Happy Early Birthday!

I can't keep a secret from 007, especially presents. I won't say a word, and he will inevitably guess what I am getting him. Even if I play it cool, he'll still know. This is needless to say, frustrating, but also helpful. I decided since he's turning 35 in a little less than a month, to give him a nice new camera for his birthday. He's known for months, and guessed shortly after I decided what to get him, but it was nice because he was able to pick out all the whistles and bells he wanted(including an upgrade to a slightly better model). He picked it up on Saturday, and has been playing with it and reading the manual ever since. I thought I'd show off some of his handy work. I'll let him post about the actual camera.




Yes, I am the worst mother in the world letting my child, who is not yet two, play with scissors. We got him his own pair that are somewhat child safe after he LOVED playing with mine. He's actually pretty good about it, but we have to tell him to only cut paper. He actually listens too! He wanted pink ones.




This one is after he'd licked the spatula for the crock pot cake I made tonight. He looks like 007 or a pirate, I can't decide which.

Oh and one more picture for Obaachan.



The cow pajamas she bought him on the super soaker rainy day at the farm. We finally got him into them. Woot! He ended up finishing his oatmeal while looking at Anpanman(I'll do a Japan Cool! post about this) characters on the computer. He wouldn't eat otherwise! Oh that child!


Oh and k & co. my morning sickness disappeared fast with Edamame, but I couldn't eat chocolate or eggs the whole time. I think it is probably the same this time around too, but my tummy not liking meat or fat makes eating/cooking more complicated. I think I was whiny because I've been staying up too late. EEk! My stomach is feeling a lot better since I'm back to mostly veggies. Though I did get a big hankerin' for KFC spicy chicken. I would have preferred buffalo wings, but this was as close as we get here. I handled two pretty well, and then had some cucumber yogurt salad afterwards. YUM!

I did it!

I took the password protection off. Mind you there will be a few changes, and the passwords are still there, so I can turn it back on again if needs be, but I prefer this modus operandi. I think I'm going to start using nom de plumes for all of us though. Since my honey has a super long one, kungfumaster007, I think I'll just call him 007. Our main star will be edamame, and I'll think of something for #2 eventually. Give me some time, to change things up. I have a big to-do list and I'm still feeling yucky despite the fact that my second trimester starts early next week....grrrr! Thank goodness for the organic breakfast bars from grandma, it's one of the few things that doesn't make me feel like crud.

Oh and I ate some AWESOME cake yesterday. I made it in the crock pot. It made me sick. Le sigh. At least it tasted fantastic.

Boys!!!

Good golly! You know you have a boy when he makes bowling into a contact sport!

I am always wondering if I am a bit too girly for him especially since he likes to wear my bras and his favorite color is pink. I start to wonder too because he likes to cook, clean and take care of babies, but I figure those three things will make him a TERRIFIC husband one day. He has been paying special attention to his baby doll recently, wearing it in an ombuhimo, helping her(and a stuffed koala as well) walk, and feeding her bottles. He is so excited about kids that he wants to hold all of the babies he sees. We 'teach' this one kid English twice a week, and he is as big as Clark, but a year younger. Today Clark was totally obsessed with holding him. Then he wanted to hold another younger friend later in the day. It is super cute.

For cooking I let him pour stuff into the bowl, and stir with a spoon. He also LOVES rolling out dough for anything, or turning the crank on the pasta machine. As for cleaning, he always wants to sweep the walk, use the vacuum, or scrub the shower floor. He even knows the words to our clean up song, and sings them ALL the time.

Not everything is peaches and cream though. Clark's birthday is around the corner, and we've already made a few purchases, including a tricycle(thanks Grandpa!!), but someone discovered it today! He was all frustrated that it wasn't coming out and it was still folded up. He couldn't figure out how to ride it. I ended up letting him play with it for a bit and then hid it better while he was eating dinner. I hope it can stay hidden for the next two weeks!

More nemo!!!

Clark has been fervently asking for Nemo pajamas recently. Unfortunately, no one makes them. I told him I would make him some, and just left it at that, thinking I'd make some when I got to the US and could find some Nemo fabric. Au Contraire! He kept asking and after I would tell him that we didn't have any he'd emphatically say "make Nemo pajamas"! I got the hint and bought some iron-on printer paper and a few white shirts, and viola! Nemo pajamas. I could have painted it, but that would have taken more time and patience than I currently have....so without further ado, Nemo!




I am SURE I am infringing on copyright, but Disney hasn't given me what I need, so oh well. It was really easy, just take a few screen shots while playing Finding Nemo on my computer, cut it down to what I want, print, iron, viola!

Someone was pleased!

