Maiya's 1st Trip to Manzanar

We took Maiya on her first trip to Manzanar yesterday--driving over 400 miles in one day. For those who are new to this website, I volunteered for the Manzanar Committee for 9 years, helping organize the pilgrimage programs, running the Manzanar After Dark program, emceeing, stage managing, writing press releases, being the webmaster, publishing a poetry 'zine, helping with fundraising, and more. Last year, since Maiya was barely 3 months old, we missed the pilgrimage. So it was nice to go (without any responsibilities (other than childcare)). We went up for the day, and Tony's dad Larry joined us on the trip.

It was hot and sunny, so I was "paranoid mama" chasing Maiya around with sunscreen, picking up her hat all day long, and giving her water and apples all day. The heat was hard for Maiya, and she was a little cranky until she fell asleep in the sling. After a short nap, she woke up refreshed and ready to socialize. The day was exhausting, especially since I've been nursing a cold for the last week. Speaking of nursing, I had Tony take pictures of me breastfeeding Maiya at Manzanar.

Even though Maiya is only 15 months old and won't remember this trip, we have lots of photos and we can explain to her when she gets a little older about the importance of learning about things like the injustice of war, and how her Japanese American grandparents and great grandparents (and all their families) were put in concentration camps 60 something years before she was born. We can share with her why we think it's important to document your family's stories and to fight for justice.


Eating apples at Manzanar in the shade

Hanging with Mama before the Pilgrimage

Mama's LTSC co-workers

Giving rocks to Grandpa Larry at the interfaith ceremony

Doing the Tanko Bushi dance with Daddy!

My first family picture at Manzanar Pilgrimage 2006

Play Time

A few weeks ago Maiya went on her first Easter egg hunt at the child care center party. After a busy few weeks at work, I took off Thursday and Friday. We hung out in the backyard in the mornings. Maiya and I went to the mall and she played in the mall kids area for the first time. We also went to the park with my sister Gayle and her kids, Kieth and Kaylee.


Me and Daddy got 2 eggs!

Me and Mama at the childcare Easter party

After playing in the dirt in the backyard with my new shoes!

Driving my first car at the indoor mall

I really love the swing, it's the best!

My cousin Kaylee (23 mos.) went down the slide all by herself

Auntie Gayle, Kieth and Kaylee (I'm hiding on Auntie Gayle's lap)

Yesterday, Tony, Maiya and I went to the Whole Child, Whole Planet Expo at the Convention Center, it was pretty awesome to go to the first natural family parenting expo. I sat in on a panel about the dangers of vaccinations. It was very interesting and makes me glad that I delayed some of Maiya's immunizations, and makes me wish I had delayed the ones when she was under a year. Tony and Maiya enjoyed all the free healthy and/or organic food samples and I loved simply being with other like-minded families. It was refreshing to see so many slings, crunchy mamas and attached babies.

A Day in the Life

Taking care of my morning business on the potty

Helping mama with the laundry

Dinner time is fun time! I love my veggies!

Maiya's newest thing is her willingness to help with the laundry. She loves pulling clothes out of the laundry basket and carrying them to various parts of the house. She'll put the shirts around her shoulders and a jacket over her face and toddle around the house with it. Very cute. In the morning, Maiya tells us she wants breakfast by walking over to her chair and waiting until we lift her into her breakfast seat. She's not talking, but she sure can communicate with a few nods, head gestures and finger pointing. Every day is something new.

Gary's wedding

Here are some pictures from Gary & Christy's wedding that Saori sent from Kaz' camera. Hope it's ok that I dragged them onto my desktop. I've been friends with Gary for 20 years. It was nice to see so many different groups of friends and community folks.


Gary & Christy

Me, Saori and my nephew Kyle, who was the ringbearer

Kaz entertaining Skyler Mariko and Maiya Grace with bubbles

39 & counting

TonyO and Maiya
Happy Birthday to TonyO! Today is Tony's 39th B-day. This morning, we went to the Ayala's and had chilaquiles, mmm, yum. It was muy delicioso. Then, went went over to Uncle Bill's and boxed up some of Tony's grandma's old fancy dishes. Then, Tony went to look at LCD and flat screen TV's, which is his current obsession, and then Maiya and I took a nap in the car while Tony did some grocery shopping. That's about it for today. Since we got home, I've been doing childcare, housework and laundry. I thought we might go out to dinner for Tony's birthday, but it's almost 8:30pm and he's been taking a "birthday nap" since 6:30 pm. Also, B-day wishes to my sister Gayle, and my college friend Lani, who both celebrated their 40th last weekend.

