Yep, I’m a two-year-old who loves vegetable stick an hummus. At least it is healthy. Even though I have been caught eating hummus alone with a spoon, I really do like vegetable sticks too. Sometimes when dinner is being prepared and I can’t wait, Mommy and Daddy give me a vegetable stick to munch on and I happily do so.
During class today one of my friends was standing up instead of sitting in his seat so I approached him and tapped him on the shoulder and then tapped the chair. My teacher saw this and told me that I should ask him to sit down. So I said, “Suwatte” and and did. I may not often look like the most involved kid during lessons, but I do know we should at least sit down and I let others no about that fact. And then I zone off and don’t really pay attention.
This morning I felt like a piggy back ride to school and Daddy happily obliged.
Once we got to school I got down and walked on my own. After I pressed the elevator buttons I sat on a little chair in the elevator that I like to sit on, even if it is only for a few seconds.
One of my classmates was being dropped off ahead of me so we hung out in the waiting area for a bit, but I don’t mind because there is a huge pillow there.
Daddy came home a bit late again so he had to eat dinner all by himself. I kept him company and had him read me a book. Come to think of it, instead of keeping him company during dinner I actually kept him from eating his dinner. He didn’t mind. He seemed really happy reading to me.
Today we had our English lesson at school. However, for me it is not a lesson, just English time. We sang and danced, but my favorite part was the silhouette quiz. I was so happy that I was able to answer “Mouse!” when I saw the silhouette. Our teach told me “Nice!” and that made me smile.
I’m speaking a lot more at school. I tell my friends “Hai, dozo” (“Here you go”) and “Aridato” (“Thank you”). (Note: I still have a hard time saying my Ks and Gs)
Tonight my bedtime book was a zukan again. I just can’t get enough of vehicles.
My favorite song to sing is still Wheels on the Bus. I never get tired of hearing it or singing it. But sometimes I’m pretty particular about what part of the bus we should sing about next.
Today we visited the vehicle exhibit on our walk. My classmates and I really enjoyed looking at the pictures and the little train models. But I think I was the most excited. I exclaimed, “Densha! Basu!” when I saw the exhibit. I even talked about it after we left, saying “Densha ita ne. Basu ita ne” (“There was a train. There was a bus.”)
I just have vehicles on the brain. At school I was reading a vehicle zukan when my teacher I came by. I invited her to read with me and told her that I road the bus with Mommy. We read the book together and when one of my classmates wandered near us I jumped into my teachers lap, claiming her. I didn’t really want to share her at that moment.
I’m a stalling expert when it comes to bedtime. Besides the usual extra bedtime hugs and kisses that I ask for with practiced charm, I have other tactics. I try to push back my bedtime by insisting I do certain things. Even after I’m out in bed and get my good night kisses and hugs from Mommy and Daddy I suddenly remember that the bathroom door is open and insist on closing it. There are a bunch of chores that I kind of purposely leave undone like putting away my dishes so that I can use it as an excuse to push my bedtime back. Mommy and Daddy have caught on to most of my stalling techniques and either make sure I do my chores before bedtime or just include them as part of the bedtime routine.
Last night I came up with a new stalling technique. After lying in bed like a good boy for more than ten minutes I came out of the bedroom and announced that I had to “unchi†or poop. Since that is a valid reason not to go to bed yet Mommy and Daddy let me come to the living room and got ready to change my diaper. I started to play with my cars. When Mommy and Daddy checked if I had to poop I promptly answered yes and then continued to play. Usually when I’m about to poop I assume a slightly bent over standing posture, but I wasn’t doing it. After repeated checking I kept insisting that I had to poop. Mommy and Daddy suggested that I go back to bed until the poop was ready to come out. That would ruin my plans. So I stood up assumed the pooping posture and pushed. I pushed really really hard. Mommy and Daddy were worried that I might pop a blood vessel. Then after a lot of hard pushing I was done. When Daddy changed my diaper there was a small marble of poop. Not even the diameter of a quarter. But I’m a man of my word and when I say I have to poop I have to poop.
After getting changed and another round of good night kisses and hugs I went to bed without anymore trouble. It was a successful stalling tactic, but quite strenuous so I doubt I’ll be doing that anytime soon.
