jojo-log

Fried Turkey

2006-11-25T23:15:00.000-05:00

20.7 pound turkey, Cajun seasoning, 5 gallons peanut oil.

Post-micturition convulsion syndrome

2006-11-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

We're now pretty sure that this is what Ren has. I get it too sometimes so it's really no big surprise. Aya was the first to notice it pointing out how he would shiver saying, "See he just wet his diaper!" I like that there is such a wonderful medical word for the pee shivers. Aya didn't seem to have any good Japanese equivalent of the word handy. How could that be?

It seems Ren is going through an intellectual boom. He has started doing a lot of the things we've been trying to get him to do like sign and use spoken words in addition to his usual long-winded babble. One of his favorite signs is "Milk", as in the kind that come from Aya. He will come up to me while we're playing and Aya is sleeping and do this sign and get mad when I apologize for not having what he wants. I wonder if he expects me to get Aya or thinks I can do it and just don't want to? Another sign he is fond of is "Hot". He says this pretty well as he signs when he sees things being fried or feels them a little warm. He will call something hot long after it has cooled like he's remembering "this was Hot!". He will also make attempts at the sign for "Fish" as if to say, "look there's one in the book!".

And today he was using the magnet sketch board to draw! I wonder what he will be doing by the time we go back to Japan for the holidays. here I am already longing for the cold Kansai jet lag high.

Pictured here: Ren and my brothers nose.

Election Day

2006-11-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

Last Year

2006-11-05T21:54:00.000-05:00

Ren looked like this.

At Shaker Village Today

2006-11-05T21:47:00.000-05:00

Pancakes

2006-11-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

We had Ricotta Cheese Pancakes for Breakfast today.
A: 1 cup Flour, 1 tbsp. Sugar, 1 tsp. Salt, 1 tsp. Baking Powder
B: 4 Eggs, 15oz. Ricotta Cheese, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Mix A and B and fry.

Mystery Sign

2006-11-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of Ren signing that he's done. It looks like he's clapping. This is to imitate Aya and I when we finish eating and say,"Gochiso sama deshita". The problem is that it's similar to when he's asking for "more" of something. We've been helping him shape his hands the right way to make it easier to figure out, but he still has a way to go.

This sign on the other hand, where he claps his head with both hands as if to say, "oh no", is a complete mystery. He uses it as though it were a sign we taught him and does it to say... something, we just have no idea what it is. He looks at us like "why don't you get it?!".

Gyoza night

2006-11-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

We celebrated the first day of Nov. with a couple rounds of Gyoza.
It's my turn to make them next time, with lots of garlic.

Slicked back and ready to go

2006-10-31T19:37:00.000-05:00

More from Halloween. This is the Clark Kent freshly changed into Superman outfit with hair slicked back Ren. The Incredible thing about the Incredibles picture is that he's walking. At 14 mos. he is still like a little Frankenstein and can get across the room but rarely tries.

Halloween '06

2006-10-31T19:19:00.000-05:00

We Took Ren around the neighborhood as Superman. He seemed to pick up on the patten of knock on door, say trick or treat, get stuff. The first place we went to he was not happy with someone coming out of their house to say hi but by the third house he was holding his hands out to receive the candy. At the fourth place there were about three grandmothers that passed him around with coos. Thanks to my friends Brent and Sara we spent zero time and energy figuring out what to do for a Halloween costume. This was a hand me down from Colton. We also got an Incredibles outfit that looks pretty dashing on Ren.

Sunday

2006-10-29T22:04:00.000-05:00

Now from the Indiana-Illinois border

2006-10-25T20:02:00.000-04:00

Sleeping in Vincennes, Indiana tonight. The things I do for my company. And that just about sums up the excitement here amidst flat lands of cornfields. I have spotted some oil jacks in the cornfields. I've never seen those before. It was kind of like the seeing the tobacco fields for the first time when I first came to Kentucky.

Bathtime

2006-10-20T22:22:00.000-04:00

Ren used to cry to be taken out of the bath. But when I started draining the water with him still in the bath he became fascinated with the drain, how he could shut it by twisting it to stop the water and let the water drain again by lifting it up. Now, if I drain the water with him still in the bath he'll sit in the bath long after the water has drained fool around with the drain and complain about being eventually removed to get dressed. So I have to coax him out without draining the water and even then he is still very reluctant. One of his favorite bath toys is one of his nose cleaning syringes that we ended up not using because of how poorly it worked. He likes to watch the bubbles rise from it as he squeezes it under water and then squirt the water out. But most of all he like the bath itself with the faucet and the valve that makes the water come out of the shower instead of the faucet.

Yogurt

2006-10-17T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ren loves Aya's homemade yogurt.

For some reason this reminds me of my big brother who, unlike myself, has brown eyes and brown hair. However I think the resemblance might have more to do with the table manners. No comments?

