Catching up

Ah Saturday. Life is busy these days. Here are some updates:

Kitchen Remodel Project: We are about 6 weeks into our kitchen remodel. The cabinets are all up. We got a dishwasher, the hood, the stove/oven, all waiting to be installed. I sold my china cabinet for $550 to a nice newly married couple who lives a few miles from here. Still to do is: get a sink, make a decision on the countertops, finalize the paint colors, finish the cabinet drawers and doors, get the new French door in the back re-hung (long story), re-finish the primer on the walls. I think once we decide on the countertop, we'll have about a month left on this. So, we continue to eat out all the time. We've been spending a lot of time with Uncle Bill and Grandpa Larry, doing laundry and watching HGTV over there. Maiya loves going to visit over there. Breakfast at home, dishes in the bathtub, dust all around. I'm hoping that maybe we can be finished in time for my birthday next month and have a little get-together and unveil the new kitchen. If not, then maybe we can do New Year's oshogatsu here.

Back in School: I think I mentioned that I am taking a class at SMC one night a week. Wow, did I ever underestimate how much work would be involved. I am enjoying it, and find the Early Childhood Education class applies to my interests, my life as a mom, and as the administrator for a large ECE program at work. Last night, I studied for 3 hours, and only advanced 1 1/2 of the 4 chapters I need to have read by Tuesday. One exciting thing is that I had to observe a preschool classroom.

I went to Play Mountain Place and totally loved it. It's a humanistic alternative school which bases its curriculum on learning through play. The children spend all day outside if they choose it looks like such a great place to be. Children direct their learning and their play. Conflict resolution, social justice, the environment, peace, are important concepts to the school, so you can see why it would appeal to me. My friend Hector and Hisayo's 4 kids went there, and Hisayo used to teach there. I found out on my visit that their daughter teaches there now. I just recently put Maiya on the waiting list for a preschool at one of the Buddhist temples in Little Tokyo, but I am really interested in this school for Maiya. It reminded me of the Open Air Nursery I read about in my textbook, and of the freedom schooling concepts that my mentor Grace Lee Boggs talks about a lot, and of the unschooling movement that is so interesting to me.

Working in J-town: My work is busy busy busy. The director of our program left last week, so I have temporarily taken on the overseeing of our infant toddler site. I am learning a lot, and I am searching desperately for a new director, so that I can get back to my regular work. But I am heading into my busy period, the quarterly state reports.

Life at Home: Tony and I are enjoying life with Maiya immensely. There are definitely some rough moments living with a strong-willed toddler, and I find that whining is exhausting and irritates me very much. We've had a rough time with getting Maiya into the car seat again lately, although we're working on it. Continuing to be difficult are teeth-brushing and nail clippin. But... the best stuff is the happy squealing and laughter that fills our lives. Every day Maiya does something new or learns something and it just amazes us. She knows signs and can point out or identify so many things. When we read books, she knows makes the sign for bunny or frog, or will make the sounds of a crocodile (not sure where she got it from cause i never heard a crocodile actually). While she's not talking much, she's babbling all day long and she communicates and understands almost everything we say or ask. It is amazing how quickly she is growing and now she is this independent little being in our ilves that requires her own meals at restaurants. She even has her own MySpace page, so check it out.

This afternoon, I caught up on a much needed nap after having breakfast with my oldest friend Maria for the first time this year. I woke up to Maiya playing with her bears on the bed, tucking them in and her drawing in my journal. I surely can't complain.

Well, that's the latest over here. Drop us a comment below (please!) and let us know you're out there, and if you made it all the way through this post.

Bye!

Craig's list - Beautiful china cabinet

Anyone want to buy this? Last week I listed it for $1200 on Craigs List. Not one email or call. So this week, I have dropped the price in half. Let me know if you're interested!
___________________________________________
Solid wood china cabinet and hutch for sale - $600

This is a beautiful 2-piece country-style china cabinet/hutch. The upper glass cabinet has lots of space to display china or platters with 3 glass shelves, and three lights from above. The bottom has 5 drawers (3 for silverware, and 2 on the bottom left side), with an area on the bottom right for larger platters. The drawers have childproof safety latches on them.

