to be such a wonderful student in our home school! I look forward to teaching you!
You are so happy and funny! I am so glad that Jesus put so much joy in your heart! I pray you will always be able to find that joy, no matter what happens. It is something that draws other people to you. I don't know if you will ever be able to comprehend just how MANY people adore you. I pray you'll learn to use this gift for God's glory and to share his LOVE and joy with others!
I could spend hours and hours talking about just how special you are. In only five short little years you have made me the happiest Mommy in the world. I really look forward to watching you grow and change.
Mommy loves you more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for being my precious baby girl! Happy Birthday!!!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Getting ready for homeschooling...
I have been talking to Hana about home school for months now. We bought some preschool activity books at costco and at times she and I sit down and I let her work on the pages. This has really helped to get her ready and excited about home schooling. She can not wait to start!
Here are some pictures of her enjoying some home school practice activities...
We got this set of cards that are erasable! She loves practicing her letters on these and then she can just wipe it clean and start again. Mommy likes it too ;)
One of her favorite parts of homeschool is putting a sticker on the page when she is done! The cat got some new eyes on this "C" page today...
She is getting soooooooooo much better about taking her time and coloring well. When she started she would just scribble across the picture to get the job out of the way as soon as possible! Now she takes her time and tries to fill in the whole object! Someday she'll care about staying inside the lines right? Like what, around 10 years old? lol
Here are some pictures of her enjoying some home school practice activities...
We got this set of cards that are erasable! She loves practicing her letters on these and then she can just wipe it clean and start again. Mommy likes it too ;)
One of her favorite parts of homeschool is putting a sticker on the page when she is done! The cat got some new eyes on this "C" page today...
She is getting soooooooooo much better about taking her time and coloring well. When she started she would just scribble across the picture to get the job out of the way as soon as possible! Now she takes her time and tries to fill in the whole object! Someday she'll care about staying inside the lines right? Like what, around 10 years old? lol
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Funny things she says...
Tonight at dinner Hana cleared her throat and said, "I have a frog in my nose!" LOL
And after dinner this evening she wanted a pop-stickle!
Hana always wants to whisper in your ear and tell you a shweeket (secret).
This one is not funny, just an amazing vocabulary usage. Yesterday she used the word concentrate!
And after dinner this evening she wanted a pop-stickle!
Hana always wants to whisper in your ear and tell you a shweeket (secret).
This one is not funny, just an amazing vocabulary usage. Yesterday she used the word concentrate!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Summer is crazy!
My baby girl is the most amazing little girl! This summer has been crazy (as is every summer of her life) and she just rolls with punches. I am soooooo amazed at how God built her to be perfect for our busy life in ministry. Not only does she NOT complain, she LOVES it.
You can not imagine the schedule we have had for the past few weeks. We have had day in and day out cram packed so full that there is hardly enough time to properly care for ourselves each day. She has been blissfully enjoying all of it.
CMA was here. They are Hana's favorite people, I mean, MOST favorite people on the planet. She had a BLAST! They are all so great with kids too, but I just enjoy watching her relate to others. It is hard to put into words what it is like watching her personality bloom. She really really loves people. So much so that leaving them was hard. she cried and cried the day they left. and yet someone reminded me what a blessing it is that she can love that much at such a young age. How true!
Then we were off for three days of summer camp. Daddy and I were the Bible teachers. there were a little over 20 girls from one of the Christian schools we minister at. She immediately made friends there and had a great couple of days. A couple of times I even let her go off to the girls rooms and hang out with them. It took a lot for this Mommy to let her go off alone like that. but I thinks he had a blast.
Today at lunch she went to the restroom all by herself. That was a first. Recently she hasn't needed me to go all the way into the stall with her, but this is the first time she has wanted to go all alone. She did just fine. Should I be relieved that she is getting this independent? Then why am I wishing she still needed me.
During my message at the camp, at one point I said "So where is the source of love? Where does love come from?" which was of course a rhetorical question. And from the back of the room Hana chimes in a shouts "Yomiya park" which is the park near her grandparent's house. Totally cracked me up.
there are a million more funny and cute things she has done lately but for some reason when I sit down to blog none of it will come back to me. UGH.
I know I say this all the time but she is just so precious. Oh and by the way, she is doing much better with her little brother. Clothes pinning her nose might have done the trick?!
You can not imagine the schedule we have had for the past few weeks. We have had day in and day out cram packed so full that there is hardly enough time to properly care for ourselves each day. She has been blissfully enjoying all of it.
CMA was here. They are Hana's favorite people, I mean, MOST favorite people on the planet. She had a BLAST! They are all so great with kids too, but I just enjoy watching her relate to others. It is hard to put into words what it is like watching her personality bloom. She really really loves people. So much so that leaving them was hard. she cried and cried the day they left. and yet someone reminded me what a blessing it is that she can love that much at such a young age. How true!
Then we were off for three days of summer camp. Daddy and I were the Bible teachers. there were a little over 20 girls from one of the Christian schools we minister at. She immediately made friends there and had a great couple of days. A couple of times I even let her go off to the girls rooms and hang out with them. It took a lot for this Mommy to let her go off alone like that. but I thinks he had a blast.
Today at lunch she went to the restroom all by herself. That was a first. Recently she hasn't needed me to go all the way into the stall with her, but this is the first time she has wanted to go all alone. She did just fine. Should I be relieved that she is getting this independent? Then why am I wishing she still needed me.
During my message at the camp, at one point I said "So where is the source of love? Where does love come from?" which was of course a rhetorical question. And from the back of the room Hana chimes in a shouts "Yomiya park" which is the park near her grandparent's house. Totally cracked me up.
there are a million more funny and cute things she has done lately but for some reason when I sit down to blog none of it will come back to me. UGH.
I know I say this all the time but she is just so precious. Oh and by the way, she is doing much better with her little brother. Clothes pinning her nose might have done the trick?!
Monday, July 06, 2009
This crazy little girl...