Our Little Model

2006-10-17T22:46:00.000-04:00

He's been looking at Aya's LEE fashion magazines again.

little by little

2006-10-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Progress with sleep.

sleeping

2006-10-16T08:21:00.000-04:00

I've been sleeping instead of blogging. We (mostly I) have been spending most of our regular sleeping time trying to get Ren into healthier sleeping habits.Breaking the bad habits he now has is nothing less than excruciating. This will take time...not blogging.

The Cricket Encounter

2006-09-26T20:32:00.000-04:00

Went okay, the cricket got away and lived to tell.

Weekend Sky

2006-09-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon after the rains, the sky was huge with wonderful clouds. Ren's first swing experience went well. He didn't seem to know if he liked the slide or not. Look at those shoes!

Big Mushroom

2006-09-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

A mushroom at Center College, not to be identified yet.

Flower Shirt

2006-09-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, this worked! Blogger has not been letting me upload vertical images from this computer for some odd reason. But here it did.

This is Ren in one of his Birthday presents from his Uncle K., a nice flower shirt that has bamboo buttons and everything.

Gundam Stamps

2006-09-25T21:49:00.000-04:00

A friend sent us a package with these Gundam stamps from Japan the other day.

Too bad there is no Star Wars proportion American film for this anime. Aya and I watched these on DVD from a friend and now I know all about it. I remember getting my brother one of the plastic models that I picked up in the grocery store, (the Omishima A-Coop in Miyaura to be exact) around Christmas time. I had no idea that I was getting him the body armour for Char, the red bad guy...or is he really a bad guy? He's in the two stamps, the second row down and to the left.

Green Lynx Spider

2006-09-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

This big guy (or going from the size more likely gal) was in TN over the Labor Day weekend. There are bugs in the flower underneath it which I imagined it was about to eat. I've seen lots of spiders in the field next to the house here. Most are too indistinct to figure out what they are with the Audubon Society Field Guide in hand but one that is distinct and I recognize from seeing a lot in the mountains in Japan is the Black-and-Yellow Argiope. I've heard that Brown recluses are also not uncommon around here which is quite unsettling. Ren is getting lots of practice learning the sign for spider.

Day befor the Autumn Equinox

2006-09-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Ren about a year ago. It has been getting colder lately so the autumn equinox has not snuck* up on us here but if the weather tomorrow is anything like today there will be no way to tell when the sun is up or down. It's 10am here now and the sky is dark enough to be 8pm. Ren has taken a pronounced interest in walking. he is up to four step lounges. It's fun when he's walking from one of us to the other but last night he went from me to the low, hard coffee table giving Aya and I a good scare.

*USAGE NOTE Snuck is an Americanism first introduced in the
19th century as a nonstandard regional variant of sneaked. Widespread use of
snuck has become more common with every generation. It is now used by educated
speakers in all regions. Formal written English is more conservative than other
varieties, of course, and here snuck still meets with much resistance. Many
writers and editors have a lingering unease about the form, particularly if they
recall its nonstandard origins. And 67 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of
snuck in our 1988 survey. Nevertheless, an examination of recent sources shows
that snuck is sneaking up on sneaked. Snuck was almost 20 percent more common in
newspaper articles published in 1995 than it was in 1985. Snuck also appears in
the work of many respected columnists and authors: “He ran up huge hotel bills
and then snuck out without paying” (George Stade). “He had snuck away from camp
with a cabinmate” (Anne Tyler). “I ducked down behind the paperbacks and snuck
out” (Garrison Keillor).

Happy Birthday Ren

2006-09-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

Ren eating his birthday okonomiyaki.
He didn't go for the banana custard pie.
He is now fairly consistant with signing that he wants to eat. He's started cutting the two teeth to the side of his front and the sleep is... pretty much the usual wake up 3 0r4 times a night pattern that we have lived with for the last year.

As we had to go to Louisville to renew Aya permanent resident visa (now good for ten years!) we took Ren to the Louisville Zoo the day as a birthday trip.

Changumu's Oath or チャングムの誓い

2006-09-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

So we've been watching Changumu (or チャングムの誓い) based on a minor historical figure, Jang Geum 長今, the first and last female royal physician to the Korean Joseon Dynasty. I am now pathetcally hooked. This will be the third Korean Drama series I've seen including the sensational (in Asia) Winter Sonata and Hotelier dramas. Unlike the other two, Changumu does not include Bae Yong Joon but is still apperently popular enough anyway. After watching I can see why.

The only thing is that the Korean is dubbed into Japanese instead of subtitled into Japanese and I feel this adds to or complicates the not so perfect acting with standard Japanese exagerated tones and personalities. We watched Winter Sonata and Hotelier with Japanese subtitles which at first I thought would be painful but it turns out my Japanese subtitle reading is better than I thought. Since they don't get into too many quantum theory level discussions in these dramas it was no big surprise but still a relief.

Anyhow, listening to the Korean, which I can't understand, and reading the Japanese was one of my favorite parts of watching them. However Changumu is complicated by the fact that what's spoken is a mix of standard Keigo and foreign (to Japan) period language which includes several cases where someone's title or office is not translated into Japanese but rather prounounced in katakana. For example a word that is not Japanese that you would learn right away is Surakkan (スラッカンmeaning Royal Kitchen- 宮中の台所、Korean Ateji =水剌間?) The Surakkan and it's often currupt bureaucracy is the primary stage for the story.