Yesterday, we went to an Easter party for Maiya's childcare. It was nice. She got 2 eggs and is walking around the house with thse empty plastic eggs. Then last night, we went to my friend Gary's wedding. My nephew Kyle was the ringbearer, so cute in his little tuxedo. I've known Gary over 20 years, which is hard to believe, but I'm so happy for him. I'm sure he and his new bride Christy will be very happy and wish them all the best! It was nice to see so many old friends at the wedding. By the way, bringing a toddler to a wedding? Not the smartest idea, if you want to eat, or have any kind of adult conversation. We left just after she vomited in her stroller after eating tons of crackers and flinging her green beans all over the floor. Next wedding, we'll plan to get a babysitter.

Now that Maiya is walking, she's everywhere all at once--and sometimes she can be a bit exhausting. At 14 months, she's very active--and is actually napping more. She decides when she wants to leave the room now, she plays by herself, loves putting things in bags, and walking around with as many things in her hands as she can hold. She's still nursing a lot--she's not showing any signs of wanting to wean, which I think is great, although nursing in public is not as easy as it used to be. Maiya seems to be acquiring more books and toys, and they are everywhere. Not just toys, but she loves ripping up pieces of paper and leaving them everywhere. This morning I counted 17 teeth, amazing. And, somehow, Elmo has become one of her greatest sources of entertainment... except for maybe this afternoon when Tony and I sang "Summer Lovin'" from Grease to her during a diaper change.

Anyways, it's a busy 3 weeks for me at work these days. I'm still working 3 days a week, but it seems like more. Ok, I've got to run. Maiya's getting a bit antsy. Always on the run. Toodle-loo!

Kuida-Osumi date night

Tony wrote me this poem yesterday morning before our date last night, our first night out since last April.

Blue Hen, baby
organic and light
but we'll get heavy
in the black of night

Brown rice
golden yolk
our love baby
ain't no joke

Red hearts
purple mist
I can't wait
cause you're hard
to resist

We went to dinner at Blue Hen Vietnamese Kitchen out in Eagle Rock, which I've been wanting to go to since it opened a few years ago. We had a really nice time--it felt strange to be driving in the car without Maiya in the backseat. I ordered the Vietnamese noodle soup, Pho (pronounced fa-uh) and organic Cafe su da (condensed milk coffee), and Tony ordered the organic ginger chicken with tofu, organic greens and brown rice, and a zesty lime fizzy tonic drink, I forget the name. We also ordered the tofu Spring Rolls which were pretty tasty too. It was very nice to try some place new and different, instead of having dinner at one of our usual places that we always go to, and it was surprising that in almost 11 years, it was our first time having Vietnamese food together.

Afterwards, we drove around for about half an hour in Glendale looking for ice cream. We finally called our friend Gary, who I always call when I'm looking for something in the Glendale/Pasadena area, and he gave us directions to the nearest Coldstone. We had ice cream, Tony looked at plasma and flat screen tvs (his latest obsession) at CompUSA while I found two CDs for Maiya, Elmo's Greatest Hits and latin music for kids with Lalo Guerrero and Los Lobos at Tower Records. We need to find a CD recorder that records onto cassette since we don't have a CD player in either of our cars. We held hands walking back to our car.

Anyways, 3 hours after dropping Maiya off at my sister Gayle's house, we went back to pick her up. She apparently had a great time following around her cousin Kieth and playing with all their toys. Little Miss Busy Girl.

I love you TonyO... let's do it again soon!

PS. to my last post. I was wrong--500,000 people went to the march on immigrants rights yesterday, not 50,000--to protest that bill in Congress (HR 4437). They say it was the biggest march in L.A history. Amazing! Tony got caught in the downtown traffic and saw families walking across the First Street Bridge back to Boyle Heights when it was over. I got all choked up when I saw the news last night. What a beautiful sight. Check out this article in today's LA Times that is on the Common Dreams website.

It's Official. We're walking!

We saw on the news about the high school walk outs in support of immigrants rights. Tomorrow is the big immigrants rights rally and march Downtown. It's exciting that they're expecting maybe 50,000 people tomorrow. On the homefront, Maiya is officially walking now too! She has become a food-flinging, walking, toddler in front of our eyes! At home, she is probably walking about 80% of the time. It's so funny to watch her when she's trying to get somewhere fast.

