5 and 1.4

Taisei had his 5th birthday.  You can see the pictures and details on the daytime blog.  Random notes:

• Although at home he doesn't pay a lot of attention to Mirei, when we're out, he's more comfortable to have her around.  When he wouldn't go to preschool in Japan, the teachers had to show him that his sister was there in another class.  Only then would he stay the whole day.
• He still loves the same things - drawing, crafts, playing sports, riding his bike at the park.  Now I guess there's more - he loves watching the animated Avatar (Airbender) series, playing Plants vs Zombies, and card games such as Uno.
• Recently, he's started to develop allergies that he never had when he was younger.  There was the seafood at New Years in SF - don't know if that was shrimp, crab, clams, or scallops.  But a few days later, we narrowed it down to either shrimp or crab.  Then in Salt Lake, he had the reaction again with either shrimp or crab.  Luckily, he doesn't care.  He's still happy to eat the food.  Also, on a school field trip where he touched guinea pigs and baby chicks, he came home early with puffy, itchy eyes and a rash.  Just recently, he got the rash and puffy eyes again after touching guinea pigs and rabbits.  In all cases, the reaction was a mild case of itchy hives.  Too bad.  I was hoping he would be totally allergy-free, unlike his dad.  I have a lot of allergies myself - cats and rats and other animals, hay fever / pollen / grass, and probably other stuff.  Luckily with the miracle drugs these days, it's easy to keep under control.  Not so lucky when I was a kid.
• Already at this age, he reminds me of me.  Is that because he's like me, or because I'm like my dad?  When I try to talk to him about something serious, he goes "I know, I know, Baba."  In other words, we don't need to talk about it anymore.  I did that too.  :O

In the grand scheme of things, 5 is just barely getting started.  But as we watch him grow, learn, and develop in so many ways, it feels like his life is flying by so quickly.  Sometimes it's tiring to have him begging to be picked up every time Mirei's being held, but I have to remind myself that we're more than half way to the point where he's never going to want that again.  It's one more reminder to resist the temptation to look towards the future.  Enjoy every moment.  That's what I hope I'm doing.

Mirei now has 10 teeth, two of them upper molars in the back.  The two opposite molars on the bottom are there, breaking through now as well.  So twelve teeth before 1 and a half years old.  Did Taisei have that many?  If I only had a sample of two, then I would say that the desire to chew and eat causes your molars to come out.  I'm pretty sure there's no scientific fact backing there, but it sure does suit her desire to always be chewing on something. Other stuff:

• She still LOVES eating.  When Taisei got grumpy as a baby, it was clear - he needs a nap.  When Mirei gets grumpy, it's a different strategy - she's hungry.
• Miso soup is one of her favorites - and ours too.  Every time she sips from the bowl, she says "Oishi."  Siiiip.  "Oishi." 
• She loves to be outside.  Whenever she thinks she can, she brings us her shoes and tries to get us to take her outside.  Pretty funny how opinionated she is at this early age.
• Mirei's completely injury prone.  Especially her head.  She can whack her head on walls, tables, the floor several times in one day.  Of course, it hurts every time, but does it stop her?  No.  I feel like we need a helmet for her.  Unlike Taisei, she doesn't learn quickly from her mistakes and, instead, continues to do the same thing.  Maybe she's stubborn that way?  I'd have to say that this is probably more like me, and Taisei's carefulness is probably more like mom.
• Mirei's discovered the biting elicits a reaction.  When she's mad at her brother - and this is not a rare thing - she goes for his arm and bites him.  Luckily, Taisei's a pretty good sport about it, although he has shed a tear or two before.  The other day, she climbed onto Wami's back, which is just something she likes to do sometimes, but then she bit Wami's neck!  Wami was shocked and scolded her, but she seemed to think it was amusing.  Yikes.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now.  Enjoy a few pictures.

Food and Shy-ness

Quick update on the kids.

Mirei said Taisei's name for the first time last weekend.  Now she says "ma-ma", "ba-ba", and "Taisei."  Every morning, the first thing she says in the morning is "Ba-ba?"  She yells it at the top of her lungs, so it's a fun way for me to wake up.  She also yells it when Wami's phone rings, or when I get home from work.  If she can get out of her room in the morning, then she'll come bang on my door and yell "Ba-ba?!"

A few weeks ago, she started to shake her head.  Now, she really makes it clear what she wants to eat.  She no longer wants to just everything.  Unfortunately, anything that's wrapped (as in processed foods), she always wants to open and taste.  Sadly, she's pretty much looking for candy and sweets.  She's definitely a lot more into garbage foods than Taisei at this age.  It's a mystery to us whether it's because we were a little less strict, or because she's got different (more American) taste buds.  Hopefully she'll grow out of it.  :|

Taisei, on the other hand, is eating good foods.  He still doesn't eat much and is mostly skin and bones, but at least he likes good food, and doesn't like sugary stuff.  For his age, he has pretty good eating habits, and very highly differentiating taste buds.  Generally, he would rather have fruit than candy.  To name some other things, he likes salad, pasta, Japanese ramen, and ice cream.  I would say he's picky, but in a good way.  He'll pretty much try anything, and, if it's good, he'll eat it.  But often times, this means he won't eat things that aren't good, even in restaurants and other places.  He has never take more than a bite or two of food at McDonalds (yay!), except for the fries.  On the other hand, he does like Smashburgers.  I tried to get him Wendy's once when he wanted Smashburgers, and he wouldn't take more than one bite.  Oh well.

Mirei doing her favorite thing - eating.  Sometimes she's joined by her big bro.  But usually not.

She always has to eat herself.  Especially if it's something she really wants to eat.  She has a big fuss if we don't let her.

Last week, Taisei surprised us by writing us letters at preschool, and then hiding them in our bedsheets such that we didn't find them until after we went to bed.  He pulled it off perfectly.  He wrote one for Wami, me, and Mirei.  Wami was very touched when she discovered the letter. 

Mirei's starting to become a little shy, whereas Taisei's finally starting to grow out of it.  At church, Mirei will now only let people who she's familiar with hold her. Some of her favorite carriers there are Braden, Annie F, Holly and George.  Taisei now will go to primary on his own and just have fun with the other kids.  He's CRAZY out-of-control when he plays with Amy G.  Taisei's deal is funny.  He seems like a leader in most of his circles - at Mary's preschool, amongst his Japanese friends, and his primary friends - but he's still totally wimpy about getting up in front of people to speak or sing.  The other kids all try to encourage him, but he usually opts out of those kinds of performances.  He did volunteer to get up and share one of the Articles of Faith one day a few months back.  That was a bit of a milestone for him.

One last thing.  Mirei's always been one to wear her emotions on her sleeve.  Lately she's been expressing anger in new ways.  We're going to have to check her into an anger management place.  She's started to resort to biting when she doesn't like something Taisei's doing - often it's blocking her from food.  This was the first big bite.  Since then, we've caught her attempting a few more bites.  Yikes!  Not good.

Happy Chinese New Year!  (Not sure why, but I can't find any of Taisei in his outfit.)

4.8 and 1.25

These are now the approximate ages of Taisei and Mirei, respectively.

Recently, I've started to worry about obedience problems, listening problems, hyper-active problems, etc.  We're probably just normal parents worrying, but he sure seems to not listen, have too much energy (which Mirei is usually on the receiving end of), and a generally inability to focus.  Maybe he's just a boy.

Today, I went to Taisei's parent-teacher conference and talked to his preschool teacher Mary.  She was very upbeat and positive, which helped me to feel a lot more at ease.  Here are some things that were interesting to us:

• Taisei's buddies with three guys, a Ben, Simon, and Truman.  Things with Ben have cooled, since he seems to be interested in classroom activities.  Simon and Truman like to run around wild with Taisei pretending to be superheros.  The teachers have assumed that these three are bored and have tried to find activities that can redirect their focus.
• Taisei most likely does not have ADD (which I asked about) because he has no problem focusing on anything he wants to focus on.  He just has very selective focus.
• He's interested in letters and phonetics lately.  Time to start learning to read.
• He has no problems with academics.  His math is pretty good.  (I was a little surprised with this, but it's a good kind of surprise.)
• He's one of the popular kids. (Again, very surprised.)  She compared his arrivals to those in the TV show Cheers.  She says that everyone definitely knows his name, both boys and girls.  This is funny since he doesn't seem to be a social guy.  Maybe that's what makes popular people popular.  They really just don't care.  I apparently care too much.  haha
• Along the same lines, she said that he has no problems socially.  He's nice to others and people like him.  Whew - this is something he struggled with when younger.  Definitely an area in which he has matured.
• Taisei often seems not to be listening, but then can always answer questions.  So the assumption is that he is listening.  Wami says Chieko sensei (Japanese play school) says the same thing.  I suspect he's really not listening, but when is called upon, has enough short term auditory memory of the event to think back, digest quickly, and pull out an answer.  I know you know what I'm talking about.  Useful skills in a pinch, but something I'd rather he not get used to doing.
• 36.5 lbs and 3'6.5" according to Wami's measurements.

Anyway, Wami and I have reaffirmed that we will try to stop losing patience with him and resort to calmer, peaceful ways to teach him and encourage him this year.  He really is a good kid, but just seems to find ways to not pay attention and knock down Mirei or whatever.  He's good to her and loves to make her laugh.  Lately, he's the only one that she will allow to feed her.  Otherwise, she insists on eating herself.

So now, update on Mirei:

• She copies everything - especially Taisei
• She likes to put lotion on Taisei and on herself after showers, just like mom and dad.
• She takes Legos and other toys and flies them around with a roaring engine sound, just likeTaisei.
• Lately, she's very clingy.  Always wants to be held.  Likes to put her head on my shoulders.  Also likes to ride on my back, just like Taisei.
• She's not as much of a food hog anymore.  But she we did find that she had canker sores in her mouth, which made eating painful for her for several days.
• She's into drawing lately.  Pen, paper, on her belly on the floor.  She holds the pen very well.
• She points to hiragana and pretends to read it, just like Taisei.
• She's walking faster and faster, but definitely not as smooth as Taisei was at this age.
• She refuses to sit in the car seat.  She always fights it.  Lately, it has been FREEZING in Salt Lake though.  Maybe she'd just rather be home.
• She's been sleeping well at night - pretty much from 8pm to 6:30am, at which time Wami will go lie down with her for another hour or so.
• Now, she always wants to get things, touch things, grab things - a lot more demanding and sure of what she wants.
• Also, she's started to shake her head when she doesn't want something.
• She never drooled.  Phew.  She's very good at using regular cups - this was early as around 8 or 9 months.  For a while now, she holds the cup herself and drinks from it with minimal to no leakage.  Not too shabby.
• She loves her papa.  Whenever she hears "papa" throughout the day, she gets excited and starts to say it, thinking that I might be coming home.  When the phone rings, she thinks it's Papa and gets excited.
• As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she starts saying Papa and wants to come to my room.
• When I get home from work, she has a huge grin on her face, runs over to me for "dakko" and puts her head on my shoulder when she gets it.  Very endearing.
• One bad thing - lately she's started slapping people in the face, head, whatever.  She doesn't really even laugh though, so I'm not sure what gives.
• 20 lbs, 2'5", according to Wami's measurements.

Just a pic or two before I sign out:

 See me under there?  Apparently, I'm nothing but a prop.

First Update of 2011

Super fast update:

Mirei's a little person now.  She's always been a good communicator, blabbing on the phone and asking for food.  She still likes to blab on the phone and ask for food.  Now, she'll stick her finger in food and taste it, and then ask for more.  We have to try to get it on film.  It's funny.  Tonight, after she finished her own dinner, she stuck her finger in mama's taco soup, and decided she wanted some.  She then proceeded to out-eat Taisei.  She insists on feeding herself.  Wami stuck skewed pieces of Japanese hamburger (hambaagu), also part of tonight's dinner, on a fork, and she was happy to eat a lot in that fashion. 

When Taisei whoops and hollers (as boys constantly do), Mirei tries to follow along.  She screams when he screams.  She runs around when he runs around.  It's fun to see the two of them play together.

By the way, ever since Mirei went kamikaze out of her crib, she's been sleeping on the "big girl's bed."  Now, she doesn't freak out if she wakes in the night, the way she did in the crib.  It's been less stressful and although she'll fuss and not go to sleep sometimes, she'll always eventually return to the bed and sleep on it.  Only once did we find her sleeping on the floor next to the door with carpet pattern embedded on her face.  haha. So it's working out.  And a record should be noted: Last night, Mirei slept 11 straight hours.  8 pm to 7:30 am. 

Taisei's been kind of going through a phase where he's pushing our limits.  It's obvious that he wants our attention more as Mirei grows into a little person.  When she's held, he wants to be held.  When she's getting attention, he wants attention.  Maybe I made the mistake of purposely giving him extra while Mirei was still young, and now he's not liking to share time.  He's gotten into a habit of ignoring us.  Whether it's on purpose or not, we're not sure.  He can easily not hear us talking to him, especially if he's preoccupied.  And he always seems to be preoccupied.  I'm not sure how to grab back his attention.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

It's probably time to start Taisei on piano, violin, gymnastics, karate, and soccer.  That should occupy his time a little better.  He's slowing learning to read both English and Japanese hiragana.  His Japanese speaking is still very good.  He's also hooked on TV and iPhone games.  :(  Bad.  Recently, he stopped enjoying going to football and basketball games with me.  Probably a little too long for a young kid.  I'll have to find ways to make it fun again.  In his spare time, he loves crafts the most, whether it's drawing, cutting, or taping.  He also like his legos and various other building toys.   He absolutely can not stand going shopping - especially Costco.  Most of the time, he would rather stay home.  It's pretty funny.  I thought most kids like to go out, but it really depends what it is with Taisei.

