Maiya's September Photo Blog

Guess what! I did the photo pages for Maiya's 7 month September photos and it's still September! I am still working on July and August, but thought you'd enjoy some recent pictures!

Presidents' Priorities During Crises

Here's how OTHER U.S. leaders have handled a crisis like Katrina:

President: Nixon
Danger: Category-5 Hurricane Camille (August 1969)
Area: About the same area as that affected by Katrina

Response: Nixon prepared the National Guard in advance, ordering rescue ships from Tampa, FL and Houston, TX to stand waiting along with over a thousand regular military, 24+ helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard about as soon as the hurricane passed.
__________________________________

President: Bush the Elder
Danger: Hurricane Andrew (August 92)
Area: Florida

Response: In the middle of a re-election campaign, Bush ceased campaigning the day before the hurricane, went to Washington, and
assembled one of the largest military forces ever mustered on U.S. soil. Seven thousand National Guard and 22,000 regular military were sent in with the necessary equipment shortly after the hurricane passed through.
__________________________________

President: Clinton
Danger: Category-3 Hurricane Floyd (September 1999)
Area: Virginia and Carolinas

Response: Meeting with China's president Jiang in New Zealand, Clinton immediately declared the hurricane-affected areas as federal disasters, allowing the military and National Guard to move in and help. Clinton flew home immediately, one day before the hurricane hit, to help coordinate the rescue.
__________________________________

President: Bush the Lesser
Danger: Category-5 Hurricane Katrina (August 2005)
Area: Gulf Coast

Response: National Guard troops are down about 8,000 members because they are in Iraq with much of the necessary rescue equipment needed. Bush was on vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before the hurricane lands. On the day Katrina landed, Bush attended a birthday party for John McCain. The levees began to crack. While emergency 1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to steady the levee and absorb water, there were insufficient numbers of helicopters and pilots to set them before the levees break. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, pleaded for federal-level assistance and got none. Bush went to San Diego to play guitar with a country singer and end his vacation early -- but not until the next day, because he had tickets to a San Diego Padres game.

Cruisin' Along to 8 mos.

The 7th month has come and gone quickly, and it has been one of increasing change for Maiya, and we are trying to keep one step ahead of her.


Happy, but outgrowing the infant seat
First off, Maiya has gotten too big for her infant car seat carrier. At 6 months, she was already 27 1/2 inches, and the car seat carrier maxes out at 26 inches. Even though some parents keep their babies in there longer sometimes, it has just gotten so heavy to carry her like that. So, we got out the convertible carseat and put it in the car. Surprisingly, Maiya must like the new seat better (Brixtax Marathon for you baby-gear shoppers). It's soft and cushy, and she is calmer, and seems to fall asleep in it much better than the old seat.


Happier in the cushy new seat
Maiya is crawling, pulling to standing, climbing under, over and around objects, cruising along the couch, bouncing up and down, quick to smile, and has even surprised us with a few tantrums images of her strong personality, with some serious likes and dislikes. Likes: Mommy & Daddy. Dislikes: diaper changes & getting her faced wiped.


Getting into some mischief

Under the chair
We had a big scare last week. After a poopy diaper change, I was cleaning Maiya's diaper cover in the bathroom, and had set her in the crib. Since she co-sleeps with us, she's not often in the crib. She was in there, happily babbling away, quite loudly and nonstop. Next thing you know, I heard a loud THUMP... then WAAAAAHHHHHHH! I ran in there, and she wasn't in the crib, she was on her back, on the floor, screaming! Oh. My. God.

I stopped breathing myself, scooped her up and ran to the couch with her, holding her, soothing her and telling her she was going to be ok. After about 30 seconds, she stopped crying. I checked her head, back, arms, legs, eyes, everything seemed ok. I put her on the floor and she was crawling, no problem. Happy as a clam. We think she might have tried to get at a mobile which I had moved facing outside of the crib, and pulled herself up with it (which we didn't know she could do), and lost her balance. So the mobile was immediately removed, and the crib mattress lowered to the bottom rung. We watched her pretty closely for a few days, and it seems everything is ok. Lesson learned.


"I'm ok, if you're ok!" - Nikkei babe taken a few days before the mattress was lowered
Maiya will be 8 months old on Friday. She is still nursing about 10-12 times a day, more if she's teething or sick (first cold this week), and less if we are really busy. She now has 5 teeth, 3 of which have come through in the last two weeks, painfully so. Since the 5th one came in, she seems to be sleeping a little more at night, which is good, but there are more new teethcaps on the way. We are bracing ourselves looking forward to seeing what changes are in store for October!

Detroit Asian Youth Project

Asian Week did an article on the Detroit Asian Youth project for their cover story back in August. Tony's design for the Detroit Chinatown Mural was used with the article. Thanks to Emily for sending the article from Detroit. For more pix of the development of the Detroit Chinatown mural, go here.

PS. A quick congrats to my cousin Marlon & Hiroko (and big brother Akira)on the birth of their son, Riki Curtis, born Friday, September 23rd! Welcome!

Our Grief is Not a Cry for War

Let's play anti-war boggle!

Ok, guess how many words or phrases are in Maiya's play mat.
Leave me a comment with your answers.


