Christmas Day

...started out with coffee and present opening. Ariana loved her truck, after she got over falling on it and hurting her nose. Now, you may think that a truck is a strange present for a 3 year old little girl, but considering she tries to take any truck she sees in the playground and commandeers any she finds at any home we go into, we felt it best to have one in the house.


Ariana piles her new DVD's into the back for a ride....
...then takes a break to share some Cheerios with Tess....



After a leisurely morning, we made our way into Ginza for Chinese food and "Meet the Robinsons", Ariana's first movie in a movie theatre. She loved both. Baba-san and I both got choked up at the beginning of the film, as there is a heart wrenching (at least for us) scene where the main character is left by his mother in a box securely wrapped in a blanket in front of the orphanage door.



After stopping for some little booties filled with treats for the kids, we made our way over to Jason and Clare's for Santa, singing and sustenance........

Ariana gets a treat from Santa.....

Baba san and our host in a unique rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". Who knew our first Japanese Karaoke experience would be in the privacy of a friend's home, thanks to Celine bringing the Christmas present she received from her husband.

Adventures in Potty Training

Ariana: poopy........potty.......

Mama getting very excited thinking she may actually be ready to do put the two together and actually poo in the potty.

Mama: let's go!!!!....

Ariana and Mama run to the bathroom, laughing. Mama gets the child seat positioned on the big toilet:

Mama: do you want to sit on the potty?

Ariana: NO!!!!

Mama pulls out the child potty:

Mama: do you want to sit on your potty?

Ariana sits, pushing the horn on the front on it and laughing. After less than a minute, she announces:

Ariana: Finished!!!.........................................Diaper!

There is absolutely nothing in the potty. Mama decides on the next course of action.

Mama: Do you want diaper or potty?

Ariana: potty

Mama: ok, sit down.

Ariana: NO!!!!!

Mama: ok then, diaper?

Ariana: no, potty.

Mama: ok, sit down.

Ariana: NO!!!!

Mama: ok then, diaper?

Ariana: no, potty.

Mama: ok, sit down.

Ariana: NO!!!

Ariana runs into her room and reaches the closet where a massive supply (thanks to Costco) of Diapers are held. Mama pulls one out -a green one with stripes (yes, the Pampers people are getting very sophisticated in their designs).

Mama: this one?

Ariana: NO!!!!

Mama: how about some underpants (a long shot, but what the hell)?

Ariana: NOOOOOO!!!!

Ariana then goes into the closet and pulls out the blue ones. They are put on. She runs away and ten minutes later.....no, not even, more like five minutes....after a certain scent is quite obvious..

Mama: do you have poopy in your pants?

Ariana: Go away mama, go away!!!!

She runs away and around. At this point, Mama is reduced to sitting on the floor, silently apologizing to her own mother for every bad thing she ever did when she was a child, because she knows it is "Mother Karma" - whatever bad thing you did to your mother comes back doubled - that is responsible for her child's behavior.

Mama: Can we change poopy pants now?

Ariana: NO!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as the child along with her smelly bottom disappear from the room as she races into another part of the apartment. Mama clearly hears the sounds of laughter as she holds her head in her hands wondering if a child can get into college while still wearing diapers........

..........the saga continues...................

Happy Christmas........

..... the sign read as I made my way into Tokyo Hands, an amazing store here in Tokyo that has everything from stationary to camping supplies on 8 fully stocked and always crowded floors. Christmas in Japan - shopping, shopping and more shopping. Apparently, it is a big date night here, while New Year's Eve is meant for family gatherings. We will be spending the early part of the day celebrating the old fashion Jewish way, with Chinese food and a movie. I found an American animated movie showing (in English) and a Chinese restaurant that serves lunch, so we will be venturing into Ginza. After that, we will be heading to our friends house for the Catholic (or in their case, British Protestant) celebration. Yesterday, we stopped by our French friend's house for some champagne and pate - it is fun experiencing all types of celebrations. Last week, Ariana and I made our way to the local children's hall for their Christmas celebration - filled with lots of people dressed in costume and singing songs.

For your viewing enjoyment, here is Ariana at her school Christmas celebration...

Merry Christmas to all!!!!!!!!