We have watched 30 0f the 54 episodes now.

Sign Study

2006-09-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

Ren has really started taking this baby sign thing seriously. Well okay, this is actually him pictured on the verge of destroying the book by ingestion but he has been making progress. He has learnt to make the sign for "up"or "Dakko" (hold me) which he might be voicing soon. This is pretty simple though, not much more than an index finger pointed up. But still it's impressive to
see him producing sign. We have the SIGN with your BABY kit and it seems okay. The writing style seems pretty simplified and not what you would expect from a Doctor. we picked that one after reading reviews that said it was better than the alternative we were considering because it actually showed you lots of signs and spent more time explaining when to use them to get the most out of the baby's powers of association. It does have lots of signs to work from but now I'm wanting all the study and background research that is probably in the other book.

Almost 1

2006-09-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

We have less than a week till Ren is one year old. Today we went to the
doctors for the round of immunization shots. There were four! Two nurses with two syringes each gave him the shots in his thighs. He was needless to say not happy with this but a little sip of barely tea and he was all better.

Previously I had written that Ren's favorite food was Bread but he seems to have found something he yet more fond of than bread, Okonomiyaki. His doesn't have all those ingredients or the sauce so it ends up more like a pancake with shredded cabbage and chives. Looks like we will be having birthday Okonomiyaki next week.

No War Shirt

2006-09-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

NO WAR
THE NEW SOLDIERS WERE
DRILLED VERY HARD
ARMED FORCES WERE SENT
TO CONTROL THE RIOT
MUNITIONS FACTORY
THE WAR INDUSTRY
MILITARY ACTIVITIES
WAR EXPENDITURE
DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE
NO WAR

Maybe this is not Engrish at all but rather a deep poem set in a meter far too complex for me to recognize. The feeling it leaves me with is...
Thirsty for verbs.

Anyhow this shirt is also primarily sleep wear for some reason

Adventure of the brave boy

2006-09-01T00:14:00.000-04:00

This requires no comment. Just another bib. This one has a nice tie around the middle straps to keep it in place.

Sleepwear for your hip hop baby

2006-08-30T09:43:00.000-04:00

Actually this is just a shirt and not pajamas but unfortunately living in small town Kentucky, we can't dress Ren in this when going out so they are only used as sleepwear. I can see the woman behind us at the grocery store now,"Cute baby! And that's a really nice fuckin' shirt he's got isn't it?" maybe it would be more acceptable if it were a tattoo. Or maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe I should see this as a golden opportunity to peak the locals' interest in all things Japanese.

Okay so this is not incoherent and neither are most of the rest of the Engrish discoveries to follow but it doees have that -only something they would make in Japan- smack to it.

Japanese Baby Bibs

2006-08-29T11:39:00.000-04:00

Aya just got another care package from home. Because Ren is a champion drooler (teething or not) and needs to constantly have something to catch it before it soaks his shirt we have lots of stylish bibs. After looking at the baby bibs Aya's mom sent us I was convinced (my suspicions confirmed) that what Babies r us in Lexington has to offer are no more than rags compared to what babies in Japan get to wear. Not only do they have designs on both sides, but they even come in the ubiquitous incoherent English variety. Example below:
*Status*
The traditional beauty beyond age

The Tradition is now being reconsidered

Let the incoherent-English-on-Japanese-baby-apparel posting begin...

Two Front Teeth

2006-08-26T15:57:00.000-04:00

And here they are, the long awaited upper teeth. Look out shoulder those are sharp! They've actually been there for a bout a week now but getting this picture was not easy. We were tipped off by the strange grinding sound he was making with his mouth. He still does this and it drives me crazy, like finger nails on a chalk board or Styrofoam squeaky crazy. Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon.

Vacuum Monster　掃除機怪物

2006-08-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

Pictured here is Ren trying to hide and make light of his insecurities and secret fears of the vacuum Monster. This strikes me as the type of picture that bear hunters might take, posing with the beast that, just moments ago, almost took their lives but is now inanimate and docile. Ren has conquered the Beast for now.

掃除機怪物に対して押さえて隠してる恐怖や不安な心境を頑張って笑ってごまかそうとする蓮の写真。数分前命を奪いそうだったのに今は死んだばっかりの熊の前にポーズする熊狩人のようだ。とりあえず獣に勝ってる。

Chocolate Cake

2006-08-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

いつもあやが焼いてくれるガトー・オー・ショコラ。うまいで。
This is the chocolate cake that Aya always makes for me. Delizioso.

