Crib

This is what I saw when I came out from the bathroom this morning......one wanted to get out, one wanted to get in....

"Ki-chan"

We all call Kiharu as "Ki-Chan", it's like little Kiharu in Japanese pronounciation. Day and night, I could hear Yoshi calling "Ki-chan" all the time- whenever she attacks his train depot, or whenever she is in danger, or whenever she is chewing on his toys/ books, or whenever he wishes to play with her.... they are just typical siblings, love and fight (sort of one-way), hugs and kisses, laugh and scream & being silly together.... Love u both. xoxoxo

The Three Musketeers

Yoshi has these 2 good friends- Sarah & Andrew. They have known each other since little from music class. Now that they are older, when they get together, they have so much fun. All of their little sisters are about the same age as well, it will be a crowded 6 little kids together in a few years.

These are their reactions after I told them to laugh "ha ha ha" in front of camera.

Every Saturday morning, they got to take soccer lesson together.

Kick....kick....kick.

Happy 9th Anniversary

Nori, Happy 9th wedding anniverary!! xoxo.

(This is the FIRST photo I believed Nori e-mailed to his parents many years ago, introducing me- while dating.)

Koniichiwa!! hajimeimashitei, watashiwa Sabrina desu. Yoroshiku.

Not your typical laundry basket

I spent a LOT of my time dealing with territory dispute......

Most of the time I'm teaching Yoshi to s-h-a-r-e his toys with Kiharu, and also how to handle the situation when Kiharu attacks his toys. Instead of yelling at her or grabbing his toys back, I'm having him to call me, because I'm afraid he won't be able to adjust his strength when grabbing her hands.

Honestly, it's hard for Kiharu to resist the train toys temptation, but how can u share the toys when she lays her body all across the entire train tracks....^_^ I kept putting her back to "her" play area, but I found myself running back and forth the living room. Well, the temporary solulation while I'm cooking.....laundry basket...^_^ (I also put her in the baby crib if needed, but this laundry basket is much closer to all the action, yet with a little boundary)

Being a big brother, not only do u have to share your toys, but also to teach and play with your little sister....Yoshi is great (most of the time)

Injuried zoo animals

Now that we are slowly getting back into daily routines, felt like I'm constantly standing inside the kitchen- breakfast, lunch, teatime, dinner....and with Kiharu eating more solid food, I even felt like preparing all kinds of meal everyday- baby meal, kids meal & Nori's late night dinner... no wonder my feet gets tired easily.

Blogging time is even harder to come by. I used to update blog while kids napping, but now it's either trying to juggle both kids' nap time together or either cooking.....or the latest responsibility- stopping Kiharu from crawling into Yoshi's train territority or making sure she is not trying to chew the tires out from Yoshi's cars.... I totally need 2 more sets of eyes on the back of my head....(no...I'm not complaining the joy of having 2 kids, just there have been few more adjustments into our daily lives. ^_^) and I'm now typing with single hand, while having the little girl rubbing her itchy new teeth on my shoulder....yes, 2 new bottom teeth.

Anyway, pulled out the Inai Inai (pee-ka-boo) book for Kiharu, then I realized those "injuried" zoo animals have never gotten their medical attention these past 2 years..... (here is the link to the original zoo opening 2 years ago...)

Here is a video of Yoshi having fun with his cousins Nana-chan & Yuuki-chan in Japan...how fun.

Bye bye Sunday....

The weekend is almost over, it went by too fast. Nori were on business trip from last Wednesday till Saturday night. We are used to Nori being out or being late from work. But with all 3 of us catching a cold, plus all the previous restless days, I'm exhausted mentally & physically............ (I just paused for 10 mins here, starring at the TV....I guess I'm still exhausted......)

With the lack of energy, certainly my patience level ran low.....very low. But when u were dealing with a three year old, felt like he just wanted to test your every move.
"Yoshi, eat...hurry up, we got to go..." (he kept starring at the window or playing with sister)
"Yoshi, buckle up your seatbelt, got to go..." (he threw a fist because he insisted to buckle by himself without my help)
"Yoshi, walk up the stairs now, we got to go..." (he decided to chill out by the stairs without moving up or down)

...........................well, I do have one advice- when dealing with meltdown situation in the car (both kids crying....rare, but it did happen last week):
- switch on selective hearing mode (block crying sound, listen to radio music only)
- focus on driving the road in front of you, don't think
- do NOT look at the rear mirror at all...

Huh....Monday Monday Monday.....can't wait for Saturday when Nori will be home with us again.

You are supposed to fill in the matching color inside the white circle area.... but.....

Everyone loves weekend, having Otousan home with us...

It didn't take long for Yoshi to discover Kiharu chewing on his train parts...

cut & paste

To prepare the upcoming long winter, I have brought a bunch of art & craft book for Yoshi to do. They are really fun and given me some creativity ideas.... (the ones below - Yoshi had to cut the items out and glue onto the designated areas) (Cecilia, I think Yoshi is far from cutting coupons for me, unlike Charlene...^_^)

Here is a video of Yoshi talking on the phone with grandpa, kept saying "Grandpa, watch!!! watch!!!"... I think he forgot phone is only for sound, not for vision, (at least not in our house, not so high tech...)

FIRST day of School!!!!!!

Yoshi has officially started his preschool life on Tuesday. It's going to be twice a week (T/Thurs), 2.5 hrs each morning. I think me & Nori were more excited for his first day of school ^_^.

I think the biggest challenge for his school life is to speed up the breakfast time....hurry up.

Yoshi's class is name "Elephant" (Auntie Anna, u would love it)

Who doesn't like the day to begin with toy cars? (he had no problem saying goodbye to us)

After leaving Yoshi at school, for a moment, "What should I (we) do now??" it's such a strange feeling, but refreshing. Reminds me of the old days when it was just me and little Yoshi in the stroller.....I guess, this is the beginning of the mother and daughter bonding time. can't wait for Kiharu to be able to walk, then we could have various activities together.

I went back to school 15 mins before pick up time, so I got a sneak peak on what his first day of school was. (just came back from outdoor playground, he seemed to have tons of fun)

Goodbye teacher, Hi mama (& Kiharu)

Still can't believe Yoshi is in school...^_^ I thought the first day I would be feeling emotional, I mean a bit sad. BUT indeed, I felt very exciting for him, being able to spend lots of fun time with other kids, doing all the messy art/craft that mom would be hesitate at home, or playing with sand that would not even exist at home... At the same time, it's also refreshing for me to have a mother and daughter bonding moment. At least at this point, I don't need to worry about keeping my 3rd eyes at the back of my head while shopping or driving. I think we are at a good stage in life, Yoshi is at the right age to begin exploring his new school life, meeting new friends, and blossming his curiousity. And I can now use that little time out to bond with Kiharu, just focus on her only. Great.