What to say about my little darling just several weeks shy of her FIFTH birthday. (Mommy is in denial, it is not possible she is already about to be 5 years old, ahhhhhhh, I don't even like typing that! My how the time has flown) She is such a joy to have in our lives. She makes me smile and laugh everyday.
So I have to tell you about something that happened today. We are working hard at learning how to be gentle with baby brother KaiKai and always being thoughtful of whether how we are "playing" with his is also fun for HIM. This seems to be quite challenging for my little preschooler. And Mommy has flashbacks of her childhood and torture session from my big brother. Mommy is determined to teach her to be caring and considerate when it comes to KaiKai. So today, I turned around from my kitchen work because he was fussing and screaming in that "she's torturing me again" tone of voice, and what do I see but her pinching his nose. I told her to come sit down in her chair at the table and wait for me. Which she did very happily, acting goofy trying to lighten the mood and make Mommy forget she was in trouble. I asked her about what she was doing, why she was doing it to him and whether she thought he was enjoying it. When she admitted she knew he wouldn't enjoy it, I asked her what she thought I should do to help her remember not to do mean things to him. She said I could tickle her (silly monkey, at this point Mommy is working hard to be stern and not crack a smile at her antics). Then she asked for a spanking and I told her no, there has to be something else that will do a better job of jogging her memory. So I asked her what if I pinch her nose. I pulled out a clothespin and proceeded to pinch her nose shut for about 5 seconds, which she did not enjoy at all. (I tried it on myself before doing it to her and it was a weak clothespin so I knew it wasn't too painful.) When I took it off I talked to her about remember to think about how it might feel if someone were doing the same thing to her. I talked to her about how she prayed for a baby and that KaiKai was a gift from God to our family and God expected her as his big sister to love and care for him, not be mean to him. All of this brought truly repentant tears, and in the midst of her crying she started picking her nose. When I told her to look at me and listen and stop picking her nose (which sounded hilarious even to my own ears) she immediately fell into a fit of laughter. One second she was bawling and the next she was laughing and that is when I lost it and couldn't help but laugh too. Then in her fit of laughter she pooted and it was all over at that point! LOL! Once we both got over the hilarity of the moment we went back over all that we were SUPPOSED to learn from this little discipline session. I made her apologize to me and to KaiKai and to God. I wonder if anything but the nose picking and pooting will stick in her mind!? *sigh*
She decided to help me make dinner tonight and she was really a big help. I was making breaded and "crisped" (not fried) chicken. She dipped all the chicken in flour then in egg for me, and dumped it into the bread crumbs for me to finish up and put in the pan to crisp. At the end of it all, she asked for permission to mix up the flour, egg and bread crumbs that were left over and I told her to go for it. She had blast with her "goopy stuff" and I was done cooking the crispy chicken in record time. She also helped me cut the ends off of asparagus and cut them in half. She then helped remove the seeds from uri (which I have no idea what it is in English) while I cut it up and prepared it for salad. And she washed dishes while I finished up the cooking on the stove that she can't help with yet! This kid is going to make one good kitchen assistant, that is for sure! At dinner she asked Daddy how he liked the chicken that she made! She was so proud. And when we told her she was going to be such a good cook if she keeps helping like this she grinned and said "so I can be a Mommy!" Lately she is always saying she can't wait to be a Mommy. Just melts my heart!
Even though she has her moments where she wants to play too rough with her brother, she is mostly a very thoughtful and sweet big sister. She constantly tells all of us how much she loves us. After more than a year of preschool, she still would rather stay home with Mommy and Daddy. I think that is so sweet. Everyone told me it wouldn't be long before she would be telling us she didn't want to leave preschool at the end of the day. That has never happened with her. She is just sooooooooooo precious, I can't put it into words!
Right now, at night she has me telling her a story that I let her help make up as we go along. It is a story about Dippitydo, a little dinosaur who is looking for her best friend. Each night is an episode in Dippitydo's search. The first night she tried to climb a tree so she could see all around but the tree couldn't hold her up and she fell. Then she had to have a snack of kelp before continuing her search. Then she climbed onto a neighbors rooftop and was sure she would be able to spot her friend who is orange with pink polka-dots, BUT she couldn't see her anywhere. UNLESS, her best friend was at the orange with pink polka-dot ocean where you can't see her so easily. Tonight Dippitydo had almost made it to the orange with pink polka-dots ocean when she ran into a purple mud hole and couldn't get across without the help of a giraffe and elephants how made a bridge, with their long neck and long nose, for her. Tomorrow the story will continue. I think tomorrow something will chase Dippitydo, I wonder what Hana will choose to be the thing that chases her?! so much fun!
So I have to tell you about something that happened today. We are working hard at learning how to be gentle with baby brother KaiKai and always being thoughtful of whether how we are "playing" with his is also fun for HIM. This seems to be quite challenging for my little preschooler. And Mommy has flashbacks of her childhood and torture session from my big brother. Mommy is determined to teach her to be caring and considerate when it comes to KaiKai. So today, I turned around from my kitchen work because he was fussing and screaming in that "she's torturing me again" tone of voice, and what do I see but her pinching his nose. I told her to come sit down in her chair at the table and wait for me. Which she did very happily, acting goofy trying to lighten the mood and make Mommy forget she was in trouble. I asked her about what she was doing, why she was doing it to him and whether she thought he was enjoying it. When she admitted she knew he wouldn't enjoy it, I asked her what she thought I should do to help her remember not to do mean things to him. She said I could tickle her (silly monkey, at this point Mommy is working hard to be stern and not crack a smile at her antics). Then she asked for a spanking and I told her no, there has to be something else that will do a better job of jogging her memory. So I asked her what if I pinch her nose. I pulled out a clothespin and proceeded to pinch her nose shut for about 5 seconds, which she did not enjoy at all. (I tried it on myself before doing it to her and it was a weak clothespin so I knew it wasn't too painful.) When I took it off I talked to her about remember to think about how it might feel if someone were doing the same thing to her. I talked to her about how she prayed for a baby and that KaiKai was a gift from God to our family and God expected her as his big sister to love and care for him, not be mean to him. All of this brought truly repentant tears, and in the midst of her crying she started picking her nose. When I told her to look at me and listen and stop picking her nose (which sounded hilarious even to my own ears) she immediately fell into a fit of laughter. One second she was bawling and the next she was laughing and that is when I lost it and couldn't help but laugh too. Then in her fit of laughter she pooted and it was all over at that point! LOL! Once we both got over the hilarity of the moment we went back over all that we were SUPPOSED to learn from this little discipline session. I made her apologize to me and to KaiKai and to God. I wonder if anything but the nose picking and pooting will stick in her mind!? *sigh*
She decided to help me make dinner tonight and she was really a big help. I was making breaded and "crisped" (not fried) chicken. She dipped all the chicken in flour then in egg for me, and dumped it into the bread crumbs for me to finish up and put in the pan to crisp. At the end of it all, she asked for permission to mix up the flour, egg and bread crumbs that were left over and I told her to go for it. She had blast with her "goopy stuff" and I was done cooking the crispy chicken in record time. She also helped me cut the ends off of asparagus and cut them in half. She then helped remove the seeds from uri (which I have no idea what it is in English) while I cut it up and prepared it for salad. And she washed dishes while I finished up the cooking on the stove that she can't help with yet! This kid is going to make one good kitchen assistant, that is for sure! At dinner she asked Daddy how he liked the chicken that she made! She was so proud. And when we told her she was going to be such a good cook if she keeps helping like this she grinned and said "so I can be a Mommy!" Lately she is always saying she can't wait to be a Mommy. Just melts my heart!
Even though she has her moments where she wants to play too rough with her brother, she is mostly a very thoughtful and sweet big sister. She constantly tells all of us how much she loves us. After more than a year of preschool, she still would rather stay home with Mommy and Daddy. I think that is so sweet. Everyone told me it wouldn't be long before she would be telling us she didn't want to leave preschool at the end of the day. That has never happened with her. She is just sooooooooooo precious, I can't put it into words!
Right now, at night she has me telling her a story that I let her help make up as we go along. It is a story about Dippitydo, a little dinosaur who is looking for her best friend. Each night is an episode in Dippitydo's search. The first night she tried to climb a tree so she could see all around but the tree couldn't hold her up and she fell. Then she had to have a snack of kelp before continuing her search. Then she climbed onto a neighbors rooftop and was sure she would be able to spot her friend who is orange with pink polka-dots, BUT she couldn't see her anywhere. UNLESS, her best friend was at the orange with pink polka-dot ocean where you can't see her so easily. Tonight Dippitydo had almost made it to the orange with pink polka-dots ocean when she ran into a purple mud hole and couldn't get across without the help of a giraffe and elephants how made a bridge, with their long neck and long nose, for her. Tomorrow the story will continue. I think tomorrow something will chase Dippitydo, I wonder what Hana will choose to be the thing that chases her?! so much fun!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Conversations from the bathroom stall...
Today we were having lunch with the missionary couple in Miyakonojo where we ministered this weekend. Their whole family was with us. They have a 5 year old daughter, N, that Hana had a blast playing with this weekend.
Hana declared she needed to go to the restroom while I was deep in conversation and N happily volunteered to go with her. Recently I have been trying to give Hana a little more freedom and since I knew the other little girl knew her way around the restaurant, I let them go together.
I continued my conversation and about 10 minutes later realized that they should have been back by then. So myself and the other Mom headed out to look for them. We checked the pet shop right across the way and they weren't there so we headed for the bathrooms.
As we approached we could hear their voices inside so we sort of listened in. That's when I heard N say, "But you know, we are way too young to be arrested!" ROTFL! I have no idea what they were talking about but just hearing that one line left me in stitches.
Kid's say the darndest things!
Hana declared she needed to go to the restroom while I was deep in conversation and N happily volunteered to go with her. Recently I have been trying to give Hana a little more freedom and since I knew the other little girl knew her way around the restaurant, I let them go together.
I continued my conversation and about 10 minutes later realized that they should have been back by then. So myself and the other Mom headed out to look for them. We checked the pet shop right across the way and they weren't there so we headed for the bathrooms.
As we approached we could hear their voices inside so we sort of listened in. That's when I heard N say, "But you know, we are way too young to be arrested!" ROTFL! I have no idea what they were talking about but just hearing that one line left me in stitches.
Kid's say the darndest things!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Teasing Hana...
Tonight at dinner Mommy was teasing Hana and her reaction was soooooooooo funny!
She asked me once for some more dressing for her cucumbers and I said mater-of-factly, "Nope you can't have any!"
She immediately began to complain, "Why NOT?" and Mommy replied, "Because, ummmmm, because... you have a NOSE!"
The look of shock that came over her face was hilarious. You could see the little wheels in her mind spinning and she began to say, "but, but Mommmy, but..." and the she thought for a few more minutes and she said...
"but Mommy, you can't breathe without a nose!"
Daddy and I just died laughing!
Then she said, "YOU have a nose TOO!"
and I gave her the dressing!
She began to pout. Then we lightened up the mood a little and laughed about some other things and a few minutes later I said, "Hana! You have garments on your back!" Again a look of shock came over her face then she shrank down into her chair and said, "Mooooooommmmmy, why you say that to me. I don't have chicken pox on my back!" LOL! I said, "No, it isn't chicken pox, it is garments. Look Daddy, she has garments doesn't she!" and Daddy agreed.
Then Hana's eyes start to turn red and that big pouty lip came out and she said, "Mommy, I'm almost bout to be crying because of you!"
Again I burst out laughing. She doesn't realize how cute and funny she is! I stopped teasing her after that cause I don't think she could take much more.
From there we declared it a Silly Sunday dinner for Funny Father's Daddy. Mommy wore her glasses upside down. We made silly jokes. We hummed songs while blowing into our water glasses making lots of bubbly tunes! It was a fun evening, even if we did have noses and garments on our backs!