大好物　Favorite Food

2006-08-23T11:51:00.000-04:00

蓮の大好物は確かにパン。特にパンの硬いみみ、ピザの皮やナンが好きみたい。硬くて口の中で溶かすのが時間がかかっても何よりパクパク、集中して食べる。今日は新鮮なペストウを塗ってるトーストのみみとパスタを食べてた。
Bread is unquestionably Ren's favorite food. He especially likes the crust, pizza crust and nan. Despite the hard to dissolve aspect more than any anything else he munches away at it without getting too sidetracked. Today he had toast crust with fresh pesto and pasta.

Big Red Stables

2006-08-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

Went Horse back riding today. I usually ride the horse they named Mason but this time I ended up with Dixon. I'll bet this is not the only southern stable with this play on names. It seems a lot of southerness is being derived from something that originated as a reference for the original boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Pictured here is neither Mason or Dixon but rather Seymour.

The horse riding, as usual was great. We started out around 10am and got back a little before noon with a big thunderstorm following us back to the stable.

Ren's Giant Panda

2006-08-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

We got a video about Pandas where Mutsugoro-san himself goes to China and tells us all about giant pandas, ムツゴロウのゆかいなパンダ物語 or Story of Mutsugoro's Delightful Pandas. Ren's reaction to the narrarator saying "Panda" over and over was priceless. He would look at the Pandas on TV and look around for his Panda. When he finds his Panda he always rushes over to it and gives it hugs. Maybe the video drove home the idea that Pandas are real animals for the first time.

Global Stuff

2006-08-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

Some nice Infographics brought to us by the INA of Princeton.

Weekend Visitors

2006-08-14T16:16:00.000-04:00

Another American husband, Japanese wife couple came to visit us this weekend. Since K. (the wife) is an acquaintance from my Waseda days, the meeting brought back lots of memories of living in Tokyo and Kawagoe almost 10 years ago. Thru some odd twists of fate she ended up married to this guy who was also a Waseda student a couple years after me and also now lives in Kentucky more for the work than the wonderful lifestyle. It impresses me how magnetic Kentucky must be- it must be the"unbridled spirit".

This State slogan (which aptly replaced "It's that friendly") comes to mind and drives me crazy evertime I drive into the county I live in, past the liquor stores that advertise "last chance for liqour for the next 100 miles" and in general with the wave of religoius opprersion I feel when I forget I can't get any alcohol anywhere all day Sundays. There is definitely somebody with a tight grip on the reins!

Anyhow somehow the air mattress is all out of shape, wont deflate and I have no idea what they tried to do with it that left it miserably useless.

The baby sign language book has arrived! I'll be signing with Ren and chatting it up in no time! I can't wait. I can't wait to see him signing "let's not take a bath and go to bed- let's throw balls around till morning".

Agility 軽快さ

2006-08-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

蓮の軽快感がどんどん成長する。この技でも出来るようになった。最後は足がちょっと引っかかって「助けて」呼んだけど、それにしても１０ヶ月前自分の頭さえ支えられなかったと思うと大したこと。洗濯物はきれいだったが。。。
Ren's agility has come quiet way. He even managed to pull off this trick. When his back foot got caught on the basket he called for help but still considering 10 months ago he couldn't even hold his own head up this is a big deal. As for the laundry, it was clean..

いきなり日本語

2006-08-11T21:54:00.000-04:00

Apologies for the sudden Japanese.
いきなり日本語になってしまうけど。。いいか。たまに書かないと書けなくなるし。
日本語を読めない皆にごめんなさい。

蓮は最近ボールをポイすることが出来てとても楽しい。
後、最近出来ることはバナナを丸ごとあげても一人で上手に食べること、拍手すること、階段やちょっと高いベッドから足から下りること。

この前あやが蓮の前髪を切り過ぎた。のでちょっとかわいそうな髪型になってる、バナナを食べてる蓮。蓮はうちでほとんど日本語で話しかけられてるだろうけど、たまに私が英語ででも話しかける。二ヶ国語になったらいいなぁと思うけど、どうなるんだろう。彼みたいな１１ヶ月の子供は言葉を話す能力がまだまだだそうで、それまでコミュニケショーンを取るため手話を教える両親が増えてるみたい。あやによると日本ででも赤ちゃん手話が流行ってるけど日本の手話じゃなくてアメリカの手話をベースにしてる。アメリカから入ってきた考えだからと言って。ちょっと面白い。蓮は伝えたいことが伝わらない時めちゃくちゃイライラして怒るし、早くうまくコミュニケショーンを取れるのなら私たちも手話で話そうと。と言うことで蓮は二ヶ国語に手話も駆使するようになるのかなぁ。ただの親バカ？

Stool Sample?

2006-08-04T15:41:00.000-04:00

Wow, no time to write. I've been pretty well occupied at work and home recently. I wanted to try and catch up by writing back issues starting from our vacation to NY. Aya seems to be able log in what happened a couple of days ago and have it go in that day on the blog but I haven't figured out how to do that yet with this yet.

Looking forward to a weekend of more experimental Indian cooking. What to make?
I've got a taste for this Dal Masoor recipe that is not as spicy as I like but I think a little red chili could change that. I add the Hing to this though it is not on the list of ingredients. It provides a garlic like richness lacking in the original recipe.