One of the Moms

Yesterday after school, Ariana and I joined several of the other mothers and children for a visit to the local Jido Kaikan (Children's Hall). About nine of us in all, mostly Japanese except for myself, a woman from Hong Kong and one from India, made the short walk from the school to the hall. It seemed to take forever as seven children ranging in age from one to four years old, tripped and fell and ran and jumped and cried their way there, with the parents patiently herding them along.


We stopped at the local grocery store to buy snacks. Having experienced the kindness of Japanese moms, as they always bring enough to share, I ran to the drink isle and bought enough containers of milk for everyone. Little did I know that in this kind of situation, everyone just bought their own. So, I now have many little bottles of milk (it turned out to be soy milk) in my fridge.


The hall has a room specifically for snacks, so we all filed in, taking off our coats and shoes and settling down on the mats to enjoy what we bought. Ariana had about three of the little bottles and ate her cookies, enjoying it all. The kids ate, drank and ran around, the moms talked and I took in the experience of spending time with women I was just beginning to know.


One of the little boys spilt his drink on his pants and his mother took them off to try to clean them off. While in his underwear, he started prancing around, grabbing various parts that really shouldn't be grabbed in public. We all laughed, his mother blushed, and I said "In the United States, there are women that pay good money for that". No one laughed. They looked at me as if they were trying to understand what I was saying - confused that their knowledge of the English language was failing them.

It dawned on me that here in Japan, male strippers did not exist. Just how I was going to try to explain without offending someone I didn't know, but I bravely made my bravest attempt. When I mentioned that there are places in the United States where men dance for women, one of the Japanese women I was with, looking started, said "you mean men with big chests with muscles?" I said "yes", thinking this particular woman, as demure as she seemed to be, had a wild side that was just waiting to come out - perhaps in the United States.....at a place called "Chippendales".............
.....preferably after a couple of ladylike cocktails.

Hanukkah

Tonight, we lit the Hanukkah candles and Arny, getting nervous about having lit candles on the dining room table in the vicinity of our three year old very curious daughter, asked if he should blow them out. I replied "no" as this a major no-no in Hanukkah rules of behavior - they must go out on their own. The following exchange occurred:

mama san: I just realized that every year at this time you read about fires caused by Christmas tree lights, but you never read about fires causes by lit Hanukkah candles.

baba san: Perhaps you are indeed God's chosen people.

Jetlag Hell

I have been up since 1am. Ariana cried out and I went in to comfort her. She went back to sleep quickly (until 3 that is) but I was wide awake. Every night since we have been back has been similar and every day I swear I will never leave this time zone again.

We arrived on Thursday and actually had the only decent night sleep - I think we woke up around 3am. Ariana had a half day of school on Friday because of parent-teacher conferences, so I kept myself busy until it was time to pick her up and have ours. The teachers love her and while she needs to continue to work on her speech (and her circles, as her drawing seems to be limited to many lines across the page) she is doing very well. Apparently, she follows directions well, so well in fact that she is a role model for the other children. I don't know how beneficial that is at the age of 3, but I am hoping I can use it on her college applications - they like that sort of thing, right?

Ok, so back to my lack of sleep. The weekend passed without me stepping outside, baba san taking up the slack beautifully. I thought by now there would be some semblance of normal sleep pattern, but the only thing that seems normal is that I am learning how to function on 4 hours of sleep a night.

Which leaves me lots of time to complain about the weather. It is cold here. Not so much outside, but in our apartment. While Tokyo apartments are built to withstand fairly large earthquakes, one might actually freeze to death waiting for the "big" one. Single pane windows, no insulation and drafts, drafts, drafts, make for one uncomfortable situation.

While in the bathroom trying to put that foamy tape on the door to block the 5 mile an hour winds that come in through the cracks, I felt a breeze coming from another direction. I opened the cabinets under the sink and there, surrounding the pipe, was a gaping hole - the wind was blowing - in my bathroom!!

No wonder the Japanese invented the heated toilet seat. And may I say it has come in very handy these days.

While there is no brightside in living in a drafty apartment, there is one in getting up so early - watching the sun rise:


and then watch while the fall folliage comes into view right outside our window: