July Randoms

I cannot believe that it is already July 1st. This summer is going to be over before we know it. So, rather than an update about our weekend....I'm going to do one of my favorite types of posts....the old bullet point.

• We decided to renew the lease on our apartment which means that we are in some serious need of organization. With that being said, I have been setting aside 15 minutes a day (at a minimum) to decluttering. This has been working very well. In 15 minutes I can get a little or a lot done depending on the project...but I am at least getting things done.
• Ten read an article the other day about parents and cell phone usage. It talked about how we aren't sure of what kind of developmental impact it will have on kids when parents aren't talking to them and have their eyes/ears glued to their phones instead. I wish I could find the article again to link it here. However, take a look around the playground next time and see how many parents are pushing their kids on swings while playing with their phones....very sad. So, Ten and I made a rule that we wouldn't use our phones while Mia was awake....and then we changed that rule to we just wouldn't use them in general except for a once a day check. I  LOVE this change....the less you use the phone....the less interesting it becomes.
• We are in the process of figuring out where we would like Mia to go to preschool. I think a Japanese preschool would be best. We want her to have a strong foundation in the language....but will this make it difficult when she starts an American elementary school? I kind of don't think so....but this is what we are thinking about right now.
• Seriously...I love all seasons. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring....all great.
• We do a lot of activities during the week with Mia besides play dates and classes...activities when we are hear just hanging out inside. I found this program, and it is great. The Letter of the Week has given me so many little ideas to incorporate into our day without taking up a lot of time. Right now, when we do art projects we listen to classical music. We play games that help Mia learn how to pick up her toys. We sing nursery rhymes while getting dressed....little things here and there....and you know what....it is really helping. Mia can now recognize music by Bach. Love it....takes a bit more planning but makes the day more interesting....for both of us actually.

Anyway, I think that I will end it here....just a few things we are doing right now.

Japanese Books We are Reading

Okay, so a while ago we ordered some new Japanese books for Mia...and for us (our sanity was being tested reading the same things over and over again).

We bought them through Amazon Japan, and the shipping was actually not too terrible. I think it was actually cheaper to do it this way rather than buy them from the Japanese bookstores here.

In one of the books below, it is a story about a goldfish who jumps out of a bowl and you have to find him in the different pictures. It is so cute. One of my favorite children's books ever.

A set of 4 baby sized books that are basically just words and pictures, a  book of sounds, and the cat book is a famous character.

A set of books about rice, veggies, and fruit...very cute.

Different themed books in a set of 4. 

Similar to the above...a book on carrots...a book on a girl with crazy hair, you get the idea from the pics

These books I wasn't super impressed with when I was choosing them online. The pictures are just so plain, but they are one of the popular kids books....so I went ahead and ordered them. Mia seems to like them, and I think she will like them even more as she gets older.

We also ordered her a set of these three Darumasan books. I knew that she loved these, and it was definitely a good choice. As soon as we got them out, she was all smiles. 

She loves the rocking motions that we do with Darumasan.

Followed by some sort of action....this one is falling on your side. Do we have a similar book in English? If so, please let me know because she would love it!

Finally, we bought her this DVD...and we have already watched it countless times. It is cute to see her dancing along with it, and she was even singing the other day. Should have gotten a few more maybe? Oh well, Christmas will be here in a few months.

Anyway, that is what we bought. I basically just went through Amazon Japan and found picture books for babies as well as the best seller lists and chose from them. Some of the books I knew that she liked and other we took a gamble with. Overall, she likes all of the books...whew!

P.S. Hydrangea are in bloom here. This is my favorite flower! They make me happy :)

Art, Music, and Story Time and Japanese Books

I was going to do a Monday/Tuesday combo post...but then realized that that would be way too long and each probably deserved their own space...well at least Tuesday...so here is a glimpse of our Monday.

In the morning I made lunch for Ten and went to the gym (for a mere 10 minutes....but hey better than 0 minutes) and then saw Ten off to work. Mia and I did some coloring after that. Actually, she tried to eat the crayons and then after her billionth unsuccessful attempt (thanks to moi)...she decided that she would just dump them all out and play with the lid...and I was completely cool with that game.

After a few games, she went down for a morning nap. She typically sleeps for 45 minutes while I straighten up the apartment and prepare for the afternoon. She woke up a little bit late on Monday, so we had just enough time to eat some lunch and then head to the New York Kids Club for her classes. I decided to only take pictures during the second part of class this time. I'm still not comfortable whipping out my phone camera while the gymnastics portion is going on. By the way, this week's skill was log rolling...and by the third time...Mia was an excellent log roller. She also did a good job with her stretches (meaning she actually let me move her legs into position) and donkey kicks.

After gymnastics, we have a couple of minutes to take a break before the next part of class. Mia ate a few bites of rice and then headed over to the toys of course.

Next up is snack time. As soon as Mia is seated at a table...she automatically claps her hands together for us to say "Itadakimasu." Very cute...and we still do it even in public...she expects it and we want to make sure she gets used to doing it.

Itadakimasu!

Back off my Cheerios.

After snacks and a story, we made sunflowers with dot paints. Mia wasn't too interested in the dot paints...maybe because we don't do it at home? I don't know...but this was the finished product. A lot of the parents were trying to arrange the petals perfectly....but I'm like hey...1 year olds and art....we just need to let them go at it.

Abstract Sunflower

Next we headed over to the toy and puppet/song time. I soooo wish I could have gotten more pictures. They were singing a song about the sun today and had to wear sunglasses...giant sunglasses....so it was beyond cute. Mia just wanted to keep taking the glasses off and then putting them right back on though...so no time to get a shot :(

Finally, we headed home and picked up a package that was waiting for us at the concierge. Yay! Our first shipment of books. Now, I know that these books are too old for her at the moment...but we will have them for later... and she loves looking at the pictures.

These are a set of 18 Japanese fairtytales/folk tales. 

After looking at the books, Mia took a long nap while I threw together some sukiyaki, did some admin stuff, and cleaned the apartment yet again. I'm hoping next Monday I'll be brave enough to take pictures during gymnastics!!

What we are reading, eating, and doing...

In an effort to try to eat healthier, I am going to a 95% Japanese menu for the next week. Even some of the most unhealthy Japanese foods are a million times less bad for you than typical American dishes.

So, I made up my list and we were all set to head to the Japanese supermarket together....however, Mia decided that she would take a nap instead. Ten volunteered to make the trip alone :( ... but it all worked out. Here are some of the things that were on my list.

Lots of tofu...grilled and normal. We are going to use this for the last nabe of the year as well as miso soup, etc

Natto (for Mia and Ten), takana, and miso

Dashi powder, furikake, 2 boxes of curry, 1 box of cream stew, and snacks for Mia. No idea why this picture is all stretched out.

Nori, cooking sake, white sesame seeds, ajipon, and bath powder (milk protein type). I was especially excited about the bath stuff!! Seriously...the best.

Ten also brought us back bento and a jasmine tea for me. I had the salmon and he had fried chicken...Mia ate bites of both. Seriously...in Tokyo this would NOT have been an exciting meal...but it is like a taste of...home...I guess you would say. 

After putting everything away and having an early dinner, we decided to head over to the Dinosaur Playground. We were surprised to see that they had the water features on since it was kind of chilly out, and of course Mia toddled over to the water as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Not a flattering photo I must say...and where am I looking ?? Creepy.

Getting ready to run through the water.

Needless to say, we had a great time...but we were cold and wet so this meant that when we got home we did showers and took baths.

Finally, Mia's library has been getting a little bit bland shall we say. We only have about maybe a dozen and a half Japanese books. English books...tons from the library, but we needed to switch them out. We took a quick trip over...and here are just a very few of what we are reading right now. Some of these Mia picked out herself...and some I found from recommended reading lists.

The Napping House, Moomin books, Dr. Seuss nursery books, Dear Zoo (the best book!), and some DK books. Ten also grabbed the Row, Row, Row your boat book since he recently learned how to play it on the xylophone...I know we are super cool.