For places to go, there is the annual crafts fair at Shaker Village this weekend. Last week we missed going to the Annual Harrodsburg Festival Aya had been looking forward to going to. It was sad.

I have figured out how to add links in the My Links part- It seems so complicated. I need to learn how to make hotspot links with words instead of pasting the whole link address. Haven't figured that out yet either. Any how there is a link there one of the blogs I like to read.

Since Ren has been waking up at the slightest shift of positioning sound in the early morning
I went to sleep in the other room after going to bathroom instead of risking waking him up.
When I got down stairs I was greeting with a big smile and a diaper of #2.

This is very good news because we have been looking for the opportunity to take a stool sample to the hospital for the last couple of days.

He seems to be having loose stools on and off for the last two weeks (since we got back form NY) and the doctor said that to make sure it is not a bacterial infection they would need a sample. He said he suspects it is a viral infection in which case there would be not antibiotics just a wait till his immune system kills it. So they gave us two containers in which to collect samples. One had a green fluid in it already and needed to be filled till the fluid was displaced level to a line on the side of the container, "then shaken up really good". The other one was just big container that they said needed to be submitted an hour within it's collection. We thought these were pretty silly instructions for a parents of a baby with watery stool. Think about it - if the poop is like water to begin with, it's going to be almost completely absorbed into the diaper and scooping it up to put in a bottle to displace fluid is all but impossible without following the baby around with out a diaper on hoping you'll catch the poop as it makes its exit! You have to wait till the poop is hard again which if the condition worsens could be a while. There was a good amount of poop yesterday but it was just as I got to work and with the hospital about 20 minutes away it wasn't going to get there in time. So this morning's #2 was welcome.

I went to the hospital and dropped it off with the person in the lab room after being registered. Apparently the results will be ready in 48 hours.

Self Discovery

2006-07-29T21:27:00.000-04:00

Ren has a new preoccupation when he is daiperless.

Thats a lot of Somen

2006-07-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

The seven of us that get together regularly failed to eat it all. This was a special occasion, a sending off of one the regulars. A new job and new address in a different state.

Rainy Day

2006-07-22T23:09:00.000-04:00

Today was first rainy day since we got to NY and it rained all day. We were thinking of going to Chittnengo Falls (or "Crappy dango"as Adam F., an old friend always called it) but the rain kept us in the cabin. We played Catan with T. drinking cranberry juice and vodka.

Splashing

2006-07-21T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ren splashing in the water at Green Lakes. This was his first time in a natural body of water. He was much less appehensive than we expected. He was so happy and played so hard. He slept for over two hours after playing whaile we drove back to Sears pond on the back roads.

再従兄弟　Second Cousin

2006-07-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

We went to Syracuse today and visited my aunt, uncle and cousins. This is Ren's second cousin James. He is such a good baby.

Root Glen

2006-07-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the Root Glen in Clinton within Hamilton College Campus. It was nice to be in a real arboretum after having UK's "grass collection" arboretum in Lexington. I always think it should be called something else, with a prefix that means grass instead of tree. It was very hot but well worth the trip.

Breakfast

2006-07-19T11:43:00.000-04:00

Almost everyday Ren has been taking his breakfast on the deck with full veiw of the pond thru the trees.

Corning, NY

2006-07-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

We drove out to Corning today to see the glass museum. I've been before but it has changed quite a bit since the last time went. It was very nice to be in a museum / gallery again. I think it is the first time we've been to one since we had Ren. But Even then we end up wondering how long his temper will last and we will have to make a dash for the outdoors. There was this nice piece for example which I was able to photograph but not look long enough to learn it's title or creator. I like it. I wanted to go to the studios too but the drive was long and Ren was needing some play in the grass time so it was out of the question. He was so well behaved on the way there and back and didn't fuss too much while we were there either but I could tell he wasn't enjoying it like he did, say the Newport aquarium.

Ren helping us pack for the trip

2006-07-18T17:58:00.000-04:00

Eating the greenery

2006-07-17T22:49:00.000-04:00

Mmm. Maple tree.

Pizza Crust

2006-07-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

We went for a walk around the pond this morning
in this fancy all terrain style stroller that T. Has inherited and has at his house. It is nice but the front wheel doesn't rotate so curves aren't as smooth as we're used to but the big wheels seemed to make the ride on the dirt road more comfortable. I noticed that maclaren makes a model with a front wheel that does swivel!
The pond is really beautiful. Since there are only about three other houses on the pond it is very quiet.

After the morning nap we made a trip into Shurburne to Joe and Vinnie's pizzeria for lunch. I can't remember how long it's been since I've been there. At least 15 years? The Pizza was good and Ren was very popular. They were very curious about what language we were speaking and were very friendly. We gave some pizza crust to Ren figuring he would like to chew on it and he went crazy over it. He really likes pizza crust. He must have finished off a whole crust by himself by sucking one end continuously till it turned to mush.

After that we went to Hamilton to be tourists. It's fun being a tourist in your hometown when you haven't been there. Or maybe only if your hometown is Hamilton I don't know.