We hate to see it go, but we are remodeling and don't have the space for it. 64" wide X 84" tall X 19" deep (both pieces together)

$600 obo

Please email if you are interested in seeing this up close!

Sleep Happens

Tony has made some comments about me posting pictures of him sleeping a lot. So to be fair, here is one of me and Maiya sleeping. I was surprised when I saw these on the camera. It explains why I always wake up with a crick in my neck.


Unfortunately, it seems like I am only sleeping about 5-6 hours a night these days. I've been up since 5am this morning. I am supposedly studying for a test tomorrow night in my class. Oh yeah, I am taking a class at the local community college. I wrote about it in my last column Back to School: 20 Years Later. Anyways, here is a rare update on our main website.

Daddy & me around the house this week

Me and daddy looking at paint samples together
Daddy taking a picture of me building the kitchen pantry
Daddy showing me his "rough" chin
Me and daddy taking a nap

K.I.P. (Kitchen in Progress)

1940's kitchen ready for demo (8/16/06)
Working on the electrical and plumbing (8/21/06)
Bamboo floors and fluorescent recessed lighting in (8/26/06)
Base cabinets in process (9/1/06)
Primed and ready for the next steps (today)
Still to do:
* Paint ceiling and trim (today)
* Pantry and upper cabinets, cabinet doors and shelves built
* Install cabinets
* Select paint colors and paint for kitchen, dining room, living room
* Decide on Silestone vs. Ceasarstone countertop colors ++
* Order stainless steel sink and faucet
* Get undercabinet lights, microwave, toaster oven, garbage disposal, water filter conversion kit
* Install new backdoor, get hinges, doorknob, screen door
* Window treatments for all 3 rooms

There's a lot more, but money is flying out of our account so fast I can't think. I wish my cousin Jackie was in town to help with paint colors and decide on the countertop options. Anyone have any advice, let us know. Stay tuned.

++ Silestone Samples

Letty & Paul--Play Ball!

Before the month is over, I wanted to post pictures of Letty & Paul's wedding earlier this month. They had a beautiful wedding and reception at Dodger Stadium Club. It was very cool to see the baseball field from the windows high above Dodger Stadium. I loved the Tortilla Warmer with Letty & Paul's names and wedding date in Dodger Blue. Kind of looked like a baseball glove, ha ha! Here are some pictures of the day.

Letty & Paul with Mrs. A just after the wedding
Letty's nieces Alicia & Karena all grown up!
Jenni, Maiya and Hector at the Dodger Club making C's (?)
Letty & Paul making their entrance to the reception
Tony, Letty, Jenni & Maiya
In the Dodger Stadium parking lot heading home
From KuidaOsumi to Letty & Paul, we wish you a wonderful life together. It's always so great to see two fun-loving people stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run. Play ball!

Happy Anniversary Love!

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Just wanted to share some images from our wedding and feast of celebration picnic 8 years ago this week. I love you honey bun.

Maiya's first month video

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Here's a little video I made of Maiya's birth and first few weeks at home. Tony and Maiya just watched it. Tony said, How come there's so many of me sleeping?" I said that's cause that's what we did. Maiya was transfixed on the computer, and when I asked if she wanted to watch it again, she nodded her head up and down. So we did.

Please let me know if you can see it. It's a bit wonky. I had to restart my computer after playing it a few times. Also, worked better in Firefox than Explorer and Safari. Ok, that's enough playing for today. Back to your regularly scheduled kitchen remodeling.

Pardon our dust

Packing up the kitchen
Demolition day
On Wednesday night, Tony and I stayed up all night (till 4:30 am) packing up the kitchen and moving out all the appliances. Then, I went to work a few hours later, exhausted. On Thursday, the contractors came and demo'd everything. Stay tuned for more on the progress of the KuidaOsumi Kitchen Kampaign...