She asked me once for some more dressing for her cucumbers and I said mater-of-factly, "Nope you can't have any!"
She immediately began to complain, "Why NOT?" and Mommy replied, "Because, ummmmm, because... you have a NOSE!"
The look of shock that came over her face was hilarious. You could see the little wheels in her mind spinning and she began to say, "but, but Mommmy, but..." and the she thought for a few more minutes and she said...
"but Mommy, you can't breathe without a nose!"
Daddy and I just died laughing!
Then she said, "YOU have a nose TOO!"
and I gave her the dressing!
She began to pout. Then we lightened up the mood a little and laughed about some other things and a few minutes later I said, "Hana! You have garments on your back!" Again a look of shock came over her face then she shrank down into her chair and said, "Mooooooommmmmy, why you say that to me. I don't have chicken pox on my back!" LOL! I said, "No, it isn't chicken pox, it is garments. Look Daddy, she has garments doesn't she!" and Daddy agreed.
Then Hana's eyes start to turn red and that big pouty lip came out and she said, "Mommy, I'm almost bout to be crying because of you!"
Again I burst out laughing. She doesn't realize how cute and funny she is! I stopped teasing her after that cause I don't think she could take much more.
From there we declared it a Silly Sunday dinner for Funny Father's Daddy. Mommy wore her glasses upside down. We made silly jokes. We hummed songs while blowing into our water glasses making lots of bubbly tunes! It was a fun evening, even if we did have noses and garments on our backs!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Language development...
It's been a while since I've written about how Hana is doing in the language department. She is doing so well!
Rocky and I were commenting recently that one thing we don't want to forget which she is saying a lot lately is "don't you". Don't you is at the end of lots of her sentences, even when it should be "doesn't she" or "isn't it". It's so cute. She'll say things like...
Mommy, KaiKai seems hungry, don't you?
It's hot today, don't you?
So I have sometimes started trying to get her to say the correct phrase and now she'll try sticking random phrases in that still don't match the subject or her sentence. Like...
KaiKai is sleeping, isn't it?
It is so cute when she makes these mistakes that sometimes it is hard to correct her.
She still mispronounces a lot of words. Especially accident. it still comes out askident. Lots of words with the double cc in them come out with the sk sound. Can't think of any other examples right now. She says accident all the time so that one sticks out in my mind.
Her sentences keep getting longer and more complicated. Today on the way home, we were turning into our road off a road that has some construction going on. It has been widened and is leading up to a ramp that is still under construction. so the lanes that will enter the ramp are blocked off. So she said, "Mommy, how come this road is blocked like that?" I just thought that was a mighty big sentence for her and her usage of the word blocked was so perfect. I am always wishing that I could figure out where she gets vocabulary like that.
We are sanitizing our hands a lot these days with the H1N1 virus being around (a case of it was reported in our city this week). So now my four year old says things like, "Mommy can I sanitize my hands?" and she'll ask me "Are you sterilizing KaiKai's bottles?" WOW!
She is however trying to get away with using more Japanese with us. when she spouts off to me in Japanese I give her a strange look and tell her I can't understand what she just said. Sometimes she tries repeating it in Japanese several more times, but will finally say it in English. I think this is awesome experience for her brain to have to translate what she wants to say into English! How amazing to get to learn a second language as a child!
We will probably start Kindergarten homeschool in the fall! Pray I can discern what curriculum to order, and how to go about doing all this!
Here's a pic to enjoy, Hana helping entertain her brother while he gets a hair cut!
Rocky and I were commenting recently that one thing we don't want to forget which she is saying a lot lately is "don't you". Don't you is at the end of lots of her sentences, even when it should be "doesn't she" or "isn't it". It's so cute. She'll say things like...
Mommy, KaiKai seems hungry, don't you?
It's hot today, don't you?
So I have sometimes started trying to get her to say the correct phrase and now she'll try sticking random phrases in that still don't match the subject or her sentence. Like...
KaiKai is sleeping, isn't it?
It is so cute when she makes these mistakes that sometimes it is hard to correct her.
She still mispronounces a lot of words. Especially accident. it still comes out askident. Lots of words with the double cc in them come out with the sk sound. Can't think of any other examples right now. She says accident all the time so that one sticks out in my mind.
Her sentences keep getting longer and more complicated. Today on the way home, we were turning into our road off a road that has some construction going on. It has been widened and is leading up to a ramp that is still under construction. so the lanes that will enter the ramp are blocked off. So she said, "Mommy, how come this road is blocked like that?" I just thought that was a mighty big sentence for her and her usage of the word blocked was so perfect. I am always wishing that I could figure out where she gets vocabulary like that.
We are sanitizing our hands a lot these days with the H1N1 virus being around (a case of it was reported in our city this week). So now my four year old says things like, "Mommy can I sanitize my hands?" and she'll ask me "Are you sterilizing KaiKai's bottles?" WOW!
She is however trying to get away with using more Japanese with us. when she spouts off to me in Japanese I give her a strange look and tell her I can't understand what she just said. Sometimes she tries repeating it in Japanese several more times, but will finally say it in English. I think this is awesome experience for her brain to have to translate what she wants to say into English! How amazing to get to learn a second language as a child!
We will probably start Kindergarten homeschool in the fall! Pray I can discern what curriculum to order, and how to go about doing all this!
Here's a pic to enjoy, Hana helping entertain her brother while he gets a hair cut!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Hana baby girl...
Wow, I am just in awe of this little girl. She is growing soooooooo fast. She had on a pair of pants today that seemed to big for her just this winter and now they fit her just right. She is washing herself in the bath (except for hair) and getting out of the bath, drying off and getting dressed all by herself. A couple of nights ago, Daddy was in the bath and I was nursing Kai and she said she was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, so I told her she could if she wanted to. So she just went upstairs and got in bed all by herself! Of course she wanted Mommy and Daddy to come up later and kiss her good night, but she was so proud of going up there by herself! I was amazed that she did too. Signs of growing up I guess.