We found Panda Bear, Panda Bear at the new (to me) Colgate bookstore and had to have it. Ever since Ren got a Panda Bear teddy as a miyage from Jason and Junko from the DC International Zoo he has shown a distinct preference for Pandas. We let Ren wonder around in the grass in the park for he got tired and then drove around while he slept. And I remembered growing up.

2006-07-17T22:20:00.001-04:00

Sears Pond

2006-07-16T23:04:00.000-04:00

This is Ren the day after our arrival
at sears pond, our vacation destination.
As arrived in the middle of T's Birthday
party, my head was throbbing as I took this picture, trying to calculate how many hours I slept and whether I should take another shower. The first one didn't help enough with the hangover. This log cabin we are staying in is built of whole Larch tree logs on the pond. A day of listening to Johny Cash and recovering from too many Saranac Pale Ales.

Ren At Play Pics

2006-07-07T00:10:00.000-04:00

see previous post

Ren at Play

2006-07-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

Ren is here playing with one of his favorite books, one full of different textures which also introduces animals, colors and shapes. For now I think the textures are all he's interested in. Another one is of him reaching for the string to the blinds.

Over the four-day 4 th of July weekend we went down to visit with my parents and brohter's family. It's a long ride for Ren but he's always happy when we get there because of all the additional entertainment. There is Fritz the Rottweiller a cat the cats toys a fireplace to climb up to, lots of magazines, a couple of coffee tables, big couches, DVD cords to suck on dogs water to splash around in and best of all the greasy tracks that the sliding deck doors run in. I must have wiped the black grease from his hands 50 times. He like to put something flat that will slide under one hand and crawl around like that sliding the one hand. My mom seeing this said, "He needs a trian to push around". The next day it was there. Grandmas are fast!

Cumulus Clouds

2006-06-28T13:58:00.000-04:00

It is a nice day to live in in Kentucky. The cumulus clouds are huge, deep, chunky and motionless in the deep blue sky. The hay rolls are sometimes scattered and sometimes lined up in the fields everywhere and the grass and trees are a rich summer green.

To celebrate the first day of summer, the 21st my best friend Todd and his wife Alice had a beautiful baby. Maude Elizabeth. We are going up to New York to meet her in a couple weeks.

I haven't been home in something like three years. It was Thanksgiving three years ago that I went last. I was chatting with Todd this morning and he sent me this picture of the building he works in to illustrate the degree to which the rains have flooded the area. The news last night showed images of Elmira NY that were more flooded than I've ever seen in New York. But that's not saying much. We haven't experienced any real natural disaster since we moved here. There are sometimes the wind picks up and there are tornado warnings but nothing substantial yet.

Last Saturday we went out for a walk at the big park nearby and went around the long trail twice, once to get Ren to sleep and once while he slept. We're trying to get him used to riding in the stroller more. He doesn't like it compared to riding in the carrier but now that he's over 20 pounds the length of time I can comfortably carry him in it is getting shorter and shorter. Eventually I need one of those carriers that is like a back pack so that we can go hiking together. He is, little by little getting use to his Maclaren Volo stroller that Ryota and Emi got for us. The whole time we were walking it was thickly overcast and humid and looked like it might rain soon. But it didn't really rain all day. We ended up going strait from the park to Danville to do some shopping and eat lunch. We ate at the new cafe/bookstore in town by the hospital where ren was born. We both got some kind of Italian sandwich and split a piece of cheese cake. The cake was not to our expectations but the sandwich was okay. We walked around to the Danville historical park to the gift shop to look around and headed back to the car after a few illusory drops of rain fell.

Sunday we went to Lexington and tried out another Indian restaurant near Harrodsburg road Beaumont center called Masala. I liked Tandor, the one in the Andover center better as it was bigger and had more to offer but what they did have was good. The tall young Indian looking waiter held Ren for a little while and Ren was happy. He like to eat the nan. We got Ren some clothes as all of what he already has is too big or too small. Now he has a couple new fancy shirts and pants.

Ren didn't sleep very well Monday night or last night. Last night I got up and slept in the guest room because I could tell it was going to be one of those nights that he would be awake and loud every hour and half.

Aya has been talking with her little brother Keita about him visiting Kentucky over the Obon (Japanese) vacation. He was here once before. It was before Aya came to visit the first time and he had a good time but I don't think he was terribly excited by the location. Aya was telling me about how he said he would probably never be back but I think he would be coming more out of duty to keep us company than to entertain himself.

Stuffed Shells

2006-06-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we planned on going to the Beaumont Inn for lunch but it is closed on Mondays (and one other weekday which I have forgotten) so we went to Wah Mei, the Chinese Buffet instead. Aya suggested 5D's but I had a feeling Jason would have nothing to choose from that did not have meat so it was Chinese. Greasy as usual but not too unsanitary the place is okay.

