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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!!!

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!

Pictures of Kai...

www.kaikais-place.blogspot.com

Check him out!

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!

What rabbit?

This past weekend, Hana's preschool had their Christmas pageant. Hana was a bunny rabbit in her portion of the program. She came home today with her little rabbit hat on her head and has been wearing it around the house since then. After dinner Daddy and Hana were playing. Daddy had a huge cardboard tube, that came from the middle of a roll of wrapping paper and he was pretending to use it as a fighting stick. This is the conversation that took place...

Daddy: "Mommy, you need to wrap some more presents so that we can have another stick!" (so that he and Hana can pretend to fight together)
Mommy: "Well from what I understand, you have a present that needs to be wrapped!" (One for me that has been sitting in a bag in the hallway for a few days! LOL)
Daddy: "Oh, yea, I do!"
Mommy: "So go get it out and wrap it!"
Hana: "Huuuhhhhhhh? What rabbit?"

LOL!!!! get it?

Funny line for the day...

Mommy: "Okay Hana, bath is ready!"
Hana: "ummmmm, how 'bout next week Mommy?"

Hilarious laughter erupts from the adults in the room!

Momma...

This girl is a TALKER! It seems especially so lately. She is full of questions and loves to have a conversation. I wish I could keep a written record of all the cute things she says.

Last night at 4a.m. Hana began hollaring out for me. I went and got her and put her in bed with us cause she was a little scared. She started asking random questions and for a good 30 minutes the conversation went on like this...

Hana: Momma, how you spell Mommy?
Mommy: "m-o-m-m-y"
Hana: Wow that's lots of M's!

Slight pause, maybe she's going to go to sleep???

Hana: Momma, that a person in that closet?
Mommy: No that's just Mommy's clothes
Hana: Momma, what's that?
Mommy: That's the ceiling fan.
Hana: Why?
Mommy: So we can keep cool in the summer.

Slight pause, maybe she's going to go to sleep???

Hana: Momma, how you spell Robynn?
Mommy: r-o-b-y-n-n
Hana: How you say inhaler in commo estada? (commo estada - Spanish)
Mommy: I don't know you have to ask Daddy.
Hana: Daddy, how you say inhaler in... Momma, what that words?
Mommy: Spanish
Hana: Daddy, how you say inhaler in that Spinach?
(Mommy chuckles, Daddy answers in a groggy voice)

Slight pause, maybe she's gonna go to sleep????

Hana: Momma, what's that light over there?
Mommy: That's the apartment building outside.

etc. etc. etc. That went on for like 30 minutes before I finally told her it is time to try to fall asleep. She kissed Mommy and Daddy good night and eventually went to sleep.

So fun to talk to my girl, but I prefer conversations in the daytime, not at 4 a.m.

Today when she got home from preschool she said...
"Mommy, I love you!" I said thank you and she said, "THAT is a present!" I agreed that her love is surely a precious present to Mommy!

Last night as I was taking her up to bed, she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and said, "Mommy, you my friend and I'm your friend! YOU'RE my BEST friend!" Mommy's heart melted into a puddle on the floor!!! :)

She is too precious for words!

First game of Go Fish!

My dearest cousin Robynn is here right now and she's got the gift of teaching a child. The other night she got Hana interested in playing cards and before long they were playing Go Fish! I was amazed that Hana could do it. For months and months and months I have been trying to get her to want to know her numbers again (she used to know them all and then totally lost interest). This has been PERFECT for getting her to review her numbers. She has 6 and 9 mixed up and for the life of her sometimes can't remeber 10, but otherwise she does great with the game!

Here are some pics of her playing!

"Yes, Mommy, I have a 3, here ya go!"


"hmmmmmm, which card should I ask for?"


"I'll ask for THIS ONE!"


"Oh, wait a minute, is this a 6 or a 9???"


"I got a match!"



"I WIN!!!!!!!!"


She's a great sport. If she doesn't win, it's no big deal. She encourages others if they get sad cause they aren't doing so well. And she is so happy when she has a card in her hand that you asked for! She loves to give her cards away! It is so fun to be able to play games together. She's wanted to play everyday since she learned how! Thanks Robynn for getting my girl interested in her numbers again!

A few recent pics...

For your viewing enjoyment ;)

On a recent concert road trip Hana fell asleep with her crown on! It was soooooooo cute!






We won a Wii and Wii Fit in a drawing recently. Hana likes the soccer game (she still holds the high score) and the ski jump. Her favorite part of the ski jump is to NOT jump so she rolls down the hill and becomes a snow ball! Silly girl!


getting ready to NOT ski jump!


Daddy is becoming a professional photographer (of sorts) and this is one great shot he took recently!



On a recent trip to the park...









Talking on the phone with Mommy! Her voice sounded as sweet as she looks in this picture!

Sports day...

Sports day is a BIG deal in Japan. You might remember last years sports day and a video here! They spend weeks practicing and preparing for sports day here. They PRACTICE every event! So that the big day will be perfect! And it shows, it is always such a major production and I am always soooooooooo impressed!

This year Hana was a little more into it than last year. Last year she was just smiling and laughing and being directed where to go and what to do. This year, it seemed she knew what she was doing, and she got serious about some of the events! We hope you enjoy the pictures...

On the way to Sports Day she was so excited it was hard to get her to slow down, as you can see by how far ahead of us she was!




She was the first student in her class to arrive and after putting on her team hat, she had to sit and wait patiently for the rest of her classmates to show up!


Below is Hana's poster of herself, which she colored! All of the children had colored a self portrait and they were all strung in a zig-zag pattern above our heads across the preschool playground.



Hana's class parading around the grounds.


Hana getting ready to show us her class dance. She spent most of her time during the dance just looking at us and smiling and waving. Her teacher says that everyday they would practice the dance outside she would stand around and suck her thumb. On rainy days she when they would practice inside she would join in the dance! No one can figure out why she won't dance outside!!!


THE RACE!!!
This is the beginning of Hana's race!


She pulls ahead of the pack...


and rounding the first corner, it's Hana in the lead and gaining ground!!!


She just makes it look so easy!


The winner is... HANA!!!!!!!! (she won her race last year too, I wonder if we have a track runner on our hands)




This is where the white team and the red team compete to see who can get the most balls in a basket up high over the heads!


The basketball player in Mommy can't help but be excited about that follow-through! Just look at that! We have to work on squaring up though ; )


And she will surely be good at rebounds!


thorough at rebounding too!


and don't forget to make sure Mommy's watching!


Then the grandparents got to join in the game, and here is Hana with her Baba!




Next up, the parents in the centipede race! Daddy was the leader of the orange team. GO Orange! (unfortunately they lost cause the lady behind Rocky wouldn't let him speed up, she kept screaming she was gonna fall down everytime he tried to speed up! LOL)



And finally Mommy and Hana in the obstacle course!

The balance beam...

Jump through the hoops...

and a piggy back ride to the finish!


You did such a great job Hana-baby! Mommy is so proud of you!!!


Let's go eat lunch, I'm starved!