She is very concerned about her teeth. They started brushing teeth at preschool and now she wants to brush her teeth all the time. She told me a dentist came to school today and checked their teeth and her teeth were great. I asked if I could take her to the dentist to get a fluoride treatment and she got so excited about that! Now she's asking when she can go. I haven't taken her for those until now because at her 18 month required dental check she screamed bloody murder and they never even touched her, he just looked inside her mouth while she was screaming and said she looks okay! LOL! So I figured she wouldn't let them do it. She HATES for her regular doctor to make her say "ahhhh" so he can see her throat and usually he has to pry her mouth open to see as she is crying and resisting it. But maybe the dentist is clearly a different thing to her and maybe now we can get fluoride treatments! Yea!
Last week she ripped the edge of a toe nail off at school and they had to take her to the doctor. She had to visit the doctor daily after that to get it cleaned and the dressing changed. She was so proud that she didn't cry at the doctor after the first day. So cute!
We are working hard at two things right now. Being gentle with KaiKai and being considerate of him, and picking up toys (yes that issues rears it's ugly head again, or did it ever go away in the first place?). I finally had all I could take with the refusal to pick up toys and the almost daily battles about it. So the other night I told her that the next day I was packing away most of her toys and she couldn't have them back until she learned to keep the few remaining toys I leave out for her put away neatly. I packed away more than half of her toys and she can not open her toy box without permission and she can only have one toy out at a time. She can't get another unless that toy is put away! It's working so far, and she is being very obedient to ask if she can open her toy box and to always put things away. I think we may have found what works. And the fewer toys seems to make it easier on her to play so we might just keep it this way! As for being gentle and kind to her brother, she was getting out of control with just doing whatever she wanted to with him. Last week she got grounded from him for the whole day twice and once when I saw her smear her hands all over her face I completely lost my cool and yelled at her. Now we talk a lot about how to treat him and I praise her excessively when she is doing good with him. The past couple of days have been better. We'll see if she keeps it up.
But she really is a wonderful big sister most of the time. And she is sooooooo helpful! Tonight she asked for pigs-in-a-blanket for dinner. She helped me make the bread dough, and rolled it out and wrapped the wieners when the dough was ready. Then at dinner she was saying how yummy it was and she looked up at me and said, "Mommy thank you for making pigs-in-a-blanket cause I asked for them!" Talk about melt Mommy's heart! What a thoughtful little darling!
She is very concerned about her teeth. They started brushing teeth at preschool and now she wants to brush her teeth all the time. She told me a dentist came to school today and checked their teeth and her teeth were great. I asked if I could take her to the dentist to get a fluoride treatment and she got so excited about that! Now she's asking when she can go. I haven't taken her for those until now because at her 18 month required dental check she screamed bloody murder and they never even touched her, he just looked inside her mouth while she was screaming and said she looks okay! LOL! So I figured she wouldn't let them do it. She HATES for her regular doctor to make her say "ahhhh" so he can see her throat and usually he has to pry her mouth open to see as she is crying and resisting it. But maybe the dentist is clearly a different thing to her and maybe now we can get fluoride treatments! Yea!
Last week she ripped the edge of a toe nail off at school and they had to take her to the doctor. She had to visit the doctor daily after that to get it cleaned and the dressing changed. She was so proud that she didn't cry at the doctor after the first day. So cute!
We are working hard at two things right now. Being gentle with KaiKai and being considerate of him, and picking up toys (yes that issues rears it's ugly head again, or did it ever go away in the first place?). I finally had all I could take with the refusal to pick up toys and the almost daily battles about it. So the other night I told her that the next day I was packing away most of her toys and she couldn't have them back until she learned to keep the few remaining toys I leave out for her put away neatly. I packed away more than half of her toys and she can not open her toy box without permission and she can only have one toy out at a time. She can't get another unless that toy is put away! It's working so far, and she is being very obedient to ask if she can open her toy box and to always put things away. I think we may have found what works. And the fewer toys seems to make it easier on her to play so we might just keep it this way! As for being gentle and kind to her brother, she was getting out of control with just doing whatever she wanted to with him. Last week she got grounded from him for the whole day twice and once when I saw her smear her hands all over her face I completely lost my cool and yelled at her. Now we talk a lot about how to treat him and I praise her excessively when she is doing good with him. The past couple of days have been better. We'll see if she keeps it up.
But she really is a wonderful big sister most of the time. And she is sooooooo helpful! Tonight she asked for pigs-in-a-blanket for dinner. She helped me make the bread dough, and rolled it out and wrapped the wieners when the dough was ready. Then at dinner she was saying how yummy it was and she looked up at me and said, "Mommy thank you for making pigs-in-a-blanket cause I asked for them!" Talk about melt Mommy's heart! What a thoughtful little darling!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Poots are pink...
Hana declared at the breakfast table a couple days ago that someone had pooted! No one had, so Daddy asked her how she knew someone pooted. She said, "I can see it!" So Daddy asked, "Well what color are poots?" and she answered, "Pink!" And Daddy asked, "What shape are poots?" and she said, "Rectangle!" Where do they come up with this stuff.
Hana is growing like a weed right now it seems. She has gotten so tall. I really need to measure her. But she now weighs 16.5 kilo! That's over 36 pounds! When did she get that big.
We have slowed down on the reading thing a bit because things have been too busy around here. She is doing some homeschool workbook pages every once in a while. I was introducing her to writing her letters, but I don't know if she is quite up to it yet. She can't seem to (or doesn't want to) really copy the letter, she just wants to make marks on the paper most of them not resembling the letter at all! We've practiced 3 pages, A, B, and C. But that took more than a week to complete those 3 pages. so we'll see. She enjoys it a lot though and really WANTS to do it.
Here are some pictures to enjoy!
Hana is growing like a weed right now it seems. She has gotten so tall. I really need to measure her. But she now weighs 16.5 kilo! That's over 36 pounds! When did she get that big.