Flying Taco Girl

Maiya loves playing "Flying Taco" with daddy! Mama's not crazy about it, but it's fun to watch and hear the zealous squealing. It's almost 2 am, so no update. Stay tuned for pictures of Letty & Paul's wedding... Tofu Festival... kitchen remodel in process, and more.

mama, I want it! (18 mo. update)

Maiya is now 18 months old. At her 18 month appointment last week, she weighed in at 22 pounds, 15 ounces, and 32 1/2 inches tall. Yay! It has been 5 months since she was weighed, when she was just barely 18 pounds.

Maiya is also now on the Toddler side at childcare. She loves it! They have a lot of toys (much more than we have at home) and they go outside to play twice a day. She loves the slide and the water table and always comes home with wood chips in her shoes. Some of the kids (under 3) are (in my eyes) gigantic compared to her, and some are a little rough, but she holds her own. One day, I saw her and another girl who is a head taller than her holding hands and walking around together. It was so cute.














She loves bags, putting stuff in and taking it out. She is into buckles and likes to open and close them. She can snap herself into the top buckle in the car seat (and we are careful not to let her see how unbuckle works). She likes to take off our shoes, and give us new ones, or put them on herself. She likes to feed us pretend food, although she often offers real food too. She still eats mostly all organic foods, lots of veggies and grains and pastas. She likes crackers a lot. She's starting to be more open to different things lately, which is good, cause she went through a phase where she wasn't eating much, and had abandoned many of the (mostly soft) foods she previously loved.

Maiya is still nursing and co-sleeping, about 5-6 times a day (and through the night), although we are starting to phase out the mid-day nursings when she is in childcare. I am happy that Maiya is still very interested in her mama's milk, and the antibodies and immunities that it still provides her with, and we are going to let her decide when she is finished, which may or may not be any time soon. When Grandma Fran, breastfeeding policy expert, first suggested that it was best to nurse for the first 2 years, I was unsure, especially given all of the challenges we had in the beginning months. But for now, I'm happy to be a poster mother for extended nursing.














She enjoys books a lot. Some books I have memorized and I can recite or sing them to her (while gettng my last few moments of shuteye in the morning). She has a few hand and feet movements that go along with the books. When we read or sing "Wheels on the Bus," the line that goes "babies on the bus go wah wah wah," she puts her fists to her eyes, wiggles them and says "wah wah wah" and giggles. Another favorite Gyo Fujikawa book, there's a line, "Roll up your trousers and kick off your shoes" where the kids are playing in the mud. She will kick her legs and point to her feet. She might be the only kid on the block who knows what trousers are.

Maiya amazes us with her ability to remember things. She can identify birds, ducks and the standard barnyard farm animals, and knows the major body parts. Tony wonders what she's talking about and says, "That doesn't sound like English." Maybe not, but she knows what she's talking about.














Maiya has found her voice, and she doesn't hesitate to use it. Another term for this is called temper tantrums. The childcare director said to me yesterday, "Jenni, don't worry. By the time she is 3, she will be over this phase." Three! That's her whole lifetime! Anyways, we know that she is developmentally on target, and have to not worry too much about what other people think. Patience I think is going to be the key in the next few months.

Speaking of voice, Maiya has said maybe 10 words (mostly repeating back to me, or pointing out the (h)orse in the book), but I can only get her to say "apple" regularly. And she's not even eating apples these days. She understands everything, and she is able to communicate what she wants a lot of the time without words (lots of pointing and grunting). We talk to her a lot, label everything when we talk to her, and ask her lots of questions. I mouth words slowly so she can see my lips. And she watches my lips and copies the way I move them. No sound comes out, but I'm not worried about it yet. If I know the baby sign for it, I'll sign it for her as well. Sometimes she does the sign, and sometimes she'll give a syllable of the word.

Lately, she uses "mama" to mean "I want it." She'll say to Tony, "mama" (pointing at cereal box and will not stop until we bring it down off the shelf). It was confusing at first until we figured out that she had redefined mama.

It's Tofu Time!

What are you doing this weekend? Come to the Tofu Festival! Saturday, August 12 from 2pm-10pm and Sunday, August 13 from 12pm-6pm. The Tofu Festival is a fundraiser for Little Tokyo Service Center, where I work, and I will be there all weekend, along with maybe 20,000 others who will attend the Tofu Festival and Nisei Week.