Ok, his smile was much bigger, but you know kids and posing for cameras.

ideas

Ok, so personally I really don't like the idea of a closed blog. It totally bugs me, and I hate having to add everyone that wants to see it. In my settings, I've turned the blog off to unsearchable by google and stuff, so no more creepy people hopefully. I'm just thinking of de-passwording the whole thing. Ideas? Thoughts?

Wow, what a week!

We had GREAT weather last week that turned to CRAP just as we went to Chiba to go with Obaachan and Ojiichan to see a farm/tourist trap. Nevertheless we had a fun time, and Clark loved being able to use his umbrella for real for the first time.



He really enjoyed seeing the sheep, the dogs and the lambs. He had talked about horses the whole way there, but when we finally got to see them up close he was scared.

I on the other hand was scared as we drove up the mountain. We found out this week that we need a new transmission, and so we had a REALLY hard time getting up the mountain with our not so good transmission. Our car was pretty cheap, and is small, so we are going to buy a new one soon. Oy!

Anyway, after playing in the rain two days in a row, Clark needed to warm up with some nice miso soup. It was really cute to watch him drink it.



In potty news, he went poop in the potty! Woo hoo! He was playing in the bathroom, and started saying poop, sat on the potty by himself and by the time I got there, was all done, and starting to look at his accomplishment. We've had mixed pee pee success, but since he is getting to despise diapers now, we're going full steam ahead. Notice the fun outfits we come up with while we are potty training. You can't see it in the picture, but he also is sporting a lovely saran wrap belt around his waist.




Other random things:
We got our car checked for it's yearly inspection, but the people NEGLECTED to check the battery or battery fluid, so as we were about to go home lasts night our battery died in front of Obaachan and Ojiichan's apartment building. Masaki and Hirokimi barely made it to the automotive store before it closed for a new battery. We were on the road just a bit later than usual, but thank goodness for the rain the encouraged us to try to leave earlier than normal, otherwise we'd be stuck BIG time. I'm feeling a bit disgruntled, since we paid $600 and they didn't even check our BATTERY! Idiots! So we have a new battery, a newly registered old car, and now we get to buy a new one that has a transmission that works and can fit more than just us and two kids.

Clark randomly starts spouting of quotes from his favorite books or counting from 1-14, skips 15 and 16 and starts up at 17-19.

Clark saw his new tricycle in the closet first thing this morning and asked to ride it. I was surprised because it is all folded up and hardly recognizable as something to ride, but he knows. He just has to wait until July 11th, poor kid.

I've discovered that waking up before 6am does more to help me feel sick than anything I could eat...hmm.

Clark has become a monkey. After I do some serious shower scrubbing, and laundry folding. I'll try to upload the video of him climbing over the chair at Obaachan and Ojiichan's house. He is just so excited to climb all over stuff now. He may do it with his baby doll strapped to his back, but dang he is good and fearless!

Oh, and I LOVE zucchini!

Pictures that I promised you!

Yep a ton of them.

Let's explain. Clark has become very helpful lately. He'll stir and is somewhat decent. Though when he was allowed to make okara chicken nuggets, we decided to do things a little outside the norm.




He loves holding hands! Anytime we tell him to, he gladly grabs hands, even with other children we've just met. He LOVES it. I feel bad that some of the kids he plays with don't dig it that much.



He's also gained a new skill. Almost two weeks ago Clark started climbing up our little plastic slide at home. He's been trying to do that from the day that we got it from Obaachan and Ojiichan. He's graduated to climbing the slides at the park.






Clark also LOVES umbrellas. He has tried to help with the big umbrella, but they are too heavy, so we got him his own. It had to be tested as soon as we got it. He wouldn't let it go for the first hour or two after we bought it.



Masaki thinks he's a jedi, and since Clark talks like yoda, he's becoming one too. In interesting linguistic news, he's speaking in complete grammatically correct english sentences now, not just Japanese, and finally referred to himself by his Japanese name, and not just 'Cackky'




This last picture is for Pam. Not because she asked for it, but because Clark REALLY wanted to share it with her. We have the most success with Teddy Grahams as a 'reward'. I fell horrible, but it is the only way he'll sit on the toilet, and with the way he fights to keep the diaper off, he NEEDS to use the toilet. He can do it when he sits on the toilet, but getting him there, is a bit of a hard time. I'm in trouble when they run out soon. I got them as a party favor from someone who can get on Zama base. EEk. Time to make my own graham crackers(with less sugar...HA!)




I lied, the last picture will be of one of our Lilies. I'll try to take pictures of the wine red ones soon.

Ants!

Look what we found this morning after being woken up at 5:45 by our wonderful son!

Holy Heck Jane Austen!

Have you ever heard of this????



A Jane Austen Action figure!

No, I don't want one, but it is just so crazy, and I know a few of you out there are also Jane Austen fans, that I just couldn't stay quiet.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments, advice, and insight. It was really nice to hear, and while I did feel better after I wrote the post, it was great to hear.

