Breakfast and cooking

A big day starts with a hearty breakfast. On the weekend, that is usually a breakfast that is endless. After I finish eating I just keep asking for more food. Today I topped off my breakfast with untoasted toast…yeah, so just bread.

Then it was my turn to cook with my cooking set that I got for Christmas. Since we were in Hawaii for the holidays I didn’t really have a chance to play with it much. So today I really got into cooking.

Pre-bath delay tactics

I have different ways to put off going to bed. Once of the most effective ways is to use delay tactics whenever possible. Like right before bath when Daddy takes my shirt off, I ask him to make it into a hat. Then of course I have to show Mommy. Then if I have a runny nose, I have to get Mommy to wipe my nose. A few seconds here and there really help to delay bedtime. Sneaky, yeah?

Karuta, Sandbox, and

We played Karuta at school today. It is a card game often played at new years where you try to find the card that is called out. I had fun and did really well. However, I was not that into it when it was not my turn. Not really a spectator sport for me.

At the park we played in the sandbox and my friends and I were playing construction vehicles. We would pretend that we were excavators and dump trucks as we moved the sand around the construction site.

We were also very excited to spot a water sprinkler truck. It is nice to have friends with similar interests as me.

At lunch today my teacher was trying to help me with the last bits of food on my plate, but I told her (a little too firmly), “STOOOOOP! Shoma do it.” It is good that I want to do things on my own, but I think I have to work on my tone a little bit more.

“Uncle”

We were getting ready for bed and we were having another one of our conversations where we talk about a lot of random things. We were talking about names and Daddy asked me what his name was. In Hawaii we had a similar conversation where he told me everyone’s first name and explained that our names were not actually “Daddy”, “Mommy”, “Nana” or “Papa”. When he asked me what his name was I answered “Uncle”. I guess that I had been hearing my cousins calling him “Uncle” for over a week so I thought that was actually his name. This made Daddy laugh. When he asked me what Mommy’s name was I correctly answered “Yuki”. It made sense because sometimes my cousins forgot to add the “Aunty” part in front of her name when they talked to her.

Back to school

Surprisingly, I had no trouble getting up for school. I’m sure the jetlag will hit me later on, but I’m actually feeling pretty well-rested and ready for school.

I got to school without trouble, but when I got dropped off it kind of hit me that Mommy and Daddy were off to work and that I wouldn’t see them until the evening. I started crying. My teachers were very understanding and consoled me by carrying me and letting me look at the passing cars from the window. I calmed down and then went off to read one of my pictorial encyclopedias about vehicles. I brought my book over to my teacher and said, “Shoma rode a bus.” Things were back to normal.

We went to the park and it was nice playing with all my friends again. We had a great time playing in the sandbox. It was not the as playing in the sand at the beach in Hawaii, but it was still a lot of fun.

Back in Japan

As usual, I was asleep for the last part of the flight. I woke up when we got off the plane and was in a good mood, but groggy.

After we picked up our bags we had a taxi ride home, which I really enjoyed. I was fully awake and very chatty.

Once home I wasted no time and got right to playing with my toys, both old and new. We ate dinner and went through our usually bedtime routine and then I was fast asleep. It was a long day of travel, but as usual I dealt with it like a champ.

I can’t believe I have to go to school tomorrow. It might take some time to get back into my school schedule.

Flying home

Our flights back home went very smoothly. No throwing up this time. But a lot of sleep here an there. I fell asleep before our first flight even took off. I was sitting nicely, watching my shows and then when Daddy looked over I had dozed off.

At Honolulu airport I woke up and was excited to see so many planes again. But then I threw a fit just before we had to board the plane because I didn’t want my diaper changed. I wanted to change it later but we had to board right away. Daddy had to pretty much drag me kicking and screaming to change my diaper. I was not a happy traveller.

We got on the plane and then I calmed down. I like riding planes. I apologized and we were much better. It turns out that I was hungry. I had a snack at the gate but it wasn’t enough. So I ate a spam musubi that Nana and Papa made for us and I was much better. (I would eat several more during the flight.)

After eating and watching some more videos I fell fast asleep. It turns out that I was also very tired too. I even slept through the meal service, which is why those spam musubis were a life saver.

I woke up in a much better mood and had fun watching movies and shows, playing on the iPad, reading books, playing with stickers, and talking with Mommy and Daddy a lot.