Our Grief is Not a Cry for War

Mass March and Rally in L.A.
From Iraq to New Orleans
Fund People's Needs, Not the War Machine
Saturday, Sept. 24, 12 noon
Olympic/Broadway, downtown

and

OCCUPY THE OCCUPIERS 2: Concert to Drive Out the BUSH REGIME!
Saturday, October 8th
Westwood Federal Building
Noon Until After Dark


Maiya's first hip hop show with our friend Luke of The Aesthetics Crew
who will perform at the October 8th concert

Peace. Out. Of . Iraq. Please.

Stand Up (Maiya Grace!)

Maiya Stands Up!
What will she do next? She may just bypass the whole sitting thing.

At 7 months, Maiya's newest trick is that she can now stand up on her own. When I say on her own, I mean we need to be there to spot her, cause she can only stand for about 10-20 seconds before she falls or flips over. She can get off the couch (note our latest Craig's list acquisition), feet first, and land in a standing position. What she cannot do, is get up to a standing position from the ground. She can put both hands up on the couch as if she is about to stand, but then just smiles, weaves and pivots for awhile, promising that she will get up there before we know it. She did give me quite a scare the other day, when she pulled up to a standing position from inside the crib. Tony just lowered the crib mattress a few weeks ago, and now we need to do it again!

On another note, Tony's mom still hasn't talked with her sister Barbara directly yet. Last we heard, they were in a shelter in Baton Rouge, but they don't appear to be there anymore. We are waiting and hoping things are all right with Barbara and her family. I heard on KPFK yesterday that the Red Cross is spending $4,000 a day per evacuee, but that if they just gave each person $4,000 a day, they would be able to relocate and start to rebuild their lives that much quicker. Will heads roll at the top for appointing such an obviously unqualified person to run FEMA? I hope. I hope. I hope.

If you live in L.A., don't forget to vote today. There is actually an election today, not that you'd know it.

Stand Up (for Justice!)

Dear Friends of NCRR,

Join us in celebrating NCRR’s 25 exciting years of redress and social justice advocacy at a luau dinner on Saturday, September 24, 2005 at Centenary Church, 300 S. Central Ave in Little Tokyo from 4 to 8 PM.

Recapping our history:

* NCRR worked tirelessly to build a grassroots movement in the Japanese American community to seek reparations for the incarceration during World War II, and then to work with other groups to insure that Congress passed legislation to make individual reparations from the U. S. government a reality. After President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, NCRR and the community urged Congress to quickly appropriate funds to carry out the provisions of the Act.

* In the early 1990’s, NCRR received hundreds of phone calls and letters from Japanese Americans denied redress. They needed help. NCRR organized community meetings and lobbying trips to Washington DC so that those denied could appeal their cases to the Office of Redress Administration (ORA) in the Department of Justice. Among those subsequently found eligible were minors deported to Japan, fired railroad and mine workers, and detained Hawaiians.

* NCRR worked with volunteer attorneys from the Japanese American Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union to file lawsuits for many of these Japanese Americans denied redress and for Japanese Latin Americans.

* During the post-9/11 era, NCRR actively supported the Muslim and Arab American communities with candlelight vigils, Breaking the Fasts, and community forums. Educational talks on Black and Mexican reparations and on the plight of former labor and sex slaves of World War II Japan were held.

* NCRR and Visual Communications produced Stand Up For Justice, about Ralph Lazo who went to Manzanar with his young Nisei friends during World War II. In addition to the yearly Day of Remembrance which NCRR has sponsored since 1981, our new website www.ncrr-la.org has been used as a resource by students here and abroad and we are in the process of publishing an NCRR Reader.

Lots to celebrate and much yet to be done! Party with us on September 24 and help us raise funds to continue our educational and civil rights work!

Sincerely,

Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress

7th Inning Stretch(ing)

It is unbelievable to me that Maiya is now 7 months old. I haven't weighed her since last month, but I can tell you, the girl is getting heavy. These pictures were taken a few weeks ago. Many things have happened with Maiya since the 6 month update. It kind of caught me off guard, but she is changing every day, doing new things. She started sitting much better, although she rarely sits, as she much prefers to be on the move. It's hard to say that she's really crawling, it's more like scooting around, putting her arms out and dragging her body along like an inchworm. She can get where she wants to go pretty fast.


Maiya is a young woman of great tenacity, who will fixate on something, and then go for it, regardless of whether she has to leap off the couch to reach the remote control, or stretch herself from the bed to the nightstand (glass top with metal edges) to get her cloth book, so I am always in the "heightened awareness" mode. She prefers to be held, almost all the time, so we are often in the "sling-a-ding" mode. It is getting harder for me to get things done, which is why I've been doing housework, paying bills, and blogging lately in the 4am to 6am timeslot. She has also learned how to squeal and scream when she wants something, and it seems to be getting louder and louder. She is quick to smile, and is very charming to people she meets. It kind of cracks me up when she shocks them by letting out some serious crankiness, thus shattering their ideal, of the perfect baby.


She is starting to go to sleep earlier on a more consistent basis, so she'll fall asleep somewhere between 9:30 to 10:30 pm. She'll sleep for longer periods of time, although she is teething again (3 or 4 teeth are works-in-progress), a possibly going through another growth spurt, which means that she may wake up once or twice a night. She still isn't much of a napper--she will take catnaps usually ranging from 10-20 minutes, and occasionally, if she is in my arms, or on my lap, she will sleep 30-60 minutes. We are moving slowly with the solid foods (once a day), on purpose, with the intention of continuing to nurse for as long as she wants (baby-led weaning), and I am amazed by the number of babies who nurse for 2-3 years. So far, she hasn't eaten anything she didn't like (bananas, prunes, apples, carrots, pears, peas, sweet potatoes)--she reminds me of her dad, when I see her eating with gusto!


