Japan: 覚王山(Kakuo-zan) → BBQ at the neighbors

覚王山(Kakuo-zan), where I passed everyday during my high school years but never really took time to explore. Mika (my former coworker), David and I were meeting in Nagoya and heard that Kakuo-zan was having a festival so we decided to check it out.

Before even got to the places to see, we had to make an emergency stop to get hydrated again.



Unlike in Utah, public transportation is a common way for people to get around. Since the climate is awfully hot, they had to make shade for themselves to arrive at their destinations with a somewhat socially acceptable appearance; hence, a fansy umbrella to make a shade.


Kakuo-zan has a shrine sent by Thailand. It is a Buddhist shrine.














Nowadays, people try to preserve the old scenery. The little town is fun to walk around. There are some art galleries for young artists as well.


After a long hot day, we had a nice BBQ at our next door neighbor/relatives.





There, I learned how to make a rice-ball all the same size.




Last time when I saw Tecchan (a young good looking man), he was playing with train toys on the floor. Was I away from home so long?!
Oh, I miss the summer at home, but as much as I do I am not ready to go back to face sleepless nights with Yuna crying from the heat. Hence, I am grateful for Utah's nice air conditioned house.

Super Baby, chapter 8: Books

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."
As I grew up, I didn't like reading books and I was one of slowest readers in the school. However, my dad and grandpa loved books. Our small house was always filled with books. I remember my dad telling me to read books. Being a sassy teenager, I, of course, declined his invitations. Now I see the point. This might be one of my biggest regrets in life. So here is what Dr. Berman has to say about reading books.

Make reading time fun!

For example; let them own some books.

Let them write in the margins, highlight, draw, etc. in their books, which allows them to learn new words and make the experience their own.

Don't scold the kids when they chew and tear books, but fix those together.

It is ok for them to read the same book over and over.

They can like comics.

Make book boxes for kids, mom, and dad, so all of us can easily access to the books. Rotate what is in the kids' boxes weekly to give a variety of books.

Give the book a proper introduction; take time to introduce the author, illustrations, what the book might be about, and what made them(me) pick the book.

Always point to the words as you read them; this technique will help the kids to identify and recognize the letters and words.

When they get older, you can give them a bed lamp and tell them they can keep the light on to read. (Reading becomes a privilege for grown kids.) If they don't want to read, they can turn the light off and go to bed.

Don't correct children when reading.

Don't answer the phone during story time.

Don't use reading as a punishment.

Don't threaten to take away reading time/books.

Three basic concepts successful during the preschool year:
1. Print awareness- words are for reading.
2. Alphabet awareness
3. Phonic awareness - words are made up with different sounds and letters.


Yuna was really upset today. Is it because of the rain and thunder?!

Week 14

Love her legs; they look as if they were tied off with rubber bands.

Super Baby, chapter 7: Why do I not have my own language?

Yes, today's topic is about languages, but first of all, let me introduce the author of the book since I don't think I ever mentioned about her. Dr. Jenn Berman is a family and child therapist and a mother of twins. I have been enjoying her insights everyday. I am reading a chapter about raising bilingual kids. It is probably not too hard for us, but I am learning a lot of tips which make me want my child to be a trilingual. In fact, Dr. Berman's children speak English, Spanish, and Chinese even though she is not even fluent in Chinese. My husband and I are discussing which language to add on to English and Japanese. Spanish? Arabic? Any suggestions??
Here is a story about Charles Berlitz, that changed my thought about learning language. Growing up, he was spoken to by different people in different languages; in German by his father, in Russian by his grandfather, in Spanish by his nanny, and so forth. "For many years, he thought every human being spoke a unique language and couldn't understand why he didn't have his own language." As a matter of fact, he spoke 32 languages.

According to Dr. Berman, there are windows to learn languages efficiently. The first window is between age 6-12 months. She will recognizes different sounds in the languages. Since I was not exposed to "L" and "R" sounds around that age due to the lack of those sounds in Japanese, I still have hard time differentiating between those sounds in English. The next window does not close until age 6 and then it gets harder for her to learn. So, at least, should I introduce different sounds in different languages?!

It is so tempting to use TV as a tool to facilitate language learning especially if you are not fluent in the target language. However, it is detrimental for a child under the age of two since the TV is passive. You want to use interactive ways to enhance the learning. Reading books, on the other hand, has positive effects since you can ask questions, point out pictures, and can have fun together. Hence this counts as an interactive activity. Just make sure that you are not "teaching" the child but having fun with her. Dr. Berman's children listen to Chinese and Spanish songs, but she dose not count the time as the language time since it is passive, but only counts the ones that are interactive. Whatever you do, which is interactive, you want to have 20 % of the child's awake time being exposed to the target language.

Twenty five years old = can rent a car without extra money.

Very happy birthday to my husband!



To make him merrier, I took several pictures of Yuna and am excited to share since I think those turned out pretty good.


Cute outfit of the day.





Yuna is a pretty happy baby in general when her needs are met.