We have slowed down on the reading thing a bit because things have been too busy around here. She is doing some homeschool workbook pages every once in a while. I was introducing her to writing her letters, but I don't know if she is quite up to it yet. She can't seem to (or doesn't want to) really copy the letter, she just wants to make marks on the paper most of them not resembling the letter at all! We've practiced 3 pages, A, B, and C. But that took more than a week to complete those 3 pages. so we'll see. She enjoys it a lot though and really WANTS to do it.
Here are some pictures to enjoy!
Monday, May 04, 2009
She's starting to READ!
Hana is just growing and learning and changing all the time! A couple of weeks ago I ordered some early readers that a friend suggested, and started to work with her on them. She is now reading some words, when she feels like putting some effort into it. And she read a whole book the other day. Of course it was a really simple book, but I am so excited. Can't wait for her to learn more.
She also just loves her baby brother. It is so cute to watch them together. She wants to be as close to him as she can get. We can't get it across to her that she doesn't have to get nose-to-nose with him, but can leave a little bit of distance between her face and his so he will enjoy her presence and not get frustrated by it. Sometimes she plays really well with him though and he enjoys it a lot. He is smiling and laughing at her more and more all the time. As we were driving along in the car today I heard her say, "Kai, you the baby brother the whole wide world." Which I think she means the BEST baby brother in the whole wide world. It was so cute.
I thought we had completely give up the thumb, but she got sick and started sucking on it some again. She wants to stop again though and keeps coming to tell me that she didn't suck her thumb last night, or at preschool all day and so forth. We will see if she totally has kicked the habit on her own in time I guess. But if she hasn't by the time she starts losing baby teeth, we are taking drastic measures. In the third picture below you can see the gap between her top and bottom teeth even though she is almost biting down in that pic, and the odd shape of her first two top teeth. I don't know if her permanent teeth are already affected by this, but I want that thumb a thing of the past once they start coming in for sure!
All that to say she is doing wonderful! We are so blessed to be her Mommy and Daddy!
She also just loves her baby brother. It is so cute to watch them together. She wants to be as close to him as she can get. We can't get it across to her that she doesn't have to get nose-to-nose with him, but can leave a little bit of distance between her face and his so he will enjoy her presence and not get frustrated by it. Sometimes she plays really well with him though and he enjoys it a lot. He is smiling and laughing at her more and more all the time. As we were driving along in the car today I heard her say, "Kai, you the baby brother the whole wide world." Which I think she means the BEST baby brother in the whole wide world. It was so cute.
I thought we had completely give up the thumb, but she got sick and started sucking on it some again. She wants to stop again though and keeps coming to tell me that she didn't suck her thumb last night, or at preschool all day and so forth. We will see if she totally has kicked the habit on her own in time I guess. But if she hasn't by the time she starts losing baby teeth, we are taking drastic measures. In the third picture below you can see the gap between her top and bottom teeth even though she is almost biting down in that pic, and the odd shape of her first two top teeth. I don't know if her permanent teeth are already affected by this, but I want that thumb a thing of the past once they start coming in for sure!
All that to say she is doing wonderful! We are so blessed to be her Mommy and Daddy!
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Daddy, I foget you!
Hana said the cutest and most profound thing the other day. She came home to find that Daddy had accidentally stepped into her toy baby stroller and broken the strap holding up one side of the "seat". I told her that Mommy could sew it back up soon and she was so sweet about it. Daddy came over and said, "I'm sorry Hana, I broke your stroller." and Hana responded, "That's okay Daddy, I forget you!" I thought that was so cute and sort of a profound mix up of words. To replace forgive with forget! Maybe we should all do that when we forgive.
Hana is really growing so much it seems. She seems taller to me, although I haven't had a chance to check her height lately. Her legs seem so long, and she could reach a light switch today that she always need a boost to reach until now. She weighs 16 kilo now. That's what, about 35 pounds! All I know is she is really heavy and I can't hold her for very long anymore.
And of course I must share some pics!
Getting ready for bath time!
Walking home from preschool together.
Daddy beat her to the front door and she was heart broken.
Little toes in the creek at the park!
Climbing a hill with her best buddy Corkey!
Hana is really growing so much it seems. She seems taller to me, although I haven't had a chance to check her height lately. Her legs seem so long, and she could reach a light switch today that she always need a boost to reach until now. She weighs 16 kilo now. That's what, about 35 pounds! All I know is she is really heavy and I can't hold her for very long anymore.
And of course I must share some pics!
Getting ready for bath time!
Walking home from preschool together.
Daddy beat her to the front door and she was heart broken.
Little toes in the creek at the park!
Climbing a hill with her best buddy Corkey!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Baby Jesus...
A couple of days ago Hana was pretending that Kai was baby Jesus. She would cuddle with him and say the sweetest things like...
"Jesus, you are my best friend."
"Jesus, you always be there for me."
"Jesus, you give the best hugs."
"Jesus, you love me soooooo much."
Many of her comments, even though they were directed towards "Kai", were so fitting for the role Jesus REALLY plays in our life and so sweet to hear. And then all the sudden she says...
"Mommy, Jesus pooped!"
I laughed so hard! Love it!
"Jesus, you are my best friend."
"Jesus, you always be there for me."
"Jesus, you give the best hugs."
"Jesus, you love me soooooo much."
Many of her comments, even though they were directed towards "Kai", were so fitting for the role Jesus REALLY plays in our life and so sweet to hear. And then all the sudden she says...
"Mommy, Jesus pooped!"
I laughed so hard! Love it!
Monday, March 09, 2009
I think she's actually done it!
I really really think maybe she's done it! It's been a week! She is still very excited about the band-aids, and she insists she isn't sucking her thumb at night or any other time! I am almost in disbelief that it was this easy! I had told her she can only have one band-aid per thumb per day, but I think tomorrow morning I am going to take her band-aids off to be sure she didn't suck her thumb in the night. On the second morning of this, one of her band-aids was loose and when we took it off her thumb was all wrinkled underneath like when you get out of a long bath. She confessed that she had sucked that thumb in the night. So I threatened to not let her have any more band-aids if she did that again. I think it worked, but I want to be sure! I haven't seen her with that thumb in her mouth during the day though, and that is a BIG deal!!!!!!!! I'm so excited, I really hope this is it!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Is it possible...