I have been so interested in learning about diaper-free babies, or elimination communication, and we have actually put Maiya on her little potty, and we have "caught a pee" 4 of the 6 times we set her down. It is not "potty-training" per se, but more like reading her cues, signals, and her routine. What I have been doing is in the morning, if she has a dry diaper, then I will take off the diaper and set her on the potty and say, "pshhh." And then wait a few seconds. Most of the time she has peed within the first 30 seconds of sitting her down. If she doesn't go, or wants to crawl away, no sweat, we just take her off and change a diaper. But I can tell you that we have "saved" 4 diapers in our little bit of what-we-can-do-to-help-the-environment!


Tony bought a BBQ on Craig'sList (remind him to blog about that), and he has been grilling quite a bit. We took Maiya to the beach for the first time last week. We took the bus, which picked us up 2 blocks from our house, and dropped us off, right at the beach. We saved $7 in parking, and the hassle of driving around looking for parking. We went again on Sunday morning, Tony and his friend Hector went boogie boarding. But, summer is over. Classes started for Tony yesterday, and he is back in school. I will miss him being home in the day very much. I have been going in to Great Leap to help out quite a bit the last few months, attending meetings once or twice a week, and am going to be working there as a volunteer once a week. Due to the cashflow situation, we have had to shrink the office space, and layoff most of the staff. But, we are continuing the program, and have kicked off a major donor fundraising campaign.

All in all, I'm enjoying myself a lot, focusing on family and home. I am so lucky, and every day I am grateful for all the things that I have in my life. My love and kisses to my darling nephew Kevin who was very ill and faces some very difficult challenges ahead. But he has awesome parents, and I know that whatever happens, he will grow up happy and loved. We are so relieved to hear that Tony's Aunt Barbara, and her 4 children, who lived about 10 miles from New Orleans, have now been found staying at a hotel in Baton Rouge. We don't know any details other than that, but we know that they are safe and that they are alive. My heart goes out to all the victims and survivors of Katrina, who have suffered tragic losses because of G.W. (global warming) and G.W.B. (who should be fired), so much of which could have been prevented. While I'm incensed about the administration's negligent lack of response and preparation, I am warmed by all of the support from everyday people in the face of tragedy. Peace. Out.

Time for Lunch! Video Blog

Maiya's new lunch seat!
I'm hoping this works. I think you need to have Quick Time Player or something similar to view Maiya's most recent video. Give it about 30 seconds to load if you have DSL, more or less if you don't. Click here to download or activate the video: Lunch Time Video Blog

The post script however, is that I didn't really like the seat for this stage of her eating. For the last month, Maiya has been sitting on our lap to eat her organic brown rice cereal and things like mashed bananas, prunes and apples--all organic. In the seat, she is too low, and has both hands free, so she made quite the mess. Later, when she's eating with her hands, and with a spoon, I think the seat will make more sense. But for now, while she's on the pureed foods, I think it's best to keep her on our lap. It's much more intimate, and we're able to sit in a way that is closer to nursing.

Please let me know if you were able to view the video. And if you want more video blogs.

Manzanar Dedication 9/17

Guard Tower under construction at Manzanar NHS
(NPS photo)
Manzanar National Historic Site News Release
Contact: Alisa Lynch or Gretel Enck
Phone: (760) 878-2194 or (760) 878-2932

MANZANAR GUARD TOWER DEDICATION AND SPECIAL EVENTS SET FOR SEPTEMBER 17

In summer 1942, shortly after ten thousand Japanese Americans arrived at Manzanar War Relocation Center, the U.S. Army constructed eight 37-foot-high guard towers around the perimeter of the mile-square camp. Each tower was equipped with a search light and machine gun and staffed by Military Police. Today, National Park Service employees are reconstructing one of the towers in its historic location on the east boundary of the site.

On Saturday, September 17, 2005, the National Park Service and Friends of Manzanar will host a dedication event at 11:00 a.m, near the guard tower. Following the ceremony, Manzanar History Association (MHA) will provide light refreshments and members of the Grateful Crane Ensemble will perform 1940s songs from their recent Camp Dance CD.

At 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., MHA will host a talk, reading and booksigning by critically acclaimed poet Lawson Fusao Inada. A third generation (Sansei) Japanese American who was interned with his family during World War II, Inada is currently a professor of English at Southern Oregon University. Considered by some to be the father of Asian-American literature, Inada's recent works include Legends From Camp, Drawing The Line, and Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience. Mr. Inada will be available to sign books between his readings.

From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Jennifer Anderson, a studio artist employed by Hiromi Paper International in Santa Monica, will demonstrate traditional Japanese bookbinding techniques. The bindings known as yotsume toji and daifuku cho use only four and two holes respectively, are simple and elegant and have been used for a variety of purposes from novels to ledgers. These books can be made from a variety of papers with simple tools. Ms. Anderson has a Masters of Fine Arts in printmaking and bookarts from the University of Georgia and has taught art at Indiana State University and Clemson University.

Funding to reconstruct the guard tower was provided by the National Park Service, with a generous grant from Friends of Manzanar, a non-profit organization established in 2004 to support projects at Manzanar through financial and in-kind donations. In addition to assisting with the guard tower reconstruction, Friends of Manzanar is raising funds to rehabilitate a World War II era mess hall at Manzanar and to preserve and restore other site features.

