Little Smarty Pants

It seems to us like Mirei has an advanced comprehension.  These are little anecdotes from the last 24 hours.

Today, Mirei grabbed one of Wami's cute USB memory sticks and knew what to do with it.  She plugged it into the USB port on the front of the computer.  Then, she pointed to the monitor immediately after that.  So not only did she understand the mechanical connection, but to some extent, the significance of plugging a device into the computer.

Yesterday night, Wami pointed out the stars in the sky, Mirei nodded and pointed down at the necklace she was wearing, which was a Mardi Gras type necklace with stars mixed in.  So she understand the symbolic meaning of the star and its connection with the lights in the sky.

Yesterday evening, Wami told Mirei that in the morning she would be going over to Erika's place because mama had to go to a doctors appointment.  Right away, she asked "Taisei wa?" ("What about Taisei?")  When mama told her it would be just her, she broke into tears.  It breaks my heart to see her do her sad cry.  But yet so cute.  :)

There are now several games Mirei can actually play on the iPhone.  I recommend My First Puzzle for the really little ones.  She's been able to completely operate it by herself since I showed her about a month ago.

There's one more funny thing she does often, including today.  She was naughty and grabbed one of the Lego structures that Taisei was building.  This is something that will greatly upset Taisei every time.  So Wami told her to go to her red chair, which she knows is her time-out spot.  With a happy face, she happily responded "Ii yo!" ("OK!") and proceeded to go to the other room to sit on her chair.  She'll sit there til she's bored or we tell her it's OK to come back.  When Taisei's in his timeout, Mirei will go to Taisei and tell him "Ii yo!" ("OK, you can get up now!")  We have to tell her that only Mama and Papa are allowed to release Taisei from timeout.  Silly girl.

Last funny for now is she copies people when no one's looking.  She'll often have one of Taisei's reading books open and be mumbling to herself, turning the page from time to time.  Lately, she holds up Wami's flashcards used for teaching a Japanese class, and flips them one at a time, mumbling some words like she's teaching something.

This is right after Taisei got out of class.

Taisei's such a good boy. Each morning, he neatly folds his pajamas after he gets up.  Wami always tells me I need to be more like him.

Brother and sister.

I'll get more on Taisei next time when it's not so late at night.

Naughty Mirei & Blue Belt

Behold the naughtiness of Mirei. 

Yesterday morning, when Wami wasn't looking, Mirei somehow managed to open up a whole package of Panko, and dump the entire thing into our 50 lb rice dispenser.  Great.  So now our next 30 lbs or so of rice will have Panko floating around in it. 

Later in the afternoon, we went outside to blow bubbles.  Mirei had been bugging to do it all day.  While the kids were playing with the bubbles, Mirei insisted on holding the entire bottle herself so she could help herself.  The kids were having fun, so Wami and I let them play.  Next thing we knew, Mirei had dumped all of the bubbles onto her head.  Luckily, it was shower time.

This girl!!  Nothing but trouble.

Taisei took his first Karate test on Tuesday and today we found out he passed!  He's now a blue belt.  As soon as we get the new belt, we'll throw a picture on here.

Summer Fun 2011

When we woke up and checked on Taisei this morning, to our surprise, he was sleeping in bed with his pajama tops, but nothing on below that!  We immediately assumed that he must have leaked and decided to strip his wet pants off.  But they weren't wet, nor even smelly.  Huh?  When we was finally awake enough to answer questions, he told us that he couldn't find them in the dark so he just went to sleep without them.  Silly boy!  When Taisei really needs to go, he has a habit of stripping off the pants immediately and then making his way to the bathroom.  I'm not sure why, except that on several occasions, he's stopped to relieve himself before he made it to the bathroom.  >:-(  Arg.  He hasn't really had any accidents except for during the last trip to Japan (where, believe it or not, jet lag even can affect your bladder!  :)

Mirei had her first haircut today.  Check it out.  Before.

After. 

Not the greatest picture.  She was tired because we started so late.  I knew I had to go with the boyish cut since the top was so long and wispy, while the layer underneath seemed to just be barely starting to grow.  I matched it all up and hopefully the next one we'll be able to do a bob or something more girly.


Taisei was the one that really needed it, so he went first.  Mirei watched carefully and wanted one too, so why not.  Perfect timing.