If you've never been to the Tofu Festival, you should come on down to Little Tokyo. There are over 40 food booths from local restaurants and dishes like tofu tacos, tofu pizzas, tofu pate, tofu ice cream, tofu chili, tofu pancakes, and so much more!

There will be a Tofu Eating Contest, Anime-D marathon, over 65 health and fitness vendors and arts and crafts marketplace, a tofu boutique, Iron Chef Cooking demos, a Wi-Fi Scavenger Hunt and an entertainment stage with taiko groups, hip hop dance groups, etc. On Saturday night, there will be a concert with Ill Again and Blackalicious.

Little Tokyo, 237 S. San Pedro Street (between 2nd and 3rd Streets). Free parking at City Hall (might not be accessible on Sat. afternoon), and plenty of pay parking nearby. Admission Price is $8 for adults.

If you have questions, call 213/473-3030. If I'm not outside helping out with the Marketplace, I might be answering the phones!

Tofucam: http://www.ltsc.org/tofucam.jpg

It's hip to be square! So see you there!

Obon Season

Obon season runs usually from the beginning of July to the beginning of August. They are held at many of the local Buddhist temples and are a celebration to honor the ancestors. We only made it to two Obons this year, Senshin held on July 1st and the West LA Obon on July 30th.


Here we are at the Senshin obon with Nobuko. It was a little hectic as Maiya did not want to be held. She wanted to be out wandering amongst the circle of dancers-crossing into the dancing traffic. She really liked all the dancing lights. We danced the Tanko Bushi and One Plus One, the two dances that Tony & I know.


It was my first time to the West LA obon, it is the one that Tony grew up going to, and it was a lot of fun. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. My parents were visiting, so they went with us. Maiya is wearing her taiko and fan hapi coat sent from Yuko from Okinawa last summer! We didn't see the dancing at this one as it was out on the street, and we were inside eating food. Maiya and Tony enjoyed the Teriyaki chicken and Chili Rice very much as you can see from the photo above. I liked that they had Bi Bim Bap, my favorite Korean rice dish. The shaved ice was awesome, but Maiya had a bit of a meltdown, so we had to leave rather quickly. Such is life with an active toddler!

APA Parent - Survey

Peg tagged me, so here's my APA Parent survey. I changed the last question.

1. I am: Sansei, 3rd generation Japanese American

2. My child is: Hapa Hapa Yonsei Gosei (3/4 J.A, 1/4 European American Jew), which means that because her dad is Hapa, she is a Hapa Hapa, which is half a Hapa, and Gosei (5th generation Japanese American) which makes her 5th generation J.A. (and 7th generation Jewish European American (via Pittsburgh) on her dad's side, and then 4th generation Yonsei on my side. Confusing? You could just call her Hapa.

3. I first realized I was APA when: I went to college and my boyfriend was Vietnamese and my good friends were Quynh Anh, Lan Anh & Sonny (Vietnamese), Lea (Pilipina), Monica (Korean, raised in Paraguay and the Valley), Takae (Chinese, raised in Japan), Ladan (born in Iran), Amelia (Mexican American), Alyce (Chinese), Minna (Taiwanese). Before college, my group of friends were all White, except for Cynthia who was African American. When I got active in the commemoration of the 50th Remembrance of Japanese American internment in 1992, I reconnected with my JA roots and identity, which also kicked off my interest in community work and political activism.

4. People think my name is: Jenni or Emiko. I also go by Jen or Jennifer.

5. The family tradition I most want to pass on is: Oshogatsu, the Japanese New Year's celebration

6. The family tradition I least want to pass on is: I can't think of any.

7. My child’s first word in English was: MaMa. Then apple.

8. My child’s first non-English word was: Well, apple was just last week, so none. Although she does understand "siente te," sit down in Spanish, and I regularly say "agua" instead of water. I don't speak Japanese, but I have used "oishi desuyo?" which means "does it taste good?" since she started eating. Her first baby signs were "milk" and "more."