I was planning on making manicotti for dinner so we went to Kroger to get some groceries but they had no manicotti. So after I went back to work Aya took everyone to Danville to get them at the Danville Kroger which is bigger and is where I got them from before. Well they didn't have any either. A bad day as far as plans go. But it was okay because I had lots of jumbo shells and I stuffed and baked them instead. Jason made something that tasted like scalloped potatoes and Junko made a salad. Afterwards we had Aya chocolate cake. It was a little more moist than usual. All the while Rachel and Ren were taking turns eating and terrorizing the kitchen.

There was a good thunderstorm and it cleared up afterwards so that the sunset colors were more dramatic than usual with big sections of the sky dark gray, others clear blue and others red. It cooled off and the wind came up.

I showed Junko where the new killdeer nest is in the lawn and watched the mockingbird do their wing opening thing as they eat. It seems that most of the birds around the house are Robins, mockingbird and Killdeer. The same pair of killdeer has tried and failed to keep a nest on the lawn twice already this spring. This is their third attempt and there are only three eggs instead of the usual 4. Every time it seems the eggs end up scattered a couple feet around the nest which is always on the ground. Aya and I have never been able to figure out who or what causes this but it is always disappointing. I remember last year the killdeer didn't have any trouble hatching their eggs but I guess the location was better. This year they keep making the nest in the same unlikely place that the lawn mower will go over. The guy that mows the lawn goes around it but still it seems like a terrible idea. Birds.

Fish

2006-06-19T09:54:00.000-04:00

So we ended up going to the Newport Aquarium on Saturday which is just this (KY) side of the Ohio river which separates Cincinnati from Kentucky. It was a long-ish drive but the babies were well mannered and slept most of the way there and back. It is a tight fit but we can all fit in the Highlander with me driving Jason in shotgun, Babies in second row and Aya and Junko riding in the fold out third row. Third row is the tight one and we had to take one of the baby car seat out evertime they needed to get in and out. Rachel's car seat is compact though so that wasn't so bad.

It was a pretty hot day and it was a good thing we spent most of it inside the aquarium. We had lunch at a fish restaurant on the levee. Jason and I got crab cakes which to my displeasure ended up really only being one small crab cake. Another deceptive menu!

Ren was in something of an irritable/hyper mood but that changed pretty quickly after we got in the Aquarium. Rachel slept most of the time in the car and then slept most of the time we were walking around the aquarium. I felt sorry for Jason and Junko because there are no stroller aloud in the aquarium till after 4:30 so they had to carry Rachel through the aquarium the whole time she was sleeping. I should have researched the aquarium better ahead of time. Ren spent his time in the carrier as usual. Since he rarely lasts long in the stroller we don't even expect to much use out of it so it was no big blow to not be able to use it. Despite the relatively dark, crowded, narrow hallways and waits to get situated in direct view of the tanks, Ren really enjoyed looking at all the fish. It was a lot more stimulating for him than was the Cincinnati zoo that we went to about a month ago. i liked the otter display the most. I think Aya liked the penguins and the large shark tank. Ren seemed to fully appreciate the passageways through the tanks that have the fish swimming 180 degrees all around you as you walk through them.

We ate at the Japanese restaurant called Tomo near the downtown Lexington which was as usual pretty good but pretty expensive.

On Sunday, my first father's day, Aya got up early in hopes of watching the Japanese team play Croatia in the World cup. However she was very unhappy to find that the US open was scheduled to broadcast instead. She called home to make sure it was the right time and (with my reminding her) to with her dad a happy Father's day. I made Ricotta cheese pancakes and everybody liked them.

We went back to Lexington to do some baby shopping and get things at the Japanese grocery. If things worked out we were thinking of going from there to Frankfort to the Salato wildlife center. After baby shopping we went to the Indian restaurant on Maple leaf drive called Tandor for lunch. The place was clean and the food was really good. We will definitely being going back soon. After the Japanese grocery Ren had had enough of being in the car seat and cried most of the way home. That and the storm clouds made everyone more in the mood to go home than go to Frankfort. We got back and put Ren to bed for his nap and I was just about to fall asleep myself when the land lord knocked on the door with the new replacement oven. The floor was a wreck after he left so I mopped the floor and vacuumed the carpet while everyone was upstairs out of the way and resting. For dinner Jason made fried veggies and Aya baked a Chocolate Cake with the new oven. It works.

Something to do for the weekend

2006-06-16T16:24:00.000-04:00

This is the problem for the day. What to do this weekend? With the babies it doesn't seem very practical to plan a trip that would have us all in the car for more than two hours but there are so few things to do without traveling about that far. Places that would be nice to go to like Mammoth cave, Natural bridge, Cumberland falls, Newport aquarium, Cincinnati zoo are all close to or over the two hour range. Shaker village is nice enough but it's so close that it's a place they can spend enough time at on a weekday. There is the dilemma. Places like the Kentucky horse park, bourbon distilleries and historical monuments like the capital building are not really of that great appeal. I think it will end up being shaker village or the salato wild life center where you can walk around and look at buffalo, fish, snakes, a big snapping turtle, and best of all, wild cats.