In Clarky news, the funniest thing happened on Saturday. He wrapped Masaki's tie around his chest and started saying 'ba ba' I thought he might be saying bear(there were bears on the tie), but he kept repeating it...i.e. wrong guess mom, and then I said bra, viola! He made it into his own bra. Wow, cross dressing early!


Potty news - we know our potty cue word...in fact whenever mommy wants to get Clark to the potty because he looks ready and I ask 'Do you want to go pee pee on the potty?' He goes right there. So he knows what to do it seems like, but he doesn't really want to pee on the potty. I'm going to try drawing nemo on the bottom or a sticker chart. Any other ideas?

Also Masaki can't say the word 'Amsterdam' in English. It always comes out Japanese. I think it is sexy, but he gets all shy about it.


I need to wash dishes, but I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow or so.

I need to complain

So if you want to read, you can, if you don't, that is fine too.

Here goes!

I hate being pregnant. Why? You're only 11 weeks along, and aren't sick 24-7. Heck today I got a 3 loads of laundry washed, carrot cake cupcakes baked, paid our tithing at the post office, taught English to three kindergardeners, made dinner, took a shower, took out the trash and vacuumed! Pretty good for someone who is supposed to be tired. Here is why I hate being pregnant. I'm extremely impatient. I'm really glad that the baby won't be born until Clark is 2.5, but I hate the waiting. I also hate not being able to eat meat. I seriously get a nasty stomach ache any time I eat it. I made this delicious bagel sandwich with ham today, and bam, 30 minutes later I felt like HUD. So going vegetarian isn't that bad, but it is frustrating since Clark has just begun to show interest in meat, and taking a home-taught crash corse on how to cook a healthy balanced meal veggie style is not the easiest thing in the world to do. I'm just not that inventive, and I can't use my fallbacks anymore. Another reason I'm not a fan of pregnancy is the constant fear of the Doctor that I HAVE to live in because I am RH negative and MUST go to a hospital. I don't like them, I don't like the way they treat me and talk down to me, and to top it off, I'm pregnant, have a little sympathy people. Ok that and for some reason the instant I get pregnant I suddenly have this fear of being pregnant. This time it is worse because I REALLY enjoy Clark. I like it being just the two of us. He's fun, I like to pay attention to him, I don't want someone else taking that time away from me. Yeah, I'm jealous of my own child taking time away from my other child. Weird. Plus, I had a hard time with Clark. I'm a sleeper. I NEED sleep. In high school I one time slept all night, all day and then all night again with relative ease. I loved Clark from the get go, but I had a rough time appreciating being a mom until he was about 6 months old. When he turned 1 I finally felt like I was starting to get the hang of it(or as much as one can really). I don't want that again. That's another thing, Clark took away from my Masaki time for some time as well. I horde my Masaki time as much as I can, I feel bad that Clark is asleep usually when Masaki gets home, but I like having him all to myself for a bit(though his current OBSESSION with Hero's on Facebook makes me want to pummel his computer so I can have him back). I guess I just don't like to share. What makes me feel worse is so many women I hear from just gush about loving being pregnant or having small cute little babies. I feel guilty, like I'm bad for some reason. I know this isn't coming out all that eloquently, but hey, it is past bed time, and I'm hormonal. Plus I need some phone calls *cough*mom*cough*.

I do know that I'd be extremely upset if I lost the baby, or if for some reason I couldn't breast feed(a whole other post if I ever feel like it). I have no idea what it would be like to not be able to get pregnant, and know I should be extremely thankful for coming from good super fertile stock. I'm blessed with healthy and so far uneventful pregnancies, Clark is a healthy child, and there a lot worse things than learning to have a mostly veggie diet(with some fish). I know Clark will gradually start seeking independence from me and won't be my glue-at-the-hip buddy, and that it is a good thing for both of us. Having a sibling will be GREAT for Clark, and I'll love the new baby just as much. I want to co-sleep again if I can, and do all the touchy, feely, hippy parenting things that I do/did with Clark.

...and you know, talking about it helps, thank you!

p.s. Clark can open our bedroom door now, so after naps he opens the door and says 'mommy, uptairs peees'.

Nightmares and peepee

Yep, after on-again off-again diaper free time, we're finally taking the big plunge. Since it is raining every other day, and we are stuck inside a lot, what better time to run around without a diaper and finally remember how your body works? Yesterday it was super cute too. I was cutting up an apple for snack time and Clark ran off to another room, then quickly runs back, grabs a cleaning towel yells out 'pee pee, pee pee' and runs back to the other room to clean it up. It was really cute, and I was rather impressed. The other two times, mommy was there to clean up, so he didn't worry as much, but he did help. We're trying to get to the toilet, but for some reason he has no desire to sit on it like he did a few months ago. Oy! Oh and he doesn't want to take his pants off. He will, as you can see, sit on Homer though.