The flight went really smoothly and it was actually quite enjoyable.

Eventually I got sleepy again and just drifted off. Even though I’m getting bigger and bigger, I can still sleep comfortably on the airplane. I slept peacefully remembering all the good times I had in Hawaii. Sure, there were terrible-two tantrums, but the good times far outnumbered the tantrum times. It was such a great trip. When I wake up I will be back home, but I will still hold on to so many good memories.

Time to leave

Boy, did time fly by. I feel like we just got here, but already it is time to go. I was well-behaved and got ready quite quickly. That left me just enough time to get some more playtime with Tata in.

But then it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I was sad to say goodbye, but I made some great memories from this trip.

We got to the airport and check-in went really smoothly. So we had some time extra time. I was watching some of my videos in the check-in line so I just kept on watching them.

When it was time to go, I said my goodbyes to Nana and Papa and thanked them for such a great holiday visit. I don’t think I really understood the situation because once we got through airport security I asked where Nana and Papa were. Daddy told me they were at home. I asked why and Daddy explained that we were going back to our home in Japan and Nana and Papa were staying in their home in Hawaii. I repeated the same back to him as if I understood. But I didn’t really. On every airplane and at every stop during our trip back home I asked where Nana and Papa were. I’m going to miss them a lot.

Nana, Papa, I miss you and I love you! I can’t wait to see you again!

New Year’s Day Party

We had our family friends over for our New Year’s Day Party. We went to their house last night and they came over to our house tonight. We started off with some really great food. I ate quite a bit. But then it was time to play. I was more sociable today because this was my home turf. I played a lot with Tata and another little girl. She was older than me, but the youngest in her family, so she seemed quite happy to have a littler person around.

I had a lot of fun playing, but I couldn’t miss dessert!

I was off and about with the other kids for the most of the party. I watched some TV for a bit. We wandered around the house a bit. I stopped by to see how Mommy and Daddy and doing and helped them play a game, but for the most part I was content to have fun with the kids.

Milk tantrum

After we got home from our lighthouse visit, we started some of our packing and cleaning up of the house. I pretty much just hung out and played on the iPad to stay out of everyone’s way.

Later I had a tantrum again and was being mean to people. I grabbed my milk from the refrigerator but I wasn’t listening about closing the door so I got mad and threw a fit. I got scolded. I cried and refused to apologize. Daddy took me outside for a walk to calm down and I eventually did. While outside I saw a lizard and I said, “hello”. Eventually I was able to apologize to everyone and be a better little boy. Maybe I was just hungry.

I was in a better mood after I had lunch. Guess what I had? Yep, hamburgers again.

Bedtime books, falling, eyelashes

I had so much fun at the party I didn’t realize how late it had gotten. Luckily, I had already taken my bath after playing in the bubble pool. So it was time for some quiet bedtime stories to calm down and then easing into a nice peaceful sleep.

Or maybe time to be silly on the bed and then fall of and cry.

Even after falling off the bed, I was able to calm down and fall asleep fairly quickly. It was another long fun-filled day and I was really tired.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Apparently there was a lot of midnight fireworks celebration going on, but I slept through all of it. It’s okay. I can start the year off with a bang starting with breakfast. I woke up pretty early and in a good mood and was in a pretty good mood, then I had a very good breakfast of fruits, banana muffin, and french toast. And let’s not forget the syrup! Yum!

New Year’s Eve party

Went to friends house for dinner and fireworks. Even though I was fascinated by fireworks last year, I was not very into it this year. I did some poppers and watched Mommy play with sparklers, but other than that I was not interested in the fireworks. 

I ate tons of fruits but was not in the best of moods. When I saw the fireworks I said “fire” and I was a bit wary of it.

At one point I asked Daddy to take me to the truck and we stayed there for a bit and I could enjoy some peace and quiet and I was very chatty during that time.

On the way home I fell asleep but I woke up as Mommy and Daddy were trying to take my jacket off. But that was okay. I could have my usual bedtime routine and I was in a very good mood. I was very chatty with Mommy and Daddy and went to sleep very happy.

I slept through the midnight fireworks and was completely unaware of them.

This past year of terrible twos has been trying and great at the same time. I grew up a lot in 2023 and with growing up come a lot of growing pains. But I’ve completely left behind my baby stage and am a toddler, if not a little boy now. It has been a great year and I can’t wait to see what 2024 will bring. Happy new year everyone!