The events are free and open to the public. Manzanar National Historic Site is located along U.S. Highway 395, six miles south of Independence, California and nine miles north of Lone Pine. For more information on the guard tower reconstruction and programs and projects at Manzanar, please visit our website at www.nps.gov/manz/ or call (760) 878-2194 or (760) 878-2932.

Yesterday's pix

Maiya and I started Wet Tots two mornings a week at the Y a few months ago. Yesterday, Tony took Maiya to the class instead of me, and I took pictures and thoroughly enjoyed watching them have fun together. Then, after swim class, we picked up sandwiches at Roll N' Rye and went to the park where we had our Feast of Celebration wedding picnic 7 years ago. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary with our girl.


Maiya's first time in swim class with Daddy

Maiya enjoying the beautiful summer day

Maiya's first time swinging at the park

Seven Years of Bliss

It's hard to believe that Tony & I got married seven years ago. I love you Tony. Here we are on our wedding day in 1998.



P.S. If anyone is interested and available to babysit for us a few hours one night this week so we can have an anniversary dinner, lemme know! I think it would be our first time alone together since Tony's birthday in April! :)

Standing with Cindy

Baby Activist for Peace
I've been out of town and a little consumed with a newly mobile (grabbing, rolling, lunging and scooting) and teething (working on tooth #3) baby this week and I haven't been too up on the whole Cindy Sheehan thing. I mean, I knew that her son died in Iraq, and I knew she was camped out in Crawford Texas and wanted to talk to Gdub.

But it wasn't until this morning at 6am while I was up with Maiya, that I saw some Republican politician from Florida commenting on TV on how the President should not meet with Cindy Sheehan, because then he would have to meet with all of the other mothers, etc., and they he would have to meet with anyone who had a gripe. He said he thought it would set a precedent. You mean for the President to be accountable for his actions??? Hello!!

That really struck me, because it sounded just like them saying how they don't meet or negotiate with terrorists. Then this morning, I heard Cindy do an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now on KPFK. She was awesome. I totally respect her for saying, enough is enough. She said that her son died, not for democracy, or freedom, but for lies about WMD and SH which been proven lies as early as 2002 in the DowningStreet Memo.

When asked to comment about the attacks on Cindy by the extreme right that she is a traitor, she said that anyone who said she didn't have a right to speak out against the war, then they were un-American, and that she was doing what she felt was a patriotic duty to ask questions and to get answers about why her son and all the other sons were murdered in Iraq.

Then what really impressed me was that she said that Camp Casey and the anti-war movement are bigger than her. Even though she had to leave to see her mother who had a stroke yesterday, but that there were still many mothers with children who died in Iraq and more mothers whose children are still in Iraq, along with 100 people camping out in front of Bush's ranch, and that there were 100,000 people attending 1600 vigils held across the country on Wednesday.

While I can't go camp out in Crawford right now, I think it's time for me, Tony & Maiya to go together as a family to a local candlelight vigil or peace rally to stand with Cindy and to support bringing the troops home ASAP.

Peace. Out.

http://www.MeetWithCindy.org

Sayonara George

George at the Senshin Obon - 7/2/05

The J.A. community has lost a dear friend. George Kiriyama passed away yesterday after a difficult struggle with liver cancer. I met George during the 50th year remembrance of E.O. 9066 and working on the Future of the Nikkei Community Conference in 1992, and got to be friends with George during my 8 years serving on the Board of the J.A. Historical Society. My love and deepest sympathies to Iku, Traci and George Jr.

People used to ask me if I was your daughter and I told them you were my "J.A. community Dad." I will miss you Dad.

Kuida-Osumi's Family Vacation

For our vacation, we went to visit Tony's relatives in Idaho and Washington this past week. Tony drove up on a road trip with his dad Larry and Uncle Bill, while Maiya and I flew up. Here are 5 photos from the trip. Please stay tuned as I sort through the best of the 150 photos that we took on the trip.


Maiya with Bubbe and Zeyde at Coeur d'Alene Lake

Maiya with Liz and her daughter Rebecca
Maiya and I arrived two days before Tony, so we spent the first two nights at Tony's mom Fran and Don's house in Northern Idaho. Maiya met grandpa Don, great grandma Marie, Great Aunt Liz and her family, Eddie, Rebecca, Jacob, and Great Aunt Jenner and her family, Steve, Shane and Hannah, all of whom have moved to Idaho in the last year. I had such a great time visiting with Fran and Don, who are awesome hosts. I felt so at home with everyone there. Fran set up an Internet Cafe and nursing station for us in her guest room. It was fun to hang out with Liz and Rebecca.


Maiya with Great Great Aunty Aiko

From left: Larry, Midori, Maiya, Tony and Uncle Bill
Me and Maiya drove over 250 miles round trip to Central Washington to meet Tony, Uncle Bill and Larry visit Maiya's great grandpa Yoshio's extended family (actually twice). We visited with Aunty Aiko (Yoshio's only living sibling), Uncle Chi and their family, Cousin Tammy, Nathan, Jynni, Johnny. We also spent time with Aunty Midori and Cousin Gloria. We had dinner at Aunty Kiyo's, and saw cousins Lynn and Irene. We got caught in a weird dust storm when winds whipped through Central Washington. We also discovered that Maiya loves wind socks and kites, which were flapping wildly in the wind.


Maiya with Mommy and Daddy at Pont D'Oreille Lake
Overall, it was a great vacation. Although it was a little hectic, it was so great that Maiya got to meet so many of her daddy's relatives. She is the first baby in the family in many years on both sides of Tony's family, so Maiya was a big hit. To our amazement, we discovered that Maiya LOVES dogs as she threw back her head and laughed hysterically whenever she saw Bobby, Anthony (the dog), Avy, Sadie and Dusty. Ok, I'm working on puting up more photos from the trip on to the Kuida-Osumi website in the next few days.

Maiya's Packing List

I spent days stressing about how and what to pack for Maiya for the trip to Idaho and Washington. I was concerned about flying by myself with an infant, and my ability to carry Maiya, both of our luggage, and get us through security, on the plane, off the plane, getting the rental car, etc. I went online and couldn't find any decent infant (6 month) packing lists for vacations, and I researched airplane travel tips for babies, in anticipation of a crying baby en route, traveling across state lines on the road, and currently nursing, and beginning to eat rice cereal.

It took me 3 days to pack, partly because Maiya is so active and wants to be held so often... the first day, I created the following list, the 2nd day, I packed Maiya's clothes and started assembling all her toiletries and pumping paraphernelia and the 3rd day, I packed my own stuff. I tell you, having the list for Maiya's stuff made packing so much easier. Lianne came over and spent 5 hours entertaining Maiya so that I could finish up packing, which was totally awesome because I wouldn't have finished without her.

I managed to get ALL her stuff into 2 small bags, one backpack carry on diaper bag and one shoulder bag. Preboarding didn't really help, because by the time I got the stroller and infant seat folded up with one hand, regular passengers were passing me up. I was extremely lucky that she slept in the New Native Carrier (my brest friend!) the entire flight and we didn't need any of the toys on the flights, but we did use them in the airport since our flight was delayed 2 hours. I carried her in the sling in the airport, and pushed the stroller with the 2 bags after checking my own luggage.

Here's the packing list for Maiya for our first vacation 5 nights, 6 days.

Bringing
Stroller (gate check in)
Infant seat carrier (gate check in)
Backpack diaper bag (carry-on)
Shoulder bag (check in)

Clothes
4 cotton sunsuit/dresses (carry-on 1, pack 3)
4 onesies (carry-on 1, pack 3)
1 feety PJs (carry-on)
1 longsleeve shirt w/matching sweats (carry-on) *DIDN'T USE
1 sweater (carry-on) *DIDN'T USE
1 t-shirt with matching pants (pack) *DIDN'T USE
1 denim shorts (pack)
2 socks (pack) *DIDN'T USE
2 hats (pack)
swim diaper/3 liners (pack) *DIDN'T USE

Toiletries
Patemm changing pad (pack)
Diapers (48) (24 pack, 30 tony bring)
2 Desitin (carry-on/pack)
Changing pad (carry-on)
Wipes (carry-on 2 travel/1/4 pack)
Hydrocortisone (carry-on)
Baby Lotion - California Båby (pack)
Baby shampoo - California Baby (pack)
Aquafor ointment (sample size) (carry-on)
Sunscreen - organic (pack)
Nipple cream - Lansinoh (pack)
Hyland's eething tablets (carry-on)
Baby Tylenol just in case (carry-on) *DIDN'T USE
Nail clippers (carry-on)
Nose aspirator just in case (pack) *DIDN'T USE
1 washcloth (pack)
2 burpee cloths (carry-on 2, pack 1)
3 bibs (pack)

Feeding stuff
Avent manual pump (carry-on)
Avent nipple (carry-on)
2 frozen milk bottles (carry-on)
2 fresh milk bottles (carry-on)
2 freezer ice w/bottle pouch (carry-on)
Sippy cup w/water (carry-on)
nipple shields (carry-on)
pacifier (carry-on)
Baggie rice cereal (5 TBS) (pack)
Spoon (pack)
Extra plastic daisy for pump (pack)*DIDN'T USE
Emergency formula samples just in case (pack 5) *DIDN'T USE

Misc./Toys
New Native Carrier pouch sling (carry-on)
3 receiving blankets (carry-on/pack)
2 floor blankets (pack)
1 bath towel (pack)
lady bird turtle/teether rings (carry-on)
worm/caterpillar (carry-on)
dragon (carry-on)
rattle (pack)
soft bath book (pack)
1 disposable changing pad (pack)
extra plastic bags & ziplocks

In the future, I will bring more burp cloths, but less bibs and blankets. It was good having the extra diaper stuff, since I was able to keep a changing station at Fran's house, and then have one for the car and one for the diaper bag. I didn't use all the clothes, but that was mostly because she never needed longsleeves or socks because of the heat. Next time, I think it won't take me as long to pack, and I'll keep a copy of this list handy.

Mural DNA

Maiya puts on the final touch
MURAL LOG: Tuesday, August 9, 2005, 12:22 a.m. and the mural is finished. I’m so relieved. It’s been a love-hate relationship. I love doing a mural in J-Town. It’s been a dream from years back. But it’s taken so much of my time and energy. I just wanted it to be over. I started the process two years ago and after several delays and postponements missed the August 1 finish date by a week. We hope to get the mural hung by September 17 for the Ties That Bind Conference in Little Tokyo. Stay tuned for details.

Some quick thanks:

To everyone who helped with the mural. Almost 500 people painted or contributed in some way.

Nancy Kikuchi, the mural coordinator, spent endless hours at community meetings, City hearings, filling out paperwork, fundraising, phone calling, and taking care of all the mural logistics and volunteer coordination for the last three years. And that’s on top of all her regular hectic work and life schedule. And she’s still not done. Look for Nancy and others in the mural playing drums with Bombu Taiko.

Sergio Diaz and Jorge Diaz were the other two mural artists whose hard beautiful work made the mural happen. You probably met Jorge if you helped paint in September/October. He was the funny, tall guy who flung around the 4’x 8’ mural panels like they were screen doors. After Little Tokyo, the mural was stored and the majority of the details were painted at Sergio’s home in Van Nuys. Thankfully, many of his artist friends helped paint. I want to thank his wife Stephanie and their 17-month daughter Olivia (who was 5 months old when we started) for being so patient. Keep an eye out for Olivia in the mural.

Thank you to the members of the Little Tokyo community group, J-Town Voice and staff at Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC). J-Town Voice helped organize the community painting days, shared the mural’s Little Tokyo history with volunteers, and gave great feedback on the mural’s design. Priming the 20 mural boards and tracing the design with an overhead projector all started in the Casa Heiwa underground parking lot in the hottest week last summer. Thank you LTSC peoples for working through all that hot muggy weather.

Let me not forget Jenni for carrying the load with Maiya and the house for the last few weeks while I painted. Thank you for supporting me. Maiya, thank you for painting the very last details to the mural: three tiny fingerprints with white paint on the three Day of Remembrance candle flames. I wanted you to begin your life serving the community and feeling connected to J-Town history. Thank you also for creatively spitting up on the mural and sharing some of your unique DNA.

J-town mural update

For Tony, this summer has been all about the J-town mural. He's been working on finalizing the panels in the backyard and in the garage day and night--I can't count how many "all-nighters" he has pulled in the last month and a half. Many times, he is coming to bed as I am waking up. But the end is in sight. I think the mural will be finished in the next day or so. The Kuida-Osumi household will be so happy when it's finished!!


Tony working way past midnight on Nisei Week image

J-town's "Bronzeville" resident, jazz musician Charlie Parker

Maiya helping Daddy finish the mural

Amazing Nephews at Play

I'm a proud auntie... amazed by the talent of my young nephews. Check it out.

First is Kieth, who is 4 years old. He started water skiing at 3. Apparently, when you start at this age, the rope is attached to the ski, and they use a boat with a smaller engine. Well, this summer I got to watch him from the board. He has graduated to skiing with a bigger boat (the same one his mom and Aunt Heidi use), and the rope is attached to the boat, which is much harder. Here he is a few weeks ago with my sister in the water behind him.


Water skiing toddler

Next is Kyle, a junior taiko master at age 2 1/2 years old. He recently went to Taiko Jam and knew a few of the pieces from watching the TAIKOPROJECT (re)generation DVD over and over and over. Why oh why don't they have taiko for tots? I think at the Taiko Conference, the minimum age for the kids workshop was 4. Here he is, legs bent, bachi's flying, and everything!


Dogo dogo dogo dogo don...

2 Events marking 60 years

(1) HIROKEN: The anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima is coming up and on behalf of Hiroken, we'd like to extend an invitation to you to this regard. The JACCC (Japanese American Cultural and Community Center) and the Nikkei Interfaith Fellowship of Little Tokyo is sponsoring a free 45 minute documentary entitled "The Mushroom Club," followed by a memorial service to remember the victims of the atomic bomb on Saturday, August 6. "The Mushroom Club" is a new film by Steven Okazaki, which reflects on the legacy of the Hiroshima bombing 60 years later. This event will take place at the JACCC building in Little Tokyo. Hiroken is planning to attend the 10am showing of "The Mushroom Club." Also, we are thinking of having a group lunch in Little Tokyo after the event, compliments of the Hiroshima Kenjinkai. The event is free and if you will be joining us for lunch, please RSVP to Linda at 818-807-2103 or Joanie at 626-840-2965 so we can have a head count for lunch. Also, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

(2) This Saturday, August 6, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, an interview with author Naomi Hirahara and her parents will be broadcast on Weekend America, an American Public Media radio program aired on many NPR stations. In Los Angeles, the program will be broadcast on KPCC FM (89.3 FM) sometime from 1 to 3 p.m. The program will also be accessible through the program's website, www.weekendamerica.org, from this weekend for a week.
www.naomihirahara.com>

Happy 6 Months Maiya!

Wow. Trip out. Maiya, our little girl is 6 months old today. Actually, she's not that little. For her age, she's a big girl, tall and strong. She is 16 pounds, 2 ounces and 27 1/2 inches tall. So unbelievable to me that 6 months have passed since her delivery day, and also that in 6 months, I will have a one year old child. A toddler. Maybe walking. Saying a few words. I get a few glimpses of her personality, which is still forming.


Doing pushups
With mobility, has come a mischievousness that I find charming and disarming at the same time. She is turning over, rolling around, and flipping over with lightening quick speed. Turn your head for literally 3 seconds and she has moved several feet away. Today, she lodged her leg underneath the couch and I had to lift the couch to get her out. She just grinned at me. She will chow down on anything that comes in her path. Cell phone? Tasty. PotteryBarn catalog? Moist and chewy. The other day, I found some paper in her diaper (if you know what I mean). My pen on the couch? From her mouth to her hands and headed for her eyes. Ack! I am struggling to keep up with her. And it is only the beginning. The girl is 6 months and she scares me daily. I might be a nervous wreck for the next two years. Or my older friends will tell me the next 18 years.


Are you watching me now?
Today, was a big day at the Kuida-Osumi homestead. We started solid foods. If you can call it that. More like soupy, gooey rice gruel. I bought the organic brown rice from WholeFoods yesterday as well as a couple of organic green bananas for later this week. I had the typical plastic bowl, but Tony said she's J.A., let's use a chawan (rice bowl). Mixed it in with a few frozen breastmilk cubes that I made a few weeks ago. I took a little taste, and it was sweet. Tony explained to her how this was her first step towards eating burritos and all of his favorite foods.


Tony modeling good eating habits for Maiya
She took a few spoonfuls. Tugged at the plastic food bib, trying to take it off. She made some faces and then started getting a little fussy. Ok, enough for today.


Are we having fun yet?
Then I put her down, gave her the spoon and she repeatedly put it in her mouth and started licking it. So, I dipped the spoon in the rice cereal and gave it to her. What do you know, she seemed to really like it. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

To: Giovanni and Colin

I've been so sad the last few days, thinking a lot about two babies who passed away last week. Neither of whom I had ever met. One was Emily, whose 6 month old boy Giovanni died of SIDS. Giovanni was just learning how to turn over. Born 6 days before Maiya, he had turned from his stomach to back twice, but never from his back to stomach. When his dad went to get him up on Wednesday morning, he had turned over to his stomach in his sleep. And he was gone. Just like that.

The other one was my brother's friends, Susie & Greg who lost their son, Colin, who was a micro-preemie and a twin. He underwent two surgeries and countless blood transfusions in his struggle to live. He lived for almost 3 months, but he was born too early at 25 weeks, and his organs just weren't developed enough to work properly. The only positive is that Colin's twin sister Caroline is gaining steadily and after 3 months is now almost 7 pounds and will hopefully be able to go home soon.

These have shocked me and rocked me to the core. I cannot imagine the pain and anguish that these families are going through, and I mourn with them as they must now pick up and continue their lives. When I read about Colin and Giovanni, both times I had to run to Maiya, take her in my arms, cover her with hugs and kisses, and hold on tight to my little baby.

My deepest condolences. En memoriam.

On the 6th Day She Rested (Tony's Blog)

Man, am I tired. It’s 4:54 am and I haven’t been to bed yet. But I gotta blog because last week I challenged Jenni to blog for 5 days straight. She took it one step further and blogged twice a day for 5 days and said I had to blog on the sixth day. Well here I am.


Working on the mural
I’ve been working on the mural all night and for the last hour checking out eBay, Craig’s list and reading and commenting on Yuko and Ayako's blogs. The mural is coming along. Ten of the twenty 4’ x 8’ panels are completely finished and clear coated. I was working on two more tonight and 8 more are at Sergio’s house that he and Jorge have been busy finalizing. Our goal is to have them all done by August 1. It’s gonna be tight. Although we wanted to get the mural done last January/February, I’m really glad Maiya will get a chance to “paint” the mural. I think a footprint or handprint would be very cool.


Maiya "bridging generations" on the mural

Fwd: Freaky Feet

I don't usually pass on forwarded emails, but I have to say, this one is a little bit freaky. I remember getting it last year from my friend Dean, and then Letty just sent it to me.

----------
How Smart Is Your Right Foot?
This is so funny that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep trying it at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your
foot. But you can't!!!

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction!!!

The Good Girl

People often tell us, "Oh, Maiya's such a good girl. I've never seen her cry!"

People, she cries. She gets fussy. She whines. While we're lucky to have a relatively easygoing baby who has a high tolerance for wet diapers, she is a baby, and they do cry. The term "crybaby" didn't come from no where. Crying is how babies communicate. But not crying doesn't make her good, just as crying doesn't make her bad. So, for those who've never seen Maiya cry, here's one of my favorite pictures of her "communicating" with us.


The Good Communicator

Updating Today's To Dos

* Book flight to Idaho/Washington - ALMOST DONE. Spent 3 hours researching flights, rental cars and figuring out itinerary for upcoming trip. Tony is going to be driving up to Washington with his dad and Uncle Bill to visit the families of Tony's grandfather. Maiya and I will be flying (her first airplane ride!) up and meeting them in Washington, and then we will also be visiting Tony's mom and husband Don, Aunt Jenner and Aunt Liz' families in Idaho.
* Pay July bills - DONE. Wrote 10 checks and renewed my subscription to Mothering, the magazine for natural family living.
* Do dishes - DONE. But there will be more tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on, and so on...
* Do laundry (3 loads waiting) - PARTIALLY DONE. 1 dark load washed, dried, but still needs to be folded. 2 more loads still waiting. Will do tomorrow.
* Work out at Y - DONE. When me and Maiya started the swim class at the Y last month, we joined as family members. Tony and I have been going a few times a week to work out at the gym. Maiya goes to free, onsite childcare. Today I did 35 minutes of cardio on the recumbent bike, treadmill and elliptical, and stretched for 20 minutes. Then, I went to Empanadas Place and got 4 empanadas to go.
* Higashi Obon - DONE. Ayako, Maiya and I went to see Bombu Taiko (I took a beginner taiko class in 2003 and played in the obon 2 years ago). Anyways, we had somen, visited with friends, went to the bake sale, the farmer's market (I bought 5 zucchinis and one melon for $1, and a plumeria for $15). Since Ayako and I went last year together, we decided to make it an annual thing.