I'm exhausted and just worn out from the week. It helps that Maiya is starting to sleep a little bit longer at night--3 nights she slept 5 hours straight in the past week or so, but I am still nursing 8-12 times a day, in addition to 3 meals a day. I worked Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday, we had a playdate with Maiya's friend Jessica, and Dean came over and hooked us up with an external CD drive so that I can back up 13 months of baby pictures. Then Thursday, I went to Great Leap for a meeting and to work on some grants, and then we went to the gym to workout, which about did me in. And darn it I still have that lingering cough. On a bright noter, this weekend, Tony and I are going on a date! It will be our first night out alone since his birthday last April. Wee hee!

Oh! Here are some pictures of the week and then it's off to bed for me!


Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a toddler walking towards you? Trust me, not easy.

Walking in the kitchen while daddy makes dinner. See that kleenex I'm holding? I love to wipe the floors with it. Mama says, "Yuck!"

My 2nd drawing--the first one was pencil marks all over the kitchen cabinet! The funny thing is that she is holding the same bag in this picture that she is carrying in the March 14th photo of her on her little car. Funny!

Pix for Bubbe & Zeyde & 10 things

Here are some pictures for Maiya's grandparents up in Idaho...


Maiya in her Indian-style dress from Auntie Nobuko

Maiya playing guitar with daddy

Maiya playing outside this afternoon

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. It's hard to find the energy sometimes. Ten random things you may or may not need or want to know.

1. I found Maiya's favorite shoe last night!!!!! It's been missing since Feb. 5th. I looked everywhere except in the couch cushion--where I found it at 2:30 am this morning. I was so happy I wanted to wake up Tony, but I didn't. I don't think I can explain how happy I am about it.

2. Guess who got a cell phone??? Welcome to the 21st century, TonyO! So many times I've wished he had a cell phone over the years. We upgraded to a family plan with Tony's dad and uncle--we all got Razors! Mine is pink, and I love it!

3. We're excited about the I-word, that has been spreading... Maiya, can you say, "impeach?"

4. Maiya's walking now. A lot, especially at home. A lot of walking and falling. See the red mark on her forehead in the picture above?

5. Maiya went to the doctor today. She is now 18 pounds! I know, I know. She has a healthy appetite, but she's also very, very active.

6. I still have a darn cough, and coughing fits, usually late at night. Another sore throat... been off and on since November, maybe it's time to go to the doctor.

7. Tony's been cooking almost every night. I think my favorite time of the day is dinner time at the Kuida-Osumi's. Grandpa Larry has been coming over for dinner 1 or 2 times a week the last month.

8. I am addicted to red vines. I am eating a container of 330 almost all by myself. Ugh.

9. We finally went back to the gym the other night. We gotta make it a more regular thing.

10. We're making plans for continued home improvement. When I was pregnant, we were out of the bedroom for 10 weeks because we were painting 2 rooms and a hallway, and doing hardwood floors. It was a stressful time. Wish us luck!

** Well wishes **

* Deepest condolences to our friend Gary whose dad passed away recently. Maiya and I went to the funeral on Friday.
* Belated condolences to Sue, whose son passed away after a hiking accident last month.
* Feel better, Uncle Meg, who got a new defibrulator (pacemaker) last week.
* Hooray for nephew Kevin who had a cochlear implant surgery last week and is recovering well!
* Our friend John, who at 34 years old, had a heart attack and a triple by-pass surgery on Saturday.

Health, wellness and our best wishes to you all.

13 Months and counting

Hey, I've got bangs! Kinda, sorta...

Maiya turned 13 months yesterday. She's taking more and more steps. Yesterday, she took 18 steps, advancing about 3 feet, into my arms. Sometimes it's step, step, step, sit. Or hold something with one hand, pivot, step, pivot, step. She's getting pretty quick at scaling the walls, and then crawling for even faster mobility. Her old favorite foods, are now casually tossed onto the floor, tofu, avocado, potatoes. She is really into whole wheat bread, pasta and rice, and enjoyed fruits from the health food store the other day.

My most recent column came out yesterday, Working Mom: For the Sake of the Children, which I wrote about going back to work at LTSC in the Child Development program. I actually even uploaded it on our website.

In other news, it's time for a change. The man continues to lie about everything. About 9/11, lied about WMD, the levees. How much more proof do we need before we make a change?