Could we have beaten it? Could my baby girl actually have given up sucking her thumb??? I can not be totally certain yet, but it looks like it is totally possible.
Two days ago she came home from preschool with a bandage on one finger. Her teacher told me that a friend had an owie, and Hana wanted a matching bandage because "her finger hurt too" (yea right). I told the teacher that Hana ALWAYS wants a bandage, and that usually I refuse cause those character bandaids she loves so much are too expensive.
Then, that night at home Rocky was off at a church meeting and I had the two kiddos to myself. It was a circus trying to put them both in the bath by myself for the first time and after the bath when Hana asked for a new bandaid for her finger I didn't feel like arguing with her about her not needing one. That's when it occured to me I could make a deal with her. I told her if she would let me also put a bandaid on both her thumbs and if she'd promise to keep those on her thumbs all night long and not suck her thumb, then I'd let her have new bandaids. She happily agreed and kept talking about how she was not going to suck her thumb, with so much pride, that I was actually hopeful this might work.
We are weeks away from resorting to ordering some kind of hand contraption that you strap onto their wrist and they have to wear for 24 hours the first week and then at night for at least another month! I was getting THAT desperate! She has a huge gap between her top and bottom teeth because of how much she has sucked her thumb. She can not bite into food in the front because those top and bottom teeth will not meet. I still have to cut up EVERYTHING for her or she chokes on it.
Well, she woke up the next morning with totally dry bandaids. She proudly announced she had not sucked her thumb. So I promised to take her to the store and buy her whatever character bandaids she wanted if she'd keep this up. She is always wanting some and I never let her have any, I bought a few boxes in the states last trip back and I won't let her have one unless she's bleeding which means she never gets to wear them! I think the novelty of them is the key to possibly breaking this horrible habit! Could this be it!??? Time will tell. But she kept the bandaids on all day today, took them off for a bath and got her new MIFFY ones we bought at the store on as soon as she could get help opening the box after bath time. She was still proudly announcing that she is not going to suck her thumb anymore!
Can I get "Glory Hallelujah!" Can I get a "Aaaaaaaaaamen!" Can I get a "PLEASE LORD LET THIS BE IT!"
And now for some pictures to enjoy cause you just can't have a blog post without pictures, now can ya?
On her favorite little ride at one of the grocery stores we frequent. She has loved this little elephant for as long as I can remember, even when all other characters and statues totally freaked her out. The song this thing plays will forever be etched in my memory and sometimes I can't get it out of my head. But I don't mind cause the ride is only 10 yen, and you can't find them for less than 100 yen anymore!
Doing some acrobatic entertainment for the people at church! Can you believe how LONG she has gotten! Even though she is a shorty for her age, she just seems so huge to me! I can't believe she is 4 1/2!
Waiting patiently for someone to finish cutting the chocolate cake for a church members birthday celebration last week. Why she waited so anxiously I'll never know, she took like 3 tiny licks of some of the icing off her fork and turned it down. YEP, my vegetarian, still doesn't like sweets very much! I LOVE IT!
Good morning sweet baby brother!
She is still absolutly in LOVE with her little brother. He hung the moon and is her "BEST FRIEND". I'm concerned for Kai, not because she might hurt him out of jealousy but that she might smother him with all her "hugs" and "kisses"! Just kidding! He obviously adores her too, he LOVES to just watch everything she's doing! It is so precious to see this special relationship between them.
Two days ago she came home from preschool with a bandage on one finger. Her teacher told me that a friend had an owie, and Hana wanted a matching bandage because "her finger hurt too" (yea right). I told the teacher that Hana ALWAYS wants a bandage, and that usually I refuse cause those character bandaids she loves so much are too expensive.
Then, that night at home Rocky was off at a church meeting and I had the two kiddos to myself. It was a circus trying to put them both in the bath by myself for the first time and after the bath when Hana asked for a new bandaid for her finger I didn't feel like arguing with her about her not needing one. That's when it occured to me I could make a deal with her. I told her if she would let me also put a bandaid on both her thumbs and if she'd promise to keep those on her thumbs all night long and not suck her thumb, then I'd let her have new bandaids. She happily agreed and kept talking about how she was not going to suck her thumb, with so much pride, that I was actually hopeful this might work.
We are weeks away from resorting to ordering some kind of hand contraption that you strap onto their wrist and they have to wear for 24 hours the first week and then at night for at least another month! I was getting THAT desperate! She has a huge gap between her top and bottom teeth because of how much she has sucked her thumb. She can not bite into food in the front because those top and bottom teeth will not meet. I still have to cut up EVERYTHING for her or she chokes on it.
Well, she woke up the next morning with totally dry bandaids. She proudly announced she had not sucked her thumb. So I promised to take her to the store and buy her whatever character bandaids she wanted if she'd keep this up. She is always wanting some and I never let her have any, I bought a few boxes in the states last trip back and I won't let her have one unless she's bleeding which means she never gets to wear them! I think the novelty of them is the key to possibly breaking this horrible habit! Could this be it!??? Time will tell. But she kept the bandaids on all day today, took them off for a bath and got her new MIFFY ones we bought at the store on as soon as she could get help opening the box after bath time. She was still proudly announcing that she is not going to suck her thumb anymore!
Can I get "Glory Hallelujah!" Can I get a "Aaaaaaaaaamen!" Can I get a "PLEASE LORD LET THIS BE IT!"
And now for some pictures to enjoy cause you just can't have a blog post without pictures, now can ya?
On her favorite little ride at one of the grocery stores we frequent. She has loved this little elephant for as long as I can remember, even when all other characters and statues totally freaked her out. The song this thing plays will forever be etched in my memory and sometimes I can't get it out of my head. But I don't mind cause the ride is only 10 yen, and you can't find them for less than 100 yen anymore!