In one book, I read it was about time for a three month baby to give up a pacifier. So I took a graduation picture for pacifier. She cried 30 minutes later. I found myself putting a pacifier in her mouth! Didn't I just commit myself to non pacifier life?! Then, she has to struggle giving up the pacifier as a toddler?! I put her in the crib and ran to the "superbaby" book in search for pro-pacifier stories. Yes, Dr. Berman, I love you. She says she would rather pay for brase in the future than taking out her comforter and giving her emotional stress. Thus, this pacifier graduation picture just became a confused-mom-taking picture.

3 months

At 3 months......



She attacked her easter bannie.




She looks like a little geisha girl with red marks on her eyelids from being stack in the birth canal, facing up, for such a long time.




She is such a cute baby but knows how to make herself look like a monkey to entertain those around her.

Super Baby, chapter 1-5: Never deny food to a hungry baby.

Words ... How we speak can dramatically change the day.

Instead of saying, "we are not going to park until you put on your shoes," (「靴をはかないと、公園に行かないよ」と言うよりも、）

we want to say, "we are going to park as soon as you put on your shoes."　（「靴がはけたらすぐ公園に行こうね。」と言う。）

Tantrums ... in order to minimize them, match her feelings.

Instead of saying, "It's ok," (by the way, saying "it's ok" tells the baby that you are not listening to her and understanding her) we want to state what is going on with matching her feelings; for example, when she cries out, we can say to her "Yuna is still mad, mad, MAAAAAAD. Yuna says no no no ... NO," matching with her tone of speech (in this case, cry). When she stops and has a puzzled look on her face, we win! My husband is really good at this.

Baby language discovered by Priscilla Dunstan:

Neh = I'm hungry.

Owh = I'm tired.

Heh = I'm in discomfort.

Eairh = I have lower gas.

Eh = I have upper gas (burp).

I have not yet differentiated the sounds.

Feeling Secure.

The babies, whose parents are quick to respond to their cries and hold them longer, feel more secure. Especially if the parents can understand the baby's cues and respond quickly, she does not have to cry for a long time. Hence, she feels more secure, and has higher EQ (Emotional Intelligence). That includes never denying food to a hungry baby, not ignoring baby's cries, nor leaving her in the car seat, (which is also a risk for flat-head syndrome).

Tiring Sun.

Sleep research found babies who slept well at night were exposed to twice as much light between noon and 4 p.m.. Yuna slept 11 hours straight for the first time after being exposed to her extended family members, being held by one cousin to another, as well as sun light on July 4th.

TV.

For every hour of TV watched by children aged 1 and 3 face a 10 % increased risk of attention problems by age seven.

The curse of the sippy cup.

Sippy cups can cause babies speech problems in the future. So try straw-cups or recessed-lid drinking cups instead.

She can now put her hands together.

Week 12

Conducting music.


She was able to touch the turtle on our right (the lowest one) for the first time. Very excited and kept doing that for the next 20 minutes.

Super Baby, chapter 1: It's all about respect

I started to read a book called "Super baby," which gives me ideas how to be a better parent. So here it goes, "parenting 101." This entry only serves the purpose of my memory retention and maybe for newly parents like me. But of course, any comments and advice are highly appreciated.

"Because babies are so small and totally dependent, it is easy to forget that they're human beings, individuals with preferences, thoughts, and their own feelings. ... we pick her up without a word of warning and abruptly put her on the changing table. At other times, we put her in her crib and run out of the room without saying a word because we hear the phone ring. We even get so caught up in our own anxieties about our child being developmentally "on time" ... In fact, it seems that often we watch our children without really seeing them for who they actually are."

In which, I am guilty of.

So here is what I need to try:

(1) Tell her what is going to happen
(2) Narrate her experience
(3) Let her know my expectation and choices that she can make within my limitations.

Yes, Yuna. We want you to be the happiest baby with us.

July 4th fun

Thanks to uncle Chad who saved our seats at 5:30 a.m., we had great time cheering at the parade.

Great morning to begin July 4th.


After a while, the heat of Utah summer reminds us that in deed Utah is a desert.


Then, we had a very relaxing time with cousins.


It's not even everybody.


Aunt Rachael bought Yuna a July 4th outfit.
Am I the only one who sees a lot of similarities in this photo?!


I love how she adjusts to the environment by curving her body.

The stadium fireworks were much better than the ones from two years ago. We had fun guessing what the different shapes and sparkles were supposed to mean. Since we did not capture those, here is a little sparkling kicks to light your day!



Yesil dolmates bastisi - Green tomatoes gratin (from Egyptian cooking book) for tonight's dinner

Very much arranged by me; I did not use green tomatoes nor mash the vegetables. But hey, tasted great! I am making a vegetable soup with the leftover for breakfast.

Week 11

Week 10

Yuna's form of exercise. Yes, she just moves on the floor but not so much different from us, exercising vertically. She does the surprise open arms at the end. I promise that I will shoot the surprise open arms better in the future!

Week 9

You can see the battle scar from all the 2 month immunization shots on her thighs. Good work, Yuna!