Carrie, Maiya, Ayako and Kathy at Higashi Obon

* RSVP for Warren Furutani fundraiser - DONE. Check is in the mail. Help send Warren to Sacramento. He's running for a California State Assembly seat representing the 55th District next Spring. I volunteered on Warren's LAUSD School Board re-election and his run for City Council many years ago. It was my first experience with phone banking and precinct walking. i've known Warren for many years and I can see he's a nice guy, an excellent advocate. Let me know if you're interested in making a contribution to his campaign.
* Friends to schedule visits with: Alyce & Minna, Peg, Beth's family, Ayako - PARTLY DONE. See Higashi Obon above re: Ayako.

Feeling good about today's accomplishments. More work to be done on the list!

Jenni's To Do List

This morning as I was lying in bed, I was thinking of what I would write for today's blog entries. But there are all these things I need to do that are probably more pressing and are scattered and wandering around my head, so I thought I'd write them down. They are not prioritized, but they probably need to be.

* Book flight to Idaho/Washington - TODAY
* Pay July bills - TODAY
* Finish assembling taxes - TODAY
* Do dishes - TODAY
* Do laundry (3 loads waiting) - TODAY
* Work out at Y - TODAY
* Higashi Obon - TONIGHT??
* RSVP for Warren Furutani fundraiser (LAST FRIDAY)
* Buy stamps online
* Order bigger diapers and covers for Maiya from Dydee
* Make appt with accountant
* Buy Mother's Milk organic tea
* Make appt with lactation consultant
* Make Maiya's 6 month checkup appt
* Confirm dinner with Jackie & Maria next week
* Order tix for August Wilson play Radio Golf
* Make deposit
* Balance bank statements
* Sweep/clean hardwood floors
* Wash sheets
* Mop kitchen floor
* Clean new kitchen table
* Clean bathtub, sink and floor in bathroom
* List and send thank you notes for recent baby gifts
* Set up Maiya's college fund
* Get Maiya's birth certificate
* Switch washer and dryer locations
* Develop photos from trip to lake and July photos
* Organize Maiya's photo album (huge project)
* Write Maiya's birth story and name story
* Burn Maiya's photos to CDs
* Upload Maiya's birth pictures to website
* Organize July photos for website
* Set up meeting wtih Juliet for Manzanar web updates
* Friends to schedule visits with: Alyce & Minna, Peg, Beth's family, Ayako, phloe
* Organize Maiya's closet
* Find and take a baby CPR class
* Check out local Mom's club
* Organize and prioritize this list

Photo picks for today

Here's Maiya with her daddy. She looks so happy. I love her in the beret, it's so cosmopolitan. Sometimes we just play with her and laugh, all three of us together. It's so sweet.


Here's me and Maiya at Artwallah, the South Asian arts festival a few weeks ago. Maiya went to her first hip hop concert to see our friend Luke from The Aesthetics Crew at Barnsdall Park. I got some Indian food and Maiya stuck her hand in my plate.

Ok, well, the 2 blogs a day continues... is anybody out there? I wish more folks would leave a comment--it's fun to know who's reading. I remember when Tish did like 100 blogs in one day. Maybe one day when I'm home and have nothing to do, I will try to do like one blog an hour for one day. Yeah, right.

Tick Tock

I had noticed (maybe yesterday) what looked like a scab in Maiya's ear, inside, near the top of her earlobe. She had scratched her ear before, and I had seen a scab a few months ago, so I didn't worry about it too much. Today, I noticed something similar again at Skyler Mariko's 1st birthday party. I asked my mom to look at it, it kind of looked like a scab but was bluish and looked like a seed, or a scab that might be filled with blood. We didn't know if we should wipe it off with a Q-tip because we didn't know if it would bleed. My friend Mary was walking by and also looked at it.

Later as we were leaving, Mary asked her husband Doug to take a look at it. He said, "Oh, that's a tick." Oh. My. Gosh. We talked about what to do about it. All of a sudden I was feeling a little freaked out. Calm, but freaked as we discussed what to do. Mary wondered if we should take her to the doctor. Someone asked the host if she had a tweezer. I'd heard of ticks on dogs, but never seen one before, and never on. my. child.

Anyways, Dr. Doug to the rescue, along with medical consultants Drs. Mary, Darin and Saori. Doug, being from New Hampshire, knew exactly what to do and how to do it. He took it out with tweezers, and me and Mary cleaned it out with water and wiped it down.

I got home and immediately searched online. Here's the info for what to do about ticks for babies 0-12 months.

She must have gotten it at the lake in the woods that we went to earlier this week. I can't believe that she's had it for maybe 2-4 days. Glad that I asked the right people about it. Glad we noticed it sooner than later. Whew.

Friends & Babies

L to R: Kai, Miya, Lisa, Maiya, Jenni, Lauryn, Marissa, Lily, Mary
(Photo by Lianne. Courtesy of Lily)

My sweet friend Mary came into town for the weekend with her family. We met over at Lisa's house tonight to hang out, meet each other's kids, and have some delicious Thai food. We reminisced about the Thai food making party that we had at Lisa's house ten years ago where we cooked a huge Thai food dinner. Back then everyone was single. Life evolves.

Five kids. Five gals. Two hubbies. Woo hoo. Lots of kiddies this week!