this week

Junji and I have both been at home sick this week. On Tuesday I felt awful at work, but I thought I was just over tired. I went home and had a nap, but I woke up feeling worse. About an hour later Junji came home from work saying how bad he felt. I usually hate going to the doctor, but this time I knew I had to. We both got the medicine that we needed and we stayed home from work the next day. My friend Chiyo really helped us out by taking care of Saya. Saya had her first night away from mom and dad! As soon as Chiyo left the house with Saya, I wondered if we had made a big mistake. I was afraid that Saya would wake up in the middle of the night not knowing where she was and totally freak out–or that she wouldn’t fall asleep well because she missed me. (That is the longest that we had ever been apart.) Well, it turns out that Saya had a great time playing with Chiyo and her daughter. She ate everything that they served her, went swimming, fell asleep without crying at all, and slept until 7:10 in the morning (later than she ever sleeps at home). Actually, she didn’t cry at all when she was away. I was proud of her for being such a good girl.

Look at this picture that I took of her today. I love it because she is smiling and looking at the camera–a rare shot–but also because she seems so grown up. She can run now! It’s crazy how fast time goes by when you are watching your little one grow up.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.

more weekend photos

Trying to figure out the chopstick thing…   She insists on feeding herself these days.

beach babe

It doesn’t get much better than these smiles.

Elena, the little girl in the picture above, gave this dress to Saya.  She chose it herself, and I love it!  She has good taste.

saturday evening at the beach

On Saturday we stayed at the beach all day and into the night.  We had a really good time with friends.  I took lots of photos throughout the day, but my favorites are these evening photos.  Everyone was tired out at this point–but in a good, relaxed kind of way.  We didn’t see an awesome sunset or anything, but the light was beautiful.

the bubble-catching dance

doesn’t junji look so sweet with a baby in his arms

Well, that’s probably enough pictures for now.  More tomorrow…

feeling good

Saya and I had the most awesome two hour nap this afternoon!  I woke up feeling so good.  Also, it’s friday!!–which is always the best.  We celebrated with some sushi and beer after Saya went to bed, and tomorrow we get to spend the whole day at the beach!  I am feeling good today.

kiln opening

We all went with Junji today to open the kiln that he fired over the weekend.  I wanted to support Junji, of course, but I also wanted first pick of the new pots.  (Saya couldn’t wait to get her hands on the pots too!)  Junji was really happy with the results of the firing.  I like the clear glaze that he is using.  The surface is really soft feeling.  You can see more photos in the kiln opening set on flickr.

pigtails

another first for saya

Saya’s bento

Because I am working at a kindergarten, I get to check out all of the kids’ lunches, and I am really impressed by all of the good ideas that the moms here in Japan have for cute lunch boxes.  Now that Saya is coming to school with me a few days a week, I have to make a lunch box for her, so recently I have been trying to make a cute bento.  I don’t usually cook Japanese food, but this is my version of a bento.  Here is her lunch from Friday…

Clockwise from top left:  Rice ball with veggie furikake, cherries, tomato and green onion quiche, bunny pasta with spinach

all packed in a hello kitty lunch box

festival time

For kids in Japan, summer is a time for festivals.  They dress up in yukatas (summer kimonos), eat ice cream, catch goldfish, and play with fireworks.  On Saturday we had our summer festival at school.  This year Saya wore a yukata for the first time.  She looked beautiful and we were so proud of her!  I tried to dress her by myself, but I ended up having to run down the block to get some friends to help me.  I still have a lot to learn about Japanese motherhood…

Saya in her yukata.

Another pretty Yukata.  (All of the girls looked so beautiful!)

what to do…ideas anyone?

Wednesday’s are one of my most free days of the week.  Saya and I go to school until noon, and then we are free for the rest of the day.  We often meet friends on Wednesdays, but today we had no plans, and I was having a hard time thinking of things that Saya and I could do together.

Playing with a one-year-old can be difficult.  She loves to explore around the house and she can entertain herself amazingly well with her toys, but I want to get better at playing with her.  My husband is so much better at that than I am.  He always gets her laughing.  (I excel more at cuddling, bathing, feeding, comforting, and those kinds of things…)

I was looking on the internet tonight for play ideas.  This may still be a bit advanced for Saya, but my favorite idea that I found was shake and paint from toddlertoddler.com.

If anyone has any good toddler play ideas, please share–and I will let you know what else I come up with!  (I added a category, “toddler play ideas”, and there are a few things there that I hope might be helpful to someone.)

Here are some photos from today–a very average day in the life of our family.

We went for a walk.  She is a really good walker now, so we can go quite far even without a stroller.  She stops a lot though–for every stone that she notices on the ground.

We played with water.  I filled up the bucket and gave her a few cups to play with.

Junji came home during his break, and read books with Saya.

She knows that her books are on the bottom shelf.  She’s going for the elmo book!

The elmo puppet book is definitely a favorite.

weekend photos

I am so exhausted after this weekend, but we had some fun adventures.  The rainy season is over, and it is really hot these days, so most of our outdoor activities involve water.

On Friday afternoon, Saya and I biked along the river.  We met this cute little girl.  She had two nets, so she let Saya play with one.

She was catching tiny little shrimp.

riverside flowers

On Sunday, Saya and I visited Junji at his studio.  They were doing a bisque firing.

more river exploration (this time a bit further from our house)

This little crab was cute!