Two links and a pushy baby

Ok, there's only 3 Japantowns left in this country, and one of them is at risk! Please check out the petition to Save the San Francisco Japantown! Click here and pass it on to a friend: http://www.petitiononline.com/jtown/petition.html

Have you heard about the Johari window? Well, here's your chance to check it out and tell me what kind of person you think I am. I know, I know, kind of like asking, how do you like me now? And in case you didn't know, Jenazon is my gaming name (from Diablo), and Jenazon40 is my AIM name. Click here: Jenazon's Johari Window.

A Quick Maiya Update: Maiya isn't walking just yet, but the last few days, she's been taking more and more little steps. Today and the other day, she said "toast," but it sounds like "tostodt" or "dost" when I am asking her if she wants toast for breakfast. She loves her whole wheat toast. She's also been looking at pictures more intently and pointing to them and saying "bish" or "dish" or "dis" and babbling all the time. After 9 days, she is happily diarrhea free. And finally, since you haven't seen a picture in over a week, here's a picture of my favorite gal in the world. I call it, "Pushy Baby" just cause lately, she's into pushing chairs.


Pushy Baby

This week in pictures...

We had a small family BBQ for Maiya's 1st Birthday on Sunday. Daddy grilled lots of yummy food! Maiya and Grandpa shared a birthday cake (he's 75!). It was a carrot cake with cream cheese filling from Angel Maid. It was delish.


Happy Bday to me & Grandpa!

Me with Mama and Daddy in our backyard
Here's Maiya in her tie-dye onesie at Chris Iijima's memorial service. Auntie Nobuko sang a medley of songs from "A Grain of Sand" and there were a lot of other cool performances.


We are the offspring of the concentration camp,
we are the children of the Japanese gardener,
who will leave their stamp on Amerika!
This week, Maiya went for her 12 month appointment, and had some shots. We decided to delay the MMR vaccination. The doctor also told us that Maiya has lost weight in the last 3 months! Since then, she's had a fever, lots of vomiting (all over Mommy and Daddy) and diarrhea. Poor baby girl. But never mind all that, she's having fun on her new ride!


I like to drive my new car and put stuff in the trunk!
Some sad news this week. Finally, Auntie Tazu has been found. She was Tony's great uncle Chi's sister who had been missing since January 10th. Apparently her van went over a steep enbankment into the Williamette River near Bend, Oregon. It was amazing the generosity of hundreds of volunteers who organized and searched for her for over a month. Our deepest condolences to Auntie Tazu's family.

Tony on Japanese TV... Celebrating Chris

Tony was interviewed for JATV, a Japanese news show recently about the Little Tokyo Mural. The show aired on Saturday night. Tony, along with Kei, from J-town Voice! were interviewed about the recent high-end housing development and its affects on the residents and small business owners in Little Tokyo. I just learned that the interview is available on their website.

Here it is: Renaissance of Little Tokyo. Tony's part is only about a minute long... it's towards the end. Let us know if you're able to view it online.


Chris Iijima performing with Great Leap in 1997
On another note, this Saturday, Feb. 11th there will be a program Come-Unity, celebrating Chris Iijima's life and legacy at the West L.A. College Theater at 1pm.

Chris was Nobuko's musical partner back in the early 70s when they toured the country for 3 years and then recorded the first Asian American album--music and songs from the birth of the Asian American Movement.

In 1997, the year I started working with Nobuko at Great Leap, they had their first "reunion concert" at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State. Over the next 3 or 4 years, I booked over a dozen gigs for Nobuko, Chris and Charlie Chin, at colleges all around the country. Chris was many things in his life, a lawyer, activist, father, professor, songwriter, and more. I appreciated his righteous contributions to "The Movement" through his music.

There is info on the Great Leap website, and there is a Chris Iijima blog with info about this weekend's memorial service.

Since she turned one...

Maiya turned one year's old on Wednesday. Since that time, we've been busy! On Thursday, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa had back surgery on Tuesday, and by the next day, he was up and walking again! I was so happy to catch such a cute, cute picture of Maiya with Grandma and Grandpa. Maiya had a fun day, being the center of attention all day long.


Maiya with Grandma and Grandpa on a warm winter's day
Then on Saturday, we had quite a bit of excitement when a photographer from PeopleMagazine came over to take pictures of us! We were interviewed about how we co-sleep with Maiya. Apparently, the writer who interviewed us, googled onto our blog and read that we share a family bed. Anyways, Maiya was a great sport for the first hour, but then in the 2nd hour, she was getting a little cranky, and so I nursed her to sleep. The photographer continued taking pictures of us all "sleeping"--I started smiling when I heard the even breathing of Tony dozing off! Anyways, it's possible that there will be an article and photos of us in the magazine in the next few weeks. The writer and the photographer were really supportive--hope the article turns out well.

Also on Saturday, Maiya Grace got to meet Grace Lee Boggs, our dear friend and mentor from Detroit. Maiya is named after Grace, an amazing community activist at 90 years young! Grace was in town for the weekend for the latest Great Leap workshops, "To All Relations: The Art of Weaving Faiths." We wish we had more time to spend with amazing Grace and our awesome friend Shea, but since we didn't, we'll have to try to get to Detroit this summer.


Maiya Grace and Grace
Finally, on Saturday night, we finally did a cake for Maiya. Tony got Phillips BBQ for dinner, and got a slice of carrot cake. We put a candle in it, sang "the song" to her, and took pictures of Maiya with her first birthday cake!!!


Happy Birthday Girl! Blow out the candle!

Babyversary!!!

Yee! It's Maiya's birthday today! Our little girl turned one years old today. Can't hardly believe that it's been a year since Maiya was born. Yesterday I said to Tony, "Hey, today is the anniversary of our labor!"

She has definitely changed our life. And she is amazing us with little changes every day. Tonight, she was trying to climb up on the couch and had her leg and foot reaching all the way on the couch, but couldn't quite get there on her own. Tony gave her butt a little boost and as she got up and leapt into my arms, she was giggling and lauging like crazy, and so proud of herself! We were overjoyed! What fun!

Life is busy, working 3 days a week. The days off are filled with errands, housework, community stuff and activities with Maiya. Yesterday, we had our third neighborhood playdate. One of the girls is 2 weeks older than Maiya, and the other is about 3 1/2 weeks younger than Maiya. It's been a few months since our first get together, so the girls have really grown and changed a lot! Both girls are walking now, so that is very fun to watch.

So, indulge me in a few photos going back a year... and then, a few photos of our one year old cutie patootie.


Born 2/1/05 at 5:41 pm after 37 hours of labor

Baby Maiya, 8 pounds, 11 oz.

Kuida-Osumi leaving the hospital

Maiya at one years old, approx. 20 pounds

Happy Bday to me!

Missing Grandma

Here's a story about Tony's Great Uncle Chi's sister, Tazu Higashi. The bad news is that she has been missing from Lake Oswego, Oregon since January 10th. The good news is that there seems to have been quite a bit of news coverage, and many people have reported in that they've seen her in several locations over several days. Some of Tony's Washington relatives went last week to help the family follow up on tips and try to help find her. Our best thoughts and good wishes for Tazu's safe return home.

Auntie Tazu's grandson has created a website dedicated to helping find her: Bring Grandma Home

TV News: Search continues for missing Lake Oswego grandmother

Baby Signs

Maiya explains her aversion to pink polka dots in so many words

This picture doesn't have to do with anything. It's just a funny photo of a crying girl wearing pink polka dots on a polka dot blanket. My news for today, is that Maiya did her first "baby sign" at dinner last night! Tony was feeding Maiya carrots and pear slices and doing the sign for "more" which is making a fist and putting his knuckles together. Then she started doing it too! Tony yelled for me to look, and sure enough, she did it some more! (We've been doing milk, drink, food, and more for the last few months.)

Then tonight at dinner, Maiya was eating tofu. She was pointing and babbling as usual. But she seemed more pointed in her pointing, so I looked and noticed she seemed to be pointing at my glass, and saying "wa wa wa wa wa." What? Did she say water? Does she want some water? Who knows if she did or not, but Tony went and got her sippy cup and filled it with water. She grabbed it, smiled and started drinking. The other exciting thing is that for weeks, if not months, she drinks, but really needs us to lift the cup high enough so she can get to the water. Last few nights, I've been lifting the cup, explaining what I'm doing and telling her to lift it up. So tonight, when she took the water, she tilted her head sideways and back, and was getting the water. Click. Success!

We're so excited. We're happy that Maiya is learning to communicate. We really want for her to learn baby sign language, not just so she can communicate with us for water and more food before she learns to talk, but more importantly so she can learn to communicate with her cousin Kevin, who was born with profound hearing loss. Kevin is a happy, active one year old, and just keeps getting cuter every time I see him. Kevin is having surgery next week that will hopefully help him to hear... so please keep Kevin and his family in your thoughts and best wishes!!

Bubbe & Zeyde's Visit

We had a great visit from Tony's Mom and Don (aka Bubbe and Zeyde) last week. They came down from Idaho for Don's mom Marie's memorial service. While they were here, we got to visit with Valerie, Beth, Brian, and Erin. We also saw Nina, Danika and Chris at least 3 times, which was a lot of fun. Maiya and I were sick, but Tony also got to visit with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Izzy, and Patti as well. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, eating, and even playing Sudoku. We hope they come visit again soon!


At Don's Mom's Memorial Service in Compton

Grandma Fran wearing Maiya after enchilada dinner

Maiya with cousin Danika

Fran and Don with Uncle Izzy, Aunt Sarah and Patti

What's new at 11?

At almost 11 1/2 months, Maiya is a lot of fun. The girl can empty a bookshelf in 1 minute. She can move fast. She says, "dad? dad? dad? dad?" repeatedly. When she's happy and smiling she says, "Dhish" or "Dis" quite frequently. When she wants me but I'm not focused on her she cries, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma." Unfortunately, Maiya and I have had back-to-back colds since the 2nd week of November. We cough and hack all day and night. She's had a runny nose almost consistently since starting childcare, and has had several days of low-grade fever and not her usual self, although she seems to be coming out of it slowly.

Today, I took her for a ride to the laundry room in the laundry basket and filled the basket with clothes around her and she laughed. Yesterday when Lily left, she beamed and waved goodbye like crazy. She's been starting to stand up on her own for a few seconds at a time, but no walking yet. No worries, no rushing. Here's a picture of Maiya in her room, after one of her famous shelf-clearing incidents:


Cute, huh?

Happy New Year 06!

Happy New Year! Can't believe that it's 2006, and Maiya is now 11 months old.

We celebrated a day early with a New Year's Oshogatsu party at our house on New Year's Eve/Day. Yes, it rained and poured all day long. In total, 36 people came over and we had a great time visiting with friends and family. And even though we ordered and bought a lot of the foods, it is still a lot of work, just getting our humble little abode ready for such a large group of people. And with the rain, that meant pretty much that everyone was crammed in our living/dining room and den. This year, it was more challenging to get ready because I'm still sick, and Maiya wanted to be held the whole time we were trying to get the house ready. Not that I did any cooking. My culinary contribution was making a chipotle dip from scratch, and without a recipe. Tony put together all the Japanese foods, and grilled the stuff.

Then yesterday on New Year's, Tony crashed out and slept pretty much all day. Maiya and I went to my cousin Marlon & Hiroko's house and we spent the afternoon there. Then in the evening, we picked up Tony and went to our friend Evelyn & Bruce's house. They always put together a nice spread, with lots of friends and community folks. I still wasn't feeling well, so when we got home, I immediately went to sleep, which I really needed after a busy few days.

Today, was cleanup day. It took me 12 hours (with many breaks to play, change, feed, nurse and manage Maiya) to clean the kitchen and front room (yes, from the party 2 days ago). We had cleaned up maybe half of it, but there was still a lot of work to be done. But, the house looks good now. My friend Maria, gave me a Sudoku puzzle book on New Year's--I hate that kind of stuff where I *have* to use my brain for non-critical functions, but I have to say, I think I'm getting addicted. I have finished 4 puzzles so far.

Well, that's all i have for today. 2005 was a pretty awesome year for the Kuida–Osumi family. I look forward to seeing what 2006 has in store for us. Very soon, Maiya will be walking and talking, and she will continue playing, laughing, learning and exploring; amazing and entertaining her mama and daddy at every turn.


Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu!

More condolences...

in the past 2 days, I learned that we've lost two really great guys who were connected to Great Leap. Chris Iijima, who toured with Nobuko and Charlie Chin from 1969-1972, and recorded the first Asian American album back in 1973, passed away on New Year's Eve after being pretty ill the last two years. Chris was an amazingly gifted musician, who got nervous every time he performed. I worked with Chris a lot my first few years at Great Leap because we were booking a lot of "Grain of Sand Reunion Concerts" for Nobuko, Chris and Charlie Chin.

Herb Holman also passed away. Herb was Yuri Kochiyama's son-in-law, and Great Leap's financial guru. Herb was very smart, a really cool guy and totally supportive of the work we do. I just got an email from Herb not too long ago, giving an update on his battle against cancer, and I really thought he was going to beat it. I was stunned hearing about the passing of both Chris and Herb, and was fortunate to work with both of them for many years. My deep condolences to their families.