Anyway, both kids are growing fast!  More to come...

Just prior to the break:

Credit to JustHimandHer.com

Crib Woes

A few days ago, Mirei gained the confidence to start walking.  Unfortunately, she might have gained too much confidence.  Last night, she climbed out of her crib, and as far as we could tell, face-planted from about four feet above the ground.  Yikes.

Mirei's worse than Taisei about sleeping.  Maybe it's her parents' fault for being inconsistent. She doesn't go to sleep very well, and some nights wakes up often.  In the past few days, she's started grabbing the top of the crib and attempting to climb up.  We didn't think she could to it, but unfortunately, she did it.  She just barely started walking, so landing the jump would have been impossible.  Luckily, it seems like she wasn't hurt in the fall.

However, we now need to think of some way to keep her in.  I was thinking about shining up her crib with wood polish.  Wami suggested candle wax.  Maybe we could put socks over the bottom of her PJs to cover up the grippy stuff.  Any ideas anyone?

Mirei's First Steps

Mirei took her first steps this week.  Prior to this week, she has had the balance and motor skills to walk, but it freaked her out.  She's able to push around various wheeled toys on our wood floor that, if she didn't have the ability to move her feet fast enough and keep her balance, she would have face-planted long ago.  She gets around with those toys and even stops, stands up, picks up the toy, and turns them to face the direction she wants to go.  But she's a chicken about not having the crutch.  :)  I remember the first time I watched her take a step with nothing in hand, she started screaming and hooting after she did it.  It frightened her.

This week, I saw her take a couple of those steps again, but this time, she seemed to be processing it in her mind.  Yesterday, she started taking a whole bunch of steps in the kitchen.  Probably four or five.  She had the same delighted squeal and joyous face that Taisei had when he did it.  It's one of the precious moments that you never forget.  :)

Happy Birthday, Mirei!

Today is Mirei's first birthday.  Happy birthday Mirei!

Wami made a monkey cake and Mirei dug in.

It's been a fun first year.  The kids have grown so much.  In the last post, Mirei got her first tooth.  Within the next two weeks, she got 3 more for a total of 2 on top and 2 on the bottom.  Since then, nothing.  But the ones she has are getting amusingly big.

In addition to the growth of her teeth, there's been lots of physical and mental growth as well.  She started standing when Ye-ye and Na-na visited back in early October.  Then a few weeks later, she stopped until just a few days ago.  No walking yet.  She's just more interested in crawling still, I guess.  She still loves food.  Anything we're eating, she wants to know what it tastes like.

The real growth for Mirei has been the mental growth.  Compared to Taisei, she seems closer to him at 18 months.  She understands what's going on and has no problem letting us know her displeasure.  She copies everything Taisei does, to the point that's he's starting to get irritated by it already, particularly when he's engrossed in one of his crafts.  After showers, both kids get a coating of lotion applied.  Now, Mirei likes to get a little squirt on her hand and then proceed to apply it to Taisei's legs and body.  She likes to climb up on a seat by herself, have us push her in, and sit at the kid's table opposite of Taisei.  She'll then pretend to feed herself if she can get a hold of some utensils.  She also like to sit on her big brother's booster seat.  She'll sit there for several minutes just amusing herself.  Funny stuff.

Here are random other things about Mirei's first year that I don't want to forget.

With Mirei, I found that I, papa(!!), have the ability to get her to sleep.  She does this endearing thing where she hugs me as tight as she can with all four limbs and puts her head down on my shoulder.  When she's tired, she'll just stay in the position until she falls asleep and I can just put her in the crib.  Often, it's usually not that simple, but I feel like this little thing has been a little father and daughter bonding thing that I didn't have with Taisei, since he always needed a human pacifier - Mama.

Mirei's also not shy with strangers the way Taisei was.  At about 8 months, he wouldn't let anyone hold him but Mama, Papa, and a few select family members.  Ever since, Taisei's been slow to warm up to most people.  Mirei, although she recognizes and probably prefers her mama and papa, she doesn't object to very many people holding her.  She's friendly and smiles for people unless she missed a nap or something.

Right now she's a handful and it's hard to eat out and things like that, especially since she's so interested in food, but it's such a cute age that I wish we could freeze time and just enjoy her at this age for a few more years before she grows up and starts asking us to how to drive (like Taisei has on several occasions)!