Today I woke up in a pretty good mood. I was very active on our walk to school. I was singing with Daddy and chatting about various things. One of the things I’m getting much better at is copying speech. Today I had fun copying Daddy when he said “Go go go!”
I love zukan, or illustrated reference books. I often borrow zukan from school instead of story books. I love looking at pictures of vehicles and l am getting really good at learning their names. Even at school you can often find me sitting with a zukan carefully scanning each and every page.
Even though I’m young and usually have a lot of energy there are times when we go for our walk at school that I don’t want to walk. I just feel run down and want to take it easy. At these times our teachers put me in the stroller while everyone else walks. Some days I just don’t have the energy.
But once we get to our destination I have enough energy to get up and explore and have fun with my classmates.
Today we visited the smell exhibit at the prefectural office. I particularly liked the strawberry smell. I happily told my teacher “Ichigo!“
Speaking of speaking, my vocabulary and sentences are growing every day. Today when we were eating fried chicken for lunch I ask my teacher “Chokkin shite” (which means “Please cut it”).
I have a rascally face. Sometimes I can look at you and you’ll know that I’m up to no good. Or at least that’s what I want you to think.
I like me some natto. I know many non-Japanese think it is smelly and slimey…and they are right, but it is also delicious. I’m getting so good at using my chopsticks that I can eat my natto all by myself.
I’m talking more and more every day. Most of it is at school though. And school is a Japanese-speaking environment and home and English-speaking one, so Mommy and Daddy often don’t hear what I can say in Japanese. I’m stringing a lot of words together now. Today when at the park my teacher asked me if I wanted to look for grasshoppers and I responded with “Batta! Batta! Doko iru?” (“Grasshoppers! Grasshoppers! Where are they?”). If it weren’t for the daily reports Mommy and Daddy get from my school, they would no idea about how much Japanese I can speak.
We picked up an apple pie on our way home from the city and had it for dessert. I don’t often have dessert so I was really happy and excited about the apple pie!
Daddy doesn’t have a chance to cook much during the week so he likes to cook on the weekends. I like the food he cooks, but I don’t really like how the cooking cuts into our play time. The weekends are the only time for us to spend a lot of time playing together. Sometimes I cook with him just to be in the same room, but I found out that I don’t necessarily have to cook to be in the same room.
And I also realized that I can find things to do to entertain myself until Daddy is done cooking.
Mommy had to go to the city, so I jumped at the opportunity to ride the bus with her. She had been planning to take the subway which would be faster, but I had been talking about riding the bus all week so she changed her plans and we all took the bus instead.
While Mommy was doing her thing, Daddy and I had some time to spare so we went to McDonald’s for a snack. I had a pancake Happy Meal with yogurt instead of French fries as the side (Daddy’s decision). I ate the whole meal up. Yup, I had a meal, most likely intended for older kids, for a snack.
The whole time we had our snack, Daddy and I chatted about various things. I think the everyone else there was listening to us because we were the only ones talking. We talked about likes and dislikes, comparing the sizes of our drinks, and I asked Daddy a lot of questions. Like what the pictures on the drink cup mean. He really enjoyed teaching me about things and chatting about unimportant things. We had a nice chat about the book I chose instead of a toy.
It was a book about the moon, but I liked the last page where it introduced other books in the series and I found two books with vehicles on them.
I had a really nice time just hanging out with Daddy. Daddy said it almost felt like we were in a commercial that showed how McDonald’s could provide valuable time for a father and son. I just thought it was a fun time in general.
We have a display on the kitchen counter and every so often I hear Daddy talking to it. It turns out that it is an Echo Show. I had alway thought it was a very bulky iPad that was not as easy to use.
After the ice cream festival we went home to pick up the car and then drove Baaba and Obachan back home. But not without stopping for dinner at a sushi restaurant. We had a great time there as well. I ate my fill, which was quite a lot considering that I just had ice cream earlier. It was a very yummy and fun dinner!
Obachan got me a little capsule toy after dinner. It was a day fo many capsule toys.
The day started off without much of a plan but we ended up doing quite a bit. We had a great day!
I was a very happy little boy.
And a tired one. After dropping Baaba and Obachan off, I promptly fell asleep. What a great day!
