Getting To Know You

We are busy settling in and learning all about each other. We had a lovely visit from Annaliese and her mom, who are expecting to travel to China at the end of January to pick up their newest addition. After a slight hesitation, Ariana was won over and played happily with Annalise, who surprised her with a knapsack and a very cool looking stuffed cat.

Venturing out to the park, Ariana really enjoyed the swing, so much so that when she saw another child plop down on it while she was getting on the rocking horse, she had a fit, as if to yell "get off of my swing - it's mine!!!". Darling, can we say "share"??
Finally, in a bold fashion statement, Ariana makes use of the simple table mat in a exciting look for winter - does double duty as a rain and show shield as well.Sleep remains one of her least favorite things. So much so that here I sit and 1:30am because after exactly 6 hours of sleep, she decided it was enough. Much as I tried, she was having none of that "going back to sleep" stuff and is now happily eating Japan's version of corn flakes. We ran out of Cheerios yesterday, so she is now eating whole wheat flakes. She eats - I'm happy. About the eating at least, not about the sleep. Because, not only am quite fond of sleep myself, I am not at all happy having it interrupted, even if it is by the cutest thing on the face of the earth.

Baths are also not one of her favorite things although Sunday's made us realize that she may tolerate showers better. Late in the afternoon, we decided she was due for a head to toe cleaning and after drawing the bath, we all went into the bathroom and proceeded to undress her. She was fine until her feet touched the water and that's when the fun (and screams) began. Since I took the last bath with her and the screaming was minimal, I quickly got undressed and jumped in the tub, sitting her down on my lap. That shocked her so much that she stopped crying for just a minute until she realized she was still in fact in the tub. It also shocked Baba-san in that amusing "wow, I've never been able to get her to take off her clothes that fast" look. I asked baba-san to grab the cup that was by the sink and used that to pour the water over her. She almost kind of liked that, so we finished the bath rubbing and pouring water on her. Next time, I think I'll just go with the shower and see what happens.