9. The non-English word/phrase most used in my home is:
and "chotto matte yo" which means, just a minute, "abunai" which means be careful, or dangerous, and sometimes "atsui" which means hot!

10. One thing I love about being an APA parent is: exposing my daughter to different cultures, not just her own.

11. One thing I hate about being an APA parent is: nothing I can think of.

12. The best thing about being part of an APA family is: Tony says, "not too sure what it is to not be an APA family."

13. The worst thing about being part of an APA family is: Racism is bad, any way you slice it.

14. To me, being an Asian Pacific American parent means: that I have a responsibility to my child to raise her to embrace other cultures and nationalities, and to allow her to learn about being Japanese American. If she wants to play in the JA basketball leagues, or join a Japanese taiko drum group, that will be fine with us. Although if she wants to do African drumming and dance or Mexican folkorico (I have friends who teach both), then that will be cool too!

Dance, Baby Dance

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Maiya dancing at home while listening to the radio.


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Maiya enjoys taiko at the Venice Japanese Carnival

Hot Weekend Pix

Whew! It was a hot weekend. On Saturday, I took Maiya to the Nisei Week Baby Pageant. I know, I know. If you know me as a feminist/activist, you are probably surprised that I did this. Believe me, I agonized over it for days, and justified it in my mind, over and over. Tony left it up to me, but in the end I took her. It was what I thought it would be. I went as part social experiment just to see what it was like, and partly because in my mama's eyes, I know I have an adorable beautiful girl. Instead of a girly dress and hair ribbons (they said they werent judging on clothes), I put Maiya in her Nikkei onesie to represent as a Japanese American. I figured this is one of the ways as a 1 year old that she can participate in the Nisei Week activities. When it came time to the judging, I saw other parents urging their daughters to "perform" to wave, blow kisses, and smile at the judges, and I just couldn't do it. So we stood up there, with the other girls and I didn't ask her to do anything. But, I saw some old friends from college and community, so that was nice, and Maiya enjoyed her shaved ice and playing in the air of the fans.

On Sunday, we went with my dear friend Monica, who I used to work with at Great Leap, and her 3 1/2 year old son Dyami, and we went to the Urth Cafe, which is a healthy, organic cafe near the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Lunch was good, but a little hectic. Afterwards, we walked down to the beach, and Dyami pushed Maiya in the stroller. We found a great play area at the beach with swings and slides. It was great to catch up with Monica, since we hadn't seen each other since Maiya was about 3 months old. Afterwards, we went to Ben & Jerry's and beautiful Dyami was wanting to wake up Maiya so she wouldn't miss out on the ice cream.

Also this weekend, we went to a playdate with 6, yes 6, 17-18 month old toddlers at our neighbor's house. There were 5 girls and 1 boy, and they all live within 2 blocks from our house. It's funny because we've lived in our neighborhood for over 9 years, and all of a sudden, we're meeting neighbors and the toddlers are taking over! So, that was about it for the weekend. Next weekend is the West LA and Higashi Obons.

P.S. How do you like the hot pink? It matches my phone!

Maiya & Amani bus it to the beach

Amani enjoying playing in the sand

Maiya running towards the water while Laura and Amani look on

Maiya looking like a buff little ballerina sporting her tutu swimsuit

After spending a lot of time in the water, Amani has a snack

If Amani's having a snack, then Maiya wants some too!

After working 9 days straight (including the weekend, and till 12:30 am on Tuesday) working to finish my yearend reports for the state due Wednesday, I took off Thursday & Friday. On Friday morning, Laura, Amani, Maiya and I took the bus to Venice Beach. For 75 cents each way, it is a great deal. No need to take separate cars (with car seats) and pay for parking. We all sang "Wheels on the Bus" on the ride to the beach.

The kids had SOOOO much fun! At first, Maiya wasn't too crazy about having sand on her feet, but then we went in the water and she was loving every wave. She fell into the water a few times (while squeezing my hand tightly), but came up sputtering and squealing. Amani kept wanting to go deeper into the water. We stayed in the water a long time. Then, the kids were loving the sand toys and playing in the sand. I showed them how to make little sand castles with cups, and then make silly sand on the castles. It brought back fun memories of when I used to go to the beach with my family when I was a child. Maiya enjoyed stomping on my castles, while Amani preferred to grab them and throw the sand in the air. Ahh, toddler fun at the beach. What a blast. Can't think of a better way to spend my day off and beat the summer heat.