Doing some acrobatic entertainment for the people at church! Can you believe how LONG she has gotten! Even though she is a shorty for her age, she just seems so huge to me! I can't believe she is 4 1/2!
Waiting patiently for someone to finish cutting the chocolate cake for a church members birthday celebration last week. Why she waited so anxiously I'll never know, she took like 3 tiny licks of some of the icing off her fork and turned it down. YEP, my vegetarian, still doesn't like sweets very much! I LOVE IT!
Good morning sweet baby brother!
She is still absolutly in LOVE with her little brother. He hung the moon and is her "BEST FRIEND". I'm concerned for Kai, not because she might hurt him out of jealousy but that she might smother him with all her "hugs" and "kisses"! Just kidding! He obviously adores her too, he LOVES to just watch everything she's doing! It is so precious to see this special relationship between them.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Conversation about Jesus
This morning on the way to preschool Hana and I had a pretty deep conversation about Jesus, well I guess deep for a 4 year old anyways. Lately she always wants to read the story of his death on the cross and resurrection in her children's Bible. She talks about it often. But for some reason she is a little confused and thinks Mommy is also going to die on the cross someday. I have told her many times that I don't have to do that cause Jesus did it for me. Anyways, today's talk went something like this.
Hana: Mommy, Jesus was on the middle one!
Mommy: Yes he was, he was hung on the cross between two thieves. Do you know what a thief is?
Hana: Yes, that friend of Jesus.
Mommy: No, Jesus friends were his disciples. The two men on each side of him were people who had done something bad. The took something that wasn't theirs, they stole something. They were being punished for doing something bad.
Hana: Jesus wasn't bad, right Momma.
Mommy: No, Jesus did nothing wrong but he had to die on the cross anyways.
Hana: Mommy gonna go on the middle one.
Mommy: No, remember Mommy doesn't have to do that cause Jesus already did it for me.
Hana: Then Jesus came back right. Mommy come back too?
Mommy: Well first of all I'm not going to die on the cross, but when I do die I can't come back. Jesus is the only one whose ever come back after dying.
Hana: Yea, that's cause he is God!
I am amazed at her comprehension of some parts of this. Although, I don't think she fully understands what dying is yet. Once we trapped a mouse and we've seen some dead bugs and that is how she knows the word, but I don't think she gets how final it is. But I was so impressed to hear her say that Jesus came back because he was God! She is absorbing some things from our Bible reading.
So fun to watch her understanding grow and her comprehension develop!
Hana: Mommy, Jesus was on the middle one!
Mommy: Yes he was, he was hung on the cross between two thieves. Do you know what a thief is?
Hana: Yes, that friend of Jesus.
Mommy: No, Jesus friends were his disciples. The two men on each side of him were people who had done something bad. The took something that wasn't theirs, they stole something. They were being punished for doing something bad.
Hana: Jesus wasn't bad, right Momma.
Mommy: No, Jesus did nothing wrong but he had to die on the cross anyways.
Hana: Mommy gonna go on the middle one.
Mommy: No, remember Mommy doesn't have to do that cause Jesus already did it for me.
Hana: Then Jesus came back right. Mommy come back too?
Mommy: Well first of all I'm not going to die on the cross, but when I do die I can't come back. Jesus is the only one whose ever come back after dying.
Hana: Yea, that's cause he is God!
I am amazed at her comprehension of some parts of this. Although, I don't think she fully understands what dying is yet. Once we trapped a mouse and we've seen some dead bugs and that is how she knows the word, but I don't think she gets how final it is. But I was so impressed to hear her say that Jesus came back because he was God! She is absorbing some things from our Bible reading.
So fun to watch her understanding grow and her comprehension develop!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Baby Brother's Blog...
My little brother's blog has been set to private and if you'd like to see his CUTE pictures, you need to email my Mommy and ask her to invite you to view the blog! You just gotta do that, cause you don't want to miss out on him growing up and getting sweeter and cuter all the time! So email Mommy at marla at aromaministries dot org, she'll add you to the blog readers list and you'll get an invitation so you'll have access!!! Thanks!
Friday, February 06, 2009
Silly names...
When I was a little girl my Daddy used to call me by the craziest name. It was Marla Kay Kaddidlehopper Jones Rudd. I always got a kick out of it. And so now, I call Hana, Hana Grace Kaddidlehopper Jones Rudd Ayatsuka, and she just thinks it is hilarious. Today I asked Hana what she thought Kais name ought to be. She came up with something really cute. It's KaiKai Luke Anpanman Kajunie Rudd Ayatsuka! What a name! Way to go Hana!!!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Some Big Sister-isms
Hana has just been hilarious since Kai arrived. The day she found out we were getting him, she started to ask non-stop questions...
Where is KaiKai going to sleep?
What toothpaste is he going to use?
Can I take him to my school?
and about a million more!
On the way home from church the night we got him and had a dedication ceremony for him she said... "I can't wait to get home with my Kai and lay him on the floor and watch him do tricks!"
She is such a big help. She loves to help change his diaper, hold him even when he's crying while Mommy gets his milk ready, hug him and give him lots and lots of kisses and rattle toys in front of him for entertainment (more hers than his, lol).
There has not been even an ounce of jealousy so far. She is so amazing. She gets jealous when Mommy holds other people's babies, when I say sweet things to other children or show them too much attention, even sometimes when I or Daddy are too close to other adults. With Kai, she has not been the least bit concerned that someone else is getting our attention and hugs and kisses. She loves him soooooooooo much. It is truly a God thing and I am so excited to see her with him!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
I'm a big sister!
We just got a call yesterday that we are getting a baby boy. His name is Kai and he is a tiny newborn. Hana is sooooooooooooooo excited. He comes home to us tomorrow (Friday, 16th). More soon, no time to write more at the moment! Yipppeeee! It's a boy!
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