For Taisei, this is turning out to be a fun summer.

Soccer:
We gave Taisei the choice to sign up for soccer or T-ball this summer.  At first, he didn't want to do either one.  He always says in Japanese, "Mary-sensei is good enough."  In other words, he doesn't want to do much more than his regular class with Mary at the CFDC (U of U).  Although we really do like that program a lot, we really wanted to get him getting used to doing new things, especially since Kindergarten is starting in the fall.  Plus, it would be a shame not to start teaching him some skills with his seemingly high level of motor skills.  After some encouragement, watching YouTube videos and talking to him, he agreed to sign up for Soccer.  Then, he eventually decided he wanted to do T-ball as well, but unfortunately that filled up already.

So, soccer.  After the second week, it seemed to be successful beyond our hopes and expectations.  Each week, they have practice (20 min) then a game (20 min).  Right off, he happened to get a very nice coach who he really likes.  The coach happens to be from China, but I'm not sure if that has to do with it).  He's good with the kids and tries to get them even playing time.

Game 1 - all the kids were timid.  One boy wouldn't even play.  Most of the kids just watched as the ball bounced right by.  On the other hand, the team we played must have been hand-picked by the coach.  Every kid could dribble and shoot.  Every time they got the ball, they took off and left Orange (Taisei's team) in the dust.  When Orange got the ball, you couldn't even tell for sure which way the ball would be kicked - usually out of bounds or backwards... right back to the other team.  Even though you're not supposed to keep score, it ended 4-2, Yellow. 

The best thing - Taisei looooved it!  Now he understood why I was telling him that shooting it and dribbling it were different.  So after game 1, we went and bought a proper sized ball.  We went to the park and practiced dribbling, running, passing and shooting.  He kicks the ball a little too late sometimes, but still very good timing.  He can kick it without stopping it and it often comes right back to me.

Game 2 - Taisei went right after it.  He connected solidly with the ball several times.  On one occasion, he and another boy kicked the ball so hard at the same time that both went down.  It drew a collective gasp from the crowd.  Our parents couldn't believe how much better our team became in just one week.  This time, the other team had two kids that were pretty good.  But suddenly, Taisei and two of his teammates were really good too.  The three of them were aggressive in going after the ball and had it in their red zone (do you call it that in soccer) quite a bit.  Taisei had several great fast breaks, two of which he scored on.  They were beautiful shots too, from a good 10-15 feet out, if I do say so myself.  ;)  One other teammate had the other two shots and they were beauties as well.  Orange could never score on the red-zone scrums because the opposing coach was smart.  He had taught all of his players to go stand right in from of the goal if the ball was ever in the vicinity!  Three kids blocking a goal that was probably 4 feet wide.  Nothing you can do there.  haha.  In the end, score was 4-4, with Taisei scoring two and Cambria scoring two.  I'm afraid I got way too into the game, although I encouraged all the kids from both teams.  I'll have to tone it down a bit next time.  ;)  If I can get it on, I'll post Taisei's two scoring drives.

Karate.
I looked and looked for a place.  I wanted something where he could let out his craziness in a more controlled manner.  Perhaps get some discipline while he's at it as well.  Just as I was about to buy a Groupon for a place in Bountiful, I found out that one of my friends from work, a known blackbelt and very hardward and successful employee at that, teaches right by our place in the Avenues!  Perfect timing.  Plus, another coworker's son, a friend of Taisei's was also just about to start.  We took Taisei right away for a tryout.


I was worried during the first practice.  He was reluctant and didn't understand all the terminology and the customs.  He was very surprised that all the Caucasian were speaking some Japanese.  Taisei wouldn't talk about it afterward so I was afraid that he didn't like it.  But then when he was running around punching, kicking, and doing the things he learned his first day, we realized that he loved it.  Phew!  But at the moment, he's on a break from Karate.That's because his soccer games are on Tuesdays and now swimming are 4 days a week at the same times.


Swimming:
This one, we really worried about.  Taisei's scared of the water and didn't enjoy his last swimming class much.  To our delight, he loves the teachers!  They do a great job of singing songs and playing games to teach the kids.  It's perfect.  He's even singing the songs at home sometimes.  Before the class, he wouldn't put his face in the water or let go of my neck in the water.  Now, he can wear a life jacket and paddle on his own for a limited time.  He can put his face underwater and kick with a kick board.  It's been great!  We're so happy for the good teachers that are helping him develop these critical survival skills in the water.