Tony was helping his friend Hector a few blocks away, so we met Tony where they were having lunch on our way back to the bus stop. Maiya fell asleep nursing on the bus, and I carried her home where she slept a good time before going back out in the backyard pool to rinse off all the beach sand. I think we'll go again before the summer is up.

Anyone want to join us?

Maiya & Amani on the 4th

Maiya testing out the waters with Mama at the water park
Amani enjoys the day
Maiya decides she likes it
Maiya and Amani having watermelon for dessert after delicious BBQ turkey, bean salad and green salad on Mike and Laura's patio deck as the fireworks begin. This was probably the first time that Maiya and Amani actually acknowledged each other and communicated together. The "water park" is like fancy sprinklers in a controlled setting. We had so much fun! The food and the company was way good. Let's all do it again!

When Daddy Babysits on the Weekend

Last Sunday, 7/2, I went to Letty's Bridal Shower and came home about 5pm. This is what I saw when I came home:


This weekend, 7/8, I went out to run a bunch of errands and came home about 5:30 pm. This is what I saw when I came home:


I am afraid to wonder who fell asleep first in both of these scenarios. Tony says there are 2 reasons he knows Maiya is his daughter. One, she eats like him (a lot and with gusto), and two, she has stinky feet... I can think of 3 things! I wonder if I can get a 3-peat next weekend!

Gearing up for the Tofu Festival

"It's Hip to Be Square!"
11th Annual 2006 LA Tofu Festival

Saturday, August 12th 2 pm -10 pm
Sunday, August 13th 12 pm - 6 pm

237 S San Pedro St (at 2nd and S San Pedro)
Little Tokyo, Downtown LA

NEW CELEBRITY CHEF COOKING DEMO STAGE
Featuring
Tommy Tang, PBS Chef and Cookbook Author
IRON CHEF MORIMOTO of "Iron Chef America"
Troy N. Thompson of "Iron Chef America"
Scott Liebfried of "Hell's Kitchen"
Reggie Sutherland, finalist on "Next Food Network Star"
Candice Kumai of "Top Chef"
Ann Gentry, Real Food Daily
and more!

For Anime Fans, first time in the U.S.
INITIAL D ANIME MARATHON IN ENGLISH

Compete in the LEE KUM KEE TOFU EATING CONTEST
for a chance to WIN A 13-DAY TRIP to Hong Kong, Vietnam & Thailand with the
New Asian Cuisine Chefs Tour!

Live Entertainment including
SickStep, all male hip hop and bboy dance crew, recently appeared on FOX's "So You Think You Can Dance"
TAIKOPROJECT, first American Group to compete and win top honors at the Tokyo International Taiko Contest
Saturday evening concert (TBA soon!)
and much more!

PreSale Package Available Online
$42 Value for $30

General Admission $8
Seniors (60+) $5
Children (5-12) $5
Children (Under 5) Free

DISCOUNT COUPON ONLINE

For complete event info, visit
www.tofufestival.com

Hope to see you there!

All proceeds benefit the Little Tokyo Service Center
"Helping People, Building Community" for over 26 years

www.LTSC.org

Visiting with Tula's Family

Maiya visiting with Auntie Emily
Emily, Scott & Baby Tula
Tony, Maiya, Emily & Tula at Venice Carnival
Maiya checking out the tomatillos and cilantro
Maiya and Tula hanging out at the South Central Farmer's Market
Kuida-Osumi at the South Central Farm

Our friends Scott and Emily from Detroit were in town last week with their baby Tula! We went to the Venice Japanese Community Center Carnival. The following morning, we met them at the South Central Farm for a farmer's market. Scott interviewed some folks for a video he was making for our friends in Detroit. Part of why I've been so interested in the South Central Farm, is from my experiences with the urban gardening movement in Detroit where we spent several summers with Detroit Summer and the Boggs Center.