Jason is vegetarian so the bison Burger restaurant which is a usual attraction for visitors would not have the same level of novelty. But the Thai Restaurant is looking pretty good.

Ren and Rachel

2006-06-15T09:32:00.000-04:00

I picked up our friends last night at the Bluegrass airport. It seemed like they were tired of being in airports and were happy to get outside. Rachel is adorable. In some ways she is a lot like Ren. Ren had already bathed and eaten and would usually be getting ready to go to bed when we got back from the airport. Rachel seemed pretty excited to have a new place to crawl around and explore and didn't seem overly concerned with Ren. But Ren was at a loss of expression and didn't know what to make of our visitors, especially Rachel. He would crawl up to her and watch her and then break out with ear piercing screams. But soon calm down and then start it again.

After about and hour or so he seemed to be okay with everybody, was back to his normal self and didn't mind being held by anyone. Once he stopped acting so crazy they seemed fairly interested in each other and would sit down facing each other and talk baby talk with arms up and full body expression. It seems she is not used to having full range of an entire room or floor but in out apartment we've tried to make it baby proof enough so it is okay to climb around and get into whatever is in arms reach so she cruised from living room to Kitchen and looked like she was getting way with something or like at any moments she expected someone to grab hold of her to keep her from going farther.

We put her in Ren's walker and she seemed to like well enough. She reacts a lot more enthusiastic to toys that make sounds and music than Ren does and dances when toys sound. She has the cutest expressions. Ren is really sensitive to sounds but doesn't get too excited about them.

After eating we put Ren and Rachel to sleep. For some reason Ren did not sleep well at all. It seems after 1 am he woke up every 30 minutes or so and wouldn't go back to sleep with a little breast milk. I can't remember the last time I got less sleep because of him not sleeping. Aya is probably exhausted today too. But after 7am this morning he was all smiles and giggles like he has slept well enough. I imagine he is still a little tired and will be a little grumpy today. Maybe Rachel will help keep him from his usual boredom with being at home.

The stove seems to have broken and I'm trying to get the landlord to look at and fix it. it seems like perfectly bad timing for too break with Jason here. I wanted to make manicotti...I'll make sure I get a hold of the land lord today. Aya made Mochi-pan in the bread machine but it didn't raise properly and may not be edible. It seems It seems that using the flour labeled "best for bread machines " is not best for making Mochi-pan. Or maybe it's only best for American bread machines but not Japanese ones?

Ren's Fall / Playing Outside

2006-06-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

After coming home I took Ren upstairs with me and put him on the bed. He likes to be with me when I first get home and will cry if I go out of view right away. While I was changing into jeans Ren crawled his way to the edge of the bed and went right over head first. He fell off the bed about a foot and landed on his forehead. I think it hurt me more than him but he did cry quite a bit. I had images of spinal damage shoot thru me and was momentarily terrified but fingers and legs were all in good working order and there was not even a lump to show for it.

despite all the sticking and poking he got for having a high fever four days after he was born, I think he has generally experienced very little trauma in general. Since he sleeps together with us and not in a crib he never has never been left to cry himself to sleep and doesn't ever have to cry for any extended time before he is attended to. It seems the quickest way to calm him down is taking him outside. I wonder if all babies are as fond of the outside as he is.

Last week we took him out in the lawn to play in grass for the first time. He was pretty preoccupied with eating everything growing up taller than the grass. Aya seemed a little worried about it but she soon realized that he generally just puts stuff in his mouth then spits it out. He seems to like crawling on all fours thru the grass and doesn't mind you walking away form him like he does in the house. On the second day of trying this we encountered the neighborhood Beagle who Ren is always very happy to see. He was very,very happy at the idea of being free to crawl over to and touch the beagle though it is hard to tell what the beagle thought of Ren. Of course it was not long before getting a hold of the beagle's tail was main objective.

It seems the grass here (in "The Bluegrass") is a lot more coarse than it is where I grew up in Upstate New York's "Central Leather-stocking" region. I had all kinds of little cuts on my arms after rolling around a couple of times on the ground. Despite the socks and jeans we put him in the second day of outside exploration in the grass left Ren a little worse for wear. He had some scratches on his face. I am pretty worried about the biting bugs in the grass here too. In New York you could see anything that might cause you lots of pain like bees, wasps or caterpillars but my experience in Tennessee has left me with bites and bumps that lead me to be more wary of the ground bugs.

A friend who I have known since college and spent lots of time together with in Japan is visiting us today for about a week. His wife is also Japanese and they also have a baby that is a month older than Ren, Rachel now 10 months old. I'm excited to see my friend and his wife who I know well too but most of all I am curious to see how Ren and Rachel interact. Since he stays with Aya and has never been to Day Care, Ren has never really been around other babies his size and never been within touching distance. I hope he doesn't hurt her too much.

Ren's First Pool

2006-06-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

While visiting TN for memorial day weekend Ren got to try out his new pool. He seems to be happy for a while then wants to climb out to crawl around.

In the beginning

2006-06-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

There was joe