Now to the nightmare, it was Clark's, not mine and it must have involved ice cream because I hear him SCREAM at 4 am 'NO, NO, NO, NO! iceee more icee, icee icee iceee, more iceee' I must have been taking his ice cream away or something. Daddy was great, went over and patted his back, and he went back to sleep. Awesome job Daddy! He had a nightmare a few weeks ago too and was screaming out some pretty funny stuff as well, but alas I've forgotten. I'll have to blog about it right away next time.


We also spent some time at Masaki's Aunt's House the other day, and we got some fun pictures with that crew!



There is always way too much food, and a lot of fun. Clark had a blast with his Hiobaachan and Hiojiichan(Great Grandparent), but was WAY over tired by the end of the night and just running back and forth. Poor kid.

Oh, and in case Masaki doesn't say a word about it...guess what Apple is giving Clark for his birthday??? hehe j/k. I'm not that sick of a parent.

Japan Cool!- Sparkling Cassis

I thought it was high time to bring back Japan Cool. Of all the weekly posts that I did, this was definitely my favorite. I may have felt more socially responsible with the environmental post, but I'm just not educated enough to keep it up, and there are plenty of other people who are. Let me stick to MY specialty. In case you're wondering, it is complaining about Japanese pre-natal care(jerky doctors!) and sharing the cool stuff I find here. Without further ado, let's share my most recent find....

Sparkling Cassis from the Muji store.

It is not alcoholic, no worries for me, my mormoness, or the new baby, just carbonated. On our aforementioned trip to the mall yesterday Clark started asking for food. It was around snack time so we popped into Muji and looked for some tasty treats. We ended up with soy sauce flavored fried rice crackers(ended up being WAY too sweet for me), carmel corn(woo hoo!), apple juice, and Sparkling Cassis. For those of you who don't know what cassis is, 'cause I know I didn't, it is a syrup made from black currants. It was SUPER DUPER FANTABULOUS! If I could choose any drink to truly crave, this would be it. It was really really nice, and not overly sweet. in general the Muji store is a great place for good finds. They sell everything from food, to beds, to maternity clothes. The name literally means, non-name brand goods. I hear a muji just opened up in NYC Soho, so if you are ever there, by all means, GO! If you ever decide to visit us, I'll take you. Our store here is small, but I've seen bigger stores. It is wonderful. If you are feeling really adventurous, go shopping on the UK Muji site.

Ok, I'm done!

More rainy day funcapades!

Clark popped out a new word today, which isn't all that uncommon, but it was a word that I don't think he has heard that much, so I was a bit surprised when he started saying "hashi"(chopsticks) while, of all things, playing with some cooking chopsticks. Normally they are on the verboten list of things to play with, but he wasn't trying to eat them and wasn't poking himself in the eyes, so I relaxed a bit. He was having a blast trying to pick up all sorts of things. Of course, he couldn't be the only one enjoying himself, and I was told to get the other pair and use them myself.

He started simple with a small ball.


Then he needed some help from mommy.



We tried books, paper, etc. and then we were ready for the BIG challenge.



We have since moved on to jumping, doing exercises videos on Sparkpeople.com (I LOVE that site, and Clark calls it peepl-dot-com, "more peeple-dot-com"), giving Clark a hair trim, taking a shower, and nap time. Now I just need to think of what I'm going to make for dinner tonight. Maybe just gyoza "lowla", boiled spinach with soy sauce and rice. Keep it simple, right? Part of me really wants barbecue and potato salad for some odd reason though. Maybe I'll make buffalo wings with potato salad or something tomorrow.

tsuyuck!

Since a vast majority of the readers aren't well versed in Japanese, let me expound. Tsuyu is the Japanese word for rainy season, add a ck at the end and it makes is sound like it feels, yucky. Ok, not so much yucky, but stir crazy and depressed. On top of that the laundry takes FOREVER to dry. This would be the one time of year that a dryer would be really nice. I couldn't take it anymore today after 5 straight days inside, and we took a taxi too the mall. We had fun being out, but we were both done by the end. I'm not all the way over my cold yet, so I really was done. Though I'm feeling good enough to try to do some exercise tomorrow!

Clark is doing surprisingly well at keeping us entertained.


Ok, not all that surprising knowing what a good personality he has. He likes to play this game where if he accidentally hits his head with his plastic wand or some other object and it hurts a bit he buries his head in my lap and does a little cry. If he enjoys it he'll repeat that with a light tap and some fake crying. He had me laughing so hard I was in tears on Friday.


So we're having fun, but a little cooped up. At least this keeps the temperature way down, so instead of being super hot, I can still comfortably wear jeans! woo hoo!

Don't worry, August and September brings their revenge for us being comfortable now. Good luck to those dealing with the heat!