We also placed an order with Amazon Japan for some Japanese books, but we decided that it would be best to go to Kinokuniya and pick up some new ones while we are waiting.

I guess you would say these are similar to ABC books...but they have so much more in them.

Different sounds and the faces that you make when you say them...so cute.

The Japanese version of "Do, Re, Mi"

Anyway, so that is what we basically did this weekend. Our summer is about to kick into warp speed from this week. Lots of classes, play dates, planning for vacation, working on projects, figuring out apartment stuff and so much more! How to avoid burn out...this will be the challenge. Wish me luck!

Shopping, Toddler Projects, and Play Group

I feel like it is such a weird type of Wednesday. The week is crawling at a snail's pace and going super fast at the same time...doesn't make sense at all.

Anyway, a little round-up of what we have been up to this week and a few random bits from last week as well.

Last Friday we went to a Japanese playgroup at the Unitarian Church on the UWS. When we walked in, we were surprised to see that it was Mia's teacher from the school that shut down. Mia was excited to play with her baby friends and see her teacher!

But the activities weren't really holding her attention very well. This goes the same for the other kids her age. They were running around the church and exploring every inch of it. When we asked the teacher if the lessons could maybe be made a little bit more challenging/interesting for older kids, we were met with what I believe is a rather typical Japanese answer. The material is fine...we just need to encourage our kids to sit through it and we ourselves need to make sure that they are engaged....hmmm....I only half agree. Anyway, the class is going to be moved to Mondays at a friend's apartment for the rest of the summer. We won't be able to make it since Mia has her gymnastics/pre-nursery program that day. Actually, I'm not too disappointed though since I've felt for the past few months that this Japanese class just isn't cutting it anymore. I'm hoping we will be able to find something better in the fall :)

Monday we went to Mia's new summer class. It was really amazing. First, the kids got to play on the obstacles that were set up which included things like a balance beam, tunnels to climb under, and so much more. They then practiced their stretches, played on a sensory board with scarves, and did trampoline work. Mia had a pretty good time.

After that, we headed to the class room where they ate their snacks while listening to a story, made an art project, had free playtime with toys, and then ended with puppets and songs. I so wish I would have taken some pictures, but I was sent an email before the first day of class talking about how cellphones/cameras weren't allowed. However...everyone was snapping pictures during class...so I will too next time! I was glad though that we could just focus on the class for the first day.

Mia's Cat Puppet...coloring by Mia and I helped with the face of course.

When we got home, Mia was pretty tired from all of the activity. So, I had time to make a roasted chicken and warm potato salad. They both turned out pretty good. Yum! 

Let's see...yesterday we spent a lot of time at both the library and the park. We got lots of great books! I should really post some of the great stories that we are reading right now. We also did some sensory activities with rocks and water. Some other activities that we did yesterday were playing with pipe cleaners and water bottles as well as filling up the bathtub with 200 balls for bath time! Lots of fun. I actually took pics, but they are on my camera. 

We are always doing lots of little games/projects at home during the weekdays. Mia loves them and it prevents her from destroying the house too much. Anyway, so I am going to try to do a better job of blogging about some of the projects that we do. That way she can look back in 20 years and say....oh that is how I spent my baby/toddler days. 

Mia in a duck headband we made one day...notice the crayon in her teeth.

Lastly, this morning we went shopping to buy some things for more fun activities at home.

Two packs of stickers (cats and bees), letter magnets, chevron buttons, glass bowl, food coloring, play dough, puddy, glitter, glass rocks, slinky, squidgy caterpillar, peace signs, and ocean beads. Lots of fun things.

We also headed over to Walgreens to pick up a few things we needed for home/crafts.

Freezer bags, giant thing of hair gel (for projects), mouthwash, and Aveeno Moisturizer. I didn't take a pic of things we got for Ten's Father's Day gift :)

Plans for the rest of the day include projects with Mia, possibly ordering my planner for next year, and checking out another DVD of Big Love from the library...LOVE that show!