Bowling:
We got family passes to bowl two games daily the entire summer for 25$. What an incredible bargain!  Of course, we tell many of our friends about it and they just shrug.  I guess bowling's just not the entertainment it used to be.  And that must be the only reason they're selling these family passes for so cheap.  Taisei's had fun bowling, and even Mirei's been able to use the ramp to do it herself.  It's been a fun activity to take the family to go do often.

Mirei:
As for little sister Mirei - thanks to watching Taisei do all kinds of things, she's afraid of nothing.  When they're out playing around, she's the one touching the bugs while Taisei's egging her on but afraid to do it himself.  :)

Mirei's coming into her own this year.  She's definitely Ms. Colorful.  If she doesn't get what she wants, big time whine.  If she likes what she eats, big smile and lots of commentary.  Of course, we thing she's the cutest thing ever except when she has her attitude, which happens all the time.

Compared to Taisei at this age, she can understand basically everything we say.  When we ask her questions, we can always expect a Japanese grunt in the affirmative, "un," or a distinctive English "no."  She likes to say people's names.  She seems quick at memorizing phrases, nouns and names.  Today, we were playing with whimpy fireworks in the backyard and we kept saying "That's it?"  For the rest of the night, she kept saying "That's it?!"  Her two favorite made-up words are "chun-chun" and "chi-chi" (basically any animal, particularly birds).  All bugs are "ari, ari!"  She loves seeing animals, birds and bugs. 

Mire's so smart - this is how she holds the book up.  haha

She has always wanted to do everything herself, partially because she has to copy everything that Taisei does.  That means we can't feed her, we can't put her clothes on for her, and other things.

Mirei likes to sing the zooo-san song in Japanese, especially when she sees elephants.


She likes to lie down with Taisei often and pretend that they're sleeping.  She'll snore and make all kinds of funny sounds to try to show us that she's sleeping.  That's kind of funny because as far as I know, no one in our family snores.  :)  She's been sleeping in the same room as Taisei about 2 months ago.  It's been great.  She tends to sleep through the night now that Taisei's in there.

Mirei's vice is sweets.  It's seriously an addiction.  We literally have to hide any candy-like object from her or she goes crazy.  Once she tastes something sweet, she'll make the biggest deal until she gets more.  For a long time, gummy vitamins were a huge problem.  She's finally figured out that we're only going to give her one no matter what.  But still, out of the blue, she'll start asking for candy "a-me?  Mama, a-me?"  (Japanese, of course.)  The only bright side is that she also does like fruits... if they're sweet, of course.

Here she is only eating the jam.  And that's good bread too.  :(

Lastly, Mirei has not stopped doing her funny leg thing that I mentioned last time.  Let's call it "planking," the teenage phenomenon that LaReen alerted me to.  She does it every moment she gets a chance.  She balances on her pelvic bone and lifts both legs as high as she can.  We can't figure out what's going on - if the pressure helps her feel better, or what.  Whenever she becomes quiet, she's usually planking.  Really, this deserves its own post.  I'll do that.  Check up next time for pictures of Mirei planking.

Miscellaneous stuff from this summer:

We did our annual Taisei-and-Friends hike to Donut Falls.  Unfortunately, there was so much water this year, we couldn't cross the raging river to get to the falls.

We cleaned out and painted our office.  It's much spacier now.

You know how on TV, bubble baths seem to have WAY more bubbles than you ever get at home?  We finally figured out how they do it on TV.  While we were away from the bathroom, Taisei and Mirei used about 1/3 of a giant bottle of Burt's Bees bubble bath.  We had just bought it too.  :|  All private parts are covered, just like they always do on TV with the bubbles.  ;)

Ok, that's it for now.  Just wanted to get something down on paper while I had a few moments.  Keep checking back!  :)

5.2 and 1.5

One time, I posted about Taisei being a little walking disaster.  I obviously didn't have anything to compare to.  Taisei's troublemaking would be like getting slapped in the face once or twice, and Mirei's would be like getting punched in the gut over and over and over again until you have to finally give up.  At random times during meals, for the last several weeks, Mirei will just swipe everything onto the ground.  This can be miso soup, drinks, spaghetti, whatever.  It happens in restaurants and at home.  On the same day, she blew up her lunch and dinner, got into a jar of Vaseline and scooped out half of it while we weren't paying attention, and sent a stool crashing down the stairs into all the picture frames we had sitting there ready to hang.  In general, it seems like she finds ways to cause as much trouble as she possibly can and it scares the heck out of us.  Still not sure how much of it is intentional.

We're really racking our brains hard to understand why she's misbehaving and reacting so differently from Taisei.  For one thing, we do know that she understand far more than Taisei did at this same age.  He was probably 2 and a half - a full year older - before he could understand and talk like Mirei does.  But despite the mental development, she's way less mature than a 2.5 year old, obviously, so the reasoning and discipline has be approached differently from our side. She's still grasping at actions and consequences.  More than likely, they just have totally different personalities.

So it seems like we're going though dramatic stages with her.  For a while, she was seriously injury prone.  She would fall or find some other way to smack her head 2-3 times a day.  I was afraid to let her out of my sight.  Now she's naughty prone, generally wreaking havoc wherever she goes, intentionally.  We're afraid to let her handle things.  I have to add that even though she's such a hand full, she's still the cutest thing ever to us.  Just extremely 調皮.  I sure hope we're about to get a less stressful phase soon.

Mirei still loves food.  That's still the way we get her to quiet down when she's fussing.  She's not as good of an eater now though.  She insists on eating herself, but you never know if that food is going to come flying back at your face or off the side of the table, where Hiro is ever patiently waiting.

She loooves birds.  She's always looking for them, and exclaims "chi-chi" when she sees them.

She talks a whole bunch.  We're amazed that we can pretty much explain to her what she should do, and, if properly incentivized (food), always seems to know what we're saying.  She'll often repeat the proper responses back most of the time.

She does this thing where anytime she's on her chest and belly, she'll lift her legs up in the air.  No matter what time and place, she'll do it.  She's into working her back muscles?  Who knows.  But it cracks us up.

She has to do everything Taisei does.  But because of this, she has no fear.  If he goes down a giant slide, she has to go.  If he jumps off of something, she has to jump.  We have to constantly remind Taisei not to let her see him do certain things.

*********

Taisei's doing well.  He's sloooowly growing out of his childhood shyness.  He now enjoys saying thank you and other polite words to strangers.  He'll talk to adults now all the time, where he would never do this when he was a little younger.  We're going to start signing him up for lessons and sports.  In particular, I want him to learn how to swim while he's still young.  Ironically, he hates swimming, whereas I loved it when I was his age.  Now, I don't enjoy it much.  I wonder if I negatively influenced him.  He's signed up for soccer in the summer.  I'm guessing he'll be not-too-big, but quick and agile like his dad one day, so sports like gymnastics and martial arts might be good for the long run.  I'm sure he'll never get fat, with the way he's so incredibly picky about food still.

One great piece of news.  He likes sashimi now!!  Here he is with his own meal.

He's developed an allergy towards guinea pigs.  As far as we can tell, it's just that animal.  He's played with rabbits, chicks, cats and dogs with no problems.  The reaction has happened now happened 3 times.  It's too bad cuz he loves those animals.

Uh oh...

Rash already developing on his face.  Check out Mirei.

Immediately following.

Time to get home.  He couldn't open his eyes eventually.  Luckily, Wami was carrying some Benedryl, which alleviated it almost immediately at this point.

On some occasions, Taisei has allergic reactions towards seafood too.  It seems to be either shrimp or crab, but we haven't isolated it for sure.  And it definitely doesn't happen every time.  The great thing is that he loves seafood too much to give it up because of some mild hives.  Last Christmas in San Jose, he insisted on eating crab for the third night in a row, once time even while he had some hives on his body.  Luckily, he's only had one mild reactions since and we're still eating seafood all the time, including shrimp and crab.

Taisei and Shinkansen (Thunderbird)

*********

We had checkups yesterday for the kids.  Taisei's less of a little guy than before.  38.0 lbs is 50%.  43.4" tall is also 50%.  Mirei, on the other hand, seems to be getting proportionally smaller at 18 months:  20.1 lbs is 10%, 30" tall is 25%, and 47.0" head circumference is also 25%.  I wonder if any of these stats have any bearing on the future.  I'm guessing probably not much.